1 . Thomas Cheatham had planned to study Latin during his time at Hebron High School in Texas. But when he learned that the school district was going to offer a Mandarin(普通话) class, he quickly changed his mind.
“I thought Mandarin would be more beneficial than Latin,” said Cheatham, who is now in his second year of studying the language.
He speaks Mandarin to order food at Chinese restaurants and can read social media posts from his Chinese-speaking friends. While it’s a difficult language to master, the high school junior, who plans to study computer engineering, thinks it will be important for his career. “Chinese is a good language to know, especially with China becoming a growing power,” he said.
Many experts agree that proficiency(熟练) in a language spoken by a billion people worldwide will give American students an edge in the global economy.
“People are looking at China as our next economic competitor, and interest in Mandarin is growing fast,” said Marty Abbott, director of the American Council(议会) on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. “We’re seeing it in all parts of the country.”
Abbott predicts that as many as 100,000 students are now studying Mandarin in public and private schools throughout the US. She said the US government has designated (指定) Mandarin as an “important needs” language and provides professional development programs for teachers. “Our government wants to increase our language ability for national security and economic competitiveness,” Abbott added.
At the same time, the Chinese government is spreading knowledge of the Chinese language and culture through Confucius Institutes set up in many US states. For example, the Confucius Institute at the University of Texas in Dallas has been the home of a Confucius Institute for 10 years. It sponsors Confucius Classrooms at 21 local public and private schools, where tens of thousands of students are learning Mandarin.
1. Why did Thomas Cheatham decide to study Mandarin instead of Latin?| A．Mandarin was easier to learn than Latin. |
| B．Mandarin could be helpful to his future career. |
| C．Mandarin might help him learn more about China. |
| D．Mandarin could enable him to study computer engineering. |
| A．a slight advantage | B．the outside limit |
| C．a sharp tone of voice | D．an exciting quality |
| A．Mandarin should be taught in classrooms throughout the US. |
| B．Those skilled at Chinese will be the most competitive in the future. |
| C．The US government’s policy has helped popularize Mandarin in the US. |
| D．Americans learn Mandarin because they worry about their national security. |
| A．The rising popularity of Mandarin among American students. |
| B．The great benefits of learning Mandarin for American students. |
| C．The influence of China’s growing power on American education. |
| D．The effect of Confucius Institutes in promoting Mandarin in the US. |
2 . “Years ago when I was at the Grand Canyon, I remembered someone coming up to the canyon’s edge, taking a shot with a camera and then walking away, like ‘got it – done’, barely even glancing at the magnificent scene in front of him,” Linda Henkel, a scientist at Fairfield University, US told Live Science.
Henkel was surprised by how obsessed (痴迷的) people are with taking pictures these days — before dinner, during friends’ birthday parties, on museum tours and so on.
They keep taking pictures because they think that it helps record the moment, but as Henkel’s latest study has just found out, this obsession may prevent their brains remembering what actually happened, reported The Guardian.
In her study, Henkel led a group of college students around a museum and asked them to simply observe 15 objects and photograph 15 others. The next day the students’ memory of the tour was tested, and the results showed that they were less accurate in recognizing the objects and they remembered fewer details about them if they photographed them.
‘‘When people rely on technology to remember them — counting on the camera to record the event and thus not needing to attend to it fully themselves, it can have a negative impact on how well they remember their experiences,” Henkel explained.
But there is also an exception: if students zoomed in to photograph part of an object, their memory actually improved, and those who focused the lens (镜头) on a specific area could even recall parts that weren’t in the frame.
So basically, this study is saying that constantly taking pictures can harm your memory. But shouldn’t reviewing pictures we have taken help wake up our memories? This is true, but only if we spend enough time doing it.
“In order to remember, we have to access and interact with the photos, rather than just collect them,” Henkel told The Telegraph. However, previous research has shown that most people never take the time to look over their digital pictures simply because there are too many of them and they aren’t usually very organized on their computers.
1. Why did the author mention Henkel’s trip to the Grand Canyon at the beginning?| A．To complain about some tourists’ bad habits. |
| B．To give suggestions on how to enjoy one’s tour. |
| C．To point out people’s obsession with taking pictures. |
| D．To describe the beautiful view of the Grand Canyon. |
| A．Reviewing pictures always helps people bring back memories easily. |
| B．Taking pictures in a museum tour helps students recognize objects better. |
| C．People should spend more time taking pictures than studying real objects. |
| D．Pictures focusing on the details of objects probably improve people’s memories. |
| A．the camera | B．technology |
| C．the event | D．an object |
| A．People’s obsession with taking pictures and its influence. |
| B．Possible ways of using pictures to improve one’s memory. |
| C．Great harm to memory caused by taking pictures constantly. |
| D．A believable study into the negative impact of lining cameras often. |
3 . In a foreign country, a man visited a local restaurant. He didn’t speak their language. He ordered something indecipherable off the menu. When the waiter brought him a plate of delicious looking fried noodles, he smiled and made an OK sign at the waiter with his thumb and forefinger linked in a circle. Looking angry, the waiter then picked up the dish and thrown it to his lap. What he did wrong, he wondered. Well, nothing is quite as it seems when it comes to using hand gesture in another country.
Gestures have been used to replace words in many countries, and they are often specific to a given culture. Gesture may mean something complimentary in one culture, but is highly offensive in another.
The gesture “thumb-up” is commonly misinterpreted. In English, it is popularly known as ‘thumbs up’, despite the fact that the action is commonly performed with only one hand. English-speaking Caucasians use it to signal ‘OK’, which is the same meaning as O.K. ring gesture. The two can in fact be used almost interchangeably.
Avoid using this gesture in Southern Sardina or Northern Greece unless you want to invite a fight. While American, British and Australian would use the thumb up to signal hitch-hiking to the drivers, this message will not encourage a Greek driver or motorist to stop to give them a ride.
There are no right or wrong signals, only cultural differences. Lack of cultural understanding will lead to disharmony among people from different cultures. When we know what to look for, such encounters with other cultures are actually very interesting, fascinating and fun. It is certainty a great topic to discuss over a cup of coffee and cakes.
1. What did the man in the first paragraph do wrong?| A．He misunderstood the waiter. | B．He made the signal in a rude way. |
| C．He ordered something off the menu. | D．He didn’t realize cultural differences. |
| A．Full of aggression. | B．Full of admiration. |
| C．Full of complexity. | D．Full of certainty. |
| A．He will stop to give you a lift. |
| B．He will ask you to give him a HA. |
| C．He will get annoyed and fight against you. |
| D．He will make the same signal toward you. |
| A．To tell stories about different cultures. |
| B．To advise us to have an understanding of cultural differences. |
| C．To explain the meaning of different gestures. |
| D．To persuade people from different countries to live in harmony. |
4 . There is a breakthrough in building aircrafts. Bendable wings covered with overlapping(部分重叠) pieces resembling fish sizes could be used to build swifter, fuel-efficient aircraft, a new study finds.
Nowadays, conventional aircrafts typically rely on ailerons (副翼) to help control the way the planes tip as they fly. However, when the Wright brothers flew the first airplane, Flyer 1, over a century ago, they used no ailerons but wires and pulleys that twisted the wood-and-canvas wings, to control the plane,
Scientists have long sought to develop aircrafts that can alter their wings during flight, just as birds can. However, most previous attempts have failed because they relied on heavy mechanical control structures within the wings. These structures were also complex and unreliable, said Neil Gershenfeld, a physicist and director of the Center for Bits and Atoms at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
The new wing consists of a system of tiny, strong, lightweight modules. The shape of the wing can be changed uniformly along its length using two small motors, which apply a twisting pressure to each wingtip. These wings are covered in “skins” of overlapping strips of flexible material resembling fish sizes. These strips move across each other as the wings alter, providing a smooth outer surface, the researchers explained.
Wind-tunnel tests of these wings showed that they at least matched the aerodynamic properties of conventional wings, at about one-tenth the weight. Initial tests using remotely piloted aircrafts made with these wings have shown great promise, said Benjamin Jenett, a graduate student at the Center for Bits and Atoms at MIT.
The new modular structures the scientists developed could be manufactured quickly in mass quantities and then installed by teams of small robots. These modular structures also can be disassembled more easily, making repairs simpler.
“Still, the first aircraft built using this strategy will not be a passenger jet, ”Gershenfeld said. “Instead, the technology will likely first be tested on unmanned aircraft, leading to drones (无人机) that can fly for a long time, to help deliver internet access or medicine to remote villages and do some rescue works.”
1. Why did most previous aircrafts fail to fly like birds?| A．The previous wings were complicated and weighed a lot. |
| B．The previous aircraft relied on ailerons to control directions. |
| C．There were few scientists to do research on the lighter wings. |
| D．There was little fuel in the aircrafts to make them fly in the air. |
| A．The shape of the new wings. |
| B．The result of the tested wings. |
| C．The function of the small motors. |
| D．The working principle of the new wings. |
| A．put away |
| B．taken apart |
| C．invented |
| D．analyzed |
| A．Carry passengers. |
| B．Save people in danger. |
| C．Test planes. |
| D．Monitor the villages. |
5 . A ROBOT companion for older people aims to promote activity and deal with loneliness by urging them to take part in digital and physical activities.
The ElliQ robot, made by Israel-based start-up Intuition Robotics, will be published at the Design Museum in London this week. ElliQ is a small desktop device that consists of a domed (拱形的) “body” and a separate detachable (可拆卸的) screen.
Created in collaboration with Swiss designer Yves Behar, the robot is able to encourage a degree of social engagement. Similar to home assistants like the Amazon Echo, people can simply talk to it, and there are visual clues that could be particularly helpful for those with hearing difficulties.
A key purpose of ElliQ is to act as an easy platform to access existing services such as social media, and messaging programs. For example, the device could alert the users that their grandchild has posted a new photo on Facebook, show it to them on the screen.
ElliQ can recommend activities voluntarily. It might ask if you’re interested in watching a video, for instance, or suggest a walk. It can also act as reminder to take medication.
Having a robot constantly offer suggestions could obviously get annoying, so the device uses machine learning to tailor these suggestions to individual preferences. If a suggestion is met with a positive response once, ElliQ might try it again. If not, it might change for a different tack.
1. Which of the following statements is NOT true?| A．A robot companion for older people will strongly advise them to participate in digital and physical activities to be healthy. |
| B．The ElliQ robot is published at the Design Museum in London. |
| C．The screen of the ElliQ robot can be removed if necessary. |
| D．The ElliQ robot is created by Swiss designer Yves Behar and Israel-based start-up Intuition Robotics. |
| A．declare | B．announce |
| C．remind | D．say |
| A．when the user’s friend updates his moments (朋友圈), it can show it to the user on the screen. |
| B．it can recommend some activities even the user doesn’t ask. |
| C．it will constantly give suggestions regardless of the user’s individual preference. |
| D．it can help those with hearing difficulties by offering visual clues. |
| A．News & Technology | B．People |
| C．Health | D．International Affairs |
6 . Computers have beaten human world champions at chess and, earlier this year, the board game Go. So far, though, they have struggled at the card table. So we challenged one AI to a game.
Why is poker(扑克)so difficult? Chess and Go are “information complete” games where all players can see all the relevant information. In poker, other players’ cards are hidden, making it an “information incomplete” game. Players have to guess opponents’ hands from their actions----tricky for computers. Poker has become a new benchmark for AI research. Solving poker could lead to many breakthroughs, from cyber security to driverless cars.
Scientists believe it is only a matter of time before AI once again vanquishes humans, hence our human-machine match comes up in a game of Texas Hold’s Em Limit Poker. The AI was developed by Johannes Heinrich, researcher studying machine learning at UCL. It combines two techniques: neural(神经的)networks and reinforcement learning(强化学习).
Neural networks, to some degree, copy the structure of human brains: their processors are highly interconnected and work at the same time to solve problems. They are good at spotting patterns in huge amounts of data. Reinforcement learning is when a machine, given a task, carries it out, learning from mistakes it makes. In this case, it means playing poker against itself billions of times to get better.
Mr Heinrich told Sky News: “Today we are presenting a new procedure that has learned in a different way, more similar to how humans learn. In particular, it is able to learn abstract patterns, represented by its neural network, which allow it to deal with new and unseen situations.”
After two hours of quite defensive play, from the computer at least, we called it a draw.
1. Why can’t the computer beat humans at the poker game?| A．Because humans are cleverer than the computer |
| B．Because humans practice playing the poker game every day |
| C．Because the computer can’t know the other players’ cards completely |
| D．Because the computer can’t learn the regular rules of the poker game |
| A．Leaves | B．Defeats | C．Cheats | D．Serves |
| A．It solves problems correctly every time |
| B．It is the same as the learning of humans |
| C．It learns from the mistakes appearing in a task |
| D．It is more developed than the studying ways of humans |
| A．The new procedure of AI has some features of humans |
| B．Computers are stronger than humans in every aspect |
| C．Humans will beat computers at playing poker forever |
| D．Scientists feel unhappy about the result of the poker game |
7 . Visitors to Britain may find the best place to sample local culture is in a traditional pub. But these friendly pubs can be dangerous places of potential gaffes (失礼) for the newcomers. A team of researchers have discovered some of the unknown customs of British pubs-starting with the difficulty of getting a drink. Most pubs have no waiters-you have to go to the bar to buy drinks. A group of Italian youths waiting 45 minutes before they realized they would have to fetch their own. This may sound inconvenient, but there is a hidden purpose.
Pub culture is designed to promote sociability (社交) in a society known for its reserve. Standing at the bar for service allows you to chat with others waiting to be served. The bar counter is possibly the only site in the British Isles in which friendly conversation with strangers is considered entirely suitable and really quite normal behavior. “If you haven't been to a pub, you haven't been to Britain.” This tip can be found in a booklet, Passport to the Pub: The Tourists' Guide to Pub Etiquette, a customers' rule of conduct for those wanting to sample “a central part of British life and culture”.
The trouble is that if you do not follow the local rules, the experience may fall flat. For example, if you are in a big group, it is best if only one or two people go to buy the drinks. Nothing annoys the regular customers and bar staff more than a group of strangers blocking all access to the bar while they chat and hesitate about what to order.
1. The underlined word “sample” in the first paragraph probably means “________”.| A．taste | B．experience | C．test | D．record |
| A．encourage people to communicate with each other |
| B．encourage more people to consume drinks |
| C．attract more tourists to the pubs |
| D．form its own character of culture |
| A．you won't buy good local drinks |
| B．you may annoy the regular customers and bar staff |
| C．you may fail to feel the local culture |
| D．you might get into a dangerous place |
| A．Self-service Pubs in Britain | B．British Local Pubs: Special Chat Places |
| C．Local Pub Culture in Britain | D．Manners in British Local Pubs |
Happiness（Romance）★★★★
Happiness tells the story of two people（Lisa Turbot and Danny Roy）who work for different advertising companies. They talk on the phone all the time and don’t like each other. But then they correspond by e-mail and fall in love. This movie will be very popular with teenagers and people who like romances. It also has beautiful music.
I Scream（Thriller）★★
In I Scream, Paul（Colin Jacks）is a young man who joins a thriller club. Each of the members tries to frighten the others. Paul is told to stay in an old house for the night. Everyone who has tried to stay in the house before has died. This movie is very frightening but also quite silly. It doesn't make sense for Paul to stay in the house when things start to go wrong. Only for people who like thrillers.
Paul's Heroes（Comedy）★★★
This is a very funny war movie set in World War Two. Six soldiers（including Sammy Turblow）have to get to Italy to take secret messages to the American army there. During the movie, they dress up as women and fight with Italian workers. You can guess the ending, but it’s great fun getting there.
_____________（Drama）★★★★
This is a very good drama with Jack Ross, who plays a hard-working truck driver. His wife becomes ill and he has to find a doctor who can help her. In his travels he meets Dr. Lloyd（Phil Driver）who has found the cure for the illness, but Jack Ross has only twelve hours to get the medicine back to his wife on the other side of America. This is an excellent movie, which is very exciting.
1. Which of the four movies is the least popular with people?
| A．The 1st one. | B．The 2nd one. | C．The 3rd one. | D．The 4th one. |
| A．date | B．exchange | C．write | D．communicate |
| A．frightening | B．instructive | C．humorous | D．interesting |
| A．A Hard-working Truck Driver | B．Medicine |
| C．A Strange Illness | D．Twelve Hours |
The consumer electronics industry came unbuttoned in Las Vegas this week. At the annual Consumer Electronics Show, companies from around the world unveiled many devices boasting (以拥有…而自豪) touch – sensitive technology, rather than traditional push-button controls.
Motorola, Sony, and LG Electronics all showed off touch-screen phones this week. Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates praised and offered a touch-screen computer, the Surface, related to a flat panel TV for a tabletop. Even camera makers, such as Kodak，included touch-screen LCDs in their devices. Touch-screen tech has been in use for years，but the push to develop and weave it into consumer electronics gathered steam with the June introduction of Apple’s iPhone. “The touch-screen industry is really getting hot,” says Jennifer Colegrove, a senior analyst at iSuppli. “Since the iPhone came out, there are a lot of companies that did not have a relationship with touch screens before that decided, ‘OK, I want to make a touch screen, too.’”
The touch－screen tech ecosystem now includes more than 100 companies specializing in everything from smudge-proof (防污的) screens to sensors (传感器) able to detect fingers before they even contact the screen. Sales of leading touch-screen technologies，such as those used in mobile phones and navigation (航行) devices，are expected to rise to $ 4.4 billion in 2012, up from $ 2.4 billion in 2006，according to iSuppli estimates.
1. What did the writer think about the Apple iPhone？
| A．The Apple iPhone was beautiful. |
| B．The Apple iPhone was popular. |
| C．The Apple iPhone was expensive. |
| D．The Apple iPhone was attractive. |
| A．Invented. | B．Unlocked. |
| C．Discovered. | D．Showed. |
| A．traditional push-button controls |
| B．Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates |
| C．the introduction of Apple’s iPhone |
| D．the touch-screen tech ecosystem |
| A．The touch-screen technology will disappear. |
| B．The touch-screen technology will be replaced by traditional push-button controls. |
| C．The touch-screen technology will be as important as traditional push-button controls. |
| D．The touch-screen technology will be more widely used in electronics devices. |
On Friday, a truck loaded with over 500 dogs was stopped by volunteers from animal protection organization on Beijing section of Jingha expressway.
Beijing Times reported these dogs were being delivered to slaughter houses in the city of Changchun, northeast one in Jilin Province and would be eventually served on dinner tables.
After negotiations (协商) with the truck driver and a philanthropic (慈善) founda tion, Shangshan Foundation purchased these dogs with much money. Dogs were then delivered to the headquarter of China Small Animal Protection Association (CSAPA) , being taken care of and waiting for adoption.
After the dog saving mission was reported, Chinese net users debate over whether saving dogs worth so much efforts and money while there are still many poor and needy people in China lacking assistance.
Some net users argue the dog saving mission is placing too much attention to animals while lots of needy people are still left unattended.
A microblogger "Xiaowulaitajie" said on China's twitter-like website, weibo. com, "Dogs are saved, adopted and they attracted media attention. We'd better spend such money and take such efforts in helping the needy people. "
Another microblogger, Liluping, said "We poured such huge sum of money into saving dogs. I would rather the money be spent on disaster relief. "
Some applaud volunteers' actions and show eagerness of offering their helping hands to those saved dogs.
Still many disapprove those "saving dogs" critics. They argue that such act nevertheless embodies social progress.
A microblogger named "broken bridge" said, saving dogs does not go against taking care of people. Such enthusiasm in public affairs will help raise social awareness in helping the needy.
I think people and animals are created equal. Attention should be paid to people as well as animals.
1. According to the passage, we know the article probably comes from________ .
| A．a science fiction | B．a TV programme |
| C．the Internet | D．a magazine |
| A．express. | B．share. |
| C．emphasize. | D．prevent. |
| A．Some net users'. | B．Liluping's. |
| C．Broken bridge 's. | D．Xiaowulaitajie's. |
| A．Why some people disagree to save the 500 dogs. |
| B．How the volunteers saved the 500 dogs to be killed. |
| C．These dogs were finally saved and sent back to their owners. |
| D．Different Chinese net users have different opinions on the mission. |
