1 . It might seem strange to be making predictions about 2021, but one thing is clear: technology has been affected just as much as every other part of our lives. Another clear thing is that today’s most important technology trends will play a big part in helping us deal with and adapt to the many challenges facing us. From the shift to working from home to new rules about how we meet and interact in public spaces, technology trends will be the driving force in managing the change.
One of the major technology trends that are likely to play out this year is 5G and enhanced connectivity. Each successive advance in mobile connectivity from 3G onwards has unlocked new use cases for the Internet. 3G made web browsing and data-driven services useful on mobile devices, 4G led to the growth of streaming video and music platforms as bandwidths (宽带) increased, and 5G, similarly, will open more doors in terms of what is possible.
5G means that services relying on advanced technologies such as augmented (增强的) reality and virtual reality, as well as cloud-based gaming platforms like Google’s Stadia, become a practical thing, anywhere at any time. They also threaten to make cable and fiber-based (光纤) networks redundant, with their need for us to be tied to a particular location.
In short, 5G and other advanced, high-speed networks make other new technologies available anywhere, any time. A great example is Norwegian fishery operator Salmar that uses a 5G network to automate the care and feeding of its fish. Image recognition algorithms (算法) are used to detect which fish are over or under-feeding, and automatically distribute food and medicine needed to keep them healthy. Initiatives like this will become increasingly important during 2021, where businesses look to increase automation across their workforces.
1. Which of the following is highly influenced by 5G technology?| A．Data-driven services. | B．Streaming video. |
| C．Music platforms. | D．Google’s Stadia. |
| A．Useful. | B．Unnecessary. | C．Expensive. | D．Special. |
| A．To show the development of Norwegian fishery. |
| B．To explain how to keep fish healthy. |
| C．To present the application of 5G technology. |
| D．To propose new initiatives for businesses. |
| A．Different predictions of technology trends. |
| B．Successive advances in mobile technology. |
| C．One of the technological highlights of the year. |
| D．The driving force in managing changes. |
2 . Video calls are a common occurrence, but have you imagined being able to touch the person on the other end of the line? Scientists are making this a reality.
Researchers at the University of New South Wales, Australia, have invented a soft skin stretch device (SSD), a haptic device that can recreate the sense of touch. Haptic technology can mimic the experience of touch by stimulating localized areas of the skin in ways that are similar to what is felt in the real world, through force, vibration or motion.
Vibration is the most common haptic technology today and has been built into many electronic devices, such as one attached to the back of a trackpad in laptops. However, haptic feedback with vibration becomes less sensitive when used continuously. The existing technology also has great difficulty recreating the sense of touch with objects in virtual environments or located remotely.
The new technology overcomes issues with existing haptic devices. The research team introduced a novel method to recreate the sense of touch through soft, artificial “muscles”.
It works like this: imagine you call a friend in Australia. You wear a haptic glove with the SSDs and your friend also wears a glove with 3D force sensors. If your friend picks up an object, it will physically press against your friend’s fingers. And the glove with 3D force sensors will measure these interactions. The force signals can be sent to your glove so your device will generate the same 3D forces, making you experience the same sense of touch as your friend.
The haptic devices could be used in various fields, allowing users to feel objects inside a virtual world or at a distance. This could be especially beneficial during such times like the COVID-19 pandemic when people rely on video calls to stay connected with loved ones. Or it could be used in medical practices. Doctors can feel a patient’s organ tissues without touching them.
1. What does the underlined word “mimic” in paragraph 2 probably mean?| A．Recall. | B．Strengthen. | C．Copy. | D．Repeat. |
| A．Limitations of the haptic technology. | B．Application of haptic devices. |
| C．Common use of continuous vibration. | D．Haptic feedback with vibration. |
| A．Tasting a dish on the video. | B．Feeling a dress being sold online. |
| C．Giving a telephone interview. | D．Receiving on-site medical treatment. |
| A．Unrealistic. | B．Conventional. | C．Innovative. | D．Adjustable. |
3 . The situation of the world’s plants is not good. One fifth of the kinds of plants are in danger of disappearing, according to a report.
“Plants are very vital to human beings,” said Kathy Willis, who led the new report. “Plants provide us with everything—food, fuel, and medicine, and they are very important for our climate controlling. Without plants we would not be here.”
The good news is that deforestation rates around the world have dropped largely since the 1950s. However, this report on the health of plants around the world shows that there is much more to be done.
The report predicts that there are now 390,900 kinds of plants. And about 21 percent of those plants are in danger of disappearing. “The good side is that we’re still discovering lots of new plants, about 2,000 each year,” said Dr. Willis. “The bad side is that we’ve seen a huge change in land cover, mainly caused by cultural activity, with a little bit of climate change in there as well.”
Human activity has a great effect on the danger of plants disappearing. As humans cut down forests to make room for agriculture, towns and cities, biodiversity is lost. This could not only affect our own food supply directly, but also affect the food web.
1. What does the underlined word “vital” in Paragraph 2 probably mean?| A．Useless. | B．Friendly. | C．Equal. | D．Important. |
| A．New plants are more than ever before. | B．About half the plants will disappear soon. |
| C．Many new plants are found every year. | D．Plants mustn’t be used to produce medicine. |
| A．We have made little progress. | B．There is a long way for us to go. |
| C．We have achieved our goal. | D．There will be nothing we can do. |
| A．Biodiversity Being Lost | B．Human Social Activity |
| C．Environment Protection | D．Nature Climate Change |
4 . Have you ever wondered why certain pop songs just make you feel so good? Researchers studying the question found that uncertainty and surprise give listeners the most pleasure. The study included 80,000 chords (和弦) in 745 pop songs between 1958 and 1991.
Each song was stripped of its melody (旋律) and lyrics (歌词) so that only chords were left and the results couldn’t be misunderstood by other imaginations of the songs that listeners might have had.
They found two things. Listeners got great pleasure from unexpected chords when they knew what would happen. However, they still found it pleasant to hear familiar chords when they did not know what would follow.
Vincent Cheung, the lead researcher, said, “Pleasant songs are likely those which keep a good balance (平衡) between knowing what is going to happen next and surprising us with something we did not expect. Understanding how music starts our pleasure system in the brain could explain why listening to music might help us feel better when we are feeling blue.”
Cheung told CNN that pleasure in music is connected to expectation. The study before had looked into the effects of surprise on pleasure, but his team’s study also paid attention to the uncertainty of listeners’ expectations.
1. What does the underlined word in Paragraph 2 mean?| A．Taken. | B．Added. |
| C．Played. | D．Recorded. |
| A．Expected music is exciting. | B．Unexpected chords bring pleasure. |
| C．Familiar music is boring. | D．Unfamiliar chords are hard to follow. |
| A．They can explain human nature. | B．They can improve our pleasure system. |
| C．They make some people feel blue. | D．They balance expectation and surprise. |
| A．To introduce a scientific study’s finding. | B．To show music’s importance in our life. |
| C．To compare different studies on music. | D．To experiment music in science. |
5 . Life affects (影响) friendships. As we grow, marry, fight in wars, move across the country or change jobs, old friendships fall away and new ones form. As long as we live, the things around us change, and as long as things change, friendships are affected.
When we were children, we had best friends. No matter what happened we were still friends. We live our lives, however, and do what life calls for us to do, and as we got older, memories fade, faces blur, and even friend’s names from childhood are forgotten.
Do you have a question about friendship? Do you wonder what to do with a friend who is no longer friendly? Perhaps you will see that you can’t control others. If someone wants to be your friend, it is their choice. All you can do is treat them well and do the best for them when you are with them. Then you wish them well when they leave.
You can talk to old timers (老前辈) and they will tell you that life is full of joy and sorrow, and that what bothers you today will one day becomes a memory and the pain will be gone. Seniors might tell you that you will learn more as you get older. They will tell you that friendships come and friendships go. Sometimes when they go, it will hurt, but you will be okay with it. It’s the way life works, after all.
1. What doe the text tell us about friendship?| A．It may change with time. |
| B．It affects our life deeply. |
| C．It is easy to build a friendship. |
| D．It is wrong to forget a friend. |
| A．Get recognized more easily. |
| B．Become less clear. |
| C．Turn less attractive. |
| D．Grow more beautiful. |
| A．Make good choices about friends. |
| B．Stop old friends from leaving. |
| C．Learn to accept new friends. |
| D．Take good care of friends. |
| A．They have a positive attitude to life. |
| B．They believe friends hurt each other. |
| C．They regard friendship as a treasure. |
| D．They stress the importance of memory. |
