1 . On a recent trip to Quebec, I slept over at the only ice hotel in North America.
Upon check-in, I was directed to a sweet woman nestling warmly next to the fireplace, who kindly reminded us that there would be no lockers or Internet access and that we’d better eat a heavy meal.
Following her advice, we ate everything on our plates at dinner even if we were full. But we couldn’t free us from our anxiety at that point. When dessert came, we started calling other hotels to see if they had any openings. When the eighth hotel we called wanted to charge us about $80 more than the online price, we just decided to go back to sleep on a bed of ice.
Once in the room, we began trying to figure out how to get comfortable in a room full of ice. Have you tried taking off your shoes in a room in which the floor is ice and not get your socks wet? It took me three yoga (瑜伽) positions to get this accomplished.
Rolling around to get all the way into the bag. I zipped myself up and said my good nights. And then I felt this sharp pain in my head. My hat had metal bands on it. The metal was getting cold in the...well...cold. I took my hat off and my head started to get cold. I sunk down further into my sleeping bag and thought to myself, “Well, at least if I die in here, it will be in my sleep.”
The next thing I knew, the hotel staff was giving us a real wake up call (they stand outside your room and tell you to get up! ).
The reward of having slept in a hotel made of ice? Now, no matter who is complaining and what the problem is, my response can be, “Did you sleep in an ice hotel? On a genuine bed of ice? No ? I did!”
1. Why did the author start calling other hotels when dessert arrived?| A．He was not satisfied with the dessert. | B．He wanted to compare the prices. |
| C．He was worried about sleeping on ice. | D．He meant to figure out his lucky number. |
| A．taking off the shoes | B．practicing yoga |
| C．rolling around the room | D．keeping socks dry |
| A．It made him suffer when worn. | B．It was likely to cause death. |
| C．It didn’t fit in the sleeping bag. | D．It was too cold for him to wear. |
| A．He regretted sleeping over at the ice hotel. | B．He showed genuine preference for ice beds. |
| C．He would never reply to others’ complaints. | D．He took pride in this unique experience. |
2 . The Price of a Dream
I grew up poor. We had little money, but plenty of love and attention. I understood that no matter how poor a person was, they could still afford a dream. My dream was athletics.
By the time I was sixteen, I was good at baseball and football. My high school coach was Ollie Jarvis. He not only believed in me, but taught me the difference between having a dream and showing conviction (信念).
One summer a friend recommended me for a summer job. This meant a chance for money in my pocket — cash for dates with girls, certainly, money for a new bike and new clothes, and the start of savings for a house for my mother.
Then I realized I would have to give up summer baseball to handle the work schedule, and that meant I would have to tell Coach Jarvis I wouldn’t be playing. I was afraid of this, but my mother said, “If you make your bed, you have to lie in it.”
When I told Coach Jarvis, he was as mad as I expected him to be. “Your playing days are limited. You can’t afford to waste them,” he said.
I stood before him with my head hanging, trying to think of the words that would explain to him why I dream of buying my mom a house.
“How much are you going to make at this job, son?” he demanded.
“Three point twenty-five an hour,” I replied.
“Well,” he asked, “is $3. 25 an hour the price of a dream?”
That question exposed the difference between wanting something right now and having a goal. I devoted myself to sports that summer, and within the year I was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates to play rookie-league ball, and offered a $20, 000 contract. I signed with the Denver Broncos in 1984 for $1.7 million, and bought my mother my dream house.
1. Why was the writer grateful to Coach Jarvis?| A．Because Coach Jarvis made him set a goal. |
| B．Because Coach Jarvis supplied him with new clothes. |
| C．Because Coach Jarvis gave him financial support. |
| D．Because Coach Jarvis helped him show conviction. |
| A．Balance summer baseball and the work schedule. |
| B．Refuse the job offer for summer baseball. |
| C．Give up summer baseball for the job. |
| D．Ask his coach Jarvis for advice. |
| A．You must eat the bitter fruit of your own making. |
| B．Believe in yourself, but above all be patient. |
| C．You must rely on yourself first, then others. |
| D．A good beginning makes a good ending. |
| A．He failed to buy his mother a house. |
| B．He succeeded as a sportsman. |
| C．He became a successful businessman. |
| D．He made some money in the summer job. |
3 . It’s been nearly two decades since the traditional clothing style Hanfu first started to reemerge in China. Since then it has gone from a small cultural movement celebrating an ancient fashion to a trend that is booming on social media, having been adopted by China’s Generation Z as a means of connecting with their past. Instead of following other cultures blindly, Generation Z now have different opinions about what trend is by promoting local culture while having an objective view of exotic cultural products.
The new tastes of Generation Z—young people born after 1995—are well represented on Bilibili. In the recent New Year’s Eve gala presented by Bilibili, it attracted more than 100 million views within 48 hours with a colourful set of programmes ranging from Peking Opera to classical Chinese cartoons. The same is also true of movie industry. Last year, for the first time, the top 10 most viewed films in China were all domestic films, while the ticket sales for imported films have dropped to only 16.28 percent.
”Generation Z grew up with the rapid development of China and under good economic conditions. With the development of the Chinese Internet industry, they have more access to diverse international information and culture, which bring them a much broader vision and makes them more open and confident in analyzing foreign culture. Apart from taking pride in China’s rapid development, this generation also pursues individuality and values devotion to the country,“ Professor Zhang Yiwu said.
He also noted that the popular rock and punk culture pursued by the 70s and 80s generation is more of a challenge against real life and local culture. Some people who were born in the 1970s and 1980s did not grow up in the Internet age—they experienced the transformation of China going from poor to rich first-hand. This kind of longing and admiration of the West came from a lack of confidence.
However, Generation Z now have the confidence to look at Western culture with equal status. This kind of cultural confidence will result in China being more active and creative in its development on the international stage in the future.
1. What does the underlined word ”exotic“ in Paragraph 1 mean?| A．Foreign. | B．Fashionable. | C．Traditional. | D．Elegant. |
| A．To confirm the rise of new media. |
| B．To promote Chinese Internet industry. |
| C．To highlight the popularity of domestic art. |
| D．To show the popularity of New Year’s Eve gala. |
| A．They have a stronger cultural identity. |
| B．They are longing for cultural diversity. |
| C．They have made China develop rapidly. |
| D．They are more fond of foreign culture. |
| A．Confident China, Better Future |
| B．China’s Progress Results in Cultural Confidence |
| C．China’s New Generation Redefine Local Culture as Trendy |
| D．Hanfu Style, Connector of Ancient Fashion and Modern Trend |
4 . I was visiting Costa Rica when I found myself in a bad situation: all my bank cards weren’t
I thought the city dangerous and decided to find kind people in the
Finally, I
I realized that being able to receive kindness is a
| A．working | B．paying | C．travelling | D．increasing |
| A．villagers | B．tourists | C．visitors | D．strangers |
| A．street | B．town | C．countryside | D．community |
| A．drove | B．flew | C．headed | D．slid |
| A．buy | B．afford | C．rent | D．earn |
| A．explaining | B．sharing | C．exchanging | D．exploring |
| A．door | B．house | C．man | D．restaurant |
| A．thought of | B．heard of | C．arrived at | D．aimed at |
| A．rich | B．kind | C．busy | D．serious |
| A．proud | B．happy | C．excited | D．sorry |
| A．adventure | B．experience | C．failure | D．strategy |
| A．warm | B．curious | C．cool | D．strange |
| A．choose | B．calm | C．comfort | D．rescue |
| A．gift | B．trouble | C．trap | D．request |
| A．improves | B．challenges | C．encourages | D．designs |
5 . Owura Kwadwo Hottish teaches computer science in a school. It is a normal school except for the fact that it didn’t have
Owura became famous after he posted photos of him on the Internet. In the picture. people could see he was teaching his students by
| A．classrooms | B．computers | C．playgrounds | D．tools |
| A．operating | B．repairing | C．describing | D．drawing |
| A．poor | B．unique | C．average | D．avanced |
| A．annoyed | B．pleased | C．frightened | D．surprised |
| A．line | B．culture | C．schedule | D．school |
| A．rubbed | B．called | C．cut | D．shown |
| A．exchange | B．improve | C．revise | D．repeat |
| A．broke out | B．paid off | C．came back | D．held back |
| A．care | B．control | C．place | D．notice |
| A．suggestion | B．speech | C．decision | D．arrangement |
| A．made | B．waited | C．received | D．carried |
| A．Suddenly | B．Importantly | C．Exactly | D．Naturally |
| A．lent | B．sold | C．donated | D．applied |
| A．efforts | B．pains | C．legend | D．experiment |
| A．glory | B．wisdom | C．kindness | D．pride |
6 . Tired of standing in line? Wait a bit longer, and you may never have to again.
Amazon has opened 24 of its Amazon Go stores, which use cameras and artificial intelligence (AI) to see what you’ve taken off shelves and charge you as you walk out. Some companies are closely copying Amazon’s approach to using AI-powered cameras fixed in ceilings. But others are trying an entirely different way to skip the checkout: smart shopping carts. These companies have added cameras and sensors (传感器) to the carts, and are using AI to tell what you’ve put in them. Customers pay by entering a credit card, or through an online payment system. When a customer exits the store a green light on the shopping cart shows that their order is complete, and they’re charged.
The companies behind the smart carts, including Caper and Veeve, say it’s much easier to add technology to the shopping cart than to an entire store. Amazon’s Go stores rely on hundreds of cameras in the ceiling. The shelves also include sensors to tell when an item is removed. Ahmed Beshry, co-founder of Caper, believes the technology to run Go is too expensive to use in a large-format grocery store. Neither Caper nor Veeve has said how much their smart shopping carts will cost, making it difficult to compare the different formats. Shariq Siddiqui, CEO of Veeve, said, “We’re always happy when Amazon is doing something. They force retailers (零售店) to get out of their old school thinking.”
Each time a business uses AI and cameras, it raises questions about customers’ privacy and the effect on jobs. Beshry notes that the cameras in his shopping cart point down into the cart, so only a customer’s hand and part of their arm will be captured (拍摄) on camera.
1. What do we know about the smart shopping carts?| A．They are able to recognize goods put in them. |
| B．They are linked to the cameras fixed in the ceilings. |
| C．They flash the green light when the order is canceled. |
| D．They can tell customers where to find what they want. |
| A．It is likely to help retailers to think differently. |
| B．It has attracted many more retailers than before. |
| C．It is far more expensive than their shopping carts. |
| D．It may reduce the cost of running a store greatly. |
| A．That they can only buy goods online. |
| B．That goods in the stores may be more expensive. |
| C．That they have to wait in a line for a longer time. |
| D．That somebody may know their privacy. |
| A．The new technology improves retail sale. |
| B．AI-powered cameras are used in retail stores. |
| C．Artificial intelligence affects the future of job market. |
| D．Smart shopping carts will let you skip the line. |
7 . About six years ago I was going through a tough time, having two jobs to afford my rent. On a cold Sunday morning, I went to GameStop—a video game retailer(零售商), to cancel the game I’d booked. A woman in a car parked outside called me when I exited the store. Though it was in broad daylight, I was shy about it and kept some distance when I walked over. She said she couldn’t walk and requested me to purchase a Kinect, a popular game device, for her as her son’s Christmas gift. Because of her leg disease, it was painful for her to move around. She called ahead but the employee (雇员) wasn’t willing to help. She gave me about $100 in cash and her credit card.
I walked back in and bought the Kinect.Then it occurred to me that this woman, a complete stranger, trusted me. What was it that stopped me from lying about the payment method and just pocketing her cash? She couldn’t know I wasn’t a cheat; and how could she possibly believe in someone so much?
I handed her the cash back, explaining I had to pay with her card—it was above $100 at the time, and handed over the game device and her credit card. “This is what my son’s been longing for.Thank you! By the way, just from glancing at you, I know you are the one who will be a friend to someone in need. You have a face of an angel!”she said. She gave me $10 and refused to take it back. Then she drove away.
She had no idea how much of a difference even $10 made. I was able to buy a few cheap groceries for the week and it really made the hard time in my life a little better. She might think I helped her; however, I truly felt like the one who was being gifted something amazing.
1. What can we infer from Paragraph 1?| A．The author cancelled the video game for saving money． |
| B．The author worked so hard that there was no time for games． |
| C．The author was unwilling to help and kept a distance from the woman． |
| D．The woman requested the author to purchase a Kinect for her son’s birthday． |
| A．She gave the author $10 for the game device． |
| B．She chose the author because he was handsome． |
| C．She might not know exactly how much the game device would cost． |
| D．She didn’t buy the game device by herself because of her laziness． |
| A．Kind and honest． | B．Brave and curious． |
| C．Humorous and wise． | D．Determined and energetic． |
| A．Kinect, a Popular Game Device | B．Help Others, Help Yourself |
| C．A Stranger Who Had Faith in Me | D．An Experience That Changed My Life |
8 . King Tut, Egypt’s famous boy king, was buried with many valuable objects. A dagger (匕首)discovered in his tomb has recently attracted extra attention. Researchers have concluded that the dagger was probably made from a special material.
King Tut was only about nine years old when he became ruler of Egypt more than 3, 300 years ago. The young king died when he was just 19, His body was buried in a tomb filled with objects that people believed he would need in the afterlife.
In 1922, Howard Carter discovered Tut’s tomb in the Valley of the Kings in Egypt. Up to now, it was the best preserved ancient Egyptian tomb ever found. In 1925, Carter found the dagger which has a gold handle and an iron blade (刀片).The blade had confused experts because iron was hardly used at that time in ancient Egypt. In fact, it was so rare that it was considered more valuable than gold. Where did the iron for the blade come from?
Around the time of King Tut, ancient Egyptians started using a new word for iron that translates as “iron from the sky”. This led some experts to believe that the iron for the blade came from a meteorite (陨石).But studies of the dagger carried out in the 1970s and 1990s didn’t support that idea.
That’s where modern technology comes in. Researchers used a new technique to examine the blade. They discovered that it was made up of iron and other materials found in meteorites. After comparing it to several meteorites, they even found its possible match — a meteorite that landed in northern Egypt thousands of years ago.
Scientists hope the new study will lead to more discoveries about other ancient Egyptian relics, “It would be very interesting to analyze more Pre-iron Age objects and we could gain precious discoveries.” Daniela Comelli, who is a professor, said.
1. What do we know about Tut’s tomb?| A．It was perfectly kept when discovered. | B．It was built when he was 9. |
| C．It has a lot of iron objects in it. | D．It was the first tomb to be found. |
| A．it is King Tut’s favorite object | B．its blade is made of iron |
| C．it was more valuable than gold | D．it leads to more discoveries |
| A．The iron. | B．The material. | C．A meteorite. | D．The blade. |
| A．more valuable objects are hidden in the tombs |
| B．iron is widely used in ancient Egypt |
| C．Tut’s dagger was likely made from a meteorite |
| D．ancient Egyptian objects are excellent |
9 . A new APP uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) to tell you what your pet is thinking. It’s called Happy Pets and it analyses an animal’s facial features, tells you what breed(血统) it is and indicates which of the five most common animal emotions—happy, angry, neutral, sad and scared.
The Happy Pets app uses AI, or machine learning. It’s a technology that’s used for vision in robotics and self-driving cars and it works by taking in images and assigning importance to them. One common use for AI is in facial recognition technology. Many of us can unlock our mobile phones with an image of our face and it’s important part of security processes in, for instance, airports.
But this is the first time this kind of technology has been used for animals. It then had to learn to recognize facial features. This is sophisticated because photos can be taken in so many different ways: from the side, above, below, in bright light. And different animals can have such different facial features. Think about how different the noses of a border collie(边境牧羊犬) and bulldog are, for instance. Once the AI behind Happy Pets had learned all this, it then had to be able to detect emotions based on specific facial features that are associated with each emotion, which it has learned from thousands of examples. For instance, if a dog tightens its eyes and mouth while changing the position of its ears in a particular way, it’s a sign of being scared.
In an online article for Melbourne University’s Pursuit, the researchers write they’re happy with how the app performs. The researchers would love feedback about how they could develop the app further.
1. Which of the following may go beyond Happy Pets’ function?| A．Learning the kinds of pets. |
| B．Showing pets’ main feelings. |
| C．Teaching pets’ facial recognition. |
| D．Analyzing the pets’ facial features. |
| A．The robot’s eye. | B．A security system. |
| C．The vision of self driving. | D．A machine learning system. |
| A．Typical. | B．Complex. | C．Scientific. | D．Traditional. |
| A．Because faces can definitely show animals feelings. |
| B．Because it wants to have emotions of humans. |
| C．Because it enables Happy Pets to detect emotions based on specific facial features. |
| D．Because the types of animals are based on the looks. |
内容包括：
1. 简要介绍十堰；
2. 诚挚邀请。
参考词汇：魅力中国城Charming Cities in China 十佳top ten
注意：
1. 词数80左右；
2. 可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
Dear Mike,
I’m Li Hua.
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Sincerely yours,
Li Hua
