Tony gave Claire a new hairstyle and improved her makeup. As he was not allowed to
Grocery store design is a carefully crafted art from both psychological and marketing standpoints, according to Reeves Connelly,
There’s also a reason why you often feel lost in local supermarkets. They move things around. Reeves explained, “They are well aware that these strategies become less effective after you visit the store a few times, so they’ll regularly move the
“Their little tricks always work on me,” one regular shopper admitted, “I walk in to get three things and end
It’s almost time for me to say goodbye to Australia. I’ve enjoyed my time here very much. After
4 . With a broad smile on her lips, 15-year-old Sirin rushed to her mom to show off her new painting. But her mom raised her eyebrows, and spoke in a hushed tone, “Shh. . . honey… don’t shout. I am busy with a (n)
Holding her oil painting, she
Hearing this, she stormed off to her own bedroom, slammed the door and
At this very moment, Sirin could no longer
When back from school the next day, Sirin was surprised to see her beautifully-decorated painting on the wall. It was beautifully
Though everything came and went, mutual
A.important | B.gripping | C.pleasant | D.insignificant |
A.grinned | B.frowned | C.trembled | D.whistled |
A.amused | B.annoyed | C.shocked | D.thrilled |
A.hid | B.planted | C.threw | D.settled |
A.feeling | B.stroking | C.seizing | D.scratching |
A.unusual | B.ridiculous | C.impolite | D.dishonest |
A.incident | B.accident | C.anecdote | D.event |
A.hold onto | B.hold back | C.throw away | D.pick up |
A.in spite of | B.in favor of | C.instead of | D.on account of |
A.help | B.match | C.exception | D.luck |
A.sorrowfully | B.unwillingly | C.surprisingly | D.regretfully |
A.formatted | B.framed | C.polished | D.distributed |
A.Recalling | B.Supposing | C.Declaring | D.Imagining |
A.nodded | B.shook | C.cleared | D.ducked |
A.trust | B.appreciation | C.understanding | D.admiration |
5 . Some people worry that there’s too much technology in our lives. And they may have a point, given how countless people now carry the Internet around in their pocket and use it as a primary form of communication. It’s practically difficult to avoid technology in our world. There are computer microchips in our watches, our cars, light switches, even our pets! Where will it end?
Well, if certain people have their way, it’ll go even further. We’ll have microchips implanted into our brains that can interact with the computers by thought alone. It may sound like something from the science fiction, but in many ways, things look quite promising. Thanks to the ability to send and receive information remotely via computers, microchips and other related devices have long been put into brains.
For example, electrodes have been implanted in the brains of epilepsy (癫痫症) patients to better record and even predict the abnormal neurological activity. Similarly, deep-brain stimulation, through implanted devices that cause activity in key brain regions, is an established treatment for things like Parkinson’s disease, and is even being looked into for illnesses like depression.
However, it’s another thing to place such devices in healthy individuals There are practical concerns, not least of which is what these chins will be made of. The inside of the brain is a mass of highly reactive chemicals and electrical activity. Implants would need to be dull enough to not upset the delicate processes by their presence, but also sensitive enough to read and process the activity around them. Current technology has made impressive progress with this, but if it were to be rolled out to millions of people, we’d need to be 100 percent certain that it’s safe.
How many people will actually want to have technology literally put into their brain? A surprising 60 percent of Americans say they’d be okay with it, but that’s when it’s purely theoretical. In reality, the possibility of having strangers stick chips in your brain is likely to prove unattractive, especially for a population where millions get mad at fictional microchips in vaccines (疫苗) and even more are frightened of dentists.
Ultimately, the technology of computer-brain interface (接口) implants is still far away from us.
1. The idea of putting microchips into people’s brains __________.A.is something written only in a science fiction |
B.shows that we can hardly live without technology |
C.suggests an effective way to communicate with computers |
D.is possible since technology has advanced |
A.The possible treatment for particular diseases. | B.The process of human-computer interaction. |
C.The existing application of microchip implants. | D.The future of microchips and devices alike. |
A.The right materials used for the chips. |
B.The exact position in the brain for the chips. |
C.The chips’ precise sensitivity to function in the brain. |
D.The extensive use of the chips on all humans. |
A.Computer-brain Interface: The Light of the Future | B.Innovation is Necessary to Make Progress |
C.Where are We in the Medical Technology? | D.Mind-controlled Tech: Is It Possible? |
6 . Clair Hughes first began to research money-saving ideas to get out of her £3,500 student overdraft (透支额). The shopper started surfing the Internet for discount coupons (优惠券) and cut price offers. Revealing how she seldom pays full price for an item, Ms Hughes says, “Discounts are always there; it’s just a matter of being organized. Before starting this, I thought it’d be much work, but now I’m so used to this lifestyle that it’s automatic to me. I must have easily saved over £15,000.”
Ms Hughes first focused on saving money back in 2010, when she moved in with her partner, Shane Byrne, a phone company trainer. After turning to the web for advice, she tried out a few clever money-saving tricks like switching her overdraft to a zero-interest account. Then, several years later, she came across an online community for “couponers” and decided to give it a go.
She started spending hours surfing the web for coupons, printing them all out to take with her whenever she went shopping. Over the years, she has managed to get some impressive catches. Once, two lamps worth £140 cost her just £35.
Two years ago, Ms Hughes also began using cashback apps where you are given money back on items ranging from beers to toiletries. After each shop, she uploads pictures of her receipts, which are then scanned, and money is given back on certain items.
Among her other top money-saving tips, Ms Hughes recommends taking part in paid online surveys, which have earned her hundreds in discount coupons. She says, “I’ve heard a lot about collecting other people’s abandoned receipts from shopping trolleys to check for missed discounts. I can’t believe how much coupons and cashback apps have helped me. The community does benefit me a lot. There will always be someone on hand to explain how it works.”
1. What does saving money mean to Clair Hughes?A.It’s part of her daily life. | B.It makes her shop less. |
C.It’s a way to leave school. | D.It keeps her work organized. |
A.She always asks Shane for suggestions. |
B.She likes going shopping with her friends. |
C.She has bought some goods in low prices. |
D.She is good at discussing prices with others. |
A.Hughes’ feelings of her life. | B.Hughes’ ways to get coupons. |
C.Hughes’ appreciation for society. | D.Hughes’ difficulty in saving money. |
A.A Graduate Enjoys Shopping | B.A Community Collects Coupons |
C.A Woman Focuses on Saving Money | D.A Shopper Is Famous for Saving Money |
7 . Spanish class scared me in the freshman year. I knew little Spanish before starting the class, and I thought it would be
Before the exam, Mary often asked us to
Mary was
Mary’s
A.exciting | B.easy | C.boring | D.beneficial |
A.variation | B.disturbance | C.annoyance | D.inconvenience |
A.explain | B.describe | C.prepare | D.review |
A.challenged | B.enjoyed | C.trusted | D.developed |
A.experience | B.time | C.losses | D.mistakes |
A.seriously | B.roughly | C.modestly | D.curiously |
A.amused | B.respected | C.judged | D.spotted |
A.understanding | B.humble | C.athletic | D.courageous |
A.discouraged | B.suspected | C.heartened | D.comforted |
A.stand out | B.reach out | C.get around | D.get by |
A.passive | B.conventional | C.voluntary | D.innovative |
A.fear | B.sorrow | C.anger | D.confusion |
A.know | B.match | C.enhance | D.assess |
A.secure | B.supportive | C.economic | D.competitive |
A.pity | B.profit | C.debate | D.desire |
8 . Scientists looking to uncover the mysteries of the underwater world have more valuable information thanks to an international team that has produced a list of species confirmed or expected to produce sounds underwater.
Led by Audrey Looby from the University of Florida, the Global Library of Underwater Biological Sounds working group collaborated with the World Register of Marine Species to document 729 mammals (哺乳动物), fishes, and invertebrates (无脊椎动物) that produce active or passive sounds. In addition, the list includes another 21,911 species that are considered to likely produce sounds.
“With more than 70% of the Earth’s surface covered by water, most of the planet’s habitats are aquatic, and there is a misconception that most aquatic organisms are silent. The newly published comprehensive digital database on what animals are known to make sounds is the first of its kind and can revolutionize marine and aquatic science,” the researchers said.
“Listening to underwater sounds can reveal a lot of information about the species that produce them and is useful for a variety of applications, ranging from fisheries management, invasive species detection to assessing human environmental impacts,” said Looby, who also co-created FishSounds, which offers a collection of fish sound production research records.
The team’s research was published in Scientific Data and involved 19 authors from six countries. “Understanding how marine species interact with their environments is of global importance, and this data being freely available is a major step toward that goal,” said Kieran Cox, a member of the research team.
“Most people are familiar with whale or dolphin sounds but are often surprised to learn that many fishes and invertebrates use sounds to communicate, too,” Looby said. “Our database helps demonstrate how widespread underwater sound production really is across a variety of animals, but we still have a lot to learn.”
1. Why is the data listed in paragraph 2?A.To show the types of biological sounds. |
B.To show the sum of documents on animals. |
C.To show the species of underwater animals. |
D.To show the number of the sound-producing species. |
A.Many mammals can live in water. | B.Most fishes cannot make sounds. |
C.Different species can communicate. | D.Ocean animals can’t get onto the land. |
A.To document ocean animals’ sounds. |
B.To set up a free database for scientists. |
C.To learn how ocean animals communicate. |
D.To publish the team’s research in Scientific Data. |
A.To call on people to protect ocean animals. |
B.To introduce the finding of a research team. |
C.To list the animals that can produce sounds. |
D.To describe the mysterious underwater world. |
9 . Every day, people share more than 2 billion photos on the Internet. While visual content provides a fun and expressive way for people to communicate online, consuming and creating it poses challenges for people who are blind or severely visually impaired (受损的). With more than 39 million people who are blind, and over 246 million who have a severe visual impairment, many people may feel excluded from the conversation around photos on the Internet. The researchers from Harvard University want to build technology that helps the blind community appreciate photos in the same way others enjoy them.
Automatic alternative text is a new development that generates a description of a photo using advancements in object recognition technology. People using screen readers on digital devices will hear a list of items a photo may contain as they click photos on the Internet. Before today, people using screen readers would only hear the name of the person who shared the photo, followed by the term “photo” when they came upon an image. Now they can offer a richer description of what’s in a photo thanks to automatic alternative text. For instance, someone could now hear “an image containing three people, smiling, outdoors”.
This is possible because of Harvard University’s object recognition technology, which is based on a network that has billions of parameters and is trained with millions of examples. Each advancement in object recognition technology means that the researchers will be able to make technology even more accessible to more people. When people are connected, they can achieve extraordinary things as individuals and as a community, and when everyone is connected, we all benefit from it.
They are launching automatic alternative text first on cellphone screen readers set to English, but they plan to add this functionality for other languages and platforms soon. While this technology is still nascent, using its current capabilities to describe photos is an important step toward providing our visually impaired community with the same benefits and enjoyment that everyone else gets from photos.
1. Why is the technology launched?A.There are so many photos on the Internet. |
B.There are many people suffering from blindness. |
C.Some digital devices are in need of the technology. |
D.People with vision problems fail to enjoy photos online. |
A.It can offer more photos to blind people. |
B.It can describe more about online photos. |
C.It can recognize the person who shares photos. |
D.It can satisfy the common needs of blind people. |
A.The photos on the Internet. | B.People’s care for blind people. |
C.People’s connections to each other. | D.The object recognition technology. |
A.Emerging. | B.Reliable. | C.Powerful. | D.Conventional. |
The Ocean of Stars, a symphony (交响乐) concert by Suzhou Symphony Orchestra, was staged at the Jinji Lake Concert Hall in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, on July 15, 2023.
The orchestra teamed up with Suzhou Silk Museum, presenting a modern show, which saw musicians of the orchestra wearing and showing
Suzhou Symphony Orchestra also announced
The year 2023 marked the 65th anniversary of foreign relations between China and Algeria. It was the first time the orchestra