1 . Flinging brightly coloured objects around a screen at high speed is not what computers’ central processing units were designed for. So manufacturers of arcade machines invented the graphics-processing unit (GPU), a set of circuits to handle video games’ visuals in parallel to the work done by the central processor. The GPU’s ability to speed up complex tasks has since found wider uses: video editing, cryptocurrency mining and most recently, the training of artificial intelligence.
AI is now disrupting the industry that helped bring it into being. Every part of entertainment stands to be affected by generative AI, which digests inputs of text, image, audio or video to create new outputs of the same. But the games business will change the most, argues Andreessen Horowitz, a venture-capital (VC) firm. Games interactivity requires them to be stuffed with laboriously designed content: consider the 30 square miles of landscape or 60 hours of music in “Red Dead Redemption 2”, a recent cowboy adventure. Enlisting AI assistants to churn it out could drastically shrink timescales and budgets.
AI represents an “explosion of opportunity” and could drastically change the landscape of game development. Making a game is already easier than it was: nearly 13,000 titles were published last year on Steam, a games platform, almost double the number in 2017. Gaming may soon resemble the music and video industries in which most new content on Spotify or YouTube is user-generated. One games executive predicts that small firms will be the quickest to work out what new genres are made possible by AI. Last month Raja Koduri, an executive at Intel, left the chip maker to found an AI-gaming startup.
Don’t count the big studios out, though. If they can release half a dozen high-quality titles a year instead of a couple, it might chip away at the hit-driven nature of their business, says Josh Chapman of Konvoy, a gaming focused VC firm. A world of more choices also favors those with big marketing budgets. And the giants may have better answers to the mounting copyright questions around AI. If generative models have to be trained on data to which the developer has the rights, those with big back-catalogues will be better placed than startups. Trent Kaniuga, an artist who has worked on games like “Fortnite”, said last month that several clients had updated their contracts to ban AI-generated art.
If the lawyers don’t intervene, unions might. Studios diplomatically refer to AI assistants as “co-pilots”, not replacements for humans.
1. The original purpose behind the invention of the graphics-processing unit (GPU) was to ________.A.speed up complex tasks in video editing and cryptocurrency mining |
B.assist in the developing and training of artificial intelligence |
C.disrupt the industry and create new outputs using generative AI |
D.offload game visual tasks from the central processor |
A.It contributes to the growth of user-generated content. |
B.It facilitates blockbuster dependency on big studios. |
C.It decreases collaboration between different stakeholders in the industry. |
D.It may help to consolidate the gaming market under major corporations. |
A.AI favors the businesses with small marketing budgets. |
B.AI is expected to simplify game development processes. |
C.AI allows startups to gain an edge over big firms with authorized data. |
D.AI assistants may serve as human substitutes for studios. |
A.The evolution of graphics-processing units (GPUs). |
B.The impact of generative AI on the gaming industry. |
C.The societal significance of graphics-processing units (GPUs). |
D.The challenges generative AI presents to gaming studios. |
假设你是明启中学李华,你校艺术节即将举办主题为“最美瞬间”的摄影展,捕捉“热爱生活、积极向上、全面发展”等正能量的精彩瞬间。现邀请每位同学提供自己生活中的一张照片参展,并撰写摄影作品的介绍供参观者阅读。你打算提供什么样的照片?请写一篇短文作为参展摄影作品的介绍,内容包括:
1) 对该照片的简要描述;
2) 你选择该照片参展的理由。
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3 . The cultivation of plants by ants is more widespread than previously realized, and has evolved on at least 15 separate occasions.
There are more than 200 species of ant in the Americas that farm fungi (真菌) for food, but this trait evolved just once sometime between 45 million and 65 million years ago. Biologists regard the cultivation of fungi by ants as true agriculture appearing earlier than human agriculture because it meets four criteria: the ants plant the fungus, care for it, harvest it and depend on it for food.
By contrast, while thousands of ant species are known to have a wide variety of interdependent relationships with plants, none were regarded as true agriculture. But in 2016, Guillaume Chomicki and Susanne Renner at the University of Munich, Germany, discovered that an ant in Fungi cultivates several plants in a way that meets the four criteria for true agriculture.
The ants collect the seeds of the plants and place them in cracks in the bark of trees. As the plants grow, they form hollow structures called domain that the ants nest in. The ants defecate (排便) at designated absorptive places in these domain, providing nutrients for the plant. In return, as well as shelter, the plant provides food in the form of fruit juice.
This discovery prompted Chomicki and others to review the literature on ant-plant relationships to see if there are other examples of plant cultivation that have been overlooked. “They have never really been looked at in the framework of agriculture,” says Chomicki, who is now at the University of Sheffield in the UK. “It’s definitely widespread.”
The team identified 37 examples of tree-living ants that cultivate plants that grow on trees, known as epiphytes (附生植物). By looking at the family trees of the ant species, the team was able to determine on how many occasions plant cultivation evolved and roughly when. Fifteen is a conservative estimate, says Campbell. All the systems evolved relatively recently, around 1million to 3 million years ago, she says.
Whether the 37 examples of plant cultivation identified by the team count as true agriculture depends on the definitions used. Not all of the species get food from the plants, but they do rely on them for shelter, which is crucial for ants living in trees, says Campbell. So the team thinks the definition of true agriculture should include shelter as well as food.
1. According to biologists, why is ant-fungus cultivation considered as a form of true agriculture?A.Because it occurred earlier than human agriculture. |
B.Because it fulfills the standards typical of agricultural practices. |
C.Because it redefines the four criteria for true human agriculture. |
D.Because it is less common than previously thought. |
A.They determined on new family trees of the ant species. |
B.They overlooked some tree-living ants that provided nutrients for the plants. |
C.They never studied the ant-plant relationships within the context of agriculture. |
D.They never identified any an t species that engaged in cultivation of fungi. |
A.Ants’ cultivation of plants is limited to a few specific species. |
B.The cultivation of fungi by ants is considered the earliest form of agriculture. |
C.True agriculture in ants involves only food-related interactions with plants. |
D.Ants have independently cultivated plants on at least 15 distinct occasions. |
A.The evolution of ants in the plant kingdom. |
B.The widespread occurrence of ant-plant cultivation. |
C.The discovery of a new ant species engaging in agriculture. |
D.The contrast between ant agriculture and human agriculture. |
4 . Investors probably expect that following the suggestions of stock analysts would make them better off than doing the exact opposite.
Gennaioli and colleagues shed light on this
After observing strong earnings growth—the explanation goes—analysts think that the firm may be the next Google. “Googles” are in fact more frequent among firms experiencing strong growth, which makes them
In related work, the authors also show that the same model can
These works are part of a research project aimed at taking insights from cognitive sciences and at
Representativeness helps describe
A.Consequently | B.Furthermore | C.Nevertheless | D.Meanwhile |
A.curious | B.controversial | C.concerned | D.optimistic |
A.In brief | B.By contrast | C.In addition | D.Without doubt |
A.engagement | B.concentration | C.puzzle | D.definition |
A.memorize | B.prioritize | C.modernize | D.fertilize |
A.representative | B.argumentative | C.executive | D.sensitive |
A.harsh | B.adaptable | C.crucial | D.rare |
A.cheers | B.disappoints | C.stabilizes | D.improves |
A.account for | B.count on | C.suffer from | D.hold up |
A.pouring | B.admitting | C.integrating | D.tempting |
A.pretend | B.afford | C.offer | D.tend |
A.effects | B.delights | C.intervals | D.codes |
A.companions | B.scales | C.expectations | D.findings |
A.necessity | B.involvement | C.perseverance | D.reluctance |
A.equivalent | B.exceptional | C.mysterious | D.distressing |
Japan’s robot revolution in senior care
Japan’s artificial intelligence expertise is transforming the elder care industry, with
The rapidly graying population
The long-standing shortage of professional care workers has encouraged the Japanese government
6 . In a letter he wrote in 1884, Mark Twain complained that “Telephones, telegraphs and words are too slow for this age; we must get something that is faster.” “We should communicate by thought only, and say in a couple of minutes what should have ballooned into
Despite the progress the previous century brought for our understanding of both language and the brain, we are no closer to telepathy(心灵感应), communication from one mind to another by
“Good old-fashioned telepathy” (GOFT) involves a direct transfer of
Besides, GOFT promises genuine communication. However,
These weaknesses have driven people to look for alternatives and finally inspired inventions of artificial languages trying to remove misunderstanding. Of course, one day when technology allows, a direct thought-to-thought transfer seems the
Many of us have the confidence that we can think faster than we can speak or write. Having to rely
A.words | B.gestures | C.actions | D.costs |
A.extra-genetic | B.extra-familial | C.extra-sensory | D.extra-legal |
A.sacrificed | B.popularized | C.enclosed | D.balanced |
A.strength | B.intelligence | C.thoughts | D.structures |
A.limitations | B.expenses | C.command | D.evolution |
A.replace | B.update | C.decode | D.imitate |
A.avoidance | B.discrimination | C.employment | D.expansion |
A.reluctance | B.privacy | C.fear | D.misinterpretation |
A.contradict | B.indicate | C.delay | D.justify |
A.multiple | B.invisible | C.ultimate | D.equivalent |
A.roughly | B.casually | C.entirely | D.willingly |
A.distraction | B.prospect | C.origin | D.regulation |
A.fed up | B.set up | C.cut off | D.let loose |
A.profitable | B.meaningful | C.steady | D.typical |
A.charm | B.recognition | C.efficiency | D.endurance |
A.Because she couldn’t afford to pay for education at school. |
B.Because she hated being separated from her daughter. |
C.Because home-schooling was encouraged by the government. |
D.Because many parents chose to home school their kids. |
A.That it saves schooling budget. |
B.That it enables kids to be more prepared for real world life. |
C.That it prevents kids from having conflicts with classmates. |
D.That lesson plans can be arranged with more flexibility. |
A.That she combines learning with life. |
B.That she forbids mobile phone use. |
C.That she teaches her kids by herself. |
D.That she never has troubles with her kids. |
A.It solved all psychological problems. |
B.It lacked attention on what was good about life. |
C.It ignored research into treating mental illnesses. |
D.It was developing too slowly. |
A.It was confused with positive thinking. | B.It’s still not a science yet. |
C.It ignores individual diversity. | D.It doesn’t present enough findings. |
A.The origin and facts of positive psychology. |
B.The advantages of positive psychology. |
C.People’s opinions about positive psychology. |
D.The special cases in positive psychology. |
你所居住的小区,虽地处闹市,但因建成较早,当年规划的300个停车位早已不能满足500户居民的停车需求。小区业委会(owners’ committee)现正就如何缓解小区停车难这一问题征求居民们意见。在小区公众号留言,谈谈你的看法。留言中包括:
1.你的建议;
2.你的理由。
(文中不得出现考生姓名,学校等真实信息)
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10 . You’re running late for work and you can’t find your keys: What’s really annoying is that in your search, you pick up and move them without realizing. This may be because the brain systems involved in the task are working at different speeds, with the system responsible for perception(感知)unable to keep pace.
So says Grayden Solman and his colleagues at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada. To investigate how we search, Solman’s team created a simple computer-based task that involved searching through a pile of colored shapes on a computer screen. Volunteers were instructed to find a specific shapes as quickly as possible, while the computer monitored their actions.“Between 10 and 20 percent of the time, they would miss the object,”says Solman, even though they picked it up.“We thought that was remarkably often.”
To find out why, the team developed a number of further experiments. To check whether volunteers were just forgetting their target, they gave a new group a list of items to memorize before the search task, which they had to recall afterwards.
The idea was to fill each volunteer’s“memory load”,so that they were unable to hold any other information in their short-term memory. Although this was expected to have a negative effect on their performance at the search task, the extra load made no difference to the percentage of mistakes volunteers made.
To check that the volunteers were paying enough attention to the items they were moving, Solman’s team created another task involving a pile of cards marked with shapes that only became visible while the card was being moved. Again, they were surprised to see the same level of error, says Solman. Finally, the team analyzed participants’ mouse movements as they were carrying out a similar search task. They discovered that volunteers’ movements were slower after they had moved and missed their target.
Solman’s team propose that the system in the brain that deals with movement is running too quickly for the visual system to keep up. While you are searching around a messy house to find your keys, you might not be giving your visual system enough time to work out what each object is. Since time can be costly, sacrificing accuracy on occasion for speed might be beneficial overall, Solman thinks.
The slowing of mouse movements suggests that at some level the volunteers were aware that they had missed their target, a theory that is backed up by other studies that show people tend to slow down their actions after they have made a mistake, even if they don’t consciously realize the mistake.
1. What conclusion has Solman drawn from the first task?A.More volunteers are needed to confirm the findings. |
B.It happens very often that people miss what they intend to find. |
C.Computers make negative effects on how people perform at the task. |
D.Targets tend to be forgotten after people search for 10 minutes or more. |
A.Cards marked with shapes may become a source of distraction. |
B.Fewer errors will be made if people are forbidden to move cards. |
C.People may be absent-minded even when they are moving something. |
D.Volunteers prefer to use a mouse to control the objects on the computer screen. |
A.Mistakes will cause people to reduce the speed. |
B.Our visual system can’t keep up with the brain system. |
C.The faster people move, the more mistakes they will make. |
D.People’s actions are independent of the mistakes they make. |
A.Better memory, worse search |
B.Accuracy speaks louder than speed |
C.Hurry up, or you will make mistakes |
D.Slow down your search to find your keys |