Robert
| Age | |
| The weapon he used | |
| The amount of money he robbed | |
| Things he did with the robbed money | Buy hamburgers, |
| The day he was taken to the police |
Global warming could make humans shorter.Scientists claim to have found evidence that it caused the world's first horses
3 . It is often difficult for farmers to identify diseases quickly enough to protect their crops and those on neighboring farms. Now, some farmers are using a simple device directly in the field to find viruses before they spread.
In Tanzania, several viruses are a threat to cassava crops. Farmers struggle to identify the diseases in an urgent effort to avoid severe crop damage. The disease identification process is often difficult when farmers are acting on their own. If they do not know what is attacking their crops, they cannot decide the best way to fight the disease. A device from British technology company Oxford Nanopore is changing that. The device extracts deoxyribonucleic acid, better known as DNA, from plants. DNA is the carrier of genetic information in nearly all living things. The device helps farmers identify what is harming their crops so they can change to more resistant crops.
Laura Boykin is with the University of Western Australia and also works with the Cassava Virus Action Project. She brought the device to a Tanzanian farm owned by Asha Mohamed. She said, “We are here collecting leaf punches from infected material to test, to do a DNA extraction and then start sequencing (排序) in the field.” The testing identified a number of viruses in the cassava fields near Mohamed’s farm. The process also discovered that plants considered resistant to disease had a very low viral level. Once the viruses were identified, Asha Mohamed was given two kinds of seeds that are resistant to the diseases.
In another case, DNA was collected from a pawpaw tree farm in Kenya. With that test, the technology was able to identify diseases affecting Naomi Mumo’s crops. Naomi Mumo said, “All my pawpaw were affected by a disease, and I didn’t know what kind of disease it was. But now, I have people who have identified the disease using new technology, and within a very short time. So I’m very happy.”
The speed at which farmers identify diseases can mean the difference between the success or failure on large areas of crop land. Now, the use of such simple and easily transportable DNA sequencing devices is making that possible.
1. What’s the main idea of the whole passage?| A．Farmers In Tanzania struggle to identify the diseases in their crops |
| B．How Laura Boykin helped Asha Mohamed to identify the viruses. |
| C．DNA sequencing device helps farmers to find viruses and identify the diseases in their crops quickly. |
| D．A DNA sequencing device helps farmers to identify the diseases and keep healthy. |
| A．produces | B．creates | C．refuses | D．gets |
| A．relaxed | B．satisfied | C．disappointed | D．annoyed |
| A．Farmers often have difficulty in identifying diseases in their crops quickly by themselves. |
| B．DNA carries genetic information in nearly all living things. |
| C．Both Asha Mohamed and Naomi Mumo are farmers in Tanzania. |
| D．If farmers can identify diseases in their crops quickly, they can protect their crops and succeed on large areas of crop land. |
4 . Two brothers, Ruby and Harry lived in Spain. They
“Showing
“My mother wanted a BMW ten years ago, which we never
Ruby and his brother Harry saved for about five years
“She was just very surprised and couldn’t
They gave her the car as an early Christmas gift, but also as a
“She
He added, “Maternal love is the most selfless love under the sun and we just thought it would be nice to show how grateful we are for everything and remind ourselves that thankfulness is a virtue.”
1.| A．waited | B．traded | C．saved | D．desired |
| A．concern | B．appreciation | C．respect | D．understanding |
| A．instruct | B．tell | C．promise. | D．offer |
| A．efforts | B．progress | C．opportunity | D．atmosphere |
| A．contribution | B．achievement | C．surprise | D．passion |
| A．minded | B．forgot | C．abandoned | D．witnessed |
| A．made up | B．paid off | C．worked out | D．put away |
| A．dream | B．previous | C．fixed | D．repaired |
| A．since | B．until | C．after | D．before |
| A．confused | B．satisfied | C．shocked | D．disappointed |
| A．called | B．walked | C．attracted | D．drove |
| A．believe | B．reject | C．afford | D．accept |
| A．gradually | B．unconditionally | C．eventually | D．absolutely |
| A．model | B．result | C．symbol | D．signal |
| A．replace | B．change | C．block | D．match |
| A．brought up | B．depended on | C．took in | D．gave out |
| A．leave | B．keep | C．allow | D．teach |
| A．knew | B．owned | C．listed | D．needed |
| A．well-paid | B．smartly-dressed | C．full-time | D．long-sought |
| A．work | B．enjoy | C．arrange | D．expect |
5 . British scientists have discovered the willow trees planted at an angle could increase sugars for biofuel production.
Willow is a fast-growing species. It is already used to produce fuels for the renewable heating and power market. In future it could also help to produce biofuel to power vehicles. It has been known that when willows growing in the wild are blown sideways, they tend to produce more sugars. But for a while it has not been known why this happens.
Researchers at Imperial College London, led by Dr Nicholas Brereton and Dr Michael Ray of the Department of Life Sciences, have now solved the mystery. When the tree is blown sideways, its genes (基因) produce large numbers of sugar molecules (分子) to straighten the tree upwards.
“This is an important breakthrough. Our study now shows that natural genetic changes are related to these differences. And this could well be the key to unlocking the future for green energy from willow,” said Dr Brereton.
The research was carried out under lab conditions. The willows were grown at an angle of 45 degrees. They were compared to willows which grow naturally straight upwards. The team then looked for the same effect among the willows growing on the Isle of Orkney where strong winds cause the trees to bend at extreme angles. They discovered that the Orkney trees produce five times the amount of sugars found in willows grown in sheltered conditions.
Willow is widely planted across the UK. The results show that biofuel crops such as willows could be grown in climatically changeable conditions where chances of growing food crops are limited.
The study is published in Biotechnology for Biofuels.
1. What may happen when willows are planted in strong winds?| A．They stop growing. | B．Few sugars are produced. |
| C．They try to grow sideways. | D．Changes in genes take place. |
| A．are unusually rich in sugars | B．grow naturally straight upward |
| C．look taller than ordinary willows | D．are stronger than those growing in labs |
| A．use biofuel for heating and power | B．are encouraged to grow biofuel crops |
| C．can plant different kinds of food crops | D．should make their willows grow straight |
| A．A personal diary. | B．A travel magazine. |
| C．A scientific journal. | D．A newspaper advertisement. |
| 优点 | 缺点 | 你自己的感想 |
| 1.自信、独立、热情、有志向 2.乐于接受并尝试新事物 3.珍惜友情，善于交流 | 1.自我为中心、依赖性强 2.心理抗挫能力不足 3.缺乏责任感 4.自控力差、沉溺于网络 | (至少两点) |
注意：
1.对所给要点逐一陈述，适当发挥，不要简单翻译。
2.词数150左右。开头已经写好，不计入总词数。
3.参考词汇：挫折frustration
Recently our class has conducted a survey about “The growth of 00's generation”. People’s opinions on it are divided.
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7 . We’ve all been there: in a lift, in line at the bank or on an airplane, surrounded by people who are, like us, deeply focused on their smartphones or, worse, struggling with the uncomfortable silence.
What’s the problem? It’s possible that we all have compromised conversational intelligence. It’s more likely that none of us start a conversation because it’s awkward and challenging, or we think it’s annoying and unnecessary. But the next time you find yourself among strangers, consider that small talk is worth the trouble. Experts say it’s an invaluable social practice that results in big benefits.
Dismissing small talk as unimportant is easy, but we can’t forget that deep relationships wouldn’t
even exist if it weren’t for casual conversation. Small talk is the grease(润滑剂) for social communication, says Bernardo Carducci, director of the Shyness Research Institute at Indiana University Southeast. ＂Almost every great love story and each big business deal begins with small talk,＂ he explains. ＂The key to successful small talk is learning how to connect with others, not just communicate with them.＂
In a 2014 study, Elizabeth Dunn, associate professor of psychology at UBC, invited people on their way into a coffee shop. One group was asked to seek out an interaction(互动) with its waiter; the other, to speak only when necessary. The results showed that those who chatted with their server reported significantly higher positive feelings and a better coffee shop experience. ＂It’s not that talking to the waiter is better than talking to your husband,＂ says Dunn. ＂But interactions with peripheral(边缘的) members of our social network matter for our well-being also.＂
Dunn believes that people who reach out to strangers feel a significantly greater sense of belonging, a bond with others. Carducci believes developing such a sense of belonging starts with small talk. ＂Small talk is the basis of good manners,＂ he says.
1. What phenomenon is described in the first paragraph?| A．Addiction to smartphones. |
| B．Inappropriate behaviours in public places. |
| C．Absence of communication between strangers. |
| D．Impatience with slow service. |
| A．Showing good manners. | B．Relating to other people. |
| C．Focusing on a topic. | D．Making business deals. |
| A．It improves family relationships. | B．It raises people’s confidence. |
| C．It matters as much as a formal talk. | D．It makes people feel good. |
| A．Conversation Counts | B．Ways of Making Small Talk |
| C．Benefits of Small Talk | D．Uncomfortable Silence |
8 . Hollywood’s theory that machines with evil(邪恶) minds will drive armies of killer robots is just silly. The real problem relates to the possibility that artificial intelligence(AI) may become extremely good at achieving something other than what we really want. In 1960 a well-known mathematician Norbert Wiener, who founded the field of cybernetics（控制论）, put it this way: “If we use, to achieve our purposes, a mechanical agency with whose operation we cannot effectively interfere(干预), we had better be quite sure that the purpose put into the machine is the purpose which we really desire.”
A machine with a specific purpose has another quality, one that we usually associate with living things: a wish to preserve its own existence. For the machine, this quality is not in-born, nor is it something introduced by humans; it is a logical consequence of the simple fact that the machine cannot achieve its original purpose if it is dead. So if we send out a robot with the single instruction of fetching coffee, it will have a strong desire to secure success by disabling its own off switch or even killing anyone who might interfere with its task. If we are not careful, then, we could face a kind of global chess match against very determined, super intelligent machines whose objectives conflict with our own, with the real world as the chessboard.
The possibility of entering into and losing such a match should concentrate the minds of computer scientists. Some researchers argue that we can seal the machines inside a kind of firewall, using them to answer difficult questions but never allowing them to affect the real world. Unfortunately, that plan seems unlikely to work: we have yet to invent a firewall that is secure against ordinary humans, let alone super intelligent machines.
Solving the safety problem well enough to move forward in AI seems to be possible but not easy. There are probably decades in which to plan for the arrival of super intelligent machines. But the problem should not be dismissed out of hand, as it has been by some AI researchers. Some argue that humans and machines can coexist as long as they work in teams—yet that is not possible unless machines share the goals of humans. Others say we can just “switch them off” as if super intelligent machines are too stupid to think of that possibility. Still others think that super intelligent AI will never happen. On September 11, 1933, famous physicist Ernest Rutherford stated, with confidence, “Anyone who expects a source of power in the transformation of these atoms is talking moonshine.” However, on September 12, 1933, physicist Leo Szilard invented the neutron-induced(中子诱导) nuclear chain reaction.
1. Paragraph 1 mainly tells us that artificial intelligence may .| A．run out of human control |
| B．satisfy human’s real desires |
| C．command armies of killer robots |
| D．work faster than a mathematician |
| A．prevent themselves from being destroyed |
| B．achieve their original goals independently |
| C．do anything successfully with given orders |
| D．beat humans in international chess matches |
| A．help super intelligent machines work better |
| B．be secure against evil human beings |
| C．keep machines from being harmed |
| D．avoid robots’ affecting the world |
| A．It will disappear with the development of AI. |
| B．It will get worse with human interference. |
| C．It will be solved but with difficulty. |
| D．It will stay for a decade. |
What in the world ,Harold wonders ,do they have to talk about ?
Betty shrugs .Talk ? We’re friends .
Researching this matter called friendship ,psychologist Lillian Rubin spent two years interviewing more than two hundred women and men .No matter what their age ,their job ,their sex ,the results were completely clear :women have more friendships than men ,and the difference in the content and the quality of those friendships is “marked and unmistakable .”
More than two –thirds of the single men Rubin interviewed could not name a best friend. Those who could were likely to name a woman .Yet three-quarters of the single women had no problem naming a best friend ,and almost always it was a woman .More married men than women named their wife/husband as a best friend ,most trusted person ,or the one they would turn to in time of emotional distress （感情危机）.“Most women ,”says Rubin ,“identified （认定） at least one ,usually more ,trusted friends to whom they could turn in a troubled moment ,and they spoke openly about the importance of these relationships in their lives .”
“In general,”writes Rubin in her new book ,“women’s friendships with each other rest on shared emotions and support ,but men’s relationships are marked by shared activities.” For the most part ,Rubin says ,interactions （交往）between men are emotionally controlled –a good fit with the social requirements of “manly behavior .”
“Even when a man is said to be a best friend ,”Rubin writes ,“the two share little about their innermost feelings .Whereas a woman’s closest female friend might be the first to tell her to leave a failing marriage ,it wasn’t unusual to hear a man say he didn’t know his friend’s marriage was in serious trouble until he appeared one night asking if he could sleep on the sofa .”
1. What old Harold cannot understand or explain is the fact that .
| A．he is treated as an outsider rather than a husband |
| B．women have so much to share |
| C．women show little interest in ballgames |
| D．he finds his wife difficult to talk to |
| A．a male friend | B．a female friend | C．her parents | D．her husband |
| A．Men keep their innermost feelings to themselves. |
| B．Women are more serious than men about marriage. |
| C．Men often take sudden action to end their marriage. |
| D．Women depend on others in making decisions. |
| A．happy and successful marriages |
| B．friendships of men and women |
| C．emotional problems in marriage |
| D．interactions between men and women |
