1 . Some people are so rude. Who sends an e-mail or a text message that just says “Thank you?” Who leaves a voice mail message rather than texts you? Who asks for a fact easily found on the Internet?
Maybe I’m the rude one for not appreciating life’s little courtesies(礼节). But many social norms(规范) just don’t make sense to people drowning in digital communication.
Take the thank-you note. Daniel Post Senning, a coauthor of Emily Post’s Etiquette，asked, “At what point does showing appreciation outweigh the cost?”
This isn’t the first time technology has changed our manners,
In the age of the smart phone, there is no reason to ask once-acceptable questions about:the weather forecast, a business’s phone number, or directions to a house, a restaurant, or an office, which can be easily found on a digital map.
How to handle these differing standards? Easy: Consider your audience. Some people,especially older ones, appreciate a thank-you message.
A. Then there is voice mail.
B. Others, like me, want no reply.
C. But people still ask these things.
D. Don’t these people realize that they’re wasting your time?
E. Won't new technology bring about changes in our daily life?
F. Face-to-face communication makes comprehension much easier.
G. When the telephone was invented, people didn't know how to greet a caller.
2 . Gwendolyn Brooks was the first African American to win a Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. Gwendolyn Brooks wrote hundreds of poems during her lifetime. She was known around the world for using poetry to increase understanding about black culture in America.
Her poems described conditions among the poor, racial inequality and drug use in the black community. She also wrote poems about the struggles of black women. But her skill was more than her ability to write about struggling black people. She was an expert at the language of poetry. She combined traditional European poetry styles with the African American experience.
In her early poetry, Gwendolyn Brooks wrote about the South Side of Chicago. The South Side of Chicago is where many back people live. In her poems, the South Side is called Bronzeville. It was A Street in Bronzeville that gained the attention of literary experts in 1945. Critics praised her poetic skill and her powerful descriptions of the black experience during the time. The Bronzeville poems were her first published collection.
In 1950, Gwendolyn Brooks became the first African American to win the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. She won the prize for her second book of poems called Annie Allen. Annie Allen is a collection of poetry about the life of a Bronzeville girl as a daughter, a wife and mother. She experiences loneliness, loss, death and being poor. Ms. Brooks said that winning the prize changed her life.
Her next work was a novel written in 1953 called Maud Martha, Maud Martha received little notice when it was first published. But now it is considered an important work by some critics. Its main ideas about the difficult life of many women are popular among female writers today.
In some of her poems, Gwendolyn Brooks described how what people see in life is affected by who they are. One example is this poem, Corners on the Curing Sky.
By the end of the 1960s, Gwendolyn brooks's poetry expanded from the everyday experiences of people in Bronzeville. She wrote about a wider world and dealt with important political issues.
1. What does the text mainly talk about?| A．The life of Gwendolyn Brooks. | B．The poems of Gwendolyn Brooks |
| C．The understanding about black culture. | D．The struggles of black women. |
| A．She mainly wrote about the struggles of black women. |
| B．She was good at using the language of poetry |
| C．Her writing skills were a little worse than her ability. |
| D．Her poems were mainly about the African experience |
| A．providing examples | B．using statistics |
| C．comparing opinions | D．describing her experiences |
| A．the difficulties Gwendolyn Brooks would meet |
| B．the poems related to political issues |
| C．the awards Gwendolyn Brooks gained |
| D．the racial inequality the black had to face |
3 . If you are travelling in Britain, besides so many world-class things to see and do in London, planning a day trip away from it can also be worthwhile.
Stonehenge
Stonehenge consists of a group of huge standing stones. The 5,000-year-old stones are one of the world’s biggest mysteries that no one has figured out yet. While exploring Stonehenge, you can imagine wildly and decide for yourself how the stones came to be there and why. Although you can’t touch the stones, you can walk among them and feel the changes of seasons.
Windsor
Most people visit Windsor to see Windsor Castle, where the Queen spends most of her time. The castle itself could keep you busy for days. The best way to appreciate Windsor Castle is to approach via the Long Walk, a straight road where there are no cars, but you might see some deer.
Oxford
Oxford is best known for its world-famous university. The large student population keeps the atmosphere young and fresh, though there’s no shortage of history if you want it. 30 colleges make up the university itself. A tour of the colleges is a must—Harry Potter fans will recognize various locations used in the movies.
Bath
Founded by the Romans, who used the area’s springs to create a spa retreat（水疗中心）, Bath’s now the best tourist attraction of Southwest England. Visitors never miss the Roman Bath Complex, which is divided into four main parts—the Bath House, the Sacred Spring, the Roman Temple and the museum, which displays fascinating finds from the historical ruins of the city.
1. What remains a mystery about Stonehenge?| A．How long it has been there. | B．Why the stones can’t be touched. |
| C．How the stones came there. | D．Why it changes with seasons. |
| A．London | B．Oxford University |
| C．Windsor Castle | D．Bath House |
| A．London is no longer a popular tourist destination |
| B．visitors will be received by the Queen in Windsor Castle |
| C．the large number of college students adds freshness to Oxford |
| D．the historical ruins of Bath is not worth visiting |
4 . To help you travel well in Argentina, we’ve put together some exciting activities, courses and tours that you can add to your schedule. These are not only designed to be fun, but also to enable you to learn and expand your personal and professional development.
Walking Tour of La Boca
The 5-hour tour, moderate (适度的) walking, departs at 11 am in Monserrat and finishes at 4:30 pm, Tuesdays and Fridays.
Price: £15 per person
Tour the beautiful cobble stone (鹅卵石) streets of Le Boca, the heart of Buenos Aires and the birth place of Tango. This fascinating walking tour is a must if you want to explore the rich history of Buenos Aires.
Photography Courses
6 hours of lessons per week
Price: £295 for two weeks
Study photography with an experienced private tutor who will tailor your lessons to your individual needs. Classes include practical teaching, analysis of your work, theory and history and regular opportunities to explore the city by yourself to photograph landscapes of the city.
Graffiti Tour of Buenos Aires
The 3-hour tour departs at 3 pm in Colegiales and finishes at 6 pm in Palermo, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays or Saturdays.
Price: £35 per person
Experience the world of urban art through this wonderful tour of Buenos Aires. You can travel both on foot and by air-conditioned minibus. The tour finishes in Post Bar in Palermo, home to the unique street art gallery Hollywood and Cambodia.
Spanish Courses
1-Week Intensive Course with private lessons, before starting your Main Project
Price: £590 per week
Weekly Lessons: 10 hours of lessons per week running concurrent with your Main Project
Price: £195 per week ,
Use your time in Argentina to learn Spanish. You can either do a 1 -week intensive course or take lessons at the same time as doing your main project.
1. Which activity or course will enable you to learn the history of Buenos Aires?| A．Photography Courses. | B．Graffiti Tour of Buenos Aires. |
| C．Spanish Courses. | D．Walking Tour of La Boca. |
| A．Explore the rich history of Argentina. | B．Do a 1-week intensive course. |
| C．Enjoy the unique street art. | D．Photograph landscapes. |
| A．Adventurous. | B．Educational. |
| C．Fun. | D．Exciting. |
5 . In 1812, the year Charles Dickens was born, there were 66 novels published in Britain. People had been writing novels for a century—most experts date the first novel to Robinson Crusoe in 1719—
but nobody wanted to do it professionally. The steam-powered printing press was still in its early stages; the literacy（识字） rate in England was under 50%. Many works of fiction appeared without the names of the authors, often with something like “By a lady.”Novels, for the most part, were looked upon as silly, immoral, or just plain bad.
In 1870, when Dickens died, the world mourned him as its first professional writer and publisher, famous and beloved, who had led an explosion in both the publication of novels and their readership and whose characters — from Oliver Twist to Tiny Tim— were held up as moral touchstones. Today Dickens’ greatness is unchallenged. Removing him from the pantheon（名人堂） of English literature would make about as much sense as the Louvre selling off the Mona Lisa.
How did Dickens get to the top? For all the feelings readers attach to stories, literature is a numbers game, and the test of time is extremely difficult to pass. Some 60,000 novels were published during the Victorian age, from 1837 to1901; today a casual reader might be able to name a half-dozen of them. It’s partly true that Dickens’ style of writing attracted audiences
from all walks of life. It’s partly that his writings rode a wave of social, political and scientific progress. But it’s also that he rewrote the culture of literature and put himself at the center. No one will ever know what mix of talent, ambition, energy and luck made Dickens such a singular writer. But as the 200th anniversary of his birth approaches, it is possible — and important for our own culture—to understand how he made himself a lasting one.
1. Which of the following best describes British novels in the 18th century?| A．They were difficult to understand. |
| B．They were popular among the rich. |
| C．They were seen as nearly worthless. |
| D．They were written mostly by women. |
| A．his reputation in France |
| B．his interest in modern art |
| C．his success in publication |
| D．his importance in literature |
| A．To remember a great writer. |
| B．To introduce an English novel. |
| C．To encourage studies on culture. |
| D．To promote values of the Victorian age. |
6 . If you are already making the time to exercise, it is good indeed! With such busy lives, it can be hard to try and find the time to work out.
Your productivity is improved. Exercising makes you more awake and ready to handle whatever is ahead of you for the day.
Your metabolism(新陈代谢) gets a head start.
There are a lot of benefits to working out, especially in the mornings. Set your alarm clock an hour early and push yourself to work out! You will feel energized all day long.
| A．You will stick to your diet. |
| B．Your quality of sleep improves. |
| C．You prefer healthy food to fast food. |
| D．There is no reason you should exercise in the morning. |
| E．You can keep your head clear for 4-10 hours after exercise. |
| F．After you exercise, you continue to burn calories throughout the day. |
| G．If you are planning to do exercise regularly, or you’re doing it now, then listen up! |
7 . When I was in my fourth year of teaching，I was also（and am still）a high school track and field coach（田径教练）. One year，I had a student，John，who entered my class when he was a junior. John changed to our school from Greece，and seemed to be interested in sports，so I encouraged him to join our track team. I explained to him that even though he had never taken part in it before，I did believe that he could do well in any event，and that I would be willing to coach him in whichever ones interested him. He accepted the offer，and began to work hard at every practice.
About a month later，I had found out from other sources that John was a first-class tennis player，winning various junior awards in his home country. I went to him asking，“John，I really appreciate that you came out for the track team，but why didn’t you play tennis instead？It seems that would interest you a lot more，since you’re so good at it.”John answered，“Well，I like tennis，but you told me that you believed in me，and that you thought I could do well in track，so I wanted to try it for that reason.”
From then on，I often remember my student’s reply. I told it to a friend and she suggested I write it down to share somewhere with more teachers. No matter how critical（挑剔的）students can be of themselves，I’ve found that a simple“I trust that you can do it！”can go a long way！
1. According to Paragraph 1，what did the author seem to think more about？| A．John’s PE marks. |
| B．John’s self-confidence. |
| C．John’s interest in sports. |
| D．John’s state of health. |
| A．He had been an excellent runner. |
| B．He was encouraged by his teacher. |
| C．He liked running more than tennis. |
| D．He had no tennis coach to train him. |
| A．To build a close teacher-student relationship. |
| B．To introduce a new way of sports training. |
| C．To explain the value of sports. |
| D．To show the importance of encouragement. |
| A．Teachers. | B．Parents. |
| C．Students. | D．Players. |
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. |
9 . There is no doubt that many parents want to mold (塑造)their child to be better, faster, smarter and more skilled. Even though human parents can’t do that, a robot that builds its own children can. Scientists at the University of Cambridge in England have created a mother robot that not only creates its own children, but tests out their performance.
The mother robot analyzes(分析)the performance of each of the “children” it creates, and passes down good characters to the next generation
For example, as the mother creates them and puts them to work, she measures how they’re behaving, and she uses data from this behavior to create the next generation of robots.
The mother robot can actually build hundreds of child robots and see the performance of these child robots. And if their performance is good, keep their design for the next generation. And if bad, just let it go.
“We program the robots based on some functions that define(规定)the reward the robots are going to get, depending on the construction that they make. They cannot change their own reward. For the child robot, the longer the distance the robot walks, the better the reward it receives,” said Fumiya Iida, the lead researcher.
After several generations, the “children” were running twice as fast.
“The mother robot produced 500 robots to see which one is good and which one is bad,” said Iida.
The researchers believe that the machines can be used in a car factory, for example, where robot cameras examine each ear in production line, find out any mistakes, and then design a better car.
1. What is special about the mother robot?| A．It can analyze data |
| B．It can create child robots |
| C．It’s smarter than human mothers |
| D．It can build and improve its own children. |
| A．It teachers them how to behave better. |
| B．It reprograms the bad ones after analyzing their performance |
| C．It copies hundreds of child robots and then chooses the best ones. |
| D．It keeps the good characters for the next generation to create a better robot. |
| A．Size | B．Distance. |
| C．Behavior | D．Speed. |
10 . Do you know sand has been used to draw pictures since ancient times? Today, sandpainting, an interesting art, will be produced to you.
Sandpainting is an art of using the sand to make a fixed or unfixed painting. Maybe we all played fixed sandpainting as we were young. We first painted a simple picture, then we brushed glue(胶水)to the section, and at last we poured colored sand onto the glue in order to make it fixed.Unfixed sandpaintings have a long cultural history around the world. People poured sand on a surface to make paintings or use some tools to draw pictures in the sand directly. They are often temporary(临时的). Different people draw sandpaintings to express different meanings: love of nature, admiration for God or love of beauty.
Nowadays, sandpainting becomes a performance art and its popularity has risen. On the stages, sandpainting performers make a series of images(图像)by drawing lines and figures in the sand with their fingers and hands. The series of images are used to tell a story.
Kseniya Simonova, who is from Ukraine, is one of the greatest sandpainting performers in the world. People call her “The Lady of the Sand”.
Simonova said that she never dreamed she’d become a sand artist, and when she began practicing, she nearly gave it up. But she persevered, caring for a household and her baby by day and training every night. You Are Always Nearby is one of the most famous performances of Simonoova. It is a story about a young couple separated by a war in which the solider is tragically killed, but returns in spirit to watch over his wife and child. This performance makes all audience cry.
Art is everywhere and is not far away from common people. Art of painting is in our life, even in the sand.
1. Which of the following is necessary to make a fixed sandpainting?| A．Glue | B．A printed picture |
| C．Colored paper | D．Water |
| A．She is the best painter in the world |
| B．Being a sand artist is her biggest dream |
| C．She once gave up performing for her family |
| D．Her performances are popular with people |
| A．How sandpainting is becoming popular |
| B．Why sandpainting is becoming popular |
| C．How an image is created in the sand |
| D．What sandpainting tries to express |
| A．set off | B．gave out |
| C．held on | D．ended up |
