1 . How clever can a computer be? Maybe you can get the answer after reading the following passage about a newly-developed US computer program called Smarter Child.
If you ran into Smarter Child online, you would be surprised at this kid’s huge memory. It can remember many facts. For example, Smarter Child knows every baseball player in every team this season and the weather in every city across the US. He also knows every word in the dictionary. However, if you ask Smarter Child other private questions, you will get strange answers. A question about Smarter Child’s age returns, “I’ll be older than you after further study!”, and asking where he lives, you will get, “In a clean room in a high-tech building in California.”
Smarter Child uses the huge information on the World Wide Web as his memory bank. To answer questions about spelling, for example, Smarter Child goes to www.ahdictionary.com. For the weather, he visits www.intellicast.com. He turns to www.the-scientist.com for scientists and www.moviefone.com for a fantastic movie.
Some scientists believe that by joining many systems of the Internet, an Artificial Intelligence (AI) with the combined (结合的) knowledge of, say, Albert Einstein, Richard Nixon and Britney Spears could be born. However, Smarter Child has difficulty in discerning whether a behavior is right or wrong, which is obvious to any young child. If he wants to think and learn without any help from the programmers like boy-computer David in the movie Artificial Intelligence (AI), he must solve two problems.
The first is that computers find it difficult to read web pages because the files are sorted in different ways. That’s why programmers need to tell Smarter Child where to look for the weather. It would be a much more difficult task to let him find it by himself. Another problem is that while Smarter Child can deal with information more exactly and faster than any human, he needs programmers to make better systems that allow machines to solve problems of common sense, which is a huge challenge.
1. What may be unknown to Smarter Child?| A．His age. | B．The weather in New York. |
| C．A word in the dictionary. | D．A player’s name of the Boston Redsox. |
| A．www.moviefone.com | B．www.intellicast.com |
| C．www.the-scientist.com | D．www.ahdictionary.com |
| A．Preventing. | B．Copying. | C．Inventing. | D．Telling. |
| A．He has a huge memory. | B．He can think and learn independently. |
| C．He can make a weather forecast. | D．He deals with information fast. |
2 . Imagine a plate holding two strawberries, identical in appearance. One came out of a supermarket box, meaning it was probably harvested when it was still unripe. By the time it reached the plate it may have been off the vine for two weeks. The other strawberry was picked from a garden minutes before being eaten.
Supermarket strawberries are not entirely without advantages: they are convenient and still available even in winter months. But the two berries differ from each other in the same way that hearing music in a concert hall differs from listening to it on an old CD player. The home-grown fruit is an eatable case for making a home garden.
Your columnist, who long considered gardening a complete waste of time, advances this argument with great enthusiasm. Planting cool-weather greens, as gardeners across the north-east of America are now doing, can seem nonsense, since convenient, continuously well-stocked supermarket shelves are available all week. But the same could be said of cooking: there are many cheap and decent restaurants around, so why bother to make your own meals?
That attitude misconstrues the ultimate appeal of gardening: it mistakes the product for the purpose. It is true that a garden can produce tomatoes and carrots of incomparable sweetness, and celtuce and herbs that taste like themselves rather than the plastic they are usually packaged in. While finding, let’s say, celtuce in the shops can take some time, effort, and expense, growing your own vegetables ensures a reliable supply.
On the other hand, a garden, especially in the early years, can produce little but frustration. Green hands may plant the wrong crops for their soil. And even expert gardeners can lose a season’s harvest to uncooperative weather.
No matter. The real joy of gardening is the time spent doing it. The deepest pleasure-as with cooking. Writing or almost anything worthwhile — is in the work itself. To garden is to patiently, lovingly and diligently help life become strong and healthy, in the ground and above it.
1. What can we know about the supermarket strawberries?| A．They look distinct from home-grown ones. | B．They give out pleasant and fresh smell. |
| C．They are picked days before fully grown. | D．They are planted typically in winter. |
| A．Misinterprets. | B．Transforms. | C．Mistrusts. | D．Highlights. |
| A．To warn readers not to take up gardening easily. |
| B．To advise readers to work in harmony with nature. |
| C．To make readers reflect on the methods of gardening. |
| D．To help readers have a whole picture of gardening. |
| A．It’s a difficult and time-consuming process. | B．Products of gardening make it worthwhile. |
| C．The time and efforts invested make it a delight. | D．It reduces the cost of purchasing vegetables. |
3 . “If music is the medicine of the soul(灵魂), let it play on," said a famous person. I think he said so because probably he got some help from music. Music has some strange abilities. Medical scientists have found that a person that feels stressed can actually listen to some kind of music and become well.
The researchers said that since stress comes as a result of life events such as starting a new family, starting a new business, and starting a new job, one can actually listen to good music and feel good because good music touches the human mind in a positive way. Music helps you to forget the life events that make you worried and remember the important events that once happened in your life.
Depression(抑郁) is a disease caused by stress, smoking, social problems and so on. Depression is also caused by problems such as failure in business. Depression may bring us weakness, headache, and loss of concentration. Good music makes one remember happy moments or good days. If you play music about love, it makes you feel like falling in love again though you may have had several upset experiences. And such good feelings make you healthy.
Anxiety(焦虑) is another health problem that can be controlled by music. Anxiety is a side effect of some major health problems such as cancer of the liver and cancer of the breast. Good music makes you feel relaxed and removes the pains from these diseases and you feel all right.
Good music can send you to sleep. And you need to know that sleep puts your body in a healthy condition. Sleep takes away the effects of stress, depression and anxiety from a person.
1. According to the famous person in Paragraph 1, music can .| A．treat many kinds of diseases |
| B．help you keep healthy in your mind |
| C．take the place of medicine in treating illness |
| D．make you remember things that happened |
| A．letting people have a good sleep |
| B．making people think positively |
| C．showing something new to people |
| D．making people focus only on important things |
| A．Stress. | B．Smoking. |
| C．Failure in business. | D．Loss of concentration. |
| A．The Health Benefits of Listening to Music |
| B．Stress Can Bring Us Many Kinds of Diseases |
| C．Some Diseases Have Something to Do With Music |
| D．Tips For Us to Live a Healthy And Comfortable Life |
4 . My 88-year-old grandfather and I are both starting 2022 as new college graduates. He was unable to continue school because he got married and started a family in the 1950s. Over the next few decades, he managed to balance his roles as a husband, a father of five, working at a local bank and taking a college class here and there.
Our higher education journey together at Palo Alto College began in 2016. I had just graduated from high school then and my grandfather, 82, was determined to take classes to make his lifelong dream of earning his bachelor’s degree become a reality. In 2017, we were both admitted into the University of Texas at San Antonio. I majored in engineering while my grandfather majored in literature. We would have lunch together and work silently side-by-side in the library. There were also many times when I drove him to school in my car. That was really special because I could always show off him and shout out my grandpa was here.
When COVID-19 broke out suddenly, my grandfather asked for leave from school. I often assisted him with his schoolwork online. Over the past year, his health has continued to decline and he now has difficulty speaking. As graduation day approached in December, my family and I persuaded university officials to approve of my grandfather having a degree of recognition. We had the expectation that he could have that memory before his death.
My grandfather was worried he would steal the show from my graduation moment when I told him we were graduating together. I told him this is our moment and that I want to share it with him. I’m so grateful and proud that I was able to have this moment with him. Applause run through the hall when my grandfather was awarded to his bachelor’s degree at the commencement (毕业典礼).
I appreciate my grandfather’s lifelong passion of learning and his strong wills.
1. What can we know about the author’s grandfather?| A．He was unable to continue his study because of his family. |
| B．In 2016, he was admitted into the University of Texas. |
| C．He was asked to leave from school because of COVID-19. |
| D．He was unwilling to present himself for the graduation day. |
| A．Because they shared the same major. |
| B．Because he felt proud of his grandfather. |
| C．Because the teacher was looking for his grandfather. |
| D．Because he learnt to drive his grandfather to school. |
| A．He cared about his family very much. |
| B．He didn’t attend the graduation ceremony. |
| C．He was afraid of attending the commencement. |
| D．He would steal something from the graduation moment. |
| A．Hard work pays off. | B．Time is money. |
| C．It’s never too late to learn. | D．Education is the key to success. |
5 . On one summer weekend, my wife, son and I entered an eight-kilometre running race on mountain trails. Now, when the race started, our son took off quickly.
Unluckily, after going about half the course, I realized my watch on my wrist was gone. Discouraged, I told my wife to go on ahead, and I would return to see if I could find it. After running back for some time, I found my broken watch off the trail.
So, how does this story relate to us in everyday life? Although everyone wants to live a comfortable life, the truth is that we often face pain and struggle.
| A．I realized I'd got my toe injured. |
| B．I grabbed it, and quickly put it into my pocket. |
| C．You discover you are simply thankful for being alive. |
| D．However, my wife and I stayed back and ran together. |
| E．Now, most people think of running races on neighbour streets. |
| F．Actually, the key to real happiness is turning pain into something positive. |
| G．As it turned out, both my wife and son had won first place in their age groups. |
6 . Several weeks ago, I pulled an old road map out of the glove box and passed it to my children. They had never seen the province of Ontario laid out like that before. They stared at the map, asking about all the towns, parks, and other landmarks we’d visited, and I pointed them out on the map.
Digital maps and GPS are modern wonders that have gotten me out of many confusing places, but paper maps still have a role to play in our lives. Most of us adults learned to read them out of necessity, but it’s up to us to pass on that skill to children whose need may not be so obvious, but who still will benefit from it.
As Trevor Muir wrote in an article on this topic, “When kids learn how to create and use paper maps, they are doing more than just learning how to get around. They are actually developing a fundamental skill that they will use for the rest of their lives. Map skill still belong in today’s classroom.”
As a child, I had National Geographic Maps taped to my bedroom walls. This aroused my curiosity and imagination about those places and thus made me eager to remember my geography and history lessons because they were tied to places I’d “seen”. Even now as a mother of four, I’ve also spared time to travel to many of the countries whose maps I studied as a child.
Additionally, in this fast-changing world, unexpected events can rapidly influence one’s usual way of life. When GPS satellites or Internet connections are affected, this old-fashioned skill can get you out of a mess without requiring a smartphone. Last but not least, paper maps arouse big picture thinking, showing kids that there’s a much bigger world out there and helping to direct them within it.
So, now is a good time to pull out those dusty old maps and lay them on the kitchen table.
1. How did the children react when they were given the paper map?| A．They showed great curiosity. |
| B．They seemed totally confused. |
| C．They found it less convenient than GPS. |
| D．They refused to read it without hesitation. |
| A．Neutral. | B．Negative. | C．Supportive. | D．Doubtful. |
| A．Paper maps are already out of date. |
| B．Internet connections are always reliable. |
| C．Paper maps provide kids with a grand vision. |
| D．GPS will sooner or later replace paper maps. |
| A．Time to Encourage Kids to Explore a Real World |
| B．How to Teach Kids to Survive in the Wild |
| C．How to Teach Kids to Recognize Strange Places |
| D．Time to Teach Kids to Read Paper Maps |
7 . According to the Solar Energy Industry Association, the number of solar panels installed(安装)has grown rapidly in the past decade, and it has to grow even faster to meet climate goals. But all of that growth will take up a lot of space, and though more and more people accept the concept of solar energy, few like large solar panels to be installed near them.
Solar developers want to put up panels as quickly and cheaply as possible, so they haven’t given much thought to what they put under them. Often, they’ll end up filling the area with small stones and using chemicals to control weeds. The result is that many communities, especially in farming regions, see solar farms as destroyers of the soil.
“Solar projects need to be good neighbors,” says Jordan Macknick, the head of the Innovative Site Preparation and Impact Reductions on the Environment(InSPIRE)project. “They need to be protectors of the land and contribute to the agricultural economy.” InSPIRE is investigating practical approaches to “low-impact” solar development, which focuses on establishing and operating solar farms in a way that is kinder to the land. One of the easiest low-impact solar strategies is providing habitat for pollinators(传粉昆虫).
Habitat loss, pesticide use, and climate change have caused dramatic declines in pollinator populations over the past couple of decades, which has damaged the U.S. agricultural economy. Over 28 states have passed laws related to pollinator habitat protection and pesticide use. Conservation organizations put out pollinator-friendliness guidelines for home gardens, businesses, schools, cities—and now there are guidelines for solar farms.
Over the past few years, many solar farm developers have transformed the space under their solar panels into a shelter for various kinds of pollinators, resulting in soil improvement and carbon reduction. “These pollinator-friendly solar farms can have a valuable impact on everything that’s going on in the landscape,” says Macknick.
1. What do solar developers often ignore?| A．The decline in the demand for solar energy. |
| B．The negative impact of installing solar panels. |
| C．The rising labor cost of building solar farms. |
| D．The most recent advances in solar technology. |
| A．Improve the productivity of local farms. |
| B．Invent new methods for controlling weeds. |
| C．Make solar projects environmentally friendly. |
| D．Promote the use of solar energy in rural areas. |
| A．To conserve pollinators. | B．To restrict solar development. |
| C．To diversify the economy. | D．To ensure the supply of energy. |
| A．Pollinators: To Leave or to Stay | B．Solar Energy: Hope for the Future |
| C．InSPIRE: A Leader in Agriculture | D．Solar Farms: A New Development |
8 . Jon Pedley is making a big change. He is giving up his life as a businessman for a life of helping others. He is trading his beautiful farmhouse in England for life in a mud hut (小屋) in Uganda, East Africa.
Pedley admitted that he had not always led a very positive life. At times he drank too much and got in trouble with the law. “I had always put the pursuit (追求) of money in front of everything else. As long as I was all right, I didn’t care who I was hurting,” says Pedley.
But a visit to Uganda in 2007 gave Pedley a new outlook on life. He was amazed at what he saw and how much the people there appreciated the work he was doing. “I worked there for a few days and these people who have nothing were thanking me by giving me bags of potatoes, which are a fortune for them,” he said. Now Pedley is selling his business, his $1.5 million farmhouse, and his expensive car—and moving into a hut made of mud and boards in a small Ugandan village. There he will help run an organisation that hopes to improve the quality of life for people in the village of Kigazi. He will help to build schoolrooms for children and tanks to hold clean water for villagers. Today, people in Kigazi must walk two miles to a hospital, so Pedley will help to build doctors’ offices, too.
Pedley’s organisation will also work with English teenagers who are in trouble. The teens will be sent to a “camp” in Uganda that Pedley will run. The teens will live in mud huts and help to build water, health, and education facilities (设施) for kids in Kigazi, many of whom have lost their parents to poverty or disease. Pedley hopes the teens will see a side of life that might help them turn around their own lives and set them on a new and more positive path.
1. Which of the following best describes Pedley in the past?| A．Negative. | B．Creative. | C．Positive. | D．Selfish. |
| A．Do business with the local people. |
| B．Help farmers increase potato output. |
| C．Help villagers with building work. |
| D．Introduce tools to improve English teaching. |
| A．To encourage them to make friends with locals. |
| B．To inspire them to live a more positive life. |
| C．To train them to become doctors in the future. |
| D．To make them learn about different cultures. |
| A．From a millionaire to living in a mud hut. | B．A life-changing adventure. |
| C．A rich man becoming homeless. | D．More money, more worries. |
9 . Need more excitement in your life? Maybe it’s time to take up an extreme sport!
No one knows exactly how it started, but Cooper’s Hill CheeseRolling Race is an annual event that has taken place for over 100 years.The name comes from Cooper’s Hill where the “sport” takes place, just outside the village of Brockworth, England.
But what makes the sport so extreme, and why has the local government tried to ban the tradition? Injuries—and lots of them.The hill is so steep that it’s not actually possible to run down it.
| A．It’s as silly as it sounds. |
| B．If you win, you get to keep the cheese. |
| C．Is it wrong to let children do extreme sports? |
| D．These popular activities can be extremely dangerous. |
| E．Be prepared to both laugh and cover your eyes in shock. |
| F．Instead, you fall, bounce and roll your way to the bottom. |
| G．Extreme sports are activities that involve a high amount of danger and excitement. |
10 . English is full of funny expressions that don’t always make sense. Idioms are phrases and sentences that do not mean exactly what they say. Even if you know the meaning of each word, you may not understand the idiom because you don’t understand the culture behind it. Here are some English idioms based on animals.
When children jump around and act silly, their parents may tell them to stop “monkeying around”.To “monkey around” means to do things that are not useful or serious, or to simply waste time.
Many American families have and love pet dogs. But for some unknown reason, Americans use “dog” in a phrase that means to feel unwell. If you are “as sick as a dog”, you’re really, really sick.
Sometimes you may also hear cats mentioned in conversations, “I told you to keep that secret, but you have just ‘let the cat out of the bag’!” You probably guessed it — that idiom means to reveal a secret or tell facts that were previously unknown.
Dogs and cats don’t always get along, but they appear side by side in a commonly used idiom. When it rains heavily, people might say it’s “raining cats and dogs”．
Heavy rain often ruins people’s plans for outdoor activities. But on a lovely day, you can have a picnic. If a swarm (一群) of tiny bugs love your food and start to hover (盘旋) around you, it would be really annoying. That experience perfectly explains why people often tell someone who keeps bothering them to “stop bugging me”．
Idioms are very common in both spoken and written English. If you want to have a better understanding of English, you have to learn idioms.
1. According to Paragraph 1, which is right about idioms?| A．Expressions which are based on animals. |
| B．Expressions with rich cultural background. |
| C．Expressions that always make sense. |
| D．Expressions which are easy to understand. |
| A．Children jump around and waste time. |
| B．Children do something useful and serious. |
| C．Children play with monkeys with their parents. |
| D．Children spend time playing with their family pets. |
| A．Dogs and cats always get along nicely. |
| B．Bugs can be used to show your annoyance. |
| C．Americans believe cats can give away secrets. |
| D．Americans use the idiom “as sick as a dog” to describe a healthy man. |
| A．By sharing experiences. |
| B．By making comparisons. |
| C．By giving examples. |
| D．By listing figures. |
