1 . Exoplanets (外行星): The Hunt Is On

Today scientists believe that planets could outnumber the stars. For centuries, scientists and natural philosophers have proposed that stars in the night sky have planetary systems similar to our own solar system. The existence of extrasolar planets, or exoplanets, has long been discussed.     1     Although not the first exoplanet discovery, a planet near a sun-like star was discovered by astronomers in 1995. This kicked off an era of exoplanet hunting, with thousands of discoveries and confirmations following in its wake.

    2     However, in 2015 NASA’s Kepler space telescope found its first Earth-sized planet in a “habitable” zone. This is the distance from a star where surface temperatures of a planet wouldn’t be too hot or too cold for liquid water. So far, only a small slice of our galaxy, the Milky Way, has been explored. Even so, scientists have confirmed over 3,500 exoplanets, with more being added every day.

To detect exoplanets, scientists use data from a variety of sources. Large ground-based telescopes, earth-circling and sun-circling satellites all collect different types of information. Because exoplanets are so far away and very close to stars, it is very difficult to see them directly.     3     For example, when an exoplanet moves between its star and us, it causes a small drop in the star’s brightness. Measuring this drop is the transit (凌日) method of discovery. NASA’S Kepler space telescope has discovered many exoplanets this way.

As a planet circles a star, it pulls on it and causes it to shake.     4     Measuring these slight changes is the radial velocity (径向速度) method of discovering planets. It is one of the most productive methods for finding and confirming exoplanets.

These are just two examples of the many methods scientists use in their hunt for exoplanets, hoping for more information and enhanced detail. As time progresses and technology improves, who knows what else we may find!

A．Scientists use indirect methods to discover exoplanets.

B．Most exoplanets are very different from the ones in our solar system.

C．As the star moves unsteadily, it changes the wavelength of the light we see.

D．Astronomers have detected signals indicating the presence of a planet.

E．However, we have developed the technology to prove their existence only in the last few decades.

F．Direct detection of the visible light from giant planets in space is becoming increasingly possible.

2 . Directions: Read the following passage. Fill in each blank with a proper sentence given in the box. Each sentence can be used only once. Note that there are two more sentences than you need.

Car washes have been automated for decades, but companies developing fully autonomous vehicles must rely on a human touch to keep their cars and trucks in working condition.

    1    For example, soap residue or water spots could effectively "blind" an autonomous car. A traditional car wash's heavy brushes could jar the vehicle's sensors, disrupting their calibration and accuracy. Even worse, sensors, which can cost over $100.000. could be broken.    2    Dirt, dead bugs, bird droppings or water spots can impact the vehicle's ability to drive safely.

Avis, which has years of experience managing large fleets of rental cars, has been tasked with cleaning and refueling the self-driving van fleet of Waymo, the self-driving arm of Google's parent company. Avis modified three of its branches in the Phoenix area to tend to the Chrysler Pacifica vans. “There are special processes that definitely require a lot more care and focus, and you have to clean [the vans] quite often.”

    3    But other self-driving car companies such as Toyota, Aptiv, Drive. AI and Uber described to CNN that they use microfiber cloths along with rubbing alcohol, water or glass cleaner for manual cleanings.

    4    This should alleviate some need for manual cleaning. But because autonomous vehicles can have dozens of sensors, Seeva CEO Diane Lansinger doesn't imagine products like this will be able to clean every camera, radar or LIDAR, a laser sensor that most experts see as essential for self-driving vehicles.

A．The sensors on a fully self-driving car require special care.

B．Orduña wouldn't reveal exactly how they' re washing the vehicles.

C．The most advanced cars on the planet require an old-fashioned handwashing.

D．Meanwhile, some companies, such as Cruise, are building sensor cleaning equipment into their vehicles.

E．There are a range of problems with putting a self-driving vehicle through a traditional car wash, experts say.

F．A self-driving vehicle's exterior needs to be cleaned even more frequently than a typical car because the sensors must remain free of obstructions.

3 . Portraits as Art

According to a dictionary, portraiture is “a representation (描绘) of a person, especially of the face by drawing or painting a likeness.” However, this definition neglects the complexities of portraiture. Portraits are works of art that engage with ideas of identity rather than just a likeness. These concepts of identity involve social rank, gender, age, profession, character of the subject, etc. It is impossible to copy all the aspects of identity. Therefore, portraits reflect only certain qualities of subjects. Portrait art has also undergone significant shifts in artistic practice. The majority of portraits are the outcome of current artistic fashions and favored styles. Therefore, portrait art is an art category providing various engagement with social, psychological, and artistic practices and expectations.

Since portraits are different from other art categories, they are worthy of separate study. During their production, portraits require the presence of a specific person, or an image of the individual. In many instances, the production of portraiture has required sittings, which result in interaction between the subject(s) and the artist throughout the creation of the work. In certain instances, portrait artists depended on a combination of different involvement with their subjects. If the sitter can’t sit in the studio regularly, portraitists could use his or her photographs. In Europe, during the seventeenth and eighteenth century, the sitting time was sometimes decreased by focusing only on the head. Theoretically, portraitists could work from impressions or memories when creating a painting, but this rarely occurred according to documented records. Nonetheless, whether the work is based on model sittings, copying a photograph, or using memory, the process of painting a portrait is linked with the model’s attendance.

Furthermore, portrait painting can be distinguished from other artistic categories by its connection with appearance, or likeness. As such, the art of portrait painting got a reputation for imitation instead of for artistic innovation. Based on Renaissance art theory, portraiture was related to the level of a mechanical exercise as opposed to a fine art. Michelangelo’s well-known protest against portraits is only one example. During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the attitude to portraiture was critical. Even so, artists from around the globe persisted in painting portraits despite their theoretical objections. Picasso, for example, became widely-known for cubist still-life painting (立体派静物画) early in his career, but some of his early experiments in this new style were his portraits of art dealers.

1. What does paragraph 1 mainly tell us?

A．The changing definition of portraiture reflects shifting attitudes to it.

B．Most portraits reflect artistic fashions and favored styles when created.

C．Portraiture is a more complex art form than is defined in a dictionary.

D．Portrait art shouldn’t be seen as a distinct art category for its complexity.

2. Which of the following is a characteristic of portraiture mentioned in paragraph 2?

A．Portraiture typically takes much less time than other art forms.

B．Portraiture often requires frequent cooperation between artists.

C．Portraits show models in a more accurate way than other art forms.

D．Portraits generally involve interaction between subjects and artists.

3. According to paragraph 2, during portraits’ production, artists __________.

A．based their work on the subjects’ attendance

B．preferred models’ photographs to their presence

C．were more willing to use impressions or memories

D．reduced sitting time to concentrate on a sitter’s head

4. Picasso is chosen as an example by the author because he __________.

A．altered the way other artists felt about portrait art

B．created portraits in spite of his objection to portrait art

C．depended on portrait art to establish a higher reputation

D．had fewer theoretical objections to portraitures than others

4 . At the age of twelve years, the human body is at its most vigorous. It has yet to reach its full size and strength, and its owner his or her full intelligence; but at this age the likelihood of death is least. Earlier, we were infants and young children, and consequently more vulnerable (易受伤害的), later, we shall undergo a progressive loss of our vigor and resistance which, though unnoticeable at first, will finally become so steep that we can live no longer, however well we look after ourselves, and however well society, and our doctors, look after us.

This decline in vigor with the passing of time is called ageing. It is one of the most unpleasant discoveries which we all make that we must decline in this way, that if we escape wars, accidents and disease we shall eventually “die of old age”, and that this happens at a rate which differs little from person to person, so that there are heavy odds in favor of our dying between the ages of sixty-five and eighty. Some of us will die sooner, a few will live longer—on into a ninth or tenth decade. But the chances are against it, and there is a virtual limit on how long we can hope to remain alive, however lucky and robust we are.

Normal people tend to forget this process unless and until they are reminded of it. We are so familiar with the fact that ma ages, that people have for years assumed that the process of losing vigor with time, of becoming more likely to die the older we get, was something self-evident, like the cooling of a hot kettle or the wearing-out of a pair of shoes. They have also assumed that all animals, and probably other organisms such as trees, or even the universe itself, must in the nature of things “wear out”.

Most animals we commonly observe do in fact age as we do, if given the chance to live long enough; and mechanical systems like a wound watch, or the sun, do in fact run out of energy in accordance with the second law of thermodynamics (whether the whole universe does so is a moot point at present). But these are not analogous (类似的)to what happens when man ages. A run-down watch is still a watch and can be rewound. An old watch, by contrast, becomes so worn and unreliable that it eventually is not worth mending. But a watch could never repair itself —it does not consist of living parts, only of metal, which wears away by friction. We could, at one time, repair ourselves—well enough, at least, to overcome all but the most instantly fatal illnesses and accidents. Between twelve and eighty years we gradually lose this power, an illness which at twelve would knock us over, at eighty can knock us out, and into our grave. If we could stay as vigorous as we are at twelve, it would take about 700 years for half of us to die, and another 700 for the survivors to be reduced by half again.

1. Which of the following statements is INCORRECT?

A．Our first twelve years represent the peak of human development.

B．People usually are unhappy when reminded of ageing.

C．Normally only a few of us can live to the eighties and nineties.

D．People are usually less likely to die at twelve years old.

2. The word “it” in the last sentence of Paragraph Two refers to           .

A．remaining alive until 65	B．remaining alive after 80
C．dying before 65 or after 80	D．dying between 65 and 80

3. What is ageing?

A．It is usually a phenomenon of dying at an old age.

B．It is a fact that people cannot live any longer.

C．It is a gradual loss of vigor and resistance.

D．It is a phase when people are easily attacked by illness.

4. What do the examples of watch show?

A．Normally people are quite familiar with the ageing process.

B．All animals and other organisms undergo the ageing process.

C．The law of thermodynamics functions in the ageing process.

D．Human’s ageing process is different from that of mechanisms.

5 . Every dog owner knows that saying Good dog! A happy, high-pitched voice will bring about a flurry of joyful tail wagging in their pet.

That makes scientists curious. What exactly happens in your dog’s brain when it hears praise? And is it similar to the way our own brain processes such acoustic information?

When a person gets a compliment, the more primitive subcortical(皮下的)auditory regions first react to the intonation(声调) , the emotional force of spoken words. Next, the brain taps the more recently evolved auditory cortex(皮质)to figure out the meaning of the words, which is learned.

    1     Of course, dogs use their right brain hemisphere to do so, whereas we use our left hemisphere. Still, a mystery remains. Do their brains go through the same steps to process approval?

It’s an important question. Dogs are speechless species.    2     For instance, some dogs are able to recognize thousands of names of individual objects. They can even link each name to a specific object.

When the scientists studied scans of the brains of pet dogs, they found that theirs, like ours, processed the sounds of spoken words in a multi-step manner. They analyze first the emotional component with the older region of the brain, the subcortical regions. Subsequently, they deal with the words’ meaning with the newer part, the cortex.

Previous studies have shown that many animals, from songbirds to dolphins, use the subcortex to process emotional hints.    3    Zebras, for instance, can eavesdrop on the emotion, or fright to be precise, in other herbivore(食草动物)animals^’ calls. In this way they learn if predators are nearby.

It’s likely that human language evolved from such hints. We employ the same neurological systems to develop speech.    4    Dogs have the very likeliness to make special use of the ancient connection to process human emotions. It helps explain why dogs are so successful at partnering with us and at times manipulating us with those soulful eyes.

A．It is widely recognized that the dog has a complex structure of brain, similar, in a way, to that of human’s.

B．But they respond correctly to our words.

C．Animals are found to have adopted various mechanisms to defend against enemies.

D．They are capable of obtaining mood implications even though they can’t talk.

E．It has been discovered that dogs’ brains, like those of humans, compute the intonation and meaning separately.

F．Domesticated animals have evolved alongside humans for the past thousands of years.

6 . Also of interest...in family dramas

The Travelers

by Regina Porter (Hogarth, $27)

Though Regina Porter’s formally daring first novel “can feel too much like a jigsaw puzzle,” it achieves a “simply stunning” level of complexity, said Meng Jin in the San Fracisco Chronicle. As the first-time novelist tells the stories of two Georgia families — one black, one white — she weaves together events from 1946 to 2010 while deftly shifting between play-like dialogue, straight narrative, and various other modes. Not one character is a mere extra, and the impressive result “looks very much like life.”

Ask Again, Yes

by Mary Beth Keane (Scribner, $27)

Mary Beth Keane’s new novel is “one of the most unpretentiously profound books I’ve read in a long time,” said Maureen Corrigan in NPR.org. In 1973 New York City, two rookie cops forge a friendship that shapes the lives of the Irish-American families they raise side by side in a nearby suburb. Because each chapter is told from a new perspective, we come to know almost every member of those families, and Keane “beautifully dramatizes” how lives are built on a series of happenstances, including tragic ones.

Native Country of the Heart

by Cherrie Moraga (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, $26)

“This memoir’s beauty is in its fierce intimacy,” said Roy Hoffman in The News York Times. Playwright Cherrie Moraga makes her mother the heroine of the book, bringing the late immigrant’s story to life “with a poet’s verve.” Mexican-born Elvira Moraga, who picked cotton in California at 11, sold cigarettes in Tijuana at 14, and never learned to read, became the heart and soul of a large extended family. Here, she’s a character too resonant to be merely emblematic.

The Edge of Every Day

by Marin Sardy (Pantheon, $26)

Mental illness leaves no one in a family untouched, said Alison Van Houten in Outside. In a book whose nonlinear structure “mimics the erratic nature of schizophrenia,” essayist Marin Sardy bringing the describes how the disorder struck her mother and a brother, scrambling life for all the children. Her mother’s paranoid delusions disrupted their schooling; years later, Sardy’s brother, after refusing help, committed suicide. “How does one lead any semblance of a normal life under such circumstances?” Sardy shows us how.

Note:

1. resonant: 共振的，共鸣的       2. emblematic: 象征的，典型的

3. nonlinear: 非线性的               4.schizophrenia: 精神分裂症

1. Which book touches upon a personal family tragedy?

A．The Travelers.	B．Ask Again, Yes.
C．Native Country of the Heart.	D．The Edge of Every Day.

2. Which of the following about each book is TRUE?

A．The Travelers tells a straightforward story about two Georgia families.

B．The thread running through Ask Again,Yes is Irish way of life.

C．Native Country of the Heart was written in memory of Elvira Moraga.

D．The Edge of Every Day describes one’s struggle against mental diseases.

3. What do the four books have in common?

A．They were published by the same publishing house.

B．They belong to the same type of literary works.

C．The stories were’ll set in the last century.

D．They represented the peak level of each writer.

7 . At the 4th Street Photo Gallery on the comer of the Bowery, many photos are strung together like clothes on a laundry line. There are portraits of Muhammad Ali and Jean-Michel Basquiat, plus a series of cityscapes detailedly captured over 60 years by Alex Harsley, a neglected but talented New York photographer.

The city has been Mr Harsley’s home since 1948, when, aged ten, he moved there from South Carolina. He took his first photograph ten years later, and became the first black photographer to work for the city’s district attorney’s office. His vivid pictures freeze moments in New York’s evolution from the 1950s to the present. “It could start with the smell of something burning.” he says of his method. “And then you see a family sitting on the steps of a funeral home sadly looking at the firemen going through their routine.”

Some of the scenes in the collection were captured from the window of his old apartment in Harlem; they include images of black activists, streets submerged in snow and shots of the Crown Heights riots of 1991. A.D. Coleman, a photography critic, says Mr. Harsley has been able to capture the lives of minority groups by making himself “invisible”. His aim has been to assemble these fragments (片段) into an extended history of the city.

Mr. Harsley’s gallery is a time capsule. For decades, it is also a hub for the city’s artistic underworld. In the 1970s New York’s photography scene was flourishing, but exclusive. As Mr. Harsley puts it, “a number of great artists were swept aside” because they lacked connections. Helping talent became part of his mission. In 1971 he established The Minority Photographers, an organization that helps up-and-coming artists exhibit their work. He opened his gallery two years later; many photographers have had their first shows there.

1. How does the author describe Alex Harsley in the first paragraph?

A．Undervalued but expert.	B．Gifted but exclusive.
C．Unknown but devoted.	D．Gifted but awkward.

2. What does the underlined sentence mean?

A．His pictures show freezing weather in New York from the 1950s to the present.

B．His pictures capture the cheerful moments in New York since the 1950s.

C．His pictures record some historic occasions of New York over the past decades.

D．His pictures illustrate the vivid lives of minority groups in New York over the past decades.

3. Why does Mr. Harsley make himself “invisible”?

A．To assemble the minority groups of the city.

B．To highlight the lives of minority groups.

C．To help promising artists attract more public attention.

D．To build connections between the minority groups and himself.

4. How did Mr. Harsley help the other artists?

A．He excluded those who looked down upon the unknown artists.

B．He set an organization displaying their works.

C．He established the connections between up-and-coming artists and famous ones.

D．He reduced the rents of the gallery where their photography works were shown.

8 . The story of the emperor’s new clothes is one of Andersen’s best-known fables. Conmen (骗子) fool the emperor into believing they have made him a fabulous suit that the unworthy will be unable to see. Courtiers (侍从) dare not say that the emperor is naked; it takes a child to point out the obvious.

The moral is that people are often too hidebound by social tradition to state their views. How many companies have ploughed ahead with expensive projects that were favoured by the chief executive, even when other managers have had doubts?

People from different backgrounds approach problems from different angles—that much should be blindingly obvious. It is not just about selecting people for teams from both sexes and various ethnicities. Hire only Cambridge politics graduates or Harvard MBAs or Stanford software engineers and they will have studied under the same professors and absorbed similar world views regardless of their gender or skin colour.

In the modern world, with all its complexity, co-operation is essential if breakthroughs are to be made. In science and engineering, 90% of papers are now written by teams rather than individuals. Analysis of American patent fillings since 1975 showed teams dominate in every one of the 36 defined categories.

There is another element to selecting a good team: ensuring that those viewpoints are heard and respected. That may not happen if those in charge are overbearing. A study of over 300 projects by the Rotterdam School of Management found that those led by junior managers were more likely to succeed than those led by senior managers—maybe because other team members were less scared about pointing out potential dangers to someone lower down the pecking order (权力等级).

The ability to speak up within an organization, without fear of punishment, is known as “psychological safety”. Mr. Syed cites a study of teams at Google, which found that self-reported psychological safety was by far the most important factor behind successful teamwork at the technology giant.

One way to overcome shyness while brainstorming, for instance, is for everyone to write down their ideas but ensure their names are never known. That way, opinions about thoughts are less closely tied to the seniority of the thinker and can be tested against each other with less fear or favour.

1. The author mentioned one of Andersen’s best-known fables to ______.

A．confirm the popularity of Andersen’s fables

B．argue children’s wisdom over adults

C．indicate the importance of different opinions

D．make fun of the foolishness of some people

2. By using the word “hidebound” the author is referring to those who ______.

A．close themselves to a fixed mind	B．pay more attention to other’s behavior
C．advocate traditional way of thinking	D．hesitate to participate in team activities

3. According to the passage, which of the following makes an effective team?

A．Employing graduates from the same excellent university.

B．Appointing senior managers with the right of leading a team.

C．Establishing a team with people of various backgrounds.

D．Hiring people assembling their chief executives in thoughts.

4. Which of the following can be inferred from the passage?

A．Co-operation and teamwork contribute to the complexity of the world.

B．The less identity a person releases the more he is ready to air views.

C．Viewpoints from different perspectives are likely to cause conflicts.

D．There exists the danger of pecking order in a team led by junior managers.

9 . As the coronavirus pandemic has unfolded, conspiracy (阴谋) theories about the virus have become an increasingly visible element of the timeline. Some conspiracy theorists combine their ideas with elements of pseudoscience (伪科学) which can result in unfounded beliefs—for example, that 5G technology, vaccines and genetically modified foods are part of a secret plan to spread the virus for purposes of controlling the public. Others point the finger at wealthy charitarians—Bill Gates, for example –accusing such individuals of having released the virus or of using the pandemic to test vaccines on poorer populations.

These theories have significant consequences for individuals and societies, especially when they are supported by political and business leaders, or other trusted members of the community. They can decrease people’s willingness to follow social distancing directives and negatively impact people’s views on scientific findings. A pandemic is an especially dangerous time for conspiracy theories.

So why, exactly, do these strange ideas spread, especially among our relatives, friends and neighbors who otherwise seem like reasonable citizens who take notice of scientific evidence and make sensible decisions about the health and safety of their families?

Belief in conspiracy theories has roots in a number of factors. For example, those who have suffered misfortune are more likely to support conspiracy theories as a means of explaining their undesirable lot in life. But when it comes to a global pandemic—and the deaths and collapsing economy that it has brought about—three factors are key: uncertainty, anxiety and powerlessness.

The less people feel in control of their world, the more likely they are to seek out ways to restore control—to fight their sense of powerlessness. When events are out of our control, the psychological burden can be relieved by turning to alternative explanations for these events. In this case, we might choose to believe that the novel coronavirus, which causes COVID-19, was created in a lab and intentionally spread to cause harm. Such conspiracy theories explain what has happened and why, and offer us psychological relief.

The story is similar for anxiety and uncertainty. The pandemic has increased people’s worries about their physical, mental and economic health both in the short term and in the distant future. Conspiracy theories cannot remedy these circumstances. However, they can provide peace of mind that these unpleasant consequences are no fault of one’s own. Choosing to believe that COVID-19 is a hoax can reduce anxiety by playing down the severity of the circumstances. It’s a purely psychological effect, to be sure—but, then again, we primarily live in our own heads.

To some extent, the object of the conspiracy theories –the virus –is itself the source of the undesirable psychological states that promote belief in such theories. But this is not to say that our minds, and the conspiracy theories they adhere to, are completely at the mercy of an unmanageable virus. Political and social leaders can ease pandemic-caused anxiety and uncertainty by visibly taking the threat seriously, including steps to promote public health and to reduce the negative economic impact on people. And avoiding engaging in conspiracy theories themselves could limit the likelihood of the public turning further toward conspiracy theories for relief.

1. It can be inferred from the first paragraph that __________.

A．conspiracy theories about coronavirus are not rare with the spread of COVID-19.

B．people are likely to be misguided by conspiracy theories based on pseudoscience.

C．charitarian as Bill Gates is, he purposely released the virus in order to test new vaccines.

D．the general public aren’t convinced that genetically modified foods help spread the coronavirus.

2. What may the spread of conspiracy theories directly cause?

A．Serious economic consequences.

B．Decreased faith in influential figures.

C．Increased support for public health orders.

D．Public suspicion over scientific findings.

3. According to the author, conspiracy theories spread because they have __________.

A．reduced the severity of the COVID-19 crisis

B．scientifically explained the origins of the coronavirus

C．offered psychological relief in the current circumstances

D．predicted the long-term economic impact of the COVID-19 crisis

4. In order to stop the spread of conspiracy theories, trusted members of the community can __________.
(1) avoid talking about conspiracy theories
(2) deal with the COVID-19 crisis seriously
(3) explain how ridiculous these theories are
(4) stress that everything will return to normal

A．(1)(2)

B．(3)(4)

C．(1)(3)

D．(2)(4)

10 . Up-skilling is the future - but it must work for everyone

Automation and job replacement will be one of the most significant challenges for the global economy of the coming decades. A 2017 Mckinsey report established that 375 million workers will need to switch occupational categories by 2030. The World Economic Forum suggests that by 2022, automation will replace 75 million jobs globally - but create 133 million new ones.

Research into the likelihood that a job will be impacted by digitization has largely focused on the "auto-matability" of the role and the following economic regional and political effects of this. What this research doesn't take into account is something more important for the millions of taxi drivers and retail workers across the globe: their likelihood of being able to change to another job that isn't automatable. Recent research suggests that the answer to this may be that the skills that enable workers to move up the ladder to more complex roles within their current areas might be less important than broader skills that will enable workers to change across divisions.

In July, Amazon announced that it would spend $700 million retraining around 30% of its 300,000 US workforce. While praiseworthy, it will be interesting to see the outcome. In the UK, the National Retraining Scheme has largely been led by employers, meaning that those on zero-hours contracts and part-time workers - often low-skilled --- will miss out. Governance will be a crucial element of ensuring that such schemes focus on individuals and life-long learning, rather than upskilling workers into roles that will soon also face automation.

According to the Mckinsey report, "growing awareness of the scale of the task ahead has yet to translate into action. Public spending on labour-force training and support has fallen for years in most member countries of the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development," which impacts more than just the low-skilled.

The global impact of automation is also put into relief by research demonstrating that, between 1988 and 2015, income inequality increased throughout the world. Billions of people do not have the essentials of life as defined by the UN Sustainable Development goals.

Alongside climate change, automation is arguably tech's biggest challenge. As with globalization, governments and employers -- and us workers -- ignore its potential consequences at risk to ourselves.

1. It can be known from Paragraph 2 that ________.

A．recent research has found ways to face automation

B．broad skills are of great significance in changing jobs

C．regional economy can affect the automatability of a job

D．it is even harder for workers to move up the social ladder

2. What is the author's attitude towards retraining programs?

A．Supportive.

B．Critical

C．Doubtful

D．Sympathetic

3. According to the author, what is one consequence of automation?

A．Less spending on training	B．A slowdown of globalization
C．Social unrest and instability.	D．An increase in income inequality

4. The passage is written to ________

A．argue the urgency of creating new jobs

B．compare globalization with automation

C．analyze the automatability of certain jobs

D．stress the important of upskilling workers