1 . Directions: Fill in each blank with a proper word chosen from the box. Each word can be used only once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. advances B. combed C. net D. heads E. automation F. modest G. comprehensive H. thinned I. prior J. underlie K. unearth

Does technology replace more jobs than it creates? What is the     1     balance between these two things? Until now, that has not been measured. But a new research project led by MIT economist David Autor has developed an answer, at least for U.S. history since 1940. The study uses new methods to examine how many jobs have been lost to machine     2    , and how many have been generated through “augmentation (增强),” in which technology creates new tasks. Overall, the study finds, and particularly since 1980, technology has replaced more U.S. jobs than it has generated.

“There does appear to be a faster rate of automation, and a slower rate of augmentation, in the last four decades. from 1980 to the present, than in the four decades     3    .” says Autor. However, that finding is only one of the study’s     4    . The researchers have also developed an entirely new method for studying the issue, based on an analysis of thousands of U.S. census job categories in relation to a(n)     5     look at the text of U. S. patents over the last century. That has allowed them, for the first time, to quantify the effects of technology over both job loss and job creation.

The study finds that overall, about 60 percent of jobs in the U.S. represent new types of work, which have been created since 1940. To determine this, Autor and his colleagues     6     through about 35,000 job categories, tracking how they emerge over time. They also used natural language processing tools to analyze the text of every U.S. patent filed since 1920. The research examined how words were “embedded” in the census and patent documents to     7     related passages of text. That allowed them to determine links between new technologies and their effects on employment.

From about 1940 through 1980, for instance, jobs like elevator operator and typesetter tended to get automated. But at the same time, more workers filled roles such as shipping and receiving clerks, buyers and department     8    , and civil and space engineers. From 1980 through 2018, the ranks of cabinetmakers and machinists, among others, have been     9     by automation, while industrial engineers, and operations and systems researchers and analysts, have enjoyed growth.

Ultimately, the research suggests that the negative effects of automation on employment were more than twice as great in the 1980-2018 period as in the 1940-1980 period. There was a more     10    , and positive, change in the effect of augmentation on employment in 1980-2018, as compared to 1940-1980.

2 . Directions: Fill in each blank with a proper word chosen from the box. Each word can be used only once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. alternative       B. astonishing             C. computerized       D. contribution             E. developing F. rate             G. modified             H. perfect          I. reject          J. relevance          K. sufficient

Using animals to test drugs intended for humans is controversial, with critics arguing there are other ways to ensure new medicines are safe and effective. But the scientists who carry out the research say animal studies remain necessary. Statistics indicate that in the UK around three million mice are being used for research and tens of millions worldwide.

Despite the difference in appearances, the genetic similarities with humans are     1    . The mouse genome (基因组) shares over 95% of its genes with humans. The animal acts as a “model”, genetically     2     to develop a human disease. But the use of mice, like any animal, in research is criticized by some.

Animal Defenders International (ADI) is one of the groups that campaigns for an end to the use of animals in research. “We would argue that it is extremely outdated, and not very good science for humans,” says Fleur Dawes of ADI. Ms. Dawes believes the suffering that the animals go through does not legalize their     3     to science and medicine for humans.” There is a big problem with that because there are huge differences between the species. And even though there are similarities with humans and mice, they react very differently to each other when experimented on. So what works in one animal is not an indication that that is how things work in other animals.”

However, Dr. Wells from Mary Lyon Centre (MLC) says they are constantly trying to     4     the process to reduce the suffering of mice.” If it’s a procedure where you can anaesthetize (麻醉) the mice, then you do it to reduce their stress. And if there is a (n)     5     method that doesn’t involve mice, you are not legally and normally allowed to do the procedure.”

If we     6     animal research, are there alternatives? Dr. Wells says, “There is a massive field     7     on alternatives, and we are very supportive of that field and we always keep track of what is going on in that field, because maybe we can replace one of our models. “Those alternatives include chips on human organs to study their function, micro-dosing treatments in humans and     8     models.” Lots of people say that there is a computer now to model what is going to happen in diseases,” Dr. Wells adds, “But we still don’t know enough to program those computers with     9     knowledge to be able to model what’s happening in every disease.”

Fleur Dawes agrees one alternative is not enough. But she says, “By combining the different alternatives, you can actually get a much better picture that is of much better     10     to humans.”

3 . Directions: Complete the following passage by using the words in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. process     B. impacting       C. appearance       D. linked        E. assessment     F. costly G. crucial       H. highly            I. legal                 J. pause          K. marketed

Tobacco use and its negative impacts on health have been well-documented for decades. Traditional tobacco products, such as cigarettes, have been     1     to a wide range of health problems, including cancer, heart disease, respiratory (呼吸的) disorders and others. According to a survey, 78.3 percent of smokers start smoking before age 20. Taiwan Province of China has raised the     2     smoking age to 20 or above. By instituting this change, they hope to reduce the number of young people taking up the habit.

Despite being     3     as a safe alternative to traditional cigarettes, heated tobacco products (HTPs) are still considered tobacco. As such, they pose significant dangers to human health. The heating     4     used in these products releases harmful chemicals and poisons, including tar (焦油), carbon monoxide and nicotine, a(n)     5     addictive substance.

HTPs are packaged to appeal to young people who perceive them as safer than smoking. To prevent young people from experimenting with HTPs and     6     their health, Taiwan Province strictly controls every kind of tobacco product by adding a health risk     7     review mechanism. Only products that pass the review process are allowed to be manufactured, imported and sold to consumers.

The innumerable downsides to smoking should give smokers     8     and encourage them to quit. Quitting tobacco improves your health and reduces your risk of various diseases, including cancer, heart disease, and breathing problems. Quitting smoking can also improve your     9    . Tobacco use can cause wrinkles and yellow teeth. Quitting can lead to healthier skin, whiter teeth and fresher breath. Smoking can also dull your senses of taste and smell. By stopping tobacco use, your senses recover, leading to enhanced enjoyment of food and beverages.

Unfortunately, quitting tobacco isn't easy. Most people will also encounter numerous challenges including nicotine withdrawal and symptoms such as eagerness, irritability (易怒) and difficulty concentrating. Supportive social environments, coping strategies and professional help are     10     for overcoming these things and living a smoke-free life.

4 . Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in each blank with a proper word given in the box. Each word can be used only once. Note that there is one more word than you need.

A. conserve             B. wrinkly             C. stationary             D. exceptional             E. oddities             F. nursing       G. timely             H. sounding             I. generalize             J. comprise             K. rules

The Curious World of Bats

Not all bats are unbelievably adorable, like the one below. Many of them have     1     faces and large ears that help them “see” in the dark, using echo location (回声定位). But all bats are, without a doubt,     2     creatures.

Scientists are typically reluctant to     3     about bats because they make up such a large and diverse group of winged animals. With nearly 1, 500 species, bats     4     about one-fifth of all mammal (哺乳动物) species on Earth. But one thing that can be said about them as a group is that they are, in not- so-scientific terms, very odd. “They break all the     5    ,” said Cori Lausen, a bat expert at the environmental group Wildlife Conservation Society Canada.

Being able to fly is just one of their     6    , since mammals rarely fly. Apart from that, bats can also push their heart rate to extreme highs and lows-as slow as one beat per minute. Many bat species can go into a period of deep sleep, known as “torpor”, for a few hours a day or even for weeks to     7     energy when it’s cold or food is unavailable. And while most small mammals have short lives and lots of babies, some bats can live for two decades or more and typically have just one baby per year.

For how much energy they need, it’s also surprising that many bat species, including most of those in the US, rely on insects alone for food. They have to eat ridiculous quantities of them. A mom that is     8     a baby can catch more than 4,000 insects in one night.

Oddly, although bats can fly, they can’t easily take off from a(n)     9     position, like most birds and insects do. That’s one reason why they hang upside down-bats have to gain the momentum they need by falling. “For them, it’s not upside down,” Frick said. “It’s flight-side ready!”

While bats remain highly understudied relative to birds and other mammals, scientists are     10     the alarm. In North America, more than half of all bat species are at risk of severe population decline. Climate change, they say, threatens to only speed up their extinction.

5 . Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in each blank with a proper word chosen from the box. Each word can be used only once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. accompanied       B. allowed       C. feasibly       D. fueled E. intensity       F. option       G. prompting       H. routine I. surgically       J. underlying       K. varied

Brain Signals for Lasting Pain

Brain signals that reveal how much pain a person is in have been discovered by scientists who say the work is a step towards new treatments for people living with lasting pain.

It is the first time researchers have decoded the brain activity     1     patients’ lasting pain. That has raised the hope that brain stimulation treatment already used for Parkinson’s and major depression can help those running out of any other     2    . “We’ve learned that lasting pain can be tracked and predicted in the real world,” said Prasad Shirvalkar, lead researcher on the project at the University of California.

Lasting pain affects nearly 28 million adults in the UK alone, and the causes are     3    . ranging from cancer to back problems. That being the case, lasting pain has     4     a rise in taking powerful painkillers. But no medical treatments work well for the condition,     5     experts to call for a complete rethink in how health services handle patients with lasting pain.

For the latest study, Shirvalkar and his colleagues     6     implanted electrodes(电极) into four patients with lasting pain hard to deal with after the loss of legs. The devices     7     the patients to record activity and collect data in two brain regions— the ACC and the OFC—at the press of one button on a remote handset. Several times a day, the volunteers were asked to complete short surveys on the     8     of pain, meaning how strong the pain was, and then record their brain activity. These scientists, armed with the survey responses and brain recordings, found they could use computers to predict a person’s pain based on the electrical signals in their OFC. “We found very different brain activity     9     severe pain and have developed an objective biomarker for that kind of pain,” said Shirvalkar. The finding may explain, at least in part, why     10     painkillers are less effective for lasting pain. “The hope is that we can use the information to develop personalized brain stimulation treatment for the most severe forms of pain.”

6 . Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in each blank with a proper word given in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. activate       B. amounted       C. compared       D. energetic       E. guidelines       F. identify G. image       H. influenced       I. respects       J. review       K. substantial

Exercise Can Help Prevent Depression, Study Finds

How often do you exercise? A new     1     from researchers at the University of Cambridge shows that those who exercise are less likely to develop depression, even if they exercise less than the recommended amount.

The Department of Health and Human Services recommends that adults engage in 2.5 to 5 hours of moderate activity per week or one hour and 15 minutes to 2.5 hours of     2     aerobic (有氧的) exercise per week or some combination of the two.

Adults who took a walk for what     3     to 2.5 hours per week were less likely to develop depression than those who didn’t exercise at all, the study found. But even those who exercised less felt better than those who didn’t exercise at all, according to researchers. “In this study, a relatively small amount of physical activity were associated with a(n)     4     decrease in risks of depression,” the study says. The researchers analyzed 15 studies with nearly 200,000 participants. Those who did about half the recommended amount of physical activity per week had an 18% lower risk of depression     5     with adults who did not exercise, the study says. Participants who exercised the recommended amount had a 25% lower risk of depression than those who did not. Exercising more than the recommended amount hardly     6     depression risk, according to researchers.

Many     7     of exercise can lead to improved mental health. For example, working out can increase circulation (血液循环) to the brain and     8     the central nervous system, leading to what many refer to as a “runners high,” the study says. More exercise can also lead to improved physical health and a better body     9    , which can cause a person to be more social, researchers say.

Nearly 5% of adults in the U.S. report regular feelings of depression, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Among the study participants, researchers estimate that 1 in every 9 cases of depression might have been prevented had everyone met recommended exercise     10    , the study says.

7 . Directions: Complete the following passage by using the words in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. convincing       B. disinformation       C. hazards       D. illogical       E. maintain   F. preview G. publicly       H. racing       I. response       J. speed       K. seemingly

OpenAI Unveils A.I. that Instantly Generates Eye-Popping Videos

Last April, a New York start-up called Runway AI revealed technology that let people generate videos. The four-second videos were shadowy and disturbing. But they were a clear sign that artificial intelligence technologies would generate increasingly     1     videos sooner. Just 10 months later, OpenAI has revealed a similar system, Sora, that creates videos that look as if they were lifted from a Hollywood movie.

OpenAI is among the many companies     2     to improve this kind of instant video generator. The technology could     3     the work of experienced moviemakers. It could also become a quick and inexpensive way of creating online     4    , making it even harder to tell what’s real on the internet.

In an interview, the team behind the technology said the company was not yet releasing Sora to the public because it was still working to understand the system’s     5    . The intention here is to give a(n)     6     of what is likely to happen soon, so that people can see the capabilities of this technology.

Like other generative A.I. technologies, OpenAI’s system learns by analyzing digital data — in this case, videos and subtitles describing what those videos contain. OpenAI declined to say how many videos the system learned from or where they came from, except to say the training included both     7     available videos and videos that were licensed from copyright holders. The company says little about the data used to train its technologies, most likely because it wants to     8     an advantage over competitors.

Sora generates videos in     9     to short descriptions. Though the videos can be impressive, they may include strange and     10     images. The system, for example, recently generated a video of someone eating a cookie — but the cookie never got any smaller.

8 . Directions: Fill in each blank with a proper word chosen from the box. Each word can be used only once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. flooded   B. leaps   C. increasingly   D. combines   E. reflects   F. emphasizing G. pioneering   H. crafted   I. technical   J. unexpectedly   K. classic

Chinese animations (动画) are booming

The “Black Cat Delective”, released 40 years ago, was a childhood favorite for many Chinese. Since then, Chinese cartoons have come a long way. While “Black Cat Detective” was simply drawn, current cartoons feature     1     advances and fascinating plots. One example is “Boonie Bears: Time Twist”, a family-friendly adventure released in February, with smooth animation reminding us of Pixar, a     2     animation studio now owned by Disney.

These recent     3     in quality have enabled Chinese cartoons to succeed at the domestic box office. “Ne Zha: Birth of the Demon Child” was the most well-received film in China in 2019,    4     beating out “Avengers: Endgame ”, a superhero movie by Marvel Studios.

In the 1960s, China’s animation industry saw a big downturn as American and Japanese films     5     into the Chinese market, dominating both domestic television and cinema screens. As a result, Chinese animators     6     began to work for western studios. However, things changed in 2015 with the release of “Monkey King: Hero is Back”, a breakthrough for Chinese animation. This film, based on the timeless     7     “Journey to the Wes/”, signaled a new era of creativity and success in the industry. The main character, the Monkey King, is depicted(刻画) as going through a mid-life crisis, which     8     the director’s view that cartoons are not just for children.

Light Chaser Animation, a Beijing-based studio, has contributed to the popularity of cartoons in China. Its production “30,000 Miles from Chang’ an”     9     elements of Chinese culture, history, and legends with aesthetic(美学的) feeling of Tang dynasty poetry. Indeed, traditional themes are widespread among successful Chinese animations,    10     the importance of traditional culture as a foundation for Chinese animation. Like other industries, cartoons in China are inspired by Western innovations but with added “Chinese characteristics”.

9 . Directions:   Fill in each blank with a proper word chosen from the box. Each word can be used only once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. emerge          B. absorbing            C. subject          D. defining          E. movement F. originally       G. course            H. universally        I. happens        J. constant       K. corresponds

How Long Is a Second?

The length of a second depends on how you’re measuring it. There are 24 hours in a day, 60 minutes in an hour, and 60 seconds in a minute — so surely a second is 1/86400, of a day, right? Well, it turns out that     1     time isn’t that simple.

“The second was     2     based on the length of the day,” Peter Whibberley, a senior scientist at the National Physical Laboratory in the U.K., told Live Science. “People observed the sun passing overhead and started measuring its     3     using sundials (日晷). However, sundials have a few disadvantages. Aside from the obvious problem of not being able to read a sundial when the sun isn’t visible, relying on Earth’s daily turning is surprisingly inaccurate. “The turning is not precisely     4    ,” Whibberley said. “The Earth speeds up and slows down over time.” So how can we precisely measure time if using the length of a day is so unreliable?

In the 16^th century, people turned to technological solutions to this problem, and the first recognizable mechanical clocks began to     5    . The earliest mechanical clocks, which were designed to click at a specific frequency, averaged over the     6     of a year.

By around 1940, quartz crystal clocks (石英钟) had become the new gold standard. However, problems arose, and this was where atomic clocks came in. “Atoms exist only in particular energy states and can only change from one state to another by     7     or giving out a fixed amount of energy,” Whibberley explained. “That energy     8     to a precise frequency, so you can use that frequency as a reference for time keeping.” The astronomical second continued to vary. Every few years, scientists must add a second to allow Earth’s slowing turning to keep up with atomic time.

In fact, scientists are discussing whether it’s time to redefine the second again. But while several important questions still need to be answered before this     9    , it’s clear that the strictly correct definition of a second is     10     to change.

10 . Directions: Complete the following passage by using the words in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. engage   B. assess   C.   combination   D. intentions   E. refresh   F. understanding   G.   relaxed   H. consciously   I. return   J. threatens   K. regretfully

“Dealing with money is a basic life skill”

Why financial transactions are about relationships and why the

quality of the relationship is more important than the transaction itself.

British psychologist, William Bloom, has long argued that society would benefit if money flowed more freely-if, for example, people regularly give part of their salaries or profits to charity.

When you say, “Money should flow more freely,” what do you mean?

“There are two metaphors that I like to use for money. One is the energy of the environment and human nature. Money represents a(n)     1     of these energies; it’s a materialized form of energy. The other metaphor is water. If you look at water, it can be still and polluted or, once the dams are opened, it has the ability to     2     itself. Healthy energy flows in the way rich people should allow their money to flow. If they are good, they will know how to give.”

Money still isn’t flowing freely.

A lot of it is dammed up in banks and in the hands of a small percentage of extremely wealthy individuals. “We have to build a society in which we are not threatened by each other. The gap between the rich and the poor     3     social connection and harmony. The Baby Boomers (婴儿潮一代) are too comfortable for too long. Now they have to ask themselves what their politics are, because life is political. This is the time for all of us to     4     politically.”

How can we deal with money in a healthier way?

“When it comes to money, there is a lot of naiveté. Children need to be taught in school that dealing with money is a basic life skill. They need to be able to read a bank statement in a(n)     5     way. When a transaction takes place, this means     6     pausing to say, ‘This exchange affects me in this and this way.’ We are often in too much of a hurry to realize that. We also forget that transactions are first and foremost about relationships. The quality of that relationship is more important than the transaction itself. That’s why Bedouins (游牧民族贝都因人)   always share a cup of tea when they do business together. They understand the need to     7     their relationship with others.”

Another form of flow is giving. Can that be a kind of spiritual practice?

“Humans are paradoxical beings. It is possible to have pure     8     and to get satisfaction as a by-product from your actions. There is the classic idea that giving away money brings a sense of safety and satisfaction. And it does. Being alive in this universe comes from the     9     that you’re part of a flow in the universe. People think highly of altruism (舍己为人), giving away money to someone who cannot see you. Donating money to charity is not just about the material effect but it also allows you to pay attention to what causes you’re supporting. It’s healthy to give without thinking of the material     10    . Money is neutral, like language. It’s all about the way in which it is used.”