1 . 选词填空

captivate     inspire     feature   fictionalize   stream   tailor obtain   decorate

The Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang have long been considered a treasure trove of cultural and artistic heritage. The murals adorning the walls of the grottoes     1     viewers for centuries and continue to     2     contemporary works to this day.

One of the latest examples is Till the End of the Moon, a fantasy series which     3     many elements inspired by the aesthetics of Dunhuang. The series started     4     on Youku on April 6 and is adapted from a popular online novel,     5     the bittersweet love between a celestial being and a demon ruler, played by actress Bai Lu and actor Luo Yunxi.

According to Ruan Hexin, the art director, the crew spent nine months bringing the fantastic world to life by     6     12 sound stages covering an overall area of nearly 50,000 square meters, as well as     7     a total of 30,000 props.

To seek inspiration, the creators traveled to some iconic attractions in Dunhuang and Zhangye in Gansu province,     8     the inspiration to use black and grayish blue, the major hues in most Dunhuang murals, for the demon king's costumes. Besides, the costumes of the celestial being took inspiration from the murals of flying deities, which are majorly painted with the colors of straw yellow, bamboo yellow, and emerald blue.

2 . 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. charity               B. conserving               C. disturb               D. launched             E. march F. primary             G. purchased          H. raise                 I. threatening            J. voluntary   K. wildlife

The National Trust in Britain plays an increasingly important part in the protection of the British countryside. Although it has received support from the government, it is not a rich governmental department. It is a     1    association of people who care for the unspoiled countryside and historic buildings of Britain. It is a     2    which depends on voluntary support from the public. Its     3    duty is to protect places of great natural beauty and places of historical interest.

The attention of the public was first drawn to the dangers     4    the great old houses and castles of Britain by the death of Lord Lothian, who left his great seventeenth-century house to the Trust. The Trust thus attracted wide publicity and     5    its "Country House Scheme", which has been able to save about one hundred and fifty of these old houses. Last year about two million people     6    tickets to visit these historic houses.

In addition to country houses and open spaces, the Trust now owns some complete villages, where no one is allowed to build, develop or     7    the old village environment in any way and all the houses are maintained in their original sixteenth-century style. These areas are accessible to the public for free to     8    their awareness to respect the peace, beauty and     9    

Over the past eighty years, the Trust has become a big and important organization and an essential part of Britain,     10    all that is of great natural beauty and of historical significance for future generations of Britons.

3 . 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. perceived          B. tension          C. communicating       D. programmed       E. positively       F. interactions G. assigned            H. differed          I. constantly             J. reducing             K. affected

Empathy Machine

Robots are more prevalent in daily life than ever before. Digital assistants control smartphone apps, while physical bots teach students in schools and deliver food. Scientists have long been studying human-robot     1     to learn how these machines can influence individuals’ behaviour, such as altering how well someone completes a task or responds to a robotic request. But new research shows the way humans relate to other humans is also     2     by the presence and actions of robots.

“While other work has focused on how to more easily integrate robots into teams, we focused instead on how robots might     3     shape the way that people react to each other,” says Sarah Sebo, a graduate student at Yale University. To measure these changes in reactions, researchers     4     participants to teams of four — consisting of three people and one small humanoid robot(仿真机器人) — and had them play a collaborative game on Android tablets. In some groups, the robots were     5     to act “vulnerable”. These machines performed actions such as apologizing for making mistakes, admitting to self-doubt and talking about how they were “feeling”. In the control groups, the human participants teamed up with robots that made only neutral statements or remained entirely silent.

The researchers monitored how group members’ communication     6     depending on which type of robot was on each team. They found that people working with robots that showed vulnerability spent more time     7     with their fellow humans than did those in the control groups. Subjects with vulnerable robots also divided their conversation more equally between each human member of the team. These participants later reported that they     8     their experience as more positive, compared with those in the control groups. The robot’s vulnerable utterances helped the group to feel more comfortable in a task that was designed to have a high level of     9     .

Malte Jung, an assistant professor in information science at Cornell and a co-author of the study, says communicative robots could fundamentally change human behaviour for the better. Instead of merely     10     the amount of work employees do, these machines could make people more efficient, subtly influencing social dynamics to “help teams perform at their best”.

7 . Directions: Fill in each blank with a proper word given in the box. Each word can be used only once. Note that there is one word that you do not need.

A. sensitive        B. expectations        C. commercially        D. attempting        E. stuck        F. shelved G. relatively        H. developing        I. personal        J. difficulties        K. positive

Sticky notes

This invention, commonly used in offices and households throughout the world, came about as a result of a series of accidents. In 1968, Spencer Silver, who was working for a company then called 3M, was     1     to produce a super-strong adhesive (黏合剂), something that makes things stick together, to be used in the building of planes. This, however, wasn’t successful and instead he succeeded in creating an extremely weak adhesive that was     2     to pressure. The new adhesive had two advantages: it could be removed from surfaces easily and reused. Despite these two     3     properties, nobody could see any practical use for it. In the end, the invention was     4    .

A few years later, Art Fry, a product development engineer working for 3M, decided to use this adhesive for     5     use. He stuck strips of paper in a book as bookmarks and a whole new concept was born. However, the idea still wasn’t without     6    . The challenge was to make the glue stay on the sticky note itself, rather than peeling off and staying on the surface it was     7     to. Two more 3M employees were then brought in for the task of     8     a coating for the note’s paper so that the adhesive wouldn’t come off, and they managed that eventually. However, 3M bosses still believed that this invention wasn’t going to be     9     successful and people would continue to use scrap paper (散的便条纸) for their notes. That is why sticky notes were only tested within the company, where they became extremely popular. It wasn’t until many years later that 3M bosses finally decided to give out a vast number of free samples to other companies to see if anyone would be interested. To their surprise, 90% of the companies went on to order more. This went beyond anybody’s     10    . Nowadays, sticky notes come in a variety of shapes and colours and are sold in more than 100 countries.

8 . Directions: Fill in each blank with a proper word given in the box. Each word can be used only once. Note that there is one word that you do not need.

A. interpersonal        B. connected        C. inspired        D. respecting        E. different        F. occurring G. perspective        H. based        I. misunderstanding        J. independence        K. relatives

The most difficult part of a Chinese-Western marriage is the cultural differences. The traditional Chinese culture is     1     on the Confucian philosophy (儒家哲学). However, the Western culture is founded on ancient Greek and Roman civilizations. Cultural differences exist in almost every aspect and are therefore reflected in     2     relationship and marriage.

It is not easy to keep a Chinese-Western relationship, for cultural differences may result in     3    . From the traditional Chinese     4    , marriage is a relationship involving family, friends and relatives. In contrast, Westerners’ marriages recognize the     5     and privacy of the couple.

That is why Westerners sometimes cannot understand why we Chinese need to support our     6     if we are asked to do so. Chinese people need to maintain their “face” and “relations”. Even in a relationship, we are somehow still     7     to our family and relatives. Our partner has to understand it and at least does not oppose it.

My suggestion for the cross-cultural relationship is always trying to put yourself in the other’s shoes; always     8     your partner but making clear your own red lines; showing your interest in the     9     culture and carefully remarking on it and so on.

There have been more and more cross-cultural marriages     10     recently. I would like to take this chance to sincerely wish them the very best in their love journeys.

9 . Directions: Fill in each blank with a proper word given in the box. Each word can be used only once. Note that there is one word that you do not need.

A. included                 B. promising                 C. achievements                 D. proved          E. transfer F. outstanding             G. sign                           H. appearances                  I. scoring          J. capture            K. referred

Ronaldo Luiz Nazario de Lima was born on 22 September 1976 in a poor suburb of Rio de Janeiro. Like most of his childhood friends, Ronaldo began his football (soccer) career playing barefoot in the streets of his neighbourhood. At the age of 14, he joined Sao Cristovao football club and only two years later became the star of Cruzeiro Esporte Clube in Belo Horizonte     1     a total of 58 goals in 60 matches and earning himself a reputation for his explosive pace and     2     finishing skills. His goal — scoring record and unusual quickness led him to be     3     in the Brazilian World Cup winning team the following year. After the World Cup, many top European football clubs were trying to     4     him. Many people, including Brazilian football legend Pele, considered him as the most     5     footballer of his generation.

Since his     6     to Dutch team PSV Eindhoven, Ronaldo’s biography has been one success after another. Two Copa America’s, a UEFA Super Cup, a Dutch Cup, a Spanish Super Cup, and two Player of the Year awards from FIFA, all in the space of two years, are some of Ronaldo’s impressive     7    . On arrival to Inter Milan in 1997, Ronaldo became the idol of the local fans who refer to him as “il Fenomeno (奇才)”.

Since the 1998 World Cup he has suffered serious knee injuries that have severely limited his     8    . Just when people began to wonder whether Ronaldo would be able to continue with his football career, he     9     to the world that he still could play. In the World Cup held in Korea and Japan, the magical striker won the Golden Shoe award and tied Pele’s Brazilian record for career World Cup goals with 12. He helped Brazil     10     its fifth World Cup championship on 30 June with a 2-0 win over Germany. It was the third time that Ronaldo had ever played in the World Cup.

10 . 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. access       B. basically       C. eliminate       D. fit       E. generate       F. majority G. merely     H. perform       I. power       J. promise       K. preference

Noise-canceling headphones worth the price?

A little bit of silence. Sometimes that’s all we want. Whether it is halfway through a 10-hour flight with a crying baby or trying to sleep through the snoring from the hotel room next door, the     1     of noise-canceling headphones is one that every traveler probably finds charming. Yet are they worth it? These headphones are often expensive, and for some people, they don’t live up to the ads.

I’ve spent a     2     of the last five years traveling, taking dozens of flights and train journeys, and as someone who has reviewed noise-canceling headphones for even longer, I can definitely say maybe.

HOW THEY WORK? Noise-canceling headphones, also called active noise canceling headphones, use electronic processing to analyze nearby sound and attempt to     3     the opposite sound. The result is less noise, over all.

These headphones don’t create silence, nor are they able to     4     noise. The crests and troughs (波峰和波谷) do not perfectly cancel out. The absolute best noise-canceling headphones     5     reduce noise and work best with low-frequency droning sounds.

Two headphone sets could claim to reduce the same amount of noise but     6     completely differently. Only hands-on testing, ideally with objective measurements, can tell the difference.

Noise-canceling headphones require a battery to     7     their electronics. Noise-isolating headphones, which do not require electronics and therefore can be far cheaper, work by creating a seal in your ear canal to block noise. They are     8    like earplugs, but with earbuds. If you can get a good seal, these work reasonably well.

Getting a good seal can be a challenge, however, since everyone’s ears are different, and not all headphones will     9     correctly. And even if you do get a good seal, noise-isolating headphones will not be able to block low-frequency sounds as well as the best noise-canceling headphones. They will reduce a wide range of frequencies, which can help.

WHO REALLY NEEDS THEM? If you are a frequent traveler, good noise-canceling headphones will make any journey in a plane, train or automobile far more pleasant.

In-ear models are easier—though still slightly uncomfortable—to sleep with and are my     10    . Over-ear models reduce a little more noise, as they are able to passively block some sound because of their design. But they are always bulky on your head or in your bag. After I stopped reviewing these headphones for Wirecutter, I bought a pair of Bose QuiteComfort 20s, a long time Wirecutter pick, and I never fly without them.