1 . Naquela Wright’s life took an unexpected turn when she lost her eyesight as a teenager, but even when her world became dark, the New Jersey resident didn’t want to quit social media.

Using Facebook was a challenge at first. Diagnosed in 2010 with pseudotumor cerebri, a rare health condition in which pressure increases around the brain and can result in the loss of vision, Wright learned how to use a screen reader to read the site through the touch of the keyboard and sound of a robotic voice. Still, when a friend sends her a photo, Wright often has no clue what the image shows.

Now Facebook is trying to solve this problem by exploiting the power of artificial intelligence to create new tools that not only describe items in a photo but allows users to ask what’s in an image.

“I can have a basic picture in my mind of what’s going on in the picture and now I can comment on my own,” said Wright, who got to try out the new tools that are still being tested. “Of course, it’s different, but it’s something more than I had.”

An estimated 285 million people are visually disabled globally, according to the World Health Organization, and research conducted by Facebook showed that blind users have trouble figuring out what’s in a photo because the description isn’t clear or doesn’t exist.

Facebook has made it easier to skim through the content on its website with a screen reader by improving HTML headings, adding alternative text for images, launching keyboard shortcuts, and more. Using artificial intelligence to describe photos is only a part of these ongoing efforts.

With 1.5 billion users, Facebook isn’t the only social media company that wants to improve its website for the visually disabled. Along with Facebook and other major tech firms, Twitter and LinkedIn have their own accessibility teams and belong to an initiative called “Teaching Accessibility”.

Jeff Wieland, Facebook’s head of accessibility engineering, said the group wants to educate more engineers, especially early in college, about designing products that are compatible with the disabled and others. “We really don’t want accessibility to be the luxury of a handful of companies,” Wieland said. “We want everything around the world to be built with accessibility in mind.”

1. What tool helps the visually disabled to read Facebook?

A．A screen reader.	B．A special keyboard.
C．A helpful robot.	D．HTML headings.

2. What can be inferred from the passage about the new tool created by Facebook?

A．It adds a lot of shortcuts on the keyboard.

B．It helps users to employ their senses other than sight.

C．It meets no competitors with its advanced technology.

D．It inspires more engineers to explore artificial intelligence.

3. The underlined phrase in the last paragraph “are compatible with” most probably means ________.

A．are unaffordable to	B．bring harm to
C．keep company of	D．well suit

4. Which of the following is the best title for this passage?

A．Screen reader: tool to access social media

B．Ongoing efforts: strength to improve websites

C．Artificial intelligence: power to help the blind

D．Teaching accessibility: initiative to educate engineers

2 . Directions: Write an English composition in 120-150 words according to the instructions given below in Chinese.

请简单描绘图片内容，并用你生活中的一个经历来具体说明。你的文章必须包括：
1） 对图片的简单描述；
2） 对个人经历的具体描写；
3） 你当时的感受或想法。

3 . Born in 1823 in Wales, Alfred Russel Wallace was a man of modest means, but he had a passion for nature and he chose to follow it. He started out collecting insects as a hobby, but eventually his longing for adventure led him to explore the world.

Luckily for Wallace, Victorian Britain was discovering an interest in weird and wonderful insects, so the demand from museums and private collections for these beasts was growing. Wallace was able to make a living doing what he loved: collecting beetles and other insects.

But his first trip of exploring the world ended in disaster. Wallace proceeded to the Amazon in South America. Its giant forests promised a wealth of new species, sure to put him on the scientific map. The trip took 6 weeks and involved every mode of transport in existence at the time. After four years Wallace set off for home, but his boat caught fire in the middle of the Atlantic. Everyone survived, but Wallace had to watch in despair as his samples went up in flames — including live animals he was bringing home that were trying to jump free of the flames. But he did not let it stop him.

In 1854, Wallace set off on another adventure, this time to the Malay Archipelago. Wallace found himself humbled by the new and exciting things he saw. He later recalled: “As I lie listening to these interesting sounds, I think how many besides myself have longed to see with their own eyes the many wonderful and beautiful things which I am daily encountering.”

In 1858, Wallace wrote what became known as the “Ternate essay”: a piece of writing that was to change our understanding of life forever. In his essay, Wallace argued that a species would only turn into another species if it was struggling for existence. Henry W. Bates was one of many scientists delighted by the idea of evolution by natural selection. In a letter to Wallace, he wrote: “The idea is like truth itself, so simple and obvious that those who read and understand it will be struck by its simplicity; and yet it is perfectly original.”

1. ________ finally caused Wallace to explore the world.

A．His strong affection for nature	B．His life-long devotion to beasts
C．His deep love for adventure	D．Increasing demand for insects

2. Which of the following is TRUE about Wallace’s first trip?

A．It took him six weeks to explore the Amazon with all kinds of transportation.

B．He made a scientific study of a fairly limited number of insects.

C．The fire cost him his four years’ collection of animals.

D．His passion cooled after the disaster.

3. Wallace felt ________on the Malay Archipelago.

A．fearless

B．lucky

C．challenged

D．risky

4. Wallace’s idea on evolution of natural selection ________.

A．made no sense at that time	B．built up a new concept of life
C．was too simple to be true	D．revealed the origin of nature

4 . Being Bigger isn’t Necessarily Considered Better

The firm, which famously started life in 1939, has now declared a new age: that of smaller start-up. By 2014, when Ms Whitman announced HP’s decision to separate its computer and printer business from its corporate hardware and services operations, the company had grown into a clumsy _________. Its fortunes started to _________ with a series of expensive and much criticized purchases. By 2012 it had lost its position as the world’s leading supplier of PCs to Lenovo. The dramatic _________ was aimed at helping the firm adapt to the new age of mobile and online computing, responding to shareholder demands for more aggressive _________.

“I would go from laser jet printing to our big enterprise services contracts where we were running the back end of IT for many big companies and organizations. These two things are not like each other. So the ability to focus and engage with customers on a(n) _________ set of objectives and business outcomes... I can already see the difference.” Ms Whitmann, who now heads the new spin-off, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) selling servers and services, says the change has already _________ her performance. “One big change is it _________ each of the divisions to pursue the strategy that is right for them. _________, there is ‘no way’ printer and PC company HP Inc’s decision last year to buy Samsung’s printing business for $1bn would have happened when it was part of the larger firm. So it’s that ability to drive your own program, not _________ by other businesses that don’t have the same characteristics.” Ms Whitman is so convinced her strategy is working that she’s ______________ HPE further, spinning off both its business services division and its software business into separate companies last year.

Her assumption that bigger doesn’t always mean better seems ______________. After all, a larger company should find it easier to dominate the market it operates in. But the rapid rise of much smaller start-ups, competing and often overtaking these established powerful companies means the accepted wisdom that ______________ equals success is being challenged. ______________ in 2014, eBay carved PayPal, the electronic payments arm it bought in 2001, off from the main online sale business.

Box, a cloud storage company, is another case in point. Founder Aaron Levie says “Whether Uber, Airbnb, those same lessons ______________, which is if you can build something that’s cheaper, faster and more scalable and delivers a far better customer experience than what the traditional sellers were able to do, then you can be extremely ______________.”

1.

A．appearance

B．construction

C．giant

D．possession

2.

A．decline

B．increase

C．stay

D．vary

3.

A．adventure

B．combination

C．development

D．split

4.

A．behavior

B．growth

C．markets

D．policies

5.

A．ambitious

B．complex

C．narrow

D．overall

6.

A．delivered

B．improved

C．measured

D．standardized

7.

A．allows

B．employs

C．reminds

D．threatens

8.

A．All in all

B．For example

C．On the contrary

D．What’s more

9.

A．held back

B．kept on

C．looked over

D．taken down

10.

A．dissolved

B．expanded

C．operated

D．shrunk

11.

A．fundamental

B．reasonable

C．surprising

D．widespread

12.

A．diligence

B．discipline

C．profit

D．size

13.

A．Comparatively

B．Generally

C．Similarly

D．Unexpectedly

14.

A．apply

B．fail

C．hide

D．increase

15.

A．friendly

B．miserable

C．motivated

D．troublesome

5 . Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in the blanks to make the passage coherent and grammatically correct. For the blanks with a given word, fill in each blank with the proper form of the given word; for the other blanks, use one word that best fits each blank.

Should Children Ban Their Parents from Social Media?

It might be taken for granted - but no previous generation of children will have had the experience of having their entire childhoods intensively and publicly documented in this way. But the very first people to have had some of their childhood pictures     1     (post) online are not always happy about their formative years being preserved in digital world.

Parents may not realize it, but by posting photos and videos of their children online, they are creating an identity for their children     2     might not be welcomed. Lucy is a good example. She said she had asked her dad to de-tag her from “stuff that doesn’t necessarily represent     3     I am now”. That’s not something I’d want to remember every time I log on to Facebook… It isn’t the best memories, which is the way you’d like to reveal     4     on social media.”

Stories about online privacy are often about children and teenagers being warned of the dangers of publishing too much personal information online. But in this case it’s their parents who are in the spotlight. For some parents,     5     (safe) option is avoiding social media altogether.

Kasia Kurowska from Newcastle is expecting her first child in June and has agreed with her partner Lee to impose a blanket ban     6     her children are old enough to make their own decisions about social media. But she has two big concerns about her plan. Firstly, it will be difficult     7     (impose). “When their auntie comes round and takes a picture, we’re going to have to be like paparazzi police, saying, please don’t put these on Facebook. And secondly, the child might dislike     8     (not own) an online presence, especially if all of their friends do. But I     9     (keep) a digital record of them. It just won’t have been shared on a platform     10     the masses.”

6 . 听下面一段独白,回答以下小题。
1.

A．To concentrate for our quiet thought.

B．To give full attention to the driving.

C．To avoid being caught by the police.

D．To be as casual as possible in the driving.

2.

A．In an elevator.	B．At a special hall.
C．In a bathroom.	D．At a concert.

3.

A．By listening comprehensively and analytically.

B．By taking a sonic bath thoroughly.

C．By attending classical concerts frequently.

D．By listening to an emotional piece of music.

7 .

A．The woman enjoyed the movie very much.

B．The woman didn’t sleep well because of the movie.

C．The man asked the woman to be careful at night.

D．The man invited the woman to go to the theatre together.

8 . Directions: Read the following passage. Summarize the main idea and the main point(s) of the passage in no more than 60 words. Use your own words as far as possible.

Moustache（胡子） for Cash

“Movember”, as the annual event is known, sees men in countries including the UK, US and Australia grow out their facial hair while collecting sponsorship money from friends, family and colleagues, with the money going to cancer charities.

The month of no shaving began unofficially in 2003, when a pair of men from Australia persuaded their family to join them in growing a moustache in order to encourage men to get themselves checked for cancer, which is seen as distasteful by some males. A year later, the group decided to set up the Movember Foundation, asking friends and colleagues to offer donations of money to support their efforts, and raised a massive A$54,000 which was shared between a number of health projects. With thanks most likely to social media, Movember soon went global and the foundation now operates worldwide, having raised over ￡440 million since 2004. The effects of the fundraising are wide-reaching, which had made a significant discovery in the treatment of cancer.

The issue of some men being too self-willed to visit their doctor for a checkup, or perhaps being raised in a culture of “tough it out”, has led some males to neglect their health, which may mean it could be too late if something potentially deadly did develop. However, Movember is helping to break down the shame of male health by making it more accessible, meaning that men are more likely to visit their doctors. They found a way to appeal to men in a way that other campaigns just don’t – with a sort of blokey^① jokiness.

① blokey: behaving in a way that is supposed to be typical of men , especially men enjoying themselves in a group.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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. criticize       B. desperately       C. establish       D. feature       E. focus       F. gratitude G. heartfelt       H. humanity       I. influence       J. present       K. touch

Letters Brought Back to Life

Letters as a way of communication have long given way to phone calls and WeChat messages. But a TV show, Letters Alive, is helping bring this old way to keep in touch back into the     1    .

Letters Alive took its idea from a UK program with a similar name, Letters Live. Both shows     2     famous actors and actresses, but there is no gossip, no eye-catching visual effects. Instead, it’s just one person walking up to a microphone and reading a letter.

But these are not just any letters. They vary greatly in time and subjects. There is, for example, a passionate letter that famous painter Huang Yongyu wrote to playwright Cao Yu 30 years ago to     3     his lack of creativity. There is also a(n)     4     note from Spring and Autumn Period written by two ordinary young soldiers to their elder brother to report their lives in the war zone.

Compared to published texts, letters also come with a personal     5    .

One example from Letters Live was a note of     6     from the mother of a dying child to JK Rowling, author of the Harry Potter books. It read: “Mrs Rowling, cancer threatened to take everything from my daughter, and your books turned out to be the castle we so     7     needed to hide in.”

According to Guan Zhengwen, the director of Letters Alive, it is this kind of     8     behind every letter that strikes a harmony with the audience. “It’s a thing of the past that entertainment shows     9     themselves only with pretty faces,” Guan told Sohu News. “Entertainment industry is starting to switch to a(n)     10     on wisdom and intelligence.”

10 . 听下面一段独白,回答以下小题。
1.

A．To enable students to reject violence.

B．To help students face struggles more properly.

C．To improve students’ health.

D．To eliminate poverty more effectively.

2.

A．How to calm down by talking to experts.

B．How to clear their mind throughout the day.

C．How to make their teachers happy.

D．How to respond to situations better.

3.

A．More students dropped out last year.

B．There is less bad behavior on campus.

C．Students are less responsible for their study.

D．More students are willing to be sent to the office.

4.

A．Its effect remains to be seen.

B．Everyone can benefit from it.

C．It helps to get rid of poverty to some extent.

D．There is enough evidence to show its significance.