1 . Because the commercial internet has been developed with so little regard for privacy, tech companies have been able to turn personal data into considerable profits, raising billions of dollars off their ability to collect and sell information about anyone who has wandered within shouting distance of their software. This week, Google announced a step in the right direction-but not a huge step, nor one that will stop Google from continuing to collect immense amounts of personal data.

At issue is how online companies track internet users as they browse (浏览) from site to site online, typically through cookies (information that a website leaves in your computer so that the website will recognize you when you use it again). The most harmful version, “third-party” cookies, is the web alternative of a company posting security guards across the internet to monitor what you do, even when you’re on other companies’ sites.

Google declared in a blog post Wednesday that it would no longer use or support third-party cookies, nor would it create or use any other technology that tracks individual users across the web. Given that Google is a main supplier of online advertising technology, its change in approach will impact far and wide.

That’s welcome news, although with huge amounts of warning. As Lee Tien of the Electronic Frontier Foundation noted, third-party cookies were already on the retreat, with Apple and other makers of popular web browsers moving to block them. Meanwhile, Google, Facebook and other Big Tech companies continue to collect personal information in large quantities from people who use their sites and services through first-party cookies and similar techniques.

The concerns about personal data collection are the same whether it’s being collected through first-party or third-party techniques, said Michelle Richardson of the Center for Democracy and Technology. “Companies may use the information to discriminate among internet users, offering different goods, services and even prices to different users.”

Instead of helping advertisers track individuals, Google says, it is improving a technology that assigns users namelessly to large groups with common interests. That’s an improvement, even though it too may be at risk of abuse. But why do any form of tracking at all? Privacy advocates say pitches (兜售) can be targeted effectively by basing them on where the user is at the moment, not where he or she has browsed previously online.

Ultimately, lawmakers are going to have to lay down regulations giving people far more control over whether and how personal information is used online. Ideally the federal (联邦的) government will set a strong floor under online privacy protections, but until then it will be up to state lawmakers or voters to act, as this state has done with its groundbreaking online privacy laws. It’s good to see Google move the ball forward, but there’s much farther to go.

1. What does the underlined phrase “on the retreat” in Para 4 most probably mean?

A．Exposed.

B．Removed.

C．Emerging.

D．Fading.

2. It can be learned from the declaration that Google         .

A．is developing new technologies to stop data collection

B．refuses to work with companies tracking privacy

C．intends to abandon its advertising technologies

D．resolves to stop the use of third-party cookies

3. From the passage we can know that first-party cookies         .

A．are still collecting personal information

B．are blocked by big companies like Apple

C．are mainly used by advertising companies

D．are less concerning than third-party cookies

4. What is the writer’s attitude towards Google’s new move?

A．It is less satisfactory than expected.

B．It needs to be more forceful to be effective.

C．It will accelerate the disappearance of cookies.

D．It has driven lawmakers to make new regulations.

2 . Urban planners may soon have a new way to measure traffic jams. By putting in the different routes by which vehicles can travel between locations, researchers have developed a new computer algorithm (运算法则) that helps quantify regions of jams in urban areas and suggests ways around them.

The study, published in the Journal of Physics: Complexity, used traffic speeds from taxis in New York City to demonstrate how road infrastructure (基础设施) and driver behavior can create complex road networks that differ among cities.

The team approached the issue by designing a computer algorithm to capture the topology-or relationship between the different routes between locations-of road networks. “We found that the most significant traffic bottlenecks in Manhattan seem to arise as a result of the city’s structural layout,” said study co-author Daniel Carmody. “For example, the fact that a bridge enters Manhattan at a range where traffic is already limited due to Central Park slows traffic in the area considerably.”

The researchers performed a comparative analysis using traffic patterns in Chengdu, China, to test if the algorithm works equally well in areas with different layouts. Manhattan has a long and thin structure, while Chengdu is round. There are significant differences in the way traffic moves between these two different setups, the researchers said.

“The bottlenecks in Chengdu seem to arise due to the function of the buildings in a particular area,” Carmody said. “For example, it is hard to travel in and out of the central business district in Chengdu because of the large amount of traffic alone. Beltways, or faster streets around busy areas, have emerged in circles around this area, which is not surprising because this feature was intentionally built into the city.”

In Manhattan, the bridges and underpasses that form the entry and exit points cause traffic slowdowns. However, in lower Manhattan, where drivers seem to obey the lower posted speed limits, traffic moves more smoothly, forming a new traffic beltway with the southern end of Central Park acting as a block between lower and central Manhattan.

“It surprised us that there is an emergent beltway in such a busy area of Manhattan,” Carmody said. “This indicates that, unlike in Chengdu, beltways seem to arise from driver behavior even when they aren’t part of the structural plan of a traffic network.”

“The researchers have imagined that this technology could give urban planners a means to quantify traffic patterns, leading to better traffic,” Carmody said. “As methods of transportation develop, new problems will emerge, and we hope that our tools will give planners new ways to measure what is going on with city traffic.”

1. According to the new study, what contributes to traffic jams in Manhattan?

A．The number of bottlenecks and beltways.

B．The location of bridges and underpasses.

C．Road facilities and driver behavior.

D．Road signs and urban population.

2. Researchers also studied Chengdu in order to         .

A．compare the layouts of the two cities

B．find better infrastructure for one city

C．design traffic patterns with the algorithm

D．assess the effectiveness of the algorithm

3. Why do vehicles move faster in lower Manhattan?

A．Because of lower posted speed limits.

B．Because drivers follow the traffic rules.

C．Because it is planned in the traffic network.

D．Because a beltway has emerged around the area.

4. Who is the target of this new computer algorithm?

A．City planners.

B．Slower drivers.

C．Infrastructure developers.

D．Road sign designers.

3 . Sawyer Current’s first visit to Isla Mujeres, a small island off the coast of Cancun, Mexico, was meant to be a getaway. But instead of relaxing on white sand beaches, Current was disappointed at the number of unwanted animals wandering the streets. “Dogs were everywhere, coming out of the bushes and along the sides of the road,” she recalls of that trip 25 years ago. “They were dirty and covered with fleas and scars.” “It was sad,” she says. “I just couldn’t stand to watch it.”

Current decided to help fix it. She built a second home on Isla Mujeres in 2000, and beginning with a skinny, toothless cat she rescued from the streets, she went on to find homes for more than 2,000 dogs and cats. Today, thanks to Current’s efforts, the island no longer has a wild-dog problem, and “people are more aware of their pets’ needs,” says Marcelino Velazquez, 34, a property manager from Isla Mujeres. “They vaccinate them and don’t abandon them on the streets. The way of thinking has changed.”

For Current, it was a hard-fought transformation. “At first I was angry and thought it was horrible,” Current says of the conditions on the island when she began her work. “But these weren’t bad people. They were people without resources.” When she first arrived, the community had no small-animal vet, and animal control consisted of a team of government workers who’d round up street dogs in a truck and kill them. “I used to follow the truck, and when they’d go for lunch, I’d let the dogs out,” she says. “One time I let the air out of their tires.”

At one point she was caring for more than 65 rescued dogs in her home, and she estimates she has spent about $1 million of her own savings on her efforts. “It was exhausting,” she admits. Now Isla Animals has an on-site shelter with a small staff, and many volunteers and donors among the island’s tourists. Each year the group re-homes more than 170 pets, many of which fly with volunteers to families in the U.S. and Canada.

“There’s nothing in the world like finding a starving dog, nursing it back to good health and finding it a loving home,” Current says.

1. What made Current feel disappointed with the island?

A．Insects biting people.	B．People without resources.
C．Houses in poor conditions.	D．Animals abandoned in the streets.

2. Why did Current follow the truck and let the air out of its tires?

A．To show the local people how to solve their problems.

B．To draw public attention to what she was doing.

C．To stop the workers from killing the animals.

D．To help the government punish bad people.

3. Which of the following words can best describe Current?

A．Loving.

B．Ambitious.

C．Intelligent.

D．Cautious.

4 . 阅读下列短文，根据短文内容填空。在未给提示词的空白处仅填写1个适当的单词，在给出提示词的空白处用括号内所给词的正确形式填空。

One day, a man found the pupa (蛹) of a butterfly.     1     (see) an opening in the pupa, he realized that the butterfly was ready to emerge. So he sat down and watched as the butterfly struggled to force its body     2     the little hole. However, minutes passed and the butterfly still couldn’t get out. The struggle was too hard for its weak body. The man then     3     (kind) enlarged the hole in the pupa so that the butterfly could finally break free. But instead of flying away, it just dragged itself around weakly, then died. The struggle to break out of the pupa was necessary for the butterfly’s survival     4     it enabled its wings and body to grow strong. Without the struggle, it was too weak to live.

5 . Chad Turns delivers for UPS in the small town of Dauphin, and is beloved by his customers. As seen in a video posted to Facebook, when Turns drove into a parking lot for what he thought was a _______ up on Tuesday, he was greeted instead by a dozen residents clapping and yelling, “_______, Chad!” Turns was so overcome with emotion that he pulled out his handkerchief to wipe his _______.

“Turns is well-known for his thoughtfulness and _______,” resident Jenny Shickley said, adding that he often leaves treats for their dogs when delivering packages. She organized the special event after people commented in a group Facebook post about what a(an) _______ job Turns was doing.

She raised $1,000 for Turns in two weeks in the small town. The group gave him the generous gift with a large card signed by members of the _______. Jenny said Turns had taken care of them for a year and they wanted to take care of him.

“It is _______ that this community feels so strongly about me,” Turns told the reporter. He said all UPS drivers deserve to be thanked in this way. He also added that he will pay it _______ by continuing to provide the good service that he is known for.

“Chad is a great UPSer,” UPS spokesperson Jackie Fajt said in a statement. “Celebrations like this really highlight the _______ our drivers have with their customer base. We appreciate that UPS drivers like Chad are being ________ for how they are moving our world forward.”

1.

A．pick

B．check

C．warm

D．move

2.

A．Watch out

B．Thank you

C．Cheer up

D．Help us

3.

A．eyes

B．nose

C．mouth

D．hands

4.

A．determination

B．courage

C．patience

D．kindness

5.

A．new

B．easy

C．good

D．useful

6.

A．class

B．company

C．family

D．community

7.

A．surprising

B．touching

C．interesting

D．challenging

8.

A．out

B．down

C．forward

D．off

9.

A．bond

B．problem

C．lesson

D．word

10.

A．attracted

B．recognized

C．encouraged

D．adopted

7 . 阅读下面短文，根据题目要求回答问题。

Some of the most successful people in history have done their best work in coffee shops. People across nations and centuries have tapped into their creativity in a café.

There are many ways coffee shops boost our creativity. The combination of noise, casual crowds and visual variety can give us just the right amount of distraction (注意力分散) to help us be sharpest and most creative.

Some of us stick in earbuds (耳塞) as soon as we sit down to work in a public setting. But scientists have known for years that background noise can benefit our creative thinking. A suitable level of noise in a cafeteria can actually improve your creative output. If you’re slightly distracted from the task at hand by some stimuli, it boosts your abstract thinking ability, which can lead to more creative idea generation.

There’s also the fact that in a coffee shop, we’re surrounded by people who’ve come to do the same thing, which acts as a motivator. Simply performing a task next to a person who makes a lot of effort can motivate you to work harder. It’s similar to going to the gym for a workout. That is the social-facilitation effect: you go there, you see other people working and it puts you in a mood where you just naturally start working as well.

Another thing that can make working at home or in the office tiring is the visual environment; often we sit in the same chair and look at the same four walls without relief. How the office is decorated has an effect on people’s creative thinking process. While researchers tried to address this by adding decorative lights, they soon found that the furnishings (家具及日用设备) quickly became familiar and boring. Coffee shops, though, generally have visual stimuli. And hitting up different coffee shops keeps things even more varied.

Researchers believe that there is no doubt about the “coffee-shop effect”. Even if working from home or office remains an option for the long-term, the benefits of going to a coffee shop may be too good to pass up. And maybe the coffee is better.

1. Why did some successful people do their best work in coffee shops?
2. In what way is going to the gym similar to working in a coffee shop?
3. Please decide which part is false in the following statement, then underline it and explain why.
When people feel the visual environment in their office is boring, they can redecorate the office or try some other working places to solve the problem.
4. If you were free to choose a place to study in, where would you like to go? Why? (about 40 words)

8 . Iceland has long been identified as having unique environments. Here you can walk and swim between tectonic (地壳构造的) plates, bath in geothermal waters, and experience the wild landscapes. Furthermore, these unique environments have attracted the space-science community to use Iceland as one of its test sites for missions travelling to Mars (火星).

DAY 1

Arrive in Reykjavik.

After check-in, you will visit the geothermal pools of the Blue Lagoon to relax after your flight, before returning to your hotel to freshen up. You will then head to the Aurora Basecamp Observatory, where you will be able to see the northern lights recreated indoors. In the evening, space expert Niamh Shaw will give the first of two talks on our attempt to establish bases on other planets.

DAY 2

After breakfast, you will set out on special vehicles towards Þingvellir National Park, a registered UNESCO world heritage (遗产) site accompanied by Niamh. Here, you will have the opportunity to do something that you can’t do anywhere else, the opportunity to swim between the tectonic plates. In the evening, you will enjoy a second talk from Niamh.

DAY 3

Today you begin your journey towards the 2020 NASA test site, where the NASA SAND_E Mars Rover is being tested. NASA scientists will be on hand to explain the project, along with updates of the current Mars missions and the most recent findings.

DAY 4

In 2019, Iceland Space Agency hosted the ISAGEVR1 Expedition to Grimsvötn Volcano on top of the Vatnajökull Glacier (冰川) to field test the MS1 Mars Analog Spacesuit designed by the NASA/Johnson space centre. We will be working together with the agency to create a unique experience for you today on the glacier.

DAY 5

In the afternoon, you will reach the bridge between the continents, spanning a gap in between the two tectonic plates, on your way to Keflavik Airport and your evening flight home.

1. Who would be most interested in this travel arrangement to Iceland?

A．Fiction writers.

B．Space enthusiasts.

C．Wildlife protectors.

D．Professional swimmers.

2. Which days include chances to experience something about Mars?

A．Day 1 and Day 2.

B．Day 2 and Day 3.

C．Day 3 and Day 4.

D．Day 4 and Day 5.

3. Which of the following can best promote this tour?

A．“We hope to offer you a great opportunity to enjoy hiking.”

B．“We will let you explore how NASA is a part of everyday life.”

C．“We want to help you discover space science through the joy of travel.”

D．“We will provide you a chance to experience the culture near the Arctic Circle.”

9 . 阅读下列短文，根据短文内容填空。在未给提示词的空白处仅填写1个适当的单词，在给出提示词的空白处用括号内所给词的正确形式填空。

Smartphones have become an essential part of our daily lives. However,     1     (protect) younger students’ eyesight and make sure they focus on their studies, primary and middle schools will have more specific rules to limit students’ mobile phone use on campus.

The Ministry of Education     2     (release) a notice in January that restricts primary and middle school students from carrying mobile phones to school. Those who still require their phones for some reason must get their parents’ and teachers’ approval and must hand their phones over during class time.

The policy aims to improve students’ focus on study and fight for    3     (addict) to the internet and games.