Sachin started a textile business. He invested all the money from his savings into the business. Also, he borrowed some money from his friends and family.
In the beginning, the profit from his projects was only sufficient to cover his basic expenses. But he maintained top quality for all the deliveries. He tried very hard to get big projects but could not get one.
Not returning money to his friends and family members in time, Sachin thought of selling his textile business.
One day he was sitting on a farm and thinking. A farmer asked him, “ Why are you so upset? What is the problem?” Sachin replied his business was not giving returns as he thought. So, he was thinking of selling it off as it was not worth pursuing anymore.
Hearing his whole story, the farmer took him to his farm. He showed him a mango tree and a bamboo tree. He said, “ I planted both the trees at the same time and nurtured them with the same things they needed. After the first two years, the mango tree grew to a certain height. But there were no signs of growth in the bamboo. It continued for the third and fourth years. In the fifth year, the mango tree started producing fruits. Still, there were no signs in the bamboo.
However, after a week, there was a sign of growth in the bamboo tree. Then within six weeks, the tree grew to 100 feet.
Then I realized, in the first four years, it was developing its root deep underground for a base strong enough to support its outside growth. So, the same principle applies to your business as well. Wait for your time and never give up. ”
After hearing this story, Sachin thanked the farmer. He then started exploring the opportunities and went to big companies for orders. In the third month, he got the order from a big company worth millions and then continuous orders.
Sachin settled all the money to his family and friends. His business is now running into a highly profitable business.
1. Where did Sachin get the money to start his business?2. Why did Sachin want to sell his company?
3. Please decide which part is false in the following statement, then underline it and explain why.
In the first four years, there were no signs of growth in the bamboo tree because the farmer didn’t give it enough nutrition.
4. What have you learnt from this story? Give an example in your own life to support your idea. ( In about 40 words)
2 . A picture might be worth a thousand words, but sometimes, a few words tell a bigger story. Instagram users find that a carefully thought-out caption for an image can make viewers pause, reveal something about the creator’s personality, drive engagement, and perhaps inspire one to take action. Do labels in museums and art galleries do something similar when paired with artworks?
A recent study, done by Kohinoor M. Darda and Anjan Chatterjee, researchers from University of Pennsylvania, was carried out to find the answer. They asked subjects how much they liked abstract and representational paintings. In the first experiment, Northern American subjects viewed Jackson Pollock’s abstract works with no additional information or accompanied by biographical information about Pollock as well as his technique for creating art. In the second experiment, Northern American subjects viewed Indian and American-European representational paintings that were either presented with no information or with information about the artwork’s content, the artist, and their technique.
They found that viewers’ aesthetic judgments of liking abstract paintings increased when they had information about Jackson Pollock and his technique, compared to no information. Similarly, viewers liked Indian and American-European representational paintings more when presented with information about the content, the artist, and their technique compared to no information. The influence of this information did not apply equally to everyone. Its effects appeared in people who are open to experience and people with less exposure to art.
Contextual information also impacted Indian paintings more than American-European paintings. Without contextual information, North Americans showed an in-group bias, a tendency to show favoritism toward members of one’s own group. In their study, Northern Americans liked American-European paintings more than Indian paintings when no information about the paintings was presented to them. But when the artworks were put into context, this in-group bias was reduced.
Museums or art galleries serve as information spaces where the museum architecture, the location of objects in its space, guided tours, audio guides, and the use of text labels all transmit information and knowledge to viewers to enhance the aesthetic experience. Further, given that the arts create a snapshot of a society or culture at a particular point in space and time, educators can take advantage of context to exert its impact on viewers. Multicultural art education could reduce stereotyping of “the other”. Would today’s world be just a little bit kinder if we could view each other through art and learn a little bit more about different cultural contexts?
1. The author mentioned Instagram users’ example in the first paragraph to______.| A．introduce the topic |
| B．arouse readers’ interest |
| C．emphasize the importance of words |
| D．compare the similarity between Instagram and Museums |
| A．Themes. | B．Participants. |
| C．Courses. | D．Citizens. |
| A．Viewers presented with contextual information liked abstract and representational paintings equally. |
| B．Contextual information can reduce in-group bias concerning American-European paintings. |
| C．Viewers with less exposure to art are less likely to be affected by contextual information. |
| D．Contextual information proved to have different impacts on paintings with different origins. |
| A．Meet a Kinder World through Art |
| B．The Impact of the Sociocultural Information |
| C．Understanding Art within the Context |
| D．The More Informed, the Less Favoritism |
3 . With the development of technology, computers are more capable of using language. Large language models ( LLMs) , of which the most famous is ChatGPT, produce what looks like human writing. However, a debate has been aroused over these items: what the machines are actually doing internally and what the operation of the brain is when humans speak.
According to Professor Noam Chomsky, a famous linguist( 语言学家) , human language is different from all other kinds of communication. All human languages are more similar to each other than they are to other types of communication, such as whale song or computer code. In a recent New York Times op-ed, Chomsky and two co-authors said “ we know” that computers do not think or use language as humans do. LLMs, in fact, just predict the next word in a string of words.
It is hard to understand what LLMs “think”. Details of the programming and training data of commercial ones like ChatGPT are proprietary. And not even the programmers know exactly what is going on inside.
Linguists have, however, found clever ways to test LLMs’ underlying knowledge. They found that LLMs can handle some new words and grasp parts of speech. For example, tell ChatGPT that “dax” is a verb meaning to eat a slice of pizza by folding it, and the system can use it easily: “ After a long day at work, I like to relax and dax on a slice of pizza while watching my favourite TV show. ”
GPT-3 ( the LLM underlying ChatGPT until the recent release of GPT-4 ) is estimated to be trained on about 1, 000 times the data a human ten-year-old is exposed to. That leaves open the possibility that children have an inborn tendency to grammar, making them far more proficient than any LLM. In a forthcoming paper in Linguistic Inquiry, researchers claim to have trained an LLM on no more text than a human child is exposed to, finding that it can use even rare bits of grammar. But other researchers have tried to train an LLM on a database of only child-directed language. Here LLMs behaved worse. Perhaps the brain really is built for language, as Professor Chomsky says.
1. According to Noam Chomsky, ______.| A．whale songs are similar to computer code |
| B．no further research shall be carried out on ChatGPT |
| C．computers do not deal with language like humans do |
| D．human language is based on other kinds of communication |
| A．LLMs might become a tool of learning languages |
| B．some linguists are opposed to the technology of LLMs |
| C．linguists have the hobby of daxing on a slice of pizza |
| D．any complicated word in the world can be handled via LLMs |
| A．what LLMs are not capable of |
| B．how linguists understand LLMs |
| C．why human should reject ChatGPT |
| D．that human languages would be replaced by ChatGPT |
4 . Amy is doing a project on great literary writers. By now, she has collected some information.
Jane Austen (16 December 1775 — 18 July 1817) was an English novelist. Austen’s plots often explore the dependence of women on marriage in the pursuit of favorable social standing and economic security. Her uses of biting irony, along with her realism, humor and social commentary, have long earned her praise.
With the publication of Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park and Emma, she achieved success. She wrote two other novels, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion and began another, titled Sanditon, but died before its completion.
Her novels have inspired many films.
Charles Dickens (7 February 1812 —9 June 1870) was an English writer. He created some of the worlds best-known fictional characters. By the twentieth century, critics and scholars had recognised him as a literary genius.
Oliver Twist and Great Expectations are frequently adapted. A Tale of Two Cities, set in London and Paris, is his best-known work of historical fiction. Dickens has been praised for his realism, comedy, prose style, unique characterizations and social criticism.
Mark Twain ( November 30, 1835 — April 21, 1910 ) , was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher and lecturer.
Among his novels are The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the latter often called “ The Great American Novel” .
The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County, based on a story that he heard at Angels Hotel in Angels Camp, California, was published in 1865. The short story brought international attention. His wit and satire earned praise from critics and peers.
Arthur Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 —7 July 1930) was a British writer best known for his detective fiction featuring the character Sherlock Holmes. In 1887 he published A Study in Scarlet, the first of four novels about Holmes and Dr. Watson.
The Sherlock Holmes stories are considered milestones in the field of crime fiction. He was a prolific writer whose other works include fantasy and science fiction stories, plays, romances, poetry, non-fiction and historical novels.
1. Which book was produced earliest?| A．A Study of Scarlet | B．Pride and Prejudice |
| C．A Tale of Two Cities | D．The Adventures of Tom Sawyer |
| A．It was a drama. |
| B．It attracted global attention. |
| C．It was called “The Great American Novel”. |
| D．It was based on a story that Mark Twain heard in Florida. |
| A．Mark Twain’s | B．Jane Austen’s | C．Charles Dickens’ | D．Arthur Conan Doyle’s |
We may think that literature has several genres, but there are really only three — poetry, drama and prose. When
On a rainy evening, Bob saw an old lady standing on the side of the road beside her car. He could see she needed help. So he
7 . There Is No Ping without A Pong
In February 2020, my husband, Bob, and I were offered an outdoor pingpong table, but I was not good at pingpong at all. “ What are we going to do with that?” Bob asked me. He clearly thought we were about to get something we did not
“The two of us will play. ” I replied. Bob looked doubtful.
The pingpong table arrived
I lost every game. It didn’t
Pingpong helped my husband and me
| A．need | B．protect | C．consume | D．waste |
| A．additionally | B．suddenly | C．specially | D．shortly |
| A．happiness | B．excitement | C．boredom | D．laziness |
| A．benefit | B．bother | C．appeal | D．envy |
| A．dive | B．sigh | C．freeze | D．win |
| A．helped | B．struck | C．hurt | D．involved |
| A．challenging | B．disappointing | C．pleasing | D．annoying |
| A．get in | B．get through | C．get up | D．get on |
| A．frequent | B．similar | C．difficult | D．common |
| A．share | B．compare | C．bear | D．burden |
8 . The coronavirus pandemic has created an environment for research on social connection. One of the most common areas of inquiry over the past couple of years was how our sudden mass shift to digital communication — away from face-to-face — affected overall social connectedness. Researchers studied nearly 3,000 adults during the pandemic’s early months and found that email, social media, online gaming, and texting were not fungible for in-person interactions. Voice and video calls, were somewhat better.
Social connectedness is a key to happiness. Lower it, and you will be worse off — and so will your loved ones, especially your kids. One 2014 survey revealed that 62 percent of U.S. children thought their parents were too distracted to listen to them. The No. 1 reason was parents’ phone use.
It is clear that scrolling or surfing will reduce social connection: You do them instead of interacting. Virtual communications such as texting are by design interactive and should theoretically be less harmful. However, text messages can’t convey emotion very well, because we can’t hear or see our conversational partners. These technologies are to in-person interactions what a black-and-white, pixelated (像素化的) version of the Mona Lisa is to the real thing; identifiable, but incapable of producing the same emotional effects.
With communications on line, we tend to hop from person to person and thus swap depth for breadth. However, research has shown that deeper conversations bring more well-being than short communications. Meanwhile, in a recent study, teens who texted more often than their peers tended to experience more depression, more anxiety and poorer relationships with their fathers.
It might seem strange that we would voluntarily adopt technologies that hurt our happiness. One of the explanations is convenience. Vegetating (无所事事) in front of a screen is simply easier than talking with a person, and virtual communications such as texting are faster and easier than a visit or a phone call. Think of these technologies as grab-and-go food at a convenience store: It’s not great, but it sure is easy — and after you eat enough microwave foods, you forget what the real thing tastes like.
In all, for most of us — especially people who grew up with it — the internet is an unquestioned part of the ecosystem of life. Quitting the virtual communications from our life is clearly not the answer. Since we’re not going back to life before this kind of technology, we can and should use it mindfully in service of love.
1. What does the underlined word “fungible” most probably mean?| A．Responsible. | B．Changeable. | C．Reliable. | D．Replaceable. |
| A．disapproving | B．doubtful | C．supportive | D．cautious |
| A．Virtual Communication Does Little Harm to People |
| B．Technology Can Make Your Relationships Shallower |
| C．Quitting Virtual Communication Is Just around the Corner |
| D．Technology Creates a Good Environment for Deeper Conversations |
9 . Ask a smart home device for the weather forecast and it takes several seconds for the device to respond. This latency (延时) occurs as connected devices don’t have enough memory or power to store and run the enormous machine-learning models needed for the device to understand what a user is asking of it. The model is stored in a data center that may be hundreds of miles away, where the answer is computed and sent to the device.
MIT researchers have created a new method for computing directly on these devices, which drastically reduces this latency. Their technique shifts the steps of running a machine-learning model to a central server where components of the model are encoded onto light waves. The waves are sent to a connected device using fiber optics (纤维光学), which enables tons of data to be sent lightning-fast through a network. The receiver then employs a simple optical device that rapidly performs computations using the parts of a model carried by those light waves.
This technique leads to more than a hundredfold improvement in energy efficiency when compared to other methods. It could also improve security, since a user’s data do not need to be transferred to a central location for computation. This method could enable a self-driving car to make decisions in real-time while using just a tiny percentage of the energy currently required by power-hungry computers. It could also allow a user to have a latency-free conversation with their smart home device, be used for live video processing, or even enable high-speed image classification on a spacecraft millions of miles from Earth.
“Every time you want to run a neural network, you have to run the program, and how fast you can run the program depends on how fast you can pipe the program in from memory. Our pipe is massive — it corresponds to sending a full feature-length movie over the internet every millisecond or so. That is how fast data comes into our system. And it can compute as fast as that,” says professor Dirk England.
The neural network architecture involves storing weights in a central server that is connected to a novel piece of hardware called a smart transceiver. This smart transceiver, a thumb-sized chip(芯片), can receive and send data. Moving forward, the researchers want to update the smart transceiver chip to achieve even better performance.
1. What’s the paragraph 1 mainly about?| A．The cause of the latency. |
| B．The effect of the latency. |
| C．The advanced smart device. |
| D．The models stored in a data center. |
| A．By improving the parts of a model. |
| B．By using optics to speed up computations. |
| C．By computing directly in remote data centers. |
| D．By inventing a new machine-learning model. |
| A．introduce the impact of the latency |
| B．explain how data is quickly computed in this system |
| C．demonstrate the technique’s energy saving and safety |
| D．highlight the user’s satisfaction with modern technology |
| A．The new technique will be further improved. |
| B．Optics needs to be developed and used urgently. |
| C．The new computing architecture is very perfect. |
| D．The technique was developed to send movies over the internet. |
10 . Andrea Speranza wanted to be a firefighter long before she had the right word for her wish. After one childhood adventure at a construction site ended with an iron nail embedded (嵌入) in her leg and an emergency call to the fire department, she found herself in awe. “As they gave me the medical treatment, I thought, they could help everybody and do anything,” says the now 52-year-old.
In 2000, Speranza fulfilled her dream of becoming a firefighter. Her job was exactly as fulfilling as she imagined it would be, except for one thing; she still hadn’t seen another woman in her role—not in a magazine, not on television, not in real life. Speranza decided to help young women see that they, too, could have a career like hers.
The result is Camp Courage, an immersive (沉浸式的) program for girls aged 15 to 19 who want to learn more about firefighting, paramedicine and police work. In 2006, Speranza welcomed the first 17 participants. Over the course, the girls discover the ins and outs of being first responders: learning how to put out fires, delivering first aid and so on.
Camp Courage now nuns one session every year and is free to attend. To offset (抵消) costs, Speranza fundraises by holding everything from car washes to comedy nights. Campers must submit an essay describing how they plan to help their community, or a specific individual in need. And they have to deliver on the plan—from building a bench for a senior at a bus stop to launching a local chapter of the Kids Help Phone.
While Camp Courage is designed to help more women become first responders, Speranza also has another, bigger objective in mind: building leaders. “If they can deliver a mechanical baby or climb a hundred-foot ladder, they’re not going to have a problem going through a job interview,” says Speranza. “It’s a complete change in mindset, and it works.”
Now hundreds of girls have passed through Camp Courage and some of them work as first responders now. Speranza feels a sense of achievement. The opportunity to recruit other girls to save lives alongside her keeps her going. It’s not even measurable.
1. What inspired Speranza to become a firefighter?| A．Her dream now. | B．A childhood accident. |
| C．The lack of female firefighters. | D．A firefighter’s encouragement. |
| A．To train the girls to take the first aid course. |
| B．To complete an immersive program about firefighting. |
| C．To assist more females to take up some jobs like hers. |
| D．To motivate more females to stand on their own feet in the future. |
| A．Raise money to pay off the cost. |
| B．Submit an essay and deliver a speech. |
| C．Build a bench for the disabled at a bus stop. |
| D．Hand in a plan and then put it into action. |
| A．Ups and downs make one strong. |
| B．Every noble work is at first impossible. |
| C．Nothing is impossible for a willing heart. |
| D．Joint effort is the key to solving problems. |
