3 . Unless you are like Nasty Gal’s founder Sophia Amoruso, the passwords you use to access your email and the endless other accounts you need for work aren’t filled with intention. With increasing security requirements, it’s likely your word/number combinations are becoming even less memorable. But new research suggests it may not be long before you won’t need to memorize passwords.

“Brainprint”, published in Neurocomputing, reveals that the brain’s reaction to certain words could be a unique identifying code — like a fingerprint — that could eventually replace passwords.

In a small experiment, the researchers measured the brains’ signals of 45 volunteers as they read through a list of 75 acronyms such as FBI and DVD. The word-recognition response differed so much between each participant that a second experiment using a computer program could identify each one with 94% accuracy.

It’s not enough to feel totally secure, but promising enough to hint at the future of securing sensitive information.

The advantage of using such a biometric system (生物识别系统) is that it can be used for continuous verification (验证), New Scientist points out. Passwords or fingerprints only provide a tool for one-off identification. Continuous verification could in theory allow someone to interact with many computer systems at the same time or even with a variety of intelligent objects, without having to repeatedly enter passwords for each device.

As Hollywood has illustrated, it’s simply a matter of cutting off a finger to steal that person’s identity. “Brainprints, on the other hand, are potentially cancellable,” said Sarah Laszlo, assistant professor of psychology and linguistics at Binghamton University and co-author of the study, “So, in the unlikely event that attackers were actually able to steal a brainprint from an authorized user, the authorized user could then ‘reset’ their brainprint.”

Until now, brain signals have been a challenge to understand. This experiment leaped over the obstacle by focusing on the brainwaves from the specific area that reads and recognizes words. The signal is therefore clearer and easier to measure.

The problem, so far, is that the brain signal is still not as accurate as scanning someone’s fingerprint, and initially requires sticking diodes (二极管) on your head in order to get a read. That’s ok, according to Zhanpeng Jin, assistant professor at Binghamton University and coauthor of the study, because brainprint isn’t going to be mass-produced any time soon. He says the researchers foresee its use at places such as the Pentagon, where the number of authorized users is small, and they don’t need to be continuously verified the way you do to access your mobile device or email.

Better keep your memory sharp, at least a little while longer.

1. In paragraph 5, “one-off identification” refers to the identification that _______.

A．happens as part of a regular series	B．interacts with intelligent objects
C．can be verified continuously	D．needs repeated verification

2. According to Sarah Laszlo, _______.

A．fingerprints can be canceled once stolen	B．brainprints are theft-proof and resettable
C．attackers can steal and replace brainprints	D．users have the authority to cancel brainprints

3. It can be inferred from the passage that _______.

A．brainprints will sharpen users’ memory	B．brainprints will become easier to be measured
C．brainprints will receive narrow application	D．brainprints will eventually replace fingerprints

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

A．Brainprints: A New Way to Replace Passwords

B．Brainprints: A Unique Device to Identify Codes

C．Brainprints: A Quicker Way to Access Your Email

D．Brainprints: A Securer Device to Identify Brain Signals

4 . Swimming in an ocean of stars

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It’s my great honor to receive the Clarke Award for Imagination in Service to Society. Thank you.

I started writing sci-fi because I looked for a way to escape the dull life, and to reach out, with imagination, to the mysterious time and space that I could never truly reach. But then I realized that the world around me became more and more like science fiction, and this process is speeding up. Future is like pouring rain. It reaches us even before we have time to open the umbrella. Meanwhile, when sci-fi becomes reality, it loses all its magic, and that frustrates me. Sci-fi will soon become part of our lives. The only thing I can do, is to push my imagination further to even more distant time and space to hunt for the mysteries of sci-fi. As a sci-fi author, I think my job is to write things down before they get really boring.

This being said, the world is moving in the direction opposite to Clarke’s predictions. In 2001, A Space Odyssey, in the year of 2001, which has already passed, human beings have built magnificent cities in space, and established permanent colonies on the moon, and huge nuclear-powered spacecraft have sailed to Saturn. However, today, in 2018, the walk on the moon has become a distant memory. And the furthest reach of our manned space flights is just as long as the two-hour mileage of a high-speed train passing through my city.

As a sci-fi writer, I have been striving to continue Arthur Clarke’s imagination. I believe that the boundless space is still the best direction and destination for human imagination. I have always written about the magnitude and mysteries of the universe, interstellar expeditions, and the lives and civilizations happening in distant worlds. This remains today, although this may seem childish or even outdated. It says on Arthur Clarke’s epitaph,“He never grew up, but he never stopped growing.”

Many people misunderstand sci-fi as trying to predict the future, but this is not true. It just makes a list of possibilities of what may happen in the future, like displaying a pile of cobblestones for people to see and play with. Science fiction can never tell which scenario of the future will actually become the real future. This is not its job. It’s also beyond its capabilities. But one thing is certain: in the long run, for all these countless possible futures, any future without space travel is gloomy, no matter how prosperous our own planet becomes.

Sci-fi was writing about the age of digital information and it eventually became true. I now look forward to the time when space travel finally becomes the ordinary. By then, Mars and the asteroid belts will be boring places and countless people are building a home over there. Jupiter and its many satellites will be tourist attractions. The only obstacle preventing people from going there for good, will be the crazy price.

But even at that time, the universe is still unimaginably big that even our wildest imagination fails to catch its edge. And even the closest star remains out of reach. The vast ocean of stars can always carry our infinite imagination.

Thank you all.

1. What does the writer mean by the underlined sentence in the second paragraph?

A．Science technology has been developing fast before we realize it.

B．What happened in our life was mysterious and beyond our imagination.

C．We had a good outlook for the future and were desperate to realize our dream.

D．We managed to escape from the boring life and looked forward to the prosperous future.

2. What can we learn from the third paragraph?

A．What Clarke foresaw is childish and out of date, going against scientific theories.

B．It is feasible for human beings to fulfill challenging space missions that Clarke forecast.

C．Human beings have deserted imaging and exploring the attractive and boundless space.

D．Clarke’s predictions haven’t happened in real life and the reality won’t change very soon.

3. According to the passage, which of the following statements is true?

A．What is written in science fiction can never become a reality.

B．The writer considers it his duty to create sci-fi with author Clarke.

C．Science fiction provides readers with possibilities that future will bring about.

D．High price will likely stop humans from dreaming of living on other planets.

4. What’s the writer’s attitude towards sci-fi creation?

A．Curious	B．Passionate
C．Concerned	D．Suspicious

5 . Directions: Read the following passage. Fill in each blank with a proper sentence given in the box. Each sentence can be used only once. Note that there are two more sentences than you need.

Search for a Human Face for Robots

Looking for a $130,000 payday? Geomiq, a British engineering and manufacturing firm is searching for a “kind and friendly” face to be the face of a robot once it goes into production. “This will entail（需要）the selected person’s face being reproduced on potentially thousands of versions of the robots worldwide,” Geomiq says in a blog post about the project.

Robots have been at the forefront of technology for decades, and are widely considered the future of our technological advancement. With the number of adults over 85 expected to triple by 2050, according to some estimates, robots designed to keep the elderly company are becoming increasingly common.     1    

They do things like responding to voice commands, offering proactive（积极主动的）notifications and advice and letting relatives monitor conditions at home. There is still a long way to go but new robotic products are coming into fruition all the time. Geomiq says the robot line has been in the works for five years and will result in a companion for seniors.

The designer has noted in an interview with a select press pool that they can’t release too many details at this stage.     2     The designer has also stressed that unsuccessful candidates will not be contacted. The company says the need for anonymity（匿名）is due to the secretive nature of the project. However, it believes the robot will soon be “readily available” to the public and hopes the campaign will create extra buzz ahead of its eventual release. “We know that this is an extremely unique request, and signing over the licenses to your face is potentially an extremely big decision,” Geomiq said.

    3     The designer has said that the project has been in development for five years, and in that time frame taken on investment from some independent venture capitals as well as a top fund based in Shanghai. the company says the robots’ purpose will be to act as a “virtual friend” for elderly people and is set to go into production next year.

The blog past doesn’t share age or gender parameters（参数）.     4     Candidates who make it to the next phase will get full details on the project. “The secrecy,” Geomiq says, “is due to non-disclosure agreement it’s signed with the robot’s designer and investors.”

A．A technology company wants to buy the rights to use someone’s face for its robots.

B．It just asks people who want to license their face to submit a photo via email for     the chance at $130,000.

C．It is a once - in - a - while opportunity for the right person.

D．They also serve a practical purpose.

E．The company is privately - funded.

F．However, ideal candidates will be given the specifics of the project.

6 . Directions:Write an English composition in 120-150 words according to the instructions given below in Chinese.
最近，在一本英文旅游杂志上刊登了国际空间站(TSS-- International Space Station)将在2020年对游客开放的信息（见下表)。如果有可能（具备足够的时间和金钱)，你是否会去争取成为第一批游客。请谈谈你的理由。
Information About the Trip to ISS
Number of visitors 2 every year
Length of stay 30 days (at most)
Cost $ 27000 per night (stay)
$ 40 million (transport)
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

7 . 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.

How Much of the Jetsons' World Has Become a Reality?

For most of our readers, The Jetsons may be an unfamiliar name. However, for many Americans born in or before the 1980s, it is a name we fondly remember. The Jestsons was a popular cartoon that featured a family living in an advanced world     1    people settle in houses built in the sky, work only three days a week and drive flying cars that resemble flying saucers. While sky-high houses and three-day workweeks don’t appear to be on the horizon, other visions of the future     2    (turn) into practical realities.

Flying cars have been on the minds of scientists and inventors for decades. They are part of a typical imaging of the future fast-paced and luxurious,     3    (allow) us to speed through the skies. As     4     (see) in The Sky’s No longer the Limit, this flight of fancy may soon be a reality in Dubai. Aiming     5     (become) the world’s most advanced city, Dubai is currently testing the first-ever flying taxi.

    6     money still exists in its current cash-based form in The Jetsons, people today are looking toward a world where even cash is out-of-date. Bitcoin is a type of digital money that has taken the world by storm. Since its introduction, the money’s price     7     (increase) to rates as high as US$ 19,000. This, however, may not predict well for the future of digital currency, as experts warn that Bitcoin is a bubble and     8     crash soon. It’s possible that some dreams of the future may still be     9     our reach.

Other more probable technologies already exist, for example, future flying eye hospitals in A Hospital with Wings, unusual-engineered folding paper in Clever Folding and the population of endangered corals(珊瑚) in Lab-Bred Coral to the Rescue, etc. All these show     10    humans are already capable of. So, what else could the future have in store for us?

8 . Directions: after reading the passage below, fill in 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.

Could we have zero deaths on our roads?

Cars that can think for themselves have clear advantages     1     flesh-and-blood drivers. They don’t get drunk or drowsy, daydream or get distracted by mobile phones.

Human error causes over 90 percent of these collisions. Driverless cars, which     2     sense other vehicles on the road as well as obstacles and lane markings(车道标记), are already proving much safer than human-driven cars. In trials of Google’s autonomous Prius fleet in Silicon Valley in California, the only accidents     3    (cause) by human error. How are innovations like these designed? And how safe is it    4     (put) your life in the hands of an autonomous vehicle that makes all your decisions for you?

Driverless cars use a mix of GPS, cameras, complex scanners and sensors to detect vehicles, traffic signals, curbs, pedestrians and    5     obstacles. “A central computer system analyzes the data to control acceleration, steering and braking,” says Olivier Sappin, VP of Transportation & Mobility at Dassault Systèmes—the software company whose 3D EXPERIENCE platform and industry solutions are used by motor manufacturers to design, produce and maintain driverless cars. The software can simulate different eventualities(可能发生的事情) to ensure safety on the road—and the results can be incorporated （被包含）into the design and production process.

As well as     6    (detect) their surroundings using ultra-sophisticated mapping systems, future cars will be able to communicate with each other,     7    (allow) as many cars as possible to fit on the roads.    8     (connect) vehicles will feature safety warnings that alert drivers of potentially dangerous conditions—impending(迫在眉睫的) collisions, icy roads and dangerous curves.

Experts say it’s not the technology holding us back, but legal and practical issues such as who is responsible in the case of an accident, urban planning and the security of car computer systems.     9     these details are worked out, and motor manufacturers have used sophisticated software tools to eliminate all potential problems, it won’t be long     10    we’re all a lot safer on the roads.