1 . By the year 2050, a fifth of the world’s cities will experience unprecedented climate conditions and environments that currently don’t exist in any major cities, according to new research. A team of scientists at the Crowther Lab in Switzerland produced the report, which described the climate for 520 major cities 30 years in the future.
The results showed that 77 percent of the world’s cities will experience a surprising change in climate conditions by 2050, and 22 percent of the 520 cities will see conditions that are not currently experienced by any existing major cities.
In China in 2050, the climate of Xi’an, in Shanxi province, will be similar to that of current day Maseru, the capital city of Lesotho in southern Africa, with the maximum temperature of the warmest month likely to increase by 4.59℃. Chongqing in southwest China will resemble the climate of Swaziland capital Mbabane, as the warmest temperature is predicted to rise by 5.1℃.
Scientists predict summers in Europe will get warmer by an average of 3.5℃ and European winters will see temperature rises of 4.7℃. London’s climate will be more similar lo Barcelona, and Madrid’s to Marrakech.
The Crowther Lab hopes the analysis will motivate decision-makers to take necessary steps to prevent or address some of the climate effects due to the threat of climate change. The report also found that cities in tropical regions will experience smaller changes in average temperature but will be controlled by shifts in rainfall regimes. This may lead to a noticeable increase in unexpected events, and severe droughts.
“Across all scientific fields, the greatest challenge in climate science is no longer the precise measurement of climate change impacts, but inspiring people to picture is actual effects in order to motivate action,” said Tom Crowther, senior scientist und founder of the Crowther Lab.
1. According to the research, among the 520 cities by 2050, about ________ cities will experience the climate conditions that no major cities currently have experienced.A.400 | B.114 | C.260 | D.104 |
A.By listing figures. | B.By making comparisons. |
C.By doing experiments. | D.By explaining theory. |
A.To compare the climate change of the major cities of the world. |
B.To inspire people to picture its actual effects in order to motivate action. |
C.To inspire decision-makers to take necessary steps to prevent some climate effects. |
D.To show most word’s cities will experience a striking change in climate conditions. |
A.World Temperature | B.Current Climate Change |
C.Big Titles in the World | D.Future Climate Change in Most Big Cities |
A Capsule Fails the Test of Time
The US state of Oklahoma, the 48th state in the Union, celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2007. In a year full of official
The time capsule was a large concrete box. People said it was strong
Before the capsule was buried, officials ran a competition. Entrants had to guess what the population of Tulsa would be in 2007. The organizers recorded all the guesses and saved
1. When and why you are burying the time capsule
2. An explanation of your choice of items:
Choose at least one item for each category A-C below:
A Culture (music, literature, etc.)
B Technology
C Home life
3. One or two problems the world is facing today
Dear future friends,
My name is Li Hua._________________________________
Yours,
Li Hua
4 .
News anchors(主播) must have been reluctant to read out the following news: Xin Xiaomeng began working as the world’s first female artificial(人工的) intelligence news anchor at Xinhua News Agency on Sunday, three months after a male robot joined the profession.
Unlike previous news robots though, Xin does not read news like a cold machine; she reads it almost like a human being. The muscles on her face stretch and relax-and her reactions change-as she continues reading. That’s why many news anchors were worried: Will AI replace us in the near future?
To find the answer, we have to analyse the technologies that support Xin at her job. Three key technologies are used to support Xin. First, samples of human voices are collected and synthesized (合成). This is followed by the collection and synthesis of human muscle movement samples. And third the voices and movements are married in a way that when the Al news anchor reads, the micro -electric motors behind her face move to make her expressions seem more human.
Yet we need a thorough knowledge of deep leaning technology to make a robot imitate a person’s voice. The developer needs to collect tens of thousands of pieces of pronunciations, input them Into the machine and match them with the text or the Al to lean and read. The process for imitating facial movements is similar. The developer has to analyse the movements of the 53 muscles in the human face, make a model set from the collected data for the AI news anchor to lean, and imitate the movements of facial muscles via programs
Both the technologies used to make Xin’s performance impressive are mature. The real difficulty lies in the third -the technology to match the pronunciations with facial movements so that Xin expressions vary according to the content of the news report. In fact, Xins expressions don' t always change according to the content. As a result, her expressions look anything but human. Actually. AI is still no match for human qualities.
1. What does the underlined word "reluctant "in the first paragraph mean?A.Delighted. | B.Unwilling. | C.Confused. | D.Optimistic. |
A.They read news without expressions. | B.They looked like a human being |
C.They could interview sports stars | D.They could interact with audience. |
A.This technology is very perfect so far |
B.This technology is quite popular now |
C.This technology remains at the theoretical stage |
D.This technology is far from mature. |
A.human news anchors should learn from AT anchors to save their jobs |
B.Al anchors perform much better than human news anchors at present |
C.Al news anchors won 't replace human news anchors in the near future |
D.Xin Xiaomeng s expressions vary so naturally that they are true to life |
5 . There’s a good chance something you've bought online has been in the hands of a “ picker” first. These are the workers in warehouses(仓库)who pick, pack and ship all those things we’re ordering.
At Amazon and other companies, they’re working side by side with robots. Experts say while the robots are replacing some human workers, the machines aren't quite ready to take over completely.
When a robot finds its storage unit, it slides underneath, lifts it up and then delivers it to a worker 一 they’re called pickers. On a recent day, the computer told a picker to grab what looked like a fantasy board (棋盘)game. The picker found it, canned it and placed it on the conveyor belt.
“In a traditional fulfillment center where the associate would walk to the different items , it can take hours to fulfill a customer order. “ Robinson says.
Now, with the help of robots, that task takes minutes 一 and fewer humans.
So is this a sign we're entering a new industrial revolution?
“It’s definitely going to take over a lot of jobs. " says Karen Myers, a scientist at SRI, one of Silicon Valley's oldest research centers.
At the same time, she says, we're running against the limits of technology. Take “the picker” at the Amazon fulfillment center. Myers says those skills are proving to be uniquely human.
“Our fingers are incredibly flexible and the current generation of robotic operators, they’re getting much, much better,” she says. “But they're just not quite there yet. ”
There’s also the robot’s brain.
Remember that board game the Amazon worker was looking for? She could barely see the box filled into the storage bin — but she could tell it was a board game. Robots can’t do that.
Technologists say that, increasingly, humans will work side by side with robots — instead of robots working alone.
Amazon says robots and humans enabled the Tracy warehouse to fulfill customer orders faster. That means more customers and more human workers.
1. A picker does some tasks except .A.picking goods | B.producing goods | C.spotting goods | D.packing goods |
A.more efficient | B.less straight | C.more difficult | D.less profitable |
A.powerful | B.artificial | C.flexible | D.energetic |
A.Robots replacing humans completely. |
B.The advantages of shopping online. |
C.The future of robots. |
D.Robots and humans working side by side. |
1.家庭:
2.工作:
3.业余生活。
注意:1.词数100左右:
2.可以适当增加细节,以使行文连贯:
3.开头语已为你写好。
I often imagine what my life will be like in the future._______________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
增加:在缺词处加一个漏字符号(),并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除:把多余的词用斜线()划掉。
修改:在错的词下划一横线,并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意:1.每处错误及其修改均仅限一词;
2.只允许修改10处,多者(从第11处起)不计分。
With the development of science and technology, intelligent robots will be wide used in the future. At home, robots will help people do some housework and taking care of the elderly, babies and patients. In addition to these task, robots will even be able to play the chess and do exercise with people. In factories, robots will be used to perform some dangerous jobs avoid accidents.
Robots will change our future life by many ways, what will make it more colorful and comfortable. Therefore, we shouldn’t depend on intelligent robots too much, for they were made to help humans rather than replace us. As helpers of we humans, robots should be used properly.