1 . As an artist who shares her journey on social media, I’m often asked by curious followers how to begin an art journey. Unfortunately, there is no magic list I can offer. I do remember, though, what it was like to be a complete beginner. So I’ve put together some good tips for starting an art journey.
·Start small. I suggest using a sketchbook (素描本) for small studies. These small studies provide inspiration and may be a springboard for more complex works in the future.
·Paint often and paint from life. There’s no better way to improve than to put in those brush miles. Whether you paint still lifes, portraits, or landscapes, paint from life as much as possible.
·Continually challenge yourself to try something new.
·
The journey you’re on won’t follow a straight path.
| A．Get out of your comfort zone. |
| B．Make career plans and set goals. |
| C．Don’t throw away your beginner art. |
| D．Share your work if you feel comfortable doing so. |
| E．You’ll hit roadblocks, and you’ll feel discouraged at times. |
| F．Evaluate your performance and, if needed, redefine your role. |
| G．You’ll develop that painting muscle memory that only comes with repetition. |
2 . Popularization has in some cases changed the original meaning of emotional (情感的) intelligence. Many people now misunderstand emotional intelligence as almost everything desirable in a person's makeup that cannot be measured by an IQ test, such as character, motivation, confidence, mental stability, optimism and “people skills.” Research has shown that emotional skills may contribute to some of these qualities, but most of them move far beyond skill-based emotional intelligence.
We prefer to describe emotional intelligence as a specific set of skills that can be used for either good or bad purposes. The ability to accurately understand how others are feeling may be used by a doctor to find how best to help her patients, while a cheater might use it to control potential victims. Being emotionally intelligent does not necessarily make one a moral person.
Although popular beliefs regarding emotional intelligence run far ahead of what research can reasonably support, the overall effects of the publicity have been more beneficial than harmful. The most positive aspect of this popularization is a new and much needed emphasis (重视) on emotion by employers, educators and others interested in promoting social well-being. The popularization of emotional intelligence has helped both the public and researchers re-evaluate the functionality of emotions and how they serve people adaptively in everyday life.
Although the continuing popular appeal of emotional intelligence is desirable, we hope that such attention will excite a greater interest in the scientific and scholarly study of emotion. It is our hope that in coming decades, advances in science will offer new perspectives (视角) from which to study how people manage their lives. Emotional intelligence, with its focus on both head and heart, may serve to point us in the right direction.
1. What is a common misunderstanding of emotional intelligence?| A．It can be measured by an IQ test. | B．It helps to exercise a person’s mind. |
| C．It includes a set of emotional skills. | D．It refers to a person’s positive qualities. |
| A．To explain a rule. | B．To clarify a concept. |
| C．To present a fact. | D．To make a prediction. |
| A．Favorable. | B．Intolerant. |
| C．Doubtful. | D．Unclear. |
| A．Its appeal to the public. | B．Expectations for future studies. |
| C．Its practical application. | D．Scientists with new perspectives. |
3 . Who is a genius? This question has greatly interested humankind for centuries.
Let’s state clearly: Einstein was a genius. His face is almost the international symbol for genius. But we want to go beyond one man and explore the nature of genius itself. Why is it that some people are so much more intelligent or creative than the rest of us? And who are they?
In the sciences and arts, those praised as geniuses were most often white men, of European origin. Perhaps this is not a surprise. It’s said that history is written by the victors, and those victors set the standards for admission to the genius club. When contributions were made by geniuses outside the club—women, or people of a different color or belief—they were unacknowledged and rejected by others.
A study recently published by Science found that as young as age six, girls are less likely than boys to say that members of their gender(性别)are “really, really smart.” Even worse, the study found that girls act on that belief: Around age six they start to avoid activities said to be for children who are “really, really smart.” Can our planet afford to have any great thinkers become discouraged and give up? It doesn’t take a genius to know the answer: absolutely not.
Here’s the good news. In a wired world with constant global communication, we’re all positioned to see flashes of genius wherever they appear. And the more we look, the more we will see that social factors(因素)like gender, race, and class do not determine the appearance of genius. As a writer says, future geniuses come from those with “intelligence, creativity, perseverance(毅力), and simple good fortune, who are able to change the world.”
1. What does the author think of victors’ standards for joining the genius club?| A．They’re unfair. | B．They’re conservative. |
| C．They’re objective. | D．They’re strict. |
| A．They think themselves smart. |
| B．They look up to great thinkers. |
| C．They see gender differences earlier than boys. |
| D．They are likely to be influenced by social beliefs |
| A．Improved global communication. |
| B．Less discrimination against women. |
| C．Acceptance of victors’ concepts. |
| D．Changes in people’s social positions. |
| A．Geniuses Think Alike | B．Genius Takes Many Forms |
| C．Genius and Intelligence | D．Genius and Luck |
4 . What is life? Like most great questions, this one is easy to ask but difficult to answer. The reason is simple: we know of just one type of life and it’s challenging to do science with a sample size of one. The field of artificial life-called ALife for short — is the systematic attempt to spell out life’s fundamental principles. Many of these practitioners, so-called ALifers, think that somehow making life is the surest way to really understand what life is.
So far no one has convincingly made artificial life. This track record makes ALife a ripe target for criticism, such as declarations of the field’s doubtful scientific value. Alan Smith, a complexity scientist, is tired of such complaints. Asking about “the point” of ALife might be, well, missing the point entirely, he says. “The existence of a living system is not about the use of anything.” Alan says. “Some people ask me, ‘So what’s the worth of artificial life?’ Do you ever think, ‘What is the worth of your grandmother?’”
As much as many ALifers hate emphasizing their research’s applications, the attempts to create artificial life could have practical payoffs. Artificial intelligence may be considered ALife’s cousin in that researchers in both fields are enamored by a concept called open-ended evolution (演化). This is the capacity for a system to create essentially endless complexity, to be a sort of “novelty generator”. The only system known to exhibit this is Earth’s biosphere. If the field of ALife manages to reproduce life’s endless “creativity” in some virtual model, those same principles could give rise to truly inventive machines.
Compared with the developments of Al, advances in ALife are harder to recognize. One reason is that ALife is a field in which the central concept — life itself — is undefined. The lack of agreement among ALifers doesn’t help either. The result is a diverse line of projects that each advance along their unique paths. For better or worse, ALife mirrors the very subject it studies. Its muddled (混乱的) progression is a striking parallel (平行线) to the evolutionary struggles that have shaped Earth biosphere.
Undefined and uncontrolled, ALife drives its followers to repurpose old ideas and generated novelty. It may be, of course, that these characteristics aren’t in any way surprising or singular. They may apply universally to all acts of evolution. Ultimately ALife may be nothing special. But even this dismissal suggests something：perhaps, just like life itself throughout the universe, the rise of ALife will prove unavoidable.
1. Regarding Alan Smith’s defence of ALife, the author is .| A．supportive | B．puzzled | C．unconcerned | D．doubtful |
| A．Shocked. | B．Protected. | C．Attracted. | D．Challenged. |
| A．ALife holds the key to human future. | B．ALife and AI share a common feature. |
| C．AI mirrors the developments of ALife. | D．AI speeds up the process of human evolution. |
| A．Life Is Undefined. Can AI Be a Way Out? |
| B．Life Evolves. Can AI Help ALife Evolve, Too? |
| C．Life Is Undefined. Can ALife Be Defined One Day? |
| D．Life Evolves. Can Attempts to Create ALife Evolve, Too? |
5 . For nearly a decade now, Merebeth has been a self-employed pet transport specialist. Her pet transport job was born of the financial crisis(危机)in the late 2000s. The downturn hit the real estate (房地产)firm where she had worked for ten years as an office manager. The firm went broke and left her looking for a new job. One day, while driving near her home, she saw a dog wandering on the road, clearly lost. She took it home, and her sister in Denver agreed to take it. This was a loving home for sure, but 1, 600 miles away. It didn’t take long for Merebeth to decide to drive the dog there herself. It was her first road trip to her new job.
Merebeth’s pet delivery service also satisfies her wanderlust. It has taken her to every state in the US except Montana, Washington and Oregon, she says proudly. If she wants to visit a new place, she will simply find a pet with transport needs there. She travels in all weathers. She has driven through 55 mph winds in Wyoming, heavy flooding and storms in Alabama and total whiteout conditions in Kansas.
This wanderlust is inherited from her father, she says. She moved their family from Canada to California when she was one year old, because he wanted them to explore a new place together. As soon as she graduated from high school she left home to live on Catalina Island off the Californian coast, away from her parents, where she enjoyed a life of sailing and off-road biking.
It turns out that pet transporting pays quite well at about $30, 000 per year before tax. She doesn’t work in summer, as it would be unpleasantly hot for the animals in the car, even with air conditioning. As autumn comes, she gets restless—the same old wanderlust returning. It’s a call she must heed alone, though. Merebeth says, “When I am on the road, I’m just in my own world. I’ve always been independent-spirited and I just feel strongly that I must help animals.”
1. Why did Merebeth changed her job?| A．She wanted to work near her home. |
| B．She was tired of working in the office. |
| C．Her sister asked her to move to Denver. |
| D．Her former employer was out of business. |
| A．make money. | B．try various jobs. |
| C．be close to nature. | D．travel to different places. |
| A．She has chances to see rare animals. |
| B．She works hard throughout the year. |
| C．She relies on herself the whole time. |
| D．She earns a basic and tax-free salary. |
6 . Things to Do in Yorkshire This Summer
Harrogate Music Festival
Since its birth, Harrogate Music Festival has gone from strength to strength. This year, we are celebrating our 50th anniversary. We begin on 1st June with Manchester Camerata and Nicola Benedetti, presenting an amazing programme of Mozart pieces.
Dates:1 June-31 July
Tickets:£12-£96
Jodie's Fitness Summer Classes
As the summer months roll in, our Georgian country estate makes the perfect setting for an outdoor fitness session. Come and work out with our qualified personal trainer, Jodie McGregor, on the grounds of the Middleton Lodge estate.
We will be holding a free taster session on 23rd May, at 10 am, to demonstrate the variety of effective and active exercises. There are eight spaces available for the taster session. Advance bookings are required (info@middletonlodge.co.uk)
Dates:23 May-11 July
Tickets: £7.50 per session
Felt Picture Making
Working from an inspirational picture, this workshop at Helmsley Arts Centre will teach you the techniques you will need to recreate your picture in wool.
We will also discuss the origins of felt, what enables wool fibres to become felt and how the processes we use work.
Dates: 12 June-12 July
Tickets: £40 including materials
Figure It Out!-Playing with Math
A new exhibition in Halifax uses everyday activities to explain the hidden math principles we all use on a regular basis. Pack a bag, cut a cake, guess which juice container holds the most liquid, and much more. Discover how architects, product designers and scientists use similar skills in their work.
Dates:7 May-10 June
Tickets: Free
1. What should you do if you want to attend the taster session of Jodie's fitness classes?| A．Join a fitness club. | B．Pay a registration fee. |
| C．Make a booking. | D．Hire a personal trainer. |
| A．£7.50. | B．£12. | C．£40. | D．£96. |
| A．Harrogate Music Festival. | B．Jodie's Fitness Summer Classes. |
| C．Felt Picture Making. | D．Figure It Out!-Playing with Math. |
7 . An Australian professor is developing a robot to monitor the health of grazing cattle, a development that could bring big changes to a profession that's relied largely on a low-tech approach for decades but is facing a labor shortage.
Salah Sukkarieh, a professor at the University of Sydney, sees robots as necessary given how cattlemen are aging. He is building a four-wheeled robot that will run on solar and electric power. It will use cameras and sensors to monitor the animals. A computer system will analyze the video to determine whether a cow is sick. Radio tags (标签) on the animals will measure temperature changes. The quality of grassland will be tracked by monitoring the shape, color and texture (质地) of grass. That way, cattlemen will know whether they need to move their cattle to another field for nutrition purposes.
Machines have largely taken over planting, watering and harvesting crops such as com and wheat, but the monitoring of cattle has gone through fewer changes.
For Texas cattleman Pete Bonds, it's increasingly difficult to find workers interested in watching cattle. But Bonds doesn't believe a robot is right for the job. Years of experience in the industry - and failed attempts to use technology - have convinced him that the best way to check cattle is with a man on a horse. Bonds, who bought his first cattle almost 50 years ago, still has each of his cowboys inspect 300 or 400 cattle daily and look for signs that an animal is getting sick.
Other cattlemen see more promise in robots. Michael Kelsey Paris, vice president of the Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association, said a robot could be extremely useful given rising concerns about cattle theft. Cattle tend to be kept in remote places and their value has risen, making them appealing targets.
1. What is a problem with the cattle-raising industry?| A．Soil pollution. | B．Lack of workers. |
| C．Aging machines. | D．Low profitability. |
| A．Monitor the quality of grass. | B．Cure the diseased cattle. |
| C．Move cattle to another field. | D．Predict weather changes. |
| A．He wants to help them earn a living. | B．He thinks men can do the job better. |
| C．He is inexperienced in using robots. | D．He enjoys the traditional way of life. |
| A．Increase the value of cattle. | B．Bring down the cost of labor. |
| C．Make the job more appealing. | D．Keep cattle from being stolen. |
8 . Quantum ( 量子 ) computers have been on my mind a lot lately. A friend has been sending me articles on how quantum computers might help solve some of the biggest challenges we face as humans. I’ve also had exchanges with two quantum-computing experts. One is computer scientist Chris Johnson who I see as someone who helps keep the field honest. The other is physicist Philip Taylor.
For decades, quantum computing has been little more than a laboratory curiosity. Now, big tech companies have invested in quantum computing, as have many smaller ones. According to Business Weekly, quantum machines could help us “cure cancer, and even take steps to turn climate change in the opposite direction.” This is the sort of hype ( 炒作 ) that annoys Johnson. He worries that researchers are making promises they can’t keep. “What’s new,” Johnson wrote, “is that millions of dollars are now potentially available to quantum computing researchers.”
As quantum computing attracts more attention and funding, researchers may mislead investors, journalists, the public and, worst of all, themselves about their work’s potential. If researchers can’t keep their promises, excitement might give way to doubt, disappointment and anger, Johnson warns. Lots of other technologies have gone through stages of excitement. But something about quantum computing makes it especially prone to hype, Johnson suggests, perhaps because “‘quantum’ stands for something cool you shouldn’t be able to understand.” And that brings me back to Taylor, who suggested that I read his book Q for Quantum.
After I read the book, Taylor patiently answered my questions about it. He also answered my questions about PyQuantum, the firm he co-founded in 2016. Taylor shares Johnson’s concerns about hype, but he says those concerns do not apply to PyQuantum.
The company, he says, is closer than any other firm “by a very large margin ( 幅度 )” to building a “useful” quantum computer, one that “solves an impactful problem that we would not have been able to solve otherwise.” He adds, “People will naturally discount my opinions, but I have spent a lot of time quantitatively comparing what we are doing with others.”
Could PyQuantum really be leading all the competition “by a wide margin”, as Taylor claims? I don’t know. I’m certainly not going to advise my friend or anyone else to invest in quantum computers. But I trust Taylor, just as I trust Johnson.
1. Regarding Johnson’s concerns, the author feels ________.| A．sympathetic | B．unconcerned | C．doubtful | D．excited |
| A．His dominance in physics. | B．The competition in the field. |
| C．His confidence in PyQuantum. | D．The investment of tech companies. |
| A．Open. | B．Cool. | C．Useful. | D．Resistant. |
| A．Is Johnson More Competent Than Taylor? |
| B．Is Quantum Computing Redefining Technology? |
| C．Will Quantum Computers Ever Come into Being? |
| D．Will Quantum Computing Ever Live Up to Its Hype? |
9 . Health and fitness help a person live a good and healthy life. Often due to various pressures, we tend to ignore our health.
It is important for everyone to devote some time to health and fitness.
Additionally, it is important to relax our body. We should have at least six to eight hours of sleep every day. It helps in improving our immune (免疫) system and protects us against diseases.
| A．Fitness levels decide the quality of life. |
| B．Health and fitness are interrelated to each other. |
| C．It also helps in keeping us calm and relaxes our mind. |
| D．For instance, we may have a tendency to catch a cold easily. |
| E．If we keep our body fit, we can enjoy life in a better manner. |
| F．There are some activities which everyone should do in our life. |
| G．This makes our body suffer and we will catch other diseases. |
10 . My name is Alice. Early last year, I was troubled by an anxiety that crippled ( 削弱 ) my ability to do anything. I felt like a storm cloud hung over me. For almost a year I struggled on, constantly staring at this wall that faced me. My perfectionist tendencies were the main root of this: I wanted to be perfect at whatever I did, which obviously in life is not possible, but it consumed me.
One day, I attended a presentation by wildlife conservationist Grant Brown at my high school. His presentation not only awed and inspired me, but also helped emerge an inner desire to make a difference in the world. I joined a pre-presentation dinner with him and that smaller setting allowed me to slowly build up my courage to speak one-on-one with him—an idea that had seemed completely impossible. This first contact was where my story began.
A month later, Brown invited me to attend the World Youth Wildlife Conference. Looking back, I now see that this would be the first in a series of timely opportunities that my old self would have let pass, but that this new and more confident Alice enthusiastically seized. Shortly after I received his invitation, applications to join the Youth for Nature and the Youth for Planet groups were sent around through my high school. I decided to commit to completing the applications, and soon I was a part of a growing global team of young people working to protect nature. Each of these new steps continued to grow my confidence.
I am writing this just six months since my journey began and I’ve realised that my biggest obstacle ( 障碍 ) this whole time was myself. It was that voice in the back of my head telling me that one phrase that has stopped so many people from reaching their potential: I can’t. They say good things come to those who wait; I say: grab every opportunity with everything you have and be impatient. After all, nature does not require our patience, but our action.
1. What was the main cause for Alice’s anxiety?| A．Her inability to act her age. | B．Her habit of consumption. |
| C．Her desire to be perfect. | D．Her lack of inspiration. |
| A．She decided to do something for nature. | B．She tasted the sweetness of friendship. |
| C．She learned about the harm of desire. | D．She built up her courage to speak up. |
| A．intelligent | B．confident | C．innovative | D．critical |
| A．Practice makes perfect. | B．Patience is a cure of anxiety. |
| C．Action is worry’s worst enemy. | D．Everything comes to those who wait. |
