1 . More American businesses are starting to use artificial intelligence(AI)tools to come up with new ideas and to deal with customers.
Mattel is known for making children’s toys. The company recently used an AI image generator (生成器) called DALL-E to come up with ideas for new Hot Wheels toy cars. The used vehicle seller CarMax is using ChatGPT to gather thousands of customer comments. The social media service Snapchat has added a chatbot (聊天机器人) to its messaging service. And Instacart, a delivery service, now uses ChatGPT to answer food questions. Even the Coca-Cola company plans to use AI to help create new marketing content. It has not said exactly how it plans to use the technology. But the move shows that businesses are under pressure to use the tools that many of their employees and customers are already trying on their own.
Some experts warn that businesses should carefully consider possible harms to customers, society, and their own companies before choosing to use AI tools in the workplace. Chaire Leibowicz works at The Partnership on AI, a nonprofit group. The group recently released recommendations for companies producing AI- generated images, audio and other media. “I want people to think deeply before deploying this technology” Leibowicz said. “They should play around. . . but we should also think, what purpose are these tools serving in the first place?”
While text generators like ChatGPT can make the process of writing emails and marketing documents faster and easier, they also appear to present misinformation as fact. And image generators like DALL-E are trained in copying widely available digital art and photography. This has raise copyright(版权)concerns from the creators of those works.
“It is safer to use AI tools as a ‘thought partner’ but still people as the creator of final products,” said Anna Gressel. She works at the law company Debevoise & Plimpton, which advises businesses on how to use AI.
1. Which company made creative products with Al tools’ help?| A．Instacart | B．Matel | C．CarMax | D．Snapchat |
| A．People rely too much on technology in their daily life. |
| B．AI tools are widely used to help businesses grow. |
| C．AI tools have an effect on improving business conditions. |
| D．Customers are more and more connected online. |
| A．presenting confidently | B．promoting successfully |
| C．debating publicly | D．applying effectively |
| A．AI tools should just be humans’ assistants. |
| B．The use of AI tools should be forbidden. |
| C．A business should partner with a law company. |
| D．Copyright concerns are unnecessary |
We were very poor. To help support the family, Grandma would go to the mountains to dig wild vegetables, and then sell them. In this way, Grandma had to spend the whole day in the mountains. After she came back from collecting a lot of wild vegetables, she had to pick them until late night. Early in the morning, my grandma would take the vegetables, walk through the mountain road, and go to the market to sell them.
I hated Grandma digging wild vegetables all day long, because as soon as I finished my homework, I had to help her pick vegetables. And this dirty work often made my fingers black. In that case, no matter how hard I washed my hands, the dirty black color couldn’t be washed away, which made me very upset. My grandma noticed I hated the black color so much; she once suggested using bleach and iron filings (漂白剂和铁屑). It worked. However, it really hurt so I refused to try them again.
One day, something unexpected happened.
“Everyone, you need to invite your parents to school. OK?” the teacher said to us, “the school requires students to bring your parents to school, mainly to discuss your school work.”
Of course it didn’t matter to other classmates, but I… Grandma was the only one who could come to school with me, Hearing what the teacher said, I sighed (叹气) helplessly, “Oh…” The worn-out clothes, the slightly hunched (弓背的) back, and the most terrible thing was the dirty black color on Grandma’s fingers!
I couldn’t tell how worried and frightened I was and I didn’t know what to do. Anyway, I didn’t want the teacher to see the color of my grandma’s fingers. I came home with an unhappy face and said hesitantly (犹豫地): “Well, Grandma, the teacher asked parents to go to school tomorrow.”
注意：1. 续写词数应为150左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
I couldn’t help stealing a look at her hands.
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The next afternoon, a classmate told me my grandma was in the teacher’s office.
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3 . If job seekers knew companies were using AI to fill open positions, would it stop them from applying for the job? The answer, according to a recent study, is yes — sometimes.
The researchers found that in certain instances, like the screening (筛选) of applications, participants usually accepted some degree of automation. But in other instances, like interviews, automation could stop job seekers from applying for a position.
Companies facing recent labor shortages are increasingly turning to AI as a way to facilitate and speed up the hiring process. AI can be used in tasks such as screening job candidates, checking professional licenses, and interviewing candidates.
The new research suggests that using AI in hiring could be quite opposite. For instance, in one part of the study, participants were shown fictional job postings and then asked if they intended to apply for the position. The researchers found that if the job posting said that AI was used both to screen applicants and to conduct interviews, participants’ intention to apply for the position averaged 2.77 on a six-point scale. If AI was used only for the screening process, participants’ intention to apply averaged 3.73.
In another experiment, the researchers also found that study participants saw pros and cons in the use of AI in interviewing. When told the hiring would be fully automated, some participants expected the whole hiring process to be more consistent (始终如一的) in its judgments. But others tended to believe that they had less voice in the final outcome. Overall, the study results suggest this concern tends to outweigh the appreciation of AI’s lack of bias (偏见) at the interviewing stage.
A mixed approach may be a way to get the best of both worlds. Participants may have been more open to automation earlier in the hiring process because they could see some benefits from using AI — such as less-biased decisions. But during the later stages applicants expect personal interaction, to give them an opportunity to sell themselves and to learn more about the company.
1. Why do companies increasingly turn to AI in hiring?| A．To attract more applicants. | B．To boost hiring process. |
| C．To pick out top candidates. | D．To solve labor shortages. |
| A．Screening job candidates. | B．Interviewing candidates. |
| C．Grading professional licenses. | D．Predicting final outcomes. |
| A．Less AI involvement. | B．Lack of consistent judgments. |
| C．Less-biased decisions. | D．Lack of personal interaction. |
| A．Hi-tech is a two-edged sword. |
| B．AI finds its way to hiring process. |
| C．Automation may discourage job seekers. |
| D．A mixed approach should be adopted in hiring. |
5 . More than 140 sign languages are used today, primarily by deaf communities around the world. Like spoken languages, each sign language has its own grammar, vocabulary and other special features. For example, American Sign Language is unintelligible（无法了解的）to British Sign language. In fact, American Sign language has more in common with French Sign Language, largely because French educators played a key role in helping get deaf schools founded in the United States during the 19th century.
There haven’t been a lot of comparisons of sign languages. University of Texas, Austin linguist Justin Powers and his colleagues aim to address that information gap. In order to study the question of sign language evolution, they first collected a database of manual alphabets from dozens of different sign languages around the world. So a manual alpha-bet is kind of a subsystem within a sign language that is used to represent a written language. And there’s a hand shape that corresponds to each letter.
To uncover relationships between the alphabets% the researchers used the same methods that biologists use to figure out relationships between different species, based on their DNA. The methods grouped sign languages in this study into five main European lineages（谱系）. And those were Austrian origin, British origin, French origin, Spanish and Swedish. Power says manual alphabets from Austria, France and Spain could date back to one-handed manual alphabets from 16th- and 17th-century Spain. But each of those lineages evolved independently of each other.
The study also confirmed the French origins of American Sign Language and those of other countries, including Mexico, Brazil and the Netherlands. Surprisingly, the Austrian manual alphabet influenced sign languages as far away as Russia. But while this lineage has largely died out, remains of it live on in Icelandic Sign language today.
Power says future research comparing the vocabularies of different sign languages could provide even more clues about how they’ve changed over time. Understanding how sign languages evolve would tell us a lot about the way that language, in general, evolves.
1. What can we know about American Sign Language?| A．It was created by French educators. |
| B．It is less related to French Sign language. |
| C．It was further developed before the 19th century. |
| D．It has little in common with British Sign Language. |
| A．Every letter means a hand gesture. |
| B．It is used to replace the written language. |
| C．Every letter is the same as the normal alphabet. |
| D．It is used together with the shape of mouth. |
| A．Worrying. | B．Astonishing. |
| C．Moving. | D．Disappointing. |
| A．The changes of different sign languages. |
| B．The evolution of different sign languages. |
| C．The meaning of researching sign languages. |
| D．The vocabulary of different sign languages. |
6 . The human race shares this planet with millions of other species and forms of life. In recognizing that, it is always important to remember that our rapid rise of the urban civilization(城市文明) has unavoidably impacted the planet and life on it.
In the long run, however, the civilization risks destroying well balanced ecosystems, which could potentially have serious results for humanity itself. As such,we must eventually find a balance between development and nature which can maintain the ecology, beauty and harmony(和谐) of the earth.
The word “harmony” is an important concept in China. Chinese society and culture are built on the idea that relationships between people should be harmonious, which means avoiding conflict, highlighting a common good and balancing uncontrollable desires with the needs of society as a whole. However, this idea does not just apply to people, it also applies to our relationships with the world and nature. Never has this been more meaningful than the view of how China handles its rapid development, which has lastingly changed the country’s landscape and created new challenges regarding nature and the environment.
Actually, over the past few years China has been working hard to protect biodiversity and has drawn “red lines” for ecological protection, established a national park system, and undertaken major projects for biodiversity protection.
One example of China’s success in this area is in its reversing(逆转) of the decrease of its giant panda population to the point that it is no longer endangered. This effort included creating a giant panda national park in 2016 and doubling the number of births. Pandas have become “a global symbol of conservation success”—something in which China has played a key part.
Likewise, China is also taking its efforts overseas. It recently announced a $232 million fund to promote biodiversity protection in developing countries. The effort is a part of its “community of shared future for mankind”, meaning that we share one world, one planet and one future, and so we human beings must work together. Now it is the time to act.
1. Which potential risk along with the urban civilization is mentioned?| A．Loss of the natural scenery. |
| B．Breaking the ecosystem balance. |
| C．The disappearance of all species. |
| D．Ruining our human health. |
| A．The word “harmony” refers to good interpersonal relationship. |
| B．Human’s uncontrolled desires aren’t connected with harmony. |
| C．Keeping in harmony makes a difference to China’s development. |
| D．Balancing development and nature isn’t complicated as imagined. |
| A．China has completed the task of protecting biodiversity. |
| B．China has made some achievements of protecting biodiversity. |
| C．The population of giant panda is gradually decreasing recently. |
| D．Pandas have become the most successful representative of China。 |
| A．Fundamental. | B．Unique. | C．Indirect. | D．Mysterious. |
1. 欢迎Alice的到来；
2. 介绍自己的优势：电脑操作；交际能力；英语口语…
注意：
1. 词数100左右；
2. 可以适当增加细节以使行文连贯；
3. 邮件开口结尾已为你写好，不计入词数。
Dear Alice,
I’m Li Hua, a senior 2 student, aged 17.
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Li Hua
1. What does the man think helps him the most to become successful?
| A．Hard work. | B．Good training. | C．A set schedule. |
| A．At about 8:30. | B．At about 9:20. | C．At about 9:50. |
| A．Have lunch. |
| B．Attend a team meeting. |
| C．Do warm-up exercises. |
| A．To make themselves relax. |
| B．To notice the mistakes they’ve made. |
| C．To know the kinds of tips the other team use. |
1. What kind of teenage life did Richard lead at school?
| A．Difficult. | B．Ordinary. | C．Exciting. |
| A．He quit school. |
| B．He started a magazine. |
| C．He set up a student advisory center. |
| A．Selling low-priced records. |
| B．Signing new musicians. |
| C．Providing space travel. |
| A．In 1970. | B．In 1972. | C．In 1992. |
10 . About five years ago I started at a new school when my family moved to Iowa. I was just a little excited, but I worried I would never fit in with (适应) the other sixth graders.
Lucy, a girl in my class, who I thought was not ready for change, didn’t like me from the start. In fact, I was sure she hated me. I could tell she thought I was a fool.
My teacher made us sit by each other for the last term. Lucy was surprised that I didn’t wear makeup (化妆). I didn’t exactly look like the coolest girl. But, I kept smiling at her, though she rolled her eyes, and I kept telling her she looked beautiful, even when she was angry.
Finally, Lucy let me talk to her, even in sight of her “cool” friends. She started telling me how beautiful I looked. I still remember that first time when she smiled at me saying that, and I smiled right back, telling her thanks. Lucy invited me over to her house for a party, and talked to me all the time instead of her other friends.
I may move to Arizona after that, but I will never forget Lucy. She was a great friend. I still smiled at Lucy when she made fun of me. I’m not stupid, I didn’t think she was right in doing those things, but I still put up with (忍受) it. And we became great friends.
About two weeks ago, I read a sentence by Abraham Lincoln: “Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them?” Immediately, I smiled, thinking of Lucy.
1. When the author started at a new school in Iowa, she worried ________.| A．she couldn’t get along well with her classmates |
| B．she looked stupid when asking questions |
| C．she didn’t look like the coolest girl in her class |
| D．she was not ready for change at all |
| A．By wearing makeup. | B．By wearing beautiful clothes. |
| C．By keeping smiling at Lucy. | D．By sitting beside Lucy in class. |
| A．it was a waste of time to make friends with Lucy |
| B．it was right of her to suffer when making friends |
| C．it was foolish of her to smile at Lucy all the time |
| D．it was a shameful thing to put up with what Lucy did |
| A．Making friends means losing enemies. | B．Friendship needs to be cared for. |
| C．Kindness can beat any enemy. | D．Patience is important in making friends. |
