1 . Working with ARIA Research, a startup developing vision for the blind, Phoebe Peng is using technologically advanced human echolocation (回声定位) that enables blind users to perceive their surroundings in precise detail.
The process uses event cameras which, unlike normal cameras that take complete images of a scene, track changes in an image over time, making them ideal for the observation of small objects like table tennis balls. The images are then processed into sound using a specialised algorithm (算法). This is then communicated back to the player via a lot of loudspeakers, ultimately with the aim of allowing players to track the ball and movements using sounds.
According to Peng, table tennis makes a perfect test case for the kind of technology being developed by ARIA Research. “Table tennis has been played for decades as a more accessible version of tennis. The sport is beginner-friendly while maintaining a rich level of competitive play. However, like many sports, it remains difficult for people who suffer vision loss or have low vision,” said Ms Peng, who will soon complete a Bachelor of Engineering in Software Engineering.
“The small size of the ball and table, along with the movement of the ball in 3D space, are things that make table tennis difficult to play for those with low vision and complete blindness,” said Peng, who is completing the work for her degree. “Making this sport more accessible while also exploring the potential of event cameras were my two biggest motivators,” she said.
In one study, using two perfectly positioned cameras, Ms Peng was able to identify and track a ball in three dimensions in real time. She then fed that data into an algorithm controlling the loudspeakers standing along the sides of the table, which created a sound field matching the position of the ball.
While the results are promising, more experimentation will be needed before the system will be ready for actual play. “There are limitations on how accurately people can perceive sound localisation. What type of sound should be used? Should the sound be continuous? This is what we’ll be tackling in the next stage of development,” said Ms Peng.
1. How are event cameras different from normal ones?| A．They can have sounds located. |
| B．They are linked with loudspeakers. |
| C．They constantly follow image changes. |
| D．They take complete images of a scene. |
| A．Its unique feature. | B．Its fierce competition. |
| C．Its technical complexity. | D．Its beginner-friendliness. |
| A．Its inspiring results. | B．Its promising future. |
| C．Its practical applications. | D．Its technological challenge. |
| A．Technology Opens up Blind Table Tennis |
| B．Blind People Work Wonders in Table Tennis |
| C．Event Camera Reshapes Future for the Disabled |
| D．Algorithm Helps Translate Imagination to Sound |
I was never “that girl” — the one who had charming appearance, and who enjoyed a colorful social life. I was another girl entirely, one who was considered “nice girls”, and the top student in class. Not that I didn’t care about friends or fun, I just didn’t think it was worth putting lots of time and effort into changing how I looked, how I acted, even as I started high school.
Marissa was “that girl” — fun to be around, good to know. We are different, but our friendship began the first time we met at an exciting soccer match, on the second day of freshmen year. The excitement of the game and our shared interest in soccer connected us, I was deeply impressed with her enthusiasm, while she admired my calm. Our conversations went smoothly, and our relationship quickly turned into a close bond.
However, as the school year progressed, Marissa’s outgoing personality began to conflict with my reserved nature. She stood out in social situations, constantly asking me to attend parties and social events. While I appreciated her efforts to include me, I felt awkward and uncomfortable to be forced into unfamiliar surroundings. Our once harmonious friendship started to crack, I tried to turn down her invitations, but in vain.
One evening, Marissa persuaded me to attend a large party at a classmate’s house. Surrounded by loud music and strange faces, I felt uneasy and upset. Marissa was the queen of the party, leaving me feeling extremely lonely. Her personality attracted others to her, creating a barrier between us.
注意:1.续写词数应为150个左右;
2.请按如下格式在答题纸的相应位置作答。
Paragraph 1:
At that moment, I realized the growing divide between us.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Paragraph 2:
Since then, we worked together to find a balance of our personalities.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Bill Sumiel was having a tough Friday. It was October 2020, and the 71-year-old, who was dealing with kidney failure (肾衰竭) and had been on dialysis (血液透析) for a few years, found himself at the hospital 30 miles from home for the second time in 24 hours. The day before, his brother had driven him for a routine declotting (去除血块), but it unexpectedly blocked again that night.
Sumiel was no stranger to the struggles of kidney disease. He’d been diagnosed with diabetes (糖尿病) more than 20 years before, which led to his kidney problems. He was on the list of the kidney transplant program, but no matches had yet appeared. So he continued with his treatments, including the periodic declotting that had failed this time. This time, Sumiel took a taxi to and from his appointment.
Timothy Letts, 31, was driving north to visit a friend when his phone received the request for Sumiel’s ride home. The trip was out of Letts’s way. Still, he took the fare, figuring if the passenger was coming from a hospital, he likely needed a ride.
When Sumiel got into the car, Letts could see that the older man was not energetic but in good spirits. And as they set out on the 40-minute drive to Sumiel’s home, the pair started chatting.
Letts shared with Sumiel that he was a proud Army veteran (老兵) and Sumiel mentioned that in the past he’d enjoyed volunteering at his church and in his community, even serving as president of the city council. But he was doing less these days, he explained, because the dialysis treatments left him exhausted and he was searching for a kidney donor.
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。
This hit Timothy Letts deeply.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Weeks later, Letts received a call from the hospital, saying he was a perfect match.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________4 . In a recent study of healthy volunteers, National Institutes of Health researchers discovered that our brains may replay memories of learning new skills when we rest.
NIH researchers have mapped out the brain activity that flows when we learn a new skill, such as playing a new song on the piano, and found that during short rest the volunteers’ brains rapidly and repeatedly replayed faster versions of the activity seen while they practiced typing a code. The more a volunteer replayed the activity the better they performed during subsequent practice sessions.
The study was conducted at the NIH Clinical Center. The team of Dr. Cohen, M.D. , senior investigator at the NIH’s National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), used a highly sensitive scanning technique to record the brain waves of 33 healthy, right-handed volunteers as they learned to type a five-digit test code with their left hands. The subjects sat in a chair and under the scanner’s long, cone-shaped cap. An experiment began when a subject was shown the code “41234” on a screen and asked to type it out as many times as possible for 10 seconds and then take a 10 second break. Subjects were asked to repeat this cycle of alternating (交替的) practice and rest sessions a total of 35 times.
During the first few trials, the speed at which subjects correctly typed the code improved dramatically and then leveled off around the 11th cycle. In a previous study, Dr. Cohen’s team showed that most of these gains happened during short rests, and not when the subjects were typing. Moreover, the gains were greater than those made after a night’s sleep and were related with a decrease in the size of brain waves, called beta rhythms. In this new report, the researchers searched for something different in the subjects’ brain waves.
“We wanted to explore the mechanisms (机制) behind memory strengthening seen during wakeful rest. Several forms of memory appear to rely on the replaying of neural (神经的) activity, so we decided to test this idea out for procedural skill learning,” said Ethan R. Buch, Ph.D., a staff scientist on Dr. Cohen’s team and leader of the study. To do this, Dr. Buch developed a computer program which allowed the team to understand the brain wave activity associated with typing each number in the test code.
Interestingly, they found that the more a volunteer replayed, the better their performance was. “We were a bit surprised by these last results. Overall, our results support the idea that the replay activity during waking rest may be a powerful tool that researchers can use to help individuals learn new skills faster and possibly facilitate recovery from stroke.” said Dr. Cohen.
1. What have NIH researchers recently found?| A．The brain activity slowly flows when we learn a new skill. |
| B．The value of short practice sessions can’t be overestimated. |
| C．Short rest makes no difference to the neural replay of the activity. |
| D．The frequency of brain replay contributes to practice performances. |
| A．The process of the research. |
| B．The facilities of the research. |
| C．The application of the research. |
| D．The preparations of the research. |
| A．To distinguish the first 11 cycles from the later ones. |
| B．To confirm the role of neural replay in skill learning. |
| C．To explore the potential effects of procedural learning. |
| D．To find out the reasons for the changes in brain waves. |
| A．Acceptable. |
| B．Promising. |
| C．Shallow. |
| D．Dismissive. |
5 . The human voice is a delicate thing. Each person’s distinctive voice is produced when air from the lungs causes the vocal cords (声带) to vibrate (震颤). These vocal cords can easily get damaged. According to a 2005 study, 30% of the population will experience a voice disorder at some point in their life.
In a study published in the journal Nature Communications this week, a group of bioengineering researchers from the University of California have put forward an attractive solution. They have designed and tested a soft patch (小片) that can be stuck onto a person’s neck, where it will pick up muscle movements and, with the help of machine-learning algorithms (算法) that process the signals, translate them into speech.
When a person loses their voice today, the easiest fix is to turn to typing, texting, or writing notes to communicate. Typing can be slow and convenient, says Jun Chen, the paper’s lead author, and writing notes is only possible in good lighting. The new solution would therefore be able to clear all these hurdles.
Dr. Chen’s device works based on something called the magnetoelastic effect. Essentially, when tiny magnetic (磁性的) bits are placed into soft materials, their magnetic properties can change as the material is stretched.
When the throat muscles move under the soft patch, the resulting magnetoelastic effects can be changed into electrical signals. In a test with eight participants, the variations can be changed by electrical signals.
Researchers recorded the signals as the subjects spoke and mouthed five different sentences. They then trained a machine-learning model which was then able to predict which of the five sentences the participants spoke-whether aloud or in silence-with more than 90% accuracy.
There is a way to go yet, for now the device can only recognize the five phrases it was trained on. Plus, to make it practical at scale, the researchers will need to collect a lot more data.
1. In paragraph 1, the author mainly wants to tell us that____.| A．lungs are easily damaged |
| B．the human voice is unique |
| C．vocal cords vibrate to produce sound |
| D．voice disorders are a problem worthy of attention |
| A．To explain the working principle. | B．To present a solution. |
| C．To introduce the challenge. | D．To make a comparison. |
| A．Predicting five different sentences. |
| B．Destroying the background magnetic field. |
| C．Slowing the movements of throat muscles. |
| D．Helping turn muscle movements into electrical signals. |
| A．Predicting the Importance of Voice Restoration |
| B．Using Algorithms in Bioengineering Research |
| C．Overcoming Voice Loss with an innovative Patch |
| D．Finding the Principle of Communication Devices |
6 . Just after hatching, many birds learn to identify and follow the first moving object they encounter—a process called imprinting, which can offer protection in the wild as it helps them stay near a parent. It doesn’t take much visual information for a bird to learn to prefer one object and follow it. Researchers wanted to know whether AI models called transformers could do a similar task with limited inputs.
Transformers are generic learning systems that can be trained to perform a wide variety of tasks, making them useful in both AI chatbots such as ChatGPT and in computer vision applications, such as autonomous car navigation.
“To directly compare learning algorithms (计算程序) to brains, we need to train them on the same experiences,” says Samantha Wood at Indiana University Bloomington. She first raised chicks in a box where the only visual stimulation came from a rotating 3D object presented on a screen. After the first week, she ran each chick through hundreds of test trials that showed that same object on one screen－presented from both familiar and unfamiliar perspectives－and displayed a second unfamiliar object on another screen. The chicks spent more of their time near the first object, suggesting they had imprinted on it.
The researcher then created a virtual simulation (仿造物) of the set-up and used a virtual agent to move through it while looking around and recording a first-person view. That provided tens of thousands of simulated images for training and evaluating four transformer models.
The AI models had just 300 milliseconds to learn from each simulated image－approximating (接近于) how long biological neurons (神经元) fire after being presented with an image. The researcher found that the AIs could learn to recognise a 3D object as quickly and accurately as the chicks.
The study is “a great piece of work” in comparing machine performance with biological brains, says Antone Martinho-Truswell at the University of Sydney. But he also notes, “We might be able to say that the chick ‘saw’its imprinting object, but that will have a component (成分) of experience to it. Particularly as imprinting is to do with identifying its mother, it would be unsurprising if that visual experience were combined with a suite of other components of experience: fear yielding to comfort, for example, as the chick comes to regard the object as its imprinted ‘mother’.”
1. Why do newborn birds engage in imprinting?| A．To enhance their navigation skills. |
| B．To develop their social behaviour. |
| C．To improve their communication with other birds. |
| D．To establish a protective connection with a guardian. |
| A．She raised them in an environment with a rotating visual element. |
| B．She exposed them to various visual stimulations in the wild. |
| C．She showed them various moving objects on screens. |
| D．She observed their behaviour in a natural habitat. |
| A．To imitate the natural behaviour of birds. |
| B．To assess the effectiveness of virtual agents. |
| C．To examine the Al models’ability to identify a 3D object. |
| D．To create a visually diverse environment for the chicks. |
| A．Rapid learning pace of AI models. |
| B．Recreating real-world environments for experiments. |
| C．The complexity and diversity of biological experiences. |
| D．Conducting additional experiments with a range of animals. |
Have you ever been so depressed that you can’t sleep? You also can’t eat. You can’t read. You have no friends to call up and nothing is good on TV. So you sigh, press your face down harder into your pillow, and shed a few tears.
This was my life two years ago. I had just turned 14 but already found life a struggle. As I lay in my bed one Saturday, Mom peeked (瞄) into my room to make her regular “Is Emily still alive” check. I knew that if I spent more time like this, she would begin dusting me. After suggesting a few things for me to do that I immediately rejected, Mom made her move, “Emily! Get dressed! I’m taking the dog out for a walk, and you’re coming with me!” “Why?” I protested. “Because it’ll make you feel better.”
The thought of moving was unbearable. I felt as if all of my body parts were weighed down by tons of bricks I couldn’t remember the last time I had gone outside. Somehow I found the strength to slip on a pair of jeans and a black sweatshirt. Mom was waiting at the door, leash (狗绳) in hand and dog at her side.
Then, we stepped outside. It was a warm March day and it had been a long time since the warmth of the sun had touched my cheeks. Mom led the dog and me down some dirt paths, through a big field and reached Halsey Pond. But the signs of spring had yet to appear and the scene was rather colorless throughout the entire journey.
“I’m tired! It’s boring, Mom! When can we go home?” “Not yet,” she’d say. Mom stopped to say hi to every jogger, dog walker, runner, and bicyclist who passed us. Sometimes she would get into a conversation. They would talk about weather, dogs, and all small talk topics. She seemed happy, and was literally glowing (容光焕发). After walking for what seemed an age, Mom finally said it was time to go back.
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。
Paragraph 1: When I got home, a new feeling seemed to be awakened.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Paragraph 2: A new Saturday found me asking Mom if I could take the dog out.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________I was doing homework with my friend Ollie at his home when he randomly started scribbling (乱画) a fish. But not just any fish. This fish was riding a skateboard and blowing a bubble that said “I’d rather be skating!”I laughed and drew a sea star saying “Quit fooling around and get to work!”
Just then, Ollie’s grandma Abuela and her friend Mr. Goldberg came into the kitchen. Mr. Goldberg was in charge of the local animal shelter. Abuela poured their tea and inquired about how things were going at the animal shelter. Mr. Goldberg sighed, shaking his head. He explained that not enough people were adopting pets, resulting in too many animals without homes.
Overhearing the conversation, Ollie offered to adopt some excitedly. But Abuela said that one noisy parrot was plenty for this house.
“Blue isn’t noisy,” defended Ollie. “He’s just musical.”
“I’d have a whole farm full of animals if I could,” I said. “But my parents say two cats and a hamster (仓鼠) are enough.”
Mr. Goldberg said he kept trying to attract people to adopt animals, but found it hard to get people’s attention these days. Ollie drew a sad whale, and I wrote the words “Please adopt me” in the shape of a whale spout (喷水). Mr. Goldberg took a look at our drawings and made favorable comments on them, saying that these clever talking animals just might grab people’s attention. And he asked us if we were willing to design a poster for his animal shelter, a proposal we happily accepted. We decided to draw some ideas on our own and meet up again the next afternoon.
That night, when I was sitting in the living room brainstorming ideas for the poster, my little brother brought in our hamster, Mr. Nibbles, to give him a little run-around time. He made a hamster playground out of couch pillows and Mr. Nibbles began to run around merrily.
Suddenly, an idea formed in my mind.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________We decided to make both Mr. Nibbles and Blue the stars of the poster.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________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。
She was the prettiest puppy we had ever seen, and the whole family immediately fell in love with her. We named her Onyx because of her black, shiny black coat. She spent her first vacation with us when she was only ten weeks old and had her first bath and swim in the St. Lawrence River. We had no clue that this amazing little ball of fur would end up being our hero.
As she grew older, Onyx became more and more involved in our family activities. On hot summer days, Onyx enjoyed floating on the river with us in her own rubber tube (橡皮圈). Amazingly standing on the top of the tube, she smiled while showing off her perfect balance. Resting her front legs and paws over the edge of the rubber tube, she kept her eyes shut as she floated until she’d had enough of the warm sun on her black coat.
One day, our eighteen-year-old daughter, Margie, announced she was going to swim across the bay. No one in the family was free to go swimming with her. The unwritten rules, regardless of swimming ability, was to have a companion in the water with you, especially when swimming the width of the bay. I was not a good swimmer, so I said to Margie, “Take Onyx with you.” Having heard her name, Onyx woke up from a nap and was ready for action. Margie signed the dog to follow her. Onyx ran to the water next to her. They entered the freezing river together and swam side by side across the bay.
I watched from the bank as they reached the sandbar (沙洲) on the far shore. They rested a few minutes before diving into the water for the return trip. I felt uneasy for some reason and continued to watch the pair swim side by side.
Suddenly I heard Margie calling out, “I have a cram (痉挛) in the leg! ”
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Seeing the pair approaching the riverbank, I breathed a sigh of relief.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Eight-year-old Evan stood by the sidewalk watching as Mrs. Carter opened her flower shop. He felt relieved that the shop hadn’t closed forever. Two days ago, when he passed by, there was a closed sign on the door and a note saying Mrs. Carter was sick. Evan was worried that he would never be able to get his “dream job” if the shop remained closed for too long.
Mrs. Carter, an 85-year-old woman, spotted Evan looking in her shop’s direction and waved hello to him. Excitedly, Evan ran up to her and expressed his desire to work at the shop. Mrs.Carter laughed quietly, finding it amusing that an eight-year-old wanted a job. Evan confidently explained that since his dad passed away, he had learned how to do various tasks, like taking out the rubbish, making sandwiches, and assisting his mom, Stacey, with groceries. He didn’t want any payment for his work; instead, he simply wanted a bouquet (花束) for his mom’ s upcoming birthday. He believed in working hard for what he wanted, just as his mom had taught him.
Impressed by Evan’s determination, Mrs. Carter agreed to hire him. She asked if he knew how to tie ribbons around flowers, and when she heard Evan’s affirmative(肯定的) response, they got down to making bouquets. Evan was excited to assist Mrs. Carter every evening for a whole week, and his presence brought joy to her boring work.Customers found Evan adorable and entertaining, which resulted in increased flower purchases and booming business for Mrs. Carter.
On Evan’s last day, Mrs.Carter felt emotional. Their bond had grown strong, and she saw him as a grandchild. As she prepared a splendid bouquet for Evan’s mother, tears welled up in her eyes. She invited him to visit her shop in the future, and Evan promised to tell his mom about her.
注意: 1. 续写词数应为150左右;2. 请按如下格式在相应位置作答。
With the bouquet in hand, Evan rushed home to celebrate Mom’s birthday.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________As Evan handed his mom the bouquet, they were surprised to discover an envelope with several hundred-dollar bills inside.
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