1 . 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 |
2 . You’ve heard that plastic is polluting the oceans — between 4.8 and 12.7 million tonnes enter ocean ecosystems every year. But does one plastic straw or cup really make a difference? Artist Benjamin Von Wong wants you to know that it does. He builds massive sculptures out of plastic garbage, forcing viewers to re-examine their relationship to single-use plastic products.
At the beginning of the year, the artist built a piece called “Strawpocalypse,” a pair of 10-foot-tall plastic waves, frozen mid-crash. Made of 168,000 plastic straws collected from several volunteer beach cleanups, the sculpture made its first appearance at the Estella Place shopping center in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
Just 9% of global plastic waste is recycled. Plastic straws are by no means the biggest source (来源) of plastic pollution, but they’ve recently come under fire because most people don’t need them to drink with and, because of their small size and weight, they cannot be recycled. Every straw that’s part of Von Wong’s artwork likely came from a drink that someone used for only a few minutes. Once the drink is gone, the straw will take centuries to disappear.
In a piece from 2018, Von Wong wanted to illustrate (说明) a specific statistic: Every 60 seconds, a truckload’s worth of plastic enters the ocean. For this work, titled “Truckload of Plastic,” Von Wong and a group of volunteers collected more than 10,000 pieces of plastic, which were then tied together to look like they’d been dumped (倾倒) from a truck all at once.
Von Wong hopes that his work will also help pressure big companies to reduce their plastic footprint.
1. What are Von Wong’s artworks intended for?| A．Beautifying the city he lives in. | B．Introducing eco-friendly products. |
| C．Drawing public attention to plastic waste. | D．Reducing garbage on the beach. |
| A．To show the difficulty of their recycling. |
| B．To explain why they are useful. |
| C．To voice his views on modern art. |
| D．To find a substitute for them. |
| A．Calming. | B．Disturbing. |
| C．Refreshing. | D．Challenging. |
| A．Artists’ Opinions on Plastic Safety |
| B．Media Interest in Contemporary Art |
| C．Responsibility Demanded of Big Companies |
| D．Ocean Plastics Transformed into Sculptures |
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The coffee dose(一剂) was shown to increase maximal fat oxidation rate (a measure of how
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1. Why didn't the speaker want a smartphone at first?
| A．Because of its unnecessary features. |
| B．Because of its appearance. |
| C．Because of the cost. |
| A．Chat with her friends. | B．Check a map. | C．Download apps. |
| A．The improved sound. |
| B．Different apps. |
| C．The entertainment online. |
| A．The speaker dropped her new phone a lot. |
| B．The speaker paid $100 to repair her new phone. |
| C．The speaker's old phone often broke down. |
5 . Sonoma County is adding artificial intelligence to its wildfire fighting. The county has entered into an agreement with the South Korean firm Alchera to equip its network of fire-spotting cameras with software that detects wildfire activity and then issues a warning to authorities.
The technology examines past and current images of terrain (地形;地势) and searches for certain changes, such as flames burning in darkness, said Chris Godley, the county’s director of emergency management. But emergency workers will first have to“teach”the system to distinguish between images that show fire smoke, and others that might show clouds, fog etc. The software will use feedback from humans to improve its algorithm(算法) and will eventually be able to detect fires on its own — or at least that’s what county officials hope.
“It’s kind of like learning how to read,” Godley said. “What letters can I put together to make up a word?” The county activated the technology Wednesday and received 16 positive reports of smoke — all of which turned out to be permitted burns, he said. Once a seasonal ban on controlled burns goes into effect in April or May, the county plans to speed up the testing and feedback phase. The hope is that by November, the system will no longer need to be taught and can start providing reliable intelligence. Godley said. “It’s going to take us a while to make sure we get the bugs out and that we really can depend on it because ultimately this is a lifesaving mission.”
The technology is intended to help officials investigate potential fire starts earlier so they can get personnel out to them more quickly and issue necessary warnings. Officials expect other places will adopt it if the technology is successful, particularly because it plugs into the camera network that’s already in place statewide.
“We ultimately believe its potential could be realized in a year or two,” Godley said. “And it could really have a dramatic impact here in California.”
1. What does the system first have to do before being put into work?| A．Equip its network of fire-spotting cameras with software. |
| B．Learn to tell between images of fire smoke and other pictures. |
| C．Use feedbacks to improve its ability to detect fire independently. |
| D．Examine images of the terrain and search for any possible changes. |
| A．Be able to make positive reports of smoke. |
| B．Be able to control seasonal burns in the area. |
| C．Help them spot potential fire starts as soon as possible. |
| D．Learn how to distinguish pictures of flames from clouds. |
| A．kill all the bugs. | B．get rid of mistakes |
| C．provide reliable information | D．speed up testing process |
| A．AI is creating a dramatic impact in California. |
| B．AI is applied to monitor terrains in California. |
| C．A new tool to help detect wildfire in California. |
| D．A new way to put an end to wildfire in California. |
6 . On Tuesday, Chinese health authorities confirmed the sixth death from the coronavirus which shares genetic similarities with the one responsible for severe acute respiratory syndrome, and revealed that 15 medical workers in Wuhan had been infected, with one in a critical condition. The number of people known to be infected continues to rise with new cases still being reported.
With the head of the Chinese government expert team saying on Monday that human-to-human transmission has been confirmed and the Spring Festival travel rush under way, in which hundreds of millions of people will be crisscrossing the country and traveling overseas for the holiday, it is widely expected that more cases, and even deaths, will be reported in the days to come.
The new coronavirus has already been classified in the same category as the SARS outbreak, meaning compulsory isolation for those diagnosed with the disease and the potential to implement quarantine measures on travel, which shows that the authorities are prepared and resolved to safeguard people's health.
The World Health Organization has so far given a thumbs-up to Chinese efforts. It said earlier this month that it was "reassured of the quality of the ongoing investigations and the response measures implemented in Wuhan, as well as the commitment to share information regularly".
The coronavirus has so far spread to three other Asian countries, which indicates the urgency for medical scientists all over the world to work together against the common threat to human health. Epidemics know no borders and a local disease could easily morph into a global crisis, which is why the WHO is holding an emergency committee meeting on Wednesday to decide whether to declare an international public health emergency.
The speed of response is testimony to improved global preparedness for such epidemics. Now concerted efforts based on the experience accumulated by Chinese health experts and their foreign counterparts during the joint fights against such epidemics as SARS, swine flu and avian flu are needed to win the fight against the latest health hazard.
1. What do we know about the coronavirus according to the passage?| A．It is the same virus that led to SARA. |
| B．The Spring Festival travel rush will not worsen the control of the virus. |
| C．Whether it can be transmitted from person to person is still not known. |
| D．Carriers diagnosed with the virus should be quarantined. |
| A．Translate. | B．Crash. | C．Change. | D．Divide. |
| A．Dissatisfactory. | B．Favorable. | C．Pessimistic. | D．Unpredictable. |
| A．The entire world is now being threatened with coronavirus. |
| B．The speed of response and preparation for emergency should be largely improved. |
| C．More experienced experts are needed to ensure the victory of the battle against the virus. |
| D．Combined efforts from home and abroad should be made to fight against the epidemics. |
7 . Children may not be putting coins into piggy banks for much longer. With the move towards a cashless society, pocket money is moving digital.
To reflect this trend, a number of mobile budgeting apps for children has sprung up worldwide.
For instance, the Swedish app Gimi has virtual savings jars where children can deposit money; parents can pay children interest as they save. Philip Haglund, CEO of Gimi believes the app has certain advantages, like teaching responsible real-life spending habits.
One concern is that introducing digital money apps to young children could help to encourage irresponsible spending habits. “What if children don’t have a good foundation in financial capability?
However, Haglund says it is important for kids to learn and make mistakes, “We want to help kids and teenagers gain financial skills for life.
| A．The earlier, the better. |
| B．Schools, however, tend to focus more on economic theory. |
| C．They offer a simple money management service for children. |
| D．There’s a risk that money apps could be seen as just another game. |
| E．Now money is being transferred through cyberspace, which is really abstract. |
| F．It’s more about the attitude and the relationship you have with parents’ money. |
| G．30% teenagers are unable to make simple financial decisions, according to a global survey. |
Terra-cotta Warriors in Xi’an,
In 221 B.C., Emperor Qin Shi Huang of Qin Dynasty established the first centralized feudal dynasty in China. After his death, he
Qin Shi Huang Mausoleum is the
Terra-cotta Warriors is
On a sunny Saturday in June, Alyson, 3, squealed(尖叫) with laughter as she and her mother, Marlen, played hide-and-seek in the front yard of their home. With Marlen close behind, tiny Alyson flashed into the backyard of an elderly neighbor. About halfway across the yard, Alyson suddenly disappeared, seemingly swallowed whole by a barely visible opening in the ground. Marlen screamed.
The neighbor’s caretaker, Luz, 26, was preparing dinner in the neighbor’s kitchen and assumed the shrieks were the sounds of children playing. But she ran outside anyway and found Marlen sobbing and Alyson’s sister Damary, 25, kneeing on the grass, dialing 911.
“Alyson fell in the hole！” Damary cried to Luz. Luz gave a quick glance down the hole in disbelief and saw only darkness. Then she heard Alyson’s wails(哭泣) from deep underground. “Hang on there, sweety. We’ll get you out soon.”
Luz ran inside the house and down to the basement for a ladder,which happened to be not very long. She then settled for a gray extension cord(延长线) to use as a rope with which to rappel(用绳索下降) into the hole. Back in the yard, she and Damary used their hands to dig at the hole, widening the opening from 7 inches in diameter to about 20 inches.Marlen sat on the grass,too distracted to help.
At the thought that Alyson might get hurt and was too young to grasp and climb the rope on her own, Luz made up her mind to go down herself. When the police detective Aaron arrived a few minutes later, Luz was already in the hole up to her waist.
“Get out of here,” the officer told Luz, lifting her up by the arm. “It’s dangerous for you.”
“It’s more dangerous for the Baby,” she argued, “She’s going to die.”
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。
The detective begged Luz to wait for help, but she determined.
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Minutes later, the Fire Department and Rescue Squad arrived.
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10 . Last year, 138,000 San Francisco residents used Airbnb, a popular app designed to connect home renters and travelers. It’s a striking number for a city with a population of about 850,000, and it was enough for Airbnb to win a major victory in local elections, as San Francisco voters struck down a debatable rule that would have placed time restrictions and other regulations on short-term rental services.
The company fiercely opposed the measure, Proposition F, with a nearly $10 million advertising campaign. It also contacted its San Franciscan users with messages urging them to vote against Proposition F.
Most people think of Airbnb as a kind of couch-surfing app. The service works for one-night stays on road trips and longer stays in cities, and it often has more competitive pricing than hotels. It’s a textbook example of the “sharing economy”, but not everyone is a fan.
The app has had unintended consequences in San Francisco. As the San Francisco Chronicle reported last year, a significant amount of renting on Airbnb is not in line with the company’s image: middle-class families putting up a spare room to help make ends meet. Some users have taken advantage of the service, using it to turn their multiple properties into vacation rentals or even full-time rentals. Backers of Proposition F argued that this trend takes spaces off the conventional, better-regulated housing market and contributes to rising costs.
“The fact is, widespread abuse of short-term rentals is taking much needed housing off the market and harming our neighborhoods,” said ShareBetter SF, a group that supported Proposition F. Hotel unions have protested the company’s practices in San Francisco and other cities, saying that it creates an illegal hotel system.
San Francisco is in the middle of a long-term, deeply rooted housing crisis that has seen the cost of living explode. Actually, explode is a generous term. The average monthly rent for an apartment is around $4, 000. Located on a narrow outcropping of land overlooking the bay, San Francisco simply doesn’t have enough space to accommodate the massive inflow of young, high-salaried tech employees flocking to Silicon Valley.
As the Los Angeles Times reported, some San Francisco residents supported the measure simply because it seemed like a way to check a big corporation. Opponents of Proposition F countered that the housing crisis runs much deeper, and that passing the rule would have discouraged a popular service while doing little to solve the city’s existing problems.
1. The intention of Proposition F is to ________.| A．place time limits in local election. | B．set limits on short-term rental. |
| C．strike down a controversial rule. | D．urge users to vote against Airbnb. |
| A．It shrinks the living space of middle-class families. |
| B．Users are taken advantage of by the service financially. |
| C．It makes the house market more competitive. |
| D．It indirectly leads to high house rental price. |
| A．explosion of the living cost | B．its geographic characteristics |
| C．generosity of local enterprises | D．inflow of migrant population |
| A．objective | B．supportive |
| C．negative | D．indifferent |
