Mr. Thompson dragged his feet slowly down the hallway, burdened with the weight of a hundred ungraded papers on his shoulders. It was Teacher’s Day, and colorful posters were pasted around. Despite scattered (零散的) “Happy Teacher’s Day” greetings from some students along the way, Mr. Thompson felt a familiar emptiness settle in his heart. Teacher’s Day usually meant an apple and a chorus of “thank yous” from his own class. Today, he expected nothing different.
The morning had been quite tough, filled with a host of math problems and forgotten homework excuses. One troublemaker in the class had again “accidentally” set his biology project on fire(thankfully contained). By the time the lunch bell rang sharply in the air, Mr. Thompson felt like a deflated (泄气的) balloon, the air of enthusiasm slowly leaking out of him.
After lunch, he entered his classroom. The whole class was in chaos. The usual pre-class chatter sounded like a dull roar in his ears. All of a sudden, a scream cut through the air. Mr. Thompson’s heart was in his mouth. Fights were a rare, but terrifying occurrence in his classroom. He cast his worn leather briefcase onto his desk, the forgotten pack of papers scattering like frightened pigeons.
“What in the world is going on here?”
His voice hoarse (嘶哑的) from shouting, Mr. Thompson rushed forward, envisioning images of black eyes and bloody noses. He struggled to make his way through the desks, the classroom suddenly deathly quiet.
“Break it up! Now!” he shouted, trying to control the situation.
Finally, he reached the center of the apparent fight, only to find himself staring at...a far more delicate, fragrant affair. Ethan, the class clown, was on one knee with a bunch of sunflowers and smiling at him.
Para 1: The whole class looked at Mr. Thompson excitedly.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Para 2: By the end of the day, Mr. Thompson’s voice was hoarse from laughter.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________2 . When you try a new restaurant or book a hotel, do you consider the online reviews? Do you submit online reviews yourself? Do you pay attention if they are filtered (过滤)? Does that impact your own online review submissions?
In 2010, Yelp shared a video to help users understand how its review filter works and why it was necessary. In recently published research, T. Ravichandran, Ph. D. from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and his team compared reviews of over 1,000 restaurants on Yelp to those same restaurants on TripAdvisor, which did not openly share its review filter policies. They found that the number of reviews submitted to Yelp decreased. Those submissions were increasingly negative and shorter in length compared to TripAdvisor. Also, the more positive a review, the shorter it was.
“Platforms are pressured to have content guidelines and take measures to prevent fraud (欺诈) and ensure that reviews are reliable and helpful,” said Ravichandran. Platforms use advanced software to flag and filter reviews. Once a review is flagged, it is filtered out and not displayed, and it is not factored into the overall rating for a business. “However, most platforms do not openly disclose their policies, leading consumers to suspect that reviews are controlled to increase profit by filtering so-called dishonest content,” Ravichandran added.
Whether or not to disclose review filters is a critical decision for platforms with many considerations. Users may put less time and effort into their reviews if they suspect that they have a significant chance of being filtered, or they may do the opposite to make their reviews less likely to be filtered. Since most false reviews are overly positive, users may assume that positive reviews are most likely to be filtered and act accordingly.
“Review moderation(审核) openness comes at a cost,”said Ravichandran. “Although openness helps to position a platform as fair toward advertisers, the resultant decrease in the number of reviews submitted impacts the platform’s usefulness to consumers.” Online reviews pose great opportunity for firms, but also raise complex questions. Platforms must earn the trust of users without sacrificing engagement.
1. What did Ravichandran’s research find?| A．Positive submissions to Yelp went up. |
| B．TripAdvisor adopted better filter policies. |
| C．Reviews on TripAdvisor dropped in number. |
| D．Yelp’s practice discouraged longer reviews. |
| A．To increase net profit. | B．To protect user privacy. |
| C．To guarantee review reliability. | D．To improve business reputation. |
| A．Users. | B．Reviews. | C．Considerations. | D．Platforms. |
| A．Enhance User Trust Through Review Moderation |
| B．To Filter Online Reviews? Think Before You Start |
| C．How Review Moderation Openness Shapes User Conduct |
| D．Online Reviews: Filter the Fraud, But Don’t Tell Us How |
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.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________4 . A humanoid robot can relay video and touch sensations to a person wearing a haptic (触觉内) feedback suit and a virtual reality (VR) headset hundreds of kilometres away, offering away for people to attend events without travelling.
The iCub 3 robot is a 52-kilogram, 125-centimetre-tall robot with 54 joints across its body. Its head contains two cameras where a human’s eyes would be, and an Internet-connected computer where the brain would go. Along with the cameras, sensors covering its body send data to the robot’s “brain”. These sensations are then reproduced on a suit and VR headset worn by a remote human operator.
When the operators react to what they see and feel, the suit’s sensors pick up the movements and the robot matches them. “The key is to translate every signal and bit of digital data that can be sent through the network.” says Stefano Dafarra, who was part of the iCub3 team. There can be a small delay of up to 100 milliseconds to capture and transmit the visual shots, but the operator can case this by moving slightly slower than normal.
The team demonstrated the robot at the Venice Biennale, where it wandered through an exhibition while its operator stood 290 kilometres away in Genoa. Dafarra hopes people will use the iCub3 to attend events remotely, reducing the need to travel. “But at present, a fall could be hugely damaging to the robot, and it’s uncertain whether it could stand up again on its own," he says.
“iCub3 is an interesting robot and offers clear advantages from the previous versions.” says Jonathan Aitken, whose laboratory owns a prior version of the robot. However, he is disappointed that the team wasn’t clear in its research about the data transmission requirements of the new version of the robot. “It would be good to know just how much data was required, and what the upper and lower bounds were.” he says.
1. What’s the principle behind the humanoid robot?| A．It conveys sensations to the wearer and acts accordingly. |
| B．It receives commands from an operator through the Internet. |
| C．The cameras take pictures and then interact with the sensors. |
| D．The computer in the robot processes the data and gives orders. |
| A．Medical consultation. | B．Sports events. |
| C．Outdoor workouts. | D．Virtual tourism. |
| A．It fails to appeal to potential investors. |
| B．Its performance hasn’t been evaluated clearly. |
| C．Its present version still requires to be updated. |
| D．Its transmission of data came across technical problems. |
| A．Humanoid robots with sense of touch catch on |
| B．iCub 3 robot combines with VR to benefit more people |
| C．Humanoid robots let people see and feel things remotely |
| D．New advances in technology enable people to travel at work |
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.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________It is a hot sunny Saturday morning on the farm. Maya, Duksie and Doobie are helping Mama K in her vegetable garden. The children work all morning.
Mama K always gives the children a treat for helping her. Sometimes it’s cake or chocolate; sometimes it’s apples, pears or oranges. Mama K has only one rule. “Share it fair!” The children know they must share the treats equally, so they all get the same amount.
Today Mama K has baked a round strawberry cake with pink icing (糖霜) and berries from her garden. The children wait on the grass for their treat. “Here you go!” smiles Mama K. “But remember the rule. Share it fair!”
Maya has the first turn to share the cake. She uses the knife to draw lines in the icing. The others watch her. She does not cut the cake yet. The others must first agree if her way is fair. “I think I will make two cuts down like this. Now we have three slices, all the same!” Maya shows them. There is one line on the left and the other on the right.
“No way!” says Duksie. “The one in the middle is much too big!” Doobie also shakes his head. Maya laughs and tells Duksie to try.
“Pass me the knife.I’ll do it,” says Duksie First she rubs out Maya’s pattern in the icing, and then she makes one cut across and one down. “Look, I have made my three slices!” “That’s not fair!” shout Maya and Doobie together,.
“Why don’t you try, Doobie?” says Duksie. “I bet you can’t do it!”
“I wish the cake was a square, and then it would be easy!” says Doobie thoughtfully. And then! A picture comes into Doobie’s head. He sees the silver badge (标识) at the front of his father’s big red Benz truck. “I’ve got it! I’ve got it! I know how to do it,” shouts Doobie.
“How did you work it out?” Maya asks. Doobie smiles to himself. For now it’s his secret. Later, he will tell his dad.
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。
First Doobie uses a knife to smooth Duksie’s lines in the icing.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________With Mama K’s encouragement, Maya takes charge, expertly cutting along Doobie’s lines to make three equal slices.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________1. Why did the man stop watching the program last night?
| A．It was aired too late. | B．It lasted too long. | C．It was full of ads. |
| A．Issuing cash cards. | B．Buying products. | C．Running a series of ads. |
| A．Striking. | B．Disturbing. | C．Astonishing. |
Javon was the shortest kid in the class. It had been that way since the third grade. He’d had to ask to get his gym locker changed so that he didn’t have to struggle so much to reach it. For most kids, being short would be a problem, but Javon didn’t let being short bother him at all.
That was Javon’s attitude about most things except school work. And Javon had worked hard. By the middle of seventh grade, Javon was one of the top kids in the class. So, he hadn’t been too concerned when Mr. T announced they were starting a new unit in math. For Javon, math used to be easy. He figured that since he had ten fingers, he could do most of it. But when Mr. T threw letters into math problems, he couldn’t wrap his mind around using these letters. Mr. T had given them all sorts of rules for what to do when there were letters in math problems. But Javon couldn’t remember what they all were and he didn’t think he even understood the rules he did remember. Soon he was hopelessly lost in math class. Even worse, it was time for the class to take the chapter test.
The test was quite demanding. Javon was confused by the very first question. He was nervous and kept losing track of what he was doing. When the class period ended, he hadn’t finished all of the problems.
The day came when the class finally got their papers back. Seeing “D” written in red ink on the corner of the paper, he felt desperate. In the seat next to him, Tyler sighed slightly, catching Javon’s attention. He couldn’t help but see the big, red “C” on Tyler’s paper. He felt so upset.
When they started packing up to leave after class, Tyler accidentally told Javon he got extra time on the test. Upon hearing this, Javon burst out, “It was unfair!” He dropped his books, face hot.
注意：1. 续写词数应为150个左右;
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
At this very moment, Mr. T came up to see what happened to them.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Eventually, Javon understood what a reading disorder was and how to ask for help.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________9 . 阅读下面材料，根据其内容和所给段落开头语续写两段，使之构成一篇完整的短文。
I stared at myself in the mirror: blue tights, yellow vest, an aquamarine fish tail trailing behind me, and large googly eyes (sitting atop my head. I raised my eyebrows quizzically at my mom with uncertainty about this costume. Mom ensured that she followed the pattern exactly. “Maybe the makeup will add something,” Mom said hopefully. I sighed and looked back at the mirror. Somehow Mom had convinced me to do a play this summer. So here I was about to play the Fish Footman (鱼仆人) in the local community theater production of Alice in Wonderland. I can’t say it’s been the time of my life. Actually, I even wanted to withdraw from the play.
“Well, there’s no turning back now,” she said. “You’ve been rehearsing (彩排) for two months. I couldn’t be prouder-of you.” She gave me an encouraging anile, pulling me in for a fierce hug. I had to admit: Mom’s hugs are the best. But despite that, I felt u knot in the pit of my stomach that got worse as the hour of opening night drew nearer.
That day I followed Mom to the backstage of the theater, wearing the questionable costume. I shrank inside myself, but Mom pulled me toward the makeup table. When my makeup artist had set down her last makeup brush and Mom led me over to a mirror, my jaw dropped. A mass of blue spread from my forehead down my nose, and lime green circles bubbled over my cheeks.
“Mom! I can’t go out on stage like this!” I cried. “I’d be a laughing stock!”
“Riley! This is Alice in Wonderland. You’re not the only one in an odd costume. I’m going to watch you go out on that stage tonight. She turned away to leave, but then leaned down and kissed me on the forehead.” I love you, honey. And she went away.
Tears filled my eyes as chaos closed in around me. It felt like I stood there alone for hours, but in reality it was more like ten minutes before the assistant stage manager came in and called my name.
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。
My scene was coming up.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Applause flowed through the audience.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
10 . 阅读下面材料，根据其内容和所给段落开头语续写两段，使之构成一篇完整的短文。
I was at the back of a group of eight horse riders when one of my fellow safari (观兽旅行) camp guides called my name, nodding to the spot behind me. I turned to see a male lion, fully grown, not 10 metres away.
I’d been working as a guide at the safari camp in Botswana for a year and had seen lions a few times, usually in the heat of the day. Guests paid to come on guided rides between tented camps 20 miles apart. It was a very remote area. We left at 7 am that morning; it was three hours later when the lion appeared.
Just as I saw it, the horses ran wildly, leaving riders hanging on as the lion began its chase (追逐). I wasn’t in control of my horse, Acaba, which was heading into a much thicker bush, away from the path and the rest of the group. I realised that the lion had chosen to drive Acaba away from the others.
I thought we were going to die together. I screamed in pure panic. Suddenly, Acaba ran into a really thick bush and stopped without control, throwing me into a bush. By the time I got myself out of the low woody plants, the lion was killing him.
Unbelievable! Acaba hid me in the bushes and left himself in extreme danger! It protected me! Scared... shocked... moved... my mind went blank. I was only two metres away! Acaba was on the ground, feet in front of him. He tried to push himself up. But the lion was on top of him, covering his body entirely, his front feet around Acaba’s neck.
I seized a device hanging around my neck, which is known as a bear banger. It has a spring, and when you pull the trigger (扳机) the spring fires off containers that explode when they land. It’s like a small firework but as loud as a shotgun.
Somehow my panic died down. I found myself moving closer to Acaba and the lion.
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:
I pulled the trigger, and it worked.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 2:
One of the guides gave me a horse and I planned to find Acaba.
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