1 . For all programmers and processor industry participants, the RISC-V website is almost a must-visit as an open standard. Instruction Set Architecture, which is defined as the design of a computer from the programmer’s perspective, enabling a new era of processor innovation through open cooperation.
Unlike X86 and ARM, which are owned by certain enterprises, RISC-V is an open one, allowing anybody to download its instructions handbook and use it. Maybe that is why some US lawmakers are targeting RISC-V. Republican Senator Marco Rubio and Democratic Senator Mark Warner have reportedly been urging US President Joe Biden to take action regarding RISC-V, because, they fear that Chinese companies might make use of the open-source platform to improve their chips (芯片) technology.
Maybe the legislators (立法者) do not realize that by targeting RISC-V they are targeting not only a company or a platform but the idea of openness itself. Being a US company. RISC-V has a global membership, with a number of Chinese and US enterprises as members. It has for long been known as an open-minded institution promoting technological cooperation despite the political tensions, and the US lawmakers targeting it seem to be closing one of the last channels of technology communication between China and their nation.
By doing so they are harming the United States’ own interests and its technological leadership in the world. Open source is a good computing tool that benefits those who share programs as well as those who learn from it. The Android smartphone system, for example, has developed largely because Google decided to make it an open-source system, which attracted worldwide smartphone businesses to adopt its standard.
The US lawmakers might next target GitHub, or, some day, even forbid programmers from accessing the Internet. That will only lead to the US losing its technological edge, never to get it back again.
1. What is RISC-V according to the passage?| A．A website for programmers. |
| B．A computer design standard. |
| C．An open-source platform. |
| D．A US chips company. |
| A．argument | B．background | C．proof | D．connection |
| A．Fairness. | B．Interests. | C．Cooperation. | D．Openness. |
| A．RISC-V enables processor innovation through open cooperation. |
| B．US lawmakers are targeting RISC-V for the technology safety concern. |
| C．The example of Android demonstrates the benefits of technological openness. |
| D．GitHub and the Internet are the next target US will focus on to safeguard its leadership. |
An egg sandwich in hand, I quickly grabbed my bag and climbed into the honking car. I took out my physics notes and started skimming through them once more.
Today was a very important exam-of physics. For me, it is a really hard subject and I had worked really tough and intended to do my best in it.
I entered the queue outside the assigned classroom where the invigilator(监考老师)was checking our pencil cases. All the seniors and juniors were mixed and we were sitting in an English letter order. Upon looking at my name, I was surprised to see someone else sitting on my seat. She was a senior.
“Um. . . excuse me, I think you got the wrong seat… ” my squeaky(细的)voice faltered(支吾).
She stared in front in a bored way. I had the feeling she was deliberately ignoring me. I had enough trouble socializing with people, so I decided to leave the matter to the invigilator. The invigilator came soon enough.
“Katie, dear, you need to move one seat back for Aliya here, ” the invigilator explained.
The girl, Katie, shifted and I settled down. The girl in front of me turned around and rolled her eyes at me. Now, I was puzzled. What was wrong? I had annoyed two people at the same time?
These thoughts drifted away as I started focusing on the paper. Minutes passed when out of the blue,there was a tap on my shoulder.
The girl behind me, Katie, whispered, “Quick! Change places with me.”
I froze. It took me a moment to process her words. Without even waiting for a response, she grabbed my arms, pulled me up and made me sit on her seat, exchanging our papers too. Then she and the girl in front of her started to exchange some notes. I didn’t know what to do. I fought hard to collect enough courage and raised my hand, but the invigilator was busy with another candidate.
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。
Suddenly the door opened with a bang and in came a teacher.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________“As for you, Aliya, ” he turned to me, “complete your paper here. ”
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________3 . Cities, covering less than 2% of the Earth’s surface, are major contributors to climate change, consuming almost 80% of the world’s energy and producing more than 60% of greenhouse gas emissions. Fortunately, net zero emissions (净零排放) by 2050, a target set at the COP26 conference, could be achieved faster using digital twins cities, according to a recent research.
Looking and behaving identically in their real-world physical environments, digital twins can help track, manage and reduce environmental damage rapidly. These replicas (复制品) link to networks of sensors that collect data from buildings, transport, air quality, and energy use, to see where emissions can be cut and efficiency improved. Similar technologies have been in use since NASA’s Apollo moon mission in 1969, where computers and machine replicas were used to test and monitor spacecraft.
Research shows that digital twins can save cities more than $ 280 billion globally by 2030 through more efficient urban planning. Digital twin provider Cityzenith believes that net zero deadlines could be achieved 15 years earlier if the world’s 100 biggest cities use the technology to decarbonize. “They are the perfect tool for managing and speeding up the energy transformation,” said CEO Michael Jansen. “We could get to net zero globally by 2035.”
Over the past decades, big tech companies around the world, including GE Digital and Siemens, have developed software for replicating cities, including a district of Berlin, the island nation of Singapore, and the entire city of Shanghai in China. In the US, the Digital Twin Consortium is working to standardize how digital twins are built and share data. Technology company MX3D built the world’s first 3D-printed stainless steel bridge and co-created its digital twin. CEO Gijs van der Velden believes twins will give us precise control over the built environment.
Recently, OpenAI also made advances in this field. On February 15, the company revealed its latest groundbreaking tech—Sora to the world. Sora is a text-to-video generative AI model. It can generate videos that matches the text prompt (文本提示) given to it in a few seconds. Experts believe Sora is likely to be applied in science and national defence in the future.
1. How does the author show the impact of cities on climate change?| A．By listing data. | B．By giving examples. |
| C．By comparing opinions. | D．By quoting research findings. |
| A．Approving. | B．Opposed. | C．Unconcerned. | D．Objective. |
| A．Sora has been used in scientific research and military. |
| B．Gijs van der Velden has little faith in digital twins’ future. |
| C．Digital twins technology is developing rapidly around the world. |
| D．Few tech companies are involved in the study of replicating cities. |
| A．Net Zero Emissions Could Be Hit 15 Years Earlier |
| B．Cityzenith Is Working on Promoting Digital Twin Cities |
| C．Big Cities Are to Blame for the Severe Environment Pollution |
| D．Digital Twin Cities Can Reduce the Impact of Planet’s Largest Polluters |
6-year-old Quinn Hill became her family’s hero when she took immediate action during an emergency that saved her mother’s life with the help of her neighbor, Mrs. Smith.
Jennifer, a 39-year-old single mother, began the day by sending her child, Hill, to school. Having no idea what would happen, Jennifer was filled with anxiety. After all, it was the first day of a new school year for Hill, a fresh start! On the way school. she repeatedly reminded Hill to solve problems positively and fit in. Though worried, Jennifer had to wave goodbye to her daughter, watching her towards the school gate.
The whole day was packed with housework. Jennifer tidied the house, washed clothes, and prepared for the evening meal. As the school bell rang, signaling the end of the day, Jennifer picked Hill up from school. On seeing Jennifer, Hill couldn’t wait to hug her, sharing the school experiences. Chatting and laughing accompanied them all the way. Hill’s innocent laughter was like Jennifer’s ray of sunshine.
Approaching home, they encountered Mrs. Smith, a most kind and thoughtful housewife living in their neighborhood for many years. Mrs. Smith often invited Jennifer and Hill to her home and shared her homemade desserts and cookies. The two families developed a close relationship and Hill liked to stay with Mrs. Smith, who always brightened her days with willingness and timely help. After exchanging greetings, they went back to their own homes.
On arriving home, Jennifer set out to prepare dinner. As the sun began to set, the house was full of a pleasant smell of cooking food. Jennifer and Hill sat at the kitchen table when Jennifer suddenly began to seize. She was sitting in a chair, looking up at the ceiling. and experiencing abnormal breathing. She then fell out of the chair onto her left side, her hands balled into fists, and her body was shaking violently. Her eyes were open, and Hill kept calling “Mommy, Mommy”, but she could not respond.
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。
Realizing the severe situation, Hill ran out for help.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Jennifer finally came to herself in the hospital.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Brad Howard, a Texas father, had enough of his son’s disruptive (扰乱性的) behavior in physics class. Despite multiple warnings and complaints from the teacher about his son’s excessive (过多的) talking, the situation didn’t improve.
So, Brad decided to take matters into his own hands and gave his son, Bradley, a final warning. Brad made a bold promise to his son, saying, “Hey, if we get another call, I’m going to show up in school and sit beside you in class. ”
The 17-year-old Bradley probably thought his dad was just bluffing (唬人) and continued his chatty (爱闲聊的) ways. But when Brad received another email from the teacher, he knew he had to follow through with his threat.
On the morning of the important day, Brad’s wife woke him up and said, “Brad, it’s time for you to go to school. ” It struck him what he had said. He just couldn’t but a bit regret, “Oh, no, what have I done? ”
Despite his unwillingness, Brad was determined to keep his word and headed to his son’s high school.
The sight of Brad sitting next to Bradley in class was a source of amusement for Bradley’s friends, who found the situation ridiculous. Bradley, on the other hand, was less than thrilled.
He couldn’t believe that his dad had actually gone through with his threat, The embarrassment of having his own father sitting beside him in class was enough to make him regret his behavior. As the class started, Bradley could feel all eyes on him and his dad. He could sense the judgment and the whispers from his classmates.
“Hey, Bradley, it looks like your dad is really serious about this, ” one of his friends whispered across the hallway, trying to hold back a laugh.
“Yeah, this is so embarrassing, ” Bradley whispered, his cheeks turning a deep shade of red.
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。
But as the class progressed, something unexpected happened.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________After school, Bradley hesitantly approached his dad with newfound appreciation.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________6 . When I teach research methods, a major focus is peer review. As a process, peer review evaluates academic papers for their quality, integrity and impact on a field, largely shaping what scientists accept as “knowledge”- By instinct, any academic follows up a new idea with the question, “Was that peer reviewed?”
Although I believe in the importance of peer review and I help do peer reviews for several academic journals-I know how vulnerable the process can be.
I had my first encounter with peer review during my first year as a Ph. D student. One day, my adviser handed me an essay and told me to have my -written review back to him in a week. But at the time, I certainly was not a “peer”-I was too new in my field. Manipulated data (不实的数据) or substandard methods could easily have gone undetected. Knowledge is not self-evident. Only experts would be able to notice them, and even then, experts do not always agree on what they notice.
Let’s say in my life I only see white swans. Maybe I write an essay, concluding that all swans are white. And a “peer” says, “Wait a minute, I’ve seen black swans.” I would have to refine my knowledge.
The peer plays a key role evaluating observations with the overall goal of advancing knowledge. For example, if the above story were reversed, and peer reviewers who all believed that all swans were white came across the first study observing a black swan, the study would receive a lot of attention.
So why was a first-year graduate student getting to stand in for an expert? Why would my review count the same as an expert’s review? One answer: The process relies almost entirely on unpaid labor.
Despite the fact that peers are professionals, peer review is not a profession. As a result, the same over-worked scholars often receive masses of the peer review requests. Besides the labor inequity, a small pool of experts can lead to a narrowed process of what is publishable or what counts as knowledge, directly threatening diversity of perspectives and scholars. Without a large enough reviewer pool, the process can easily fall victim to biases, arising from a small community recognizing each other’s work and compromising conflicts of interest.
Despite these challenges, I still tell my students that peer review offers the best method for evaluating studies aird advancing knowledge. As a process, peer review theoretically works. The question is whether the issues with peer review can be addressed by professionalizing the field.
1. What can we learn about peer review in the first paragraph?| A．It generates knowledge. | B．It is commonly practiced. |
| C．It is a major research method. | D．It is questioned by some scientists. |
| A．Complexity of peer review ensures its reliability. |
| B．Contradictions between scientists may be balanced. |
| C．Individuals can be limited by personal experiences. |
| D．Experts should detect unscientific observation methods. |
| A．Workload for scholars. | B．Toughness of the process. |
| C．Diversification of publications. | D．Financial support to reviewers. |
| A．what fuels peer review | B．why peer review is imperfect |
| C．how new hands advance peer review | D．whether peer reviewers are underrated |
Drew and Tia sat at a picnic table in the park on a beautiful fall afternoon. The air around them was filled with the sounds of children playing, dogs barking, and people laughing or calling to one another. But Drew and Tia ignored the sounds around them and focused on the task they had set out to complete. They planned to start a school garden at Jefferson Middle School.
Initially, it had been Drew’s idea. He had first seen a school garden when he went to visit his cousin PJ. in Washington. He was amazed at the variety of fruits and vegetables the students at P. J. ‘s school grew. “It’s a lot of work,” PJ. had warned. “But it’s also my favorite part of the week. I love putting on my boots, getting outside, and seeing all the new things that have happened.” When Drew returned from his trip to Washington, he told Tia all about what he had seen.
Now, at the table, they were determined to come up with a plan to bring a school garden to Jefferson. Drew opened his notebook and prepared to record any ideas they had for convincing Ms. Milano, the school principal, that the garden was a good idea.
“We’re going to need an adult to guide the whole operation,” said Drew thoughtfully. “I know that Mr. Issac gardens at home. Just last week he brought in a whole basket of tomatoes and zucchini from his garden. He might be willing to help.” Drew wrote down Mr. Issac’s name in his notebook.
“We might need donations to get this project up and running,” added Tia. “We could tell Ms. Milano that we would be willing to organize a yard sale to raise funds.”
“That’s a great idea,” said Drew. “I think we need to be able to present her with a realistic plan. That way, Ms. Milano wouldn’t feel as though she agreed to something unknown.”
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。
Closing the notebook, they took action.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________“Actually, I was doubtful when you first came to me.” said Ms. Milano.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________8 . Why do we universally appreciate cartoons? Because they are visual — the humor unfolds right before our eyes. As writers, we have a unique challenge to craft worlds, including humorous ones, using only words.
At first glance, writers and cartoonists have vastly different toolboxes and skill sets. But if you look closely, you will notice similar devices, such as simplification, exaggeration (夸张), and contrast.
In many literary forms, decoration enriches a piece. That’s not true for humor writing — humor can get lost with too many details. Adding a bit of shading will give depth to an illustration, yet there’s usually no need to detail every feature. There’s a thin line between plain and funny, and the difference often lies in whether a writer adheres to the universal comedic principle, “less is funnier.” By simplifying complex situations, characters, plots, and reactions, your work becomes more digestible and humorous.
Exaggeration is one of the most straightforward and effective comedic tools. As a humor writer, don’t shy away from every chance to stretch the truth, whether by understatement or overstatement. However, effective humor is truth based. The relationship between exaggeration and realism in humor is like stretching a rubber band (橡皮筋). A little stretching, even repeated stretching, is no problem. However, overstretching the band will cause it to break, as well as the humor and the reader’s trust.
Contrasting is the juxtaposition (并列) of elements not usually coupled, a technique that cartoonists use to create humorous mismatches by placing significantly different elements side by side. As writers, we can use juxtaposition to brainstorm new humor angles and create funny mismatches.
Humor is at its funniest when it’s visual, and writers can craft more humorous material by employing the same techniques used by cartoonists. By thinking and writing visually, you can show the funny to readers.
1. What do writers and cartoonists have in common in expressing humor?| A．They craft worlds literally. | B．They focus closely on details. |
| C．They employ techniques alike. | D．They get through to readers easily. |
| A．Break. | B．Follow | C．Revise. | D．Challenge. |
| A．Overstating simple situations. | B．Shying away from the truth. |
| C．Reducing the number of characters. | D．Combining uncoupled elements. |
| A．A review of modern cartoons. | B．An essay on the art of writing. |
| C．An introduction to painting skills. | D．A guidebook for passionate readers. |
Have You Got Success Amnesia?
Have you heard yourself say “it was nothing really” when someone congratulates you on a job well done? Or have you drawn a blank when you are asked to make a list of what you have achieved? If so, you have suffered success amnesia. Failing to acknowledge your hard work is often a sign of success amnesia. It signals that there might be a gap between how others view your achievements and how you see them.
People who have success amnesia often have a strong track record at work or get it sorted for family members. They are people who others would describe as successful and yet they find it difficult to acknowledge and own their results. They don’t hold their achievements in their memory bank.
This particular type of memory loss robs them of the satisfaction and pleasure that can follow in achieving a goal. And, perhaps more importantly, it robs them of confidence. Confidence does not guarantee success, but it does increase the chance of success. Why not try some practical methods?
Ask for feedback about the impact you’ve had and then listen carefully. Watch out for anything that you begin to tell yourself “It wasn’t that big a deal.” Try to absorb what you hear. You can also look back over the past 6 or12 months, capture every success you can think of, whether large or small, and write them down clearly. Purposefully acknowledging and admitting your achievements can help to bring them into more realistic focus. Besides, be mindful that you have a tendency to forget or minimize your achievements. A sticky note on your laptop screen might help: my strengths and achievements are bigger than they appear to me.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________10 . In Favour of Simple Writing
Do you edit text messages carefully before sending them? If so, you may be the kind of person who takes pride in
People are constantly receiving messages, from the mailbox to the inbox to the text-message alert. What to read, what to skim (略读) and what to ignore are decisions that nearly everyone has to make dozens of times a day. A new book titled All Readers are Busy Nowadays makes the argument for being the careful kind of
Take “less is more”. Most books on writing well advocate the advice to
Keeping messages to a
Syntax (句法) and
If everyone is a busy reader, everyone is a busy writer, too. That may make it tempting to sent as many messages as
| A．conveying | B．understanding | C．crafting | D．sending |
| A．care | B．quantity | C．simplicity | D．technology |
| A．reader | B．poster | C．learner | D．writer |
| A．structures | B．principles | C．aims | D．alternatives |
| A．remove | B．ignore | C．reconsider | D．interpret |
| A．conveyed | B．translated | C．tested | D．shaped |
| A．lowered | B．affected | C．doubled | D．maintained |
| A．basic | B．positive | C．definite | D．single |
| A．Recording | B．Reducing | C．Counting | D．Estimating |
| A．in comparison | B．after all | C．for instance | D．in particular |
| A．word-choice | B．pattern-design | C．target-setting | D．platform-selection |
| A．difficult | B．suitable | C．challenging | D．common |
| A．carefully | B．often | C．politely | D．quickly |
| A．outcomes | B．points | C．figures | D．benefits |
| A．received | B．written | C．read | D．answered |
