1. What is the woman worried about?
| A．How to get to the students' union. |
| B．How to live the university life. |
| C．How to find a map of the university. |
| A．8 hours. | B．9 hours. | C．11 hours. |
| A．Beside the Lab | B．B. Opposite the Chemistry labs. | C．On the right of the Science Blocks. |
| A．Get familiar with the university. |
| B．Have an appointment with him on Thursday. |
| C．Write her telephone number down on the form. |
1. What does the man say about his working experience?
| A．He has taught Spanish for a couple of years. |
| B．He worked at a company for several years. |
| C．He owned a small business years ago. |
| A．To get a full-time job. | B．To gain higher pay. | C．To work close to home. |
| A．Travel. | B．Computer games. | C．Foreign languages. |
3 . Rising costs mean many of us are having to cut back on our spending.
●Plan for some treats
The less you have of something, the more you’re likely to desire it, give in and layout a large fortune. And often these treats can be costly.
●
We often spend in isolation. What I mean here is that we look at the cost of something and compare it with prices of similar products on the shopping list. For example, £3 on a coffee each day might seem insignificant. But if you work out what the money spent could provide elsewhere, you might rethink your choices. Let’s say you need £300 for a holiday, and six months of not buying a coffee could save you the money for your trip. Will you change your mind?
●Take away the temptation
●Cancel your Amazon Prime (付费会员)
Many think of Amazon’s membership scheme as a money saver—and it does sometimes offer extra discounts. But don’t forget you have paid for this already with the £79 annual fee and the “free” delivery can actually remove an important barrier when shopping
| A．Compare your priorities |
| B．Keep an account of small items |
| C．Many people find it hard to change consumption habits. |
| D．Some of our favorite treats are the ones that require little effort. |
| E．Travelling less or shipping down a brand seems relatively painless. |
| F．The extra step of choosing shipping could be enough to make you think twice. |
| G．But choosing alternative rewards costing less can give you the same spending pleasure. |
4 . The United States Patent and Trademark Office recently granted Microsoft a patent for software capable of creating a chatbot, or online conversational application, based on the characteristics of a particular dead person. The chatbot would use all of the dead’s social data and create a sort of virtual version of the dead, managed by artificial intelligence.
According to the new Microsoft patent, it is possible to use images, voice memos, social media posts, instant messages and emails to create an avatar (化身) or profile of the dead’s personality. With the digital profile, engineers can “train” a chatbot to speak like the dead. More worryingly, the application could also take the form of a dead love done with a 2D or 3D “model” and use their voice while talking to the person.
The creation of such a chatbot, apart from the moral, ethical and religious aspects, opens a complicated scenario (设想) regarding the data and privacy rights of the dead.
Faheem Hussain, a clinical assistant professor at Arizona State University, told Reuters “In most countries around the world, the data of dead people is not protected. Therefore, nothing in the laws would prevent the creation of an avatar or android that looks like the dead.”
“This could be done without the dead’s permission and the data used could violate the privacy of others if, for example, it included conversations the dead had with friends, relatives and others who were involved in their lives at various levels,” he added.
In February, one channel aired a tearful reunion between a mother and her dead 7-year-old daughter, recreated through virtual reality as a digital avatar using the mother’s photos and memories. But that’s not all. Some are thinking far ahead. ETER9 is a social network from a Portuguese developer Henrique Jorge, which has the feature of paring each user with an AI “counterpart” that learns to copy the user’s online behaviour to be able to post comment and share autonomously, even after the account owner has passed away.
1. Where is the text probably taken from?| A．A research paper. | B．A sales brochure. |
| C．A product presentation. | D．A scientific magazine. |
| A．Talk to the dead. | B．Protect the dead’s privacy. |
| C．Live after our death. | D．Post the dead’s memories. |
| A．Positive. | B．Negative. | C．Unclear. | D．Objective. |
| A．It helps people with Portuguese. | B．It opens a complicated seenario. |
| C．It airs tearful family reunions. | D．It creates a real second virtual life. |
5 . “Tie an Italian’s hands behind his back, and he’ll be speechless.” This old joke conveys a rigid image of Italians: they are talkative and emotional, and all their arm movements supposedly go to prove it.
Susan Goldin-Meadow of the University of Chicago has a rather different view. Emotions come out in lots of ways: facial expressions, posture, tone of voice and so on. But people are doing something different when they use gestures with speech, which she sums up in the title of her new book, “Thinking With Your Hands”.
In effect, everyone gestures, not just Italians. Conference interpreters gesture in their little booths (隔间), though no one is looking. People born blind gesture when they speak, including to each other. All this suggests that cognition (认知) is，to some extent, “embodied”; thinking is not all done in your head. Gestures that accompany speech are a second channel of information. People who say they believe in sexual equality but gesture with their hands lower are not indicating women’s shorter stature (身高); they can be shown to have prejudices of which they may be unaware.
Child development is the focus of Goldin-Meadow’s book. Some students who fail at a tricky mathematics problem may gesture in a way that indicates they are on the point of getting it. They should be taught differently from the ones whose gestures suggest that they are entirely at sea. Goldin-Meadow believes that gesturing could play a larger role in education by addressing the student’s needs better.
This is well explained in the book’s last section. Teachers are encouraged both to use gestures themselves and to observe those their students make. Parents are taught to fill in the word a child is most likely to be missing when they gesture rather than adding information. Children with language delays caused by brain injuries at birth, but who gesture as much as their peers, are likely to catch up verbally (口头上) by the age of about 30 months. Those who gesture less are more likely to need early intervention.
1. What is the purpose of the joke in the first paragraph?| A．To show that Italians are talkative and emotional. |
| B．To set a humorous tone for this article. |
| C．To illustrate the relationship between gestures and speech. |
| D．To correct people’s wrong impression of Italians. |
| A．People’s gestures are not consistent with their speech. |
| B．Gestures help the speaker tell lies more easily. |
| C．People use gestures to hide their real intentions. |
| D．Gestures can express what the speaker really thinks. |
| A．Desperate. | B．Confused. | C．Incapable. | D．Frightened. |
| A．Practical advice. | B．Educational theory. |
| C．Typical examples. | D．Research conclusions. |
These figures have just
8 . Feel exhausted after a party? Rather see one close friend than a group of acquaintances? Enjoy your own company? In our world, that makes you an introvert (内向的人). However, there’s another possible explanation — vertical attachment. If you are closer to your parents and family members than to your peers, you are vertically attached, which means you rely more on family for comfort.
If you are closer to your peers, then you are peer attached. We live in a peer-oriented world. We believe that having lots of friends means that we are well-adjusted. We put our kids in playgroups and daycare for peer interaction. We expect teenagers to want to hang out with their friends, thinking it is the natural way of things.
Result? Generations often feel worlds apart. We use different language, dress, and technology apps. Even if multiple generations are invited to the same party, the kids go to the basement playroom while the parents stay upstairs.
Vertically-attached individuals can feel out of place in this context, demonstrating the traces of introversion. Will they be exhausted after a party with same-aged acquaintances? Absolutely. Would they rather spend time with one close friend? Sure. Do they enjoy alone time? Yes, more than they enjoy time fitting in with peers.
It’s normal that many people need alone time to recharge. However, vertically-attached people often label themselves as introverted. They feel insecure that others have more friends and live richer lives. They claim that their family attachments arise from their loved ones being stuck with them.
If you feel these insecurities, know that there is nothing wrong with you, and you are not missing out on anything. Your attachment style is just different from the culture where you live. Have confidence in the strength of the relationships you have, whether it is with a mom who feels more like a best friend, or a grandmother with whom you can share anything. They are meaningful, enriching relationships, even if they look different from the cultural norm.
1. Who is vertically attached according to the text?| A．Mike, who feels at ease with his teachers. |
| B．Maggie, who enjoys film time alone at weekends. |
| C．Tom, who feels burnt out after a family get-together. |
| D．Lisa, who often turns to her dad when things are hard. |
| A．Younger generations should be self-disciplined. |
| B．Being sociable is a desired quality for their children. |
| C．Their children need more friends than they themselves do. |
| D．Different generations should have different circles of acquaintances. |
| A．Be that as it may, just leave it as it is. |
| B．Never underestimate your inner power. |
| C．Hang out more with friends and adjust to it. |
| D．Treat others the way you want to be treated. |
| A．Biased. | B．Objective. | C．Unconcerned. | D．Critical. |
9 . We need art in our homes. Here are four reasons you should know about art.
Art breathes life into a home.
Your home is “your place,” and that’s why decorating it to your liking is so important.
Plus, from a functional design standpoint, art acts as a focal point, makes a room appear finished, and immediately shows off your interests and ideals to visitors.
Art lets you express yourself and encourages dialogue.
Without needing words, art can be the perfect way to express who you are to both yourself and others. Why?
Whether it’s your personality or what you value in life, art can be the perfect translator. This lets you form deeper connections with those who come into your home.
Art reminds us of what is possible.
A piece of art can produce powerful emotions when we look at it. Art can cheer us up after a bad day, make us remember, or inspire us to do more in life. It can provide comfort that we are not the only ones feeling a certain way. It also provides a reflection back to us that enables us to chew on our own reactions, emotions, and thoughts.
| A．Art tells a story. |
| B．Art also opens us up to criticism. |
| C．Art helps us recognize our emotions. |
| D．You need to feel comfortable in your space. |
| E．Seeing other people do what they love is inspiring. |
| F．An artwork serves as a reminder that we should question our habits. |
| G．By choosing to live with art, you are choosing to bring more life into your home. |
10 . Scientists in Europe have discovered that magpies (喜鹊) and crows (乌鸦) are using an unusual material to build their nests (巢) — spikes (防鸟钉) designed to keep birds away from buildings. The birds appear to be taking away the spikes from buildings and adding them to their own nests.
Auke-Florian Hiemstra is a Dutch scientist who studies how wild animals use materials made by humans. He has seen nests that include some pretty unusual materials — things like plastic flowers, sunglasses and even fishing lines. Mr Hiemstra thinks that in large cities, it’s hard to find suitable materials to make nests, so birds build nests with whatever materials they can find.
Someone at a hospital in Antwerp, Belgium sent Mr Hiemstra a picture of a magpie nest. He never expected spikes could be used by magpies to build their nests. The top of the nest had thin spikes sticking out all over. The spikes were “anti-bird spikes”. They are usually placed on buildings to prevent birds from landing. But this time, the birds had used the spikes to make a nest.
Magpies and crows are known for being clever. The two kinds of birds are related, and are famous for being able to solve challenging problems. But the birds didn’t use the spikes in exactly the same ways. The crows used the spikes on the inside of their nests to help make the nests stronger. Magpies have to worry about other birds, including crows, stealing their eggs. They appeared to use the spikes like humans do-putting them on top of their nests to keep other birds from landing.
Mr Hiemstra said, “We learned about several other nests in Europe that also used anti-bird spikes. What’s more, there are probably more nests out there that are built with anti-bird spikes. They just haven’t been found yet.”
1. Why do birds use unusual materials according to Mr Hiemstra?| A．They make their nests unique. | B．They provide better protection. |
| C．They can be found easily. | D．They are much stronger. |
| A．Worried. | B．Surprised. | C．Satisfied. | D．Confused. |
| A．To introduce the right ways to use spikes. |
| B．To show magpies are much cleverer than crows. |
| C．To explain crows and magpies can learn from humans. |
| D．To tell us crows and magpies use spikes in different ways. |
| A．Birds in Europe first started to use anti-bird spikes to build nests. |
| B．Humans need to learn more about birds’ way of building nests. |
| C．It’s more difficult for birds to find suitable building materials. |
| D．Anti-bird spikes may be used more widely to build nests. |
