Having worked at a small food store for two years, I thought I had become successful at what our manager called “customer relations”. I firmly believed that a friendly smile and an automatic “sir”, “madam”, “thank you” and “sorry” would see me through any situation. But on a Christmas night an old woman shook my belief that such a glib (油嘴滑舌的) response could smooth over any difficulty while dealing with other human beings.
The moment she entered the store, the woman presented a sharp contrast to our shiny store with its bright lighting and neatly arranged shelves. Walking as if each step were painful, she slowly pushed open the glass door. On such a zero-degree night, she was wearing only a faded print dress, a thin sweater too small to button, and black slippers with the backs cut out to expose heels. There were no stockings or socks on her blue-veined (青筋的) legs.
After walking around the store for several minutes, the old woman stopped in front of the rows of canned vegetables. She looked at the row of cans, finally picked up a can of corn and stared at the label. At that point, I decided to be a good and polite employee and asked her if she needed help. As I stood close to her, my smile became harder to maintain. An unpleasant smell of sweat rose from her torn clothing.
“I need some food,” she muttered in reply to my bright “Madam, can I help you?”
“Are you looking for corn, madam?”
“I need some food,” she repeated, looking down at the can in her hand, “Any kind.”
“Well, the can of corn is ninety-five cents, madam.” I said in my most helpful voice. “Or if you like, we have a special on bread today.”
After a short pause, she lifted her head and said, “But I can’t pay.”
For a second, it was on the tip of my tongue to tell her that she could take the corn. Then the employee rules flooded into my mind: remain polite but do not let the customers take advantage of you.
注意：1. 续写词数应为150左右；
2. 续写部分分为两段，每段的开头语已为你写好。
At the thought of that, I managed a friendly smile.
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Instantly I rushed out of the door with the can of corn and stopped the old woman.
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1. 简述刷短视频的利与弊；
2. 你的观点。
注意：1. 词数80左右；
2. 开头与结尾已给出，不计入总词数。
参考词汇：刷短视频 watch short videos
Good morning, everyone.
I’d like to
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________That’s all. Thank you.
1.人物简介；
2.令人敬佩的原因。
注意：
1. 可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
2. 词数：100左右
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5 . A robot created by Washington State University (WSU) scientists could help elderly people with dementia (痴呆) and other limitations live independently in their own homes.
The Robot Activity Support System, or RAS, uses sensors installed in a WSU smart home to determine where its residents are, what they are doing and when they need assistance with daily activities. It navigates (定位) through rooms and around obstacles to find people on its own, provides video instructions on how to do simple tasks and can even lead its owner to objects like their medication or a snack in the kitchen.
“RAS combines the convenience of a mobile robot with the activity detection technology of a WSU smart home to provide assistance in the moment, as the need for help is detected,” said Bryan Minor, a postdoctoral researcher in the WSU School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.
Currently, an estimated 50 percent of adults over the age of 85 need assistance with every day activities such as preparing meals and taking medication and the annual cost for this assistance in the US is nearly $2 trillion. With the number of adults over 85 expected to triple by 2050, researchers hope that technologies like RAS and the WSU smart home will relieve some of the financial strain on the healthcare system by making it easier for older adults to live alone.
RAS is the first robot researchers have tried to incorporate into their smart home environment. They recently published a study in the journal Cognitive Systems Research that demonstrates how RAS could make life easier for older adults struggling to live independently.
“While we are still in an early stage of development, our initial results with RAS have been promising,” Minor said. “The next step in the research will be to test RAS’ performance with a group of older adults to get a better idea of what prompts, video reminders and other preferences they have regarding the robot.”
1. How does RAS serve elderly people?| A．Through sensors. | B．Through objects. |
| C．Through a mobile robot. | D．Through their daily activities. |
| A．It is the first robot used in daily life. | B．Its function remains to be tested. |
| C．It can locate people and do any task. | D．It can cook for owners on its own. |
| A．Doubtful. | B．Negative. |
| C．Optimistic. | D．Uncertain. |
| A．Elderly people leave the nursing home. |
| B．Smart Home Tests first elder-Care robot. |
| C．RAS, the first robot to make home smart. |
| D．Older adults have benefited from RAS. |
6 . My nephew’s 10-year-old son came for a visit one hot, July weekend. I persuaded him to
“Look, Alice,” he said excitedly as he
The
He ran back and forth, as
I asked, “How did it
At that moment I heard another voice speak to my
And the voice was
| A．live | B．lie | C．study | D．stay |
| A．fighting | B．resting | C．playing | D．selecting |
| A．fell into | B．jumped off | C．cleaned up | D．went through |
| A．times | B．hours | C．moments | D．periods |
| A．sent | B．climbed | C．left | D．ran |
| A．decorate | B．fly | C．hang | D．drop |
| A．hot | B．fine | C．noisy | D．still |
| A．bright | B．satisfied | C．dull | D．unhappy |
| A．staying | B．blowing | C．going | D．stopping |
| A．determined | B．talented | C．clever | D．generous |
| A．as | B．unless | C．after | D．until |
| A．hard | B．hardly | C．actively | D．gradually |
| A．angrily | B．hopefully | C．doubtfully | D．nervously |
| A．make | B．come | C．go | D．settle |
| A．Therefore | B．Again | C．Instead | D．However |
| A．news | B．order | C．wind | D．sunshine |
| A．dream | B．memory | C．heart | D．world |
| A．because of | B．instead of | C．except for | D．as for |
| A．strange | B．boring | C．serious | D．right |
| A．imagine | B．complete | C．fancy | D．decide |
7 . Located at Europe’s biggest water park, the Galaxy Erding in South Germany, the world’s first VR water slide takes the exciting experience to a whole new level by offering thrill-seekers the choice of three attractive worlds --- Space, Sky, or Snow. By simply wearing a headset, riders can slide through a magical alien world, follow beautiful butterflies around floating islands or put themselves in a white winter wonderland. To make the experience even more heart-stopping, the 160-meter-long ride that lasts about 35 seconds has two uphill tracks that provide a roller-coaster-like experience.
While the tire slide, which has been successfully tested by almost 10,000 park goers since it opened in February 2018, is impressive, the technology behind it, developed by California startup Ballast is even more so. The specially-created waterproof headsets can be worn in water up to a few meters deep, without harming the delicate Samsung Galaxy S8 mobile devices that run the custom software for the VR experiences. The headsets also charge wirelessly (无线地), allowing park operators to swap out sets throughout the day.
The biggest challenge the company faced, however, was providing a suitable VR experience for everyone. That’s because unlike roller coasters, where the speed is fixed for all riders, water slide speeds vary depending on the weight of the person. To overcome the issue, Ballast fixed smart sensors (传感器) in important areas along the slide to keep track of the rider’s progress at all times. The information, conveyed through the headset, allows the custom software to adjust his or her location within the virtual world accordingly, making for a smooth, seasickness free ride for all.
Though Ballast is thrilled at Space Glider’s success, the company has bigger ambitions. They want to create an experience where guests will be able to swim underwater surrounded by virtual dolphins, whales, and even sharks, without wearing the heavy headsets!
1. What can people do if they go to the Galaxy Erding?| A．They can swim with dolphins. |
| B．They can explore the outer space. |
| C．They can experience VR water slide. |
| D．They can swap out sets all day long. |
| A．The tire slide has been successfully tested so far. |
| B．Water slide speed vary depending on the age of the person. |
| C．Thrill-seekers take the exciting experience by wearing a headset. |
| D．The specially-created waterproof headsets can be applied in water. |
| A．The painkillers. |
| B．The fixed speed. |
| C．A sensor fixed in important areas. |
| D．Virtual dolphins, whales and sharks. |
| A．objective | B．subjective | C．opposed | D．indifferent |
8 . Modern lifestyles are generally quite different from those of our hunter-gatherer ancestors, a fact that some claim as the cause of the current rise in global obesity, but new results published July 25 in the open access journal PLOS ONE find that there is no difference between the energy expenditure(耗费) of modern hunter-gatherers and Westerners, casting doubt on this theory.
The research team behind the study, led by Herman Pontzer of Hunter College in New York City, along with David Raichlen of the University of Arizona and Brian M. Wood of Stanford measured daily energy expenditure among the Hadza, a population of traditional hunter-gatherers living in the open Savannah of northern Tanzania. Despite spending their days hiking long distances to seek for wild plants and game, the Hadza burned no more calories each day than adults in the U.S. and Europe. The team ran several analyses accounting for the effects of body weight, body fat percentage, age, and gender. In all analyses, daily energy expenditure among the Hadza hunter-gatherers was indistinguishable(难以区分的) from that of Westerners. The study was the first to measure energy expenditure in hunter-gatherers directly; previous studies had relied entirely on estimates.
These findings overturn the long-held assumption that our hunter-gatherer ancestors expended more energy than modern populations, and challenge the view that obesity in Western populations results from decreased energy expenditure. Instead, the similarity in daily energy expenditure across a broad range of lifestyles suggests that habitual metabolic(新陈代谢的) rates are relatively constant among human populations. This in turn supports the view that the current rise in obesity is due to increased food consumption, not decreased energy expenditure. It means we have more to learn about human physiology(生理学) and health, particularly in non-Western settings.
"These results highlight the complexity of energy expenditure. It's not simply a function of physical activity," says Pontzer.” Our metabolic rates may be more a reflection of our shared evolutionary past than our diverse modern lifestyles."
1. According to the new research, hunter-gatherers consume _________.| A．the same energy as Westerners | B．more energy than Westerners |
| C．less energy than Westerners | D．the same food as Westerners |
| A．By comparing hiking distances. | B．By identifying wild plants and game. |
| C．By estimating daily energy expenditure. | D．By measuring daily energy expenditure. |
| A．the rise in obesity is due to increased food consumption |
| B．decreased energy expenditure makes Westerners fat |
| C．daily energy expenditure stays the same in history |
| D．humans’ habitual metabolic rates are unchanged |
| A．Our physiology activity. | B．Our energy expenditure. |
| C．Our metabolic rates. | D．Our modern lifestyle. |
9 . Antarctica(南极洲)’s melting ice, which has caused global sea levels to rise by at least 13.8 millimeters over the past 40 years, was thought to primarily come from the unstable West Antarctic Ice Sheet(WAIS). Now, scientists have found that the East Antarctic Ice Sheet (EAIS)—considered largely unaffected by climate change—may also be melting at an unexpectedly rapid speed.
The WAIS, whose base is below sea level, has long been considered the most likely to break down. Besides gravity, a deep current of warm water slips beneath the sheet, melting it from below until it becomes a floating shelf at risk of breaking away. In contrast, extreme cold and a base mostly above sea level are thought to keep the EAIS relatively safe from warm waters.
But as greenhouse gases warm much of the planet, driving stronger polar winds, some scientists think warm water carried by a circular current will start to invade East Antarctica’s once unassailable ice. A cooperation of more than 60 scientists last year, published in Nature, estimated that the EAIS actually added about 5 billion tons of ice each year from 1992 to 2017.
Eric Rignot of the University of California, Irvine, and colleagues combined 40 years of satellite imagery and climate modeling and found that overall Antarctica now sends six times more ice into the sea each year than it did in 1979, with the majority coming from West Antarctica. But East Antarctica was responsible for more than 30% of Antarctica’s contribution to the 13.8-millimeter sea level rise over the past 40 years. “The more we look at this system the more we realize this is fragile,” Rignot says. “Once these glaciers become unstable there is no red button to press to stop it.”
Rignot hopes the study brings greater attention to a part of Antarctica that has traditionally been understudied. Helen Fricker, a glaciologist (冰川学家) in California, agrees. “We need to monitor the entire Antarctica and we just can’t do that without international cooperation.”
1. What is the new finding of scientists?| A．The east Antarctica is losing ice at an increasing rate. |
| B．The west Antarctica is melting six times faster than in 1979. |
| C．5 billion tons of ice is added to Antarctica each year. |
| D．The sea level has risen by 13.8 mm over the past 40 years. |
| A．A base mostly over sea level. | B．The force of gravity. |
| C．The invasion of a warm current. | D．Extremely low temperature. |
| A．Fragile. | B．Unattackable. |
| C．Mild. | D．Unstable. |
| A．Satellite imagery. | B．Global monitoring. |
| C．Worldwide climate modeling. | D．Worldwide combined efforts. |
假定你是李华，你的美国朋友 Sarah打算暑期来北京旅游，来信询问改建后前门大街的情况。请你写封回信，简单介绍以下内容：
1. 简况：长800余米、600多年历史、300余家商铺；
2. 位置：天安门广场南面；
3. 交通：公共汽车17、69、59等路，地铁2号线；
4. 特色：步行街、当当车、茶馆、剧院等。
参考词汇：步行街 pedestrian street
当当车 trolley car
地铁 subway
注意：
1. 词数100左右；
2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；
3. 开头语已为你写好，请将完整的回信书写在答题卡上。
Dear Sarah,
Thank you for your letter asking about the rebuilt Qianmen Street. Here is something about it. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Yours, Lihua
