Spreading Kindness Around the World
“Mom, we want to write a book,” my five-year-old twins, Delilah and Nathenial, told me one day.
I looked at my kids curiously. “What do you mean?”
Are they joking? I thought. I don’t know the first thing about getting a book published. Still, I didn’t want to squash their creativity. “Okay…what do you want it to be about?”
“An envelope that travels all over the world spreading kindness,” Nathenial said, his eyes shining.
Over the next few months,my kids dreamed up more of the story. The main characters were a pair of twins just like them. I wrote down everything, making sure not to miss a detail. The kids even sketched scenes with colored pencils.
The theme of Delilah and Nathenial’s story was being kind to others, no matter how little you might have. I wondered if that was partly because I’d told them what my life had been like when I was their age.
I remember my father died when I was five. My mom, younger sister and I ended up on the streets,sleeping in parks and homeless hotels for more than a year. I found myself standing in any line I could to get donated food.
Despite—or maybe because of—our hardships, I tried to help others. I handed out snacks to people who were homeless, took in stray (走失的) animals and helped give out donations at a church where the woman in charge would send me home with food. After I gave birth to our twins, I not only taught them to be kind but also to make sure they knew that anything was possible.
I guess I did a pretty good job, because here the twins were, at age five, managed to write a book. After we self-published The Magical Envelope last Children’s Day, the kids decided to donate it to the kindergarten in our community.
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 twins, now eight, continue to amaze me.
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My kids understand more about the hardship I endured.
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There are lots of chances in front of us. Whether you can seize them or not depends on the choices you make. This reminds me of one choice I made during my childhood.
Two tickets. Only two tickets to the final basketball game.
Three pairs of eyes focused on the tickets in Dad’s out-stretched hand. Mike, the oldest, asked the question running through everyone’s mind, “Only one ticket for us three? But, Dad, which of us will go with you?” Avery, the youngest, repeated the question quietly. I asked Dad if there was any chance to get more tickets. I might be the middle sister, but I was just as eager as my basketball-crazy brothers for a night out with Dad. Dad said he’d got the tickets from a friend and there were only two available.
Seeing that none of us would give up the chance, Dad told us he would choose which of the three of us deserved to go by the following morning.
The next morning, we hurried into the kitchen and looked for Dad, only to find that he had gone out. We were told to get started on our Saturday cleanup as soon as we finished breakfast. Mike complained that he couldn’t concentrate on chores with the game a mere eleven hours away. He slurped the last of his milk, grabbed the basketball and headed towards the back door. Avery dashed after his brother. Before I realized it, the door snapped shut. I glanced out the window and saw Mike practicing his shot while Avery cheered him on.
Seeing the mess on the breakfast table—the leftovers on the sticky plates and dirty cups, I felt frustrated. I approached the window and knocked on it. When the boys looked at me, I held up a kitchen sponge and dishtowel. Mike casually nodded to me and held up five fingers. Sure, five more minutes! I didn’t believe they would return to do the cleanup in five minutes, especially in Dad’s absence. Apparently, they had made their choice.
注意：1. 所续写短文的词数应为150左右;
2. 续写部分分两段，每段的开头语已为你写好。
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Anyway, I chose to do the Saturday morning chores on my own.
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Dad was happy to know I found the ticket he had hidden in the cupboard.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________3 . My students frequently ask me how I planned out my career to become president of Fidelity Investments. I always tell them, “There was no grand plan; I backed into my career one step at a time.” In this tough economy and ever-changing world, it is more important than ever to smartly evaluate each step in your career. To prepare for whatever surprises lie ahead, try to make choices today that will maximize your options in the future.
Gaining transferable (可转移的) knowledge begins with the choices you make at school. You want your education to provide you with the necessary skills and expertise to succeed in a wide variety of jobs.
Once you have finished your formal education, search for jobs that will allow you to further expand your transferable knowledge—to help you find your next job. Let’s say you take a job putting together airplane leases. Within a few years, you could become the world’s expert on the subject.
Remember gaining transferable knowledge is only one piece of the puzzle.
Of course, you can build your network to some degree without changing jobs.
| A．You can make yourself more attractive. |
| B．Gain transferable expertise and form close bonds with your colleagues. |
| C．Your next step should help you expand your web of personal relationships. |
| D．This later helped me evaluate and start business units throughout the world. |
| E．You can attend conferences or participate in committees at trade associations. |
| F．This means that you need to make smart choices about the courses you will follow. |
| G．However, this narrow expertise probably won’t help you in any other line of work. |
Suzie wanted to go to a party. It was a beach party. It had been almost the only thing her friends had been talking about for the last couple of weeks. It was going to be the best party of the year, perhaps the best party of her life.
But there was a problem… and a big problem. Her mom had said no. Suzie was desperate, and the more desperately she pleaded her case, the more emphatically her mom said no. Suzie was disappointed. No, worse than that, she was heartbroken. This was her best friend’s party. How could she tell her that her mom wouldn’t let her go? She’d look silly if she was the only one not there. The other kids were bound to laugh at her. They might even dump her as a friend if she didn’t join in and participate in what they were doing.
Sunday dinner came around and Suzie’s Grandma joined the family for the meal, as she nearly always did on Sunday. Grandma noticed how unhappy Suzie had been looking during the meal but didn’t say a thing. It was Suzie’s turn to wash up and Grandma said, “Let me help you,” while the rest of the family shifted into the living room to watch a video.
“What’s up?” asked Grandma as Suzie dumped the dishes into water. Grandma wiped a plate with a tea towel.
“Mom won’t let me go to my best friend’s party,” said Suzie, sadly. “Has Mom explained why she doesn’t want you to go? “ asked Grandma. “No,” replied Suzie.
“Then for a moment, put yourself in her position,” said Grandma. “If you were Mom, what would your objections be?”
Suzie hadn’t stopped to think about her mom’s side. All she had seen was what she wanted. “Well,” she answered after thinking for a moment or two, “it’s a beach party. Maybe she doesn’t trust us or thinks we’ll get into trouble. Maybe she thinks we’ll drown or something, but we all know how to swim and look after ourselves.”
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。
After further discussion, Suzie realised that her mom might be concerned about her safety because no adults would be at the party.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Suzie thought Grandma’s suggestions over and decided to have a chat with her mom.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________5 . “ Humans and machine algorithms (算法) have complementary (互补的) strengths and weaknesses. Each uses different sources of information and strategies to make predictions and decisions, ” said Mark Steyvers, UCI professor of cognitive sciences. “ We show through experiments that humans can improve the predictions of AI even when human accuracy is below that of the AI, and vice versa (反之亦然). This accuracy is higher than combining predictions from two individuals or two AI algorithms. ”
To test the framework, researchers conducted an image classification experiment where human participants and computer algorithms worked separately to correctly identify disorderly pictures of animals and everyday items including chairs, bottles, bicycles and trucks. The human participants ranked their confidence in the accuracy of each image identification as low, medium or high, while the machine classifier generated a continuous score. The results showed large differences in confidence between humans and AI algorithms across images.
“ Human participants were confident that a particular picture contained a chair, for example, while the AI algorithm was confused about the image, ” said Padhraic Smyth, UCI Chancellor’s Professor of computer science. “ Similarly, the AI algorithm was able to confidently provide a label for the object shown, while human participants were unsure if the disorderly picture contained any recognizable object. ”
When predictions and confidence scores from both were combined using the researchers’ new Bayesian framework, the mixed model led to better performance than either human or machine predictions achieved alone.
“ While the past research has demonstrated the benefits of combining machine predictions or combining human predictions, this work shows a new direction in demonstrating the potential of combining human and machine predictions, pointing to new and improved approaches to human-AI cooperation, ” Smyth said.
“ The blend of cognitive science focusing on understanding how humans think and behave and computer science in which technologies are produced will provide further insight into how humans and machines can cooperate to build more accurate artificially intelligent systems, ” the researchers said.
1. Which of the following may the research’s findings agree with?| A．Humans have poor performance in making predictions. |
| B．Humans and machine algorithms should work together. |
| C．Machine algorithms have low accuracy in calculation. |
| D．Machine algorithms failed in the classification experiment. |
| A．Comparison. | B．Assumption. | C．Giving examples. | D．Analysing reasons. |
| A．Difference. | B．Combination. | C．Contradiction. | D．Advantage. |
| A．Humans are confident of their predictions |
| B．Humans can improve the predictions of AI |
| C．Develop mixed human- machine model for smarter AI |
| D．Identify the strengths of humans and machine algorithms |
注意：1、写作词数在80词左右；
2、可以适当增加细节使行文流畅。
Dear Betty,
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Yours,
Li Hua
7 . We’ve dug deep to find 4 of the most exciting documentary films coming to a screen near you in 2022.
Last Exit: Space
Last Exit: Space, narrated by Werner Herzog, explores the human potential for settling in space and sending people where they’ve never been before. Since planet Earth is possibly going to hell (地狱) in a handbasket, the film promises to ask the question: where else might we call home? Directed by his son Rudolph Herzog, Last Exit: Space will be available from March 10 on Discovery.
Gorbachev. Heaven
As leader of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev was once one of the most powerful people on the planet who governed a landmass so big that it covered 11 time zones. Gorbachev’s legacy is a complex one — he oversaw the end of the Cold War but many Russians blame him for the Soviet Union’s collapse. The BBC says this potentially fascinating look at one of the most significant figures from inside his own home will be airing in the very near future.
We Met In Virtual Reality
This film from director Joe Hunting beats fresh ground in that it is filmed entirely in virtual reality. Less about the technology itself, it is more an exploration of human connections and how these can develop in the 3D virtual world. Early reviews have been positive following its showing at Sundance. Expect a streaming release in late May this year.
2nd Chance
Hold your popcorn tightly when watching this. If the trailer (预告片) is anything to go by, there are going to be lots of near-death moments. 2nd Chance from Oscar-nominated director Ramin Bahrani tells the story of Richard Davis, the wild and odd inventor of the modern bullet-proof vest. “All will be revealed as soon as a release date is confirmed.” Ramin Bahrani promised on April 5th.
1. What is probably the major concern in Last Exit: Space?| A．Space travel is difficult for people. |
| B．Human beings may go to hell after death. |
| C．Human beings can’t find their way back from space. |
| D．The earth will become unfit for human habitation. |
| A．Last Exit: Space. | B．Gorbachev. Heaven. |
| C．We Met In Virtual Reality. | D．2nd Chance. |
| A．Science & Technology. | B．Fashion & Beauty. |
| C．Culture & Entertainment. | D．Travel & Adventure. |
It was Hoppy’s first day at his new school. He didn’t know anyone yet, but he had seen some cool kids at the beach during the summer.
Billy, one of the cool kids, sat down next to Hoppy at break and started to have a talk. They discovered they shared the same interest, surfing, but Hobby went to the beach with his dad, instead of hanging out there with friends, which was laughed at by Billy. He invited Hoppy to the beach with his friends. Hoppy nodded, happy to have a new friend.
After school Hoppy met Billy and his three friends at the school gate, one of whom tried to punch Hoppy’s stomach as a way of “greetings”. While walking on the street, they met a boy, having trouble with his bike. Billy and his friends started to tease the boy. The boy looked up uneasily about this interest in him and his flat-tyre.
Billy nudged the boy so that he fell on the kerb (侧石) and broke his glasses. Billy and his friends ran off down the street, laughing. However, Hoppy just stood there.
The boy, Gerald, sat on the kerb, crying now. He looked up at Hoppy and begged him not to hit him. Hoppy smiled and said, “I’ve never beaten anyone up. Only bullies (霸凌) and cowards do that. Really strong people keep their fists in their pockets. That’s what my dad says.” Gerald seemed relieved. They walked to Gerald’s house, talking about going to the beach together. Their friendship grew.
One Sunday, Hoppy went to the beach with his father. Billy and his friends were there. Billy called out to Hoppy, complaining about helping Gerald. He spoke in an unpleasant tone, saying his dad was his babysitter. Hoppy smiled and ignored him.
Gerald arrived to see Hoppy. When he saw the boys, his heart sank. Billy and his gang surrounded him. “Hoppy’s tricked me,” thought Gerald, and he started to walk away. Billy ran after Gerald and tripped him. Gerald fell onto the sand, but picked himself up and asked them to leave him alone. However, Billy didn’t stop and tripped Gerald again.
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This time Gerald managed a brave smile as he got up and faced the boys.
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Hoppy and his dad came up beside Gerald, but Gerald said to them, “Why don’t you go with your friends?”
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（1） 上学路上，我碰到一起交通事故，送被摩托车撞伤的男孩去医院；
（2） 经过紧急处理，男孩恢复知觉；
（3） 听说只受了轻微骨折，不久就能出院，我才松了口气；
（4） 未留姓名离开，体会到“助人是快乐之本”这一谚语的真实含义。
参考词汇：come to苏醒；emergency treatment急救；minor bone fractures轻微骨折；feel at ease松了口气
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I had been in Cancun, Mexico for a week when I lost my bag in a shopping centre. My friend and I were occupied with taking photos in front of a mural (壁画) and forgot that one of my bags was dropped in a corner. When I realized, we had walked away for at least 10 minutes. We quickly retraced our steps to the place where it had been left. By then, it was nowhere to be found. “It can’t be gone. ” I told myself. We called the phone. It didn’t get through. We started asking people around the plaza, including the security guard. After hearing my story, they only shook their heads and looked at me with pity. “Oh no, no. This is Mexico. It’s already taken and you won't get it back. I’m sorry for you,” a man who spoke English said to me. My friend Marcela helped me turn on “Find My iPhone” from her phone. My hope was once again dashed when the results returned “this device is offline”. We sent a message to the phone and left a contact number, begging the person to give back my things. Nothing. At this point, we concluded that the person must have switched off my device. They did not have good intentions. Everything was truly gone.
We walked back to our hotel and the rest of the day passed gloomily. I felt guilty, sad and a mess. That bag contained not only my phone, but also new camera gear I had bought and most of my cash. I had two weeks left in Cancun as I was on a volunteering trip. Thankfully, I had a place to stay with the rest of my volunteer family who are the sweetest people. They comforted me and helped me look on the bright side. By then I had totally given up the idea of being able to get back my things.
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。
Three days later, we suddenly received an unexpected call from a stranger.
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I checked my bag and found all of my things were untouched.
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