3 . 最近你们班学生就“是否应该开发人工智能机器人”展开了讨论。请你根据下列提示，用英语写一篇发言稿阐明你的观点。
提示：
1.你赞同开发机器人；
2.机器人的应用可以使人类免除大量繁重的劳动；
3.人类将拥有更多闲暇（leisure）时间；
4.机器人的应用不会使人懒惰，只会激起人们对人工智能研究的兴趣；
5.机器人不能独立思考，需按人类的指令工作，因而不存在机器人“统治世界”的问题。
注意：1.写作词数应为80左右；
2.可以适当增加细节内容，以使行文连贯；
3.开头已经写好，不计入总词数。
Hello everyone,

My topic today is “Should artificial intelligence robot be developed”?

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Yours,

Li Hua

4 . Have you ever heard of the phrase “we just can’t communicate”? Most people communicate with the ability to read or write well. This might not be the case as you will soon find out.

How many times have you been to the doctor’s office and listened to an educated professional explain something to you that is just unintelligible? These people keep asking you, “Do you understand?” and sometimes out of embarrassment because you don’t want to look like stupid, you tell them. “Yes, I do understand.” This isn’t a good way to communicate, either.

How do we communicate in a positive way to get our points across? Ask the people you are communicating with if they understand what you just said. In another case, if someone is talking to you, use the statement, “Just to make sure that I understand what you just said” and then repeat back your understanding of their conversation. Sometimes just asking a few simple questions and clarifying your understanding can bring great benefits to any communication.

In some countries like Japan, you might find them reading your body language more than the words you are communicating with. Sometimes just by the way someone stands or reacts to something you said, you can get a valuable insight to what the other person means in this conversation. Don’t forget, however, this could also lead to a misunderstanding. Again if you think someone is communicating with their body language, try not to assume that you know exactly what message they are trying to get across. Always ask them if they understand what you are talking about.

A person is responsible for what he says and to make sure that the other person completely understands the point he is trying to get across. Why not start using some of the simple skills in this article to help with your communication skill? You will start to see the benefits within a short period of time.

1. Which of the following words best describe the underlined word “unintelligible”?

A．Rarely heard.	B．Easy to understand.
C．Difficult to imagine.	D．Not clearly understood.

2. What do you think the author will say to you if you pretend to understand what you really don’t understand?

A．That’s OK.	B．It doesn’t matter.
C．Don’t look like stupid.	D．You’d better ask more to understand it.

3. Which of the following is a better way to communicate with people?

A．Keeping asking a few simple questions.

B．Making sure you understand and are understood.

C．Listening carefully and silently what the speaker is saying.

D．Keeping silent if you have understood what other people are saying.

4. What should we keep in mind when we are communicating with Japanese?

A．Reading their body language is useful.

B．Body language is more important than words themselves.

C．Try to guess what they mean according to their body language.

D．Use body language to make them understand what you are saying.

5 . How fit are your teeth? Are you lazy about brushing them? Never fear: An inventor is on the case. An electric toothbrush senses how long and how well you brush and it lets you track your performance on your phone.

The Kolibree toothbrush was exhibited at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week. It senses how it is moved and can send the information to an Android phone or iPhone via a Bluetooth wireless connection.

The toothbrush will be able to teach you to brush right (don’t forget the insides of the teeth!) and make sure you’re brushing long enough. “It’s kind of like having a dentist actually watch your brushing on a day-to-day basis,” says Thomas Serval, the French inventor.

The toothbrush will also be able to talk to other applications on your phone, so developers could, for example, create a game controlled by your toothbrush. You could score points for beating monsters among your teeth. “We try to make it smart and fun,” Serval says.

Serval says he was inspired by his experience as a father. He would come home from work and ask his kids if they had brushed their teeth. They said “yes,” but Serval would find their toothbrush heads dry. He decided he needed a brush that really told him how well his children brushed.

The company says the Kolibree will go on sale this summer, from $99 to $199, and the U. S. is the first target market.

1. What’s new about the new toothbrushes?

A．It can move by itself.	B．It can track your performance.
C．It senses how long and how well you brush.	D．It can make you brush your teeth every day.

2. What are Paragraph 3& Paragraph 4 about?

A．The introduction of the new special toothbrushes.	B．How the toothbrush teaches you to brush right.
C．What the toothbrush can do on your phone.	D．How a dentist watches your brushing.

3. Why did Serval invent the tooth brush?

A．Because he thinks it smart and fun.

B．Because he needed to keep his teeth healthy.

C．Because he found his children’s teeth brushes quite dry.

D．Because he wanted to know how well his children brushed.

4. Which of the following could be the best title of the passage?

A．A New Electric Toothbrush is on Sale

B．A Father Invented a New Electric Toothbrush

C．A New Electric Toothbrush is Going onto the Market

D．A New Electric Toothbrush Makes Your Teeth Healthy

7 . Enter Our Short Story Competition 2024

Welcome to our Short Story Competition 2024 to show the world your storytelling talents! Note that there are some changes to last year’s competition rules. If you have any questions or concerns, ask us before submitting your story.

Rules

Please ensure that your submissions are completely new and not previously published. Your story must have uplifting elements and be limited between 250 and 300 words in length.

Please include your name, preferred email address or postal address for possible awards in the body of the email with the story attached. Don’t put your personal information anywhere in your story.

Prizes

There are three categories—one for adults and two categories for schools: one for children aged 12-18 and one for children under 12.

In the adults category, the winner will receive £1, 000 and the runner-up will receive £250.

In the children aged 12-18 category, the winner will receive a £200 book voucher (代金券) or a branded tablet and a £100 book voucher, and the runner-up will receive a £100 book voucher.

In the children under 12 category, the winner will receive a £100 of book voucher or a branded tablet and a £100 book voucher, and the runner-up will receive a £50 book voucher.

Other Items

Please submit your stories by June 31, 2024 either online or by posting offline.

The judge team consisting of our editors and some professional writers will pick a shortlist (入围名单) of entries, and the three best stories in each category will be posted online at on our website on August 1, 2024.

You can vote for your favourite, and the one with the most votes will win the top prize. Voting will close on November 30, 2024 and the winning entries will be published on December 31, 2024.

1. What is a qualifying story according to the rules?

A．A story which is original.	B．A story of over 300 words.
C．A story that has won some awards.	D．A story with personal information.

2. What prize can a boy aged 17 win if he takes second place?

A．As much as £250.	B．A branded tablet.
C．A £200 book voucher.	D．A £100 book voucher.

3. Who will finally determine the winners?

A．Editors.

B．Voters.

C．The judge team.

D．Professional writers.

8 . 阅读下面材料，在空白处填入1个适当单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

Have you ever forgotten to lock the door of your house or switch off the TV? These kinds of things often happen to us,     1     may lead to serious problems. However, in the near future, we will be living in smart homes that will lock the door and switch off the TV     2     (automatic). These smart homes will provide us     3     a comfortable environment.

Your home will learn your daily routine and     4     (preference), so everything will be ready for you when you get home each evening. For example, lights will come on     5     (instant) you enter the door along with your favourite music. All controls will respond to voice commands, so you just say     6     you want and the home system will obey. Besides, it will give you suggestions on a     7       (healthy) diet and how     8     (sleep) better.

This smart technology is not     9     fantasy. Nevertheless, it will take some years     10     most new homes begin to use it.

9 . When learning a foreign language, most people fall back on traditional methods: reading, writing, listening and repeating. But if you also gesture with your arms while studying, you can remember the vocabulary better, even months later. Linking a word to brain areas responsible for movement strengthens the memory of its meaning. This is the recent finding of neuroscientist Mathias and his colleagues.

As Mathias’ team describes in the Journal of Neuroscience, they had 22 German-speaking adults learn a total of 90 invented artificial words (such as “lamube” for “camera,” and “atesi” for “thought”) over four days. While the test subjects first heard the new vocabulary, they were shown a video of a person making a gesture that matched the meaning of the word at the same time. When the word was repeated, the subjects performed the gesture themselves.

Five months later, they were asked to translate the vocabulary they had learned into German in multiple-choice test. At the same time, they had equipment attached to their heads that sent weak distracting signals to their primary motor cortex — the brain area that controls voluntary arm movements. When these signals were active, the subjects found it harder to recall the words accompanied by gestures. When the equipment sent no distracting signals (but still appeared to the subjects to be active), they found it easier to remember the words. The researchers concluded that the motor cortex contributed to the translation of the vocabulary learned with gestures. This applied to concrete words, such as “camera”, as well as abstract ones, such as “thought”.

The study indicates that the adult brain uses motor areas to remember foreign-language words. “I think we under-use gesture in our classrooms,” Mathias says. “People use it subconsciously, if they’re good teachers and good listeners, but we don’t necessarily bring it into the class if we don’t think about it — and it could be used more often and more effectively.”

1. Which is closest in meaning to “invented artificial words” in paragraph 2?

A．Technical terms.

B．Newly discovered symbols.

C．Words referring to the latest inventions.

D．Random combination of letters with assigned meanings.

2. Why was equipment attached to subjects’ heads during the test?

A．To count words.	B．To record emotion.
C．To influence brain activity.	D．To give clues to questions.

3. What does Mathias think of the current use of gestures in classrooms?

A．Irregular.

B．Over-estimated.

C．Misleading.

D．Inadequate.

4. In which section of a magazine may this text appear?

A．Fashion.

B．Lifestyle.

C．Mind & Brain.

D．Health & Exercise.

10 . While I was growing up, I often heard my teachers say, “Oh, Bob is gifted in math.” While watching the Olympics, my parents would say, “These gymnasts are born with such ability.” Statements like these made me believe people were born with certain talents (天赋) and if they didn’t have a particular one at birth, then they never would. Therefore, I hardly applied myself to math. Nobody told me that if you keep trying and trying, one day a difficult task will seem easy.

Actually, I learned this from my young daughter, Samaya. One day, I was finishing some paperwork and I said, “Oh no, how could I have made that mistake!” Samaya immediately said, “Mum, don’t worry. Mistakes make your brain grow bigger.”

In fact, we all need to be reminded that mistakes or failures are just fine and that they are a huge part of growth and success. However, the common and popular belief is the opposite. We must correct this with our children. We must encourage them to make mistakes because that means they are trying out new ideas.

Billionaire Sara Blakely, founder of the shapewear business Spanx, has seen many failures. She made a living by selling fax machines for seven years. Knocking on many doors and making a lot of mistakes was a journey she considers educational. Sara Blakely owes her risk-taking skills to the weekend talk she had with her father.

As a child, her father would ask her the same question every weekend. “What did you fail in this week, Sara?” He did not care how high her scores were. He wanted to know what she had tried but failed in. When she told him about her failures and mistakes, he would give her a high five. In this way, he programmed her mindset (思维) to believe that mistakes and failures are fine.

So go ahead and ask yourself and your children, “What did we fail in this week?”
1. Why didn’t the author make efforts to learn math?

A．She wasn’t allowed to learn it.	B．She thought she was not talented.
C．She wasn’t interested in it.	D．She thought it was useless.

2. What is most people’s attitude towards mistakes and failures?

A．Keep trying is necessary.	B．Failure is a path to success.
C．Mistakes are not acceptable.	D．Encouragement is important.

3. What does the underlined word “programmed” in paragragh 5 mean?

A．Trained and built.	B．Planned and arranged.
C．Operated and challenged.	D．Instructed and controlled.

4. What would be the best title for the text?

A．A key to Success	B．The Power of a Good Mindset
C．A Method of Education	D．The Magic of Mistakes