1 . A new study published in the National Academy of Sciences provides a measure of how far “deepfake” technology has progressed. The results suggest that real humans can easily fall for machine-generated faces. “We found that AI-generated faces are highly realistic,” says study co-author Hany Farid, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley. The result raises concerns that “these faces could be highly effective when used for criminal purposes.”

The synthetic (合成的) faces for this study were developed in back-and-forth interactions between two neural networks. One of the networks, called a generator, produced an evolving series of synthetic faces like a student working progressively through rough drafts. The other network, known as a discriminator, trained on real images and then graded the generated output by comparing it with data on actual faces. The generator began the exercise with random pixels (像素). With feedback from the discriminator, it gradually produced realistic humanlike faces. Ultimately, the discriminator was unable to tell a real face from a fake one.

After collecting 400 real faces matched to 400 synthetic versions, the researchers asked 315 people to separate real from fake among a selection of 128 of the images. Another group of 219 participants got some training and feedback about how to spot fakes as they tried to separate the faces.

The first group did not do better than a coin toss at telling real faces from fake ones, with an average accuracy of 48.2 percent. The second group failed to show dramatic improvement, receiving only about 59 percent, even with feedback about those participants’ choices.

The researchers were not expecting these results. The finding adds to concerns about the accessibility of technology that makes it possible for just about anyone to create misleading still images. Another concern is that such findings will create the impression that deepfakes will become completely undetectable and as a result, scientists might give up on trying to develop countermeasures (对策) to deepfakes.

The researchers end with a straightforward conclusion after emphasizing that misleading uses of deepfakes will continue to pose a threat: “We, therefore, encourage those developing these technologies to consider whether the associated risks are greater than their benefits. If so, then we discourage the development of technology simply because it is possible.”

1. What is the second paragraph mainly about?

A．The examples of deepfake technology.

B．The differences between the two networks.

C．The way to tell a real face from a fake one.

D．The process of producing the synthetic faces.

2. Taking advantage of deepfake technology, humans may _______.

A．create real faces	B．spot fake images
C．commit various crimes	D．make detective tools

3. According to the passage, the findings of the study _______.

A．might inspire scientists to develop countermeasures to deepfakes

B．proved training could help participants to tell real from fake greatly

C．matched the researchers’ expectations of people’s ability to spot fakes

D．showed humans could easily be misguided by machine-generated faces

4. How do the researchers feel about deepfake technology?

A．Excited.

B．Concerned.

C．Disappointed.

D．Confused.

2 . Exploring Psychology

Psychology is the scientific study of the mind and behavior. Gaining a richer and deeper understanding of psychology can help people achieve insights into their own actions as well as a better understanding of other people.     1    

One important benefit from a psychology major is that it teaches the student about the human mind and why people act in various manners. Not all psychology majors will become psychologists.     2     All people must interact with others whether it is at home or at a workplace. People respond to these interactions in a wide number of ways. For instance, the person may not know why he or she is bothered by a specific action at work. However, the person who has studied psychology has an obvious advantage in this area.

Psychology also offers the individual insight into himself or herself. As the person learns about the human mind, how it works and why people behave in specific manners, the person may also begin to recognize both harmful and helpful thought patterns in himself or herself.

This may lead the person to an increased level of self-awareness.     3     It also shows the person where he or she possesses strength and crucial skills for the modern world. Individuals who are more self-aware are more likely to accomplish their goals and dreams.

    4     A person may enter a vast field where psychologists and those trained in psychology work. These areas include industrial psychology, school psychology, private practice, organizational behavioral fields, law enforcement and virtually every other field.

    5     As stated, there are a number of career opportunities from which a psychology major may choose.

A．Self-awareness is a vital skill for any person to have.

B．It shows the individual what areas the person needs to strengthen.

C．As a result, psychology becomes an incredibly popular college major.

D．A psychology major examines the science of human behavior and mental processes.

E．All fields have the opportunity to benefit from the guidance that psychology can offer.

F．The third reason why psychology is a useful major is that it opens up a wide range of career opportunities.

G．However, all psychology majors will develop an increased awareness about human behavior and thought patterns.

3 . 阅读下面短文，根据题目要求用英文回答问题。

For many students, having classes online makes them easily distracted. They face challenges when learning online.

A main source of distraction is digital technology. While electronic devices are required for online learning, they easily steal attention for long periods of time. Most students will hold their phones or leave them on their desks while studying. There is no doubt that during this time a text message from a friend can start a conversation that results in totally ignoring an assignment. Students might open new tabs to watch a fun video or scroll through social media threads. To overcome this challenge, students are encouraged to put all devices out of sight while working and build a solid timetable.

In addition to electronic devices, background noises can be a huge obstacle when it comes to online learning. In fact, sitting in a silent environment often emphasizes background noises even more. Television, family members, pets running in the house, or siblings listening to loud music can all be sources of interruption. Even weather can be a distraction! Imagine a strong wind blowing through the trees or a loud thunderstorm with rain. All these noises can end up disrupting students and affecting their study. A pair of headphones can minimize noise and help students stay on task.

Indeed, where and how we study can be a source of distraction as well. Some students wear comfortable pajamas while lying on their beds with laptops to watch class lectures. This can be a problem for concentration because humans mentally associate the bed with resting. Likewise, kitchens raise even more problems! Thinking about food frequently can disturb studying or cause a student to miss part of the class. This problem can be solved by trying to slowly train the brain to separate school time from resting and eating time. Also, a student can grab a light snack before class starts or even before starting an assignment.

Different students face different challenges at home. Students need to figure out ways to ensure they stay on track to achieve their academic goals.

1. According to the passage,what can students do to overcome distractions caused by digital technology while learning online?
2. Why do kitchens raise problems for students studying at home?
3. Please decide which part is false in the following statement,then underline it and explain why.
To avoid being disturbed by background noises, students could sit in a silent environment or wear a pair of headphones.
4. Please briefly introduce how online learning benefits you.(In about 40 words)

4 . Europe is the perfect place for a holiday. Every corner of the continent is bursting with history, culture and sights. The countries are so very close to one another, and yet so completely different.

Sweden

Sweden is a brilliant destination for a campervan (露营车) holiday, with hundreds of well-appointed camping sites suitable for vehicles. Head north to Lapland in the Arctic Circle and you’ll find true wildernesses where you can truly get close to nature. Head here between June and mid-July and you’ll be able to take in the midnight sunshine. If you’re looking for great nightlife, head to Gothenburg, Stockholm or Malmo.

Germany

There are massive industrial cities, rolling plains, towering mountains, deep forests and long, sparkling rivers. It’s not just what’s to see that makes Germany so great, but the ease of seeing everything. All these wonderful locations are all linked by one of the world’s best road systems.

Scotland

Scotland has something for everyone: cities with rich nightlife, incredible scenery, wonderful lochs and medieval (中世纪的) castles. If you want to get away from it all, then the Highlands are one of the least populated areas in the whole of Europe. Hikers will love the Cairngorms – the largest national park in the UK.

Spain

Spain’s famous for its beach holidays, but it offers so much more than that. With a lovely climate, rich history, excellent architecture, delicious cuisine and friendly locals, Spain has long been a favoured destination for holiday.

1. What is the purpose of this text?

A．To explain why the attractions in Europe are world-famous.

B．To show the rich history and culture of the European countries.

C．To tell about the differences between the European countries.

D．To introduce some great European holiday destinations.

2. What can you enjoy only in Sweden?

A．Beautiful scenery.	B．Midnight sunshine.
C．Medieval castles.	D．Great nightlife.

3. For a lover of seaside holiday, which country is a good choice?

A．Sweden.

B．Germany.

C．Scotland.

D．Spain.

5 . 阅读下面短文，根据题目要求用英文回答问题。请在答题卡指定区域作答。

“Choose your friends wisely” may not only be good parental advice but also a way to do better in college, a research study finds. Researchers prove that students who befriend studious peers spend more hours studying themselves and post higher grades during their freshman year.

It’s important to clarify that having smart friends isn’t as important as having studious friends in this study. The researchers didn’t find that friends’ grades mattered. What influenced a student’s college grades were his or her friends’ high school study habits. To be sure, students with higher grades tend to have better study habits.

They also found that, for every additional 10 hours a week that a student’s friends had spent studying in high school, on average, the student’s own study time in college would likely increase by almost 25 minutes a day, and the student’s own GPA (Grade Point Average) would likely rise by almost a tenth of a point during freshman year. Almost identical results are among freshman roommates randomly assigned by the college, which confirms that peers are actually influencing study habits and echoing the friendship analysis. The researchers controlled for gender, race and prior academic achievement and found that the positive influence of studious peers was similar for both high achieving and low achieving students.

The difference between a B and B+ average is 0.3 points, so studious friends are only nudging grades up a bit. That means peers are just one of many factors influencing how well students do in college. So should we encourage parents to pick their kids, friends in college? “This is one outcome-GPA. There are other things in life, said Mehta who admits to selecting studious friends when he was in college.

1. What do researchers suggest students do in college in this study?
2. How can studious friends help a student do better in college?
3. Please decide which part is false in the following statement, then underline it and explain why.
▶The study showed that the positive influence of studious peers was only for high achieving students.
4. Besides peer pressure, what do you think is the most important factor that helps improve your grades? (In about 40 words)

6 . When you need to find a solution to a design problem, you could ask yourself, “What animals or plants face a similar problem in their lives, and how do they handle it?”    1     Termites (白蚁) in Africa control the temperature and air currents in their nests by having thick walls and air spaces in the top part. The Eastgate Centre in Harare, Zimbabwe was designed in a similar way, with thick overhangs shading the windows, and all the offices connected to a big chimney letting hot air escape. This allows it to stay cool while using much less air-conditioning.    2    

Engineer Nakatsu also asked himself the same question.    3     A keen birdwatcher, Nakatsu realised that kingfishers also experience an abrupt pressure change when diving into the water, but their beaks allow them to pierce through the water smoothly. His team found that putting a long, pointed nose on the train greatly reduced the loud booms in the tunnel and allowed it to run faster.

Having a big picture of the world we live in also helps us understand how technology can be used to protect instead of destroy it.    4     On the other hand, plastic packaging creates a lot of waste and pollution. One company has come up with an alternative material made of com husk waste and some big companies are starting to use it.

    5     Nakatsu worries that children today do not have the opportunity to touch and feel nature. He advises that students in university should study more than one narrow field so that they do not just have one fixed way of thinking.

A．In nature, everything gets recycled.

B．To mimic (模仿) nature, we must be familiar with it.

C．It turns out that natural beauty often has a logical reason behind it.

D．Large cities full of people are often compared to ants’ colonies (群).

E．This idea was used to arrange hundreds of mirrors at a solar power plant.

F．It could be a good solution for the hot and crowded cities in Southeast Asia too.

G．His problem was that the pressure from a bullet train rushing into a tunnel at high speed caused loud noises.

7 . An economist, Adam Smith, famously wrote that “it is not from the benevolence (慈善)of the butcher, the brewer or the baker, that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own self-interest.” Like Smith, many economists today believe that one’s self-interest is what drives competition and growth in market economies. Yet, in an increasingly interconnected society, it is even more crucial to have collaborative skills. Thus we should encourage cooperation to better prepare children for the future.

Firstly, in the present age marked by the transformative potential of technology to facilitate interactions, cooperation is an especially prized soft skill to have. As a research study proves, soft skills such as good communication and empathy consist of qualitative indicators of outstanding employees as compared to technical skills or knowledge. In contrast, excessively (过分地)competitive and individualistic behaviour may fracture social relations in the community of co-workers and since no man is an island, even the most competent employee will not be able to pursue his goals effectively without the help of others who are able to share a common vision and understanding.

Moreover, encouraging cooperation increase a healthy sense of self-esteem in children that better prepares them for the competitive working world. Many modern societies today are consumed by an obsessive drive for success and the pressure to perform has infiltrated both classrooms and offices alike. The consequences of the fierce competitive culture include higher rates of anxiety and depression among university students and office workers, which are all counterproductive. Teamwork can help a maturing individual realise that each has his or her own unique set of abilities to bring to the table and that another person’s strengths do not in any way diminish (降低)the value of his or her talents. Thus, cooperation can affirm the self-worth of children by correcting the violent insight that winning or paper achievement is an exclusive (唯一)measure of success in life.

However, critics may claim that in a cutthroat world, adapting to competition should be of supreme priority in education and parenting. To achieve one’s deepest ambitions, such as to become a medical student, or to create a tech start-up, one has to adopt competition by actively fighting for opportunities and distinguishing oneself from others. Nevertheless, since passion can already stimulate children to work hard to fulfill their ambitions, the need to encourage competition may be at the end of the day. As much as external competition can drive people to pursue excellence, internal motivation is at least equally or arguably even more essential, and collaboration plays an instrumental role in helping one uncover one’s tendency and motivations.

1. What can be inferred from Adam Smith’s words?

A．Our society is increasingly interconnected.

B．Our dinner is made out of the regards to markets.

C．Self-interest pushes the development of economies.

D．The butcher, the brewer or the baker is not sympathy.

2. What does the underlined word “fracture” mean in paragraph 2 probably mean?

A．Deepen.

B．Establish.

C．Maintain.

D．Damage.

3. Which of the following might the author agree with?

A．Paper achievement is an exclusive measure of success.

B．Confidence and ambitions can be achieved through cooperation.

C．Actively fighting for distinguishing oneself is a healthy competition.

D．Competition is not essential for people to pursue excellence.

4. What is the author’s purpose of writing this passage?

A．To introduce parents the advantages of cooperation.

B．To inform parents to balance cooperation and competition.

C．To persuade parents to care about their children’s education.

D．To tell parents to encourage their children to learn to cooperate.

8 . An ageing population is a global phenomenon. Countries are looking for the balm to address the demands of a swelling elderly community.

Many nations are threatened by a shortage of healthcare workers because of unenviable tasks such as bathing, feeding and changing the diapers. Advancements in technology now present an innovative solution to this. Japan has now developed carebots, specially-designed robots, to replace human caregivers. Japan is also working at more coordinated care for the elderly within the community which includes the integration of hospitals, homecare, elderly care centres and nursing homes. Putting in place a system that can effectively track and retrieve the medical history of every elderly person, Japan leverages technology to provide quality healthcare for the seniors.

The unique feature about Sweden is that most of the elderly live in their own homes where they continue to enjoy living independently. Local governments allocate funds and manage services while citizens have the freedom to choose the type of home services and their service provider. They can apply for homecare services including delivering meals to homes, hanging curtains, changing light bulbs etc. In Sweden, the focus is also on preventive care—keeping the elderly healthy. The elderly who are ill are not just given medicines but also a specific type of physical activity, where their doctors also monitor the outcome.

Singapore also provides more homecare services and day-care centres where the older people can go for rehabilitative and social activities. Besides, the government is creating more dementia-friendly communities, where support comes from the community. Various people within a community like policemen, shopkeepers and other volunteers are trained to assist the elderly with dementia (痴呆). With greater community awareness and support, it is more plausible for a dementia sufferer to stay at home instead of a nursing home.

In our search for the best model to meet the demands of a burgeoning ageing population, let us keep in mind that there is no one-size-fits-all solution. What is important is shouldering the responsibilities of caring for them and ensuring them to age well and comfortably.

1. How does Japan deal with the problem of the shortage of healthcare workers?

A．By offering quality healthcare for the seniors.

B．By tracking the medical history of every elderly person.

C．By developing robots programmed with caregiving functions.

D．By integrating places like hospitals, homecare, and nursing homes.

2. According to the passage, what do Sweden and Singapore have in common?

A．Optional care services are both provided free.

B．Independent living is respected and supported.

C．Preventive care for the elderly is highly valued.

D．Social activities and voluntary help are enjoyed.

3. What is the passage mainly about?

A．Models for giving the elderly care.

B．Countries with an ageing population.

C．Responsibilities of caring for the elderly.

D．Demands of a growing elderly community.

9 .

William Flaherty was diagnosed (诊断)with HLH when he was 3. It’s an often-fatal disease where the immune (免疫的)system attacks the body’s organs.

The doctor gave William 9.5 (on a scale of 1 to 10, 1 is you’re super healthy and 10 is you’re dead), which hit the family. There were days when they didn’t know if he would live through. In April of 2008, William got a bone-marrow (骨髓)transplant from his older brother Charles. The recover from it took long. He had a lot of aftereffects and even had 22 of his teeth pulled. At five, William skied for the first time. It helped a lot with low bone density (密度)and got him back in good shape.

One year later, William moved to Puerto Rico and fell in love with the island. When he brought up to represent Puerto Rico in Alpine skiing, his friends laughed. Puerto Rico doesn’t have snow. But William didn’t quit.

However, it was tough for William to balance his training with medical appointments and going to school. So he did a school program totally online. He went to a lot of camps and there were lots of early mornings like 4:00 AM alarm clock. But he has managed to maintain straight As since halfway through third grade and he plans to head to college to study aerospace engineering.

Even a cold can lay him up for two weeks, so William took extra pre-cautions over the last two years. While training, he wore an N95 mask the whole time and couldn’t ride the lift with anyone. After training, he came home directly, hid in his bedroom and stayed away from people.

In 2022, the 17-year-old boy has had more than 30 operations. Having prepared for 7 years he finally made it to the starting line at Beijing Olympics.

“Skiing is really helpful because it forces me to focus on one thing,” he said. “I really want to prove to all the other transplant survivors that they can do whatever they want in life.”

1. Why did William Flaherty start skiing at the age of five?

A．To improve health.	B．To entertain himself.
C．To follow his family.	D．To join in the Olympics.

2. Why did William decide to represent Puerto Rico in Alpine skiing?

A．Because his friends supported him.

B．Because he loved skiing and Puerto Rico.

C．Because that could help him enter a good college.

D．Because Puerto Rico had better training environment.

3. Which of the following can best describe William Flaherty?

A．Brave and kind.	B．Hopeful and helpful.
C．Passionate and shy.	D．Optimistic and hardworking.

4. Which would be the best title for this passage?

A．Skiing Life of a Teenager.	B．Preparing Well for the Olympics.
C．Surviving from Severe Illness.	D．Defeating Disease to Deliver Hope.

10 . Make It Modular: Student Design Challenge!

Imagine your community as a material bank, rich with resources to reuse. How could you improve the built environment by upcycling waste, circulating (循环) existing materials, or regenerating nature? Your challenge is to design a structure that meets a need in your community now but could also be repurposed later.

“Designing for deconstruction” involves a modular approach in which building elements could be easily reconfigured, reimagined, and repurposed over time.

Your design should:

•Include an approximately 20’ long x 8’ wide x 9.6’ high volumetric module

•Be relevant to one of the following uses:

*Affordable Housing

*Covid-era Public Space

*Reimagined Outdoor Classroom

•Approach the task with a real-world perspective, demonstrating skills and knowledge from one or more of the following fields: architecture, engineering, construction, and/or the skilled trades

Requirements:

1. Open to students ages 13-21 and currently enrolled (入学)in high school or homeschooled.

2. All entries MUST share the entrant’s grade level in the introductory step.

3. Submissions must be entered between March 7, 2022, and June 20, 2022.

If you have never posted an Instructable before, please refer to How to Write an Instructable guide for more information.

The prizes are intended as scholarship funds to support the winners’ education, such as tuition, books, room & board or transportation.

Entries will be judged based on the following criteria:

*3D Digital Literacy (能力)and Design;

*Engineering Mindset;

*Real-world Relevance;

*Presentation.

Read the full contest rules for more details.

1. According to the passage, the designs can______.

A．be used now and repurposed later	B．be placed in a material bank
C．be submitted on August 20, 2022	D．be related to art and literature

2. If a student has never posted an Instructable before, what should he or she do?

A．Contact the organizers.	B．Quit the design contest.
C．Refer to an online guide.	D．Read the full contest rules.

3. What can winners do with the prizes?

A．To enroll in a high school.	B．To pay for tuition and books.
C．To polish his presentation.	D．To improve the built environment.