1 . A new APP uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) to tell you what your pet is thinking. It’s called Happy Pets and it analyses an animal’s facial features, tells you what breed(血统) it is and indicates which of the five most common animal emotions—happy, angry, neutral, sad and scared.
The Happy Pets app uses AI, or machine learning. It’s a technology that’s used for vision in robotics and self-driving cars and it works by taking in images and assigning importance to them. One common use for AI is in facial recognition technology. Many of us can unlock our mobile phones with an image of our face and it’s important part of security processes in, for instance, airports.
But this is the first time this kind of technology has been used for animals. It then had to learn to recognize facial features. This is sophisticated because photos can be taken in so many different ways: from the side, above, below, in bright light. And different animals can have such different facial features. Think about how different the noses of a border collie(边境牧羊犬) and bulldog are, for instance. Once the AI behind Happy Pets had learned all this, it then had to be able to detect emotions based on specific facial features that are associated with each emotion, which it has learned from thousands of examples. For instance, if a dog tightens its eyes and mouth while changing the position of its ears in a particular way, it’s a sign of being scared.
In an online article for Melbourne University’s Pursuit, the researchers write they’re happy with how the app performs. The researchers would love feedback about how they could develop the app further.
1. Which of the following may go beyond Happy Pets’ function?A.Learning the kinds of pets. |
B.Showing pets’ main feelings. |
C.Teaching pets’ facial recognition. |
D.Analyzing the pets’ facial features. |
A.The robot’s eye. | B.A security system. |
C.The vision of self driving. | D.A machine learning system. |
A.Typical. | B.Complex. | C.Scientific. | D.Traditional. |
A.Because faces can definitely show animals feelings. |
B.Because it wants to have emotions of humans. |
C.Because it enables Happy Pets to detect emotions based on specific facial features. |
D.Because the types of animals are based on the looks. |
It took place in a teacher’s family. One day, Ben was playing basketball in the living room after school, when he accidentally threw the ball at a vase sitting on the shelf. The vase dropped to the floor and a large piece broke off. What made Ben more upset was that the vase was not a common decoration but an antique (古董), which was handed down through generations from the 18th century. It was also his mother’s favourite possession. To cover his terrible action, the terrified boy glued the pieces together hurriedly and put the vase back to its place.
As the mother herself dusted the vase every day, she naturally noticed the cracks (裂纹) that evening. To her surprise, the repair work was actually very good. At dinner time, she asked her boy if he broke the vase. Fearing punishment, the suddenly inspired boy said that a neighbour’s cat jumped in from the window and he couldn’t drive it away no matter how hard he tried. It raced around the living room and finally knocked the vase off its shelf. His mother was quite clear that her son was lying, for all the windows were closed before she left for work each morning and opened after she returned. However, in the face of her son’s nervous eyes and the suspicious looks of the other family members, Ben’s mother remained calm. She realized she shouldn’t just simply blame and punish her son for lying. She came up with another idea.
Before going to bed, the boy found a note from his mother in his room, asking him to go to the study at once. The boy thought he would now be punished but, as he had already lied, he was determined to deny everything to the end, no matter how angry his mum became.
In the study, calmly bathed in the light, his mothers face showed no sign of anger. On seeing her son push open the door and cautiously enter, she took a chocolate box out of a drawer and gave him one.
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 mother said, “This chocolate is a reward for your imagination: a window-opening cat!”
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Now with some chocolates in hand, the boy’s bad attitude disappeared.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________There was once a troubled family. The parents spoiled their children. The son, John, loved to play video games all day long when summer vacation was around and he did not like to study. The daughter, Emily, on the other hand, loved studying without play. To her, video games were for foolish people who were unable to achieve anything useful. Life went on with parents complaining and not changing anything.
One day two new neighbors arrived in their neighborhood. One lived on the right side of John’s house while the other lived on the left side of John’s house. These two people were twins. They did not communicate with anyone other than themselves. John and his family felt uncomfortable living right between them. Strange sounds came from their houses every midnight until the afternoon. People heard and saw thunder and lightning coming from the house. After a couple of weeks of lightning flashing, machines roaring, this disturbed every household. Everyone could not help but wonder what their new neighbors were doing. It was whispered that they were inventing a time machine in secret.
People were beginning to dislike them. Every moment they heard these noises, they felt like something was going to explode soon. To deal with this problem John and Emily’s parents walked to both houses to speak with the owners. But on each door hung a sign that said, “DO NOT DISTURB!” They tried knocking the door and no one responded or came out from the house. The machine noise kept going but once in a while it did stop for a small break before it continued. They tried nearly every day to get the attention of their new neighbors. But in the end they gave up. They decided to send their kids to get their attention instead. So they made a plan and the kids successfully entered the neighbor’s houses.
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。
Paragraph 1:
Unexpectedly, the kids both experienced a journey to their own future there.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 2:
After returning from the neighbor’s houses, the two kids changed totally.
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内容包括:
1. 简要介绍十堰;
2. 诚挚邀请。
参考词汇:魅力中国城Charming Cities in China 十佳top ten
注意:
1. 词数80左右;
2. 可适当增加细节,以使行文连贯。
Dear Mike,
I’m Li Hua.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Sincerely yours,
Li Hua
The International Space Station (ISS) is an
According to
The ISS uses a great amount of power, and it has a solar power array (太阳能阵列) to provide that power. However, because the space station
6 . My 23-year-old son Dan packed, ready for the journey to work abroad for a year. It was a milestone,
I looked
This wasn’t the first time I had let such an opportunity
Now I stood in front of him, trying to recall all the times I had let go of. How often has that not happened to us all? A son graduates or a daughter is married. But at those ceremonies, we don’t seize the
Here and now, I knew it really mattered; but I still found myself nervous and uncomfortable. Why does it have to be so
I gathered all my courage. “Dan,” I
I was not sure whether he
What I told Dan was clumsy and commonplace. Yet it was
Then he
A.making | B.leaving | C.marking | D.setting |
A.closely | B.tightly | C.quickly | D.hurriedly |
A.hard | B.eager | C.afraid | D.unwilling |
A.put down | B.take away | C.set off | D.pass by |
A.excitement | B.confusion | C.devotion | D.creation |
A.careless | B.selfless | C.wordless | D.hopeless |
A.places | B.reasons | C.directions | D.cases |
A.chance | B.clue | C.fortune | D.wonder |
A.contribute | B.mean | C.lend | D.happen |
A.hardworking | B.tiring | C.difficult | D.boring |
A.finally | B.formally | C.exactly | D.repeatedly |
A.formed | B.written | C.heard | D.caught |
A.in | B.towards | C.on | D.against |
A.anything | B.nothing | C.something | D.everything |
A.searched for | B.worked for | C.headed for | D.applied for |
7 . We know it’s good to learn another language. It broadens your horizons, helps you make new friends, and it’s fun too. But to improve our linguistic skills, many of us have to go through hours of school lessons or evening classes, with our heads buried in textbooks. Do we really have to do so? Or is there something convenient available?
Some educational apps offer languages not popular enough to be taught at evening classes, or at most universities. And others offer ‘invented’ language courses in Esperanto, Elvish and Star Trek’s Klingon. Have no idea what they are?
A.After all, it is not perfect. |
B.Those are some lessons you might not find in a traditional classroom. |
C.Does that mean technology spells the end of traditional classrooms and teachers? |
D.But if you have a genuine and practical reason to learn, you will no doubt stick with it. |
E.Many app developers promptly take advantage of the demand and the plus of the internet. |
F.Attending a real lesson and facing a real teacher probably forces you to be more attentive. |
G.Good news is that technology appears to be providing a better and more accessible way of learning. |
8 . Bats have long been one of the most feared creatures in the animal kingdom. Many pop culture associations with them are related to vampire men (吸血鬼) attacking women in order to suck their blood or witches putting evil curses on innocent individuals.
Although these associations are complete misunderstandings, bats do have a dark side as a dangerous disease medium. These flying mammals can carry a number of fatal diseases such as rabies and more recently Ebola. This has led many to wonder why we should even care about them.
Sure, there is good reason to be extremely cautious if you come into contact with bats. However, there is no denying the fact that bats play a significant role in maintaining a balanced ecosystem.
Many organic farmers have learned about the benefits of having bats nearby to help do away with amounts of pests that show up without pesticides. One brown bat, about the size of a human thumb, can consume about 600 mosquitoes and other unwanted insects within an hour. They make for a fantastic, almost essential, addition to pest management on any farm.
Even large government organizations have realized the economic benefits of bats. The United States Geological Survey estimates that bat contributions to pest management save the country at least 3.7 billion dollars per year. Without them, we would likely experience a dramatic drop in food production, which would eventually make its way into our weekly grocery bills.
As if this were not enough of an ecosystem service we receive, bats are also of great importance to a variety of plant species that are preferential to its pollination (授粉). Otherwise, these plants would decrease their ability to reproduce by at least 50 percent. A number of plant products consumed by humans fall into this preferential pollination category. Some popular foods include mangoes, bananas, peaches and guavas. Additionally, the agave plant, which is used to make tequila, is completely dependent on bat pollinators for reproduction.
Bats are major contributors to our society. These assets are in the best interest of the international community to protect and even to promote. Among significant fears housed by the general public, the fact is that we need them more than most of us imagine. And that’s why should take some measures.
1. What’s the typical image of bats in most popular culture?A.A cute black animal. | B.An intelligent animal. |
C.An evil and dangerous animal. | D.A token (象征) of fortune. |
A.By analyzing causes and effects. | B.By giving some typical examples. |
C.By following the order of importance. | D.By presenting sufficient scientific data. |
A.Possible ways to protect bats. | B.Bats’ economic benefits. |
C.Bats’ bad effects on people. | D.Bats’ disgusting appearance. |
A.To entertain people with some interesting stories about bats. |
B.To advertise the newly — produced documentary about bats. |
C.To educate people about the importance of bats to our society. |
D.To appeal people to study about the endangered species — bats. |
9 . Nearly half of all employees are close to “breaking point” at work due to increased stress levels. A survey of 2,000 professionals found the average working adult feels stressed for almost a third of their working day.
The mounting pressure faced in their job also contributes to five hours of lost sleep per employee every week. Checking work emails after hours, last-minute deadlines, having to do a speech or presentation and an overly demanding manager were named as some of the biggest causes of workplace stress.
It also revealed that in the average week, employees will complain about their boss for 31 minutes and their job in general for another two hours and 45 minutes. Richard Jenkins, psychologist and spokesman for well-being charity CABA, said: “Everyone will experience pressure day-to-day.”
“A level of pressure can actually make us work better, however too much pressure that rises to an unmanageable level leads to stress. The working public needs to know how to manage their pressure to avoid reaching boiling point. Some people cope by blowing off steam through physical activity like the gym or going for a run while for some, things like breathing exercises can help. Everyone will have a strategy that they find works better to help them release the pressure. Unfortunately, in many cases we don’t introduce these decompressing (减压) moments in our lives which can help release the pressure and reduce stress. Finding ways to manage your stress is essential, it is also worth addressing the root causes of your stress to try to manage the source rather than just treat the symptoms.”
The study also found seven in 10 adults have vented about their workplace to a colleague, partner, family member or friend. 46 percent of those who have felt stressed at work didn’t end up doing anything about it, hoping the problem would go away on its own. Of those who do take action, 38 percent have told their manager about it, while 51 percent have gone for a walk to cool down.
1. What is the possible result of pressure faced by workers?A.Giving a public presentation. | B.His demanding department head. |
C.Loss of about 5 hours’ sleep weekly. | D.Constantly checking email after work. |
A.Pressure will not do you any good in your daily life. |
B.It’s better to turn to medicine when one is faced with great stress. |
C.Women tend to feel more pressure at work than their male colleagues. |
D.Almost everybody will adopt his own way to deal with their stress in their lives. |
A.complained. | B.argued. | C.wandered. | D.asked. |
A.Indifferent. | B.Objective. | C.Positive. | D.Negative. |
10 . Since 1985, Johnny Jennings, now 87, has been selling newspapers and magazines to a recycling center with his son. By the time Jennings’ only child was 17, he stopped joining his father.
Even though his son is all grown up now, Jennings hasn’t slowed down his efforts. In fact, he’s turned his recycling money into something bigger.
He visits local churches and businesses to collect paper, which he brings to a recycling center for money. But instead of putting those earnings into his account, he sends every dollar to Georgia Baptist Children’s Homes & Family Ministries. Once a year, he’ll give the organization a check somewhere between $10,000 and $35,000. By the first quarter of 2021, that added up to about $400,000.
Jennings dedicated himself to helping the charity after his first visit there when he was 18. “When we went to leave, these three little boys seized me by the knees and said, ‘Will you be my daddy?’” Jennings told TODAY. “And I said I’ll do what I can. That took my heart, right there.”
These days, Jennings’ recycling has turned into a community effort. After he’s made his own rounds recycling paper from businesses and churches, he’ll find more items waiting for him at home. Community members drop off other recyclables at the entrance at his door, along with books, food, clothes, and other items to give away.
In 2019 alone, he sold over 400,000 pounds of paper and 51,000 aluminum cans, and collected more than 32,000 pennies. Over the course of 32 years he’s recycled more than 9.8 million pounds of paper, saving an estimated 79,000 trees in the process. Jennings says he’ll continue raising money for charity as long as his health allows. “He is the last of a dying breed,” wrote Jennings’ friend Shay Drennan — Love in a viral Facebook post. “Our generation and the ones to follow could learn a lot from Mr. Jennings.”
1. In which year did Jennings most probably first visit the charity?A.1946. | B.1948. | C.1950. | D.1952. |
A.By setting up his own recycling station. | B.By getting more and more people involved. |
C.By producing useful items with the waste. | D.By launching a campaign to collect money. |
A.Jennings’ devotion to the lifetime charity. | B.Jennings’ friend’s good remark on his deed. |
C.Some information about Jennings’ friend. | D.Jennings’ great contributions to society and environment. |
A.87-year-old Jennings and his lifetime charity career. |
B.87-year-old Jennings and his son’s devotion to recycling. |
C.87-year-old Jennings and his son’s environmental protection. |
D.87-year-old Jennings and his appeal for people’s involvement. |