1 . Recently, an open letter signed by tech leaders and researchers proposes delaying AI development.

Do you agree that AI development should be temporarily stopped? Yes NO 9295 total votes

Comments

AI threat (+4, Informative) by Iamthecheese on Thursday March 30, 2023 AI threatens our power base. It’s being developed too widely for us to control and is being developed by people who aren’t even in the “in” group. The methods are generally too well known. We need a pause to come up with effective regulation (规则). Reply          Tread          Share          Flag

Re: AI threat (+1) by Quintessencesluglord on Friday March 31, 2023 Seems to me this exact argument could have been used against the World Wide Web at one time. We see how well regulation of that worked out. I don’t think the problem is AI. Reply        Tread        Share        Flag

by Khopesh on Saturday April 01, 2023 This letter doesn’t make any sense to me. Large language models like GPT are just fancy autocomplete. They aren’t even close to true “intelligence”. Reply        Tread        Share        Flag

A freeze would have no meaning (+3, Insightful) Why stop? (+3, Interesting) by Crashmarik on Tuesday April 04, 2023 Trying to stop its development will just drive it underground and make certain the people who should have nothing to do with it control it. Instead we should be making this the biggest research project possible, preferably with large public prizes for hitting milestones. Reply        Tread        Share        Flag

1. Who would probably vote for delaying AI development?

A．Iamthecheese.	B．Quintessencesluglord.
C．Khopesh.	D．Crashmarik.

2. Why is World Wide Web mentioned?

A．To provide a solution.	B．To support an idea.
C．To introduce a method.	D．To start a discussion.

3. What is Iamthecheese and Crashmarik’s common concern about AI?

A．It makes a lot of people jobless.

B．Its use will be strictly restricted.

C．It disturbs the underground operation.

D．Its development may be hard to control.

2 . Jeremiah Thoronka was born in the fighting of the Sierra Leone civil war and grew up in the gutter (贫民窟) on the suburbs of the capital Freetown, having to burn wood for lighting and heating. Jeremiah saw with his own eyes how, in addition to the smog making breathing problems common, his young contemporaries fell behind in their schoolwork because of a lack of decent lighting.

Energy poverty is a major issue in Sierra Leone—with just 26% of the population having access to electricity. In rural parts of the country, only 6% of people have electricity access, most of whom turn to solar lanterns and dry-cell batteries. As a result, it’s led to the destruction of forests as people cut down trees for firewood, which leaves Sierra Leone highly sensitive to extreme events like flooding and landslides. Families’ reliance on firewood also leads to frequent house fires.

These life-threatening disadvantages and hardships fuelled Jeremiah’s passion for renewable energy and climate change advocacy. At 17, when studying at the African Leadership University in Rwanda, he launched a start-up called Optim Energy that transforms vibrations (震动) from vehicles and footfall on roads into an electric current. It is different from established renewable energy sources including wind or solar because it generates power without relying on changeable weather.

Optim Energy ran a successful pilot program in Jeremiah’s neighbourhoods, Makawo in the northern part of Sierra Leone and Kuntoluh east of Freetown. With just two devices, the start-up provided free electricity to 150 households comprising around 1,500 citizens, as well as 15 schools where more than 9,000 students attend.

Jeremiah is currently developing plans to expand into the healthcare field, which needs power to cool medicines and create enough light for treating patients after dark.

1. What affected the young fellows’ academic performance?

A．The war.

B．The smog.

C．The poor lighting.

D．The breathing problem.

2. What can we learn about “energy poverty” from paragraph 2?

A．It is caused by solar lanterns and dry-cell batteries.	B．It has a worse impact on the city area.
C．It brings about the destruction of forests.	D．It increases the risk of forest fires.

3. What is special about Optim Energy?

A．It draws on vibrations to make electricity.	B．It upgrades the use of solar energy.
C．It runs a pilot program throughout the city.	D．It helps 9,000 students return to school.

4. What message does the text want to convey?

A．Electricity is the lifeblood of the city.

B．Whoever is happy will make others happy too.

C．Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all.

D．We are all in the gutter, but some are making it better.

3 . Last May, my 15-year-old son, Benjamin, told my wife and me that he would attend a Kendrick Lamar concert. We ________ him that he was too young to go. But my son and his friend, Josh, ________ to take no for an answer.

Later I received a ________ from Josh’s father: “How about taking the boys to the Kendrick Lamar’ concert!?” While I felt ________ to attend a rap concert in my fifties, Josh’s father was as excited as the boys. He also knew how to get tickets and had started ________ the whole evening. By this ________ it was impossible to say no. I couldn’t imagine anywhere I would ________ less.

To learn about Mr Lamar and his ________, I downloaded and listened to all his songs days before heading down to the Scotiabank Arena.

The truth is the concert was really ________. The best part, of course, was how happy my son was. I stood when ________, I didn’t dance, and occasionally my son gave me an encouraging, accepting nod. ________ Kendrick Lamar is still not my favourite artist, I’m glad my son ________ me to him, and I’m glad I went.

It’s so easy to sit in our towers, ________ by age or upbringing background. ________, we have children, like Benjamin, to expose us to new experiences. If, of course, we have the ________ to listen to them.

1.

A．convinced

B．informed

C．comforted

D．promised

2.

A．refused

B．struggled

C．prepared

D．expected

3.

A．notice

B．ticket

C．message

D．gift

4.

A．relieved

B．guilty

C．embarrassed

D．confident

5.

A．singing

B．sharing

C．planning

D．welcoming

6.

A．rule

B．means

C．round

D．point

7.

A．fit in

B．benefit from

C．care for

D．complain about

8.

A．story

B．music

C．family

D．influence

9.

A．creative

B．formal

C．noisy

D．impressive

10.

A．appropriate

B．bearable

C．useful

D．convenient

11.

A．As long as

B．In case

C．Because

D．While

12.

A．compared

B．referred

C．introduced

D．recommended

13.

A．divided

B．threatened

C．broken

D．tested

14.

A．Eventually

B．Consequently

C．Gradually

D．Fortunately

15.

A．hobby

B．sense

C．right

D．freedom

4 . Do you like cilantro(香菜)? Cilantro is a common food that people tend to either adore or abuse.     1     But the reasons behind what you like and don’t like are not always so straightforward.

    2     Your sense of smell allows you to distinguish between something like strawberry and cherry. Scientists looked at olfactory (receptors and discovered that individuals with a certain gene. OR6A2, are more sensitive to smelling cilantro. That, in turn, affects how people sense its flavor.     3     When you’re open to these foods, you learn to like what you eat. Even people who hate cilantro may be able to learn to at least tolerate it, if not like it.

Culture plays a big role in what you like, too. Food preferences vary across cultures. When it comes down to food preferences in different parts of the world, it has a lot to do with what’s available and considered a food staple (主食).    4    But there will always be exceptions-a Greek person who can’t stand olives or a Dutch person who hates cheese.

While preferences can be formed after a few attempts, negative experiences with foods, especially when you’re young, can have a lasting effect.     5     Jasmine Robinson, 29, from Athens, shared her story about olives. When she was young, another child, who wouldn’t let her have a turn on a swing, made fun of her while eating olives from a jar and being mean. She later tried olives as an adult but failed.

A．We like sweet and hate bitter.

B．Love it or hate it is pretty clear.

C．But your biology is not everything.

D．It is related to familiarity and not biology.

E．Your preference can come down to genetics.

F．Associations can make you like or not like something.

G．Just one bad experience can turn you off from something for life.

5 . Every day, there are 25,000 flights in America. Accidents are so rare that flying is much ________ than car travel. But that doesn’t stop many people from feeling ________ when they are moving at 500 miles per hour, 33,000 feet above the ground.

That’s what ________ recently to a woman flying on a commercial airline. Floyd Dean-Shannon ________ the woman’s distress. As a flight attendant, he has plenty to do during a flight. But he paused and spoke ________ to the woman. Floyd calmly explained what the ________ was and all the other perfectly routine sounds you hear as a plane flies.

________ the woman began to calm down a bit, Floyd sat down in the aisle beside her and held her hand. He sat with her through the ________ flight. When Floyd learned it was another passenger’s birthday, he led the plane in a song to ________ — another way of making the woman feel safe by ________ her from her fears. He stayed by the woman’s side until it was time to land.

In a world where most focus on what’s happening on a screen, we can ________ occasionally and check on those ________ us. Like Floyd, we can be ________ enough to see to be there. We don’t have to be professional counselors; we just need to be ________. Having a friend when you most need it not only gets you through the ________ parts in your life — it also gives you the confidence to be a friend to others.

1.

A．cheaper

B．faster

C．safer

D．closer

2.

A．doubtful

B．panicked

C．curious

D．depressed

3.

A．happened

B．appealed

C．applied

D．mattered

4.

A．handled

B．removed

C．noticed

D．predicted

5.

A．casually

B．cautiously

C．frankly

D．reassuringly

6.

A．noise

B．equipment

C．situation

D．call

7.

A．Unless

B．Because

C．Until

D．As

8.

A．particular

B．entire

C．final

D．usual

9.

A．relax

B．celebrate

C．remember

D．learn

10.

A．protecting

B．discouraging

C．saving

D．distracting

11.

A．look up

B．take off

C．break in

D．stand out

12.

A．against

B．behind

C．around

D．like

13.

A．brave

B．confident

C．open

D．grateful

14.

A．attendants

B．neighbors

C．passengers

D．friends

15.

A．unknown

B．rough

C．special

D．busy

6 . Dr Tamara Scully, a psychologist who works with children, young people and adults, shares how grandparents can help children’s well-being.

It is difficult to search for the answer to the main mental health challenges facing children. Over the past two years, there has been an increase in child and adolescent mental health difficulties. In particular, there has been a significant increase in anxiety and eating disorders, both of which are the consequence of the COVID-19. Young people are also reporting a much higher level of solitude (孤独), which may arise from spending too much time on cellphones, televisions and computers.

All these will deeply affect how they behave in their daily life. And it’s absolutely normal for young people to move up and down the mental health curve (曲线). “We get concerned when we notice big changes in their behavior that don’t pass in a few weeks. For example, grandchildren stop meeting friends, stay in their bedroom or lose interest in things they used to enjoy.”

So what role can grandparents play in ensuring their grandchildren’s well-being? According to Scully, the most important thing grandparents can offer is simply themselves, just being there, listening and accepting. There’s a lovely saying that it takes a village to raise a child. Relationships are the biggest predictors of happiness and success throughout the whole life. Strong positive relationships build resilience (抗逆力) in our young people.

Grandparents should also be present and give their time. They can give their time directly to their grandchildren and to their own children. A parent who is allowed time to refuel will show up as a better parent. They can help their grandchildren by being on their team and sitting with them when times are tough. All children benefit from something called relational wealth and this is a grandparent’s most important contribution to the growth of their younger generations.

1. Why do young people suffer from increasing loneliness?

A．They have less non-screen time.

B．They prefer enjoying various take-out.

C．They fail to conquer emotional disorders.

D．They concentrate more on ups than downs.

2. What does the underlined sentence in Paragraph 4 mean?

A．Children should form great resilience.

B．Children should learn to predict their success.

C．Children should be brought up by all villagers.

D．Children should grow up in a harmonious relationship.

3. What is the attitude of Scully toward listening to grandchildren?

A．Disapproved.	B．Favorable.
C．Tolerant.	D．Skeptical.

4. What is the text mainly about?

A．How to accept the youth of today.	B．How to be a qualified grandparent.
C．How to help grandchildren’s welfare.	D．How to tackle the mental health challenges.

7 . A fourth color might be added to traffic lights to better realize the potential of self-driving vehicles, as stated in a recent paper by researchers at North Carolina State University in the US.

Autonomous vehicles can do more than just drive-they are able to sense their surroundings and upload information. A shared network gives orders to stop at a crossing based on traffic conditions.

The added white lights would be used to signal to human drivers that autonomous vehicles are managing the upcoming traffic flow intelligently. Drivers don’t have to check the traditional lights if the white one is on. “The white lights will tell human drivers to simply follow the car in front of them,” one of the study authors Ali Hajbabaie told the university’s website.

Simulated (模拟的) models showed that autonomous vehicles were able to improve traffic flow on their own. Introducing the white light also has a positive effect on reducing fuel consumption. The higher the percentage of autonomous vehicles at a crossing, the faster the traffic moves, reducing about 40 to 99 percent of the total delay time.

What kind of infrastructure (基础设施) is needed as self-driving technology thrives? In an interview with China Surveying and Mapping magazine, Liu Jingnan at the Chinese Academy of Engineering shared his answers.

To begin with, the vehicle’s network that collects data about the environment and shares the data with other vehicles needs to be intelligent. High-precision maps are needed for autonomous vehicles to plan routes in detail. They can provide both updated information on traditional maps and real-time changes, such as accidents.

For example, when driving around a curve, the navigation (导航) system in the vehicle needs to calculate the safe speed based on the map’s information. And if the area is foggy, the network has to alarm the other cars to slow down.

Other elements on the road need to be upgraded too. For example, road markings should be precise and readable for machines. Sensors should be built on sidewalks and roads to allow vehicles to predict potentially dangerous situations.

1. What is the purpose of adding a white light to traffic lights?

A．To signal to self-driving cars when to stop.

B．To help driverless cars assess traffic conditions.

C．To tell human drivers to go after the cars in front.

D．To signal to human drivers to pass the cars ahead.

2. According to the article, what effect would the introduction of self-driving cars bring about?

A．Increased road safety.	B．Reduced fuel efficiency.
C．Less time stuck in traffic.	D．Unpredictable traffic patterns.

3. What is a function of high-precision maps in self-driving technology?

A．To calculate a safe speed for vehicles.	B．To provide real-time weather updates.
C．To plan routes for autonomous vehicles.	D．To offer real-time data on road conditions.

4. What does the author intend to prove in the second-to-last paragraph?

A．The advantages of autonomous vehicles.

B．The role of the navigation system in self-driving cars.

C．The application of the infrastructure in self-driving cars.

D．The efficiency of self-driving cars handling emergencies.

8 . Have you ever wished you could be better organised or more sociable? Perhaps you’re a constant worrier, and you’d prefer to be a little more carefree?

Many surveys show that at least two-thirds of people would like to change some elements of their personality. In the past, such desires appeared to be unachievable. Like the proverbial leopard that could never change its spots, our virtues and flaws were believed to be woven into the fabric of our minds.

Recent scientific research, however, proves this expectation of personality’s permanence wrong. With the right psychological strategies and enough effort, many people can successfully shape their core personalities into what they desire.

Our genes almost certainly play a role: it’s why people’s personalities often reflect their biological parents’ ones. The influence of our social environment was thought to end in early adulthood, as the brain reached maturity. If this were true, it wouldn’t be possible to shift personality at will. Yet that is exactly what psychology professor Nathan Hudson and his colleagues have shown with a series of groundbreaking studies.

The interventions in their studies typically involve arranging regular activities that reflect the personalities people wish to adopt. A quiet person who wished to be more outgoing, for example, might have the goal of introducing themselves to a stranger once a week, or making small talk with the cashier at their local supermarket.

The aim is for the thinking patterns and behaviours they generate to become habitual. In the first trial, provided participants actually completed those arranged tasks, their personalities shifted in the desired direction. Similarly exciting results could be seen in a later trial. The differences of participants’ personalities before and after the intervention were still apparent three months after the experiment had ended. As Aristotle argued more than 2,300 years ago, we become what we repeatedly do.

The unexpected plasticity of our minds should be good news for anyone who wishes they were a bit more sociable, organised, or happy-go-lucky. Another potential benefit is that awareness of this research could help improve mental health.

1. Why is “leopard” mentioned in paragraph 2?

A．To explain that our minds consist of virtues and flaws.

B．To show the similarity between leopards and human beings.

C．To prove a possibility that people can change their personality.

D．To demonstrate the previous belief that personalities remain fixed.

2. What can be inferred about the “interventions”?

A．The two trials reached different conclusions.	B．Activities are tailored to specific personalitites.
C．The purpose is to better people’s personalities.	D．People’s personalities can be changed but can’t last.

3. What has Nathan Hudson’s team shown through their studies?

A．The previous expectation of personality’s permanence was confirmed.

B．The influence of our social environment ends when the brain matures.

C．The desire to change some elements of our personality can be achieved.

D．Our genes play a greater role in our personality than social environment.

4. What is the best title for the text?

A．We Are What We Do	B．Habits Make Things Easier
C．Your Personality Is Not Set In Stone	D．A Leopard Never Changes Its Spots

9 . Virtually, there is nothing that man cannot do. Only what he has to do is keep doing and doing without being discouraged. Success will come someday or other, though it may apparently be the conception about something that it cannot be done.     1     But the reality is that man’s success depends on whether he can do the toughest tasks successfully. It is because our life is complicated and tough. And to succeed in this tough battle, perseverance and hard work are a must     2    . We can prove this fact when we look at the reality of life and the history of man’s success. Perseverance helps us do what we otherwise would consider impossible to do.

What the world-famous scientist Sir Isaac Newton had done by twelve years’ constant hard work was burnt out by his pet dog. But that could not discourage him a little.     3     It is only for his undefeated perseverance that’ we have been able to have many inventions and discoveries.

    4     He went through thick and thin to reach his destination after months of the strenuous voyage on the sea. He discovered the way from Spain to America and offered the world a new route of communication with America. This outcome of his perseverance will be generated by the world forever.

All the great men in history have written their names in golden letters by means of perseverance.     5     If we all are perseverant in whatever we do, we are sure to stand out as a successful nation in the near future.

A．Every action has its reaction.

B．It is a unique precondition to success in life.

C．In human life, perseverance plays a very important role.

D．Their success will always remain as perfect examples to us.

E．Columbus has left us an adventurous story of perseverance.

F．The task that is easily done at the first attempt is undoubtedly very easy.

G．He was able to do it again through years of hard work and perseverance.

10 . From the moment we are born, we interact with the world through movement. We move our lips to smile or to talk. We extend our hand to touch. How does our brain remember this wide range of motions? How does it learn new ones? How does it make the calculations necessary for us to grab a glass of water, without dropping it, squashing it, or missing it?

Technion Professor Jackie Schiller from the Ruth and Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine and her team examined the brain at a single-neuron (单神经元) level to shed light on this mystery. They found that calculation happens not just in the interaction between neurons, but within each individual neuron. It turns out that each of these cells is not a simple switch, but a complicated calculating machine.

This discovery, published recently in the Science, promises changes not only to our understanding of how the brain works, but better understanding of conditions ranging from Parkinson’s disease to autism. And if that isn’t enough, these same findings are expected to advance machine learning, providing inspiration for new architectures.

“We used to think of each neuron as a sort of whistle, which either rings, or doesn’t,” Prof. Schiller explains. “Instead, we are looking at a piano. Its keys can be struck at the same time, or in order, producing an infinity (无限) of different tunes.” This complex music playing in our brains is what enables us to learn and perform an infinity of different, complex and precise movements.

These same findings can also serve as an inspiration for the machine learning community. Deep neural networks, as their name suggests, attempt to create software that learns and functions somewhat similarly to a human brain. Although their advances constantly make the news, these networks are primitive compared to a living brain. A better understanding of how our brain actually works can help in designing more complex neural networks, enabling them to perform more complex tasks.

1. Why does the author raise the questions in paragraph 1?

A．To pursue answers.	B．To raise his puzzles.
C．To introduce the topic.	D．To share his interest

2. What does paragraph 3 mainly talk about?

A．The result of the research.

B．The function of a single neuron.

C．The way the research was conducted.

D．The aspects the discovery can be applied to.

3. What does Schiller stress in her explanation in paragraph 4?

A．The way that neurons work.

B．The music that neurons play.

C．The difficulties that researchers encounter.

D．The process where neurons produce memory.

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

A．Individual Neuron Works like a Piano

B．Calculation Happens Between Neurons like a Machine

C．Complex Neural Networks in the Brain Enable People to Learn

D．The Mystery of Learning and Remembering Movement Has Been Uncovered