1 . Whenever anyone asks me what tech I’d like to see invented, I always say the universal translator, which lets you understand and speak any language.

Meta AI recently announced the start of the universal speech translator (UST) project, which aims to create AI systems that enable real-time speech-to-speech translation across all languages, even those that are spoken but not commonly written. Meta says that today’s AI translation models are focused on widely-used written languages, and that more than 40% of primarily spoken languages are not covered by such translation technologies.

According to Meta, the model is the first AI-powered speech translation system for the unwritten language Hokkien (闽南语), a Chinese language spoken in southeastern China. The system allows Hokkien speakers to hold conversations with English speakers, a significant step toward bringing people together wherever they are located.

To build UST, Meta AI focused on overcoming three important translation system challenges. It addressed data scarcity by getting more training data in more languages and finding new ways to use the data it had found. It solved the modeling problems that arise as models grow to serve many more languages. And it sought new ways to improve on its results.

Meta AI claims that the techniques it pioneered with Hokkien can be extended to many other unwritten languages—and eventually work in real time. For this purpose, Meta has released the Speech Matrix, a large collection of speech-to-speech translations, which enables other research teams to create translation models for other languages.

Artificial (人工的) speech translation could play a significant role in our world. For interactions, it will enable people from around the world to communicate with each other more smoothly, making the social net more interconnected.   For content, using artificial speech translation allows you to easily localize content.

Yashar Behzadi, CEO and founder of Synthesis AI, believes that technology needs to enable more natural experiences if the digital world is to succeed.   He says that one of the current challenges for UST models is the computationally expensive training that’s needed because of the wide range and very slight differences in meaning or sound of languages. Also, to train strong AI models requires vast amounts of typical data. A significant bottleneck to building these AI models in the near future will be to ensure training data collect the privacy in agreement with rules and law.

1. What is the feature of the UST project?

A．It changes spoken languages to written forms.

B．It attracts wider attention to written languages in translation.

C．It adds 40% of spoken languages into translation technology.

D．It enables real-time speech-to-speech translation across all languages.

2. What does the word “scarcity” underlined in Paragraph 4 most probably mean?

A．Lack.

B．Mistake.

C．Recovery.

D．Management.

3. What do we know about UST?

A．It is expensive to collect typical data.

B．It increases the use of a certain language.

C．Its techniques are finally developed for Hokkien.

D．It helps inspire interactions and content localization.

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

A．AI Translation: Make Translation Faster

B．AI Translation: Meet You in All Languages

C．Unwritten Language: Bring People Together

D．Unwritten Language: Translation Challenge

2 . 阅读下面短文，根据短文内容填空。在未给提示词的空白处仅填写1个恰当的单词，在给出提示词的空白处用括号内所给词的正确形式填空。

Merriam-Webster     1     (announce) that “authentic” was a top term of the year 2023. The rise of Al helped drive interest     2     the word. And the line between “real” and “fake” (假的) has become     3     (increasing) unclear. As a result, in social media and marketing, “authentic” has become the gold standard for building trust.

3 . 阅读下列短文，根据短文内容填空。在未给提示词的空白处仅填写 一个恰当的单词，在给出提示词的空白处用括号内所给词的正确形式填空。请在答题卡指定区域作答。

Low-Hanging Fruit

If you are the first person to arrive at an apple tree during harvest time, you can easily find some low-hanging fruit. These are the apples that     1     (be) on the branches closest to the ground. Low-hanging fruit describes the most obvious or     2     (easy) things to do to help you reach a goal. Anyone or anything     3     can be won over or gained very easily is low-hanging fruit. Here is an example: “Changing the company logo is low-hanging fruit. It won’t cost much, and I can do it in an hour.”

4 . 阅读下面短文，根据题目要求用英文回答问题。

The idiom “No ‘I’ in Team” is based on a pun (双关语)-The word “team” does not contain the letter “i”, which highlights the idea that instead of focusing on themselves as individuals, team members should work together to achieve their common goals.

When it comes to achieving success, there’s no denying that teamwork plays a crucial role. We’ve all been there-group projects at school, working with colleagues at the office or playing sports with teammates. A successful team agrees and sets goals based on outcomes and results to complete its tasks. It’s important that each member knows the direction the team is working toward, their responsibilities, and how they aim to achieve the team’s collective goals. It’s essential that group members within the team share workloads and help each other to succeed.

Mostly, in typical workplace culture, being focus on individual pursuits is considered plain selfish, but is supporting individuals in their own pursuits really anti-team? Evidence suggests that putting the “I” back into team can improve workplace productivity and employee engagement. In the 1990s the Harvard Business School did research, demonstrating the benefits of giving employees paid time to follow their own individual pursuits. Since then, some notable companies have introduced unstructured time into their workplaces.

Globally, 85% of employees are disengaged in their work. In Daniel Pink’s book Drive, he argues that the best way to motivate employees is not through the carrot and stick approach but rather through allowing and enabling them to direct their own lives. When teams understand what matters to the individuals within them, they are able to better empathize with each other and have each others’ backs.

There is an “I” in team and when we start to implement programs that support individuals in their pursuits, we may just find they are more creative, more engaged and more productive.

1. What idea does the idiom “No ‘I’ in Team” highlight?
_______________________________________________________________
2. Why is it important to put “I” back into team?
_______________________________________________________________
3. Please decide which part is false in the following statement, then underline it and explain why.
According to Danile Pink, the effective way to motivate the 85% employees is to set the goal the company would like their employees to achieve.
_______________________________________________________________
4. As an individual, how can you play your role in a team?
_______________________________________________________________

5 . 阅读下面短文并回答问题。

Can you speak more than one language? Being able to communicate with people in another language is a great way to make friends and feel more confident.

Language is the way we communicate with each other. It includes speaking, writing and using hand and face movements, known as sign language. Unlike countries, languages have no borders (边界) and can connect people around the world.

Speaking another language helps you talk to people you may, not understand, and makes you feel more connected to them. A girl from Hungary, Havana, who is aged 12, says speaking Hungarian as well as English means she can talk to her friends from England. This makes her feel closer to her British friends because they’re able to share their interests. Learning another language can also help you gain confidence—for example, by being able to chat to local people when you travel. Studies show that being able to speak two languages also exercises the brain and makes you better at concentrating on more than one thing at a time.

Alex Rawlings is a language teacher and writer who speaks more than 15 languages. He finds it’s easier to learn words that he can see or hear, rather than from a list. “For example, the words of a song are more memorable because they rhyme (押韵) and are sung,” he says. It’s also important to understand why you learn a language. Rawlings recommends writing down reasons why you want to learn the language and keep reminding yourself of them. “I’ve met lots of friends through my languages,” says Rawlings. “The more you learn, the easier it gets.”

1. What is the difference between countries and languages?
____________________________________________________
2. What makes Havana feel closer to her friends from England?
____________________________________________________
3. Rawlings says, “The more you learn, the easier it gets.” Do you agree? Why or why not? (In about 40 words)
____________________________________________________

6 . For many of us, the desire to speak a foreign language is overshadowed by the idea that it’s a long journey or that there’s no practical reason to learn. However, research has shown that speaking two languages has many advantages in this connected world today. Businesses with people around the world need someone who is not only capable of communicating in another language but also culturally aware and open-minded. Many companies prefer the people who are able to speak more than one language since they have faced more difficult situations in their language learning than the people who only speak one language, thus they desire to deal with more challenges in the work.

While creativity can be a difficult thing to measure, researchers have attempted to measure creative ability in a number of ways. One of the tools that are most widely used to understand creativity is a test known as the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT). The TTCT was first introduced in 1962 by Ellis Paul Torrance and measures one’s divergent (发散的) thinking in some key areas.

Divergent thinking is how well and how quickly your mind can solve problems. A study conducted by the University of Mashhad collected the TTCT results of the people who speak only one language and the people who have learned two languages and clearly showed that the second of the two groups performed better.

Some reasons for this could be that people who speak two languages are often faced with situations where they must consider various things, which can have an effect on problem-solving ability.

Language allows you to express your thoughts to other people, but what if there are no words to express what you’re thinking and feeling? Understanding a second language can allow you to express something you may not be able to with only one language.

Because language is linked to culture, you will find that by speaking more than one language you have a better understanding and appreciation of other cultures. This allows you to establish stronger connections with people from other cultural backgrounds. Nelson Mandela once said: “If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.” Communicating in someone’s native language is not only a great way to show respect, but also helps you develop a deeper personal connection that goes beyond just being understood.

1. What does the underlined word “overshadowed” in Paragraph 1 most probably mean?

A．Reduced.

B．Encouraged.

C．Controlled.

D．Strengthened.

2. People who speak more than one language often ______.

A．show no interest in new ideas	B．communicate more with others
C．receive more money for their work	D．want to perform more difficult tasks

3. What do we know about TTCT?

A．Its results can tell us how creative we are.

B．It can be used to develop divergent thinking.

C．It trains our minds to solve problems quickly.

D．It offers us measures to handle different situations.

4. What can help us build deeper personal connections with foreigners?

A．Understanding what they said.	B．Speaking their native languages.
C．Teaching them our native languages.	D．Expressing thoughts in our native languages.

5. Which would be the best title for the passage?

A．Benefits of Leaning a Second Language

B．Importance of Understanding Other Cultures

C．TTCT: A Useful Tool for Language Learning

D．Second Language: An Advantage in Your Work

7 . 阅读短文，根据短文内容填空。在未给提示词的空白处仅填写一个适当的单词，在给出提示词的空白处用括号内所给词的正确形式填空。

Xu Yuanchong dedicated his career to building     1     (bridge) among the world’s Chinese, English and French speaking people. He devoted     2     (he) to literary translation for more than 60 years, primarily     3     (focus) on English translations of ancient Chinese poetry. Xu was awarded the “Aurora Borealis” Prize     4     September 10th in 2014 for Outstanding Translation of Fiction Literature, one of the highest honors that celebrate excellence in international translators.

8 . 根据课本内容填空，每空只填写一个词。

For any problem my English teacher finds with us, she talks to us face to face. Although it is very     1     for my teacher, it is more     2     than other types of feedback. During the face-to-face communication, my teacher tells us exactly where our problems are and how we can     3    . It also gives us an opportunity to     4    further questions about anything we don’t understand. I think this kind of feedback is helpful. I love it.

9 . 根据课本内容填空，每空只填写一个词。

I don’t think memorizing the word list is the best way to learn words. First, you should learn words in     1    . For example, when reading English stories, try to keep reading on even when you come across some new words. A lot of time, you’ll be able to guess the meaning of an     2     word without looking it up. Also, you should learn words in     3    . For example, we say “open the book”, but “turn on the computer”. Or we say “eat an apple”, but “    4     the medicine”.

10 . In some ways, it is surprising that languages change. After all, they are passed down through the generations reliably enough for parents and children to communicate with each other.     1     For example, while Japanese has changed relatively little over a thousand years, English evolved rapidly in just a few centuries. Many present day speakers find Shakespear’s sixteenth-century plays difficult and Chaucer’s fourteenth-century The Canterbury Tales nearly impossible to read.

Languages change for a variety of reasons. Large-scale shifts often occur in response to social, economic, and political pressures, as there are many examples of language change fueled by invasions, colonization, and migration.     2     Frequently, the needs of speakers drive language change. New technologies industries, products and experiences simply require new words. By using new and emerging terms, we all drive language change. But the unique way that individuals speak also fuels language change because no two individuals use a language in exactly the same way.     3     Through our day-to-day interactions, we pick up words and savings from other people and integrate them into our speech. Teens and young adults, for example, often use different words and phrases from their parents. Some of them spread through the population and slowly change the language.

    4     Vocabulary can change quickly as new words are borrowed from other languages, or as words get coined, combined, or shortened. Some words are even created through misinterpretation of form. As noted in the Linguistic Society of America’s publication Is English Changing?, the word pea is one such example. Up until about four hundred years ago, pease could refer to either a single pea or many peas. At some point, people assumed that pease was the plural form of a new word, pea, based on the way pease sounded. While vocabulary can change quickly, sentence structure — the order of words in a sentence changes more slowly.     5     For example, during the Great Vowel Shift five hundred years ago, the pronunciation of vowels in English changed dramatically. This shift represents the biggest difference between the pronunciation of Middle English and Modern English.

A．Changes in sound are somewhat harder to document but just as interesting.

B．Yet linguists find that all living languages change over time — at different rates though.

C．As long as people are using a language, that language will undergo some change.

D．All natural languages change, and language change affects all areas of language use.

E．The three main areas of language that change over time are vocabulary, sentence structure, and pronunciation.

F．Even without these kinds of influences, a language can change dramatically if enough users adopt a new way of speaking.

G．The vocabulary and phrases people use depend on where they live, their age, education level, social status and other factors.