1 . 根据提示用本部分所学词汇的正确形式完成下列短文。

Bing Dwen Dwen, the mascot (吉祥物) of the Beijing Winter Olympics, is a cute panda whose     1     (外形) is full-body “shell” made out of ice. It has     2     (使留下深刻印象) people with its wonderfully     3     (生动的) appearance and become popular in China.

Have you ever wondered why it is called Bing Dwen Dwen? In Mandarin (普通话) bing has several meanings, though the most common is “ice”. The character also symbolizes purity (纯洁) and strength, while dwen dwen means “strong and lively”.

Do you know why the mascot wasn’t named Bing Dundun in English? To read Bing Dundun correctly, you would have to be familiar with the pinyin system, which is       4     (难懂的) for foreigners, or the resulting pronunciation would be       5     (与……大不相同) the Chinese pronunciation. Moreover, “dun” is a word in English meaning “to ask someone to pay what they owe you again and again”. It also means “a dull greyish-brown color”. Both meanings don’t show goodwill. So, the Chinese Olympic Committee decided to change the name in an entirely new way.

There are some immediate advantages. The biggest is that the tone has been mixed into the spelling of each syllable (音节). The transliteration (音译) of Bing Dwen Dwen this time does work and is     6     (值得做的). It     7     (确保) foreign athletes and fans call Dwen Dwen “d-when d-when”, which is as close to the original “doon-doon” as an average English speaker can get.

2 . In the more than 6,000 years of living in cities,humans have always had to find solutions to problems concerning how they live and work, such as sanitation (卫生), transportation and nature protection. In addition, important technological innovations require basic facilities: the electric grid; telephone and cell-phone networks and so on.    1    They can help provide for improved delivery and quality of services.

A smart city is a place that uses digital methods to provide more efficient networks and services for the benefit of its residents and businesses. It means smarter urban transportation, advanced water supply and more efficient ways to light and heat buildings.    2    

Smart cities rely heavily on automation and the internet of things. According to a global technology organization, a smart city works in four steps: collection, analysis, communication, and action.     3       After the data collected is analyzed, the result will be communicated to the decision-makers, who will take action to improve the city life of its residents.

    4     Singapore, for example, has introduced a wide range of smart technologies inboth its public and private areas in 2024.To help with the aging population, it introduced a digital health system allowing video consultations as well as devices that can monitor their health.

    5     However, as with any significant citywide technology initiative, implementation (实施) of smart cities takes vision, investment, and careful planning to ensure adoption and success.Taking the first steps toward picturing what your smart city might look like is, well, the smart thing to do.

A．What does a smart city look like?

B．It’s hard to ignore the many benefits connected cities offer.

C．Today,using cutting-edge technologies,smart cities cover them all.

D．It also means a more interactive city administration and safer public spaces.

E．It can provide better transportation,safer society and effective decision and so on.

F．Smart city technologies have already been applied in various countries across the world.

G．During this process,a set of smart sensors will collect real-time data about people and facilities.

3 . Some people say that A. I. large language models can be unpredictable and unreliable — giving false information and acting strangely toward users. I’ve been using A.I. tools like ChatGPT almost daily for several months now, and I’ve seen them spit out plenty of wrong answers.     1     Here are three things that A.I. is especially good at.

Getting creatively unstuck

A. I. can also be a good tool for getting your creative juices flowing. Recently, I was trying to come up with questions to ask a podcast guest. I pasted the guest’s bio into ChatGPT and asked it to give me “10 thoughtful, incisive interview questions” for this person.     2    

Ethan Mollick, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, recommends using A.I. to overcome writer’s block, or get a running start on hard projects.

    3    

I’ve also been using ChatGPT and other A.I. apps as a kind of rehearsal for offline tasks I find unpleasant or hard.

When I had to have a difficult conversation with a friend, I asked ChatGPT to take part in a role-playing exercise. “Pretend you’re my friend, and react the way you think my friend might react,” I told it.     4     It didn’t make the real one painless, but I felt more confident knowing I’d already practised with a chatbot.

Of course, A.I. chatbots can’t replace human friendships. But they can be a kind of on-demand sounding board, offering us basic feedback and advice without judgement.

Sparking Notes for everything

    5     I’ve used A.I. programs to “read” long articles for me, and summarize dense academic papers. Usually they get the key points right, even if some of the details are missing. If you’re bored of reading this article, you could ask ChatGPT to summarize it for you. I promise I won’t be offended.

A．Rehearsing for real-world tasks.

B．I then held a mock version of the conversation.

C．Explaining concepts at multiple difficulty levels.

D．Of the questions it generated, most were pretty good.

E．Used properly, ChatGPT and other A.I. chatbots can be amazing teaching tools.

F．But I’ve also seen these A.I. programs do amazing things that took my breath away.

G．One of the most powerful abilities of A.I. language models is quickly summarizing large amounts of text.

4 . P. H. Hanes, founder of HanesBrands, came up with retail price in the 1920s. That allowed him to use ads in publications across America to discourage distributors from unfairly raising the price of his knitted underwear. Even today many American shopkeepers stick to manufacturers’ recommended prices, as much as they would love to raise them to offset the inflationary (通货膨胀) pressures on their other costs. A growing number, though, resort to more complicated pricing techniques.

Getting retail price right can be tricky. Set prices too high and you risk losing customers; set them too low and you leave money on the table. Retailers have historically used rules of thumb, such as adding a fixed margin (差额) on top of costs or matching what competitors charge. As energy, labour and other inputs go through the roof, they can no longer afford to treat pricing as an afterthought. To gain an edge, shopkeepers have been turning to price-optimisation systems.

At their core are mathematical models that use deal data to estimate price flexibility—how much demand increases as the price falls and vice versa—for thousands of products. Price-sensitive items can then be discounted and price-insensitive ones marked up. Merchants can fine-tune the algorithms (算法) to prevent undesirable outcomes.

These systems are becoming cleverer thanks to advances in artificial intelligence(AI). The latest crop of AI-powered ones can spot patterns and relationships between multiple items. Makers of pricing software are incorporating new data sources into their models, from customers’ tweets to online product reviews, says Doug Fuehne of Pricefx, one such firm. In February Starbucks, a chain of coffee shops, boasted about its use of analytics and AI to model pricing “on an ongoing basis”. US Foods, a food distributor, praised its pricing system’s ability to use “over a dozen different inputs” to boost sales and profits.

What pricing systems do not do is lead unavoidably to higher prices. Matt Pavich of Revionics, another pricing-software firm, calls this misconception “one of the biggest misunderstanding” about products like his. Sysco, a big food distributor which rolled out new pricing software last year, is a case in point. The firm says the system allows it to lower prices on “key value items”—as price-sensitive bestsellers are known in the trade—and raise them on other products. It can thus increase profits by expanding sales while maintaining margins.

1. What does the expression “leave money on the table” in Paragraph 2 probably mean?

A．Do not match the competitor’s prices.	B．Do not maintain a reasonable sales and profits.
C．Do not address the pressure on extra expenses.	D．Do not reach an agreement in price negotiation.

2. How do the price-optimisation systems work?

A．Setting fixed prices for all products.	B．Adjusting prices based on demands.
C．Constructing discount models by AI.	D．Capitalizing on customers’ social media data.

3. What does Matt Pavich think of the price-optimisation system?

A．It hits the sweet point.	B．It cuts a long story short.
C．It runs counter to its target.	D．It compares apples and oranges.

4. What’s the best title for this text?

A．Fair or Unfair Price: Not a Question for AI

B．Price Setting AI: Maintaining Great Balance

C．Retail Price Evolves: From Experience to Science

D．Technological Business: Companies Use AI to Set Prices

5 . 阅读下面短文, 在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

The ZQ-2 Y3 rocket, developed by Chinese privately-owned aerospace company LandSpace,     1     (launch) into space on September 9th, 2023 from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, taking three satellites into orbit.

It is the second successful flight for the company with the ZQ-2 series rocket, the     2     (late) example of Chinese privately-owned aerospace companies sending satellites into orbit. The launch successfully delivered three commercial satellites into the     3     (plan) orbit about 460 kilometers above the Earth, further highlighting the     4     (mature) and stability of the ZQ-2 carrier rocket, and also     5     (mark) a step forward for the company and China’s commercial aerospace industry.

The ZQ-2 Y3 has     6     total length of 49.5 meters, which is capable of placing a 1.5-ton payload into a typical sun-synchronous orbit at about 500 kilometers above the Earth. Future models could ultimately increase the payload to four tons,     7     can facilitate the deployment (部署) of low earth orbit satellites and cargo spacecraft.

Now China is home     8     world-class enterprises in the fields of raw materials, electronic information, and equipment required for rocket manufacturing (制造).     9     (obvious), the rapid development of China’s commercial aerospace companies and the domestically developed rockets with cost advantages     10     (benefit) China’s Internet constellation (互联网星座) construction plan greatly in the future.

6 . 听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。
1. What is the man’s job about?

A．Observing the planets.

B．Teaching others knowledge.

C．Going into space to do research.

2. What is the man looking at today?

A．Mars.

B．Venus.

C．The Moon.

3. Where will the woman have lunch?

A．At the man’s office.

B．At a café.

C．At her home.

4. What will the woman do next?

A．Go home.

B．Have lunch.

C．Use the telescope.

7 . Not much trash and almost no plastic actually gets recycled. About a third of U.S. garbage gets recycled, according to the Environmental Protection Agency’s most recent estimate. The rest goes to landfills, which release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and pollute their surroundings.

To make recycling easier, many U.S. cities don’t ask Americans to separate paper, glass, metal and plastic. ‘They just ask people to put anything recyclable into one bin and let waste plants do the sorting. But waste plants don’t catch everything. AI is now an essential tool for the world’s waste management leaders. Greyparrot, a tech company has already installed more than l00 AI trash spotters in about 50 sorting facilities.

Greyparrot’s device is, basically, a set of visual and infrared (红外线的) cameras hooked up to a computer, which monitors trash as it passes by on a conveyor belt and labels it under 70 categories, from loose bottle caps to books to aluminum cans. Waste plants could connect these AI systems to sorting robots to help them separate trash from recyclables more accurately. They could also use the AI as a quality control system to measure how well they’re sorting trash from recyclables. That could help plant managers adjust their production lines to cover more recyclables, or cheek that a bundle of recyclables is free of pollutants, which would allow them to sell at a higher price.

In the next few years, some recycling companies plan to retrofit (改良) thousands of material- recovery facilities with Al trash - spotting tools. Of these companies, Bollegraaf has built thousands of these facilities, including 340 in North America, accounting for a majority of the recovery plants in the world.

The trash-spotting computers could one day help regulators punish companies that produce tsunamis of non - recyclable packaging because the AI systems are so accurate that they can identify the brands on individual items. Putting the AI tools in thousands of waste plants can raise recycling percentage. If the needle can be moved by even 5 to 10 percent, that would be a phenomenal outcome for greenhouse gas emissions and environmental impact.

1. What does the author want to show in paragraph 1?

A．People pay little attention to environmental protection.

B．Greenhouse gas is a major contributor to air pollution.

C．Americans show little enthusiasm for recycling.

D．All trash has not been recycled in the US.

2. How does Greyparrot’s AI system work?

A．By working with sorting robots.

B．By adjusting the production line.

C．By monitoring the conveyor belt.

D．By controlling cameras in a computer.

3. What can he inferred about AI tools in the last two paragraphs?

A．They are well received.

B．They are highly profitable.

C．They have unpredictable prospect.

D．They present a challenge for regulators.

4. What can be a suitable title for the text?

A．The Use of the Useless

B．AI Assistants in Recycling

C．A Pressing Trash Issue in US

D．AI Tools with Great Potential

8 . Sora, a new AI model developed by the company OpenAI — creator of chatbot ChatGPT — has recently become a global focus. The text-to-video artificial intelligence technology has the potential to make a revolution in video industries.

Sora can generate videos up to a minute long while maintaining visual quality and respond to user prompts, OpenAI said. It is able to generate complex scenes with multiple characters, specific types of motion, and accurate details of the subject and background.

Liu Xingliang, director of the Beijing-based Data Center of China Internet, said Sora is undoubtedly a major breakthrough for AI. “It not only demonstrates AI’s advanced ability to understand and create complex visual content, but also brings about opportunities and challenges for video content creation, entertainment, film and television production industries. The video-generation model will help video content creators to turn their ideas into reality at a faster speed and at a lower cost, and offer audiences richer and more diverse visual experiences,” Liu said, adding that AI is expected to play a more important role in all aspects of human lives in the future.

Meanwhile, the use of text-to-video AI models raises concerns about ethics, copyright protection, personal privacy and data security, experts said. How to ensure the authenticity and transparency of the content has become an important issue, and more efforts are needed to formulate rules and regulations to ensure the healthy development of such technology.

Zhou Hongyi, founder of Chinese company 360 Security Group, said: “Sora might bring a huge disruption to the advertising industry, movie trailers and short video industry, but it may not necessarily beat TikTok quickly. It is more likely to become a creative tool for TikTok.”

1. According to the text, what is the possible function of Sora?

A．Writing an essay.	B．Drawing an image.
C．Generating a movie.	D．Composing a song.

2. How does Sora bring opportunities to video content industries?

A．By reducing the time of making a video.

B．By adding the cost of making a video.

C．By offering audiences a single visual experience.

D．By helping the creators copy other’s ideas.

3. What is the main idea of paragraph 4?

A．The significance of Sora.	B．The potential risks of Sora.
C．The working principles of Sora.	D．The functions of Sora.

4. Which statement does Zhou Hongyi agree with?

A．Sora is important in all aspects of human lives.

B．Sora will replace the traditional video industry.

C．Sora poses huge risks to TikTok.

D．Sora is a double-edged sword.

9 . 听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。
1. What are the speakers mainly talking about?

A．A certain ball made in space.

B．A research plan made in space.

C．A problem in making things in space.

2. What might the balls most probably be used for?

A．Children’s games.

B．Medical research.

C．Earth protection.

3. Why have astronauts made the ball in space?

A．To keep them smaller.

B．To keep them perfectly round.

C．To produce them more cheaply.

10 . (CNN) —European Union lawmakers struck a deal Friday agreeing to one of the world’s first major comprehensive artificial intelligence laws.

The landmark legislation, called the AI Act, sets up a regulatory (监管) framework to promote the development of AI while addressing the risks associated with the rapidly developing technology. The legislation bans harmful AI practices “considered to be a clear threat to people’s safety, livelihoods and rights”.

In a news conference, Roberta Metsola, the president of the European Parliament, called the law “a balanced and human-centered approach” that will “no doubt be setting the global standard for years to come”.

The regulatory framework, which classifies AI uses by risk and increases regulation on higher risk levels, was first proposed in 2021. The riskiest uses for AI are banned. According to the law, those include systems that exploit specific disadvantaged groups, biometric identification systems for law enforcement purposes and artificial intelligence that arranges controllable “subconscious techniques”. Limited risk systems, such as chat-bots like Open AI’s ChatGPT, or technology that generates images, audio or video content, are subject to new transparency (透明) duties under the law.

“The AI Act is much more than a rulebook—it’s a launchpad for EU start-ups and researchers to lead the global AI race,” Thierry Breton, the EU Commissioner for Internal Market, wrote on social media, “The best is yet to come.”

Artificial intelligence broke into the mainstream with the launch of OpenAI’s ChatGPT chat-bot in November 2022. Seemingly overnight, generative AI technology exploded in popularity and spurred an AI arms race. But AI’s disturbance reaches far beyond the world of big tech: Educators have struggled with generative AI’s ability to complete schoolwork assignments; artists and musicians have fought with the potential for Al-fueled imitation (模仿) and even the media industry has seen its debate.

1. What is the text?

A．A short story.

B．An art review.

C．A news report.

D．A research paper.

2. What does the fourth paragraph mainly tell us?

A．AI risk regulation,	B．AI risk classification.
C．AI regulatory framework.	D．AI regulatory framework usage.

3. What is Thierry’s attitude towards the AI Act?

A．Positive.

B．Indifferent.

C．Disapproving.

D．Suspicious.

4. What does the underlined word “spurred” mean in the last paragraph?

A．Ruined.

B．Caused.

C．Updated.

D．Interrupted.