1 . Jerilee Melo has been teaching preschool for four years. When COVID-19 shut down her school, she began to wonder what her next Career move would be.
After several months, Melo decided to take a risk. She found a bus on Facebook Marketplace and purchased it in hopes of setting up her own teaching space.
Melo renovated (翻新) the bus and in August began teaching her first preschoolers, many of them her students in previous classrooms. To keep safe, Melo spread her class so that there were never more than five children on the bus with masks on.
Melo doesn’t move the bus during lessons, but parks it at a certain location and allows it to serve as a mobile classroom that utilizes the surroundings.
While her bus was renovated for teaching, Melo hadn’t been able to decorate it. In November she decided to enter a contest with Brittany Jeltema, a former teacher who now hosts giveaways for classroom makeovers (重新布置). Much to Melo’s surprise, Jeltema reached out telling her that she won.
“Jeri’s application stood out, because it was such an innovative approach to education,” Jeltema said.“Jeri submitted pictures of her bus before the makeover, and my brain lit up with ideas. I knew I could help create an engaging environment for her students.”
Over the course of a weekend, Jeltema and her team flew to Valencia, California, and transformed Melo’s mobile classroom into a 70’s style bus.
With her bus, Melo hopes to inspire other teachers to get creative during these unprecedented times.
“A lot of teachers are scared right now, because they feel they need to be in a classroom to educate. And they don’t,” Melo said. “I think teachers need to expand and go beyond the classroom, because what they have is valuable.”
1. Why did Melo buy a bus?| A．To test a risky business. | B．To build a market. |
| C．To expand her living space. | D．To continue her career. |
| A．By driving the bus along. | B．By reducing learning duration. |
| C．By reducing the class size. | D．By teaching in remote surroundings. |
| A．Scared. | B．Impressed. | C．Surprised. | D．Curious. |
| A．By following their dreams. | B．By beautifying classrooms. |
| C．By thinking outside the box. | D．By concentrating on students. |
2 . There’s no doubt that one of the greatest human achievements is the exploration of the space. Ever since astronaut Yuri Gagarin became the first person to be sent into the orbit around the moon in 1961, scientists have been pushing the boundaries further and further. But until now the exploration into the unknown has been dominated (主导) by men.
Of course, in the past, women were also included in the space projects and played an active role on the ground and behind the scenes. For example, they worked as seamstresses (女裁缝师), sewing vital spaceflight components. In fact, many of NASA’s key works would never have been possible without them. Recently Hollywood produced a movie called Hidden Figures to focus on a group of American female mathematicians, especially the black women, who helped NASA send the first American into space. But this was not women’s only contribution. Back in 1963, Soviet astronaut Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman to be sent into space. However, after that, space flight programs were slow to employ women. In the USA. NASA didn’t accept applications from women to become astronauts until 1978.
But attitudes have changed and leading officials at NASA say that the first person to set foot on Mars should be a woman. The space agency aims to have a sex-balanced workforce but can only achieve that if equal numbers of men and women are trained for science and technology jobs. As Allison McIntryre told the BBC, “My director is a woman. We have female astronauts. We haven’t put a woman on the moon yet. And I think that perhaps the first person to step on Mars should be a woman.”
1. What did Yuri Gagarin do in 1961?| A．He landed on the moon in success. |
| B．He discovered many new boundaries. |
| C．He led scientists to explore the moon. |
| D．He made the first journey into the space. |
| A．To show women are the true heroes of NASA’s first launch. |
| B．To stress that black people have won equal rights in NASA. |
| C．To prove women can do as well as men in NASA’ projects. |
| D．To present women’s contributions to NASA’s space programs. |
| A．Uncaring. | B．Disapproving. |
| C．Supportive. | D．Disappointed. |
| A．Will the First Person to Step on Mars Be a Woman? |
| B．Great Achievements Have Been Made in Space Exploration? |
| C．Why Men Played an Important Role in Exploring the Unknown? |
| D．Men and Women Have Made Equal Contributions to NASA’s Projects? |
Technological change is everywhere and affects every aspect of life, mostly for the better. However, social changes are brought about by new technology are often mistaken for a change in attitudes.
An example at hand is the involvement of parents in the lives of their children who are attending college. Surveys (调查) on this topic suggests that parents today continue to be “very” or “somewhat” overly-protective even after their children move into college dormitories. The same surveys also indicate that the rate of parental involvement is greater today than it was a generation ago. This is usually interpreted as a sign that today’s parents are trying to manage their children’s lives past the point where this behavior is appropriate.
However, greater parental involvement does not necessarily indicate that parents are failing to let go of their “adult” children.
In the context (背景) of this discussion, it seems valuable to first find out the cause of change in the case of parents’ involvement with their grown children. If parents of earlier generations had wanted to be in touch with their college-age children frequently, would this have been possible? Probably not. On the other hand, does the possibility of frequent communication today mean that the urge to do so wasn’t present a generation ago? Many studies show that older parents — today’s grandparents — would have called their children more often if the means and cost of doing so had not been a barrier.
Furthermore, studies show that finances are the most frequent subject of communication between parents and their college children. The fact that college students are financially dependent on their parents is nothing new; nor are requests for more money to be sent from home. This phenomenon is neither good nor bad; it is a fact of college life, today and in the past.
Thanks to the advanced technology, we live in an age of bettered communication. This has many implications well beyondthe role that parents seem to play in the lives of their children who have left for college. But it is useful to bear in mind that all such changes come from the technology and not some imagined desire by parents to keep their children under their wings.
1. The surveys inform us of ______.| A．the development of technology |
| B．the changes of adult children’s behavior |
| C．the parents’ over-protection of their college children |
| D．the means and expenses of students’ communication |
| A．parents today are more protective than those in the past |
| B．the disadvantages of new technology outweigh its advantages |
| C．technology explains greater parental involvement with their children |
| D．parents’ changed attitudes lead to college children’s delayed independence |
| A．Technology or Attitude |
| B．Dependence or Independence |
| C．Family Influence or Social Changes |
| D．College Management or Communication Advancement |
I:Introduction
P:Point
Sp:Sub-point
C:Conclusion
A． | B． | C． | D． |
4 . This year marks exactly two centuries since the publication of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. Even before the invention of the electric light bulb, the author produced a remarkable work of fiction that would foresee many ethical(道德的) questions to be raised by technologies yet to come. Today the rapid growth of artificial intelligence (AI) raises fundamental questions: “What is intelligence, identity, or consciousness? What makes human conscience(良知)？”
What is being called artificial general intelligence, machines that would imitate the way humans think, continues to evade(难倒) scientists. Yet humans remain fascinated by the idea of robots that would look, move, and respond like humans, similar to those recently on popular sci-fi TV series such as “West World” and “Humans”.
How people think is still far too complex to be understood, let alone reproduced, says David Eagleman, a Stanford University neuroscientist. “We are just in a situation where there are no good theories explaining what consciousness actually is and how you could ever build a machine to get there.”
But that doesn’t mean essential ethical issues involving AI aren’t at hand. The coming use of autonomous vehicles, for example, raises difficult ethical questions. Human drivers sometimes must make split-second decisions. Their reactions may be a complex combination of instant reflections, input from past driving experiences, and what their eyes and ears tell them in that moment. AI “vision” today is not nearly as complicated as that of humans. And to foresee every imaginable driving situation is a difficult programming problem.
Whenever decisions are based on masses of data, “you quickly get into a lot of ethical questions,” notes Tan Kiat How, chief executive of a Singapore-based agency that is helping the government develop a voluntary code for the ethical use of AI. Along with Singapore, other governments and mega-corporations are beginning to establish their own guidelines. Britain is setting up a data ethics center. India released its AI ethics strategy this spring.
Only when we can make sure that the thinking of intelligent machines reflects humanity’s highest values will they be useful servants and not Frankenstein’s out-of-control monster.
1. Why did the author mention Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein at the beginning of the passage?| A．Because it has remained popular for as long as 200 years. |
| B．Because it fascinates AI scientists all over the world. |
| C．Because it has sparked serious ethical controversies. |
| D．Because it involves some concerns raised by AI today. |
| A．helps explain artificial intelligence. | B．can be misleading to robot making. |
| C．inspires popular sci-fi TV series. | D．is too limited for us to reproduce it. |
| A．can hardly ever be found. | B．is still beyond our power. |
| C．causes little public concern. | D．has aroused much curiosity. |
| A．AI’s Future: In the Hands of Tech Giants |
| B．Frankenstein, the Novel Predicting the Age of AI |
| C．The Conscience of AI: Complex But Unavoidable |
| D．AI Shall Be Killers Once Out of Control |
5 . A video of a three-year-old girl being kicked by her own mother during a photo shot went viral (疯狂传播) on Thursday, indicating China’s under per forma nee in regulating the emerging child modeling industry.
The girl, known as Niu Niu, was physically abused by her mother in several videos. The videos have annoyed Chinese media and Internet users alike. Many netizens and scholars call for local authorities to carry out further investigations into possible child abuse.
In response to the public outcry (强烈抗议), Niu Niu’s mother issued an apology via Sina Wei bo on Thursday, condemning accusations of abuse. She noted that she was merely guiding her daughter for better shots and the girl is well looked after.
Despite her apology, many E-shops which used Niu Niu’s images for brand promotion have canceled their cooperation with the mother, while over 110 well-known child garment shops on Taobao have signed up for a campaign to provide better protection for child models.
“It is necessary to adopt comprehensive laws and regulations to further protect the kids, preventing their parents and companies from exploiting (利用) them,” Fang Zhiqing, a lawyer and child protection expert, said.
Niu Niu is not alone. In Zhili, a small town in Zhejiang province, thousands of children from across China are taken here by their parents to seize the chance of fame. With a population of 450,000. Zhili has over 13,000 manufacturers of child clothing. In 2017, the town earned over 7 billion yuan by selling do thing for children online, thus providing opportunities for child models.
“China’s current advertisement law isn’t workable when it comes to the industry of child modeling, as it lacks clear supervision measures and clear legal punishment.” Fang added. “It is important to issue new laws which regulate child modeling.”
1. What caused the public outcry?| A．Videos showing how child models work. |
| B．Problems in Chinese advertising industry. |
| C．Several cases of child abuse in recent China. |
| D．A girl being physically abused by her mother. |
| A．Taobao canceled the account of Niu Niu. |
| B．The local police charged Niu Niu’s mother. |
| C．Niu Niu’s mother admitted abusing her daughter. |
| D．Shops stopped their cooperation with the mother. |
| A．The appearance of online shopping. |
| B．The huge online sales of child clothing. |
| C．The fast development of manufacturing. |
| D．The change of parents’ ideas about success. |
| A．China should regulate child modeling. |
| B．There are too many child models in China. |
| C．New economic laws should be issued in Chinch |
| D．China s current advertisement law isn’t workable. |
6 . Andrew Grey doesn’t fit most people’s idea of an astronomer. He works in a car repair shop, not in a lab or university, yet the Australian repairman discovered a star system hiding in data from NASA’s Kepler space telescope.
Mr. Grey is one of millions of citizen scientists helping researchers to expand collective understanding. For centuries, only a few ordinary people had been contributing to science, but advances in technology have brought a higher level of democratization (民主化) to science.
“This is a collaborative (合作的) effort that anyone could get involved in,” says Chris Lincoln, an Oxford University astrophysicist (天体物理学家) and cofounder of Zooniverse, a platform that hosts dozens of citizen science projects. Citizen scientists can contribute to breakthroughs in almost any field, from ecology to astrophysics.
“As long as pattern recognition is involved, there are no limits to what can become a citizen science project,” Dr. Linton says. “Anyone can identify patterns in images, graphs, or even seemingly boring data after a short tutorial. Machine learning allows computers to do some pattern recognition. But humans, particularly amateur scientists, don’t stay focused on what they’re supposed to. And that’s good, because people who do that notice the unusual things in s data set.
“And citizen science doesn’t have to be directed by a scientist,” says Sheila Jasanoff, director of the Program on Science, Technology and Society at Harvard University. “Citizens producing knowledge in places where official organs have failed then can also be citizen scientists,” she says. That’s what happened in Flint, Michigan, when a local mother started drinking water tests that caused a broader investigation of lead levels.
Citizen-powered research is as old as scientific inquiry. For centuries before science became professionalized, regular people looked for patterns in the world around them. Despite a lot of advanced equipment and computer models, scientists still welcome help from everyday people.
As a professional scientist himself, Lintott says, “People think that were intelligent, but science is easy and we need your help.”
1. What made citizen scientists appear?| A．The high level of science projects | B．The development of technology. |
| C．The support of the government. | D．The foundation of Zooniverse. |
| A．Humans can identify patterns mare swiftly. |
| B．Humans focus their attention on data. |
| C．Humans can observe uncommon things. |
| D．Humans have stronger emotions. |
| A．Favorable. | B．Cautious. |
| C．Indifferent. | D．Doubtful. |
| A．Citizen scientists can be intelligent. | B．Science is important to everyone. |
| C．Anyone can be a scientist. | D．Science is everywhere. |
7 . Humans’ overconsumption of resources is a leading contributor to global climate change, says University of Arizona researcher Sabrina Helm. Therefore, it’s increasingly important to understand the choices consumers make and how those decisions affect the health of a planet with limited resources. In a new study, published in the journal Young Consumers, Helm and her colleagues explore how materialistic(物质享乐主义的) values influence pro-environmental behaviors in millennials, who are now the nation’s most influential group of consumers.
The researchers focused on two main categories of pro-environmental behaviors: reduced consumption, which includes actions like repairing instead of replacing older items; and “green buying,” or purchasing products designed to limit environmental impacts. The researchers also looked at how engaging in pro-environmental behaviors affects consumer well-being.
More materialistic participants, the researchers found, were unlikely to engage in reduced consumption. However, materialism did not seem to have an effect on their likelihood of practicing “green buying.” That’s probably because “green buying,” unlike reduced consumption, still offers a way for materialists to fulfill their desire to get new items, Helm said.
Study participants who reported having fewer materialistic values were much more likely to engage in reduced consumption. Consuming less was, in turn, linked to higher personal well-being and lower psychological suffering. Green buying—which may have some positive environmental effects, although to a smaller degree than reduced consumption—was not found to improve consumer well- being, Helm said.
The take-home message for consumers: “The key is to reduce consumption and not just buy green stuff. Having less and buying less can actually make us more satisfied and happier,” Helm said. “If you have a lot of stuff, you have a lot on your mind,” she said. “For example, it requires maintenance and there’s a lot of burdens of ownership, and if you relieve yourself of that burden of ownership, most people report feeling a lot better and freer.”
Understanding how materialistic values impact consumer behaviors, and how those behaviors in turn affect personal and environmental well-being, is important, Helm said. However, she acknowledges that for many consumers, shifting behaviors to be more financially proactive and consume less will be challenging.
1. What do we know about pro-environmental behaviors?| A．They are a cause of climate change. |
| B．They are categorized by purchasing preference. |
| C．They vary in different age groups. |
| D．They are affected by materialism. |
| A．ownership of green products brings a sense of happiness |
| B．green buying helps control people’s desire to buy new items |
| C．materialists prefer practicing green buying to buying less |
| D．buying less and green buying have similar effects on people |
| A．Replacing older items. | B．Developing new resources. |
| C．Buying greener products. | D．Being careful with expenses. |
| A．When people develop proactive financial behaviors. |
| B．Why it is hard to change people’s financial behaviors. |
| C．Which financial behaviors lead to mental well-being. |
| D．How materialistic values influence financial behaviors. |
8 . Nowadays, we can read almost all “truths” on social media sites. But are they really reliable? Sites such as the micro messaging service Twitter, the social networking site Facebook and the photo-sharing app Instagram might “misrepresent the real world,” according to a study by computer scientists from McGill University and Carnegie Mellon University.
The scientists warn that gathering information about public views and trends from these sites is unwise. There are still large parts of the population who do not take part in social media activities. Also, there's a risk that many social media users are under- represented. Instagram, for example, appeals to younger adults in urban areas while Pinterest is used mainly by females aged 25 to 34. And only 5 percent of Twitter users are over 65 years old, according Io the study.
However, this is not the only issue, according to the scientific team. The design of a website can influence how people behave online, creating what the researchers call “Internet bias.” For example, micro-blogging sites such as Weibo promote “popular” stories. It saves time for some, but it also limits readers' choice of what they see. In the end, many people open those stories and make them more “popular.” But it's not because they choose those stories. Rather, it is because the content is right in front of them.
Besides, it's possible that not everyone on your social networks is real. There might actually be a few fake accounts among them. Fake “bots” pretend to be human and are often included when measuring or predicting human behaviors online.
The findings might be more important than you would think, since many social media studies “are used to inform and justify decisions and investments among the public and in industry and government,” said Derek Ruths, assistant Professor at McGill's School of Computer Science.
If the team is right, you might have to think carefully the next time you say, “It's true, you know; I read it on Weibo.”
1. Why does the author mention Twitter, Facebook and Instagram?| A．Because they are the best social media sites today. |
| B．Because they are not in favor of the current study. |
| C．Because the public are sharing truths on these sites. |
| D．Because information on these sites may not be reliable. |
| A．By giving examples. | B．By making comparisons. |
| C．By dividing into groups. | D．By analyzing cause and effect. |
| A．Ambiguous. | B．Favorable. |
| C．Disagreeable. | D．Cautious |
| A．To analyze why information gathered from social media sites may not be trustworthy. |
| B．To remind readers of things they should watch out for when using social media. |
| C．To point out the advantages and disadvantages of social media. |
| D．To recommend popular social networking sites for readers. |
9 . As fear exists in China and the world over the spreading COVID-19（新冠肺炎），business owners worldwide are all feeling the pain. Uncertainty and lack of confidence have always been among the big enemies of economies. And now the universal economy is still under great pressure.
As countries issue warnings and travel bans, the tourism and services are most affected. In 2018, around 140 million Chinese made outbound trips according to the China Tourism Academy.
According to a New York Times report, Chinatown in Manhattan has seen business drop of 50 to 70 percent. A hotel owner who relies on Chinese customers said that the loss could be well over 100,000 dollars and climbing. Federal Reserve Chairman, Jerome Powell, is also warning the outbreak could pose a “new risk” to the US economy.
The economic cost of the COVID-19 outbreak is growing and hard to estimate（估计）.
In this interconnected world, any pandemic（流行病）is worldwide. Various economists have pointed out that most economic costs are not related to the virus directly, but the panic over it. Lack of confidence can also worsen the fragile world economy.
| A．But one can always learn from history. |
| B．It's time to ban the wildlife trade for good. |
| C．The last thing the world needs is a virus outbreak. |
| D．China is a much bigger economy than it was in 2003. |
| E．The same thing also happened during the flu A ( H1N1) outbreak. |
| F．In recent years they have created about a quarter of tourism jobs worldwide. |
| G．So, it's very important for countries to work together to control its outbreak. |
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