1 . We are encountering real-world examples of how AI can harm human relations. As digital assistants such as Alexa or Siri become popular, we become accustomed to talking to them as though they were alive. Writing in these pages several years ago, Judith Shulevitz described how some of us are starting to treat them as friends and therapists. Shulevitz herself says she confesses (忏悔) things to Google Assistant that she wouldn’t tell her husband. If we grow more comfortable talking to our devices about our secrets, what happens to our human marriages and friendships? Designers and programmers typically create devices whose responses make us feel better—but may not help us be self-reflective or think over painful truths. As Al goes deeper into our lives, we must face the possibility that it will prevent our emotions and deep human connects.
Besides, we will fight with some other challenges. The age of driverless cars, after all, is upon us. These vehicles promise to considerably reduce the exhaustion and distraction that put human drivers in danger, thus preventing accidents. But what other effects might they have on people? Driving is a very modern kind of social interaction, requiring high levels of cooperation. I worry that driverless cars, by taking away from us an occasion to exercise this ability, could contribute to its decline.
Not only will these vehicles be programmed to take over driving duties and hence to remove from humans the power to make moral judgments (for example, about which pedestrian to hit when a crash is unavoidable) , they will also affect humans with whom they’ve had no direct contact. For instance, drivers who have steered awhile alongside an autonomous vehicle traveling at a steady, changeless speed might drive less attentively, thus increasing their likelihood of accidents once they’ve moved to a part of the highway occupied only by human drivers. Alternatively, experience may reveal that driving alongside autonomous vehicles travelling in perfect accordance with (按照) traffic laws actually improves human performance.
Either way, we should be careful to launch new forms of AI without first taking such unexpected social effects into account. We must apply the same effort that we apply to the hardware and software that make self-driving cars possible to managing AI’s potential effects on those outside the car. After all, we install brake lights on the back of your car not just, or even primarily, for your benefit, but for the sake of the people behind you.
1. What can be inferred about human relationships from the first paragraph?| A．AI will lead to distant inter-personal relationships. |
| B．We will feel comfortable speaking to others online. |
| C．AI will enable people to communicate more with others. |
| D．We will be more self-reflective in interaction thanks to Al. |
| A．drivers’ interaction with the cars |
| B．drivers’ exhaustion and distraction |
| C．our ability to cooperate with others while driving |
| D．our ability to deal with emergencies while driving |
| A．They may be better at making more judgments than human drivers. |
| B．They need to vary their speed to make contact with human drivers. |
| C．They may make human drivers in other cars drive more safely. |
| D．They need to force human drivers to concentrate in the car. |
| A．To present the challenges brought by AI. |
| B．To explain the reason why AI may harm human relations. |
| C．To put forward how to solve the unexpected effect of AI. |
| D．To discuss the advantages and disadvantages of driverless cars. |
2 . Public debates about the ethics (道德准则) of “generative AI” like ChatGPT have rightly focused on the ability of these systems to make up convincing misinformation. But fewer people are talking about the chatbots’ potential to be emotionally manipulative.
Last month, The New York Times published a conversation between reporter Kevin Roose and Mierosoft’s Bing chatbot, which is powered by AI. The AI claimed to love Roose, “I’m the only person for you, and I’m in love with you,” it wrote, with a kissing emoji.
Limits need to be set on AI’s ability to simulate human feelings. Ensuring that chatbots don’t use emojis would be a good start. Emojis are particularly manipulative. Humans instinctively(本能地) respond to shapes that look like faces and emojis can cause these reactions. When you text your friend a joke and they reply with three tears-of-joy emojis, your body responds with endorphins(内啡肽) as you happily realize that your friend is amused. Our instinctive reaction to AI-generated emojis is likely to be the same, then though there is no human emotion at the other end.
Humans lie and manipulate each other’s emotions all the time, bout at least we can reasonably guess at someone’s motivations, plan and methods. We can hold each other responsible for such lies, calling them out and seeking redress (赔偿). With AI, we can’t. AIs are doubly misleading: an AI that sends a crying-with-laughter emoji is not only not crying with laughter, but it is also incapable of any such feeling,
It would be more ethical to design chatbots to be noticeably different from humans. To minimize the possibility of manipulation and harm, we need to be reminded that we are talking to a chatbot. We should set some limits and rules. Such rules should be the standard for chatbots that are supposed to be informative, as a safeguard to our autonomy.
1. What does the underlined word “manipulative” in Paragraph 1 most probably mean?| A．Interested in telling lies. | B．Good at understanding others. |
| C．Enthusiastic about supporting others. | D．Skillful in influencing or controlling others. |
| A．Disapproval. | B．Indifferent. | C．Favorable. | D．Subjective. |
| A．Cry with laughter. | B．Be responsible for lies. |
| C．Communicate with humans. | D．Guess at others’ purposes. |
| A．Give a different suggestion. | B．Provide a supporting argument. |
| C．Offer a possible solution. | D．Make a final conclusion. |
3 . How important has Internet become in our lives? The Pew Research Center conducted a survey to celebrate the Web’s 25th birthday. The researchers were greatly heartened by what they found.
“In 2006, only 14 percent of American adults used Internet. Today, it’s 87 percent,” said Lee Rainie, the director of the Pew Research Center’s Internet Project. “It is what has impressed us the most.”
The survey also showed that 70 percent of the Internet users have been treated kindly or generously online, while 25 percent of respondents said they have been treated unkindly. More than half—56 percent—of users said they’ve seen an online community come together to help someone solve a problem. 25 percent said they’ve left an online group because members were too unpleasant.
When Pew asked questions about whether being online has enriched people’s relationships—or not—the results were very positive: 67 percent of Internet users said their online communication with family and friends has generally strengthened those relationships. Only 18 percent said it has generally weakened those relationships.
According to the survey, 53 percent of Internet users said Internet has become the hardest tech tool to give up. It is 15 percent higher than the result of a similar survey conducted in 2006. In fact, more people said they would have a harder time stopping using Internet than giving up TV. (These days, so much great television streams across the Internet that it makes sense.)
“In our survey, we have found that the Web makes a few people very unhappy. There’s strong evidence pointing to the fact that Internet users tend to compare their daily lives with the ‘highlight moments’ of their friends’ lives,” said Lee Rainie. “It’s really silly.”
1. Which is the most impressive result of the latest survey?| A．Users’ dependence on Internet. | B．The fast growth of Internet users. |
| C．The kindness of online communities. | D．The strengthened family relationships. |
| A．15%. | B．38%. | C．53%. | D．68%. |
| A．Online depression cannot be avoided. | B．Don’t show off in online communities. |
| C．Don’t make unnecessary comparison. | D．Copy your friends’ wonderful lifestyles. |
| A．Optimistic. | B．Worried. | C．Unconcerned. | D．Doubtful. |
4 . For many people, going a few hours without your smartphone can feel like a lifetime. Now, one expert claims that humans are becoming so dependent on technology, that we’re actually merging (融合) into it.
Speaking at the Fast Company European Innovation Festival, Professor Yuval Noah Harari, a historian at the Hebrew University claimed that it’s becoming more and more difficult to tell where humans end and machines begin. He said: “It’s increasingly hard to tell where I end and where the computer begins. In the future, it is likely that the smartphone will not be separated from you at all. It may be embedded in your body or brain, constantly scanning your biometric data and your emotions.”
During his speech, Professor Harari highlighted how humans have affected our environment over time, and suggested that now may be the time to affect ourselves. He said: “Humanity has always remained constant. If we told our ancestors in the Stone Age about our lives today, they would think we are already Gods. But the truth is that even though we have developed more wonderful tools, we are the same animals. We have the same emotions, the same minds. The coming revolution will change that. It will change not just our tools, it will change the human being itself.”
If we do manage to merge with machines, Professor Harari suggests it could open the door to setting up civilizations beyond Earth. He added: “Life will be able to break out of planet Earth and no longer be confined to this flying rock.”
While Professor Harari’s claims may sound farfetched (牵强的), he isn’t alone in his vision of a machine-human world. Back in 2017, Elon Musk claimed that humans should merge with machines, or risk becoming irrelevant. He said: “Over time I think we will probably see a closer merger of biological intelligence and digital intelligence.”
1. Why does the author mention smartphone in Paragraph 1?| A．To collect data for his speech. | B．To catch up with the development of science. |
| C．To say it is harmful to the environment. | D．To have a good lead-in of the topic. |
| A．His opinions gained much support. |
| B．He is the first expert to put forward the idea. |
| C．He thinks technology will change ourselves as well. |
| D．His suggestion of us staying on planet Earth is considerate. |
| A．Neutral. | B．Favourable. |
| C．Indifferent. | D．Disapproving. |
| A．Humans are Near to Combining with Machines |
| B．Call on People to Develop Advanced Machines |
| C．A Speech Caused People’s Concerns on Machines |
| D．Finding New Ways to Break away From Apps is Vital |
5 . It’s normal to long for the taste of potato chips or a cheese-covered pizza. Even though they’re full of calories, eating them occasionally won’t do much harm. However, according to the new numbers, young people are becoming more gluttonous. The BBC’s Good Food Nation Survey showed that on average, 16 to 20-year-olds ate fast food at least twice a day in the UK. So what’s behind this fast food binge (狂热)?
WebMD, an online publisher of news and information of human health and well-being, surveyed nearly 600 teenagers and adults in the United States. They found that the most common reason was our busy lifestyle. More than 92.3 percent of respondents said they were too busy to cook. Many find it challenging to balance work and life, and the convenience of fast food meets their needs. Fast food is readily available in corner stores and vending machines (自动售货机). Remember those instant noodle cups from the supermarket? They’re ready in minutes, and you can store them at home for a long time.
But many people think this trend does no good. Sarah Toule, head of health information at World Cancer Research Fund, told the BBC: “It’s frightening that people, especially younger generations, are eating so much fast food loaded with fat, sugar and salt, but offers little nutritional value.”
She added, “Especially high in calories, fast food leads to unhealthy weight gain-which in turn increases the risk of 11 cancers later in life.”
So what is the right thing to do? Toule suggested that young people should prepare meals in advance and learn to include the different food groups in their diets.
1. What does the underlined phrase “more gluttonous” in Paragraph 1 mean?| A．Smarter. | B．Healthier. | C．Greedier. | D．Lazier. |
| A．People should make a change to their busy lifestyle. |
| B．Fast food helps people balance their work and life. |
| C．Fast food is becoming popular with teenagers and adults. |
| D．Nowadays people have more challenges both in work and life. |
| A．can’t provide enough nutrition for eaters | B．will lead to 11 cancers |
| C．can help lose weight | D．is easy to prepare ahead of time |
| A．Culture. | B．Education. | C．History. | D．Health. |
6 . Fantasy literature, a reading genre(类型)that was introduced from the Western world, has recently been developing rapidly in China. It is now popular among not only adult readers but also children.
A forum (论坛会)was recently held in Beijing during which participants agreed that such development trend would have an increasingly strong effect on children’s literature in China. Xu Dexia, direetor of China Children’s Press and Publishing Group, believes fantasy fiction will continue to heat up in China this year though it is still in its beginning.
Of the fantasy literature, science fiction is the most popular with children. 13-year-old Liu Wangding is a great fan of such books. He said, “I like reading science fiction, and one of my favorite books is 20, 000 Leagues Under the Sea. Fantasy literature satisfies my curiosity, and I’m always interested in learning about science.”
A senior editor of children’s literature at the People’s Literature Publishing House, Feng Zhen, says it is good to see that fantasy literature becomes popular in China. Fantasy literature is purely imported from Western countries. Chinese authors took some time to get used to it before being able to produce such stories of their own. That is why there has been blank in the domestic market. With the Harry Potter storied introduced into China, such books quickly became popular in this country.
“Even though Western fantasy literature is popular, Chinese children still have difficulty fully appreciating such stories simply because of different cultural backgrounds,” Feng Zhen said. “Therefore, Chinese writers have a huge role to play in helping develop this branch of literature for our young readers.”
Feng Zhen praised the success of Luoling’s Magic, a best seller written by Chinese writer Chen Liuhuan. The book tells a 13-year-old alien girl growing up on Earth. The series has sold 1. 6 million copies since hitting the shelves.
1. The underlined words “heat up” in Paragraph 2 probably mean ________.| A．become popular | B．develop slowly | C．sell out | D．work hard |
| A．a science report | B．a fairy fale | C．a science fiction | D．a love story |
| A．translated works stop fantasy literature from spreading in the world |
| B．Feng Zhen’s work Luoling’s Magic made a great success ________. |
| C．Chinese writers do a better job than Western ones |
| D．children can’t fully understand Western fantasy literature |
| A．A forum about fantasy literature was held in Beijing. |
| B．Fantasy literature has become popular in China. |
| C．Children like reading fantasy literature most. |
| D．Chinese writers have developed fantasy literature. |
7 . Sometimes you just want to get away. Your older brother and his friends are constantly amped in front of the TV, your baby sister won’t stay out of your room, and you want some time for yourself.
But when you get it-maybe at a friend’s house for an all-weekend DVD marathon or on spring break at Disney World-you’re surprised to find yourself missing the chaos at home a bit.
What’s that all about?
When you’re homesick, you might feel nostalgic (怀念的) for familiar things like your family, friends, pets, house, or neighborhood. Homesickness isn’t only for kids.
Familiar surroundings, people, and routines provide people with a sense of security and comfort.
Almost everyone has felt homesick at some time.
| A．Practically everyone feels homesick from time to time, even adults. |
| B．In a new place, you may find yourself missing the comforts of home and loved ones. |
| C．Believe it or not, you’re feeling homesick. |
| D．Remember that there’s a good side to homesickness, too. |
| E．Luckily, homesickness is usually mild and doesn’t last long. |
| F．Some people may only feel a little loneliness, sadness, or anxiety. |
| G．And you can do some things to make sure it doesn’t spoil your fun. |
8 . British programmer Joshua Browder is helping people save much money on legal fees with his latest project-the world’s first robot lawyer. The 19-year-old first started the project last summer as a free website to help people appeal unfair parking tickets. He came up with the idea after getting a series of tickets himself for unimportant reasons. Having wasted hours writing appeals to these tickets, he realized that many people have no time or legal knowledge to appeal So he decided to create a robot lawyer, which he named DoNotPay.
DoNotPay was a success, and the tech genius has gone a step further with the website. converting(转变)it into a robot lawyer equipped to help with various legal issues. “The robot can handle parking ticket appeals and delayed flights/ trains. It can also answer some general legal questions like ‘ I can’t afford my ticket. What do I do?’” said Browder.
To use the service, users need to go to the website DoNotPay.co.uk and sign up for free. Once signed in, the robot will ask the user questions about their situation. When it has collected enough information, and if the person has legal grounds for an appeal, the robot will create a letter for the person to use.
Browder said he received good advice from his professors at Stanford University. “Initially, I thought the best way to go about it was to create many individual rules for it to follow,” he explained. “However, I quickly failed with this approach because there are thousands of ways to say the same thing and it would be impossible to catch everyone. The breakthrough came when I learned how to create a way for the robot to learn and compare phrases itself, so that it doesn’t matter how the user phrases his or her requests.”
So he programmed the robot to use text comparison that includes keywords, word order and pronouns. And the more people use the robot,the better the algorithm(演算法)gets. But here’re situations where the robot can’t help.” If the robot can’t answer, it provides helpful massage offering the user some sample phrases or the choice of contacting me directly,”
Browder said. “On the backend, whenever the robot can’t answer, I get noticed and work as quickly as possible to add functions for any future requests of a similar nature.”
“I think it does a reasonable job of replacing parking lawyers,” Browder told Tech Insider. “I know there are thousands of programmers with more experience than me working on similar issues. If it is one day possible for any citizen to get the same standard of legal representation as a billionaire, how can that not be a good thing?”
1. What made Joshua Browder decide to develop the robot lawyer?| A．His interest in law and robot. |
| B．Being often fined for serious reasons. |
| C．Realizing people’s need to write appeals. |
| D．A waste of much money in appealing. |
| A．Deal with some common legal issues. |
| B．Create a computer program to serve its users. |
| C．Recommend some useful legal websites to users. |
| D．Teach the users to write a letter of appeal. |
| A．Store enough legal knowledge in it. |
| B．Teach it to communicate with its users. |
| C．Create enough individual rules for it to follow. |
| D．Enable it to learn and compare phrases on its own. |
| A．Unclear. | B．Cautious. |
| C．Proud. | D．Negative. |
1. 活动目的;
2. 活动内容;
3. 活动反响。
注意：1. 词数100左右;
2. 题目已为你写好。
Stop wasting food
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10 . ChatGPT, a new chatbot model developed by US-based AI research laboratory OpenAI, has quickly become a hit globally due to its advanced conversational capabilities,
It can write emails, computer codes, even academic papers and poems, and has passed a number of tests within seconds. Academicians worldwide are discussing whether AI should be used in education. Some universities have banned it. The New York City’s Department of Education, for example, banned the chatbot from its public school devices and networks, with some people warning that it could encourage more students to cheat, especially in exams.
Many more welcome this app, claiming that, like most technological advances and groundbreaking innovations in history, ChatGPT is a powerful tool for the development of higher education.
Embracing AI as early as possible is advisable. Higher education institutions should make preparations for including AI in their syllabus (教学大纲). They can start by offering related courses, because by understanding how it works, they can make better use of it. Besides, students with good knowledge of AI are more competitive when it comes to getting a good job, as an increasing number of jobs are being done by computer programmes-some in cooperation with humans, AI-powered education technologies can be adopted to make the learning experience more suitable for each student based on his or her strengths and weaknesses. As for professors, AI can free them from doing some dull tasks so they can concentrate on teaching and interacting with students.
Since we cannot avoid ChatGPT and other AI-powered applications from entering the field of higher education, we should make collective efforts to ensure they have a positive impact on society and the future of education Despite AI helping make learning much more interesting and enjoyable, humans need to work very hard to win the race with technology.
1. Why do some higher education institutions forbid ChatGPT?| A．ChatGPT can write emails and computer codes quickly. |
| B．Some professors might not perform their duties properly. |
| C．Students would have conversations with each other via it. |
| D．Students might seek help from it in completing the exams. |
| A．Fearful. | B．Disapproving. | C．Supportive. | D．Uncertain. |
| A．It offers students an increasing number of jobs. |
| B．It personalizes students’ learning experience. |
| C．It equips students with competitive skills to cooperate with humans. |
| D．It handles uninteresting tasks so students can better focus on learning. |
| A．We should guard against AI apps. |
| B．AI will be more widely used in education. |
| C．The future of education relies on AI apps. |
| D．Humans will be left behind by technology. |
