1 . As data and identity theft becomes more and more common, the market is growing for biometric(生物测量) technologies—like fingerprint scans—to keep others out of private e-spaces. At present, these technologies are still expensive, though.
Researchers from Georgia Tech say that they have come up with a low-cost device(装置) that gets around this problem: a smart keyboard. This smart keyboard precisely measures the cadence(节奏) with which one types and the pressure fingers apply to each key. The keyboard could offer a strong layer of security by analyzing things like the force of a user’s typing and the time between key presses. These patterns are unique to each person. Thus, the keyboard can determine people’s identities, and by extension, whether they should be given access to the computer it’s connected to—regardless of whether someone gets the password right.
It also doesn’t require a new type of technology that people aren’t already familiar with. Everybody uses a keyboard and everybody types differently.
In a study describing the technology, the researchers had 100 volunteers type the word “touch” four times using the smart keyboard. Data collected from the device could be used to recognize different participants based on how they typed, with very low error rates. The researchers say that the keyboard should be pretty straightforward to commercialize and is mostly made of inexpensive, plastic-like parts. The team hopes to make it to market in the near future.
1. Why do the researchers develop the smart keyboard?| A．To reduce pressure on keys. | B．To improve accuracy in typing. |
| C．To replace the password system. | D．To cut the cost of e-space protection. |
| A．Computers are much easier to operate. |
| B．Fingerprint scanning techniques develop fast. |
| C．Typing patterns vary from person to person. |
| D．Data security measures are guaranteed. |
| A．It’ll be environment-friendly. | B．It’ll reach consumers soon. |
| C．It’ll be made of plastics. | D．It’ll help speed up typing. |
| A．A diary. | B．A guidebook | C．A novel. | D．A magazine. |
2 . Riding the bus to school could be keeping some kids out of class. Most school buses run on fuel. Those buses send out pollution, including tiny particles and gases. Bus riders get exposed to high levels of this pollution. When breathed in, it can lead to breathing problems, such as asthma (哮喘), which may keep kids home from school. But replacing the worst-polluting buses should cut down on student absences, a new study shows.
The study focused on schools that were asked to take part in a U. S. government program. The program offered schools cash back for money spent on cleaner school buses. The 2, 816 school districts in the new study all asked for the money. But not all got it. Only 383 were picked to receive funding. Winning districts could buy new buses and desert old ones.
The program started in 2012. From 2012 to 2017, the winning districts very likely had less bus pollution. And a year after getting new buses, student attendance had improved in those districts. For an average district of 10, 000 students, about six more students attended school each day in the winning districts. Districts that replaced the oldest buses had an average of 45 more students in school each day.
Those numbers may sound small, but they can add up, says Meredith Pedde, an environmental epidemiologist (流行病学家). Almost 3 million U. S. kids ride school buses more than 20 years old, her team figures. Replacing all of those old buses could mean 1.3 million fewer student absences each year, the data suggest. And school attendance matters for student achievement.
Now the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has a new program for school buses. It’s offering $5 billion through 2026 to replace old fuel buses with cleaner ones. Almost all U. S. school districts can apply for the new rebates. But schools in low-income areas and in rural areas will get priority. Kids in these areas tend to face the most health risks from old buses, EPA notes. And anything that cuts air pollution, Pedde says, should improve student health.
1. What is the primary reason why riding the bus to school might lead to student absences?| A．Serious fuel shortage for school buses. |
| B．Lack of available seats on school buses. |
| C．High risk of disease spreading in a bus. |
| D．High levels of pollution from school buses. |
| A．It increases health risks for students. |
| B．It is a costly and ineffective measure. |
| C．It helps to improve student attendances. |
| D．It has no significant effect on absences. |
| A．Financial aids. |
| B．School posts. |
| C．Health benefits. |
| D．Public resources. |
| A．To describe the potential risk of school buses. |
| B．To talk about the use of cleaner school buses. |
| C．To discuss the importance of decreasing absence. |
| D．To call on the government to improve school buses. |
3 . In spite of “endless talk of difference”, American society is an amazing machine for homogenizing people. This includes the uniformity in clothing and communication, as well as the casualness and lack of respect seen in popular culture. People are absorbed into “a culture of consumption” launched by the 19th-century department stores that offered a wide range of goods in an elegant atmosphere. Instead of fancy shops catering to the upper-class, these were stores “anyone could enter, regardless of class or background.” This turned shopping into a public and democratic (民主的) act. The mass media, advertising and sports are other forces for homogenization.
Immigrants are quickly adapting to this common culture, which may not be altogether elevating but is hardly poisonous. Writing for the National Immigration Forum, Gregory Rodriguez reports that today’s immigration is neither at remarkable levels nor resistant to assimilation (融合). In 1998 immigrants were 9.8 percent of population; in 1900, 13.6 percent. In the 10 years prior to 1990, 3.1 immigrants arrived for every 1,000 residents; in the 10 years prior to 1890, 9.2 for every 1,000. Now, consider three indicators of assimilation — language, home ownership and intermarriage.
The 1990 Census revealed that “a majority of immigrants from each of the fifteen most common countries of origin spoke English ‘well’ or ‘very well’ after ten years of residence.” The children of immigrants tend to be bilingual (双语的) and good at English. “By the third generation, the original language is lost in the majority of immigrant families.” Hence, America is described as a “graveyard” for languages. By 1996 foreign-born immigrants who had arrived before 1970 had a home ownership rate of 75.6 percent, higher than the 69.8 percent rate among native-born Americans. Foreign-born Asians and Hispanics “have higher rates of intermarriage than do U.S.-born whites and blacks.” By the third generation, one third of Hispanic women are married to non-Hispanics, and 41 percent of Asian-American women are married to non-Asians.
Rodriguez notes that children in remote villages around the world are fans of superstars like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Garth Brooks, yet “some Americans fear that immigrants living within the United States are not influenced by the nation’s assimilative power.”
Are there divisive issues and anger in America? Indeed. It is big enough to have a bit of everything. But particularly when viewed against America’s troubled past, today’s social Indicators hardly suggest a dark and worsening social environment.
1. The underlined phrase in paragraph 1 probably means ________.| A．making people adapt to American consumption culture |
| B．encouraging people to embrace a democratic lifestyle |
| C．encouraging people to stick to their own ideas and principles |
| D．making people behave more similarly in many aspects |
| A．Their adaptation to the common culture is quick but harmful to the society. |
| B．The scale of immigration is not big and the immigrants welcome American culture. |
| C．Their children are good at both English and their original language. |
| D．Hispanic and Asian-American women both prefer to marry native-born Americans. |
| A．provide examples of successful immigrants |
| B．suggest the weakness of America’s assimilative power |
| C．show the powerful influence of American culture |
| D．prove their popularity at home and abroad |
| A．Optimistic. | B．Concerned. | C．Neutral. | D．Negative. |
The TERM “killjoy parents” has been trending on Chinese social media platforms as many young pcople complain that their parents would rather criticize than praise them for their accomplishments. One poster, for example, remarked that his parents said his high score in math wasn't good enough
It’s a terrible feeling to have someone “burst your bubble” when you think they should be sharing your joy. And your parents, after all, are probably the people with
I think a lot of it has to do with Chinese society. Parents know that life
When I asked a Chinese friend why Chinese parents don’t praise their children, he said it’s because they don't want to bring their children bad luck. He told me the story of two women sitting in a park and watching their children play. One of the mothers said to the other, “Your boy is so handsome and healthy.” That other mother replied, “No, he’s very ugly and he’s a very sickly child.” The mother, my friend explained, didn't want her son praised in case the “gods” heard and punished him. It's an old superstition (迷信), but it does have some basis in fact.
American parents, at the other extreme, are taught to ever criticize their children because it may hurt their feelings—their self-esteem. Instead, they
Stacey and Toby aren’t the only people to be welcoming Mariella’s app. It’s now got thousands of users, and she’s working long days to balance it with her A-level studies. The time difference from New York to her school in Rugby, Warwickshire, means she sets her alarm for 5am.
5 . Otters, are cute, this no one can deny. They have big eyes, short and flat noses and claws (爪子) like tiny hands. They look even cuter when they wear hats and throw food balls into their mouths as if they were bar snacks, like Takechiyo, a pet otter in Japan. Documenting Takechiyo’s funny behavior has earned his owner nearly 230,000 followers on Instagram, a photo-sharing app.
Takechiyo’s fame reflects a craze across east and South-East Asia for keeping the cute creatures as pets. Enthusiasts in Japan visit cafés where they pay to hug them; Indonesian owners parade their pets around on leads or go swimming with them, then share their pictures online. But these enjoyable photos mask a trade that is doing a lot of damage. Even before they became fashionable companions for humans, Asia’s wild otters faced plenty of threats. Their habitats are disappearing. They have long been hunted for their coats, or killed by farmers who wish to prevent them consuming fishes. The pet trade, which began picking up in the early 2000s but appeared to speed up a few years ago, has made things worse. The numbers of wild Asian small-clawed otters and smooth-coated otters, two species that are in highest demand, have declined by at least 30% in the three decades to 2019.
The international agreement that governs trade in wildlife, known as CITES, now prohibits cross-border trade in these species. But laws banning ownership are often poorly implemented, as in Thailand, or full of holes, as in Indonesia. And the otter-keeping craze has been dramatically improved by the internet, says Vincent Nijman of Oxford Brookes University. In 2017 TRAFFIC, a British charity that monitors the wildlife trade, spent nearly five months looking at Facebook and other social-media sites in five South-East Asian countries. During that time, it found around 1,000 otters advertised for sale online.
In any case, otters do not even make particularly good pets. Every year the Jakarta Animal Aid Network, a charity in Indonesia’s capital, receives some ten otters from people who have struggled to look after them. Faizul Duha, the founder of an Indonesian otter-owners’ group, admits that his two animals emit a “very specific” (read: fishy) smell. They bite humans and chew on furniture. Their scream can be heard blocks away. And their cages need cleaning every two-to-three hours. That is how often they empty their bowels (肠道).
1. The function of the first paragraph is to ________.| A．present the main idea | B．introduce the main topic |
| C．set readers thinking | D．illustrate the writer’s point |
| A．The demand for pet otters. | B．The disappearance of otters’ habitats. |
| C．The popularity of otter coats. | D．The decrease of fishes. |
| A．the laws that prohibit cross-border trade are strict in Asia |
| B．social media plays a significant role in the online otter trade |
| C．people usually give up otters because they are endangered |
| D．otters are suitable pets because they are friendly to humans |
| A．advertise for a photo-sharing app |
| B．introduce the popularity of pet otters |
| C．discourage the illegal otter pet trade |
| D．describe the characteristics of otters |
6 . As Christmas approached, the price of turkey went wild. It didn’t rocket, as some might suggest. Nor did it crash. It just started waving. We live in the age of the variable prices. In the eyes of sellers, the right price—the one that will draw the most profit from consumers’ wallets—has become the focus of huge experiments. These sorts of price experiments have become a routine part of finding that right price.
It may come as a surprise that, in buying a pie, you might be participating in a carefully designed social-science experiment. But this is what online comparison shopping has brought. Simply put, the convenience to know the price of anything, anytime, anywhere, has given us, the consumers, so much power that sellers—in a desperate effort to regain the upper hand, or at least avoid extinction—are now staring back through the screen. They are trying to “comparison shopping” us.
They have enough means to do so: the huge data tracks you leave behind whenever you place something in your online shopping cart with top data scientists capable of turning the information into useful price strategies, and what one tech economist calls “the ability to experiment on a scale that’s unimaginable in the history of economics.”
In result, not coincidentally, normal pricing practices—an advertised discount off the “list price,” two for the price of one, or simply “everyday low prices” are giving way to far more crazy strategies.
“In the Internet era, I don’t think anyone could have predicted how complicated these strategies have become,” says Robert Dolan, a professor at Harvard. The price of a can of soda in a vending machine can now vary with the temperature outside. The price of the headphones may depend on how budget-conscious your web history shows you to be. The price may even be affected by the price of the mobile phone you use for item search. For shoppers, that means price—not the one offered to you right now, but the one offered to you 20 minutes from now, or the one offered to me, or to your neighbor—may become an increasingly unknowable thing. “There used to be one price for something,” Dolan notes. Now the true price of pumpkin-pie spice is subject to a level of uncertainty.
1. Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?| A．When holidays come, prices are usually increased. |
| B．The right price to sellers is the one to bring biggest profits. |
| C．The right price is fixed although it’s hard to find it. |
| D．To buy a pie, customers have to become an expert in economy. |
| A．reflect on the effect of the Internet |
| B．analyze customers’ online buying history for price strategy |
| C．double check the existence of the purchase |
| D．find out online where the lowest prices are |
| A．The instant mood of the buyer at the time of purchase. |
| B．The necessity level of the item at the time of purchase. |
| C．The extent to which the buyer is sensitive to the price. |
| D．The price of the facility the buyer uses to look for the item. |
| A．The advantages of online shopping over traditional shopping. |
| B．Measures sellers take to maximize profits. |
| C．The analysis of pricing mechanism. |
| D．The battle between buyers and sellers in Internet age. |
7 . The Power of the Press
In modern countries any efforts to restrict the freedom of the press are rightly condemned. However, this freedom can easily be abused.
The story of a poor family that acquired fame and fortune overnight, dramatically illustrates the power of the press. The family lived in Aberdeen, a small town of 23, 000 inhabitants in South Dakota.
The rise to fame was swift.
| A．Television cameras and newspapers carried the news to everyone in the country. |
| B．Stories about people often attract far more public attention than imagined. |
| C．It is hard not to read news about the miserable things happening in the world. |
| D．They were more than happy to make full use of their names. |
| E．It would never again be possible for them to lead normal lives. |
| F．As the parents had five children, life was an endless struggle against poverty. |
Venice, one of Europe’s most historical, romantic, and unique cities, is in danger of drowning — not in one of its famed canals but under the weight of people. Since 1980, there have been more tourists than residents in Venice and right at present the number
Venice is not alone. Croatian favourite Dubrovnik, with history and cultural excellence, is suffering the same fate. There were 5,000 residents in 1991, but in 2017 only 1,157 people were living in the Old Town
Many popular locations have started to apply strategies
9 . For the past three decades, companies and consumers have benefited from cross—border connections that have helped to maintain a steady supply of electronics, clothes, toys and other goods so abundant that it has managed to keep prices low across the board.
However, as the pandemic and the Russia — Ukraine conflict continue to weigh on trade and business ties, that period of plenty appears to be undergoing a partial reversal. Companies are rethinking where to source their products and are stockpiling inventory (库存), even at the potential cost of lowering their efficiency and increasing their operation expense. If the situation lasts for very long,
American economists are debating whether recent supply chain troubles and geopolitical conflicts will result in a shake-up of global production, in which factories that had previously been sent offshore or areas with fewer tax regulations, move back to the United States or into other more stable countries. If this happens, a decades-long decline in the prices of many goods could come to an end. We may even witness a slide backwards, meaning a potential boost in prices and overall inflation as a result.
The period of global integration before the pandemic made many of the things Americans buy cheaper. Computers and other forms of technology made factories more efficient, and they rolled out sneakers, kitchen tables, and electronics at a pace unmatched in history. Companies slashed their production costs by moving factories offshore, where wages were lower. The adoption of steel shipping containers and ever larger cargo ships allowed products to be transported from Bangladesh and China to Seattle and Tupelo and everywhere in between at astonishingly low prices.
Those changes, however, had consequences for American factory workers, who saw many jobs disappear. Katherine Tai, the U. S. trade representative, said that, while American consumers have enjoyed the “luxury” of low prices for imported goods for a long time now, the system upon which it was built has always been a very “fragile” one. Americans are not just consumers, but also workers who have to compete in a global marketplace for talent where globalization “has damaged opportunities and wages for average American workers”.
“Some returning is occurring — let’s make no mistake about that.” Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala., the Director-General of the World Trade Organization, said in an interview. But the data shows that most businesses are reducing their risk by building up their inventories and finding additional suppliers in low-cost countries, such as Vietnam and Mexico. This process could end up helping more deeply integtate poorer countries in Africa and other parts of the world into the global value chains, said Dr. Okonjo-Iweala.
The intertwined trajectory (轨迹) of globalization, low prices, and inflation on the whole will be closely watched by economists over the years to come. “It would certainly be a different world.” Jerome H. Powel, the chair of the Federal Reserve, said when asked about a possible move away from globalization. “It’s not obvious how dramatically conditions will change,” he said. “But it’s clear that it’s slowed down.”
1. Which of the following best fits the blank in Paragraph 2?| A．the trend of global integration |
| B．a shift away from fine-tuned globalization |
| C．the benefit of cheap and plenty goods |
| D．an upcoming economic crash |
| A．A potential decline in prices of goods can be expected. |
| B．American companies may locate their offshore factories in Africa. |
| C．Efficient transportation makes bulk buying convenient for Americans. |
| D．Inflation has a role to play in the shake-up of globalization. |
| A．Katherine Tai takes a neutral position concerning globalization. |
| B．American factory workers face heightened competition from domestic rivals. |
| C．American consumers generally benefited from global integration. |
| D．Exported goods lead to the lower wages of average Americans. |
| A．The Era of Cheap and Plenty May be Ending |
| B．Globalization: Crisis or Opportunities? |
| C．New Winners in the Post-globalization Era |
| D．The Future of Global Economy |
| A. chop B. favored C. physical D. distract E. instruction F. discipline G. regular H. evolve I. covered J. engage K. comprehension |
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