1 . The United Kingdom is hosting the AI Safety Summit, bringing politicians, computer scientists and big AI company leaders to a site chosen for its symbolism: Bletchley Park, the birthplace of computing and code-breaking (密码破译).
During World War II, a group of mathematicians, chess masters and other experts gathered at the Victorian country house 72 kilometers northwest of London to start a secret war against Nazi Germany. Their goal was to break a set of constantly changing codes produced by Nazi Germany’s Enigma machine. To do it, Bletchley Park’s wartime scientists — building on work done by Polish code-breakers — developed Colossus, the first programmable digital computer. Some historians say cracking the code helped shorten the war by up to two years.
“It has oversimplified its true contribution by describing Bletchley Park as a playground for Turing and other scientists.” said historian Chris Smith, author of The Hidden History of Bletchley Park. “Although it fits into the romantic idea that a group of smart men with a bit of wool and some yards of wire can win the war. In fact, almost 10,000 people worked at Bletchley Park during the war. Three quarters of them were women. It’s basically a factory... Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. When peace came, the code-breakers returned to civilian life and promised to keep secret about their wartime work. It was not until the 1970s that the work at Bletchley Park became widely known in Britain.”
In 1994, the site opened as a museum, after local historians banded together to prevent it from being pulled down to build a supermarket. It was restored to its 1940s appearance, complete with old typewriters, phones and cups—including the one tied to a heater in Hut 8, where Turing led the Enigma team.
1. What can we learn about Colossus?| A．It was invented by Nazi Germany. |
| B．It was designed to send secret messages. |
| C．Polish code-breakers also made a contribution to it. |
| D．The project’s goal was to produce the first computer. |
| A．Women’s hard work was overlooked. | B．The secret should not be kept for so long. |
| C．The computer ought to be more powerful. | D．It is silly to say the machine shortened the war. |
| A．To highlight the government’s support. | B．To show the perfect restoration of the site. |
| C．To stress Turing’s important role in the project. | D．To tell the difficulty in collecting the lost items. |
| A．To advocate women’s equal rights with men. |
| B．To advertise a newly restored computer museum. |
| C．To show the significance of an important meeting. |
| D．To add some background to the AI safety meeting. |
2 . It was December 25, 1914, only 5 months into World War Ⅰ. German, British, and French soldiers already sick and tired of the senseless killing, disobeyed their superiors and fraternized (打得火热) with “the enemy” along two-thirds of the Western Front. German troops held Christmas trees up out of the trenches (战壕) with signs, “Merry Christmas.”
“You no shoot, we no shoot.” Thousands of troops streamed across a no-man’s land filled with dead bodies. They sang Christmas carols, exchanged photographs of loved ones back home, shared rations, played football, and even roasted some pigs. Soldiers embraced (拥抱) men they had been trying to kill a few short hours before. They agreed to warn each other if the Generals (将军) forced them to fire their weapons, and to aim high.
It shocked the high command on either side. Here was disaster in the making: soldiers declaring their brotherhood with each other and refusing to fight. Generals on both sides declared this peacemaking to be wrong. Fifteen million would be killed.
Not many people have heard the story of the Christmas Truce. On Christmas Day, 1988, a story in the Boston Globe mentioned that a local FM radio host played “Christmas in the Trenches” several times and was surprised by the effect. The song became the most requested recording during the holidays in Boston on several FM stations. “Some callers even telephone the host deeply moved, sometimes in tears, asking, ‘What the hell did I just hear?’”
You can probably guess why the callers were in tears. The Christmas Truce story goes against most of what we have been taught about people. It gives us a glimpse of the world as we wish it could be and says, “This really happened once.” It reminds us of those thoughts we keep hidden away, ou of range of the TV and newspaper stories that tell us how trivial (微不足道的) and mean human life is. It is like hearing that our deepest wishes really are true: the world really could be different.
1. What is the main idea of the second paragraph?| A．Troops celebrated their victories. | B．Generals forced their army to fight back. |
| C．Soldiers made peace with their enemies. | D．Soldiers decided to give in to their enemies. |
| A．A fierce war. | B．Many deaths. | C．A peaceful world. | D．Many heroes. |
| A．They experienced the war. | B．They lost loved ones in the war. |
| C．They valued the life in peace. | D．They desired to protect their motherland. |
| A．Being against wars. | B．Cherishing today’s happiness. |
| C．Remembering heroes. | D．Showing no respect for life. |
