1 . Sometimes a book comes along that isn’t just “interesting” or “well done”— it’s a book where it seems like the author looked into your brain and wrote a book specifically for you. A book like that for me was released this week. It’s called 100 Things We’ve Lost to the Internet, written by editor Pamela Paul.
Paul lists 100 things we used to do that the Internet has either changed or taken over completely: writing letters, print newspapers, the joys of being bored, and not having all the knowledge in the world in your pocket.
As I’m a longtime accumulator of random knowledge, certain entries on the list—Being the Only One, Figuring Out Who That Actor is—hit me where live; remembering detailed facts is no longer nearly as impressive when everyone has the capability to find the answer in seconds.
On and on the list goes, with every minor shift adding to the pile. What this book does so well is illustrate the growth of that pile; while any individual item might be no big deal, the collected set is significant. It’s a list of ways in which the world now is different from the world then.
Obviously, Paul isn’t saying that everything back then was better. Time marches on, after all. and it’s tough to argue against the many benefits that the Internet has brought into our lives. But that isn’t really the point. It’s not about whether it used to be better. It’s that it used to be different.
100 Things We’ve Lost to the Internet is a fun read for those of us who share some of Paul’s memories and experiences. We remember what it was like and we like to remember. The landscape has shifted, and no doubt it will shift again as technology’s advancement continues apace. This book serves as a reminder of the simple truth that when gains are made, sometimes something is lost.
1. What is the purpose of the text?| A．To review and recommend a good read. |
| B．To comment on the effect of the Internet. |
| C．To argue for the viewpoint of a new book. |
| D．To urge the readers to value what they have. |
| A．Maps and Eye Contact. |
| B．E-pay and Compact Disks. |
| C．Postcards and Homeschooling |
| D．Bad Photos and Washing Machines. |
| A．Prove what I’m good at. |
| B．Introduce how I grew up. |
| C．Describe the place I live in. |
| D．Speak out what is on my mind. |
| A．Things in the past are better. |
| B．There’re no gains without pains. |
| C．The internet is a double-edged sword. |
| D．Technology is constantly changing the world. |
2 . “In time, we will put our eyes to this light and see that these people are the peers of nature. And forgivingly, when they appear we will lift up our song and sing, and say we cannot praise too much of any single thing.” It may read like poetry, but these lines weren’t composed by a poet — they were written by an artificial intelligence (AI).
It appeared in early December on the face of the UK Pavilion (展馆) at Expo 2020 in Dubai, and it was created from a single word chosen by a visitor to the pavilion, which was then fed to an AI that had previously been trained with millions of lines of poetry. The result forms part of a “Collective Message” — a continuous poetry shown on the bar screens arranged in a circle at one end of the cone-shaped (锥形) pavilion, which was designed by Es Devlin, a British artist whose previous works includes stage sets for the London 2012 Olympic Closing Ceremony. She is the first female designer of a UK pavilion since the Expo started in 1851.
Devlin’s inspiration to create Collective Message came from famed scientist Stephen Hawking. In 2015, three years before his death, he approved a competition in which people were invited to submit a potential message for an advanced alien civilization, with the goal of meaningfully representing mankind and our planet.
In a similar way, visitors to the pavilion are encouraged to send a message to the AI and acknowledge the role that AI plays in our lives. “We don’t want this thing just to be like a museum with lots of different exhibits, and we really want something that visitors could engage with,” says Stuart Bradbury of creative agency Avantgarde, “The AI was created specifically for this project, many AI experts and social organizations, including the Poetry Archive, the Poetry Society and the Scottish Poetry Library, worked with developers to train and improve AI output over six months, and we think we’ve created something really special.”
1. Who is the designer of the Collective Message?| A．Stephen Hawking. | B．Stuart Bradbury. |
| C．Es Devlin. | D．Poetry Archive. |
| A．To introduce the theme of the Expo 2020. |
| B．To popularize the world-famous scientist. |
| C．To state the source of inspiration for this project. |
| D．To increase the authority of the design of the pavilion. |
| A．Es Devlin is the first female artist in British history. |
| B．Es Devlin is as well known as Stephen Hawking. |
| C．All visitors acknowledged the role that AI plays in their lives. |
| D．The AI had been previously trained with millions of lines of poetry. |
| A．Creative inspiration is everywhere. |
| B．Visitors are encouraged to compose poems. |
| C．Poems written by a computer light up the UK Pavilion at Expo Dubai. |
| D．An AI that can write poems was created successfully. |
