From a young age, my parents have taught me the importance of giving generously to the less fortunate. Out of ______, whenever there is something I can ______, I give it to someone on the street.
Last week, _______ I left the house to run a few errands (差事)，I carried with me some old clothes, some food and a handbag to hand over to someone ______.
As the car ______ at the traffic signal, I saw a girl of five or six asking for money. I ______ her to come to me and quickly ______ all the things I had. As I started handing them over, she seemed _____. She looked up at me with a sweet smile on her face and asked what was in the ______. I told her there were some clothes and food for her.
____ she looked up at me and asked, “Can you give me some water?” It was then that I noticed her ______ lips. It seemed as if she had not had a drop of water all day.
I ______ my bottle of water that I always carried with me and helped her to drink from it. She finished it quickly and gave me a heartwarming smile of ______ .
I was thankful that I could ______ her simple wish! I realized once again that day that you don’t necessarily have to make big ______ to help someone. This experience ______ once again my belief in the ______ acts of kindness and how they can make someone’s ______.
The next time you want to do something nice for someone, don’t ______, waiting for the right chance. ______ and do it.
1.A. habit B. respect C. sympathy D. kindness
2.A. afford B. get C. spare D. serve
3.A. until B. as C. once D. before
4.A. needy B. sick C. disabled D. sad
5.A. parked B. stared C. turned D. paused
6.A. phoned B. signaled C. advised D. allowed
7.A. collected B. fetched C. packed D. threw
8.A. ashamed B. upset C. embarrassed D. astonished
9.A. car B. bag C. bottle D. clothes
10.A. Then B. Next C. Again D. But
11.A. dirty B. pale C. thick D. dry
12.A. pointed out B. took out C. gave out D. picked out
13.A. happiness B. pleasure C. appreciation D. welcome
14.A. satisfy B. attain C. promise D. realize
15.A. differences B. ambitions C. achievements D. donations
16.A. found B. doubted C. proved D. showed
17.A. unique B. simple C. reliable D. polite
18.A. day B. fortune C. dream D. life
19.A. hold on B. hold up C. hold down D. hold back
20.A. Speed up B. Take care C. Go ahead D. Look out
A kiln (窑) is a type of oven or furnace used to cure (加工处理), harden, or burn certain materials. Depending on which materials are heated in it, a kiln may be square, tunnel shaped, or beehive shaped, and usually made of brick or stone. 1. It may be set as low as sixty-five degrees to cure grain or as high as 3,200 degrees to transform limestone to quicklime (熟石灰).
2. They have a variety of purposes. The cement (水泥) industry uses revolving kilns to heat and separate raw materials. Bricks, pottery, and china made from clay must be fired, or hardened, in kilns. Certain kinds of coal and wood must be kiln-dried （在窑里烘干的）before they can be used. Hobbyists use small kilns to fire a variety of ceramic (陶瓷) objects.
There are two main types of kilns. A periodic kiln, used to fire certain kinds of delicate china, is raised to a high temperature and then completely cooled before its contents are removed. A continuous, or tunnel kiln contains several chambers, or zones, which heat, bake, and cool a product. Stacks of clay bricks move through a tunnel kiln on tracks. 3.
Gas, oil, and coal are all used to heat modern kilns. 4. But for special jobs, where cleanliness and careful heat（绝热）are important, kilns must be heated by electricity oven though it is more expensive. Small kilns used in the home or in craft shops are also heated electrically because electricity is clean and convenient.
5. When ancient people discovered that heat hardened some materials, they were able to make durable household objects such as jugs and bowls. Today our museums display many kinds of ancient statues and art objects that have lasted because they had been kiln-dried. They come from lands as far apart as China and Greece.
A. Its temperature may vary.
B. Then they come out, hardened, and cooled.
C. Kilns are used in industry and in craft-making.
D. Kilns have been in use for thousands of years.
E. An electric kiln is a heating chamber used to transform materials.
F. Most manufacturers use whichever material is cheapest in their area.
G. Clay, when heated properly, becomes hard enough to form bowls and plates.
The human beings seem to be facing a crisis （危机）． After Our best Go players were defeated one by one by the artificial intelligence (AI) AlphaGo, we lost our pride of being at the top of the intelligence chain. And in October，when Saudi Arabia gave citizenship to a robot named Sophia, another privilege of being human was take away．It looks like everything that separates humans and AI is at risk fight now．
But we keep hoping that instead of “everything ”, there’s still something left in us that makes us irreplaceable.
To Hao Jingfang, winner of the 2016 Hugo Award for Best Novelette, that “something” is our consciousness. “AlphaGo is intelligent in a certain way, but not intelligent enough to ask the important questions – Do I like playing Co? Do I want to play Go today? Why do I have to play Go when you tell me to?” she once said．In other words, computer programs don’t have a choice to say “no”． They probably don’t even know what a “choice” is – all they ever do is calculate．
And to He Huaihong，a philosophy (哲学) professor at Peking University，imagination and creativity are also what make us special. A machine couldn’t have come up with the theory of gravity just because it was hit by a falling apple，he said．It’s human imagination that connects what seem to be completely random and irrelevant concepts，something that a machine—which works by fixed rules only—can't do，at least for now．
This is why BBC reporter Viktor Mayer-Schonberger suggested that instead of focusing on how computers have overshadowed us on calculating abilities than humans，we should probably “consider our quality at a different end of the spectrum (光谱)：creativity，originality (原创性)，even plain illogical craziness，instead of hard-nosed (顽固的) logic”，he wrote．
So maybe in the future，as artificial intelligence becomes even more intelligent，humans and A1 will learn to use each other’s talents for good．If AI can handle the boring tasks like calculating and driving for us，we’ll have more time to create，think，and be busy with “being human”．
1.What can we learn about AlphaGo，according to Hao Jingfang?
A. It will be taught to say no in the future．
B. It will be more intelligent than humans one day．
C. It has difficulty answering personal questions．
D. It is unable to think independently as humans do．
2.What does He Huaihong believe is unique to humans?
A. Intelligence． B. Originality．
C. The ability to make rules． D. The ability to make choices．
3.What does the underlined word “overshadowed” in paragraph 5 probably mean?
A. Competed with B. Taken control of
C. Been more successful than D. Influenced
4.What could be the future of AI according to the author?
A. It will be used to help humans，rather than compete with us．
B. It may develop creativity besides better logical thinking．
C. It might be very dangerous to humans in different fields．
D. It will be applied to provide driving service for humans．
As the world’s population grows, farmers will need to produce more and more food. And large farms are increasingly using precision farming to increase yields (产量), reduce waste, and reduce the economic and security risks that inevitably accompany agricultural uncertainty.
Traditional farming relies on managing entire fields—making decisions related to planting, harvesting, irrigating, and applying pesticides and fertilizer (农药和化肥)—based on regional conditions and historical data. Precision farming, by contrast, combines sensors, robots, GPS, mapping tools and data-analytics software to customize（量身定制）the care that plants receive without increasing labor. Robot-mounted sensors and camera-equipped drones (无人机) wirelessly send images and data on individual plants to a computer, which looks for signs of health and stress. Farmers receive the feedback in real time and then deliver water, pesticide or fertilizer in adjusted doses（剂量）to only the areas that need it. The technology can also help farmers decide when to plant and harvest crops.
As a result, precision farming can improve time management, reduce water and chemical use, and produce healthier crops and higher yields—all of which benefit farmers’ bottom lines and conserve resources while reducing chemical runoff.
Many small businesses are developing new software, sensors, and other tools for precision farming, as are large companies such as Monsanto, John Deere, Bayer, Dow and DuPont. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration all support precision farming, and many colleges now offer course work on the topic.
In a related development, seed producers are applying technology to improve plant characteristics. By following individual plants over time and analyzing which ones flourish in different conditions, companies can relate the plants’ response to their environments with their genomics (基因组学). That information, in turn, allows the companies to produce seed varieties that will grow well in specific soil and weather conditions. This advanced technology may also help to improve crop nutrition.
Farmers do not universally welcome precision agriculture for various reasons, such as high equipment costs and lack of access to the Internet. The technology may bring great challenges to experienced farmers who are not good at computers. And large systems will also be beyond the reach of many small farming operations in developing nations. But less expensive, simpler systems could potentially be applied. For others, though, cost savings in the long run may reduce the financial concerns. And however reticent some farmers may be to adopt new technology, the next generation of farmers are likely to warm to the approach.
1.Precision farming differs from traditional farming partly because it ________.
A. guarantees high yields with more labor
B. relies on regional conditions and historical data
C. offers plenty of water, pesticides and fertilizer
D. provides real time information about target crops
2.About precision farming, we can learn that________.
A. the government holds a cautious attitude
B. it draws positive responses from businesses
C. seed producers have already made huge profits
D. large systems will soon be built in developing nations
3.The underlined word “reticent” in the last paragraph probably means ________.
A. disappointed B. confused
C. unwilling D. shocked
4.What is the best title for the passage?
A. Precision Farming Increases Crop Yields
B. More Challenges Faced by Modern Farmers
C. Development of Farming Systems in the U.S.
D. Traditional Farming is Gradually Disappearing
Billie Holiday was an American jazz singer and songwriter. Nicknamed Lady Day by her loyal friend and musical partner, Lester Young, Holiday had a great influence on jazz and pop singing. Her voiced style, strongly inspired by jazz instrumentalists, pioneered a new way of controlling tempo (节奏). Above all, she was admired for her deeply personal and direct approach to singing.
She co-wrote a few songs, and several of them have become jazz standards, notably God Bless the Child, Don’t Explain, and Lady Sings the Blues. She also became famous for singing jazz standards written by others, including Easy Living and Strange Fruit.
Her early career is hard to track down with accuracy. But she later gained work singing in local jazz clubs before being spotted by a talent scout (星探), John Hammond in 1933.
Her voice and recordings were loved for the depth of emotion and intensity she could bring to classic standards. Her range of voice was not the greatest, but her extraordinary low rough voice was soon to become very famous and influential.
She was an important icon (偶像) of the jazz era and influential in the development of jazz singing. In the late 1930s, she began singing a civil rights song called Strange Fruit, a song which told the tale of a lynching (用私刑处死) of a black man in the Deep South. It was very controversial for that period and it was not played on radios. It was recorded for Commodore Records and she performed it many times over the next 20 years.
Billie Holiday had a difficult upbringing which influenced her attitude toward life. She experienced many violent relationships. She also became increasingly dependent on various drugs which contributed to her early death in 1959, aged just 44.
1.What made Holiday develop a new way of controlling tempo?
A. Her musical partner. B. Her voiced style.
C. Jazz instrumentalists. D. Her direct approach to singing.
2.Why was the song Strange Fruit banned on radios?
A. It was about a cruel story. B. It was recorded very badly.
C. It concerned civil rights. D. It was performed many times.
3.It can be learned from the text that Holiday _____.
A. had the greatest range of voice
B. was gifted and had a happy childhood
C. wrote a few songs including Easy Living
D. was famous for her voice and way of singing
4.Which of the following had a great effect on Holiday?
a. John Hammond
b. Her independence
c. Jazz instrumentalists
d. Her hard experiences of growing
A. a, b, c B. a, b, d
C. a, c, d D. b, c, d
A layover (临时滞留) or flight delay can be extremely fun in these international airports.
Munich Airport, Germany
Aviation (航空) lovers passing through Munich can take a behind－the－scenes tour to learn how the airport operates. Visitors can also tour three historic aircraft and a retired rescue helicopter, climb up to a 28－metre high observation platform for an up－close view of take－offs and landings, and watch films on aviation in the airport's 60－seat cinema. Travelers can also kill layover time at an 18－hole mini－golf course, or even stop in for a teeth cleaning at the airport dental office.
Changi Airport, Singapore
After a long flight to Singapore, travelers can relax in a Balinese－style swimming pool, work out at the airport gym, or enjoy a drink and live musical performances at the airport's Music Bar. The airport also boasts a tranquil butterfly garden, and a “fragrant garden” which is home to 15 species of plants and trees. Free movies at one of two airport cinemas also keep passengers entertained.
Schiphol Amsterdam Airport, the Netherlands
Schiphol is Europe's fifth－largest airport. Here passengers can view the works of Dutch masters free of charge, and try their luck at airport's casino (赌场). You can even have your wedding ceremony at Schiphol—couples can choose from four different wedding packages, including a 1930－style ceremony held on a Dakota military aircraft.
San Francisco International Airport, California
The airport's 24－hour AirTrain not only moves passengers between terminal, but also provides a fun view of the runways. There are three aquariums (水族馆) to explore, along with interactive play areas, an aviation museum, and a library. If that's not enough to keep the little ones busy, travelers can rent portable DVD players and movies for use in the airport.
1.What can travelers do at the Munich Airport?
A. They can have their teeth cleaned.
B. They can watch free films in the 28－seat cinema.
C. They can visit one of three aquariums.
D. They can relax in a swimming pool.
2.Which is the unique feature of the Schiphol Amsterdam Airport?
A. Passengers can play golf there.
B. Passengers can get married there.
C. Passengers can see a retired rescue helicopter.
D. Passengers can visit a Munich military aircraft.
3.Which airport was designed with kids in mind?
A. Munich Airport. B. Changi Airport.
C. Schiphol Amsterdam Airport. D. San Francisco International Airport.
