Jenny was the only child in her family. She had a quarrel with her mother that afternoon and she ran out of the house angrily. She couldn’t help weeping (哭泣) sorrowfully (悲伤地) when she thought of the scolding (责骂) from her mother.Having wandered (游荡) aimlessly in the street for hours, she felt a little hungry and wished for something to eat.She stood beside a stand (货摊) for a while, watching the middle-aged seller busy doing his business. However, with no money in hand, she gave a sigh (叹气) and had to leave. The seller behind the stand noticed the young girl and asked, “Hey, girl, you want to have the noodles?” “Oh, yes, but I don’t have money on me,” she replied.
“That’s nothing. I’ll treat you today,” said the man “Come in.” The seller brought her a bowl of noodles, the smell so attractive. As she was eating, Jenny cried silently. “What is it?” asked the man kindly. “Nothing. Actually, I was just touched by your kindness!” said Jenny as she wiped (擦拭) her tears. “Even a stranger on the street will give me a bowl of noodles, while my mother drove me out of the house.She showed no care for me. She is so merciless (无情的) compared to a stranger!” Hearing the words, the seller smiled, “Girl, do you really think so? I only gave you a bowl of noodles and you thanked me a lot. But it is your mother who has raised you since you were a baby. Can you number the times she cooked for you? Have you expressed your gratitude (感激) to her?” Jenny sat there, speechless and numb (麻木的) with shock; she remembered her mother’s familiar face and weathered (变形) hands. “Why didn’t I think of that? A bowl of noodles from a stranger made me feel indebted (感激的). Why haven’t I thanked my mum for what she has done for me?” On the way home, Jenny made up her mind to make an apology to her mother for her rudeness as soon as she arrived home.
Approaching the doorway,
A gentle touch on her hair called her mind back.
Thank you!
You’ve heard that plastic is polluting the oceans — between 4.8 and 12.7 million tonnes enter ocean ecosystems every year. But does one plastic straw or cup really make a difference? Artist Benjamin Von Wong wants you to know that it does. He builds massive sculptures out of plastic garbage, forcing viewers to re-examine their relationship to single-use plastic products.
At the beginning of the year, the artist built a piece called “Strawpocalypse,” a pair of 10-foot-tall plastic waves, frozen mid-crash. Made of 168,000 plastic straws collected from several volunteer beach cleanups, the sculpture made its first appearance at the Estella Place shopping center in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
Just 9% of global plastic waste is recycled. Plastic straws are by no means the biggest source (来源) of plastic pollution, but they’ve recently come under fire because most people don’t need them to drink with and, because of their small size and weight, they cannot be recycled. Every straw that’s part of Von Wong’s artwork likely came from a drink that someone used for only a few minutes. Once the drink is gone, the straw will take centuries to disappear.
In a piece from 2018, Von Wong wanted to illustrate (说明) a specific statistic: Every 60 seconds, a truckload’s worth of plastic enters the ocean. For this work, titled “Truckload of Plastic,” Von Wong and a group of volunteers collected more than 10,000 pieces of plastic, which were then tied together to look like they’d been dumped (倾倒) from a truck all at once.
Von Wong hopes that his work will also help pressure big companies to reduce their plastic footprint.
1．What are Von Wong’s artworks intended for?| A．Beautifying the city he lives in. | B．Introducing eco-friendly products. |
| C．Drawing public attention to plastic waste. | D．Reducing garbage on the beach. |
| A．To show the difficulty of their recycling. |
| B．To explain why they are useful. |
| C．To voice his views on modern art. |
| D．To find a substitute for them. |
| A．Calming. | B．Disturbing. |
| C．Refreshing. | D．Challenging. |
| A．Artists’ Opinions on Plastic Safety |
| B．Media Interest in Contemporary Art |
| C．Responsibility Demanded of Big Companies |
| D．Ocean Plastics Transformed into Sculptures |
A lesson in trust
“Come on, Tuck,” I said, patting the floor of the 4Runner (越野车). “Load. Let’s go for a walk.” Tuck danced nervously at my feet, then sat and looked up at me with sad eyes. He wouldn’t jump in.
This was my first afternoon with the three-year-old border collie (德国牧羊犬) I was adopting, and it was time for the daily hike.
I’d taken Tuck in reluctantly, as a temporary solution for Tammy, my friend. She was trying to find a new home for the dog. Tuck was adopted from a pet store and had been kept long in a cage there, leaving him long-lasting trauma (创伤).
Tammy knew why I wasn’t willing to give Tuck a permanent home. Three months earlier, I’d lost my beloved Bantam, the border collie who’d been my rock for 12 years. I wasn’t ready to let a new dog into my life for good. But I’d agreed to help Tammy out while she continued her search.
Tuck wouldn’t load, no matter how much I coaxed (劝诱). Knowing there was always a reason for a dog’s behavior, I finally lifted the dog up and placed him in the back. “Load,” I said, teaching him the command. “Good boy.”
But every day, when it came time to load for our hike, Tuck still didn’t trust my invitation. At the end of the second week, I became impatient.
Actually, Tuck was a sweet dog and seemed to love everyone. He had this boyish enthusiasm toward strangers.
Days crept into a third week. I found myself appreciating Tuck for who he was. One afternoon, he came to the steps where I sat. He shyly looked at me, then walked over and put one big foot on my knee. At that very moment, I realized that he did show affection, in his own way. But he still refused to load for our hike.
Why wouldn’t Tuck jump into the car?
The next afternoon, I called Tuck over and let him watch as I removed the cage from the car.
Some people worry that there’s too much technology in our lives.And they may have a point, given how countless people now carry the internet around in their pocket and use it as a primary form of communication. It’s practically difficult to shun technology in our world. There are computer microchips(微芯片) in our watches, our cars, light switches, even our pets! Where will it end?
Well, if certain people have their way, it’ ll go even further. We’ll have microchips implanted(植入) into our brains that can interact with the computers by thought alone. It may sound like something from the science fiction, but in many ways, things look quite promising. Thanks to the ability to send and receive information remotely via computers microchips and other related devices have long been put into brains.
For example, electrodes have been implanted in the brains of epilepsy patients to better record and even predict the abnormal neurological activity. Similarly, deep-brain stimulation, through implanted devices that cause activity in key brain regions, is an established treatment for things like Parkinson’s disease, and is even being looked into for illnesses like depression.
However,it’s another thing to place such devices in healthy individuals. There are the practical concerns,not least of which is what these chips will be made of. The inside of the brain is a mass of highly reactive chemicals and electrical activity. Implants would need to be inert(静止的) enough to not upset the delicate processes by their presence, but also sensitive enough to read and process the activity around them.Current technology has made impressive progress with this, but if it were to be rolled out to millions of people, we’d need to be 100 per cent certain that it’s safe.
How many people will actually want to have technology literally put into their brain? A surprising 60 per cent of Americans say they’d be okay with it, but that’s when it’s purely theoretical. In reality, the possibility of having strangers stick chips in your brain is likely to prove unattractive, especially for a population where millions get mad at fictional microchips in vaccines(疫苗), and even more are frightened of dentists.
Ultimately, the technology of computer-brain interface(接口) implants is still far away from us.
1．What does the underlined word “shun” in paragraph 1 probably mean?| A．Develop. | B．Avoid. | C．Change. | D．Trust. |
| A．The possible treatment for particular diseases. |
| B．The process of human-computer interaction. |
| C．The existing application of microchip implants. |
| D．The future of microchips and devices alike. |
| A．They may reject it. |
| B．They may expect it. |
| C．They may adjust to it. |
| D．They may feel curious about it. |
| A．Computer-brain interface: The light of the future |
| B．Innovation is necessary to make progress |
| C．Where are we in the medical technology? |
| D．Mind-controlled tech: Is it possible? |
Pickled (腌制的) vegetables, fish and meat preserved in salt, and bread baked in a circle with a hole in the middle (e.g. bagels), were once the foods for the poor of all backgrounds in central and eastern Europe. But it was Jewish immigrants (犹太移民) who brought these recipes to the West, particularly to America, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Bagels and pickled foods became mainstays of Jewish deli (熟食店) cuisine,which are the subject of an exhibition at the New-York Historical Society called “I’ll Have What She’s Having”. The exhibition implicitly (含蓄地) asks whether a cuisine that has been enjoyed by millions and helped define the taste of New York City continues to be lively today.
There is a distinctly sad tone to it. Though some foods exist over several decades, the number of Jewish delis in America has dropped sharply. Black-and-white pictures of long-gone people eating at long-gone places line the exhibition’s walls. After all, the Jewish deli is a product of a bygone era,shaped by immigration, discrimination and inner-city life. As immigrants’ children fit in with the locals and moved away, the deli became one of many dining choices — less a center of communal Jewish life and more a pleasant place to occasionally cat and talk about the past.
Meanwhile, deli food itself has crossed its limits. For a while, McDonald’s in Germany offered a “Grilled Texas Bagel”. That is a senseless phrase to a deli expert: a decent bagel belongs nowhere near a grill and has nothing to do with Texas. But it suggests that bagels — like pizza, hot dogs and other foods once only consumed by particular ethnicities — now come across less as specifically Jewish than as broadly American.
The most hopeful part of the exhibit is at the end: a case of menus from modern delis across the country. They were founded by young Jewish chefs determined to keep their culinary (烹饪的) traditions alive — not because discrimination left them no other way out, but because the food is delicious, inspiring, and an irreplaceable part of America’s culinary landscape.
1．What is the theme of this exhibition?| A．The history of New York. |
| B．The foods of Jewish delis. |
| C．The recipes for Jewish foods. |
| D．The Jewish communities in New York. |
| A．They cannot provide delivery service. |
| B．They have lost their original special flavor. |
| C．They don’t suit the tastes of young Jewish people. |
| D．They can bring back memories of Jewish immigrants. |
| A．Deli experts aren’t big fans of meaningless names. |
| B．People think bagels are more of an American food. |
| C．Texans aren’t very good at baking satisfactory bagels. |
| D．McDonald’s in Germany prefers American foods to Jewish ones. |
| A．Proud. | B．Worried. | C．Carefree. | D．Disappointed. |
Whom should you marry? Where should you live? How should you spend your time? For centuries, people have relied on their gut instincts (直觉) to figure out the answers to these life-changing questions. Now, though, there is a better way. We are living through a data explosion, as vast amounts of information about all aspects of human behavior have become more and more accessible. We can use this big data to help determine the best course to chart.
There has long been overwhelming—and often surprising—evidence that algorithms (算法) can be much better than people at making difficult decisions. Researchers have collected data on various kinds of choices people make, the information they base those choices on, and how things turn out. They have found, for example, that a simple data-driven algorithm would have been better than judges at deciding whether a defendant should stay in prison or be released; better than doctors at deciding whether a patient should undergo surgery; and better than school principals at deciding which teachers should be promoted.
The power of data analysis has been proved in the sports and business worlds, too. As made famous by the book and movie Moneyball, baseball teams found that algorithms were better than scouts (星探) at picking players, and better than managers at picking strategies. In finance, the hedge fund Renaissance Technologies dramatically defeated competitors by seeking out patterns in stock market data and using them to inform its investment strategy. Tech firms in Silicon Valley have found that data from experiments provides better insights into how to design their websites than designers could.
These are the early days of the data revolution in decision-making. I am not claiming that we can completely count on algorithms to make our lifestyle choices, though we might get to that point in the future. I am claiming instead that we can all dramatically improve our decision-making by consulting evidence mined from thousands or millions of people who faced dilemmas similar to ours. And we can do that now.
1．What’s the main idea of the passage?| A．Big data is a double-edged sword. |
| B．Data revolution will change people’s life. |
| C．Big data is helpful in making important decisions. |
| D．Algorithms behaves better than people in many fields. |
| A．court rulings | B．job promotions |
| C．operative estimation | D．teaching practices |
| A．To provide further evidence. | B．To show potential applications. |
| C．To encourage the use of big data. | D．To explain how to use algorithms. |
| A．Algorithms offer perfect advice now. |
| B．Big data will certainly cause a revolution. |
| C．Big data can make up for our lack of experience. |
| D．Algorithms are bound to be fully trusted in the future. |
I’ll admit it. I can be a complainer. After all, there’s so much in this life to complain about: the dirty clothes that don’t make it into the basket, that annoying neighbor’s loud music, my husband’s shoes spread out at the front door, rainy days, traffic...
Complaining is a habit I cultivated since childhood, a skill I developed through the years. My parents didn’t seem to mind—they were great complainers, too—though I do recall some eye-rolling and long-drawn sighs from friends and schoolmates when I would voice my negative opinions. In fact, I can distinctly recall the exact moment when I first realized my complaining habit reached its expert level.
One day, as I reminded ray husband once again to remove his bills from the dining-room table, put his shoes away, and lower that bothersome radio, he put up his hand.“Stop! You’re your complaining. It’s driving me crazy.”
I looked at him blank-eyed.
He took a deep breath. “You never hear me complaining, do you?”
“Well,” I answered, “you’re complaining about my complaining, so actually, yes, I am hearing you complain right now.”
His eyes widened. A drop of sweat formed his upper lip. Then he grabbed his car keys and ran out of the door.
Perhaps I’d gone too far, I thought. Maybe I really did complain too much. But, what to do about it? After all, it had been a lifetime habit. And habits are hard to break.
I took a break and sat down to think about solution. When I felt annoyed, I could lock myself in the bathroom and scream. No. The neighbors would probably hear me. Phone a friend? She probably wouldn’t be a friend for very long. Then it hit me.
I’d been in the habit of keeping a journal for most of my life. It provided a sort of timeline for me，and I liked to review past entries occasionally to review the path I had been on at that point. Journaling kept me honest with myself, and I liked it for that reason. Perhaps, I though, a complaint journal might be the answer I was seeking.
That day, I decided to give it a try.
Besides the improved relationship with my husband, I saw other effects soon. .
We all know that water is tasteless. But it happens from time to time: you pick up the bottle of water you didn’t finish yesterday, and it tastes strange. Most often, you tend to drop the bottle in the trash bin, believing that the water has gone bad. But is it true?
According to Time, of course not, taste has little to do with quality of water.
According to Time, when water is exposed to the air for 12 hours, carbon dioxide interacts with the H2O in the water, and the pH value lowers slightly. As a result, the water has a different taste.
“But it’s most likely safe to drink,” Norwegian expert Truls Krogh told Science Nordic. “If the water is covered and of good quality to start with, in principle it can last a thousand years. That’s because when water is fresh, it contains little organic matter. As long as water is held in clean glasses or bottles, no pollutants will enter it to harm our health.”
People in countries like the US, the UK and Australia usually drink tap water. According to Time, if tap water is drunk within six months, the chlorine (氯气) in the water will be enough to kill any bacteria and keep it safe to drink.
However, there are also some exceptions. If you accidentally put your fingers into water or store water in unclean containers day after day, microorganism (微生物) will enter the water.
With the help of surrounding temperature, and sunlight streaming through windows, these microorganisms multiply quickly. Sooner or later, the water will be in the charge of the unfriendly bacteria. And if you drink the water too often, then you’re more likely to be ill.
And what about water in plastic bottles? Heat and plastic are a bad combination, US researcher Kellogg Schwab stresses. When plastic bottles are used at high temperatures, they produce a chemical called BPA. BPA is something that affects hormones (荷尔蒙) and research has tentatively linked it to “several health damage, including heart disease and cancer”, Time reported.
Schwab suggests replacing disposable (一次性的) plastic bottles with the refillable containers made of metal or glass to deal with BPA.
1．The purpose of the first paragraph is to ________________.| A．show an example | B．draw a conclusion |
| C．analyze a phenomenon | D．introduce a topic |
| A．If the water tastes different, we shouldn’t drink it. |
| B．The water held in a clean container is likely safe to drink. |
| C．Although kept fresh, water may still have much organic matter. |
| D．Covered water can last for a thousand years. |
| A．BPA does little harm to our health. |
| B．Tap water is always safe to drink. |
| C．Microorganisms are easy to produce in the heat. |
| D．Disposable plastic bottles have been banned already. |
| A．Why Water is Tasteless | B．How to Get Clean Water |
| C．Does Water Really Go Bad? | D．Learn to Protect Water |
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