New crime prediction software should reduce not only the murder rate, but the rate of other crimes. Developed by Richard Berk, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, the software has already used in Baltimore and Philadelphia to predict which individuals on probation(缓刑) or parole(假释) are most likely to murder and to be murdered.
“When a person goes on probation or parole he is supervised(监督) by an officer. The question is ‘what level of supervision is appropriate?’” said Berk. It used to be that parole officers used the person’s criminal record, and their judgment to make decisions.
“This research replaces those seat-of-the –pants calculations,” he said.
Technology helps determine level of supervision. On average there is one murder for every 100,000 people. Even among high-risk groups the murder rate is one in 100. Predicting such a rare event is very difficult, but advances in computer technology works.
Years ago, the researchers made a dataset of more than 60,000 various crimes. Using the software they developed, they found some much more likely to commit murder when paroled or probated. They could identify eight future murderers out of 100.
Berk’s software examines roughly two dozen variables(可变因素), from criminal record to geographic location. The type of crimes, and more importantly, the age at which that crime was committed, were two of the most predictive variables.
“People assume that if someone murdered then they will murder in the future,” said Berk. “ What really matters is what that person did as a young individual. Predicting future crimes sounds well. But we aren’t anywhere near being able to do that.”
“Berk’s scientific answer leaves policymakers with difficult questions. By labeling one group of people as high risk, and supervise them closely, there should be fewer murders, which the potential victims should be happy about. It also means that those high-risk individuals will be supervised more aggressively. For human rights advocates, that means punishing people who, most likely, will not commit a crime in the future,” said Bushway. “It comes down to a question of whether you would rather make these errors or those errors.”
1.The underlined words(in Para.3) probably mean___.
A. calculations based on subjective opinions
B. calculations based on widespread voting
C. calculations made by advanced technology
D. calculations based on serious considering
2.For 650 people with crime records, how many potential murderers would the software find?
A. 6.5. B. 13. C. 52. D. 65.
3.From Para 7, we can infer that______.
A. the technology developed by Richard Berk will soon be widely used in the US
B. the technology would not be widely accepted in the short term
C. whether a person murders or not largely decided by his upbringing while young
D. if a person murdered when he was fifty, he is sure to murder again while on probation
4.Bushway’s attitude to the technology put forward by Richard Berk is ____.
A. positive B. negative C. objective D. indifferent
5.Which would be the best title for the passage?
A. Closely Supervise Potential Murders
B. Measures Taken to Prevent Criminal Behavior
C. Technology Revolutionizes Judges’ Way of Working
D. Software is Developed to Predict Criminal Behavior
难度: 困难查看答案及解析
The holidays are a time to give. These charities---and many more—are looking for volunteers and donations.
World Wildlife Fund
The World Wildlife Fund is helping to protect endangered species through the Symbolic Species Adoption program. Those who “adopt” an animal will receive an adoption certificate and a photo of their species. Anyone can support endangered species year round by buying WWF apparel(服装). worldwildlife. Org/giving
DoSomething. org
This month, Dosomething. org launched their holiday campaign, “Grandparents Gone Wired”. The goal of the campaign is to make it easier for senior citizens to keep in touch with their loved ones using the Internet. Teens can volunteer to help seniors in their community. Volunteers are able to win prizes and scholarships. dosomething. org/grandparents
Coins for Change
Disney’s Club Penguin, a virtual gaming site for kids, launched its annual Coins for Change campaign this month. From Dec. 15 to Dec. 27, Club Penguin players can donate virtual coins to real-world causes. If players reach the donation goal, Club Penguin will donate $2 million to charity projects. clubpenguin.com.
Toys for Tots
Each year, the U.S. Marine Corps Toys Program collects new, unwrapped toys for the holidays. Communities across the nation host Toys for Tots drives around the holiday season. The toys collected are given as gifts to needy children so they can experience the joy of Christmas. toyfortots.org
American Red Cross
All you need is a pen and a piece of paper. The American Red Cross Holiday Mail Heroes Program is collecting handwritten card to send to members of the U.S. Armed Forces during the holidays. The charity has also set up a Holiday Giving Catalog where you can buy personal gifts, such as babysitting lessons. redcross.org
The Warm Coats & Warm Hearts Drive
The Warm Coats & Warm Hearts Drive is a non-profit organization sponsored by ABC’s Good Morning America and Burlington Coat Factory. During the holiday season Burlington stores collect gently worn coats. The donated coats are given to people in need to keep warm during the winter. onewarmcoat.org
1.David, 8, is fond of playing virtual games. Which charity should he attend?
A. Coins for Change. B. Toys for Tots.
C. DoSomething,org. D. American Red Cross.
2.Handwritten cards for members of the U.S. Armed Forces are collected by____.
A. Disney’s Club Penguin
B. the Warm Coats& Warm Hearts Drive
C. the U.S. Marine Corps Toys for Tots Program
D. the American Red Cross Holiday Mail for Heroes Program
3.From the passage we can learn that______.
A. Club Penguin donates $2 million to charity projects yearly
B. old toys collected are given to needy children as gifts
C. teens can help seniors contact their family members online
D. whoever donates warm coats is likely to win scholarships
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
A woman was walking her dog along a beach in New Zealand in late June when she saw something that looked like a white ball in the sand. It turned out to be a young Emperor penguin that was lost. At his age, he should have been close to Antarctic, swimming for fish and playing on the ice floes(冰川). But this penguin started swimming north and just kept going.
The penguin attracted a lot of attention in New Zealand. It has been 40 years since an Emperor penguin was last seen there. Researchers at the Department of Conservation were called in. They decided to watch the penguin closely, but not to disturb it in any way. Many New Zealanders came to Peka Peka Beach to look at the elegant penguin. They were careful to keep their dogs away from it so it wouldn’t be frightened.
The public nicknamed the animal Happy Feet. Researchers started to notice that Happy Feet didn’t seem well. It turns out that he had been eating the sand from the beach, likely thinking it was snow.
The public raised more than 11,000 pounds for an operation to get the sand out of his stomach. The operation was a success, and Happy Feet was taken to a zoo in Wellington, NZ. A group of experts met to decide how to help Happy Feet return to the wild.
Last Sunday, they put him on a boat called the Tangaroa, in a specially built ice-filled box and took him out into the Southern Ocean, southeast of New Zealand. There, they released him into the ocean, which is his natural habitat. He took one last look at his human helpers and then dived into the ocean.
“Emperor penguins spend their first five years at sea,” said Peter Simpson of New Zealand’s Department of Conservation. “ What happens now is up to the penguin.”
Happy Feet was fitted with a satellite transmitter(发射机)so they can monitor his progress using the Internet. So far, the trackers shows that he swam northeast for a little while before getting his bearings and heading south.
1.Where is the young penguin supposed to appear?
A. On the sunny beach. B. Near the Antarctic.
C. Inside the hole in the ice. D. In the depths of the ocean.
2.The public collected some money to______.
A. build a home for the penguin
B. get the sand out of the penguin’s belly
C. do some research on the penguin
D. return the penguin to his habitat
3.What does Peter Simpson mean by saying “ What happens now is up to the penguin.”?
A. The penguin needs no protection from human.
B. Human beings can do noting to help penguins.
C. No one knows what will happen to the penguins.
D. Whether the penguin can survive depends on himself.
难度: 困难查看答案及解析
Many children would start school hungry without breakfast clubs, teachers have claimed. A new survey suggests these clubs are the only way many students can get a meal before lessons.
About 54% of the 552 school staff questioned by the Association of Teachers and Lecturers(ATL)said their school provides a breakfast club for pupils. The biggest reason for them to attend these clubs is that their parents or carer goes to work early, cited by 76.8% of those questioned.
About 22.6% said children attended due to lack of money at home because parents or carers are unemployed and 15.2% said lack of money at home due to changes or cuts to benefits.
About 17.6% said pupils mainly attend breakfast clubs to socialize.
The survey found that teachers believe that offering breakfast to pupils often helps improve their concentration and ability to learn. One primary school teacher said: “Although there is a charge for our breakfast club, we have accessed funding for those pupils on free school meals and the breakfast club had an effect on their attendance, concentration and being in school for the start of lessons.
ATL general secretary Dr Roper said a nutritious meal at the start of the day has a huge impact on pupils’ ability to learn. “Many schools do everything they can to ensure children eat well during school term-time. But there are many children living in poverty, who we fear won’t be getting a decent meal a day in the holidays and this is something the government needs to address,” she said.
A Department for Education spokesman said: “We know how important it is for children to
have a good breakfast. We want schools and local authorities to use their budgets to best meet the needs of their children. Many provide breakfast clubs which offer a free meal to children from poorer families. The Pupil Premium, which will double to ￡ 2.5 billion in 2014-2015, targets extra money to help schools to provide support such as this to the most disadvantaged children. The free school meal scheme also ensures that these children have access to a nutritious lunch every day.
1.How many factors are mentioned which can account for the popularity of breakfast clubs?
A. Two. B. Three. C. Four. D. Five.
2.By getting breakfast offered by breakfast clubs, pupils can______.
A. perform better in their study
B. know how they can save money
C. eat better for their lunch and supper
D. make more friends with their classmates
3.The pupil Premium and the free school meal scheme are mentioned in order to show_____.
A. every child should get access to a nutritious meal
B. breakfast clubs play a key role in children’s growth
C. many efforts are made to provide a good and free meal
D. many schools can’t offer a good and free meal to children
4.In which part of a magazine can we probably read this passage?
A. Entertainment. B. Education. C. Culture. D. Health.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
根据短文内容，从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项，选项中有两项为多余选项。
It’s natural to greet friends with a smile and a wave. ____1._______ But what happens if your face and body send mixed messages? Would someone be more likely to believe the look on your face or the way you hold your body?
Scientists have recently tackled these questions. They found that when a person is looking at your face, she might not believe what she sees of your body language doesn’t match the feeling that your face shows. 2. Previously, they had found that the tone of a person’s voice can be more important than the words that are spoken. For example, most people tend not to believe a person who says in a flat voice, “I’m so excited.”
When it came to emotions conveyed by facial expressions and body language, most scientists suspected that the face was more important. To test if this was true, psychologists from the Netherlands and Boston showed people a number of pictures of isolated faces and isolated bodies(with faces blurred out)that showed anger or fear. ___3._____
An angry face had low eyebrows and tight lips. A scared face had high eyebrow and a slightly open mouth. ____4._____ A scared body had arms forward and shoulders square, as if ready to defend.
These results told the researchers that mixed signals can confuse people. Even when people pay attention to the face, body language subtly influences which emotion they read.
5. And if you want to be understood, it helps to avoid sending mixed messages.
Studying such mixed messages is nothing new for scientists.
A. So, your body language is important for telling people how you feel.
B. Scientists feel new to study the mixed message that confuses people.
C. An angry body had arms back and shoulders at an angle, as if ready to fight.
D. Body language can sometimes be misunderstood in different culture backgrounds.
E. When you do this, your face and body work together to show your friends that you’re happy to see them.
F. They also showed pictures in which angry or scared faces were paired with angry or scared bodies.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
My daughter Julie and I went shopping this morning. A little part of me thought about going to another checkout line. This one had the shortest queue, there was only one guy in it, but he was in a ______ and there seemed to be some complications going on.
Well, I stamped on that little part, and we stepped in _______him. At first, he seemed to be having _____ getting his groceries onto the conveyor belt(输送带). But after a while, I _____ that what he was actually doing was dividing them into two lots.
Still, getting the stuff up there was no_______ task in itself. I ____to help, but he and the checkout lady had it under_____. He asked Julie if she would ______ putting his empty basket away. Then he ______for his wallet which was in a pouch(小袋子)on one side of his chair. The way he was positioned and the fact he only had one usable______ made this quite a stretch for him, so I helped there.
What must it be like, I ________, to be so dependent on other people like that?
The checkout operator came around and gave him his _______ and the items he needed to have to hand. I offered to get ________bigger bag and he said, “ No. but you could do me a favor. Take that lot along to the entrance and give it to Angela.”
I _____did that, leaving Julie with our shopping. Angela, it turned out, was collecting food for people who might otherwise go ___! I hadn’t even noticed her before.
This guy, despite the limitation that his ________condition imposed(强加于) on him, had bought more than twice as much shopping as he needed. He may have been _________ physically, but his heart was more than capable of ________ all that. And it changed my idea of _______ when I realized that the help he had given was ________ the help he had received.
1.A. taxi B. wheelchair C. grocery D. bench
2.A. before B. behind C. near D. beyond
3.A. difficulty B. potential C. doubt D. ability
4.A. regretted B. recognized C. requested D. realized
5.A. special B. obvious C. easy D. necessary
6.A. struggled B. offered C. forced D. preferred
7.A. control B. consideration C. repair D. attack
8.A. mind B. finish C. enjoy D. escape
9.A. hoped B. chose C. reached D. begged
10.A. leg B. knee C. foot D. arm
11.A. warned B. wondered C. feared D. insisted
12.A. change B. bill C. note D. coin
13.A. more B. another C. other D. the other
14.A. desperately B. faithfully C. sadly D. Gratefully
15.A. thirsty B. tired C. hungry D. crazy
16.A. mental B. natural C. official D. physical
17.A. admired B. limited C. forgotten D. accepted
18.A. overcoming B. keeping C. passing D. destroying
19.A. pride B. patience C. dependence D. bravery
20.A. other than B. more than C. less than D. rather than
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
Chinese proverbs are rich and they are still widely used in Chinese people’ daily life.___ 1._ these proverbs there are often interesting stories. For example, the proverb, “plucking up a crop ___2.___ (help) it grow”, is based on the following story.
It is said that a short-tempered man in the Song Dynasty(960-1279) was very anxious to help __3.___ rice crop grow up quickly. He was thinking about ___4.__ day and night. But the crop was growing much slower than he expected.
One day, he came up with an idea __5.___ he would pluck up all of his crop a few inches. He did so the next day.
He was very tired __6.__ doing this for a whole day, __7.__ he felt very happy since the crop did "grow" __8.__ (high).
His son heard about this and went to see the crop. Unfortunately the leaves of the crop began to wither.
This proverb is saying we have to let things go in their __9.__ (nature) course. Being too anxious to help an event develop often __10.__ (result) in the contrary to our intention.
难度: 困难查看答案及解析
Good morning, everyone. It’s great honor for me to speak here. My name’s Li Xiaojun, born in a harmonious family. My father and mother are all high school teachers. Influenced by them, I read widely during my early age, but I’ve developed a great interest in arts and sports. I’m easy-going, get along well with my classmates.
It is this personality which helps me win over all my classmates’ friendships, and also help me overcome many difficulties both in academic and personal life. Being admitted in your university has always been a beautiful dream for me. I dream constantly that I, along with mine classmates, will study happy with the help of the respectable professors. I dream that I will swim freely in the sea, enjoying the waves of knowledge.
I hope all my dream will come true in the near future. Thank you.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
假如你是李华，你的外国笔友Mark 想了解你校的近况。正好你校正在开展“提倡节约、反对
浪费”的活动。 请根据下文的提示给Mark写一封电子邮件。
★节约用纸，废纸回收；
★节约用水，珍惜水源；
★节约用电，按时熄灯；
★节约用餐，不乱花钱。
注意：1. 词数100左右；
2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；
3. 开头和结尾已经写好，不计入总数；
4.参考词汇：launch vt. 开展； thrift n. 节俭。
Dear Mark,
I’m very glad you are so interested in our school. _________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
Yours,
Li Hua
难度: 中等查看答案及解析