While the start of a new school year is always exciting, this year was even more so for some elementary school students in Auckland, New Zealand. They became the world’s first kids to be “taught” by a digital teacher. Before you start imagining a human-like robot walking around the classroom, Will is just an avatar that appears on the student’s desktop, or smartphone screen, when ordered to come.
The autonomous animation platform has been modeled after the human brain and nervous system, allowing it to show human-like behavior. The digital teacher is assigned to teach Vector’s “Be sustainable with energy”— a free program for Auckland elementary schools.
Just like the humans it replaced, Will is able to instantly react to the students’ responses to the topic. Thanks to a webcam and microphone, the avatar not only responds to questions the kids may have, but also picks up non-verbal cues. For instance, if a student smiles at Will, he responds by smiling back. This two-way interaction not only helps attract the students’ attention, but also allows the program’s developers to monitor their engagement, and make changes if needed.
Nikhil Ravishankar believes that Will-like avatars could be a novel way to catch the attention of the next generation. He says, “I have a lot of hope in this technology as a means to deliver cost-effective, rich, educational experience in the future.”
The program, in place since August 2018, has been a great success thus far. Ravishankar says, “ What was fascinating to me was the reaction of the children to Will. The way they look at the world is so creative and different, and Will really captured their attention.” However, regardless of how popular it becomes, Will is unlikely to replace human educators any time soon.
1.What was special for some elementary school students in Auckland?
A. A digital teacher taught them.
B. They first saw something digital.
C. This was the start of a new school year.
D. They could get close to smartphone screen.
2.What is the benefit of this two-way interaction?
A. It can smile back. B. It can use microphone.
C. It can talk any topic for free. D. It can change if necessary.
3.What’s Ravishankar’s attitude to Will’s replacing Human educators soon?
A. Optimistic. B. Doubtful.
C. Unclear. D. Disapproving.
4.What might be the best title for the passage?
A. New High-tech Contributes to Education
B. The World’s First Digital Teacher Appears in Classroom.
C. The World’s First Digital Teacher, a Help to Students
D. New Zealand Will Replace Teachers in Classrooms
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
Below you will find a profile of each gap year program. If there is a specific program you are interested in or a question you have regarding these programs, please feel free to contact them directly.
Youth International
Since 1997, Youth International has provided many people with the most exciting and educational experience of their life. It is a learning program that combines international travel, inter-cultural exchange, home stays, volunteer community service work and outdoor adventures.
Phone:1-720-270-3323
Carpe Diem Education
Through volunteer service, travel and cultural exchange, students of Carpe Diem Education receive a personal insight into themselves and their culture. We specialize in guiding summer and semester programs for high school students. Each course is carefully crafted to develop leadership and self-awareness within our students, who return home better prepared to be leaders in thought and action.
Phone:503-285-1800
Center for Interim Programs
Founded in 1980, the Center for Interim Programs is the first independent gap year organization in America. Based or students' interests and budget, our experienced teachers help make individual course choices including low cost volunteer options, language programs, research trips, and so on. We are committed to helping students find more experiences of formal education and work.
Phone:413-585-0980
EF Gap Year
An EF Gap Year offers students the ability to explore several countries where you will learn a language, volunteer for a good cause gain international work experience 12-week semester or 26-week academic. Choose between a personalize your program to meet your learning. You can then by deciding where, when, and how you wish to stand interests own. Our well-structured curriculum even allows you to have college-level classes and earn credits toward graduation.
Phone:1-800-726-9746
1.Which phone number can you dial if you want to improve your leadership?
A.1-720-270-3323 B.503-285-1800
C.413-585-0980 D.1-800-726-9746
2.What is EF Gap Year's unique feature?
A.Its reasonable fee.
B.Its experienced teachers
C.Its flexible study time.
D.Its diverse curriculum choices
3.What do the four programs have in common?
A.They pay attention to volunteer service work.
B.They combine education with home stays.
C.They mainly offer cross-cultural education.
D.They raise students' interest in adventure.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
In a long-sleeved shirt and jeans, Dieudonne Twahirwa looks nothing like the traditional African farmer. The 30-year-old owner of Gashora Farm knows what a difference that makes.
“You need more role models,” he said, standing among knee-high rows of chilli (辣椒) plants. “If you have young farmers, they have land and they drive to the farm, others may think, ‘Why can’t I do that?’”
Mr. Twahirwa, a university graduate, bought a friend’s tomato farm six years ago for $ 150. He made $ 1, 500 back in two months. “You have to link farming with entrepreneurship and real numbers,” he said.
Many young Africans are abandoning areas in the countryside, choosing not to work hard and for a long time in fields — a job made tougher by climate change.
But Twahirwa is one of the growing band of successful farmers working to make agriculture’s image on the continent more attractive. Some 1, 000 farmers now produce chillies for him. He is starting a fourth farm of his own, and exports fresh and dried chillies and oil to Britain, the United States, India and Kenya.
Africa has the world’s youngest population and 65 percent uncultivated arable land (耕地后备资源).Yet accessing land and loans is difficult, and African productivity is low with crop yields just 56 percent of the international average.
“Agriculture is mainly associated with suffering and no young person wants to suffer,” said Tamara Kaunda. She believes African agriculture needs a change to get rid of its old-fashioned image of very hard and tiring work with a hoe. “Show young people with tractors, green fields, nice irrigation systems smartphones,” she said.
Getting young people involved in agriculture does not mean they have to work on a farm. For example, in coffee production, the beans go from the farm to the washing station , then to be separated from the husks (外壳).
1.What does “Why can’t I do that?” in Paragraph 2 mean?
A.Why can’t I drive to the farm?
B.Why can’t they farm?
C.They follow the example of those farmers.
D.They bought a friend’s tomato farm.
2.What makes it harder for farmers to work?
A.Poor land.
B.Climate.
C.Low income.
D.Long working hours.
3.What can we learn about Twahirwa according to Paragraph 5 ?
A.He made a fortune by growing chillies.
B.His chillies are try growing chillies.
C.Farmers working for him live a simple life.
D.The locals aren't willing to buy his chillies.
4.When it comes to agriculture in Africa, what do people think about it?
A.Loans are difficult.
B.Most land is uncultivated.
C.Crop yields are rather low
D.Farming methods are out of date
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
A large body of research has been developed in recent years to explain many aspects of willpower. Most of the researchers exploring self-control do so with an obvious goal in mind: How can willpower be strengthened? If willpower is truly a limited resource, as the research suggests, what can be done to make it stay strong?
Avoiding temptation (诱惑) is an effective method for maintaining self-control, which is called the “out of sight, out of mind” principle. One recent study, for instance, found office workers less attracted to candy in the desk drawer than that on top of their desks, in plain sight.
The research suggesting that we possess a limited reservoir of self-control raises a troubling question. When we face too many temptations, are we to fail? Not necessarily. Researchers don’t believe that one’s willpower is ever completely exhausted. Rather, people appear to hold some willpower in reserve, saved for future demands. The right motivation allows us to tap into those reserves, allowing us to carry on even when our self-control strength has been run down. High motivation might help overcome weakened willpower-at least to a point.
Willpower may also be made less vulnerable（脆弱）to being exhausted in the first place. Researchers who study self-control often describe it as being like a muscle that gets tired with heavy use. But there is another aspect to the muscle comparison, they say. While muscles become exhausted by exercise in the short term, they are strengthened by regular exercise in the long term. Similarly, regular practices of self-control may improve willpower strength.
The evidence from willpower-exhaustion studies also suggests that making a list of resolutions on New Year’s Eve is the worst possible approach. Being exhausted in one area can reduce willpower in other areas, so it makes more sense to focus on a single goal at a time. In other words, don’t try to quit smoking, adopt a healthy diet and start a new exercise plan at the same time. Taking goals one by one is a better approach. Once a good habit is in place, Baumeister says, you’ll no longer need to draw on your willpower to maintain the behavior. Eventually healthy habits will become routine, and won’t require making decisions at all.
1.From the studies in the passage we learn that .
A. people have unlimited self-control
B. high motivation ensures one’s success
C. willpower is hardly completely exhausted
D. too many temptations often lead to failure
2.The underlined phrase “tap into” in Paragraph 3 most probably means .
A. make use of B. run out of
C. build D. increase
3.The author compares self –control to muscles .
A. to prove the long-term effect of willpower
B. to show the significance of regular exercise
C. to argue that self-control can he easily used up
D. to explain the benefits of practicing self-control
4.To develop a good habit, which of the following does the author prefer?
A. “I will give up dessert and do exercise.”
B. “I will set three goals this new semester.”
C. “I will read an English novel every month.”
D. “I will keep myself from any temptation.”
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
假定你是李华，你们学校的美国交换生 John 准备参加“外国讲中国成语（idiom）故事”比赛，他发邮件请你给予辅导。请你回复一封邮件，内容包括：
1. 答应帮助；
2. 提出建议；
3. 询问辅导时间与地点。
注意：1. 词数100左右；
2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
Dear John,
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Yours,
Li Hua
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
How to Become an Activist (活动家)
Activists are people who see the need for change and devote their time to doing something about it. 1. If you are interested in it you can do so.
2. This could be anything from a student club to a national organization (like the American Civil Liberties Union or the National Organizers Alliance). Most activist organizations offer different levels of involvement, so you can do whatever you feel most comfortable with, whether that means attending meetings and demonstrations or just donating a little money when you can.
Volunteer your time. One of the best ways to make a difference is to volunteer your time. Reach out to organizations in your community that do work for your cause, and ask how you can help.
Donate money or supplies.3. If you can’t afford to donate money to an organization that supports yours cause, you may be able to donate other thing, they need, like clothing or canned food.
Reach out to family and friends. Tell your family and friends about your cause, and invite them to get involved. If they are interested, share literature about your cause or just talk to them about what you have learned.4.
Promote your cause on social media. You can use social media to help keep your friends and followers informed about the causes you support.5. Also, you can invite your friends to attend events or donate to fundraisers for your cause.
A.Take classes on issues related to your cause.
B.Join an organization that supports your cause.
C.They are driven by passion and a vision for a better future.
D.If you do volunteer work, invite them to volunteer with you.
E.Most activists or charitable organizations need resources to do their work.
F.Post useful articles and write about what you are doing to stay involved.
G.If you can’t reach out `to them in person, then try connecting to people online.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
Two years ago, my friend and I were at college. With his birthday quickly _______, he came to me with an unusual _______: instead of receiving presents, he wanted to do some acts of kindness.
I was _______ with such an idea. _______ instead of taking for the birthday was really different. I asked him how he could come up with such a _______ idea. He told me about a TED talk he had watched on generosity, which had _______ him. So we started to _______ creative things we could do.
Our university employed some security guards to _______ its students. They have to work _______, keeping watch on every corner throughout the university. For the most part it's a thankless job as most people grow __________ to seeing the guards all around and eventually __________ notice their presence, let alone acknowledging their efforts. How could we show them our appreciation?
We decided to make a large pot of hot __________. We hired a car and asked the driver to take us around the campus where we knew the __________ would be and we poured them each a cup of hot chocolate. The driver was __________ a bit doubtful about the entire plan but after a while he was helping us __________ the guards and our lively spirit had __________ to him as well. We met with many __________ and appreciative words. It was amazing to a __________ act or even an intention of generosity can lift everyone’s spirit.
I now realize that special energy is created when you choose to think bigger than yourself and act in __________ of others. You’ll find it’s actually the greatest __________ you’ve never got, especially when it’s your birthday.
1.A.ending B.passing C.advancing D.approaching
2.A.order B.request C.problem D.story
3.A.struck B.blessed C.burdened D.bored
4.A.Refusing B.Earning C.Giving D.Donating
5.A.complex B.novel C.familiar D.traditional
6.A.controlled B.supported C.inspired D.rewarded
7.A.plan out B.turn on C.watch for D.hold back
8.A.judge B.help C.monitor D.protect
9.A.step by step B.around the clock C.more or less D.now and then
10.A.addicted B.devoted C.attached D.accustomed
11.A.barely B.just C.always D.generally
12.A.tea B.milk C.porridge D.chocolate
13.A.worker B.students C.guards D.drivers
14.A.finally B.initially C.occasionally D.frequently
15.A.remind B.track C.spot D.recognize
16.A.spread B.moved C.happened D.returned
17.A.friends B.difficulties C.greetings D.smiles
18.A.similar B.small C.daily D.modest
19.A.service B.place C.charge D.memor
20.A.lesson B.attention C.gift D.care
难度: 困难查看答案及解析
阅读下面短文，在空白处填入 1 个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。
A teahouse is a special house which primarily serves tea and other light refreshments (茶点). Its function varies widely 1. (depend) on the culture. In China, a teahouse is a place 2. people gather to enjoy tea, chat and socialize. It 3. (consider) as a symbol of Chinese tea culture and people’s leisure lives.
Chinese teahouses enjoy a long-standing history. They developed from tea 4. (stand) in the Western Jin dynasty, took shape in the Tang dynasty, developed 5. (gradual) in the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties an became booming in modern times.
In the Song dynasty, teahouses existed all over cities and villages, 6. a rate comparable with that of restaurants. The owners preferred to decorate their teahouses with paintings celebrities and rare and precious plants 7. (attract) customers. In the Ming and Qing dynasties, the number of teahouses went beyond that of restaurants, gaining more 8. (popular) and becoming more famous. Later, the acculturation (文化移入) of western culture forced traditional Chinese teahouses to take on 9. new look. After reform and opening-up, with the rapid development of the economy and 10. (evidence) improvement of people's living standards, teahouses flowered in China.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文，请你修改你同桌写的以下作文。文中共有10处语言 错误，每句中最处错误仅涉及一个单词的增加、并在其下面写出该加的词。
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号（∧），并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线（\）划掉。
修改：在错的词下画一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1. 每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；
2. 只允许修改10 处，多者（从第 11 处起）不计分。
Last term our class hold a meaningful activity which required us to form the good habit in 100 days. I paired up with my deskmate. First, we discussed what habit that we should develop. All of us agreed to read for half an hour each day. Then we made a list of the books we were interested. From then on, we managed to spare half an hour every day to reading books, however busy we were. Beside, we took a lot of notes and often exchanged idea. In the end, we accomplished our goal of reading for 100 days. How proudly we were! More importantly, due to the activity, reading books have become an essential part of our life.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析