Directions: Read the following passage. Fill in each blank with a proper sentence given in the box. Each sentence can be used only once. Note that there are two more sentences than you need.
The Podcast (播客) Boom
Do you prefer to watch TV or listen to the radio? There was a time when some people thought moving pictures would spell the end of tuning in to the radio for entertainment and information. But radio survived and boomed. 1.
Perhaps the growth in podcasting is not surprising-it offers a digital audio file that can be downloaded and stored for listening at any time. It can also be streamed from the internet and played on a computer or MP3 player. And it’s not just broadcasters, like the BBC, who are producing podcasts: now commercial broadcasters, individuals and companies with no connection to broadcasting are making them. In fact, anyone with something to say, and a few pounds to spend on the equipment, can get involved.
The digital audio files are cheap to produce and, thanks to the internet, easy to distribute. 2. Journalist Ben Hammersley told the BBC that “two changes transformed the market-one cultural and one technical.” A technical breakthrough came in 2012 when Apple produced the iPhone podcast app, which proved a popular library system for listeners. This was followed by a dramatic improvement in inexpensive recording production and editing equipment. Finally, the development of 4G mobile phone connections and widespread wi-fi meant listeners could browse, download or stream shows whenever they wanted.
3. It was a piece of investigative journalism hosted by Sarah Koenig, telling a non-fiction story over multiple episodes (集). To date, the first and second seasons of the show have had more than 340 million downloads. Advertisers soon realized the money-making potential of this and other successful podcasts. And where the audience goes, the money follows. From 2017 to 2018 advertising spending on podcasts in the UK went from $10.6m(£8.5m) to $19.7m, an 85% increase, according to Ovum.
4. In fact, as Ben Hammersley explains, podcasting has brought people into broadcasting who would normally never have seen the inside of a recording studio. “There are of course professional podcasters, but there are many more people who create quality content and do it for nothing,” he says. “And that is changing not just the way we listen to audio but the way the broadcasting industry works.”
A.The cultural breakthrough came in 2014 with a very specific podcast-Serial.
B.But if you are a celebrity, podcasts can provide a new branch of business.
C.And now, despite the growth in smartphones offering high-definition pictures, the popularity of podcasts is booming.
D.Now the boom in podcasting embraces a huge range of talent, from professional broadcasters to enthusiasts offering insights on anything and everything.
E.Podcasts offer a chance to speak to a very precise selection of people.
F.But where did this trend for making portable audio programmes begin?
高三英语六选四困难题
Directions: Read the following passage. Fill in each blank with a proper sentence given in the box. Each sentence can be used only once. Note that there are two more sentences than you need.
No matter what the reason, though, juggling more than one job is guaranteed to be a crash course in time management. If you’re not careful, the word “crash” could become more than figurative.
We all know that we’ll have to figure out a time management system when we take on a second job. Equally obvious is the fact that what works for one person (and their jobs) probably won’t work for anyone else. 1. There are a few tricks, though, that can help.
2.. Even if you are the boss on your second job——you’re working for yourself——you have an obligation to keep that work separate from you day job. Focus on what’s in front of you. There’s actually a benefit to punching a clock when you work for more than one supervisor. When you’re on the clock for Company A, you know exactly which projects you should be working on. If Company A is paying for this time, you should be theirs, heart and soul, at least until you clock out.
Good records can also help. I’m not just talking about the calendars and task lists most of us rely on, either. Making sure that you have any contact information available no matter whether you’re at Job A, Job B or home can take some extra effort, but it’s worth it. 3.
I know plenty of people who bring their work to their primary job. It seems to be a favorite tactic of folks starting up a freelancing career or small business. I don’t think that’s the best way to manage a packed schedule. If you don’t have your primary employer’s permission, the best advice is to just keep things quiet. Give preference to the employer who is paying you for this specific chunk of time.
Some companies don’t want you to work anywhere else. They want you to put in your eight hours, go home, sleep well and come back rested. Others consider employees who go looking for other projects as its benefits —— such employees have a jump start on networking and have a wider variety of experiences.
4.. Because it can be very hard to figure out your boss’s attitude, the general rule seems to be that you keep quiet on your extracurricular activities. I wouldn’t talk about Job A at Job B, although, if my boss was to bring up the matter, I’d be entirely truthful.
A. Priority should definitely be given to your day job.
B. The same goes for your notes and other paperwork.
C. It’s up to you to find a system and stick with it.
D. Sometimes it is no easy task to make decisions between Job A and Job B.
E. Keep firm dividers between your different jobs.
F. Unfortunately, most supervisors do not come with a label which variety they are.
高三英语六选四困难题查看答案及解析
Directions: Read the following passage. Fill in each blank with a proper sentence given in the box. Each sentence can be used only once. Note that there are two more sentences than you need.
No one enjoys the moment. You are stuck at the back of a queue and as those in other lines move ahead and get served, the time to decide arrives. 1.
This question has now been solved by researchers at Harvard Business School. According to what they have found in a new study, they suggest people think twice before switching queues.
The research was led by Ryan Buell, an expert in service management. He looked into consumer queuing behavior after working with economists on what is known as “last-place aversion,” the discomfort people feel when they know they earn less than others or consider themselves at the bottom of the social pile for some other reason. As a result of this aversion to being the last, when a person finds himself at the end of a queue, he can make decisions that he will later regret.
Buell began by observing people at a multi-checkout grocery store and then set up an online survey. People who took part in the survey were told it would take about five minutes. In reality, it took only one minute, but when participants logged in for the survey, they were forced to wait in a virtual queue displayed on the screen. They started at the back and could wait, switch to a second queue or choose to leave.
2. On average, however, those who switched waited 10 percent longer than if they had stayed put. Those who switched twice ended up waiting 67 percent longer than if they had never moved.
“When we join a queue, we tend to make the most rational choice we can, which means joining the shortest queue. 3. Unfortunately, we can often get it wrong,” said Buell.
4. After that, the aversion fades. The researcher suggests people have a chat with the person in front so that they can pass the time more comfortably until someone else joins behind them. “Remember that the person in front of you was the last until you arrived, so someone will show up if you hang around long enough,” Buell said.
A. If we see a line moving faster, we might switch without having enough extra information.
B. About one in five people grew impatient at the back of the queue and switched to the other line in the hope of speeding things up.
C. Do you hold your nerve and stay put, switch to another line in the hope it moves faster, or give up altogether?
D. Based on his study, Buell says people should think hard about switching queues when they are the last in a line.
E. In an unpublished working paper on the research, Buell notes that people tend to feel unhappiest at the back of a queue for the first 10 seconds or so.
F. Although the number of people behind you has nothing to do with how long you are going to wait, it shapes your behavior.
高三英语六选四中等难度题查看答案及解析
Directions: Read the following passage. Fill in each blank with a proper sentence given in the box. Each sentence can be used only once. Note that there are two more sentences than you need.
The Ban on Trading Ivory(象牙) is Unfair but Necessary
As in some countries elephant population have recovered, there are competing proposals about how absolute the ban on elephant trading should be. Countries seeking a modest relaxation have a strong case to make. But it is not strong enough. The ban must stay.
Understandably, countries that have done a good job protecting their elephants feel this is unfair. 1. And the real burden of all this is borne by poor local people who are in competition with wildlife for resources, and sometimes in conflict with it—elephants can be destructive. People and governments, so the argument goes, need to have an economic stake(利害关系) in the elephants’ survival. The ivory trade would give them one.
To understand why these reasonable-sounding proposals should be rejected, consider what
has happened to elephant numbers since some legal trade was authorised, when Botswana, Namibia and South Africa were allowed in 2007 to sell a fixed amount of ivory to Japan. 2.
A survey conducted in 2014-15 estimated that elephant numbers had fallen by 30% across 18 countries since 2007.
3. In better-resourced national parks, drones are used to make it easier for park keepers to spot illegal hunters. DNA testing of ivory can identify where they came from, and thus whether they are legal. As prices of the technologies fall and countries get richer, both technologies are likely to spread.
The objection to trade in products of endangered species is not moral. When the world is confident that it will boost elephant numbers rather than wipe them out, the ivory trade should be encouraged. 4. And until it does, the best hope for the elephant—and even more endangered species, such as rhinos(犀牛)—lies not in easing the ban on trading their products, but in enforcing it better.
A. Regrettably, that point has not yet come.
B. Elephant numbers started falling.
C. The existence of even a small legal market increases the opportunities for illegal trade.
D. They point out that they have devoted huge resources to the elephant.
E. In the long run technology can help make trade coexist with conservation.
F. One animal, as so often in the past, will attract much of the attention: the African elephant.
高三英语六选四困难题查看答案及解析
Directions: Read the following passage. Fill in each blank with a proper sentence given in the box. Each sentence can be used only once. Note that there are two more sentences than you need.
Search for a Human Face for Robots
Looking for a $130,000 payday? Geomiq, a British engineering and manufacturing firm is searching for a “kind and friendly” face to be the face of a robot once it goes into production. “This will entail（需要）the selected person’s face being reproduced on potentially thousands of versions of the robots worldwide,” Geomiq says in a blog post about the project.
Robots have been at the forefront of technology for decades, and are widely considered the future of our technological advancement. With the number of adults over 85 expected to triple by 2050, according to some estimates, robots designed to keep the elderly company are becoming increasingly common. 1.
They do things like responding to voice commands, offering proactive（积极主动的）notifications and advice and letting relatives monitor conditions at home. There is still a long way to go but new robotic products are coming into fruition all the time. Geomiq says the robot line has been in the works for five years and will result in a companion for seniors.
The designer has noted in an interview with a select press pool that they can’t release too many details at this stage. 2. The designer has also stressed that unsuccessful candidates will not be contacted. The company says the need for anonymity（匿名）is due to the secretive nature of the project. However, it believes the robot will soon be “readily available” to the public and hopes the campaign will create extra buzz ahead of its eventual release. “We know that this is an extremely unique request, and signing over the licenses to your face is potentially an extremely big decision,” Geomiq said.
3. The designer has said that the project has been in development for five years, and in that time frame taken on investment from some independent venture capitals as well as a top fund based in Shanghai. the company says the robots’ purpose will be to act as a “virtual friend” for elderly people and is set to go into production next year.
The blog past doesn’t share age or gender parameters（参数）. 4. Candidates who make it to the next phase will get full details on the project. “The secrecy,” Geomiq says, “is due to non-disclosure agreement it’s signed with the robot’s designer and investors.”
A. A technology company wants to buy the rights to use someone’s face for its robots.
B. It just asks people who want to license their face to submit a photo via email for the chance at $130,000.
C. It is a once - in - a - while opportunity for the right person.
D. They also serve a practical purpose.
E. The company is privately - funded.
F. However, ideal candidates will be given the specifics of the project.
高三英语六选四困难题查看答案及解析
Directions: Read the following passage. Fill in each blank with a proper sentence given in the box. Each sentence can be used only once. Note that there are two more sentences than you need.
Essential Creativity
In a recent survey in America, 62% of people said that creativity was more important to success in the workplace than they had anticipated it would be when they were in school.
1. It is of course possible to scan people’s brains and see which parts are firing when an idea is created, but rather more romantically it can be thought of as something that cannot be identified. Creativity is what comes to you when you least expect it. You cannot demand creativity from your mind, nor can you demand that you are creative in a particular way.
One misconception about creativity is that it is reserved for a few special people. This is not true. 2. Another misconception is that creativity is all about the arts but this simply isn’t true: creativity extends to maths and science in just the way it does to music and literature.
Those who see things differently to others and are confident enough to make their ideas a reality are the ones who make the greatest changes in the world. Consequently, it is incredibly important that schools do not prevent creativity. 3. Students should be taught to ask questions and investigate when things do not make sense. They need to learn to view mistakes as opportunities for learning rather than something that was unsuccessful.
It is worrying that many schools are less concerned now with nurturing creativity when this is the most important time in history for it. It used to be that people worked hard, went to university, and got a job. That was it. But now, everyone works hard, goes to university — and there aren’t the jobs out there that guarantee a safe future. 4. We can use it to set ourselves apart, and channel it to face the challenges of the future.
A. Creativity is associated with many factors.
B. Rather, they should work to expand, grow, and exercise it.
C. Without creativity, we are indistinguishable from the masses.
D. However, creativity can be acquired at any age.
E. It’s hard to work out where exactly creativity comes from.
F. Everyone has the capacity to be creative.
高三英语六选四中等难度题查看答案及解析
Directions: Read the following passage. Fill in each blank with a proper sentence given in the box. Each sentence can be used only once. Note that there are two more sentences than you need.
South Africa still has a long way to go on the right to food
Fifty-four percent of South Africans are hungry or at risk of hunger. Hunger affects people’s health, as well as their ability to live full and productive lives because the rights to dignity, health and education are affected by hunger.
1. There are significant race, class and gender differences. For example, black South Africans are 22 times more likely to be food insecure compared with white South Africans. Food insecurity is defined as not having physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food that meets dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life.
This unequal distribution indicates a situation of severe food injustice in South Africa. Yet from the research with urban farmers it’s clear that people do not know of the right to food, and don’t see unequal access to nutritious food as an injustice. 2.While there are frequent protests around access to jobs, education, housing, water and electricity, we rarely, if ever, see protests about access to food.
One of the drivers of unequal access to food is the way in which the industrial food system works. For example, a few large companies dominate each aspect of the food value chain. 3. Because the large companies dominate the supply chain, they are able to maximize profits at the expense of small-scale producers, to whom they pay very low prices.
4.It needs to ensure that marginalized producers, processors and retailers have an opportunity to earn a decent living. At the same time corporate dominance needs to be addressed.
Anyway, at the most basic level, it requires that South Africans know they have a right to food in the first place.
A. As a result, questions of hunger are largely absent in South African politics.
B. Handling food injustice requires a transformation of the undesirable structure of the food system.
C. Therefore, the government has put forward numerous food and nutrition security programs to fight against hunger.
D. This means that smaller scale producers, processors and retailers are squeezed out.
E. Hunger, lack of nutrition and related illnesses are not equally spread.
F. There are international examples of governments taking their obligations seriously with regard to the right to food.
高三英语六选四中等难度题查看答案及解析
Directions: Read the following passage. Fill in each blank with a proper sentence given in the box. Each sentence can be used only once. Note that there are two more sentences than you need.
There’s no denying crows are smart. They can remember where food has been hidden, recognize faces and craft tools. And, according to a new paper in Scientific Reports, some crows can even make those tools from memory. This skill may point to these clever corvids having a sort of culture of their own.
Researchers, led by Sarah Jelbert at the University of Cambridge, worked specifically with New Caledonian crows. 1. But experts haven’t been able to make sure where the crows pick up their skills. A bird in one area can construct the same tool as another bird miles away — but there’s no evidence bird one watched bird two build the gadget in order to copy it. And New Caledonian crows don’t really have a language, either.
2. Jelbert and her team had a hunch(预感) that it was because the birds were building based on the memory of tools they’d seen.
To test this, the group trained eight crows to place pieces of paper into a pseudo-vending machine (really just a wooden box) to get a treat. 3. Once they learned which sizes were rewarded, Jelbert and her team then gave the feathered participants large cards; the birds could fashion these into the coin sizes they’d picked up on earlier. Importantly, the crows didn’t get any sort of template(模板) when they were working with the big cards. And the birds snipped them into pieces that were similar in size to the coins they’d learned would get them treats.
Given the lack of a template to copy, it seems the crows were able to construct mental images of the coins and use it to replicate a tool. 4. These birds can see something and not just build it from memory, but potentially make improvements in their designs. “Most importantly,” the authors say in the study, “an improvement made by a crow during its lifetime could become part of the template learnt by subsequent generations, leading to an increase in tool complexity over time.” And this progression is a key component of cultural progression.
Jelbert and her team recognize there’s still work to be done to see if their hypothesis is solid, like testing how long the crows can remember their mental images of the tools.
A. So if they’re not building by imitation or carrying out instructions, how is this knowledge getting passed around?
B. Crafting tool is a kind of culture, which can be passed down from generation to generation by crows.
C. However, the crows only got treats when they popped in a paper “coin” of a certain size.
D. These birds, native to the islands of New Caledonia east of Australia, are known for their ability to craft tools.
E. Seeing this in action is important because it supports the idea that New Caledonian crows are capable of building — at least when it comes to crafting tools.
F. Jelbert and her team then gave the crows paper to let them cut into proper size.
高三英语六选四中等难度题查看答案及解析
Directions: Read the following passage. Fill in each blank with a proper sentence given in the box. Each sentence can be used only once. Note that there are two more sentences than you need.
How the British and American Tell Children’s Stories
If Harry Potter and Huckleberry Finn were each to represent British versus American children’s literature, a curious situation would emerge : In a literary competition for the hearts and minds of children, one is a wizard(巫师)- in - training at a boarding school in the Scottish Highlands, while the other is a barefoot boy drifting down the Mississippi, bothered by cheats, slave hunters, and thieves. One defeats evil with a magic stick, the other takes to a raft(筏)to right a social wrong. 1.
The small island of Great Britain is an unquestionably powerhouse of children’s bestsellers: Alice in Wonderland, Harry Potter, and The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Significantly, all are fantasies. 2. Stories like The Call of the Wild. Charlotte’s Web, Little Women, and the Adventures of Tom Sawyer are more notable for their realistic portraits of day-to-day life in the towns and farmlands on the growing frontier. If British children gathered in the dim light of the kitchen fireplace to hear stories about magic swords and talking bears, American children sat at their mother’s knee listening tales with moral messages about a world where life was hard, obedience emphasized, and Christian morality valued. Each style has its virtues, but the British approach undoubtedly creates the kinds of stories that appeal to the furthest reaches of children’s imagination.
3. For one, the British have always been in touch with their pagan(异教徒的)folk traditions and stories, says Maria Tatar, a Harvard professor of children’s literature. After all, the country’s very origin story is about a young king tutored by a wizard. Legends have always been accepted as history, from Merlin to Macbeth. “Even as the British were digging into these magical worlds, Americans, much more realistic, always viewed their soil as something to exploit,” says Tatar.
American write fantasies too, but nothing like the British, says Jerry Griswold, a San Diego State University professor of children’s literature. He said, “4.” To prove it, he mentioned Dorothy, the heroine of Wizard of Oz(绿野仙踪)who unmasks the great and powerful Wizard as a cheat. Meanwhile, American fantasies differ in another way: They usually end with a moral lesson learned - for example, in Oz, Dorothy’s journey ends with the realization: “There’s no place like home.”
A.It all goes back to each country’s distinct cultural heritage.
B.American stories are rooted in realism; even our fantasies are rooted in realism.
C.Both boys are characterized by their unique roles, thus breathing life into the fancy stories.
D.Meanwhile, the United States, also a major player in children’s classics, deals much less in magic.
E.Britain’s time-honored countryside, with ancient castles and restful farms, lends itself to fairy-tale invention.
F.Both orphans took over the world of children’s literature, but their stories unfold in noticeable different ways.
高三英语六选四简单题查看答案及解析
Directions: Read the following passage. Fill in each blank with a proper sentence given in the box. Each sentence can be used only once. Note that there are two more sentences than you need.
The Podcast (播客) Boom
Do you prefer to watch TV or listen to the radio? There was a time when some people thought moving pictures would spell the end of tuning in to the radio for entertainment and information. But radio survived and boomed. 1.
Perhaps the growth in podcasting is not surprising-it offers a digital audio file that can be downloaded and stored for listening at any time. It can also be streamed from the internet and played on a computer or MP3 player. And it’s not just broadcasters, like the BBC, who are producing podcasts: now commercial broadcasters, individuals and companies with no connection to broadcasting are making them. In fact, anyone with something to say, and a few pounds to spend on the equipment, can get involved.
The digital audio files are cheap to produce and, thanks to the internet, easy to distribute. 2. Journalist Ben Hammersley told the BBC that “two changes transformed the market-one cultural and one technical.” A technical breakthrough came in 2012 when Apple produced the iPhone podcast app, which proved a popular library system for listeners. This was followed by a dramatic improvement in inexpensive recording production and editing equipment. Finally, the development of 4G mobile phone connections and widespread wi-fi meant listeners could browse, download or stream shows whenever they wanted.
3. It was a piece of investigative journalism hosted by Sarah Koenig, telling a non-fiction story over multiple episodes (集). To date, the first and second seasons of the show have had more than 340 million downloads. Advertisers soon realized the money-making potential of this and other successful podcasts. And where the audience goes, the money follows. From 2017 to 2018 advertising spending on podcasts in the UK went from $10.6m(£8.5m) to $19.7m, an 85% increase, according to Ovum.
4. In fact, as Ben Hammersley explains, podcasting has brought people into broadcasting who would normally never have seen the inside of a recording studio. “There are of course professional podcasters, but there are many more people who create quality content and do it for nothing,” he says. “And that is changing not just the way we listen to audio but the way the broadcasting industry works.”
A.The cultural breakthrough came in 2014 with a very specific podcast-Serial.
B.But if you are a celebrity, podcasts can provide a new branch of business.
C.And now, despite the growth in smartphones offering high-definition pictures, the popularity of podcasts is booming.
D.Now the boom in podcasting embraces a huge range of talent, from professional broadcasters to enthusiasts offering insights on anything and everything.
E.Podcasts offer a chance to speak to a very precise selection of people.
F.But where did this trend for making portable audio programmes begin?
高三英语六选四困难题查看答案及解析
Directions: Read the following passage. Fill in each blank with a proper sentence given in the box. Each sentence can be used only once. Note that there are two more sentences than you need.
Ecotourism can put wild animals at risk
Ecotourism has become increasingly popular in recent years. 1. There travelers visit natural environments to fund conservation efforts or promote local economies.
Now, scientists have analyzed more than 100 research studies on how ecotourism affects wild animals. They find the presence of humans changes the way animals behave, and those changes may put them at risk. Therefore, they concluded that such trips can be harmful to the animals.
When animals interact in seemingly kind ways with humans, they may let down their guard. 2.. If this transfers to their interactions with predators（捕食者）, they are more likely to be injured or killed.
The presence of humans can also discourage natural predators. It creates a kind of safe place for smaller animals that may make them bolder. For example, in Grand Teton National Park, elk and pronghorns in areas with more tourists are less alert and spend more time eating.
3. “If animals become accustomed to tourists and if tourism practices enhance this taming, we might create unintended consequences - affecting the behavior or population of a species and influencing the species’ function in its community,” the researchers write.
Ecotourism has effects similar to those of animal domestication and urbanization. Research has shown that domesticated silver foxes become more obedient and less fearful. Fox squirrels and birds that live in urbanized areas are slower to flee from danger. 4.
Scientists hope the new analysis will encourage more research into the interactions between people and wildlife. It is essential to develop further understanding of how various species in various situations respond to human interaction and under what conditions human exposure may place them at risk.
A.As animals learn to relax in the presence of humans, they may become bolder in other situations.
B.This massive amount of ecotourism can be one of the drivers of rapid environmental change.
C.The phenomena result from evolutionary changes, but also from regular interactions with humans.
D.Do not import or release living animals or plants into the wild that could harm native species.
E.In many cases it involves close interaction with wildlife.
F.Interacting with people can cause great change in the characteristics of various species over time.
高三英语六选四困难题查看答案及解析