Many leading AI researchers think that in a m...

Many leading AI researchers think that in a matter of decades, artificial intelligence will be able to do not merely some of our jobs, but all of our jobs, forever transforming life on Earth.

The reason why many regard this as science fiction is that we've traditionally thought of intelligence as something mysterious that can only exist in biological organisms, especially humans. But such an idea is unscientific.

From my point of view as a physicist and AI researcher, intelligence is simply a certain kind of information-processing performed by elementary particles (基本粒子) moving around, and there is no law of physics that says one can't build machines more intelligent than us in all ways. This suggests that we've only seen the tip of the intelligence iceberg and that there is an amazing potential to unlock the full intelligence that is potential in nature and use it to help humanity.

If we get it right, the upside is huge. Since everything we love about civilization is the product of intelligence, amplifying (扩大) our own intelligence with AI has the potential to solve tomorrow's toughest problems. For example, why risk our loved ones dying in traffic accidents that self-driving cars could prevent or dying of cancers that AI might help us find cures for? Why not increase productivity through automation (自动化) and use AI to accelerate our research and development of affordable sustainable (可持续的) energy?

I'm optimistic that we can develop rapidly with advanced AI as long as we win the race between the growing power of our technology and the knowledge with which we manage it. But this requires giving up our outdated concept of learning form mistakes. That helped us win the race with less powerful technology: We messed up with fire and then invented fire extinguishers (灭火器), and we messed up with cars and then invented seat belts. However, it's an awful idea for more powerful technologies, such as nuclear weapons or superintelligent AI—where even a single mistake is unacceptable and we need to get things right the first time.

1.How do many people feel about leading AI researchers' predictions?

A.Worried. B.Curious. C.Doubtful. D.Disappointed.

2.What does the author think of intelligence?

A.We know little about it. B.It belongs to human beings.

C.It is too difficult to understand. D.We have nothing more to discover.

3.What does the underlined word “upside” in Paragraph 4 probably mean?

A.Cost. B.Risk. C.Quantity. D.Advantage.

4.What's important for us in the race between people and technology?

A.Learning from failure. B.Increasing our intelligence.

C.Avoiding making mistakes. D.Being more optimistic.

高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

Many leading AI researchers think that in a matter of decades, artificial intelligence will be able to do not merely some of our jobs, but all of our jobs, forever transforming life on Earth.

The reason why many reject this as science fiction is that we’ve traditionally thought of intelligence as something mysterious that can only exist in biological organisms, especially humans. But such an idea is unscientific.

From my point of view as a physicist and AI researcher, intelligence is simply a certain kind of information-processing performed by elementary particles(基本粒子) moving around, and there is no law of physics that says one can’t build machines more intelligent than us in all ways. This suggests that we’ve only seen the tip of the intelligence iceberg and that there is an amazing potential to unlock the full intelligence that is potential in nature and use it to help humanity.

If we get it right, the upside is huge. Since everything we love about civilization is the product of intelligence, amplifying(扩大) our own intelligence with AI has the potential to solve tomorrow’s toughest problems. For example, why risk our loved ones dying in traffic accidents that self-driving cars could prevent or dying of cancers that AI might help us find cures for? Why not increase productivity through automation and use AI to accelerate our research and development of affordable sustainable(可持续的) energy?

I’m optimistic that we can develop rapidly with advanced AI as long as we win the race between the growing power of our technology and the knowledge with which we manage it. But this requires giving up our outdated concept of learning from mistakes. That helped us win the race with less powerful technology: We messed up with fire and then invented fire extinguishers, and we messed up with cars and then invented seat belts. However, it’s an awful idea for more powerful technologies, such as nuclear weapons or superintelligent AI—where even a single mistake is unacceptable and we need to get things right the first time.

1.How do many people feel about leading AI researchers’ predictions?

A. Acceptable　　 B. Curious

C. Doubtful　　 D. Disappointed

2.What does the author think of intelligence?

A. We know little about it.　　 B. It belongs to human beings.

C. It is too difficult to understand.　　 D. We have a good command of it.

3.What does the underlined word “upside” in Paragraph 4 probably mean?

A. Cost.　　 B. Potential.

C. Quantity.　　 D. Advantage.

4.What’s important for us in the race between people and technology?

A. Learning from failure.　　 B. Increasing our intelligence.

C. Avoiding making mistakes.　　 D. Making accurate predictions.

高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

It seems that creative thinking, which is one of the most___________skills in society, is a matter of habits.

高二英语单项填空简单题查看答案及解析

Researchers in over 80 nations are taking part in a project to conduct a decade-long census(统计) of sea life. Scientists presented some of their findings at a recent conference as the project neared its completion.

In deep icy waters under Antarctica, scientists found bulbous tunicates, an underground animal, and many newly-discovered creatures believed to be related to starfish (海星) and other marine(海洋的）creatures.

Elsewhere in the world’s oceans, they have recently discovered many kinds of underwater life forms new to science. It is all part of a research effort called the Census of Marine Life.

“There are about 2,000 scientists worldwide involved,” said Bob Gagosian, President, CEO of the Consortium for Ocean Leadership. Gagosian helps manage the project. “Everywhere they’ve gone they’ve found new things,” he says. “The ocean basically is unexplored from the point of view of marine living things.”

Researchers have placed small markers on hundreds of fish and marine animals to track by satellite their migration(迁移）routes and to discover places where sea life gathers.

According to Ron O’Dor, a senior scientist with the Census of Marine Life, knowledge of life on the ocean floor is especially limited. “90% of all the information we have is from the top hundred meters of the ocean,” O’Dor states.

And he says the sea floor is, on average, at a depth of 4, 000 meters. And so, as some machines dive far below what people have previously seen, scientists are discovering new species of plants, animals and living things.

Since the census project began, more than 5,300 new marine animals have been found. Ocean researchers say they hope to catalogue 230,000 species during the census —which some say is only a small part of all the creatures living in the sea.

1.Why do the researchers place small markers on many marine creatures?

2.From what Ron O’Dor says, we can conclude that ________.

3.What can we learn from the passage?

4.Why does the author write the passage?

高二英语阅读理解困难题查看答案及解析

When many people in the west think of China, the animal that they think of is the dragon. For them, the dragon is an aggressive monster that breathes fire. Many popular legends tell how dragons have killed brave knights and eaten beautiful young girls.

For Chinese people, however, the dragon is not an evil monster. It’s a cultural and spiritual symbol for prosperity and good luck. The dragon’s main task is to create harmony and bring rain. Dragons are celebrated in art and architecture, and of course the dragon dance is a very popular ritual (仪式).

China isn’t the only country to have the dragon as its symbol. Wales in the UK, has a red dragon proudly displayed on its flag. Another country in the world with a dragon on its flag is Bhutan, a tiny country between China and India.

Almost all countries in the world have an animal symbol representing their countries. This is particularly obvious during sports. The English think lions to be brave and proud animal and the English football teams have three lions on their football shirts.

Australia is famous for kangaroos, of course. The national rugby team is more commonly known as the Wallabies, a type of small kangaroo.The South African team is known as the Springboks, a type of African antelope. Likewise the New Zealanders, whether playing sports or not, are commonly known as kiwis. A kiwi is a native New Zealand bird that can’t fly.

All countries are proud of their symbols, which they feel reflect national characteristics or the beauty and variety of their natural environments. Recently, a Shang hai professor claimed that using the dragon as a national symbol could make western countries have a negative view of China. But in an Internet survey 90% of Chinese people wanted to keep the dragon.

1.In the opinion of the west, the dragon is ______.

A．a terrible animal that is not popular

B．a cultural and spiritual symbol of good luck

C．a reflection of China’s national characteristics

D．an animal that can create harmony and bring rain

2.Which of the following does NOT use the dragon as its national symbol?

A．China.            B．Wales.            C．Bhutan.           D．India.

3.According to the passage, which of the following statements is TRUE?

A．The national rugby team from the South Africa is well known as the Wallabies.

B．The Australian team is known as Springboks, a type of kangaroo.

C．The New Zealanders are commonly known as kiwis only when playing sports.

D．The dragon is mentioned to have been used on the flag in two countries.

高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

— Cloning can lead to many complicated problems.

— __________. That’s why a lot of people are strongly against it.

A. That’s it　 　　　　 B. Nonsense

C. That’s all right　 D. What a pity

高二英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析

A messy desk can actually lead people towards clearer thinking, say researchers from Germany．

The researchers found in a series of linked studies - using a messy desk and a messy shop front - that people actually thought more clearly when all around was chaos, as they sought to simplify the tasks at hand.

Visual and mental clutter（阻塞） forces human beings to focus and think more clearly.

Famous thinkers and writers such as Albert Einstein and Roald Dahl have been notorious（声名狼藉的） for their untidy desks.

“Messy desks may not be as detrimental（有害的） as they appear to be, as the problem-solving approaches they seem to cause can improve work efficiency or increase employees' creativity in problem solving,” say the authors.

“Business and government managers often promote 'clean desk' policies to avoid disorganized offices and messy desks, for the purpose of boosting work efficiency and productivity,” writes lead researcher Jia Liu of the University of Groningen in a paper published in the Journal of Consumer Research.

“This practice is based on the conventional wisdom that a disorganized and messy environment can clutter one's mind and complicate one's judgments.”

“However, not all evidence supports this conventional link between a messy environment and a messy mind.”

The scientists tested people's response in various 'messy' environments - including a messy shop front, a disorganized desk, and even a work environment where a language task 'reminded' people of messiness.

The authors found in the series of six studies people tended towards simplicity in their thinking.

“They categorized （分类） products in a simpler manner, were willing to pay more for a T-shirt that shows a simple-looking picture, and sought less variety in their choices.” said the researchers.

1. The purpose of the first two paragraphs is to show that _____．

A．A messy desk cannot contribute to clearer thinking

B．People thought more clearly about a messy desk and a shop front

C．People will feel confused when all around are chaos

D．People manage to simplify the tasks in messy environments

2. Why does the author take Albert Einstein as an example?

A．to support the idea that clearer thinking comes from messy environment．

B．to tell the fact that Einstein was known for his untidy desks．

C．to stop us from learning from Albert Einstein．

D．to call on us to develop a good habit．

3.How do people look at messy environment according to the conventional wisdom?

A．Messy environment will create clearer thinking．

B．Messy environment will simplify one' s judgment．

C．Messy environment can promote work efficiency．

D．Messy environment can block one' s mind．

4. What does the last paragraph imply?

A．People believe messy environment creates clearer thinking．

B．People sought more simplicity in the choices．

C．People were not willing to choose those complicated products．

D．Not all the people accept messy environment and complicated things

高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

In the past decade, the use of social media has grown in a way that no one could have guessed. It has turned some teenagers into celebrities (名人) and turned the famous into the infamous, overnight.

A key feature of social media, however, is its volatility. Trends come and go, disappearing almost as quickly as they appeared. So, what were the key social media trends of 2018?

Short video apps such as TikTok and its Chinese equivalent Douyin, took the world by storm. The Telegraph reported that TikTok was ranked 8th on Apple’s App Store in April. And Douyin had more than 300 million domestic monthly active users in June, CNBC said.

Why are these short videos – which are rarely longer than a few minutes – so popular? Jiang Yige, Singapore-based analyst at FengHe Fund Management, has a theory. Short videos are “just right to fill in the little gaps in our busy schedules,” he told CNBC.

These videos – apart from being very convenient – are important to teenagers because they allow them to express themselves, according to Teen Vogue.

The sense of community that users of short video app get is another appealing feature. Liza Koshy, a user of the US app Musically who has over 2 million followers, said that she was thrilled when anyone said that her video had “inspired” them. “It’s really cool … because I think as social creators that’s what we all are,” she added.

Live streaming is another feature of our social media life that now seems as natural as sunrise. It’s a pretty neat idea: You can watch anyone, anywhere, live.

However, China has taken live streaming to a whole new level. In China, more than 100 million viewers monthly watch a live streaming video. Forbes thought that a number of factors had led to the popularity of live streams. Among them is viewers’ ability to interact while remaining anonymous.

However, the boom in social media may be having side effects too. Fake news is one serious problem it arguably causes. Material shared on these platforms is often not checked for accuracy. The most basic content can be false and can sway users one way or another. We use social media all the time; that doesn’t mean that we understand the influence it is having on us. We should be mindful of both the time we spend on it and its impact on our minds.

1.The underlined word “volatility” in Paragraph 2 possibly means “being _____”.

A.changeable B.steady

C.promising D.violent

2.According to Lisa Koshy, short videos are very popular because _____________.

A.they are very convenient

B.they help people kill time

C.they provide a sense of community

D.they allow people to express themselves

3.What can we learn about social media from the text?

A.The information from social media is highly reliable.

B.When it comes to social media, people know short videos the best.

C.People can’t communicate with each other without social media.

D.There is still much room for social media to make improvement.

4.What is the best title for the text?

A.Rapid Development of Social Media

B.Key Social Media Trends ruling 2018

C.Short Videos Taking the World by Storm

D.Live Streaming—New Feature of Social Media

高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

A ship that sank off the coast of California decades ago was recently reconstructed in detail. The 3D digital model even included hundreds of sponges (海绵动物) that have gathered on the ship’s surface since it sank.

Named American Heritage, the supply ship sank in Santa Monica Bay on May 4, 1995, and for decades its exact location was unknown. Researchers with the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) spotted a strange shape in that area in 2008. But it wasn’t until May 2018 that MBARI scientists identified its exact location and mapped the site in detail, showing what appeared to be a shipwreck (失事船只).

Even then, the identity of the shipwreck was uncertain. Yet another MBARI team revisited the location to do further exploration. They sent remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) and took photos of the damaged ship. Though it was covered with deep-sea sponges and other animals, the scientists were able to spot letters spelling out its name, confirming that the shipwreck was American Heritage.

As one of the MBARI scientists who found American Heritage, chief ROV pilot Knute Brekke had worked on the ship before. And he was on duty with the diving company American Pacific Marine — the owner of American Heritage — the night the ship began taking in water and eventually sank.

MBARI spokesperson Kim Fulton -Bennett said to Live Science about the discovery, “The model is not complete, as floating ropes and poor visibility kept the pilots from getting too close to the wreck. But the 3D reconstruction is detailed enough to show that American Heritage is now home to thousands of sponges. Shipwrecks often turn into the shelter for diverse communities of ocean life.”

1.What is the main idea of the text?

A.A valuable treasure was discovered.

B.Special sponges were found under sea.

C.3D model reconstructed a sunken ship.

D.A sunken ship was gotten out of water.

2.Which is the right order of the following events?

① Something strange was found in the area.

② ROVs were sent under sea to take photos.

③ A ship sank in Santa Monica Bay.

④ The identity of the ship was confirmed.

⑤ Scientists tried to locate the shipwreck.

A.②③⑤④① B.③①⑤②④

C.⑤③①④② D.④③①②⑤

3.What can we learn about Knute Brekke?

A.He was familiar with the sunken ship.

B.He was in charge of a diving company.

C.He was responsible for the rescue work.

D.He was the first one to witness the accident.

4.What’s Kim Fulton-Bennett’s attitude towards the 3D model?

A.Critical. B.Doubtful. C.Amazed. D.Objective.

高二英语阅读理解困难题查看答案及解析

Research advances over the past decade have told us that, with a little work, we humans can clone just about anything we want, from frogs to monkeys and probably even ourselves!

So, we can clone things, but why would we want to?

Of all the reasons, cloning for medical purposes has the most potential to benefit large numbers of people. How might cloning be used in medicine?

1. Cloning animal models of disease

Much of what researchers learn about human disease comes from studying animal models such as mice. Often, animal models are genetically engineered to carry disease-causing mutations(变异) in their genes. Creating these transgenic（转基因的） animals is a time-intensive process that requires trial-and-error and several generations of breeding（培育）. Cloning technologies might reduce the time needed to make a transgenic animal model, and the result would be a population of genetically identical animals for study.

2．Cloning stem cells(干细胞) for the treatment of diseases

Stem cells are the body's building blocks, responsible for developing and repairing the body throughout life. As a result, they might be used to repair damaged or diseased organs and tissues. Researchers are currently looking up cloning as a way to create certain human stem cells for the research of diseases.

3. Cloning farm animals for drug production

Farm animals such as cows, sheep and goats are currently being genetically engineered to produce drugs or proteins that are useful in medicine. Just like creating animal models of disease, cloning might be a faster way to produce large herds of genetically engineered animals.

1.From Purpose One, we can infer that________.

A．most transgenic animals are clone

B．most animals carry engineered genes

C．most transgenic animal models are not cloned

D．most animals carry disease-causing mutations in their genes

2.It can be learned from Purpose Two that cloning technologies can be mainly use do________.

A．create damaged or diseased organs and tissues

B．clone genetically defined human stem cells

C．develop and maintain the body

D．repair the body throughout life

3.According to Purpose Three, cloning technologies can be mainly used to________.

A．speed up the producing of genetically engineered animals

B．produce drugs or proteins that are useful in medicine

C．raise genetically engineered cows, sheep and goats

D．produce large herds of animals for human beings

高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析