1.阅读理解

The iPhone has become a usability nightmare (噩梦). A new one comes with 38 preinstalled (提前装好的) apps, of which you can delete 27. Once you've downloaded your favorite apps, you're now sitting at 46 or more.

Like many companies, Apple has decided that there's no need to build an easy-to-use product when it can use artificial intelligence. If you want to find something in their garbage dump of apps and options, you must use Spotlight, Apple's AI-powered search engine that can find almost everything there.

This "innovation" of artificial intelligence is not the creation of something new but simply companies selling you back basic usability after decades of messy design choices. And these tech firms are charging us more to fix their mistakes and slapping an AI label as a solution.

Alexa and Siri have become replacements for intentional computing. They give commands into voice interfaces (接口) easily but sacrifice "what we can do" to "what Amazon or Apple allows us to do." We have been trained to keep apps and files, while tech companies have failed to provide any easy way to organize them. They have decided that disorganized chaos is fine as long as they can provide an automated search product to sift (筛查) through the mess, something more tech, even if tech created the problem in the first place.

Artificial intelligence-based user interfaces rob the user of choice and empower tech giants to control their decision-making. When one searches for something in Siri or Alexa, Apple and Amazon control the results. Google already provides vastly different search results based on your location, and has redesigned search itself multiple times to trick users into clicking links that benefit Google in some way.

Depressingly, our future is becoming one where we must choose between asking an artificial intelligence for help, or fighting through an ever-increasing amount of poorly designed menus in the hope we might be able to help ourselves. We, as consumers, should demand more from the companies that have turned our digital lives into trillion-dollar enterprises.

(1) Why does the author mention Apple's problem? A. As the main topic. B. As the model. C. As an example. D. As a sharp contrast.
(2) What can we know about Alexa and Siri? A. They are both Apple's search products. B. They help consumers make their own choices. C. They have bettered the user experience greatly. D. They work to the benefits of tech giants behind.
(3) What's the author's attitude towards the technological giants' AI-solution? A. Uncertain. B. Disapproving. C. Unclear. D. Unconcerned.
(4) The author writes this article to ask readers to _________. A. abandon using artificial intelligence B. abandon using products from tech giants C. recognize the nature of AI-based solution D. recognize the nature of poorly designed apps
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1.阅读理解

What Are We Talking About?

It's called Safe Pass Pro. It is a removable drive that is secured with fingerprint- scanning technology to prevent other users from accessing personal information. It is a very simple system to use. All we need to do is to enter the key in the computer and configure  (配置) our fingerprint. With this simple gesture, Safe Pass Pro will prevent access to our computer if the user's fingerprint is not read correctly.

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There are many ways that consumers can protect their data. However, there is one thing that every person has like no other—their fingerprint. Safe Pass Pro uses this small detail to create a removable drive that can only be unlocked with the use of the individual's fingerprint.

Safe Pass Pro Features, Facts, and Benefits

Ultra secure. No one will access the computer without entering the allowed fingerprint. It also has a patented and totally secure data recovery system in case of loss of the key.

Compatible. It works with all operating systems.

Durable. It uses very resistant long-lasting material.

Convenient. It can be used on different devices at the same time.

How Much Does the Safe Pass Pro Cost?

For one Safe Pass Pro, the total cost is $79, with four color choices (black, rose gold, silver, and gold) and the option to add a one-year ($5. 95) or two-year ($9. 95) warranty  (保修).

How Do I Get the Safe Pass Pro?

The only way to get a Safe Pass Pro for personal use is to make a purchase online, because it is not sold in stores. The official supplier's website is: https://top. com/safepasspro.

(1) Which can be the best heading for Paragraph 2? A. Why Do We Need Safe Pass Pro? B. Who Are Suitable to Buy Safe Pass Pro? C. How Does Safe Pass Pro Work to Protect Your Information? D. How Did the Team Invent Safe Pass Pro?
(2) How does the author promote Safe Pass Pro to consumers? A. By describing its stylish design in detail. B. By highlighting its unique technical features. C. By offering feedback from thousands of users. D. By giving special buy-one-get-one-free discounts.
(3) On what kind of website will you probably find this article? A. Health. B. Opinion. C. Entertainment. D. Technology.
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2.阅读理解

Today, poetry and science are often considered to be mutually exclusive(互相排斥)career paths. But that wasn't always the case. The mathematician Ada Lovelace and the physicist James Clerk Maxwell were both accomplished poets. The poet John Keats was a licensed surgeon. Combining the two practices fell out of favor in the 1800s. But translating research into lyrics, haiku, and other poetic forms is resurging(再现)among scientists as they look for alternative ways to inspire others with their findings.

"Poetry is a great tool for questioning the world," says Sam Illingworth, a poet and a geoscientist who works at the University of Western Australia. Through workshops and a new science-poetry journal, called Consilience, Illingworth is helping scientists to translate their latest results into poems that can attract appreciation from those outside of their immediate scientific field.

Stephany Mazon, a scientist from the University of Helsinki in Finland, joined one of Illingworth's workshops. In the workshop, she was grouped with other scientists and tasked with writing a haiku, a 17-syllable-long poem, which spotlighted water, a fluid that featured in all of the group members' research projects. "It was a lot of fun, and surprisingly easy to write the poem," Mazon says. She plans to continue writing. "We do a disservice(伤害)to ourselves to think that scientists can't be artistic and that art can't be used to communicate scientific ideas," Mazon says.

That viewpoint is echoed by Illingworth, who thinks science communication initiatives are too often dominated by public lectures with their hands-off PowerPoint slides. "Actually, when science communication involves writing and sharing poems, it invites a two-way dialogue between experts and nonexperts," he says. Scientist-poet Manjula Silva, an educator at Imperial College London, agrees. Poetry provides a way to translate complex scientific concepts into a language that everyone can understand, Silva says.

Scientists and poets are both trying to understand the world and communicate that understanding with others. The distinction between scientists and poets is less than people might think. We're all just people with-hopefully-really interesting things to say and to share.

(1) What is the purpose of mentioning the celebrities in paragraph 1? A. To display they were talented. B. To confirm they were out of favor. C. To encourage different career paths. D. To show poetry and science can be combined.
(2) What are Illingworth's workshops aimed to do? A. Promote a new science-poetry journal. B. Inspire outsiders to pursue their careers in science. C. Encourage science communication through poems D. Get scientists to exchange ideas about the latest research.
(3) What does Illingworth think of the dominant ways of science communication? A. Conventional. B. Effective. C. Innovative D. Complex.
(4) Which of the following is the best title for the text? A. Scientists Take on Poetry B. Scientists and Poets Think Alike C. Poetry: A Great Tool to Question the World D. Science Communication: A Two-way Dialogue
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3. 阅读下列短文,从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C、和D)中,选出最佳选项。

Not everyone knows that Mogao Caves in China has a "little sister"—Yulin Caves, which is smaller but better preserved than Mogao Caves. This "little sister" has the most brilliant murals(壁画) which are large in scale(规模) and diverse in forms and skills, with much art value. Here is some information to refer to when planning your tour here.

Daily Itinerary(行程)

DAY 1: Visit Mingshashan in the middle afternoon when it is not very hot and sunburn is low.

DAY 2: Visit Yulin Caves. You can visit up to 6 caves. After that, drive about 30 minutes to Suoyangcheng.

DAY 3: Visit the newly opened Mogao Caves Digital Exhibition Center. You will watch two short but well-produced educational documentary movies about Mogao Caves. After the movies, take the interzonal bus to Mogao Caves.

Highlights of This Tour

●In-depth tour of Mogao Caves and Yulin Caves

●Visiting Suoyangcheng—an ancient ruined city 2,000 years ago

●Private tour package covering airport pick-up, accommodation, sightseeing and private tour guide

Basic Information about Price

●$ 380 per person

●This price is based on a group of 2 adults sharing one standard double-bed room in 4-star hotels and traveling with our private tour in low seasons.

●This price is subject to change according to your traveling season, group size, hotel, class, etc. If you want a lower price, you can get more people to join you, or use economy class hotels.

(1) When can tourists see the documentary movies? A. On Day 1. B. On Day 2. C. On Day 3. D. Any day.
(2) What is a most interesting part of the tour? A. An old living city. B. In-depth travel in private. C. Free accommodations. D. Two brilliant tour guides.
(3) Where can you find the text probably? A. In a history textbook. B. On a travel agency website. C. In an academic journal. D. On an exhibition of murals.
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