Cortana. Alexa. Siri. These are names of robotic voices that are often programmed on electronic tablets. They also become default(默认) identities for people with speech disorders who rely on technology to communicate. Now some speech scientists are developing personalized voices to reflect the broader diversity of the people who use them. To do it，they are tapping into a vast network of volunteers who are donating their voices to share with people who cannot speak.
The effort to build an international “Human Voicebank” has attracted more than 17，000 volunteers from 110 countries，including Priyanka Pandya，a 16－year－old from Columbia，Md. ，who plans to spend her winter vacation recording a string of sentences into her computer. “To be able to give somebody the gift of voice，I think that’s really，really powerful，” she said.
“Everyone has a voice，” said Rupal Patel，founder of VocaliD，the company that started the voicebank. “Even people who are unable to speak have sounds that are unique to them. ” Her company designs personalized voices by recording the unique sounds of the user，and then mixing them with 6 to 10 hours of recordings from a voice donor，matched by age，gender and region. The company is developing voices now for its first 100 customers.
Also，people’s voices change. The company is looking for donors who are willing to record their voices，and then record them again a few years later，as they get older. But some of the first customers say they are happy with the results.
John A. Gregoire was one of the first customers to receive a personalized voice from VocaliD last December. The voice came eight years after he developed ALS (肌萎缩侧索硬化症)and more than six years since his voice became unintelligible to everyone except his wife and youngest son. “Having a distinctive voice is like getting something back that was stolen，” John said.
1.What does the author say about the voicebank?
A.It collects all kinds of voices.
B.It gains strong public support.
C.It helps to recognize special voices.
D.It offers people personalized voices free.
2.The example of John A Gregoire is given in the text to stress ________.
A.customers’ desire for personalized voices
B.VocaliD’s efforts to develop personalized voices
C.customers’ satisfaction with personalized voices
D.VocaliD’s success in designing personalized voices
3.What does the underlined word “unintelligible” mean?
A.Unclear. B.Soft.
C.Incomplete. D.Rough.
4.What is the main idea of the text?
A.VocaliD is devoted to building a voicebank.
B.Volunteers donate their voices to VocaliD.
C.The Human Voicebank helps people with speech problems.
D.The Human Voicebank wins fame among speechless people.
Life isn’t fair. That universal truth is something that children seem to understand at a young age，but the path through which they develop a sense of what’s fair and what isn’t—and how they act on injustices—is something that has been a puzzle for social scientists.
To find out which aspects of fairness might be universal and which might be culturally driven，a team of scientists traveled to seven countries to study how different groups of children play fair. The researchers designed an “inequity(不公平) game” that they used to test 866 pairs of children aged 4 to 15 in Canada，India，Mexico，Peru，Senegal，Uganda and the United States.
Two children of the same gender(性别) and similar age were seated across from each other and were offered some candy. Sometimes the allocations were equal and sometimes they were not. One of the two children got to decide whether both of them accepted the allocation or rejected it. The experiment was set up to work through a machine that required the child to pull one handle to accept the deal—resulting in the candy being poured into a bowl for two children each—and a different handle to reject it—pouring the sweets into a third bowl where neither one would get to eat them.
In all seven countries，the results indicated a rejection of disadvantageous inequity. That is，when the children were allocated less candy than others，they tended to route all the treats into the bowl that no one could access. The reactions to advantageous inequity were more mixed. Children in only three countries—the United States，Canada and Uganda—had a tendency to reject unequal distributions of candy when they got more than others. “Given that these countries tend to stress principles of equality，it is possible that children in these countries face social pressures to learn these principles earlier，” the researchers wrote.
1.What does paragraph 3 talk about?
A.The players of the game.
B.The tools of the game.
C.The rules of the game.
D.The results of the game.
2.Which factor can significantly affect kids’ attitude to advantageous inequity?
A.School education.
B.Social environment.
C.Parents’ influence.
D.National development.
3.What is the author’s purpose in writing the text?
A.To discuss the importance of fairness.
B.To draw readers’ attention to inequity.
C.To offer kids some tips for rejecting inequity.
D.To introduce a study on how kids play fair.
Looking smart in a blue button－down shirt，Jorge Magana，18，zipped through a PowerPoint(PPT) presentation with confidence. Seated in front of Magana in a classroom at Los Angeles High School of the Arts were three judges: the school’s Assistant Headmaster，a school coordinator，and a former student. The occasion was his senior defense. Magana was trying to convince the judges that he was ready to graduate.
He had 45 minutes to present his portfolio(作品选集) from three aspects: one academic，one artistic，and one of his own choosing. The judges grilled him: Can you describe your research process? Which difficulties did you face and how did you overcome them? How will the skills you learned help with your future plans?
Portfolio assessments like this one，which are considered by educators nationwide as a proven path to college success，have largely been squeezed out by standardized tests，the quicker，less costly measure of student performance. But the state’s reliance on test scores to rank school performance is about to change，and educators see an opportunity. For now，the goal at the Los Angeles Unified School District is to make the portfolio defense a graduation requirement. Ten high schools are testing the portfolio assessment，and there are plans to get more schools on board next school year.
At first，many teachers at Los Angeles High School of the Arts thought the defense was unnecessary. Then，they actually witnessed the defenses. “You can see your students reflect on what they’ve learned，and see how that learning has affected them，” says Isabel Morales，a 12th grade social studies teacher. “Watching the defenses taught me how much my lessons count，how important it is for me to provide a new learning experience for my students. ”
1.Why is Jorge Magana mentioned in the text?
A.To lead in the topic of the passage.
B.To introduce what the senior defense is.
C.To present how to make a senior defense.
D.To stress difficulties of portfolio defenses.
2.What can we know about portfolio assessments from paragraph 3?
A.They require low investment.
B.They are being widely promoted.
C.They completely replace standardized tests.
D.They are common at high school.
3.What is Isabel Morales’ attitude to portfolio defenses?
A.Disapproving. B.Worried.
C.Doubtful. D.Supportive.
短文改错
Dear Jenny,
How nice to hear of you! In your letter you asked me how keep healthy. I would like to give you some advices.
As we know, food is quite importance to us teenagers. Since we grow very fast, we are in the need of nutritious food, such as fresh vegetables, fruit, fish and meat. Therefore, I thought you’d better not eating food with much sugar and fat. And you should get plenty of sleep, but it is necessary for you to have at least eight hours of sleep every day. Besides, you should take physical exercise regular. It will be good for my health. Only in this way can you keep fit.
Best wishes!
Yours,
Li Hua
Every person has time for exercise. The way is to take steps to include exercise convenient for your lifestyle. After I started getting into a habit of exercising, I was surprised by how much I could get done in a day, both physically and mentally. You can make exercise a part of your daily lifestyle. 1.
Start small
One of the reasons exercise programs fail is that we bite off more than we can chew. Instead of telling yourself you’re going to exercise today for an hour, tell yourself you’re going to exercise for five minutes. 2.
Break your exercise into parts.
No time for 30 minutes of exercise? No problem. Do three bouts (一回) of 10 minutes, or six bouts of five minutes each.3. Just keep a running table of how many minutes you exercise each day to ensure you’re getting the minimum you desire.
4.
Devices such as Fitbit activity trackers (跟踪系统) turn exercise into a game of sorts. Each day, you can measure how many steps you’ve taken. Many people find this attractive to their competitive spirits, and they and they take great pains to meet their goals. The technology is there, and it’s very affordable.
Exercise with someone else.
5. You don’t want to let him or her down, even if you’re feeling like you’d rather not work out. Find someone and start moving. You’ll be able to inspire one another and celebrate your success.
A. Use technology to help.
B. Always stay active with exercise.
C. Yes, just five minutes and get up to walk around.
D. Here are four steps to help you do it effectively.
E. You’ll still get the same time, no matter how you break it down.
F. High-tech products are becoming popular with many young people.
G. It’s much more difficult to say “no” to exercise when you have an exercise partner.
By teaching your children healthy eating habits, and copying the behavior in yourself, you can help your children keep a healthy weight and normal growth. Also, the eating habits your children form when they are young will help them keep a healthy lifestyle when they grow up.
Your children’s health care provider can evaluate (评估) your children’s weight and growth and let you know if your children need to lose weight or if any dietary changes need to he made.
Some of the most important parts of healthy eating are portion control and cutting down on how much fat and sugar your children eat or drink. Simple ways to reduce fat intake in your children’s diet and improve a healthy weight include serving：
Low-fat or nonfat dairy products
Poultry without skin
Lean cuts of meat
Whole grain bread and cereals
Fruit and vegetables
Also, reduce the amount of sugar-sweetened drinks and salt in your children’s diet.
If you are unsure how to select and prepare a variety of foods for your family, ask a registered dietitian (营养师) for advice.
It is important that you should not place your overweight children on a restrictive (限制性的) diet. Children should never be placed on a restrictive diet to lose weight unless a doctor takes charge of one for medical reasons.
1.What can we infer from the first paragraph?
A.Parents are mirrors for their children.
B.Teaching children eating healthily is also helpful for parents.
C.That children are healthy is important.
D.Forming healthy eating habits is important for children.
2.What are the most important parts of healthy eating your children should control?
A.Fat and sugar.
B.Water and meat.
C.Fruit and vegetables.
D.Whole grain bread and cereals.
3.What does the third paragraph tell us?
A.How to lose weight.
B.How to eat healthily.
C.How to reduce fat and sugar.
D.How to keep a healthy weight.
4.What shouldn’t your children do if they want to lose weight unless doctors tell them to?
A.Limiting diets.
B.Taking exercise.
C.Listening to parents.
D.Reducing fat intake.
