Business meetings are, arguably, a necessary part of any organization where people work collectively to accomplish a goal. But badly managed, meetings can be unproductive, boring and feel like a complete waste of time. In a recent survey conducted by technology firm eShare, it was found that the average UK employee spends over 10 hours weekly preparing for and attending meetings—approximately 50% of which they consider unnecessary. However, there are theories that technology could improve things.
It’s very workable for an AI to be able to recognise when one person is controlling a meeting, or if a circular discussion keeps returning to a single issue. “If no new points are made after a while, the AI could suggest wrapping up a meeting,” says Cynthia Rudin, a computer science professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. But AI isn’t quite there yet.
“If AI can do most of the dull work during meetings, that leaves more space for humans to think about strategy and vision,” believes Niki Iliadis at the Big Innovation centre. This seems to be true. Osaka in Japan started using an AI as a minute taker (会议记录员) to record and summarise the 450 annual meetings. It has halved the time needed to produce summaries and cut staff overtime. AI can also help with the matter of attendance. If a meeting with irrelevant subject matter is called, or if it’s an inconvenient time, an AI could be used to decide who should attend the meeting and when it should be. Finally participants can make open-ended responses, exchange comments or vote in multiple-choice quizzes. This has fundamentally changed the atmosphere of a presentation.
While tools that can create agendas, send meeting invitations and keep track of action items should improve effectiveness, they are still in development. Let’s hope that if or when they do arrive, they will meet our expectations.
1.The writer may agree with the fact that .
A.surveyed UK employees believe that about 50% of meetings are unnecessary.
B.average UK employee spends over 20 hours weekly preparing for and attending meetings
C.all the meetings are fruitless, boring and a complete waste of time.
D.it’s impossible for an AI to know when one person is controlling a meeting
2.The underlined phrase “wrapping up” in paragraph two means “ ”.
A.cancelling B.beginning
C.completing D.organizing
3.According to paragraph 3, AI is able to .
A.make open-ended responses B.decide when the meeting should be
C.think about strategy and vision D.vote in multiple-choice quizzes
4.What is the best title of the passage?
A.The Future Belongs to AI B.The Future of Business Meetings
C.What Will Become of AI D.Can AI Save Us from Bad Meetings?
My first reaction was annoyance. It was Friday afternoon, and I was within an hour of finishing my work for the week. As I was leaving, a nurse brought me one more patient message. The statement read: “Mrs. Jones called to say that she has had blurred vision (视觉模糊) ever since her medical test this morning.” I smiled. Suddenly our tests were causing eye problems.
This week my patients had questioned everything. My patient with high blood pressure had stopped coming to her treatment on the advice of an Internet chat room. A woman who had a mental problem was substituting (用……代替) St. John’s word for her medication. Now Mrs. Jones was imagining problems. I rolled my eyes.
My second reaction was worry. As I looked through her record, I tried to figure out why she would have blurred vision, but nothing in her record explained the new problem. She’s probably just anxious, I thought. Still, she wouldn’t have called if she had been all right. I picked up the phone.
What I next felt can only be described as delight. Before I made the call, the nurse ran in: Mrs. Jones called. Her vision is fine. Turns out she picked up the wrong glasses when she left the office. The X-ray technician has been having the same problem. I let out a laugh. Mrs. Jones had been right. Her vision had been blurred. Now we know why.
Finally I felt shame. I came to realize what Mrs. Jones had taught me. I had first known she was wrong, that her anxiety had clouded her judgment. Instead, my medical training had clouded mine. Now I feel thankful that Mrs. Jones figured it out before I made a mistake about our relationship. Patients come to me for my help. They pay me to listen, diagnose, treat and talk. That suggests trust; I must remember that, and trust them too.
1.I rolled my eyes because I was .
A.delighted B.angry
C.worried D.anxious
2.Why did I pick up the phone?
A.Because I was told to by a nurse.
B.Because nobody cared about Mrs. Jones.
C.Because I wanted to point out Mrs. Jones’ mistake.
D.Because I was concerned about Mrs. Jones.
3.What can be inferred from the last paragraph?
A.I felt embarrassed and ashamed.
B.Mrs. Jones would never trust doctors any more.
C.Mrs. Jones’ worry made her less able to think clearly.
D.I had made a mistake about my relationship with Mrs. Jones.
4.The purpose of writing the passage is to .
A.share a story about trust between doctors and patients
B.inform people of the importance of medical science
C.teach people how to choose a good doctor
D.persuade people to trust doctors completely
Ordering from BooksFirst is easy and safe.
SELECTING YOUR BOOKS
When you have found a book you would like to order, just click on Add to Basket and it will be added to your shopping basket. To make it easy to keep track of the books you’ve selected, My Shopping Basket will display your choices wherever you are on the site. When you’re ready to place your order, select View Basket.
VIEW BASKET
This is where you select the postal destination for your order, indicate whether you would like Next Day Delivery in the UK and choose gift-wrapping. You can also change the contents of your basket by making any changes before selecting Update Basket.
Overseas customers ordering three or more books can also request reduced airmail charges here. When you’re happy with the contents of your shopping basket, go to the Secure Checkout.
THE ORDER FORM
After you’ve completed the order form, you will receive an on-screen acknowledgment. This will be followed by an email confirming the details of your order.
We will then inform you when your order has been sent. If this is your first order, we will also inform you of your personal BooksFirst account number.
YOUR FIRST ORDER
We’ll send to you a personal account number after you have placed your first order. For following orders all you need to do is enter your personal account number and email address.
RETURNING CUSTOMERS
If you have ordered from us before, online, by mail or telephone, you will have already owned a personal account number. You then only need to complete the full order form. Using your account number allows us to find your details from our records (they are not accessible online).
However, you do not need your BooksFirst personal account number to place an order simply present all the required details on the order form. If you don’t have a note of your account number just contact us so that we can supply it to you.
1.Where can customers make any change about their orders?
A.At Add to Basket. B.At My Shopping Basket.
C.At View Basket. D.At Secure Checkout.
2.If overseas customers order three or more books, they can .
A.get books at reduced price B.choose gift-wrapping
C.receive an on-screen acknowledgment D.get reduced airmail charges
3.The purpose of the passage is to .
A.persuade readers to read more books
B.show readers how to order books from Booksfirst
C.help customers apply for account numbers
D.inform readers of how to select books
某校团委就学生的日常行为对全校1008名学生进行了一次问卷调查，结果如下图所示。假定你是团委成员李华，请根据图表内容向校英语报投稿，描述调查结果，简要分析学生行为习惯，并提出你的观点。
注意：1．语言要连贯、准确，可适当发挥；
2．词数不少于120。
参考词汇：scratch paper 草稿纸
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假如你是李华，你校模拟联合国社团要组织一次活动。你作为组织人员，请根据以下要点拟一个书面活动通知：
时间：2019年1月25日
地点：学校报告厅
议题：环境保护
形式：选手扮演不同国家外交代表，做好沟通协作，签署协议。
注意：1. 词数80左右；
2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
参考词汇：模拟联合国社团Model United Nations Club
外交代表diplomatic agent
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阅读下面短文，在空白处填入适当的内容（1个单词）或括号内单词的正确形式。
1. (know) as the city of art and romance, Paris will never fail to impress visitors. The beauty of Paris can be found everywhere, 2. visitors marvel (感到惊讶) at its well-protected ancient palaces and landmark buildings, 3. (work) of art and delicious cuisine (菜肴). This is a city worthy of deep 4. (explore).
There is no 5. (good) place to understand the concept of the art of living than the cafes of Paris. I’m also fascinated by unique lifestyle of Parisians. 6. so many restaurants and cafes, Paris has attracted many, for example, the great writer Ernest Hemingway. It is so peaceful to see people sitting and talking at the tables outside cafes, cups in their hands.
A sense of ceremony can be fully felt at the dinner table. A typical French dinner has several courses. It usually 7. (start) with some chips, juice and snacks. People make small talks 8. (especial) when there is a guest. People can talk for hours, 9. (wait) for the main meal. French cheese is 10. important part of a meal. Only when you love French cheese can you fully enjoy French life.
