Brooke wanted a dollhouse and some sugar cookies. So the 6-year-old asked Alexa to get them. Alexa wasn't her mom or babysitter. It was a voice-activated(声控的) home assistant powered by artificial intelligence(AI). Alexa comes with the Amazon Echo device(回波装置). And it made Brooke's wishes come true. After being reported on TV, Alexa devices in many listeners' homes woke up and tried to order dollhouses!
Alexa isn't the only AI willing to order up treats for you. Apple Homepod has Siri, Google Home has its Assistant, and the upcoming Galaxy Home device will have Bixby. People who own these devices use them mainly for listening to music, checking the weather, and setting timers. According to a report from The Information, people don't often do voice shopping. They do it mainly to order simple things like paper towels. But many experts predict a boom(繁荣) in voice shopping in the near future.
Convenience is the main benefit of voice shopping. You can shout out an order as soon as you think of it, even if you're cooking or driving. Besides, people who are unable to use a keyboard or mouse can shop without assistance.
But voice shopping has its downsides. Unwanted things aren’t the biggest problem. It's usually very easy to cancel an order or return items. The surprising thing is that these assistants are always listening. They have to be able to respond when you want them. So they listen for ''Alexa'' or ''OK Google'' or another command. When they hear it, they start recording the conversation. Some have worried about what happens to these recordings. Should companies be allowed to use them to learn about people's shopping habits? What if someone hacks(非法侵入) the device? What if someone hacks smart TVs to turn them into spies that listen all the time?
1.What is Alexa?
A.A TV reporter. B.A friend of Brooke.
C.A voice-activated device. D.A cookie maker.
2.What can you learn from paragraph2?
A.Alexa is the best AI device.
B.People buy various things through voice shopping.
C.People use Bixby mainly for listening to music.
D.Voice shopping may have a bright future.
3.What is the author's attitude towards Alexa devices?
A.Optimistic. B.Doubtful.
C.Objective. D.Negative.
4.What's the best title of the text?
A.How did Brooke' wishes come true? B.The voice-activated home assistant-Alexa
C.How can we start voice shopping? D.What convenience do Alexa devices bring?
There is nothing more important than the safety of our children. Did you know that unintentional injury(意外伤害) is the leading cause of death in children under 14 years old with a third of them happening in the home? One of the top reasons a child under the age of three will visit an emergency room is because of household injuries and sadly, 70% of children who die from unintentional injuries are under the age of four. Every room in the home will have its own set of child safety problems. Two of the main danger zones are the kitchen and the bathroom.
Before I became a young mother, I crawled (爬)around the house on my hands and knees to see things from a child’s perspective(视角). You would be amazed at what you can discover by doing something so simple. We didn’t have toilet covers. A child is top heavy because their heads are bigger than their bodies and can easily fall into the toilet.
You might be surprised with the number of children falling out of windows every year, especially during the summer months. Something as simple as a child leaning against a window screen can result in a serious injury. The best way to prevent this type of injury is by setting up a child safety window guard.
As parents, we do the best we can by providing as much protection as possible to make sure of the safety of children. And as there are so many products out there to help us do this, there is nothing like good old-fashioned supervision(监护). So, use common sense and products that help to keep your child safe, and you will have provided a safe environment for your children.
1.What’s the main reason for death in children under 14 according to paragraph one?
A.Age problems. B.No sense of safety.
C.Danger areas. D.Unexpected injuries.
2.Why did the writer crawl around the house on the hands and knees?
A.To cover the toilet. B.To protect her child.
C.To look for something. D.To discover dangers from a child’s point.
3.What should we do to protect children from falling out of windows?
A.Keep away from a window. B.Place a safety window guard.
C.Move away the window screen. D.Lean against the window firmly.
4.What’s the last paragraph mainly about?
A.Tips on keeping children safe. B.Products for children.
C.Growth speed of children. D.Ways to look after children.
I’d been at Camp Eggleton for only two days before I got my nickname(绰号) ,Screaming Toad(尖叫的蛤蟆).
When we were on our first nature walk, a tree frog dropped onto my shirt from the branches above. I screamed. I didn't even know I could make a sound like that. Most kids laughed it off and forgot about it. But Stan wouldn’t let it go.
Three days later, Mr. Matt told us we would play a game. The two-person team to find the most treasures hidden in the woods gets something cold. Thoughts of ice cream froze on our brains.
Mr. Matt started reading off pairs of names. My nerves(神经) got completely fried when he said, “And finally, Jay and Stan.”
“If the mosquitoes(蚊子) are biting you, just ask Screaming Toad to eat them for you.” Stan called to the group. One kid laughed, but most of them were already concentrating on looking for treasures.
Then I had an idea,“You know, Stan, if we split up, we’ll have a better chance of finding stuff.” Stan shrugged (耸肩)and walked down the path alone.
Ten minutes later, I heard something that reminded me of myself a few days ago. I ran toward the sound. Stan was jumping around like a monkey, screaming and yelling: “Ants! Ants!”
I led him into a mud puddle(泥坑). He was surprised at first, then he must have realized why I was doing it. The itch(痒) was going away and so were the ants.
“I guess you’re going to have a pretty good story for everyone later.”Stan said worriedly.
“Yeah, I guess so. You’ll probably be known as Dancing Ant from now on.”
That night, we all sat around the campfire. I could see Stan’s worry as clear as daylight. He was waiting for it. But I never said anything. I knew how it felt to be laughed at.
The next day was Game Day. When I was picked for a basketball team, someone called, “No fair! Screaming Toad’s a natural Jumper!”
Stan yelled out, “Knock it off. His name is Jay.”
1.Why did Joy get his nicknames？
A.He signed up for Camp Eggleton.
B.He shouted loudly when the frog fell on his clothes.
C.Stan gave him the nicknames because of his bravery.
D.The other boys thought it cool to be called like that.
2.Which word can replace the underlined phrase “split up” in Paragraph 6?
A.United. B.Separated.
C.Apologised. D.Shared.
3.Why did Jay bring Stan to the mud puddle?
A.To make Stan calm down. B.To give him a chance to say sorry.
C.To drive away the ants and the itch. D.To prevent Stan from hurting himself.
4.What can we learn from the story?
A.Actions speak louder than words.
B.Everyone’s efforts are very important.
C.A good beginning makes a good ending.
D.Don’t do to others what you don’t want done to yourself.
This year I tried to pick a few more things that are on the lighter side. Each of these books made me think or laugh or, in some cases, do both. I hope you find something to your liking here.
If you want to buy some, please contact me as you like.
Telephone number: 010-8568758
E-mail: favouritebook@163.com
Hyperbole and a Half, by Allie Brosh.
The book, based on Brosh’s wildly popular website, contains simple vignettes and comic drawings about her young life. The adventures she describes are mostly inside her head, where we hear and see her deep thoughts most of us are too shy to let out in public.
You will finish reading it in three hours, tops. But you’ll wish it went on longer, because it’s so funny and smart.
The Magic of Reality, by Richard Dawkins.
Dawkins, an evolutionary biologist at Oxford, has a gift for making science enjoyable. This book is as accessible as the TV series Cosmos is for younger audiences—and as relevant for older audiences. It’s an interesting, well-illustrated(图文并茂) science textbook offering attractive answers to big questions, like “How did the universe form?” and “What causes earthquakes?”
What If ? ,by Randall Munroe.
The subtitle of the book is “Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions,” and that’s exactly what it is. People write Munroe with questions that cover all fields of science: physics, chemistry, biology, etc.
Munroe’s explanations are funny, but the science supporting his answers is very accurate(精确的). It’s an entertaining read, and you’ll also learn a bit about things like ballistics, DNA, the oceans, and the atmosphere.
1.What does the writer think of Brosh’s book?
A.Interesting. B.Strange.
C.Priceless. D.Boring.
2.What is Dawkins good at as an evolutionary biologist at Oxford?
A.Making TV series. B.Drawing pictures.
C.Answering big questions. D.Making science attractive.
3.What kind of questions do people mainly like to ask Randall Munroe?
A.Funny questions in daily life. B.Scientific questions.
C.Serious entertaining questions. D.Questions hard to answer.
阅读下面短文，根据所给情节进行续写，使之构成一个完整的故事。
I'd just returned from the local hospital where I'd held my first grandchild in my arms for the first time. What a beautiful child! She was named after her grandmother, Betsy. How I wished that my wife were here to see the healthy baby of Grace, our only daughter.
I knew what Betsy would have wanted and expected me to do on this grand occasion of the birth of our granddaughter, so I beaded for her favorite department store to select as a gift for our daughter. Shopping here would cause me to feel that Betsy was still with me and could share the joy of the birth of her first granddaughter.
There was a clerk, an attractive middle-aged woman with her name tag “JOY”. Her fingers lingered over a pair of diamond earrings. “How about these?” she said to an elderly man. He held them up. “oh yes, these are very pretty,” he said. He then turned to me, “What do you think? Would these be a good anniversary gift for my wife?”
“They'll be a wonderful anniversary gift,” I said, and I wondered how many years he and his wife had been married. I thought of all the years Betsy and I had shared. “When your wife wears them, they'll remind her of your love.”
“That's precisely what I want them to do,” he said, smiling.
Joy asked, “What anniversary will this be?” The old man's eyes sparkled as he answered, “You'll never guess.” Joy then said, “Well, diamonds are traditionally given for the sixtieth anniversary.”
“You're wrong,” he said. “It's our first anniversary!” Joy looked as surprised as I felt, as the man said, “I still can't believe my good fortune the second time around, finding someone as wonderful as my wife Helen.”
“Congratulations,” Joy said. “Your wife is lucky to have such a generous husband. The first anniversary is supposed to be a paper gift.”
“Do you think I shouldn’t even could-ask Helen to wait 59 years for her diamonds?”
Joy's eyes opened wide, “oh, I didn't mean.”
1.所续写短文的词数应为150左右；
2.应使用5个以上短文中标有下划线的关键词语；
3.续写部分分为两段，每段的开头语已为你写好；
4.续写完成后，请用下划线标出你所使用的关键词语。
Paragraph 1:
The old man said to Joy, “I hope you young people will remember to live each day with meaning” ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 2:
While she wrapped them, I took a deep breath and asked Joy, “Do you have dinner plans?”
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假定你是某国际学校向日葵美术社（Sunflower Art Society)的成员，请你用英文为美术社的网站写一则纳新启事。内容包括：
1. 成员要求；
2. 社团宗旨；
3.主要活动。
注意：1.词数80左右；
2.可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
Notice
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