Computers have beaten human world champions at chess and, earlier this year, the board game Go. So far, though, they have struggled at the card table. So we challenged one AI to a game.
Why is poker(扑克)so difficult? Chess and Go are “information complete” games where all players can see all the relevant information. In poker, other players’ cards are hidden, making it an “information incomplete” game. Players have to guess opponents’ hands from their actions----tricky for computers. Poker has become a new benchmark for AI research. Solving poker could lead to many breakthroughs, from cyber security to driverless cars.
Scientists believe it is only a matter of time before AI once again vanquishes humans, hence our human-machine match comes up in a game of Texas Hold’s Em Limit Poker. The AI was developed by Johannes Heinrich, researcher studying machine learning at UCL. It combines two techniques: neural(神经的)networks and reinforcement learning(强化学习).
Neural networks, to some degree, copy the structure of human brains: their processors are highly interconnected and work at the same time to solve problems. They are good at spotting patterns in huge amounts of data. Reinforcement learning is when a machine, given a task, carries it out, learning from mistakes it makes. In this case, it means playing poker against itself billions of times to get better.
Mr Heinrich told Sky News: “Today we are presenting a new procedure that has learned in a different way, more similar to how humans learn. In particular, it is able to learn abstract patterns, represented by its neural network, which allow it to deal with new and unseen situations.”
After two hours of quite defensive play, from the computer at least, we called it a draw.
1.Why can’t the computer beat humans at the poker game?
A.Because humans are cleverer than the computer
B.Because humans practice playing the poker game every day
C.Because the computer can’t know the other players’ cards completely
D.Because the computer can’t learn the regular rules of the poker game
2.What does the underlined word “vanquishes” in Paragraph 3 mean?
A.Leaves B.Defeats C.Cheats D.Serves
3.What do we know about the reinforcement learning of AI?
A.It solves problems correctly every time
B.It is the same as the learning of humans
C.It learns from the mistakes appearing in a task
D.It is more developed than the studying ways of humans
4.What can be inferred from the text?
A.The new procedure of AI has some features of humans
B.Computers are stronger than humans in every aspect
C.Humans will beat computers at playing poker forever
D.Scientists feel unhappy about the result of the poker game
Rising numbers of older adults are unable to care for themselves, often leading to serious health problems and even death, according to state and local government agencies. So-called self-neglect cases generally involve the inability to perform basic self-care, such as providing oneself with food, personal health, medication and safety.
Seniors who no longer drive, for instance, are often unable to get to medical appointments, worsening health problems that can make them unable to care for themselves. A fall can result in body injuries leaving one bedridden (卧床不起的) and unable to care for oneself. Failure to pay bills for public services could lead to service cutoffs. Forgetting to pay rent could lead to the loss of a home.
Mr. McCormack, 75 years old, and his wife, 71, both had mental illness and stayed in hospitals from time to time, unable to care for their possessions. Despite repeated visits to their home by local officials, the McCormacks declined assistance. But after they were found living in their car parked outside their house in December 2017, officials removed them from their home and helped them settle in a nursing home.
Self-neglect cases, like above, involved 144,296 people across the country in 2018, according to a report. The federal government doesn’t have comparable data for previous years, but several state and local service providers say they are seeing the self-neglect problem swell.
The reasons seniors stop caring for themselves vary, including illness, depression and poverty. The loss of the spouse or a neighbor who previously kept an eye on an individual often starts a decline into self-neglect, experts say. And the key to reducing self-neglect cases is providing services to enable seniors to remain in their homes safely, such as reliable transportation for medical appointments and shopping, as well as affordable home help.
1.What does the author intend to do in paragraph 2?
A.Give examples of self-neglect cases. B.Provide some advice for seniors.
C.Summarize the previous paragraph. D.Introduce a new topic for discussion.
2.What do we know about the McCormacks?
A.They longed for help from others. B.They took good care of themselves.
C.They couldn’t afford to go to hospital. D.They ended up living in the nursing house.
3.What can be a suitable title for the text?
A.Self-care Benefits Greatly the Seniors.
B.Self-Neglect Rises Among the Elderly.
C.Government’s Encouragement on Self-care.
D.Many Years’ Investigation on Self-Neglect.
This was the first real task I received in my new school. It seemed simple: go on the Internet and find information about a man named George Washington. As I searched the name, I found that there were two famous people having the same name who looked completely different! One invented hundreds of uses for peanuts, while the other led some sort of army across America. I stared at the screen, wondering which one my teacher meant. I called my grandfather for a golden piece of advice; let the coin decide. I flipped (掷) a coin and Ah! Tails (背面)! My report would be about the great man who invented peanut butter, George Washington Carver.
Weeks later, I stood in front of the classroom and proudly read my homework. But things started to get strange. I looked around the room, only to find my classmates with big smiles on their faces and tears in their eyes and my stone-faced teacher. I was completely lost. “What could be causing everyone to act this way?”
Oh well, I dropped the paper and sat down at my desk, burning to find out what I had done wrong. As a classmate began his report, it all became clear, “My report is on George Washington, the man who started the American War of Independence.” The whole world became quiet! How could I know that my teacher meant that George Washington?
Of course, my subject result was awful. Sad but fearless, I decided to turn this around. I talked to the headmaster Miss Lancelot, but she said firmly: No re-dos; no new score. I felt that it was not fair, and I believed I deserved a second chance. So I threw myself heartily into my work for the rest of the school year. Ten months later, I sat in the headmaster’s office again, but this time a completely different conversation. I smiled and flashed back to the terrible moment at the beginning of the year as the headmaster told me I was good enough to skip (跳过) the 6th grade and started the 7th grade next term.
1.People in the class acted strangely because ________.
A.I was too proud of my homework
B.I mistook what the homework was about
C.the whole world suddenly became quiet
D.the teacher’s face turned to a stone
2.We can infer from the passage that ________.
A.the headmaster didn’t like the writer at all
B.the writer’s classmates felt sad at his mistake
C.the writer knew little about American history
D.the writer’s grandpa was a very wise man
3.Which of the following proverbs can best describe the main idea of this story?
A.Seeing is believing.
B.Where there is a will, there is a way.
C.One is never too old to learn.
D.A friend in need is a friend indeed.
假定你是李华，你的英国笔友Mike了解到中医在中国抗击疫情中起了重要作用，对此很感兴趣，请给他回信简要介绍中医。内容包括：
1、历史悠久；
2、中医优势（疗效好、副作用少、价格低）。
注意：1、词数100左右；
2、可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
参考词汇：疫情：epidemic 中医；traditional Chinese medicine 副作用：side effect
Dear Mike,
I’m very glad to learn that you are extremely interested in traditional Chinese medicine.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Yours,
Li Hua
假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文，请你修改你同桌写的以下作文。文中共有10处错误，每句中最多有两处。错误涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号，并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1. 每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；
2. 只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。
There was a small boy who found a bright copper penny where walking down the street one day. He was so exciting that he found money and it didn’t cost him anything. This experience lead him to spend the rest of his days walking with his head down, eyes wide open, looking for treasure. During his lifetime he lucky found much money for the total of $13.96.
He got money for nothing. Except for that he missed the breathless beauty of 31,369 sunsets, the colorful beauty of 157 rainbow and the fiery beauty of hundreds of maples. Birds flying, sun shining, and the smiles of a thousand passed people are not a part of her memory.
Do you know who is living like this? He always bends his head down and fears of things that never happen, hoping find that copper penny…for nothing.
阅读下面材料，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。
There once was a King who offered a prize to the artist who would paint the 1. (good) picture of peace. Many artists tried. The King looked at all the pictures, but there were only two he 2. (real) liked and he had to choose between them.
One picture was of a calm lake. The lake was a perfect mirror, for peaceful towering 3. (mountain) were all around it. Overhead was a blue sky 4. white clouds. All who saw this picture thought that it was a perfect picture of peace.
The other picture had mountains too. But these were rugged and bare. Above was an angry sky from 5. rain fell and in which lightening played. Down the side of the mountain tumbled a foaming waterfall. This did not look 6. (peace) at all. But when the King looked, he saw behind the waterfall a tiny bush 7. (grow) in a crack in the rock. In the bush a mother bird had built her nest. There, in the midst of the rush of angry water, sat the mother bird on his nest…perfect peace.
Which picture do you think won the prize?
The King 8. (choose) the second picture, explained the King, “Because peace does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble 9. hard work. Peace means 10. (be) in the midst of all those things and still be calm in your heart. That is the real meaning of peace.”
