More than a billion people around the world have smartphones, almost all of which come with avigation (导航) apps such as Google or Apple Maps. This raises the questions we meet with any technology: What skills are we losing? What abilities are we gaining?
Talking with people who're good at finding their way around or using paper maps, I often hear lots of frustration with digital maps. North/South direction gets messed up, and you can see only a small section at a time.
But consider what digital navigation aids have meant for someone like me. Despite being a frequent traveler, I'm so terrible at finding my way that I still use Google Maps every day in the small town where I have lived for many years. What looks like an imperfect product to some has been a significant expansion of my own abilities.
Part of the problem is that reading paper maps requires specific skills. There is nothing natural about them. In many developed nations, including the U. S., one expects street names and house numbers to be meaningful references, and instructions such as "go north for three blocks and then west" make sense. In Istanbul, in contrast, where I grew up, none of those hold true. For one thing, the locals rarely use street names. Why bother when a government or a military group might change them again? Besides, the city is full of winding, ancient alleys that meet newer avenues at many angles. Instructions as simple as “go north" would require a helicopter or a bulldozer (推士机).
Let's come back to my original questions. While we often lose some skills after leaving the work to technology, it may also allow us to expand our abilities. Consider the calculator: I don't doubt that our arithmetic skills might have dropped a bit as the little machines became common, but calculations that were once boring and tricky are now much more straightforward and one can certainly do more complex calculations more confidently.
1.What is the drawback of digital maps?
A.They aren't connected to smartphones.
B.They cost too much to download.
C.They leave some users frustrated.
D.They mix up the south and the north.
2.What's the author’s attitude toward digital maps?
A.Doubtful B.Supportive
C.ambiguous D.Uncaring.
3.What's the fourth paragraph mainly about?
A.The differences between Istanbul and the U. S.
B.The miserable life of people in Istanbul.
C.The necessity of asking local people in Istanbul.
D.The ancient alleys and new avenues in Istanbul.
4.What does the author suggest in the last paragraph?
A.When technology closes a door, it opens one as well.
B.Two paper maps are better than a digital one.
C.Technology is not developed in a day.
D.No calculators, no digital maps.
The African Continent has various habitat types, but savanna (热带草原) ecosystems cover approximately half. And where there is savanna, there is fire. "It's an important part of the ecology of the system," says University of Liverpool ecologist James R Probert. Burning allows grasses to take the lead by keeping taller bushes from occupying the land, Loss of grasses could push out species such as wildebeest (牛 羚 ), which are famous for their splendid annual migration.
A decade ago researchers put decreasing fires within Tanzania's Serengeti National Park down to the recovery of wildebeest population following an epidemic of rinderpest, a viral disease. When millions of wildebeest feed on grass, they remove fuel from the land, making fire less frequent and less severe.
But Probert and his colleagues found that even after wildebeest populations had stabilized by the mid-1990s, fires continued to decrease in the same area. Their analysis of satellite data showed that the region experienced a 40 percent reduction in wildfires between 2001 and 2014- in line with dramatic increases in farm animals in the area.
If you have lots of farm animals eating the grass, then you have less fire. That’s well known Probert says. "But I don’t think anybody had realized the degree of the decline in fire and linked it to farm animals before.”
This is a really interesting pattern, "says University of Guelph biologist John Fryxell, who was not involved in the study. He cautions, however, that 15 years' worth of data is still a fairly small amount of information from which to draw final conclusions. "What a short-term connection like that suggests is that there's something interesting here that could provide the grounds for a deeper experimental analysis, "he adds. That research could include artificially controlling fire frequency or grazing intensity (放牧强度) in certain areas and then monitoring the land's response over time.
1.What do we know about fires in savanna?
A.They only happen once in a decade.
B.They are harmful to the growth of grasses.
C.They help keep the balance of the ecosystem.
D.They guarantee the leading position of taller bushes.
2.According to Probert, what led to decreasing fires?
A.The spread of a disease. B.The increase in farm animals.
C.The change of the climate. D.The stability of wildebeest population.
3.What does John think of Probert's study?
A.It might help recover the land in savanna.
B.It could lead to further studies on savanna fire.
C.It has proven the link between fires and grasses.
D.It offers enough information for final conclusions.
4.What is the best title for the text?
A.Savanna Ecosystem. B.No More Farm Animals
C.Eating Away Fire. D.Controlling Wildfires
Andrea Yoch loves her adult sons, but would also love to not live with them. This is especially true in the 2, 200-square-foot rental in St. Paul, where she and her husband moved after the boys left their childhood home (a 5,000-square-foot property with a pool). But now Ben, 20, and Ryan, 23 are crammed with their parents in a house where a movie playing in one room can be heard in almost any other.
After her sons showed up due to the lockdown after the Coronavirus crisis struck- Ben from Boston, where he is a college student, and Ryan from New York, where he was starting out as an assistant advertising account executive- Ms. Yoch rushed to set up temporary offices in a bedroom and a basement that now also functions as a super crowded gym. "I would give anything for them to restart their lives, "she said.
As the pandemic （流 行 病） continues, Wall Street bankers, Uber drivers, academics, artists and many other adults have given up their independent lives and migrated home. Some fled heavily populated cities for the rural suburban houses where they grew up and the promise of home-cooked meals and free laundry. Others ended up in downsized spaces designed for empty nesters or in apartments already shared with other family members, such as grandparents or teenage siblings.
Parents caught by the increase of layoffs and canceled contracts found themselves feeding grown children who were in the same position. Mothers who had grown accustomed to freedom were suddenly expected to go back to cooking and cleaning.
“Some parents see this as a welcome surprise, but it can also add a lot of financial stress," said Lindsey Piegza, chief economist at the investment bank Stifel. You can't assume that parents are necessarily in a better-off position than their adult children: a lot of Americans live paycheck to paycheck and don’t have enough savings to accommodate extra people living in their households.”
1.Which word best describes Ms. Yoch's life with her two sons?
A.Exciting B.Inconvenient
C.Satisfying D.Disappointing
2.What does the underlined phrase "empty nesters" in Paragraph 3 refer to?
A.People without jobs.
B.Children staying abroad.
C.Grown-ups with no houses.
D.Parents with no children around.
3.Why do some parents unwillingly welcome their children back home?
A.Because they want their kids to be independent.
B.Because they don’t like to do all the laundry.
C.Because they are in no better financial situation.
D.Because they have sold or rented out their houses
4.What is the text mainly about?
A.The generation gap between parents and their children.
B.The life young people used to live before going to college.
C.The parents' life being affected by children in the lockdown
D.The economic crisis brought about by the deadly coronavirus.
Museums are cathedrals to science and understanding, but not all science museums are equal. The following 4 examples are all well worth visiting in the future.
The Natural History Museum in London
It is one of the best science museums in the world. With exceptional exhibits all wrapped up in a masterpiece of architectural design, this museum is a must visit for anyone who travels to London. As the name suggests the main theme of the museum is natural history and it features collections about animals, plants, human biology, minerals, and natural resources.
The Exploratorium in San Francisco
The museum, full of engaging and educational exhibits, truly lives up to its nickname" The Scientific Fun House" and offers a very different museum visiting experience. The design team challenged themselves to create a space to display the strangest, most amazing and most exciting aspects of science possible to amaze and inspire young minds. Its main mission is to create young scientists by letting them see just how exciting science can be.
The Swiss Museum of Transport in Lucerne
It is located in Lucerne in Switzerland and is filled with different modes of transport. Most of the exhibits are Swiss car models from the early 1900s onwards but it also includes planes, trains, shops, and some communication technology. It's not all about science and technology - there is also a large collection of the works of Hans Erni, a well-respected local artist.
The National Air and Space Museum in Washington D. C.
The museums in the world. Exhibits within the museum take you on a visual feast of a tour, from the first attempt to fly right through to the incredible achievements of the explorations into space.
1.Which city are you most likely to visit if you're into dinosaurs?
A.Lucerne B.San Francisco.
C.Washington D.London
2.Which museum offers works of an artist?
A.The Exploratorium in San Francisco.
B.The Natural History Museum in London.
C.The Swiss Museum of Transport in Lucerne.
D.The National Air and Space Museum in Washington D. C.
3.The Exploratorium in San Francisco is mainly designed to _________.
A.introduce the human flight history B.present the wonder of science
C.display different car models D.show great architecture worldwide
注意：1.词数不少于100
2.可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯
3.邮件开头和结尾已为你写好。
短文改错
Jane Eyre is a world-famous storybook, which is very popular to middle school students. The main character Jane is one of my favorite heroine. The book tells us not only about her hard life and about her efforts to gain her happiness. It were her perseverance and determination which helped her to get what she deserved at last. I liked Jane very much, and her story leaves a great effect on her life and study. I make up my mind work hard at my lessons. Meanwhile, I will try to make the full use of any opportunity to train my characters, especial my tolerance and perseverance to solve all of the difficulties in my life.
