Imagine you are thinking about entering a senior high school, but have questions. So you go to the school's website to find answers. A message appears on your computer and says, "How can I help?" You are not communicating with a human being, but a chatbot. It is using artificial intelligence (AI) to communicate with you. This might sound strange, but in recent years, chatbots have become an usual tool for banks and large companies around the world.
Having workers answer people's questions and complaints can be expensive. And workers canonly work several hours a day, making customers wait longer for a response (答复). So not only companies, but more schools have also begun using chatbot technology, says Keith Rajecki. He is with Oracle Higher Education, a computer software company that serves these institutions.
Rajecki notes that reducing costs and response time is one of the main reasons why schools and companies are turning to this technology. However, the purpose of many schools is to find ways to better serve students, since students are used to communicating online through Facebook or WeChat, says Rajecki.
Now Oracle is offering many schools a chatbot which can do everything from helping students register (注册) for classes to helping them ask for a few days off. Oracle is not the only company working on chatbot technology. Businesses like AdmitHub and Ivy.ai are involved in similar efforts.
Western Governors University, or WGU, also received a $750,000 award to experiment with a new kind of chatbot. "We're not trying to create a bot that answers simple questions," said Jason Leven, the director of WGU Labs. "We're trying to create a chatbot that can help decision making for students."
Ian Jacobs is with the market research company Forrester. He suggests that technology like chatbots can work well if it is able to do what users ask of it. Jacobs says the problem will appear when cost cutting becomes an important reason for using the technology. This means schools and companies are more likely to try using chatbots for things they are not yet able to do, such as communicating in the way humans do. For one thing, there are hundreds of ways to word even simple requests. For another, chatbots aren't able to deal with emotions (感情). They can't understand how humans feel, not to speak of comforting (安慰) them.
1.Which of the following is not the reason why more schools are turning to chatbot technology?
A.Schools want to serve the students better.
B.Chatbot technology can help schools save money.
C.Students are used to communicating with chatbots.
D.Chatbot technology makes students wait shorter for a response.
2.Chatbots may work well in the following situations except ________.
A.when students want to know more about a school
B.when students are wondering how to register for classes
C.when students want to have two days off because of illness
D.when students are in need of some help because a parent dies
3.The following sentence would best be placed at the end of ________. However, not everyone is ready to consider the possibilities this kind of technology presents.
A.Paragraph 5 B.Paragraph 4 C.Paragraph 3 D.Paragraph 2
4.What can we infer from the passage?
A.A chatbot is able to do whatever users ask of it.
B.A chatbot is a kind of completely new technology using AI.
C.A new chatbot may appear to help students to make decisions.
D.Chatbot technology has been used in both schools and companies.
A boy was one day sitting on the steps of a door. He had a broom in one hand, and in the other a large piece of bread and butter, which somebody had kindly given him. While he was eating it, and happily singing a song, he saw a poor little dog quietly sleeping not far from him. He called out to him, "Come here, poor fellow!"
The dog, hearing himself kindly spoken to, rose, pricked up his ears, and wagged his tail. Seeing the boy eating, he came near him. The boy held out to him a piece of bread and butter. As the dog stretched out (伸出) his head to take it, the boy quickly drew back his hand and hit him a hard rap on the nose. The poor dog ran away, howling (嚎叫) dreadfully, while the boy sat laughing at what he had done.
A gentleman, who was looking from a window on the other side of the street, saw what the boy had done. Opening the street door, he called him to cross over. At the same time, he held up a sixpence between his finger and thumb.
"Would you like this?"
"Yes, if you please, sir, "said the boy, smiling, and he quickly ran over to seize the money.
Just at the moment that he stretched out his hand, he got so hard a rap on his hand, from a stick which the gentleman had behind him, that he roared (咆哮) out like a bull!
"What did you do that for?" said the boy, making a very long face, and rubbing his hand. "I didn't hurt you, nor ask you for a sixpence."
"What did you hurt that poor dog for just now?" said the gentleman. "He didn't hurt you, nor ask you for your bread and butter. As you served him I have served you. Now, remember: 33 .
1.How did the dog probably feel at the end of Paragraph 2?
A.Curious and amazed. B.Surprised and angry.
C.Nervous and stressed. D.Relaxed and happy.
2.Why did the gentleman pretend (假装) to offer the boy a sixpence?
A.Because he wanted to help the poor boy.
B.Because he wanted to protect the poor dog.
C.Because he wanted to teach the boy a lesson.
D.Because he wanted to let the boy make friends with the dog.
3.What did the gentleman most probably say at the end of the story?
A.Like me, like my dog.
B.You can't teach an old dog new tricks.
C.Don't do to others what you don't want others do to you.
D.Never give your bread or butter to dogs, because they don't like it.
1.From the experiment (实验), we can learn something about ________.
A.Geography B.Biology C.Chemistry D.Physics
2.Which of the following is most probably the result of this experiment?
A.The ice cube on the plate melted most slowly.
B.The unwrapped ice cube in warm water melted fastest.
C.The ice cube in your hand melted more slowly than the one on the plate.
D.The ice cube wrapped in foil melted faster than the unwrapped one in warm water.
3.The purpose of the passage is to ________.
A.encourage the readers to do the experiment
B.advise the readers to do things on their own
C.teach the readers to melt ice cubes in different ways
D.ask the readers to guess the result of the experiment
1.People should put leaves of trees into ________.
A.
B.
C.
D.
2.Which kind of waste is the most harmful to public health and the soil?
A.Residual waste. B.Hazardous waste. C.Recyclable waste. D.Household food waste.
3.You may read the above table from a ________.
A.story book B.medicine report C.science magazine D.daily newspaper
Wednesday Sunny
Today we had PE, so the first thing I did when I got outside was sneak off (偷偷摸摸) to the basketball court to see if the Cheese was still there. And sure enough, it was.
That piece of Cheese has been sitting on the blacktop since last spring. I ______ it must have dropped out of someone's sandwich or something. After a couple of days, the Cheese started getting all moldy (发霉的) and nasty. Nobody would play basketball on the court where the Cheese was, ______ it was the only court that had a hoop (篮筐) with a net.
Then one day, this kid named Darren Walsh touched the Cheese with his ______, and that's ______ started this thing called the Cheese Touch. It's basically like the Cooties. If you get the Cheese Touch, it ______ with you until you pass it on to someone else.
The only way to ______ yourself from the Cheese Touch is to cross your fingers.
But it's not that ______ remembering to keep your fingers crossed every moment of the day. I ended up taping (用胶带粘) mine together so they'd stay crossed all the time. I ______ the handwriting test, but it was totally worth it.
This one kid named Abe Hall got the Cheese Touch in April, and nobody would even come near him for the rest of the year. Abe felt very ______ and finally moved away to California, taking the Cheese Touch away with him.
I just hope someone won't start the Cheese Touch up again, because I don't need that kind of ______ in my life anymore.
1.A.promise B.guess C.explain D.announce
2.A.because B.if C.while D.though
3.A.finger B.mouth C.stomach D.shoulder
4.A.why B.who C.what D.how
5.A.spreads B.spins C.screams D.sticks
6.A.help B.protect C.teach D.enjoy
7.A.free B.safe C.easy D.wise
8.A.failed B.took C.passed D.canceled
9.A.lovely B.scared C.lonely D.tired
10.A.touch B.stress C.courage D.experience
— You mean you'll never be late again. Can I trust you?
— ________, Ms. Green. This is the last time I have come late.
A.No kidding B.With pleasure C.Of course not D.You have my word
