They don’t quite know how to cope with all the dam trouble they’ve got down in Hampden, Maine. And according to town manager Leslie Stanley, it doesn’t look as if things will improve any in the immediate future. “We’ve got a real annoying problem on our hands,” he says.
The annoyance began in late May. About three miles outside of town a group of beavers (河狸) built a dam near the mouth of a culvert (涵洞) that carries a stream under Canaan Road. Some 50 feet of roadway and several hundred feet of land on each side of the culvert were flooded. Stanley sent a road crew out to level the dam. The beavers rebuilt it. The crew tore it apart again. In fact, they tore it apart for ten mornings－and for ten straight nights the beavers rebuilt it.
On the eleventh day, the foreman tossed (扔) the problem back to the town manager. He, in turn, tossed it on to the local game warden (狩猎监督官). The warden, absorbed in beaver knowledge, moved quietly and carefully out one night and placed a petrol-soaked bag over the dam. (Any beaver expert will tell you the creatures just can’t tolerate petrol smell.)
In the morning the bag was found artistically woven (编织) into the dam.
The warden set out three steel traps that night. In the morning one was empty. The other two had been stolen by the beavers and used to strengthen the dam. The warden, cursing the state law against hunting beavers with firearms, got his traps back and set them out again and again. And every night the beavers stole them.
Town manager Stanley enlisted additional troops. He telephoned his police chief. Those beavers were breaking a state law against blocking up a natural watercourse. “Why aren’t you out there to uphold the law?” Stanley asked. “You’re the police chief. So remove them. Arrest them. Do something.”
Three mornings later, the police chief proudly announced the end of the dam. At 2:00 A.M., he said, he and a licensed dynamiter (炸药使用者) had blown it to small pieces. Stanley said he’d believe it when he saw it.
They drove out to the culvert and found a new dam already half-built. They also found the highway choked with mud and remains thrown up by the dynamite.
Stanley said maybe they should call in the Army Corps of Engineers. But the police chief’s faith in explosives was unshaken. He launched an all-out campaign，but the beavers always managed to have the holes plugged by the time the fire department appeared on the scene for its morning mop-up.
In time, the beavers tired of this nonsense and moved their dam “inside” the culvert－where it couldn’t be blown up without destroying the road too.
Stanley and his general staff held a council of war and agreed that fresh strategy was called for. Then they came up with an inspired idea. If we remove every branch of the dam by hand, we’ll force the beavers to go in search of new building material to replace what we’ve taken. Then we can place box traps along their runways and seized them.
The plan was completely approved. Moreover it worked. On July 30, town manager Stanley was able to announce that the beaver group had been trapped and removed to a remote wilderness area. And there was great joy in Hampden－until the middle of October, that is, when a group of young beavers was spotted swimming in the same waters from which its elders had recently been taken away.
But to make a long story short, the strategy that worked with the older beavers worked with the young ones too.
1.What was the annoying problem for the authorities in Hampden, Maine?
A. They failed to destroy the dam repeatedly built by the beavers.
B. They didn’t know who to send to deal with the dam trouble.
C. The beavers were building dams in every corner of the town.
D. The political situation in the town was becoming much worse.
2.What did the local game warden do?
A. He made steel traps to strengthen the dam.
B. He set out to hunt the beavers with firearms.
C. He learned a lot about the construction of the dam.
D. He used petrol-soaked bags to drive the beavers away.
3.Which is the correct order of the following events?
① The land on both sides of the culvert was flooded.
② The local leaders worked out a strategy.
③ The game warden set out steel traps.
④ The beavers rebuilt their dam inside the culvert.
⑤ The police chief used explosives to destroy the dam.
A. ①③②⑤④ B. ①③⑤④② C. ②①④③⑤ D. ②①⑤③④
4. The underline word “uphold” in Paragraph 6 probably means ________.
A. revise B. resist C. violate D. maintain
5. What can we learn about beavers from the passage?
A. The beavers seem to be stubborn about building dams.
B. The beavers are allowed to be killed when causing trouble.
C. The beavers can’t adapt themselves to living in wilderness.
D. The beavers finally returned to the culvert with their young.
The defeat of Lee Sedol, the world’s strongest Go (围棋) player, by a Google artificial intelligence (AI) program, looks like another milestone towards a world where computers can do almost anything a human can. It is not. There are uncountable things that only a human can do, and that no computer seems close to. The problem is that the purely human things are not economically useful to anyone. The things that computers can be taught to do are by contrast economically fantastic. But even the most powerful programs are not human, just as a shovel (铲车). They have no feelings. What they have is power, but this power is growing at a rate that should frighten us all.
It might be less frightening if computers were truly intelligent, but even the most powerful networks are less human than monstrous Martians (火星人). Their power will be used to make money for the firms that finance their development, and then for others quick and clever enough to take advantage of the new world. It is far more likely that they will increase inequality and still further remove the middle classes as we move towards an hourglass (以金钱来衡量的) society in which everyone is either very rich or very poor and likely indebted.
One of the ill effects of the spread of more intelligent computer networks is, at the same time, the spread of what might be called artificial stupidity. If AI is employed largely to replace unskilled labour, it is most productive when labour is kept unskilled or redefined that way. So much of the work in service industries is now simplified until it might be automated (自动化). And robots will never need pensions. AI is slowly reducing skilled work, like some forms of medical diagnosis (诊断), at the same time, as older doctors complain that the traditional human skills of diagnosis are falling out of medical training. The belief that everything worthwhile can be measured and then managed is far more damaging to humanity than the threat of artificial intelligence on its own.
But no victory in complicated Go games can bring us closer to truly human-like computers.
1.By mentioning the defeat of Lee Sedol, the author intends to tell us that ______.
A. computers can completely replace humans in everything
B. humans are of no practical economic values to the society
C. the power of computers is growing at a frightening rate
D. AI programs can not compare with humans economically
2. We can learn from Paragraph 2 that the power of computers will ______.
A. improve the quality of human life
B. promote equality at work places
C. make contributions to human development
D. widen the gap between the rich and the poor
3.What does “artificial stupidity” in Paragragh 3 mean?
A. Unskilled workers become stupid.
B. AI discourages skilled work.
C. Computers don’t need pensions.
D. AI is ruining medical training.
4. What is the author’s attitude towards the future of artificial intelligence?
A. Optimistic. B. Supportive. C. Sceptical. D. Cautious.
When you’re a parent to a young child, you spend a lot of time talking about feelings: about having to share, about being disappointed because you may not have a cookie instead of broccoli (绿花椰菜), about the great injustice of a parent pressing the elevator button before the child has a chance to.
And in a parenting culture that’s increasingly concerned with centering children’s needs above all else, mothers and fathers have become skillful at talking about their kids’ feelings while masking their own. But new research suggests that parents who hide their negative emotions are doing their children, and themselves harm.
A study published this month says that when parents put on a faux-happy (假开心) face for their kids, they do damage to their own sense of wellbeing and authenticity.
“For the average parent the findings suggest when they attempt to hide their negative emotion expression and overexpress their positive emotions with their children, it actually comes at a cost: doing so may lead parents to feel worse themselves,” researcher Dr Emily Impett, says.
It makes sense that parents often fall back on amping up (扩大) the positivity for the sake of their children—there are a lot of things in the world we want to protect our kids from. But children are often smarter than we expect and are quite in tune with what the people closest to them—their parents—are feeling.
There was a time about a year or so ago, for example, when I received some bad news over the phone; I was home with my four-year-old and so I did my best to put on a brave face. She knew immediately something was wrong though, and was confused.
When I finally let a few tears out and explained that Mom heard something sad about a friend, she was, of course, just fine. My daughter patted my shoulder, gave me a hug, and went back to playing. She felt better that she was able to help me, and the moment made a lot more sense to her emotionally than a smiling mom holding back sobs. I was glad that I could feel sad momentarily and not have to work hard to hide that.
Relaying positive feelings to your children when you don’t feel them is a move the researchers called high cost — that it may seem like the most beneficial to your child at the time but that parents should find other ways of communicating emotions that “allow them to feel true to themselves”.
But this is also about children seeing the world in a more honest way. While we will want to protect our children from things that aren’t age-appropriate or harmful, it’s better to raise a generation of kids who understand that moms and dads are people too.
1.What is the typical behavior of parents when they bring up their children?
A. Allowing their children chances to do things themselves.
B. Expressing their dissatisfaction with their children.
C. Hiding their true emotions from their children.
D. Sharing their favorite food with their children.
2. If parents put on a faux-happy face, _______.
A. their children will be protected
B. their children will be taken in
C. they will feel happy as a result
D. they will undergo worse feelings
3.The author mentioned the example of her daughter to illustrate ______.
A. children are not so clever as parents think
B. children can often understand parents’ true feelings
C. it’s meaningful for parents to always look positive
D. it’s necessary to expose children to harmful things
4. We can conclude from the passage that _______.
A. protecting children from age-inappropriate things is important
B. it makes sense for children to know their parents’ negative feelings
C. children will admire their parents more because of being protected
D. separation from negative feelings helps children see the world honestly
HIGH-RISE APARTMENTS FOR RENT IN DOWNTOWN JACKSONVILLE’S SOUTHBANK COMMUNITY
Imagine coming home after work and feeling like you’re on vacation at a 5-star resort! Welcome to The Strand Southbank in downtown Jacksonville—where luxury meets comfort. Renting a luxury apartment at The Strand Southbank is a wise lifestyle choice. After your long day, you deserve to feel like you’re walking into a high-end luxury resort where you can truly relax. With activities geared towards life away from the office, our community comes alive when you come home. At The Strand Southbank, we foster (促进) resident friendships through frequent happy hours, book clubs and running groups. We free up your evenings by offering catered meals and food trucks on site. You have better things to do, like sitting on your balcony and taking in the views of downtown Jacksonville’s bridges lit up or smelling the salty air from the St. Johns River.
COMMUNITY AMENITIES (生活福利设施)
• Fully equipped fitness center with river views
• Business center with high-speed internet
• Controlled access garage parking
• Relaxing library with fireplace
• Frequent resident events and community activities
LOCATION
The Strand Southbank apartments are ideally located in downtown Jacksonville near the entertaining Riverwalk and the sparkling St. John’s River. Perfect for Jacksonville university students, these apartments are near popular Jacksonville schools including Jacksonville University, University of North Florida, and Florida Coastal School of Law. The Strand Southbank apartments are also conveniently near the Mayo Clinic.
DIRECTIONS
From I-10 take exit 350B toward San Marco Blvd. Merge onto Gary St. Turn left at FL-5/S Main St./ US-1. Turn right at Gulf Life Dr./Riverplace Blvd. The Strand Southbank is on the left.
From I-95, exit on Union Street and travel east. Turn left onto Riverplace Boulevard. The Strand Southbank is just ahead on your right.
1. What might encourage people to rent an apartment at The Strand Southbank?
A. The Strand Southbank is a 5-star holiday hotel.
B. Residents there can enjoy beautiful night scenes.
C. The Strand Southbank provides free internet access.
D. Residents there have better relationships than colleagues.
2.If you rent an apartment at The Strand Southbank, you _______.
A. may have easy access to some basic medical care
B. may choose to enter any Jacksonville school you like
C. are sure to spend a lot of time hanging around downtown
D. are likely to have trouble finding your way back from I-10
完形填空
请认真阅读下面短文，从短文后各题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
My mum was young when she fell pregnant with me. After I was born it was decided that my father’s relatives would ______ me in Manchester. No one spoke about Mum. Eventually, I was shown letters from Mum, ______ that she was a drug addict.
All this was running through my head as I arrived in Glasgow on 27 December last year. My sister Leanne, from my mother’s side, had ______ me down on Facebook, and we had been ______ for a while, but had met only once or twice. Leanne had been brought up by our mother’s parents, and had some ______ with Mum throughout her life. She was now living in Canada, but returning for Christmas and ______ to see all the family together. A big party had been arranged to welcome her back, and everyone would be there, including our ______.
In a very short time my sister and I hatched a ______ . I’d meet my sister as she arrived at Manchester airport, then we’d drive up to Glasgow ______ . Keeping it a surprise gave us a rush. After about a four-hour drive, we were there. I’d ______ called someone “Mum” before. But there she was.
We embraced (拥抱) and were soon ______ . We could hardly get the words out fast enough. Seeing someone so alike looking back at me was the strangest but most ______experience. Though a lifetime may have ______ us, this woman at a party in Glasgow was my mum. She ______ at me for a second, before giving me a tight hug. All she could say was that she never thought we’d ______ again.
She’d been ______ of drugs for five years. She told me how she now works for a charity that helps young people ______ the same problems she had. We now talk regularly, and I feel ______ she’s my mother. That’s something I couldn’t have even ______ when the door opened to her at that Christmas party. Life may be short, but it’s always ______ enough to reconcile (和好).
1.A. teach B. control C. serve D. raise
2.A. foreseeing B. revealing C. arguing D. promising
3.A. knocked B. tracked C. rolled D. turned
4.A. negotiating B. complaining C. messaging D. searching
5.A. contact B. bargain C. fun D. trouble
6.A. reluctant B. afraid C. confident D. desperate
7.A. sister B. father C. mum D. grandparents
8.A. deal B. plan C. trick D. change
9.A. in advance B. in turn C. in secret D. in time
10.A. ever B. even C. always D. never
11.A. looking away B. chatting away C. turning up D. picking up
12.A. disturbing B. annoying C. comforting D. frightening
13.A. separated B. deserted C. ruined D. cheated
14.A. laughed B. yelled C. stared D. pointed
15.A. part B. suffer C. recover D. meet
16.A. clean B. aware C. short D. fond
17.A. discuss B. overcome C. explore D. stress
18.A. guilty B. embarrassed C. proud D. shocked
19.A. imagined B. ignored C. questioned D. recalled
20.A. tough B. happy C. simple D. long
— Tom, you look worried. Anything I can do for you?
— I ______ if you could give me a three-day leave to look after my baby in hospital.
A. had wondered B. was wondering
C. would wonder D. have wondered
