Air travel can be annoying. But research now suggests global warming could make it much worse. To get off the ground in really hot weather, planes may be forced to carry fewer passengers. That might mean a little more space, which would be good. However, it also would make the passengers pay more.
Average air temperatures around the world are rising because people are polluting the air with an increasing number of greenhouse gases, which, such as carbon dioxide, are a byproduct (副产品) of burning fuels. Those warmer temperatures can influence an airplane’s ability to fly because air molecules (分子) spread out more as the air warms. This produces less lift under a plane’s wings, so a plane must be lighter to take off in hot weather than on cooler days.
It can even prove too dangerous for some planes to attempt a take-off. A record of June heat wave in the American Southwest, for instance, caused flight cancellations in Phoenix, Ariz. One airline’s planes were cleared to operate only up to 47.8 degree Celsius. On June 20, Phoenix reached 48.3°C!
Radley Horton is a climate scientist at Columbia University. Two years ago, he and his graduate student Ethan David Coffel studied the impact of warming at four U.S. airports and found that warming of track could triple(使成三倍) the number of days when planes face weight restrictions. Later, they explored the impact of rising temperatures on live types of commercial planes flying out of 19 of the world’s busiest airports. In the coming decades, as many as one to three out of every 10 flights that take off during the hottest time of day could face weight. That would be equal to taking a dozen people off the plane, the researchers calculated.
1.How would global warming affect air travel according to the first paragraph?
A. It’ll add to the danger of flying.
B. It’ll increase passengers’ travel cost.
C. It’ll make flying much more comfortable.
D. It’ll encourage more people to travel by plane.
2.What is the second paragraph actually intended to explain?
A. How global warming is happening.
B. What decides a plane’s ability to fly.
C. Why global warming affects flying.
D. Where greenhouse gases are created.
3.What is the last paragraph mainly about?
A. Reasons for flight cancellation.
B. The findings of a weight-related research.
C. The tendency of temperature change.
D. Effects of hot air on financial growth.
4.What should be the best title for the text?
A. Air Travel Isn’t Recommended during Hot Weather
B. Rising Temperatures May Reduce the Number of Flights
C. Weight Restrictions Are More Common in More Airports
D. Hotter Air May Lead to Planes Carrying Fewer Passengers
Many leading AI researchers think that in a matter of decades, artificial intelligence will be able to do not merely some of our jobs, but all of our jobs, forever transforming life on Earth.
The reason why many reject this as science fiction is that we’ve traditionally thought of intelligence as something mysterious that can only exist in biological organisms, especially humans. But such an idea is unscientific.
From my point of view as a physicist and AI researcher, intelligence is simply a certain kind of information-processing performed by elementary particles(基本粒子) moving around, and there is no law of physics that says one can’t build machines more intelligent than us in all ways. This suggests that we’ve only seen the tip of the intelligence iceberg and that there is an amazing potential to unlock the full intelligence that is potential in nature and use it to help humanity.
If we get it right, the upside is huge. Since everything we love about civilization is the product of intelligence, amplifying(扩大) our own intelligence with AI has the potential to solve tomorrow’s toughest problems. For example, why risk our loved ones dying in traffic accidents that self-driving cars could prevent or dying of cancers that AI might help us find cures for? Why not increase productivity through automation (自动化) and use AI to accelerate our research and development of affordable sustainable(可持续的) energy?
I’m optimistic that we can develop rapidly with advanced AI as long as we win the race between the growing power of our technology and the knowledge with which we manage it. But this requires giving up our outdated concept of learning form mistakes. That helped us win the race with less powerful technology: We messed up with fire and then invented fire extinguishers (灭火器), and we messed up with cars and then invented seat belts. However, it’s an awful idea for more powerful technologies, such as nuclear weapons or superintelligent AI— where even a single mistake is unacceptable and we need to get things right the first time.
1.How do many people feel about leading AI researchers’ predictions?
A. Worried B. Curious
C. Doubtful D. Disappointed
2.What does the author think of intelligence?
A. We know little about it. B. It belongs to human beings.
C. It is too difficult to understand. D. We have a good command of it.
3.What does the underlined word “upside” in Paragraph 4 probably mean?
A. Cost. B. Potential.
C. Quantity. D. Advantage.
4.What’s important for us in the race between people and technology?
A. Learning from failure. B. Increasing our intelligence.
C. Avoiding making mistakes. D. Making accurate predictions.
On November 7, Lewis Pugh completed a one-kilometer swim in the freezing waters of King Edward Cove, off South Georgia in Antarctica. He was wearing only his swimming glasses, cap and speedos!
Pugh is an advocate for our oceans and seas, working to protect these ecosystem with their large diversity of marine life. When asked why he doesn’t wear a wetsuit, Lewis says, “I ask world leaders to do everything they can to protect our oceans. Sometimes the steps they need to take are difficult and unpopular. If I’m asking them to be courageous, I must also be. Swimming in a wetsuit would not send the right message.”
It took Pugh about 19 minutes to complete the one-kilometer swim in Antarctica where the water averaged about 1.6 degrees Celsius . He says that his body can only tolerate about 20 minutes in the freezing waters before it starts shutting down. As he swims, his body temperature steadily drops, which in turn causes his muscle control to drop, slowing him down. When he is done with his swim, his support team rushes him to a hot shower and it takes almost an hour for his body temperature to return to normal.
Doctors and Pugh caution that one must receive months of training to swim in such cold waters. Even expert swimmers who are unused to freezing water can drown within minutes because of the physical shock experienced by the body. Pugh says he trained for six months before this swim.
This is not the first time that Lewis has swum in dangerous conditions. In 2007, he swam one kilometer in the North Pole to draw attention to the melting Arctic ice due to climate change. In 2015, he swam in the Bay of Whales in Antarctica’s Ross Sea as part of his successful campaign to help set up a marine reserve there.
1.Why did Lewis Pugh swim without a wetsuit?
A. To swim faster. B. To show his bravery.
C. To build up his body. D. To win public attention.
2.What does the underlined word “it” in Paragraph 3 refer to?
A. His body. B. The water.
C. His body temperature. D. The water temperature.
3.What’s Pugh’s advice about swimming in freezing waters?
A. One must be fully prepared.
B. One should be expert at swimming.
C. One should be ready to take on challenges.
D. One must be used to long-distance swimming.
4.What may be the best title for the text?
A. Lewis Pugh: swimming for a cause
B. How to survive a swim in cold waters
C. How to prepare for extreme swimming
D. Lewis Pugh: achieving the impossible
UK is becoming a popular destination for people who wish to study abroad. However, Britain is quite an expensive place to study and live in. Tuition fees have now reached £ 9,250 a year and students also face some of the highest living costs in the world.
Fortunately, there are a number of countries where universities offer degree programs entirely in English, along with the chance to learn the local language while you live there. Here are three of the options.
Tianjin University
Moving to China is not for the faint- hearted. Undergraduate degree courses at Tianjin last four years. Living costs are only around £ 400 a month and tuition fees are £ 2,300 a year. Flights will cost £ 3,600 over the four years. The total cost, at £ 28,800, is still around half that of a three-year degree in Britain. Tianjin is one of the world's latest cities and is only a half-hour train ride from Beijing. Three undergraduate programs are offered in English: Chemical Engineering, Environment & Energy and Pharmaceutical Science.
University of Amsterdam
The Dutch capital is not a cheap city to live in, but standard tuition fees of £ 1,800 a year make it significantly cheaper than a British degree. There are 14 bachelor's degrees on offer that are taught in English, including Political Science, Economics & Business Economics and Actuarial Science. Nearly all Dutch people speak English, making it an easy country to get by in.
University of Milan
The University of Milan's fees range from £ 140 to £3,650 a year. The one bachelor's degree offered entirely in English―Political Science is a three-year course. While living costs in Milan are high, the significantly lower fees make it a cheaper option than a British university.
1.What is probably the total cost of a three-year degree in Britain?
A. £ 14,400 B. £ 27,750
C. £ 28,800 D. £ 57,600
2.Where can you major in Political Science?
A. London and Tianjin.
B. Amsterdam and London.
C. Amsterdam and Milan.
D. Tianjin and Milan.
3.What is the purpose of the text?
A. To encourage people to study abroad.
B. To introduce some affordable universities.
C. To advertise some degree programs.
D. To compare tuition fees and living cost
假定你是李华，你的英国朋友peter即将作为交换生来你校学习，他来信询问你校学生社团(association)活动情况。请给他回信，内容包括：
1.学校师生对社团活动的态度；
2. 主要的学生社团；
3.你参加的学生社团。
注意：1.词数100左右；
2.可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；
Dear Peter,
____________________________________________________________________________________________
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____________________________________________________________________________________________
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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出语言错误，每句错误仅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. 每处错误及其修改仅限一次；
2. 只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。
Most people today are only worried about get good jobs to make lots of money. In our free time, they think about what to do for fun. However, few people think about what they can do help others. There are many people which are less lucky than us. Volunteering our time to help these people is the good way to spend our free time. For example, we can make plans to visit sick child in the hospital or raise money for homeless people. Some people even stopped their jobs for a few of months to a year to move to another place, unlike one of the countries in Africa, but help people there.
