Human beings are in for a double treat in January with the appearance of two supermoons. The first one rises on the night of New Year’s Day. The second comes on the last night of the month, ending up with a lunar eclipse (月食). That is the end of a trilogy (三部曲) of big moon treats that began in Dec. 3 with a full cold moon. The Jan. 1 supermoon will be the biggest of the year. The moon will appear to be oversized for a few nights after that, though it will no longer be a full moon.
A supermoon is a full moon that appears at the closest point in the moon’s orbit to earth, about 14 percent larger and 30 percent brighter than full moons that appear at the farthest point in the orbit. Supermoons hang around all night, are easy to see and are not damaging to the eyes, no matter how long you moon-gaze.
For those who may miss the night of Jan. 1, an even more charming supermoon will rise on the night of Jan. 31. That will be the second full moon of the month, which is usually called a “blue moon” because a double full-moon month occurs essentially once in a blue moon—about every 2.5 years. A blue moon is even rarer when it’s a supermoon. But that won’t be the only rarity that night. The super blue moon will also occur during a total lunar eclipse. If skies are clear, the total eclipse will be visible from eastern Asia across the Pacific Ocean to western North America.
Lunar eclipses make moons appear blood red because of the way the blocked sunlight bends, when the earth moves between the sun and the moon, blocking the sun’s light from reflecting off the moon. So prepare yourself for the super blue blood moon on the night of the lunar eclipse. To get the full effect of the lunar eclipse, watch at moonset.
1.What does the underlined word “That” in Paragraph 1 refer to?
A. The lunar eclipse. B. The New Year’ s Day.
C. The biggest supermoon. D. The supermoon of Jan. 31.
2.What can we learn about the supermoon on Jan. 31 from the text?
A. It will begin with a lunar eclipse. B. It will be a super blue moon.
C. It will be observed all over the world, D. It will be the biggest moon of the year.
3.What does the author advise observers to do about the lunar eclipse on Jan. 31?
A. Film the whole lunar eclipse with mobile phones.
B. Decide the spot first when they watch it.
C. Watch it when the moon sets.
D. Prepare sunglasses because the moon is too bright.
4.Which of the following can be the best title for the text?
A. Supermoons with A Lunar Eclipse B. The Definition of A Supermoon
C. Double New Year Supermoons D. The Rarity of the Blue Supermoon
Five and a half billion people across the world live without a household toilet. Hundreds of millions of people are using facilities that are unhealthy and more than a billion people defecate (排泄) in the open.
Michael decided to take action in response to what is one of the world’s greatest public health crises. He invited 32 health workers from 16 communities in the southern Highlands of Madagascar to attend a training to organize communities to completely wipe out open defecation.
After completing the initial training, the 32 health workers returned to their towns and got to work. They met with their community and began to map out their town. Together they toured the area and pointed out every spot where people often defecate. Many of them became embarrassed after realizing the high amount of human waste in their community. They then continued to make a bill for the total costs of trips to the local health center when being treated for gastrointestinal (肠胃的) diseases. They quickly began to realize the financial involvement, besides the health risks of open defecation.
The communities began to solve the problem on their own. They considered ways to reduce the cost, by using local materials. Bamboo fences were suggested as an alternative to wooden fences. Mud could be used to build walls instead of bricks. Before Michael starting his project, 267 toilets existed for the 6,700 people living in the communities Michael aimed to reach. It was not enough at all. More than 300 additional toilets were built. He was pleasantly surprised by the enthusiasm he saw from the community towards making open defecation less.
1.What is the purpose of Michael’s project?
A. To change some people’s living traditions.
B. To help all people in poverty in the world.
C. To develop professional skills of health workers.
D. To rid many people of the habit of open defecation.
2.What motivated the communities to build toilets?
A. Michael's healthy trainings for the locals.
B. Health workers' suggestions on defecation.
C. Too many spots where people often defecate.
D. The cost on diseases caused by open defecation.
3.What do many of the locals think of open defecation after mapping out their town?
A. They take it for granted. B. They view it as a shame.
C. They think it unimportant. D. They value it as a tradition.
4.What can we infer from the last paragraph?
A. The cost of toilets will become higher.
B. Open defecation will become less and less.
C. Most locals are still defecating in the open.
D. The locals are enthusiastic about open defecation.
Facial recognition is becoming increasingly common in China, where it has been installed at ATM machines and KFC restaurants. Now the technology has arrived in university classrooms to track student attendance.
Shen Hao, a professor with Communication University of China, is using facial recognition in his six courses to keep track of the attendance of more than 300 students.
Before every class, Shen activates a new attendance system installed on his tablet computer. Students stand in front of the screen one by one to have their photos taken and matched with those in the school’s database.
The system is based on facial recognition technology from Chinese Internet giant Baidu’s open AI platform. Currently, the platform has offered more than 80 different technological services to the public, helping program developers like Shen to develop their own applications.
“The traditional way of tracking attendance is through a roll call. The new system saves time and reduces the workload of teachers,” said Shen.
Students have joked that facial recognition is harsh as it doesn’t allow for skipping classes. “But they support the technology to enter colleges,” said Cui Yuqin, a student majoring in data journalism with the university.
China’s Forward-looking Industry Institute said that the facial recognition market in China surpassed 1 billion yuan (about 150 million U.S. dollars) in 2016 and is expected to hit 5.1 billion yuan by 2021.
Facial recognition technology has already been put to creative use. Beijing’s Temple of Heaven has used it in toilets to deter toilet paper theft. In eastChina’s Jinan, traffic police installed facial scanners at intersections to catch and shame jaywalkers, and a Beijing university has used the technology to guard its dorms.
1.What are the advantages of using facial recognition in college courses?
a. It makes it difficult for students to skip classes.
b. It helps students to attend classes easily.
c. It helps save time in classes.
d. It can make teachers match students’ names with their faces easily.
e. It reduces teachers’ amount of work.
A. abc B. ace
C. bcd D. bce
2.What does the underlined word “harsh” in Paragraph 6 probably mean?
A. severe. B. easy.
C. harmful. D. wonderful.
3.What is the main idea of the text?
A. Facial recognition encourages the development of modern technology.
B. Chinese university uses facial recognition to track student attendance.
C. Baidu’s open AI platform has offered facial recognition technology.
D. Facial recognition technology has many advantages over traditional services.
Are you hunting for a job? The China Daily newspaper group is looking for English-language senior business editors, senior copy editors, copy editors and graphic designers to strengthen its international team. We offer a competitive salary package, free accommodation with utilities(水电费) paid for, 90 per cent medical reimbursement, a seven-day paid leave, eleven-day public holidays and a return ticket to the country of residence.
Senior Business Editor
You must:
※assist the business editor in setting goals and working on achieving them;
※be an excellent team person who can create ideas and think creatively and be able to rewrite totally if needed and mentor junior staff;
※ideally have been working or have worked in a position of responsibility and understand what leadership entails;
※have had at least five years’ editing experience working on editing the Business Desk and be familiar with industry software.
Senior Copy Editor
You must:
※work on shifts in the Business Desk and usually have the last word before the page is sent to print;
※edit or rewrite copy and give concise headlines and captions;
※have had at least two years’ editing experience working on editing desks and be familiar with industry software.
Copy Editor
You must:
※be good at editing or rewriting copy and writing concise headlines and captions;
※be able to work on shifts for different pages, and usually have the last word before the page is sent to print;
※have two years of editing experience working on copy desks, and be familiar with industry software.
Graphic Designer
You must:
※have excellent skills in information graphics;
※be good at illustrations and freehand drawings;
※be experienced in newspaper or magazine layouts;
※have a good sense of typography;
※have good news judgment;
※be well-versed with Macintosh software, including In Design, Illustrator and Photoshop;
※be fluent in English.
For enquiries or to apply, write to job @ chinadaily.com.cn.
1.Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
A. The employees have to pay for their own food and accommodation.
B. The workers there can enjoy a seven-day leave without pay.
C. The employees have the right to enjoy eleven-day public holidays.
D. The senior business editor’s only job is to help the business editor to set goals.
2.How many positions need editing experience?
A. One. B. Two.
C. Three. D. Four.
3.Which can be the title of the advertisement?
A. China Daily: New Employees Wanted
B. China Daily: Newspaper
C. China Daily: An International Team
D. China Daily: The Best Working Condition
4.What is NOT required about Graphic Designer?
A. Be well-versed with Photoshop.
B. Have excellent skills in information graphics.
C. Having a good sense of typography.
D. Writing concise headlines and captions.
请阅读下面文字，并按照要求用英语写一篇150词左右的文章。
Li Jiang 1 January, Sunny
It's that time of year again: Time to make New Year's resolutions. It has become a tradition for me and I have carried on it for years. Every time l tick off the resolutions on the list, I am feeling on cloud nine. I know my life has arrived at a crucial stage and 1 will have to go all out in the new year. Now l put down my new resolutions here. Firstly, I need to sharpen my writing skills. Secondly, ...
Su Hua 1 January, Sunny
I felt ashamed of myself when I was reviewing my previous resolutions this morning. I make resolutions every New Year’s Day. However， they DON’T WORK! What happens in January stays in January; it rarely makes it to June, “New Year， New You.” I’ll try again and turn over a new leaf. And this time I am crossing my fingers that my new resolutions will be helpful.
（写作内容）
1.用约30个词概括上面两段文字的主要内容；
2.用约120个词谈谈你的观点，内容包括:
(1)新年表决心的意义，用1-2个理由或论据支撑你的观点:
(2)实现新年决心的做法(至少两点)。
（写作要求）
1.写作过程中不能直接引用原文语句；
2.作文中不能出现真实姓名和学校名称；
3.不必写标题。
（评分标准）
内容完整，语言规范，语篇连贯，词数适当。
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请阅读下面短文，并根据所读内容在文章后表格中的空格里填入一个最恰当的单词。注意:请将答案写在答题卡上相应题号的横线上。每个空格只填1个单词。
Emojis Catch Fire; Creators Seek IP Protection
Emojis (表情符号)are part and parcel of a great many messages exchanged by users of instant message apps, social media, email and the like. As the latest form of intellectual property (IP) in China, they are turning out to be a money-spinner and also an IP worth further protection in China.
Consider Rumi, a panda-like emoji, which has been downloaded on social media more than 340 million times, representing more than one fourth of China’s entire population. More and more users love to use emojis because they help spice up their messages with slick meanings, moods or states of mind that are best expressed quickly, not in words, but through interesting or funny images.
Not only do they use, they also tip. China^ largest social media platform WeChat told China Daily that more than 6.9 million users tipped emoji artists in 2017, part of nearly 14 million yuan ($2 million) in all. The return can be handsome. Zhang Xuchen, 39, a part-time emoji creator from Tianjin, said that he earned a good income in the tens of thousands of yuan a year simply through tipping from customers, which supplements (贴补)his job as a forklift truck driver.
StarMoly, founded in 2016, is the developer of Rumi. It owns more than 30 emojis, which have been downloaded more than 1.4 billion times. “Driven by the wide use of social media in nearly every corner in China, emojis are undoubtedly a promising IP，” said Lin Dongdong，president of StarMoly. Unlike traditional IPs, the company’s emojis will change their costumes and status according to different situations, which brings the digital-based images alive,
StarMoly has also cooperated with a great number of companies to develop its IPs. It has authorized its emojis to the Shape of Water, an Oscar-winning film, to use them in domestic publicity. “To protect our IPs, we select our partners with great caution. We only choose those well-known and high-quality brands including Lay's, Microsoft, Discovery and Taobao to make sure that our IPs are protected,” Lin said, noting that there are indeed many cases of abuse and piracy in the emoji and its related sectors in China.
“Emojis are very likely to be pirated because most of them are in digital forms, which are very easy to be copied and used again，”said Cheng Yanbo, an analyst. “Besides, it is a brand-new and wild area that is not effectively supervised (监管)
A good example, he said, is the facepalm emoji, one of the country’s most widespread characters. It was recently registered as a trademark by a clothing maker from Zhejiang province instead of the emoji’s creator, WeChat.
“To protect these emoji IPs, related rules and regulations are needed to protect the IP rights of both creators and companies，” he said, adding that education on the subject is supposed to keep up.
Passage outline | Supporting details |
Introduction | Emojis, instant messages used online, bring in a large fortune to creators and1. further IP protection as well. |
Reasons for emojis’ 2. | ·Emojis help users 3. their meanings, moods, or states of mind more quickly than words. ·Emojis help create interesting, exciting and funny images. |
4.in point | ·Rumi, an emoji 5. A like a panda, has been downloaded by over a quarter of China’s entire population. ·Zhang Xuchen created emojis part time but earned a good income because customers 6. him. ·The president of StarMoly, which 7. Rumi, recognizes emoiis as a promising IP. |
Problems with emojis | ·Emojis are very likely to be pirated because the 8. of them arc in digital forms. ·There is a(n) 9. of effective supervision because ifs a band-new industry. |
Solution | Related rules and regulations are needed to protect the IP rights of both creators and companies, and education should 10. closely. |
