AlphaZero--an Updated Model of AI
Soon after Garry Kasparov, the former world chess champion, lost his rematch against IBM’s Deep Blue in 1997, the short window of human-machine chess competition slammed shut forever. Unlike humans, machines keep getting faster, and today a smartphone chess app can be stronger than Deep Blue. However, as people see with the new AlphaZero system, machine dominance has not ended the historical role of chess as a laboratory of cognition.
Much as airplanes don’t flap their wings like birds, machines don’t produce chess moves like humans do. Based on a generic algorithm (算法), AlphaZero incorporates deep learning and other AI techniques like Monte Carlo tree search to play against itself to develop its own chess knowledge. Unlike the traditional program Stockfish, which employs many preset evaluation functions as well as opening and endgame moves, AlphaZero starts out knowing only the rules of chess, with no preset human strategies. In a few hours, it plays more games against itself than have been recorded in human chess history. It teaches itself the best way to play, reevaluating the relative values of the pieces. It quickly becomes strong enough to win 28, draw 72, and lose none in a victory over Stockfish. Since AlphaZero can program itself, this superior understanding allows it to outclass the world’s top traditional program despite calculating far fewer positions per second. It’s the typical example of the cliché, “work smarter, not harder”.
AlphaZero shows that machines can be the experts, not merely expert tools. Explainability is still an issue—it’s not going to put chess coaches out of business just yet. But the knowledge it produces is information humans can learn from. AlphaZero is surpassing humans in a profound and useful way, and researchers are working on transferring the knowledge acquired from AlphaZero to other fields.
Machine learning systems aren’t perfect. Even though great progresses have been achieved, AI algorithms are still struggling on open problems such as computer vision, natural language understanding... There will be cases where an AI will fail to detect exceptions to its rules. Therefore, as Kasparov writes, “We must work together to combine our strengths. I know better than most people what it’s like to compete against a machine. Instead of raging against them, it’s better if we’re all on the same side.”
Questions 1-5: Judge if the following statements agree with the information given in the passage.
Choose A for TRUE if the statements agree with it; choose B for FALSE if the statements don’t agree with it; choose C for NOT GIVEN if the information the statements carry is not mentioned anywhere in the passage.根据文章内容判断下列表述。如果表述与文章内容一致，选 A 项；表述与文章内容不一致，选 B 项；文章中未提及的信息，则选 C 项。
Questions 6-9: Choose the correct headings for Paragraphs 1-4 from the box. Note that there are two choices more than you need.请为文章的四段匹配小标题，从A—F中选择。（提示：6个选项中有2项是多余的）
A. The proper attitude to AI
B. The history of AlphaZero
C. The limitations of machines
D. The influences of AlphaZero
E. The working theory of AlphaZero
F. The fast development of machines
1.Machine dominance plays an important role in cognition study.
2.AlphaZero knows opening and endgame moves before playing.
3.AlphaZero develops chess strategies by playing against itself.
4.Chess coaches have already been laid off throughout the world.
5.Sometimes artificial intelligence may not discover exceptions to its rules.
6.Paragraph 1
7.Paragraph 2
8.Paragraph 3
9.Paragraph 4
10.The author uses the underlined sentence in the last paragraph to ______.
A. argue for the advantages of AI over humans
B. inform readers of machine dominance in chess
C. advise people to work together to fight against AI
D. call on people to combine strengths with the machines
A Letter that Changed My Life
I was about 30 years old and was working as a firefighter in the South Bronx’s Engine Co. 82. It was a restful Sunday and between alarms I rushed to the office to read a copy of the New York Times. I read an article on the Book Review section which openly stated what I took to be a calumny – that William Butler Yeats had gone beyond his Irishness and was forever to be known as a universal poet. As I read it, my blood began to boil.
There were few things I was more proud of than my Irish heritage, and ever since I first picked up a book of his poems from a shelf when I was in the military, Yeats had been my favorite Irish writer, followed by Sean O’Casey and James Joyce.
I grabbed a piece of paper and wrote out a letter of anger to the editor. Throughout Yeats’ poetry, his view of the world and the people in it was basically Irish. He had lived his life and written his poetry through the very essence of his Irish sensibility. It was offensive to think Irishness was something to be transcended(超越).
I don’t know why I felt it my duty to safeguard the reputation of the world’s greatest poet. I just knew that I had to write that letter.
After my letter got published, I received a letter from The New Yorker, asking for an interview. When my article Fireman Smith appeared in that magazine, the editor of a large publishing firm called me, asking if I was interested in writing a book about my life. I had little confidence to write a whole book, though the subject was worthy. I wrote Report From Engine Co. 82 in six months, and it sold really well. In the years that followed, I wrote three more best-sellers.
Being a writer had been far from my expectations. How had it happened? I often found myself thinking about it, and my thoughts always came back to that letter to the New York Times. For me, the writing was a natural consequence of the passion I felt and the subjects represented the great values burning within me as I wrote.
Over the years, my five children have come to me with one dilemma or another. My answer is always the same. Think about what you’re feeling and measure the heat of the fire in your heart, for that is your passion. Your education and your experience will guide you toward making a right decision, but your passion will enable you to make a difference in whatever you do. That’s what I learned the day I stood up for Ireland’s greatest poet.
1.Why did the author write to New York Times?
A. To present his love for literature.
B. To spread Irish culture to the world.
C. To prove he has brilliant writing skills.
D. To defend the reputation of an Irish poet.
2.According to the author, what is the key to his success in writing?
A. His skills in arguing. B. His experience as a firefighter.
C. His passion in writing. D. His educational background.
3.The underlined word “calumny” in Paragraph 1 shows ______.
A. a positive feeling
B. a negative feeling
4.Write down the evidence (at least two) from the passage to support your idea.
_______________________________________________________________________________
Should Parents Teach Children How to Tweet?
Social media is a seemingly endless source of concern for parents, with worries that it weakens their children’s confidence and attention spans. But others counter that it could also be broadening their horizons.
The latest round of worry was sparked by a study of the impact of social media use on 8-12- year-olds published by Anne Longfield, Children’s Commissioner for England. The report focused on 32 children, who said they used social media to stay connected with friends and family and to have fun, by watching videos for example. But they also described pressures from constant contact, online comments that weaken their self-esteem, and the need to shape offline activities to make them shareable. “You see your friends going ice skating, partying or talking about how much revision they have done, and it can make you feel inadequate,” says Bea, a junior school student from Bristol, UK. “It’s just so hard to get away from.”
Children have to take risks on their journeys to adulthood, and desires to fit in and be popular existed before Mark Zuckerberg came along with Facebook. However, in previous generations these pressures came largely from people they knew, and they mostly stayed outside the home. Now the pressures could come from any one of the nearly 3 billion people online, and follow them from school to home, and can even continue through the night.
The pressures do get on parents’ nerves, among which the utmost concern is how their children can be protected from harms, given that social media is now integral to the way many young people interact. A good starting point is a basic understanding of childhood development milestones.
Broadly, children have a high dependency on carers for security and guidance up to the age of 5, increasing independence and self-care from 6 to 11, and increasing autonomy and growing reliance on peers from 12-18 years old. Against this background, the suitability of social media for children of different ages should be considered respectively.
According to Longfield’s study, children should be taught about online safety from an early age, better before secondary school. There is growing evidence that efforts need to be extended to provide earlier guidance on less extreme but more common risks, including oversharing, low selfesteem, addiction and insomnia. The evidence suggests she is right. However, approaches that focus merely on the potential negatives are unlikely to work.
“My school has tried to do a lot, but it often involves trying to drill into us how bad social media can be,” says Bea. “People of my age really like social media, so I think a better approach would be if they said ‘Although it is good, here are some negatives’.”
1.We can learn from Paragraph 3 that ______.
A. children used to face more dangers
B. Facebook gives children the chance to fit in
C. parents give their children much pressure at home
D. children’s pressures may come from strangers nowadays
2.According to the passage, parents’ major concern for children is ______.
A. possible harm from social media B. comments from online friends
C. their reliance on social media D. pressures from oversharing
3.We can infer from Bea’s words that ______.
A. teenagers don’t believe social media has negatives
B. adults overemphasize the bad effects of social media
C. it is easy for teenagers to get addicted to social media
D. social media helps teenagers know their friends better
Courses & Curriculum of the College of Arts & Sciences in Cornell
The diversity of the courses you can take in the College of Arts & Sciences is extraordinary:
Academic Distribution Requirements
The College’s academic distribution requirements will include:
· effective writing
· foreign language beyond the introductory level
.· imaginative and critical thinking
To choose your courses for a semester, use the Class Roster. It shows the schedule of all classes offered in a particular term, along with class enrollment information and course details.
The Class Roster is updated frequently.
To plan your classes over your four years at Cornell, use the Courses of Study. It represents Cornell’s full catalog of courses and is published annually. It provides information on Cornell degree programs, requirements, policies and procedures.
If you need help, call 607-255-5004 for an appointment with an advising dean. Or contact a career counselor in the Arts & Sciences Career Development Center at 607-255-4166 to talk about your interests and how they can translate into a major and a future career.
A New Curriculum
On October 30, 2018, the College of Arts & Sciences faculty（ 教员） approved a new undergraduate curriculum to be carried out over the next two to three years. The new curriculum focuses on the theme of exploration and reaffirms the college’s commitment to a liberal arts and sciences education. Students who have questions about the new curriculum can view the approved proposal on the Course Designer app of Cornell.
Innovative Learning
If you’re one of the 3,000 students across the university taking biology or physics at the College, you may be part of an innovative（ 创新的） classroom project that uses active learning,a new model that is proving to be the quickest path to expert-level mastery.
Your education at Cornell will extend far beyond the classroom. You can join a faculty member’s research team on campus, conduct field study research in different states or spend a semester with Cornell in Washington D C. You could study abroad in one of more than 85 countries or develop your own research project through independent study. Give yourself the freedom to explore.
The diversity of the courses you can take in the College of Arts & Sciences is extraordinary:
Academic Distribution Requirements
The College’s academic distribution requirements will include:
· effective writing
· foreign language beyond the introductory level
.· imaginative and critical thinking
To choose your courses for a semester, use the Class Roster. It shows the schedule of all classes offered in a particular term, along with class enrollment information and course details.
The Class Roster is updated frequently.
To plan your classes over your four years at Cornell, use the Courses of Study. It represents Cornell’s full catalog of courses and is published annually. It provides information on Cornell degree programs, requirements, policies and procedures.
If you need help, call 607-255-5004 for an appointment with an advising dean. Or contact a career counselor in the Arts & Sciences Career Development Center at 607-255-4166 to talk about your interests and how they can translate into a major and a future career.
A New Curriculum
On October 30, 2018, the College of Arts & Sciences faculty（ 教员） approved a new undergraduate curriculum to be carried out over the next two to three years. The new curriculum focuses on the theme of exploration and reaffirms the college’s commitment to a liberal arts and sciences education. Students who have questions about the new curriculum can view the approved proposal on the Course Designer app of Cornell.
Innovative Learning
If you’re one of the 3,000 students across the university taking biology or physics at the College, you may be part of an innovative（ 创新的） classroom project that uses active learning,a new model that is proving to be the quickest path to expert-level mastery.
Your education at Cornell will extend far beyond the classroom. You can join a faculty member’s research team on campus, conduct field study research in different states or spend a semester with Cornell in Washington D C. You could study abroad in one of more than 85 countries or develop your own research project through independent study. Give yourself the freedom to explore.
1.If you want to plan your courses over the long run, you can use the ______.
A. Class Roster B. Courses of Study
C. Course Designer D. Career Center
2.For students involved in an innovative classroom project, they ______.
A. may study a new model
B. are on the quickest way to be experts
C. will get more freedom during research project
D. have advantages of studying outside the classroom
3.The article is probably taken from ______.
A. a travel magazine B. a science report
C. a college website D. an academic journal
I grew up on a 40-acre farm in the small rural community of Illinois, as the fifth of six children.
My parents, Robert and Patti, often noted during meals how everything on the table except sugar and wine came from the land._____ running the farm, Dad was also a carpenter. In the fall of 1980, he was working on a house when all of a sudden the ladder broke. His back was broken.
He stayed in hospital for almost a month with his head and feet down, _____his back to align (成直线) correctly so the bones would heal.
On Thanksgiving, Dad was still in hospital recovering from his back injury. Normally he would take us to butcher pigs the day after the holiday, and that year my uncle _____ up with my four cousins to help my two elder brothers _____ our year’s supply of pork.
When Dad came back home from the hospital, he was still in a back brace (支架) and _____ to work. I was too young to realize our family had no money coming in as Christmas _____ . Another day we saw a car coming up the long driveway. Always longing for company, we kids were_____ about who was visiting. Rose Anderson, our neighbor, was at the door, holding an envelope stuffed with money. She told my dad she had_____ money in the community and came to deliver it.
Dad tried to refuse,_____ Rose insisted. I can still hear her saying, “Robert, whenever someone’s baler (压捆机) breaks down, you bale their hay. Whenever someone passes away, Patti cooks. It’s our _____.”
I learned later that we also _____ gift baskets from more than one organization. That Christmas, I, a 6-year-old kid, understood what being a good neighbor was, and that as my parents were good neighbors, their_____ would be returned. These tales of Christmas kindness will _____ our heart, too.
My parents were accustomed to being the _____, not the receivers of such generosity. They had a bit of pride to swallow, but continued all of their lives to show us kids the _____of kindness.
1.A. Besides B. About C. For D. By
2.A. pushing B. pressing C. attracting D. allowing
3.A. put B. broke C. showed D. made
4.A. buy B. prepare C. share D. cook
5.A. unwilling B. unable C. ready D. eager
6.A. approached B. continued C. passed D. ended
7.A. worried B. excited C. curious D. anxious
8.A. collected B. borrowed C. earned D. saved
9.A. for B. or C. so D. but
10.A. rule B. duty C. turn D. favor
11.A. refused B. received C. sent D. bought
12.A. pride B. kindness C. money D. gift
13.A. ease B. open C. win D. warm
14.A. givers B. buyers C. workers D. farmers
15.A. price B. aim C. value D. hope
We could learn vocabulary while we are asleep. Researchers showed it is possible 1. (learn) new information while sleeping deeply, and recall this information later. They did tests to see 2. a person could remember new words and their translations while sleeping. The answer is yes. The language areas of the brain remember vocabulary during sleep, especially during deep sleep. While sleeping, our brain switches on for about half a second and then switches3. for half a second. The active state 4.(call) “up-state”. This is how our brain could learn new vocabulary.
