US poet Allen Ginsberg once said, “Poetry is the one place where people can speak their original human mind.”
To recognize the unique ability of poetry to capture the human spirit, World Poetry Day is held by the United Nations on March 21 each year.
The magic of poetry lies in the connection built up through words between the author and the reader. When we read a poem, we often imagine what the poet was thinking when he wrote it, or what he was doing at the time. These thoughts let us connect with the words better, as if we’d written the poem ourselves.
But in the age of artificial intelligence, would a poem still mean as much if it weren’t written by a human at all? Today computers can create all kinds of texts, including research papers, books, news stories and even poems by using algorithms (算法).
In 2013, Australian researcher Oscar Schwartz and his friend Benjamin Laird created a website called “bot or not”, where readers can read poems and guess whether they were written by a human or a computer. During a recent speech at TedX Sydney, Schwartz said that throughout the years, some of the website’s poems were able to fool 65 percent of human readers into thinking they were written by a human.
By launching the website, Schwartz and Laird hoped that people would question the difference between humans and machines - and be able to identify what makes us human.
Unstableness is part of the answer. “The human mind is not a cold, hard fact,” Schwartz said during his TedX Sydney speech. “Rather, it is something that’s constructed with our opinions and something that changes over time.”
A computer may be able to create poems that are correct in both grammar and style, but it wouldn’t be able to get the same meanings and emotions across as a human poet could. In fact, current AI software creates poems based on ones that have already been written by humans. As Schwartz noted, “The computer works like a mirror that reflects any idea of a human that developers teach it.”
So a new challenge arises: What kind of human mind do we want the computer to reflect back at us?
1.What’s the purpose of the first three paragraphs?
A.To show the popularity of poetry around the world.
B.To introduce the origin of World Poetry Day.
C.To show the function of poetry in general.
D.To give some tips on appreciating poetry.
2.From Paragraph 5, we can learn that_______________.
A.Computers can also produce poems of high quality
B.65% of the poems on the website “bot or not” were written by computers
C.Readers don’t really care whether the poems were written by humans or not
D.Few readers can tell poems written by computers from those by humans
3.What does the underlined word “it” in Paragraph 7 refer to?
A.Unstableness. B.Identification.
C.The human mind. D.The Website.
4.Why can’t computers match humans in creating poems according to the article?
A.They can’t create poems that make sense.
B.They can’t express emotions as well as humans.
C.They fail to use the correct grammar and style.
D.They only know how to copy existing poems.
I know many people who spend time thinking about all the might-have-beens, what-ifs and opportunities they’ve missed. They spend their lives constantly feeling like they’ve missed out on something big. Their boats have sailed. They’ve missed their one and only opportunity to be rich, famous and do something really amazing.
I know someone who used to enter the same numbers in the lottery every week. One week, she was too busy to get the ticket before the agency closed. And her numbers came up. There were no winners that week and the jackpot money rolled over to the following week: 10 million pounds. She’s never forgiven herself. Since then, she’s lived her life feeling like she’s missed her boat, the only opportunity she’ll ever have to be happy.
I suspect most of us would be pretty upset if that happened to us. Now, the question is, would we allow it to rule the rest of our lives? Or should we consider the possibility that it happened for a reason?
Now, I’ll admit that I’d have a very hard time saying anything along those lines for quite a while if something like that happened to me. But, if I knew that I was putting every effort into being wealthy or happy, then I would also know that just because something didn’t happen the way it ought to happen, everything would still be alright. I will be able to relax and let it go.
Nothing ever happens to me, but everything always happens for me. So long as I’m keeping my eye on my goals, everything that happens is the Universe moving me towards my goals. It’s definitely easier said than done, particularly at first. But it is doable. It’s simply a choice.
You haven’t missed your boat. Your boat is still there. Don’t waste your life crying over someone else’s boat. Step onto your own.
1.When her lottery numbers came up, she wasn’t the winner because _____________.
A.she couldn’t forgive herself B.she was too busy to buy the ticket
C.she forgot the correct numbers D.she has missed her boat
2.What does the underlined sentence in Paragraph 5 suggest?
A.The world can’t change me.
B.I can change the world by working hard.
C.I have never missed any good opportunity.
D.Whatever happens to me is beneficial to me.
3.What’s the best title of the passage?
A.You Can’t Miss Your Boat.
B.You Shouldn’t Often Change Your Goals.
C.You Forgive Yourself as soon as Possible.
D.You Can’t Step onto the Boat that Has Sailed.
When I was a boy, my parents and I traveled from New York City to the Pennsylvania countryside for a week-long taste of rural life. We stayed in a guesthouse on a farm, joining in the daily routines and eating meals with the farmer and his family. We got up early to see the cows as they were milked. I even tried my hand at milking one, then joined the farmer as he released the cows into the field afterward.
Decades later I still have vivid memories of that trip, which made me realize the value of a vacation, of seeing new things, meeting new people and sharing memorable experiences with family members. To this day, I still consider that family trip when I plan my approach to planning and taking time off with my wife and kids. Vacations are a time for resting and connecting. As a bank manager, I spend much of my workday encouraging my customers to save their money. One of the reasons I give is that we should all have enough money for a family vacation every year. In our busy lives, family is what we should be saving our money and time for.
For my family, our vacation starts when we begin planning the trip. We talk about destinations and our budgets ahead of time. Involving the kids in planning the vacation makes sure that they have a great vacation too. While I prefer to visit historical sites and museums, they love to fish and swim. So I build in some relaxation time for us all so that the vacation works for everyone.
Each year, setting aside vacation time to spend together is especially important to us. A relaxing environment opens the doors to all kinds of conversations - deep, silly or meaningful. There’s no pressure from the usual everyday tasks.
What matters is that everyone is having a great time.
1.Why did the author go to the countryside when he was a boy?
A.To milk the cow. B.To meet his parents.
C.To experience country life. D.To enjoy the scenery.
2.Which of the following is NOT true according to Paragraph 2?
A.The author learned to milk and fish.
B.The author understood the value of vacations.
C.The author met new people and learned things during the trip.
D.The trip helped the author understand the significance of vacations better.
3.What is the passage mainly about?
A.The author had a good time in the countryside.
B.The author tried to let family members enjoy the holidays.
C.The author advised others to spend vacations with their families.
D.The author realized the value of family vacations and put it into practice.
教师节前夕，你和同学们准备通过录制节目为班级老师庆祝教师节。请根据以下提示，以“A Special Teachers’ Day”为题，为校刊上的英语角栏目写一篇短文，记述你们的庆祝过程。
内容要点：1. 活动策划；2. 录制过程；3. 教师的感受。
注意：1. 词数100左右；2. 短文的开头已给出，不计入总词数。
A Special Teachers’ Day
Never shall I forget the special Teachers’ Day.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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处语言错误，每句中最多有两处。每处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（
），并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线（＼）划掉。
修改：在错的词下画一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1. 每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；
2. 只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。
When Zhang Wei decided to take part in the 3,000-meter race, everyone is very surprised. One of his classmate said he was not strong enough run 3,000 meters. And he said he was determined to finish it. During the race, each step seemed difficulty. Suddenly he fell, thus break his glasses and losing his chance of winning. But he didn’t give up. He stood up, put on his broken glasses and keep on running. “Come on! You can not do it!” Everyone on the sports field was cheering for her. Although he was a last one to cross the finishing line, he won the Courage Cup.
阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容（1个单词）或括号内单词的正确形式。
Save the Earth
Without the Earth we have nowhere to live, along with many other organisms. If we don’t save the Earth 1.(active) now, our children or grandchildren might not be able to see it for long. Our atmosphere 2. (weaken) and we have to do something about it quickly.
We could plant more 3. (tree) to create more oxygen to keep the bad air away from the atmosphere,4. we could just stop cutting down the rainforest. We are living and we need the space but we aren’t the only species on this earth.5. (save) the rainforest is not only good for the atmosphere but also good for the many different species that the earth provides for 6. (we).
We could try to get as many people as possible to switch to other energy using 7. (little) mineral fuels for energy and relying more on solar and wind energy 8. fossil fuels are destroying our earth and we need 9. (limit) the use of it.
Recycling is one of the simplest ways 10. helps our precious planet. Everyone can help. All they have to do is follow three simple rules: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!
The world is precious and we need to keep it that way.
