Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in the blanks to make the passages coherent and grammatically correct. For the blanks with a given word, fill in each blank with the proper form of the given word; for the other blanks, use one word that best fits each blank.
A new era of computing may be upon us as Google claims its Sycamore computer has achieved quantum supremacy (量子霸权). But what is quantum supremacy, and what does it mean for the future?
Quantum supremacy is a scientific term. It means that a quantum computer has solved a problem that a classical computer would take too much time and energy to do.
1. (publish) in the journal Nature on Oct 23, Google tasked a computer with finding mathematical probabilities of different “events”. The events were specific values from a random number generator. Sycamore successfully picked out strings (系列) of numbers that were 2. (likely) to occur than others, running the test 1 million times in 200 seconds.
In their research, Google claims that the world’s best supercomputer would have taken 10,000 years 3.(solve) the same problem. However, Google’s claims were questioned by rival company IBM, who argued the same test 4. have been completed in 2.5 days by its Summit supercomputer.
What is quantum computing? The major difference between quantum and classic computers is in how they record and transmit information. Classic computers, from your laptop to your phone to a NASA supercomputer, use bits. Each bit has a state of either zero or one (on or off) and completes each operation one-at-a-time.
However, quantum computers, like Google’s Sycamore, use quantum bits – called qubits (量子位). These can be both zero and one at the same time, allowing them to hold more data and work together to solve problems simultaneously.
Google’s experiment has been applauded 5. a major breakthrough. It is a stepping-stone toward a big dream.
Currently, quantum computers are within the next decade. Tech reporter Jacob Ward told NBC News, “This could revolutionize our every little real-world value, but that can all change whole lives. We’re talking about the development of new medicines, materials, artificial intelligence, all of which, right now, 6. (depend) on a very limited language of computing.?”
While quantum may not be close to 7. (change) our everyday lives right now, it has been compared to the first rocket to reach space. It may be a generation 8. quantum computers become mainstream, so who can say what humans might achieve with the new technology?
Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in the blanks to make the passages coherent and grammatically correct. For the blanks with a given word, fill in each blank with the proper form of the given word; for the other blanks, use one word that best fits each blank.
The 2020 Championships Wimbledon have been canceled 1. public health concerns linked to the coronavirus epidemic. The Championships 2.(schedule) to be held from Monday, June 29 through Sunday, July 12. The134thtournament will be held (hold) between June 28 and July 11, 2021. “This is a decision we have not taken lightly and we have done so with the highest regard for public health and the well-being of all those3. come together to make Wimbledon happen,” AELTC chairman Ian Hewitt said. “It 4. (weigh) heavily on our minds that the staging of The Championships has only been interrupted previously by World Wars but, 5.(follow) thorough and extensive consideration of all scenarios, we believe that it is a measure of this global crisis and 6. it is ultimately the right decision to cancel this year’s Championships, and instead concentrate on 7. we can use the breadth of Wimbledon’s resources to help those in our local communities and beyond.
请根据下图写一篇100-120词的短文。
要点：
1. 简要描写图画内容。
2. 说明图画的含义。
3. 谈谈你的看法。
注意：短文的开头已给出（不计字数）
In the picture, we can see that
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请认真阅读下列短文，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：每个空格只填1个单词。
In the United States, engineering is a profession that has been dominated historically by men. Even today, it’s still true that few women become civil or chemical or mechanical engineers, but that’s something www.EngineerGirl.org aims to change. Young women who visit the web site can find out about a great career choice they might not have considered.
“Women are very much underrepresented in engineering and in engineering education programs and then of course, down the road, in the engineering workforce. So only about 20 percent of engineering undergraduate degrees go to women, and then only about nine percent of working engineers are women.”
Mary Mattis in the National Academy of Engineering says the EngineerGirl website aims to reach young women around ages 11 through 14, when they are just getting old enough to start thinking about their futures.
“We know from the research that middle-school girls are at a critical point in their lives, and that it’s a time when we need to reach them, both with an understanding, increasing their awareness of interesting fields in engineering, what a wonderful productive and exciting career you can have as an engineer. But we also need to reach them at that time because you have to take certain courses, and you can’t start thinking about taking those courses when you’re a junior in high school.”
Engineering is a demanding course of study — there is a lot of science and mathematics, for many girls and even boys, that can be challenging. But Ms. Mattis says that the EngineerGirl website stresses that engineering can also be fun and exciting.
“It’s about designing things. It’s about changing the world for people. It’s about making a difference. And, in addition, you can make a good living; you can be independent economically by becoming an engineer. All of those things are messages that girls need to get.”
While most engineers go into traditional fields such as mechanical and electrical engineering, the EngineerGirl site also highlights unusual engineering careers in fields such as sports engineering and — believe it or not — chocolate engineering.
“There’s a section called ‘why be an engineer,’ and that talks about the many opportunities and increasingly different opportunities like with bio-engineering and environmental engineering, some fields that might appeal to girls who want to make a difference or have a meaning for their careers beyond earning an income.”Even if you are not a girl in the target age group, there’s a lot of interesting information on the site, including biographies of some notable women engineers.
Title | Website1.Girls to learn Engineering |
Present2.for the engineering profession in the USA | The majority of men take up the profession throughout3., while only a small number of women work as engineers. |
4.of the website | To make young women5.of interesting fields in engineering and what productivity and6.the career of being engineers can bring them. |
7.of being engineers | * It can be fun and exciting. |
Other fields concerning engineering | Various opportunities are talked about like bio-engineering and engineering10.to sports, and even chocolate. |
Partway through Wonder, Fifth-grader Auggie Pullman finds himself seated across from a new friend in the school cafeteria. “Have you ever thought about having plastic surgery?” the friend asks.
“Dude, this is after plastic surgery. It takes a lot of work to look this good,” Auggie says, running a hand through his hair. In other words, what could be painfully depressing turns out to hold lurking(潜藏的) reserves of humour, which is pretty much the story of Wonder.
Auggie, played by Jacob Tremblay, was born with a facial difference, and even after multiple operations, his looks shock his classmates. As he adapts from homeschooling to a new school community, he encounters far worse than that lunchtime scene－one nasty bully(横行霸道者) says he’d kill himself if he looked like Auggie－but he never fully loses heart.
The movie is an adaptation of the 2012 novel by R.J.Palacio, which has sold 6 million copies in North America and launched an antibullying campaign, Choose Kind. Palacio has said she got the idea for the story when her young son began crying at the sight of a girl with a facial difference in an ice cream shop. She took her kids out of the shop, but later regretted her reaction. “What I should have done is simply turned to the little girl and started up a conversation and shown my kids that there was nothing to be afraid of,” she said.
Tremblay, 11, who broke out opposite Brie Larson in the 2015 drama Room, has more than a few things in common with Auggie. “We both love Star Wars, we have awesome families, and we love our dogs.” But Tremblay thinks we all can find something in common with the boy. “Everyone’s like Auggie in one very important way: we want to be accepted and treated equally and with kindness.”
Julia Roberts, who plays Auggie’s mother, became interested in the part because of her own children, “I read it with my kids and fell so in love with it,” she says of the novel. “This book is such a beautiful and gentle introduction into all kinds of topics, including bullying and intolerance and fear, and what fear makes young people do sometimes.”
Both actors have some familiarity with the subject. “I was picked on quite a bit as a young person,” Roberts says, though she won’t say what for. “Even as a 50-year-old mother of three, it’s not a path I like to go up and down.” Tremblay reveals a bit more. “I have been picked on,” he says, “because I’m kind of short for me age. I told my parents, and that’s one of the best things you can do, because my mom said would never want me to carry negative thoughts on my shoulders alone.”
The most challenging parts of filming, says Tremblay, were moments in which he had to cry. Tenderhearted audience members will likely shed tears of their own－especially during scenes between Auggie and his mom, who repeatedly reassures her son that he is worthy of love. But the movie also has its fair share of hijinks(喧闹): for every tear-filled moment, there is a lightsaber battle or silly science project to lighten the mood. This mixture of pity and humor, says Roberts, “was intrinsic(固有的) in the writing in the novel.” But she credits writer-director Stephen Chbosky with translating that balance into visual terms.
As much as the movie impresses the viewer with compassion for the underdogs, it also finds a way to sympathize with the bullies. “I would say to try to take a moment to be conscious of why a person that is bullying somebody is behaving that way,” says Roberts, “After all”, she adds, “There’s no child that’s born bully.”
1.How did Auggie respond to his friend’s question?
A. He felt so embarrassed that he kept reserved.
B. He flew off the handle the moment he heard it.
C. He answered in a calm but humourous way.
D. He spent quite a while finding the right words.
2.What inspired the story of Wonder?
A. A campaign against bullying in North America.
B. Palacio’s kids being picked on by their classmates.
C. Palacio’s conversation with a girl in an ice cream shop.
D. The way Palacio treated a girl with a facial difference.
3.According to the passage, the theme of the movie Wonder is ________.
A. similar to that of the drama Room
B. focused on the safety of plastic surgery
C. diverse and closely relevant to personal growth
D. a reflection of minority groups’ fate in America
4.What does paragraph 7 mainly talk about?
A. How Julia Roberts got to know Jacob Tremblay.
B. Leading actors’ recalling similar experiences to those in Wonder.
C. Jacob Tremblay’s breakthrough in his acting career.
D. What influence Jacob Tremblay’s mother has on his growth.
5.According to Julia Roberts, Stephen Chbosky _______.
A. is a great lover of Star Wars and wild animals
B. was moved to tears by Jacob Tremblay’s acting
C. is qualified to adapt science fiction into movies
D. succeeded in mixing visual elements with emotion
6.What’s Julia Roberts’ attitude towards the bullies?
A. Uncaring. B. Negative.
C. Sympathetic. D. Cautious.
Scientists have exactly discovered the set of brain cells involved in making risky decisions, and have been able to control them in rats using targeted light. By changing the activity of the cells they were able to change the behaviour of risk-taking rats to avoid risk, hinting the approach could in future be used to treat people with impulse (冲动) control problems.
Risk-taking is a key part of survival, knowing when to take a chance could pay off—such as moving to a new area to look for food when pickings are slim.
While all animals need an element of risk, the preference towards it varies between individuals. Researchers found this variation, which determines how risk-averse an individual is, is regulated by brain cells in a region of the brain called the nucleus accumbens. This cluster of neurons releases the neurotransmitter dopamine, which regulates the brain’s reward and pleasure centres.
Previous studies have shown that in patients with Parkinson’s disease, taking medication which blocks specific dopamine receptors (DR2) (受体) leads to increased gambling (赌博) behaviour and risk taking behaviour. In studies with rats, researchers were able to use a technique called optogenetics (光遗传学)—which uses light sensitive proteins to change the activity of cells—to modify cells with DR2 in the nucleus accumbens.
Rats were trained to choose one of two levers, offering them a choice between a “safe” or “risky” choice. The safe option resulted in a small, but consistent amount of a sugar water treat. But the risky choice consistently delivered smaller amounts of sugar water, with the occasional large pay off—essentially encouraging the animals to gamble for a bigger prize. Around two-thirds of the animals weren’t keen on risk, opting for the safe option, but the remaining third were risk-seekers. Brain scans of the animals showed that those with low levels of DR2 consistently went for the gamble.
But using pulses of light to stimulate (刺激) the DR2 cells and improve their activity could cause the risk-takers to play it safe and opt for the guaranteed but less rewarding option. Once the light-pulses stopped, the risk-takers returned to their gambling strategy.
In the risk-averse animals, stimulating the same cells had little to no effect.
Professor Karl Deisseroth, of Stanford University in California, said: “Humans and rats have similar brain structures involved.”And we found a drug known to increase risk preference in people had the same effect on the rats. So every indication is that these findings are relevant to humans. “Risky behavior has its moments where it’ s valuable. As a species, we wouldn’t have come as far as we have without it.”
1.The variation in people’s preference towards risks is directly regulated by ________.
A. nucleus accumbens B. light sensitive proteins
C. neurons D. dopamine
2.From the experiment with rats, we can conclude that ________.
A. the lack of DR2 cells results in a safe option
B. the levels of DR2 have little to do with their choices
C. the high levels of DR2 can make animals avoid risks
D. the risky choice is a less rewarding option
3.The underlined words in Paragraph 7 most likely mean the animals that are ________.
A. willing to take big risks
B. reluctant to take risks
C. fond of gambling strategy
D. afraid of receiving stimulation
4.What can be inferred from what Professor Karl Deisseroth said?
A. Humans and rats differ in their preference for risk-taking.
B. Too much risk-taking can do more harm than good.
C. Risk-taking can be used to treat people with impulse control problems.
D. Risk-taking is a means of survival and brings higher returns to humans.
