Getting rid of dirt, in the opinion of most people, is a good thing. However, there is nothing fixed about attitudes to dirt.

In the early 16th century, people thought that dirt on the skin was a means to block out disease, as medical opinion had it that washing off dirt with hot water could open up the skin and let ills in. A particular danger was thought to lie in public baths. By 1538, the French king had closed the bath houses in his kingdom. So did the king of England in 1546. Thus began a long time when the rich and the poor in Europe lived with dirt in a friendly way. Henry IV, King of France, was famously dirty. Upon learning that a nobleman had taken a bath, the king ordered that, to avoid the attack of disease, the nobleman should not go out.

Though the belief in the merit of dirt was long-lived, dirt has no longer been regarded as a nice neighbor ever since the 18th century. Scientifically speaking, cleaning away dirt is good to health. Clean water supply and hand washing are practical means of preventing disease. Yet, it seems that standards of cleanliness have moved beyond science since World War II. Advertisements repeatedly sell the idea; clothes need to be whiter than white, cloths ever softer, surfaces to shine. Has the hate for dirt, however, gone too far?

Attitudes to dirt still differ hugely nowadays. Many first-time parents nervously try to warn their children off touching dirt, which might be responsible for the spread of disease. On the contrary, Mary Ruebush, an American immunologist (免疫学家), encourages children to play in the dirt to build up a strong immune system. And the latter position is gaining some ground.

1.The kings of France and England in the 16th century closed bath houses because .

A. they lived healthily in a dirty environment

B. they believed disease could be spread in public baths

C. they thought bath houses were to dirty to stay in

D. they considered bathing as the cause of skin disease

2.Which of the following best describes Henry IV’s attitude to bathing?

A. Approving B. Afraid

C. Curious D. Uninterested

3.How does the passage mainly develop?

A. By providing examples

B. By making comparisons

C. By following the order of importance

D. By following the order of time

4.What is the author’s purpose in writing the passage?

A. To stress the role of dirt

B. To present the change of views on dirt

C. To introduce the history of dirt

D. To call attention to the danger of dirt

Artificial intelligence keeps defeating human, it is making countless victories against human in different fields of life and trying to push human to the corner.

Google’s DeepMind has defeated the world’s number one player Ke Jie. Human brain somehow has been replaced by a machine and scientists are working very hard on developing a human brain by implanting a chip and connecting it to the thick neuron that connects the two hemispheres of the brain. Well, who doesn’t want to get his brain upgraded to be as smart as the brain of Albert Einstein or Charles Darwin?

Humans will probably one day invent a brain that can be implanted in the human skull and reprogram all the human thoughts, but this invention doesn’t seems to be happening in the foreseeable future since human brain took millions of years to evolve. Some scientists believe that human will defeat death in the next twenty hundred years but they can’t really predict how long it’s going to take to develop a human brain that can completely replace the natural brain.

Despite of this accomplishment in the field of artificial intelligence, it couldn’t crease people from believing that science can’t stand alone. For instance, AI can imitate human brain and most of the time outperforms it, but there are still a lot of hidden secrets. AI outsmarted Ke Jie has consciousness unlike the AI, Ke Jie felt sad when he was defeated and buried his face in his hands but the AI didn’t feel happy and celebrate his victory.

The computer of 1960 is the same as the computer of 2017 in terms of consciousness, there is no signs so far telling us that there is an algorithm(运算)that can make a conscious computer and decipher (译解) its feelings. We can predict what the future will look like according to the past, especially from scientific point of view but the development of human brain seems unpredictable and unknown.

1.What is the possible meaning of the underlined word “neuron” in Para. 2?

A. The tube through which blood flows in your brain.

B. The kind of cell that carries information.

C. The soft fatty substance in the hollow center of bones.

D. The bony part of one’s head which encloses his/her brain.

2.What is Paragraph 3 mainly about?

A. It took millions of years for human brain to evolve.

B. Humans wish to get their brains upgraded to be as smart as possible.

C. Humans will probably invent a brain that can reprogram all the human thoughts.

D. It is hard to develop a human brain that can completely replace the natural brain.

3.“Ke Jie felt sad when he was defeated” is mentioned in Para. 4 to ________.

A. show that the AI has no human emotions

B. explain that AlphaGo is virtually unbeatable in the board game

C. tell us the accomplishment in the field of artificial intelligence

D. analyze Ke Jie’s psychological characteristics when playing the game

4.What can be the best title for the passage?

A. World Top Go Player Ke Jie Challenges AlphaGo

B. AlphaGo Teaches To use AI To benefit Humans

C. Google AI Defeats Human Go Champion

D. AI Can Imitate Human Brain And Most Of the Time Outperforms It

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