Robots make me nervous-especially the ones which seem to think for themselves.I was embarrassed to admit this till I heard that Bill Gates,the founder of Microsoft,felt the same way.Gates said in an interview with the website Reddit:“I am in the camp that is concerned about super intelligence.First the machines will do a lot of jobs for us and not be super intelligent.That should be positive if we manage well.A few decades after that though the intelligence is strong enough to be a concern.”

Well,maybe I don’t have to worry about my laptop and kitchen appliances yet.After I use them I can always pull the plug.But in the future,machines might find a way to prevent us from switching them off.There’s a scary thought!

Professor Stephen Hawking warned a few months ago about the possibility that artificial intelligence could evolve and end up beyond human contro1.He suggested that machines could“spell the end of the human race”.

Maybe the problem with computers too clever for us is not that they are evil or rebellious.What could put us in danger is that they might be too efficient.That’s what philosopher Nick Bostrom from the Future of Humanity Institute at Oxford University believes.He says that machines are indifferent to humans and in pursuit of their own goals,the destruction of people might be just collateral(附带的)damage.A machine would not take pity on you.

I’m glad my machines at home are“dumb”.All my vacuum cleaner wants to take over is the carpet in my living room.Let’s hope they don’t create an appliance which wants to take over the world!

1.We can conclude from Gates’statements that ___________.

A.he is embarrassed that he is afraid of robots

B.he doesn’t think machines are intelligent

C.machines should be fully employed

D.machines’super intelligence should be a concern

2.The underlined word“spell”in Paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to _____________.

A.record B.cause C.explain D.develop

3.Why are computers dangerous according to Nick Bostrom?

A.They are too evil and rebellious.

B.They are indifferent to humans.

C.They show pity on humans.

D.They are too clever and efficient.

4.What can be inferred about the author?

A.He doesn’t agree with Bill Gates.

B.He is not content with the present kitchen appliances.

C.He is scared about the super intelligence of machines.

D.He expects that machines will take place of humans.

Baths and bathing have long been considered of medical importance to man. In Greece there are the ruins of a water system for baths built over 3,000 years ago. The Romans had warm public baths. In some baths, as many 3,000 persons could bathe at the same time.

Treating disease by taking bathing has been popular for centuries. Modern medical bathing first became popular in Europe and by the late 1700’s has also become popular in the United States.

For many years frequent bathing was believed to be bad for one’s health. Ordinary bathing just to keep clean was avoided, and perfume was often used to cover up body smells!

By the 1700’s doctors began to say that soap and water were good for health. They believed that it was good for people to be clean. Slowly, people began to bathe more frequently. During the Victorian Age of the late 19th century, taking a bath on Saturday night became common.

In the United States ordinary bathing was slow to become popular. During the 18th and early 19th centuries, many Americans were known as “The Great Unwashed!” In one American city, for example, a person was only allowed to take a bath every thirty days! That was a law!

Frequency of bathing today is partly a matter of habit. People know that bathing for cleanliness is important to health. Doctors know that dirty bodies increase the chance of diseases. As a result, in the United States, people generally bathe often. Some people bathe once a day at least. They consider a daily bath essential to good health.

1.In the 18th century doctors believed that being clean was _______.

A. unimportant B. good for health

C. harmful D. popular

2.During the Victorian Age _______.

A. the Americans ever took a bath every thirty days

B. frequent bathing was avoided

C. people used perfume to cover up body smells after bathing

D. the British people generally took a bath once a week.

3.The passage is mainly about _______.

A. bathing in the USA

B. the good points and bad points of bathing

C. the history of bathing

D. the modern medical bathing

Old friends

They finish your sentences, they remember the cat that ran away when you were twelve, and they tell you the truth when you’ve had a bad haircut. But mostly, they are always there for you — whether it’s in person or ________late night phone calls — in good times and________. But as the years pass, it becomes increasingly________to see each other, to make new memories. ________, my high school friends and I promised long ago not to let this happen. We promised to have reunions.

A few months ago, we met up for a two-day________in the American Southwest. We grew up together in Maine and have said for years that we should have a(n) ________event, yet it’s often put off or________due to schedule conflicts(冲突). Not this year.

The weekend ________long talks by the pool, wonderful meals, and a hike that brought the entire group to________ . Not tears of sadness or anger, but an outpouring of emotion over the complete wonderment that we can be this close — twelve years after graduation — with such physical________between us. It’s heartbreaking that we can’t spend our days together in the same neighborhood, walking the same streets, reading the same newspaper at the same coffee shop. But that’s________. Grown-up life.

Most________ is the group’s adaptability to one another. The time we spend ________is non-existent. No need to get reacquainted (重新熟悉), we jump back in the saddle (车座) and it’s as comfortable as ever. Old friends — friends with an ever-present ________of support and sisterhood, friends that know each other innately (天生地) — are hard to come by and yet we remain as ________today as we were, years ago, giggling(咯咯笑) in the back row of Mr. McKechnie’s 9th grade math class.

Life today, ________, is no math class. Our world is full of________ , full of fear. Yet it ________ me — now, more than ever — how important it is that we stay________ . We may have questions about our future, but we have true faith in our past, and though this ________of friends has come to a close, we are already drawing up plans for the next one.

1.A. atB. throughC. inD. above

2.A. badB. convenientC. happyD. lucky

3.A. smoothB. unpopularC. difficultD. easy

4.A. FortunatelyB. ObviouslyC. ImportantlyD. Accidentally

5.A. partyB. meetingC. weekendD. weekday

6.A. unusualB. yearlyC. excitedD. important

7.A. damagedB. destroyedC. cancelledD. changed

8.A. consisted ofB. made upC. aimed atD. resulted in

9.A. happinessB. excitementC. sadnessD. tears

10.A. distanceB. differenceC. contactD. condition

11.A. truthB. theoryC. lifeD. fact

12.A. amazingB. disappointingC. embarrassingD. confusing

13.A. togetherB. awayC. offD. apart

14.A. imaginationB. senseC. ideaD. duty

15.A. closeB. interestedC. relaxedD. regretful

16.A. howeverB. thereforeC. besidesD. somehow

17.A. doubtB. chancesC. confidenceD. hopes

18.A. informsB. remindsC. persuadesD. warns

19.A. in chargeB. in briefC. in personD. in touch

20.A. contactB. conversationC. reunionD. party

When you meet someone for the first time, you will form an impression in your mind of that person in the first moment. Your reactions to other people, however, are really just barometers (晴雨表) for how you perceive(理解) yourself. Your reactions to others say more about you than they do about others. You cannot really love or hate something about another unless it reflects something you love or hate yourself. We are usually drawn to those who are most like us and tend to dislike those who display those aspects of ourselves that we dislike.

Therefore, you can allow others to be the mirror to illuminate (阐明;照亮) more clearly your own feelings of self-worth. Conversely, you can view the people you judge negatively as mirrors to show you what you are not accepting about yourself.

To survive together peacefully with others, you will need to learn tolerance. A big challenge is to shift your perspective from judgment of others to a lifelong exploration of yourself. Your task is to assess all the decisions, judgments you make onto others and to begin to view them as clues to how you can heal yourself and become whole.

Several days ago I had a business lunch with a man who displayed objectionable table manners. My first reaction was to judge him as rude and his table manners as annoying. When I noticed that I was judging him, I stopped and asked myself what I was feeling. I discovered that I was embarrassed to be seen with someone who was chewing with his mouth open and loudly blowing his nose. I was astonished to find how much I cared about how the other people in the restaurant perceived me.

Remember that your judgment of someone will not serve as a protective shield against you becoming like him. Just because I judge my lunch partner as rude does not prevent me from ever looking or acting like him. In the same way, extending tolerance to him would not cause me to suddenly begin chewing my food with my mouth open.

When you approach life in this manner, those with whom you have the greatest dissatisfactions as well as those you admire and love can be seen as mirrors, guiding you to discover parts of yourself that you reject and to embrace your greatest quality.

1.The purpose of the author writing this passage is to advise people to _______.

A.avoid inappropriate manners

B.judge others favorably in any case

C.pay attention to others’ needs and feelings

D.learn tolerance towards others

2.The underlined word “objectionable” in Paragraph 4 has the closest meaning to __________.

A.disgusting B.disappointing

C.discouraging D.disturbing

3.According to the passage, the following statements are all true except ______.

A.The moment we see a stranger, our mind forms an impression of that person.

B.We are easily attracted by someone who is similar to us.

C.Our first judgment of a person mostly comes from our personal opinion.

D.You can’t really love or hate others if they are similar to you.

4.It can be implied from the text that __________.

A.the writer’s first reaction to the man was to judge him as offensive

B.we shouldn’t focus on judging others but should constantly reflect on our own

C.we will need to learn tolerance to co-exist with others

D.the writer didn’t care about other people’s view of him

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