第一单元
A
Animal Friendly Camps for Children
SPCA(Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals)camps are the best choice for the children who love animals. Campers enjoy a unique learning experience with our furry friends during these one-week sessions．
At San Diego’s Animal Adventure Camp，younger campers enjoy a wide range of exposure to animals and a dose of life lessons as well．Pets are played with inside a“safety circle，”a formation where kids sit with each knee touching a neighbor’s．Children then wait to be approached，learning the animals should come to them as opposed to chasing the animals and causing them stress．Then campers create one-of-a-kind toys for their favorite pups．
New Hampshire SPCA Summer Camp includes the Animal Advocates—Campers Picks program．Kids choose an animal to help it be adopted．They get to know it，its personality，and get the word out．Cage signs are lovingly made and hung and campers advocate for the animal all week．Then，when the animal finds a home，the entire camp celebrates．
Campers of all ages interact closely with horses at the MSPCA at Nevins Farm Children’s Camp in Methuen，Massachusetts．Set on a 40-acre farm with a working barn，the program introduces rescue training and the equipment used to transport an injured animal into an emergency vehicle to campers of all ages．This is many children’s first time interacting with large animals and it is thanks to the MSPCA's scholarship program．
Westchester SPCA Critter Camp in Briarcliff Manor，New York keeps kids busy all day．In addition to attending an animal cruelty workshop，campers create Adopt Me flyers for the sheltered dog or cat they’d like most to find a home．Then it’s time to post them around their neighborhood and do some legwork．There’s also crafting cat toys，baking dog biscuits and painting pictures to brighten things up in the dog farm．
1．What can children learn at San Diego’s Animal Adventure Camp? A．How to approach animals． C．How to take care of animals．
B．How to feed animals．
D．How to get along with animals．
2．Which camp trains children to save animals?
A．San Diego’s Animal Adventure Camp． B．New Hampshire SPCA Summer Camp． C．Westchester SPCA Critter Camp．
D．Nevins Farm Children’s Camp．
3．What do New Hampshire SPCA Summer Camp and Westchester SPCA Critter Camp have in common?
A．Both are shelters for large animals． C．Both involve making animal toys．
B．Both encourage animal adoption． D．Both take in endangered animals． B
Every day when Glen Oliver orders his morning coffee at the drive-through window of a local cafe, he insists on paying for the order of the person behind him. He also asks the restaurant workers to tell the customer to have a great day, in case they’re not already having one.
Oliver has never made a big deal out of his own generous actions until a letter was published by a news website in November. He found out that he had not just bought someone his breakfast —he had saved a life.
According to the website, someone had written a letter stating that on July 18th, he was planning on committing suicide. The writer said that while he was at the drive-through window, he was planning on going home, writing a note and ending his life. When he went to pay for his coffee and muffin, however, the cashier told him that the man in the SUV in front of him had picked up the tab and told him to have a great day. “I wondered why someone would buy coffee for a stranger for no reason,” said the writer. “Why me? Why today? If I were a religious man, I would take this as a sign. This random act of kindness was directed at me on this day for a purpose.”
When the writer arrived home, he couldn’t hold back his tears and started to think about the simple good deed that had affected him so deeply. “I decided at that moment to change my plans for the day and do something nice for someone. I ended up helping a neighbor take groceries out of her car and into the house.”
The writer says that in the months following that fateful event, he does at least one kind thing for others every day. “To the nice man in the SUV, thank you from the bottom of my heart. Please know your kind gesture has truly saved a life,” he said. “On July 18, 2017, I had the greatest day.” 4. What is Oliver’s act of kindness every day? A. Buying others breakfast.
B. Greeting restaurant workers. C. Publishing positive news. D. Taking groceries for neighbors.
5. What is special about Oliver’s act of kindness on July 18, 2017? A. It brought him thank-you letters. B. It was reported on a news website. C. It was the first time he’d paid for others. D. It stopped someone from killing himself.
6. What does the underlined phrase “picked up the tab” mean in Paragraph 3? A. Paid the bill. Ordered a drink.
7. How did the writer of the letter feel after the event? A. He felt guilty.
B. He felt grateful. D. He felt saddened.
B. Parked the car.
C. Left a message.
D.
C. He felt confused.
C
Artificial intelligence(AI)has been undergoing great progress in the last decade．An AI program can imitate human functions such as problem solving and learning．While AI offers much promise for the development of smarter and more useful machines，it also fills many with fear of a dull future where millions are thrown out of work，replaced by robots and smart machines． It’s perhaps possible that humans will one day be reduced to servants of our machine overlords，but a calm assessment predicts a mixed effect of AI on the job market．History teaches us that machines do replace humans，but somehow there are still plenty of jobs available today． The reason is that automation can take the place of labor on certain jobs，but also adds labor for other jobs that are not easily automated，making labor more productive and actually increasing the demand for workers．
Jobs composed of repetitive tasks are the ones most defenseless to automation．Examples including automated weaving machines，ATMs，production-line welders(焊接工)and phone answering systems．It might seem that these advances would simply throw people out of work． But look at the example of the weaving machines．They increased productivity 50-fold and
dropped the price of cloth by 98 percent．The demand for cloth exploded as the price fell，thus creating more weaver jobs．In the years between 1830 and 1900，the number of weaver jobs increased 4-fold despite automation．Automation increased demand for weavers，but also changed the nature of the weaver’s job．A similar process happened with ATMs，which didn’t remove the need for human tellers，whose numbers actually have risen since ATMs were introduced in the 1970s.
The intelligent response is for the public and private sectors to create worker training programs to teach new skills that will be required despite the spread of automation．This will require all investment in on-the-job training and lifelong learning． 8．What can we know about AI from Paragraph 1? A．It has a history of no more than 10 years． B．It leaves many people worrying about job loss． C．It is already too advanced to be further improved． D．It is unable to learn or solve problems like humans． 9．What does the author say about automation in Paragraph 2? A．It will surely reduce job chances for humans． B．It will certainly help improve productivity． C．It wi11 enable machines to enslave humans． D．It will eventually take the place of all human labor．
10．What is the author’s main purpose of listing the examples in Paragraph 3? A．To tell us how to expand the job market to cut costs． B．To explain why certain jobs suffer greatly from automation． C．To show what is the best way to have productivity improved． D．To prove automation doesn’t necessarily make humans jobless． 11．Which of the following can be the best title for the passage? A．How AI will develop in the future B．How AI will transform the job market C．How man will benefit from automation D．How man will survive in the age of automation
D
There is a change of attitude toward the pink and blue divide in toys. Target, the second-largest discount retailer (折扣零售店) in the US, announced in 2015 that it would get rid of signs labeling toys for boys or for girls. A UK campaign called Let Toys Be Toys seeks to get retailers to stop dividing toys and books for one gender (性别) only.
Researchers have worried about the effect of having toys that were so segregated (分开的) by gender for some time, says Lisa Dinella, associate professor at Monmouth University. Clearly divided pink and blue toys — with dolls and tea sets on one side and trucks and building blocks on the other — are actually a pretty recent development. As recently as the 1970s, toys sold in the US were not always marketed with clear gender distinctions. By the 1980s and 1990s, however, toys started to become more gender segregated, though it was still not so sharply divided as today, says Elizabeth Sweet, a lecturer in sociology at the University of California, Davis.
While it may seem like a small issue, toys help children to develop new skills, says Dinella. Dolls and pretend kitchens are good at teaching kids early language skills. Building blocks like Lego and puzzles teach skills related to space, which help set the groundwork for learning math. “Both genders lose out if we put kids on one track and they can't explore,” says Dinella. Some parents try to introduce other types of toys and get away from the strictly pink and blue divide. But it's difficult for parents to ignore the marketing and get their kids toys or costumes meant for the other gender, says Dinella. While some parents try to broaden the toys their children are exposed to, there is often a social cost to the child for crossing gender boundaries. “So it is hard for parents to throw out the rules,” she says.
Researchers hope that one day, toys will stop being broken up by gender and will instead be categorized (分类) by type, like puzzle toys, dolls or children's bikes. Toy choices, Sweet says, should be based on kids' personal interests, and not on their gender. 12. What trend is described in the first paragraph?
A. Offering different toys to boys and girls. B. Giving kids more time to play with toys. C. Making more colorful toys for kids. D. Ending the gender divide in toys. 13. How will the pink-and-blue toy divide affect kids according to Dinella? A. Helping them develop in a quite normal way.