Hello.I’mMeg.I’m12yearsold.Iha-优题课

ART FESTIVAL

14﹣24 August 2021

VIDEO

An hourly show of videos presented by Pemberton Secondary School students.Video themes are about intellectually （智力）disabled youth and their parents.

Venue：Capital Hall

Dates：14﹣22 August

Free admission

PERFORMANCE

Alpine Youth Theater presents A Cat's Mind with cheerful songs and dance，promising to give a wonderful performance by 20 young people between 18 and 25 years of age.

Venue：National Arts Theater

Dates：15﹣23 August

Free admission

CONCERT

Eric Fawkins，two﹣time Prima Music Prizewinner，will perform an evening of classical and jazz ballads.Eric Fawkins' latest CD will also be on sale.

Venue：Victory Theater

Dates：22﹣24 August

Tickets：available at ＄50（child），＄80 （adult）

（1）When will A Cat's Mind be performed？　　

A．	14﹣24 August.
B．	15﹣23 August.
C．	22﹣24 August.
D．	14﹣22 August.

（2）What is the price of an adult ticket for the concert？　　

A．	＄80.
B．	＄50.
C．	＄20.
D．	＄18.

（3）Which of the following is true according to the ads above？　　

A．	A group of children perform A Cat's Mind.
B．	Fawkins has won Prima Music Prize once.
C．	The video show is presented by the parents.
D．	You can buy Fawkins' latest CD at the concert.

Ever wondered why your virtual（虚拟的）home helper doesn't understand your questions？Or why your navigation app took you on the side street instead of the highway？In a study published April 21st in the journal Science，Italian researchers，Arianna Pipitone and Antonio Chella，designed a robot that "thinks out loud".

To explore how inner speech might influence a robot's actions，the researchers built a robot called Pepper that speaks to itself.It has the ability to reason and think.They then asked people to set the dinner table with Pepper according to etiquette（礼仪）rules.In one experiment，the user asked Pepper to lay the napkin at the wrong place，going against the rules.Pepper started asking itself a series of self﹣directed questions and concluded that the user might be mistaken.To be sure，Pepper confirmed the user's order，which led to further inner speech.

"Ehm，this situation troubles me.I would never break the rules，but I can't make the user unhappy，so I'm doing what he wants，" Pepper said to itself，laying the napkin where it was required to be.Through Pepper's inner voice，the user can learn Pepper was facing a difficult situation and solved it by prioritizingthe user's order.

Comparing Pepper's actions with and without inner speech，Pipitone and Chella discovered the robot had a higher task﹣completion rate when having self﹣dialogue.

However，some people find the robot spends more time completing tasks when it talks to itself.The robot's inner speech is also limited to the knowledge that researchers gave it.Pepper's designers still say their work provides a framework（构架）to further explore how self﹣dialogue can help robots focus，plan，and learn. "In some ways，we are creating a generational（世代的）robot that likes to chat.From navigation apps and the camera on your phone to medical robots in the operation rooms，machines and computers alike can take advantage of this chatty feature，" says Chella.

（1）Why does the writer ask two questions at the very beginning of the passage？　　

A．	To draw the reader's attention to the topic.
B．	To show the writer likes electronic products
C．	To tell the reader about the history of robots.
D．	To prove the writer often faces trouble in life.

（2）Why was Pepper asked to lay the napkin at the wrong place？　　

A．	To see how much time Pepper spent laying the napkin.
B．	To confirm how popular Pepper was among its users.
C．	To test how many etiquette rules Pepper remembered.
D．	To study how self﹣dialogue might influence Pepper's actions.

（3）What does the underlined word "prioritizing" in Paragraph 3 mean？　　

A．	repeating.
B．	dealing with…first.
C．	going against.
D．	complaining about.

（4）What can we infer from the passage？　　

A．	The designers are proud of their work about Pepper.
B．	Pepper has already been in use in the operation rooms.
C．	Pepper's inner speech depends on its user's communication skills.
D．	With or without inner speech，Pepper could complete a task equally well.

As a mountain，1，642﹣foot Squaw Peak isn't that impressive.But its views attract many hikers（远足者）.Henry Grant，a college student at Ithaca College，was one of them.

While waiting for his mother one day in August，2019，Grant watched other hikers enjoy the view.One hiker，dressed in pink，was looking over the lip of the cliff（悬崖）with her husband.

When Grant's mother rejoined him，the two continued on their way.Suddenly，he heard something scaring： "Paula!Paula!" a man shouted crazily.Grant turned around quickly.________

Several hikers immediately started looking for her，but their view was screened by trees.Uncertain they could help，Grant and his mother headed down the trail.But when he saw some hikers still searching，he decided to lend a hand.After promising his mother that he would be safe，he went on alone.

After 15 minutes of climbing over large rocks，pushing past bushes，and slipping（滑） down loose earth，Grant found a pink figure.The woman had fallen about 75 feet.Luckily，she was alive.

"Paula!Paula!" Grant shouted.The woman didn't reply.She was badly hurt.Grant called the police to report her location.She kept trying to move，and every time she moved，she slipped a little more.Afraid that in her unclear state of mind she might fall off the rock to her death，Grant climbed on all fours up a tight，narrow path by digging into the earth with his fingers and feet until he reached Paula.

Paula was moaning，almost senseless.Grant gently put her hand in his，trying to keep her mind off the pain by keeping asking her questions： "Where are you from？Do you have kids？" Soon， theywere joined on their perch（歇脚处）by another hiker named Simon.

About 45 minutes later，first rescuers（救援者）arrived.Paula and her husband were flown to a hospital.Five hours after the woman in pink had fallen，Grant was back on top of Squaw Peak.

（1）Which sentence should go in the empty line in Paragraph 3？　　

A．	He ran as fast as possible to save Paula.
B．	His mother turned around at the same time.
C．	The woman in pink was nowhere to be seen.
D．	Other hikers were scared by the terrible shout.

（2）Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage？　　

A．	Grant had no difficulty in reaching Paula.
B．	Simon and Grant's mother joined in saving Paula.
C．	Paula and her husband were both badly wounded and saved.
D．	Grant asked Paula questions to keep her mind off the pain.

（3）The underlined word "they" in Paragraph 7 refers to（指的是）　　.

A．	first rescuers
B．	Paula and Grant
C．	Grant and his mother
D．	Paula and her husband

（4）What does the passage mainly talk about？　　

A．	How a woman fell 75 feet from a mountain cliff.
B．	How a young man tried his best to save a stranger.
C．	How a woman managed to survive a terrible accident.
D．	How a young man made a decision in face of danger.

Roberta，Peter and Phyllis lived in a large house in London.Father worked hard in a government office.He was never angry and always ready for a game.Mother was almost at home，ready to play with the children，and read to them，and help them do their home﹣lessons.

These three lucky children always had everything they needed：pretty clothes，good fires，a lovely playroom and a dog called James.They had a happy life，but they did not know how happy till the pretty life in the large house was over.

Peter had a toy engine and it broke.After dinner，Peter showed Father the engine.Father looked it over and promised to do it on Saturday.

At that moment two men came to see Father.Minutes passed.Father's voice came out from the study，loud and angry.

More time passed.Then Mother came in and said， "Father's been called away﹣on business."

A week after their father went away，their mother said， "Now，we're going to move to the country.A pretty little white house，called Three Chimneys. "

The family started packing：clothes，plates，candles and also tables and chairs. "We seem to be taking all the ugly things，" said Roberta.

"We're taking the useful ones，" said Mother. "We've got to play at being poor for a bit."

Peter said joyously， "I do like moving!I wish we moved once a month." Mother laughed and said， "I don't like moving!"

As she turned away，Roberta saw her face.She never forgot it.

"Oh，Mother，" she whispered， "how I love you!You are brave enough to laugh when you're feeling like that! "

Then they took a train to Three Chimneys.No one knew how long they had been in the train when Mother woke them up.

They stood in the cold night air on the dark platform. At that moment they didn't know how important the station and the trains would become to them.They didn't know they were going to be the railway children .

﹣Taken from The Railway Children

（1）The family packed things like plates and candles because Mother thought they were 　　.

A．	useful
B．	new
C．	expensive
D．	beautiful

（2）Which of the following questions is answered in this passage？　　

A．	How did Peter's toy engine break？
B．	When would the children's father be home？
C．	What was the family like before Father was away？
D．	What was the family's life like in Three Chimneys？

（3）According to the passage，which of the following is TRUE？　　

A．	Phyllis wanted to move a house once a month.
B．	Father said goodbye to the children when he left.
C．	Mother wanted to leave London and move to the country.
D．	Mother was brave enough to laugh when she was feeling sad.

（4）What can we infer（推断）from the underlined sentences in the last paragraph？　　

A．	The children don't like their life in London.
B．	The station has nothing to do with the family's future life.
C．	Something is going to happen to the children later in the story.
D．	Parents can better deal with life changes than their children.

Is it possible to have a diet（日常饮食）that's both healthy and friendly to our planet？Here are answers to your eco﹣friendly food questions.

Does what I eat influence climate（气候）change？

Yes.The world's food system is responsible for（为……负责）about one quarter of the planet﹣warming greenhouse gases that humans produce each year.That includes raising and harvesting all the plants，animals，and animal products we eat，as well as processing，packaging，and shipping food to markets all over the world.

Which foods have the largest influence？

In general，beef and lamb have the biggest climate footprint per gram of protein while plant﹣based foods like beans，rice，corn and wheat have the smallest influence.Pork，chicken，eggs are somewhere in the middle.

Is there a simple food choice I can make？

Studies have shown that people who eat a meat﹣heavy diet can reduce their food-related footprint by one third or more by moving to a vegan diet ﹣ no meat，dairy（乳制品），or eggs.If you don't want to go that far，just eat less meat.

Can I really make a difference to our planet？

We need more food to feed the world's growing population.One person alone can make only a tiny difference.If many people make changes to their diets，that will start to add up.It will make a greater difference if the world's heaviest meat eaters make some changes to their diets.

（1）According to the passage，which foods have the smallest influence on our planet？　　

A．	Beef and lamb.
B．	Rice and corn.
C．	Chicken and pork.
D．	Beans and beef.

（2）According to the passage，which of the following is TRUE？　　

A．	One person alone makes no difference to our planet.
B．	Shipping food a lover the world has no influence on climate change.
C．	All the planet﹣warming greenhouse gases come from the food system.
D．	Meat eaters can reduce their food﹣related footprint by eating less meat.

（3）What is the best title for the passage？　　

A．	How to produce more meat.
B．	How to make more plant﹣based foods.
C．	How to eat better for the planet.
D．	How to ask eco﹣friendly food questions.