My brother and I often fight with each other over small things. One day our father said to us, “Tomorrow we will take part in the Ray Home Sports Day. Both of you must go with me. Perhaps you can learn something from those children.” My brother laughed, “Dad, Ray is a home for physically disabled children. What can we learn from them?”
“You will see,” our father said.
Our father works as a volunteer at Ray. The children there have problems with their hands, speech, walking or hearing. Every day, he spends hours helping them to move or exercise their legs or arms.
The following day, he took us to Ray Home. When we got there, we found a nice place to sit down. Finally, the sports began. There was a 50-meter race to see who could run fastest. All the runners were physically disabled. As the race started, all the children moved as fast as they could. Just then, one of the girls fell over and hurt her leg. She began to cry at the top of her voice.
All the children stopped to help the poor girl. Then they all held hands and finished the race together. My brother and I were surprised to see this: the children weren’t interested in winning the race－they were more interested in helping each other to finish the race.Why did the father take the writer and his brother to Ray Home?
| A．The father wanted them to do something at Ray. |
| B．The father asked them to help the children at Ray. |
| C．The father wanted them to take part in the Sports Day. |
| D．The father wanted them to learn something from the children. |
What does the father often do in Ray Home?
| A．He works as a teacher there. | B．He helps the children there. |
| C．He watches the games there. | D．He does sports with his sons. |
Why did all the children stop in the 50-meter race stop?
| A．All the children were disabled. | B．A little girl fell over and got hurt. |
| C．They stopped to laugh at the girl. | D．They didn’t want to finish the race. |
What can we learn from the passage?
| A．The children there can help each other. |
| B．All the runners there can not run fast. |
| C．All the children don’t want to be winners. |
| D．The disabled children there were not smart enough. |
Artificial intelligence （AI， 人工智能） can help us make phone calls． It can guide us to where we want to go． It can play games． And now， AI can do even more things．
Researchers from Microsoft have created the first machine translation system that can translate news articles from Chinese to English， Business Standard reported．
According to Microsoft's official website， researchers tested the system by asking it to translate hundreds of sentences taken from news stories． Then， language experts compared the results to two translations that were done by humans． The experts said that the system's translations were as good as the human translations．
Machine translation is always challenging． This is partly because different words can be used to express the same meaning． It can be hard to say which word is more "correct"．
Experts used several methods to improve the system's translation abilities． "Much of our research is really learned from by how we humans do things，" lead researcher Liu Tieyan said．
One method is called dual learning （对偶学习）．In this method，the system translates every sentence from Chinese to English，as well as translates the sentences back from English into Chinese．This way，the system can improve itself and learn from its own mistakes． This is similar to what humans do to make sure their translations are exact．
Another method makes use of deliberation networks （推敲网络）．The researchers taught the system to repeat the process of translating the same sentence over and over．Gradually， the system can improve the quality of its translations． This is similar to how people correct their own writing by going through it again and again．
（1）Microsoft created a system that can ．
A． make phone calls
B． give people directions
C． play games with people
D． translate news articles
（2）What did the experts say about the system's translations？
A． They were not accurate．
B． They were as good as human translations．
C． They were better than human translations．
D． It's hard to tell whether the translations were correct．
（3）Dual learning trains the system to translate ．
A． more quickly
B． different sentences
C． more accurately
D． the same sentence repeatedly
（4）The underlined word "it" in the last paragraph refers to ．
A．dual leaning
B．The process
C．The system
D．People's own writing
（5）What is the main idea of the story？
A． What artificial intelligence can do for us．
B． How sentences are translated from Chinese to English．
C． How the machine translation system was developed．
D． Why Microsoft created a machine translation system．
Perhaps you have seen some strange English before， like "big meter" for dami and "small buy" for xiaomaibu in Chinese． These are examples of incorrect translations in China that can be seen everywhere from restaurant menus to information signs
While many people find this Chinglish to be funny， it also confuses（使困惑）English speakers． On Dec． 1， 2017， China carried out its first national standards（规范） for the use of English in public service areas．
The standards include more than 3， 500 Chinese﹣to﹣ English translations in 13 areas， including transportation，sports and education．This means that many Chinese words will now have standard English names．
For example， the English word for the Chinese dish lamian "lamian noodles"． For kaochuan and mixian， the English names are" barbecue"and"rice noodles"
As for places， shaoniangong is called"childrens palace"． The entertainment activity nongjiale that we enjoy in rural areas is called "agritainment"． There are also many English warning phrases， like"mind your head"for dangxinpengtou．
The standards are part of efforts China has made in the past years to fix incorrect English． Many cities have already fixed a lot of signs that show the wrong English translations．In 2015， Shanghai opened a 7234 hot line to encourage people to report incorrect translations．
If you want to see all of the standard Chinese﹣to﹣English translations，
Please look through the website http://***********．
（1）From the passage， the standards for the use of English ．
A． were carried out on Jan， 1， 2017
B．are China's first translation dictionaries
C． have 3， 500 English﹣to﹣Chinese translations
D． give many Chinese words standard English names
（2）"Spicy hot pot is a standard translation for ．
A． Malatang
B． lamian
C． Mixian
D． kaochuan
（3）We can tell from the passage that agritainment is ．
A． a street food
B． an entertainment activity
C． a warning sign
D． a place for kids
（4）China carried out the standards in order to ．
A． be funny
B． confuse English speakers
C． fix incorrect English
D． make more people learn English
（5）The underlined sentence shows that ．
A． some cities have already corrected all the signs
B． all the cities have corrected lots of signs
C． lots of wrong English translation signs have been fixed in many cities
D． correct translations in China can be seen everywhere
Ceilidh Dance
Welcome to Edinburgh Ceilidh Club! Here you can find information about what's happening at Edinburgh's best regular ceilidhs．
The Edinburgh Ceilidh Club is held every Tuesday night at Summerhall， Newington， Edinburgh． We have the best of Scottish ceilidh bands each week． The bands have a caller who will teach the dances， so the event is great for everyone， from complete beginners to experienced ceilidh dancers． Come and experience Scottish dance the way it's meant to be!
Tickets： £6 （online）
£7 （at the door if there are any left）
Time： 8 pm ﹣ 11 pm
Free Wi﹣Fi and snacks are provided． No drinks are included in the tickets．
For information about tickets for Ceilidh Club call at 0130 3175 3160 or email boxoffice@ summerhall． Co．UK．
（1）Ceilidh nights are usually held on ．
A． Monday
B． Thursday
C． Wednesday
D． Tuesday
（2）Beginners can also enjoy Ceilidh nights because ．
A． the caller will teach the dances
B． Ceilidh dances are easy to learn
C． there are many experienced dancers
D． the club has the best Ceilidh bands
（3）Catherine bought 2 tickets online and 3 tickets at the door． she must pay ．
A． £30
B． £32
C． £33
D． £35
（4）What is included in the tickets？
A． Free Wi﹣Fi．
B． Dinner．
C． Drinks．
D． Wine．
（5）You can get more information about tickets by ．
A．visiting their website
B． becoming a member of Ceilidh Club
C． calling Ceilidh Club at 0130 3175 3160
D． writing emails to boxoffice@ summerhall． co． US
One sunny Monday，I decided to go for a walk with my husband．I was wearing a special diamond（钻石） ring that day． It was my 20th birthday gift from my grandmother．
As we were walking in the park， I unintentionally looked down at my hand and found the diamond on my ring was missing． I was really worried so I went back to look for it． I knew how small the chances were of finding it， but I still wanted to give it a try．
As I was fixing my eyes on the ground， I ran into an old gentleman by accident．"What's wrong，love？" he asked nicely． "Sorry that I ran into you，"I said，"But I lost something． I'm really worried． "I explained about the missing diamond and showed him the hole in my ring．"That's not going to be easy to find it， "he said． "Tell you what， love， I take a walk here every day． I'll keep my eyes open for it． "I thanked him expecting nothing．
A few days later， my husband and I met the old man again in the park．"Guess what， "he said． "I found your diamond! "I couldn't believe what I saw when the gentleman handed the diamond back to me．Then my husband offered him money for his help， but he refused．
The old man could have easily kept the diamond or sold it， as it's worth several thousand dollars．But he didn't． All I have to do is to look at my ring and remind myself that there are still kind and generous souls out there． Now thanks to this man， I'll spend more time trying to do something nice for other people．
（1）The relationship between the lady and the old gentleman is ．
A． husband and wife
B． father and daughter
C． owner and thief
D． strangers
（2）The underlined word "unintentionally" in Paragraph 2 probably means" "．
A．有意地
B．无意间
C．故意地
D．不小心
（3）After the gentleman found the diamond， he ．
A． called 911 to look for the lady
B． sold the diamond for a lot of money
C． kept the diamond to himself
D． returned it when he met the lady
（4）According to the passage， we can know the following EXCEPT that ．
A．The diamond ring is a special gift for the lady
B． the lady lost her ring while she was walking
C． she knew it was difficult for her to find the diamond
D．She was surprised when the gentle handed the diamond back
（5）The main idea of the story is ．
A． We can trust people who offer help
B． Strangers can be very nice sometimes
C． Keep an eye on your own things
D． Keep your eyes on the road when you walk on the street
There was once a King and he wanted to find out who could paint the best picture of peace．And be would offer a prize to the artist． Many artists tried． The King looked at all the pictures，but there were only two he really liked and he had to choose between them．
One picture was of a calm（平静的） lake． The lake was a perfect mirror for peaceful mountains all around it． Overhead was a blue sky with white soft clouds． Everyone thought that it was a perfect picture of peace．
The other picture had mountains too． But these were rugged（崎岖的） and bare（无遮蔽的）． Above was an angry sky． And it was raining and lightening． Down the side of the mountain， a waterfall fell quickly． This did not look peaceful at all．
But when the King looked carefully， he saw behind the waterfall a bush（矮树丛） growing in a crack（裂缝） in the rock． In the bush a mother bird had built her nest（巢，窝）． There， she sat on her nest…in perfect peace．
Which picture do you think won the prize？
The King chose the second picture． "Because，" said the King， "peace does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise， trouble， or hard work． Peace means to be in the middle of all those things and still be calm in your heart． That is the real meaning of peace．"
（1）What did the King want the artists to do？（no more than 10 words）
（2）What did everyone think of the 1st picture？（no more than 7 words）
（3）Why did the King choose the 2nd picture？ （no more than 11words）
（4）请将文中画线的句子翻译成汉语．
（5）请给短文拟一个适当的英文题目．