News that Microsoft made a $44.6 billion bid to buy Yahoo resulted in heated discussions made by many Internet users. Here are some responses:
Diane Burke of Weeks bury, Kentucky
I think it would definitely be an interesting combination. Everyone recognizes the names Yahoo and Microsoft, but everyone also says, “Did you Google it?” Such a catchphrase is going to be hard to beat.
Shaun Carney of Laurelville, Ohio
I think the merger will provide more competitions for Google. I don’t think the merger will allow Microsoft to develop faster than Google, though. I believe the increased competition this merger brings will force Google to stay on top of its game by offering more fresh and original Internet tools and expanding on the tools it already offers.
Toni Suarez of Hacienda Heights, California
I view the merger as a necessary element in preventing a monopolization. Perhaps it would bring better high technology innovations to e-mail and help in researching and developing a better Internet!
Rick R. of Edgewater, Florida
It sounds like a disaster to me. If this were to happen, I would stop using my Yahoo e-mail account because I don’t like the feeling of Microsoft spying upon my business. I will sign up for Google.
Antonio Glosser of Kansas City, Missouri
Right now, Yahoo offers a lot of features and tools at no cost for all different levels of Internet users. Microsoft seeks nothing but profit. Undoubtedly, they’ll do nothing other than find ways to start removing Yahoo’s formerly non-priced features. Microsoft’s greed will ruin the great thing that Yahoo currently is. How many companies are mentioned in the passage?
| A．One. | B．Two. | C．Three. | D．Four. |
Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?
| A．Shaun’s attitude towards Google is passive. |
| B．Toni believes the Internet will have a promising future. |
| C．Rick will support Google after the merger. |
| D．Antonio is afraid that the merger will cost Yahoo’s free features. |
The passage is mainly about ______.
| A．opinions on the merger of Yahoo and Microsoft |
| B．the strengths of Yahoo and Microsoft |
| C．the strengths and weaknesses of large companies |
| D．the future of Yahoo and Microsoft |
Terri Bolton is a dab hand when it comes to DIY（do﹣it﹣yourself）.Skilled at putting up shelves and piecing together furniture ，she never pays someone else to do a job she can do herself.
She credits these skills to her late grandfather and builder Derek Lloyd.From the age of six ，Terri，now 26 ，accompanied Derek to work during her school holidays.A day's work was rewarded with£ 5 in pocket money.She says："I'm sure I wasn't much of a help to start with，painting the rooms and putting down the flooring throughout the house.It took weeks and it was backbreaking work ，but I know he was proud of my skills. "
Terri，who now rents a house with friends in Wandsworth，South West London，says DIY also saves her from losing any deposit when a tenancy（租期） comes to an end.She adds ：" I've moved house many times and I always like to personalize my room and put up pictures.So，it's been useful to know how to cover up holes and repaint a room to avoid any charges when I've moved out."
With millions of people likely to take on DIY projects over the coming weeks，new research shows that more than half of people are planning to make the most of the long，warm summer days to get jobs done.The average spend per project will be around £823.Two thirds of people aim to improve their comfort while at home.Two fifth wish to increase the value of their house.Though DIY has traditionally been seen as male hobby，the research shows it is women now leading the charge.
（1）Which is closest in meaning to" a dab hand" in paragraph 1？
| A． |
An artist. |
| B． |
A winner. |
| C． |
A specialist. |
| D． |
A pioneer. |
（2）Why did Terri's grandfather give her£ 5 a day？
| A． |
For a birthday gift. |
| B． |
As a treat for her work. |
| C． |
To support her DIY projects. |
| D． |
To encourage her to take up a hobby. |
（3）How did Terri avoid losing the deposit on the house she rented？
| A． |
By making it look like before. |
| B． |
By furnishing it herself. |
| C． |
By splitting the rent with a roommate. |
| D． |
By canceling the rental agreement. |
（4）What trend in DIY does the research show？
| A． |
It is becoming more costly. |
| B． |
It is getting more time﹣consuming. |
| C． |
It is turning into a seasonal industry. |
| D． |
It is gaining popularity among females. |
Where to Eat in Bangkok
ㅤBangkok is a highly desirable destination for food lovers.It has a seemingly bottomless well of dining options.Here are some suggestions on where to start your Bangkok eating adventure.
Nahm
ㅤOffering Thai fine dining.Nahm provides the best of Bangkok culinary （烹饪的） experiences.It's the only Thai restaurant that ranks among the top 10 of the word's 50 best restaurants list.Head Chef David Thompson，who received a Michelin star for his London﹣based Thai restaurant of the same name，opened this branch in the Metropolitan Hotel in 2010.
Issaya Siamese Club
ㅤIssaya Siamese Club is internationally known Thai chef lan Kittichai's first flagship Bangkok restaurant.The menu in this beautiful colonial house includes traditional Thai cuisine combined with modern cooking methods.
Bo.Lan
ㅤBo.Lan has been making waves in Bangkok's culinary sence since it opened in 2009.Serving hard﹣to﹣find Thai dishes in an elegant atmosphere，the restaurant is true to Thai cuisine's roots，yet still manages to add a special twist.This place is good for a candle﹣lit dinner or a work meeting with colleagues who appreciate fine food.For those extremely hungry，there's a large set menu.
Gaggan
ㅤEarning first place on the lates "Asia's 50 best restaurants" list，progressive Indian restaurant Gaggan is one of the most exciting venues（场所） to arrive in Bangkok in recent years.The best table in this two﹣story colonial Thai home offers a window right into the kitchen，where you can see chef Gaggan and his staff in action.Culinary theater at its best.
（1）What do Nahm and Issaya Siamese Club have in common？
| A． |
They adopt modern cooking methods. |
| B． |
They have branches in London. |
| C． |
They have top ﹣ class chefs. |
| D． |
They are based in hotels. |
（2）Which restaurant offers a large set menu？
| A． |
Gaggan. |
| B． |
Bo.Lan. |
| C． |
Issaya Siamese Club. |
| D． |
Nahm. |
（3）What is special about Gaggan？
| A． |
It hires staff from India. |
| B． |
It puts on a play every day. |
| C． |
It serves hard﹣to﹣find local dishes. |
| D． |
It shows the cooking process to guests. |
What is life？Like most great questions，this one is easy to ask but difficult to answer. The reason is simple：we know of just one type of life and it's challenging to do science with a sample size of one. The field of artificial life﹣called ALife for short﹣is the systematic attempt to spell out life's fundamental principles. Many of these practitioners，so﹣called ALifers，think that somehow making life is the surest way to really understand what life is.
So far no one has convincingly made artificial life. This track record makes ALife a ripe target for criticism，such as declarations of the field's doubtful scientific value. Alan Smith，a complexity scientist，is tired of such complaints. Asking about "the point" of ALife might be，well，missing the point entirely，he says. "The existence of a living system is not about the use of anything." Alan says. "Some people ask me，'So what's the worth of artificial life？'Do you ever think，'What is the worth of your grandmother？'"
As much as many ALifers hate emphasising their research's applications，the attempts to create artificial life could have practical payoffs. Artificial intelligence may be considered ALife's cousin in that researchers in both fields are enamoured by a concept called open﹣ended evolution（演化）.This is the capacity for a system to create essentially endless complexity，to be a sort of "novelty generator". The only system known to exhibit this is Earth's biosphere. If the field of ALife manages to reproduce life's endless "creativity" in some virtunl model，those same principles could give rise to truly inventive machines.
Compared with the developments of Al，advances in ALife are harder to recognise. One reason is that ALife is a field in which the central concept﹣﹣life itself﹣is undefined. The lack of agreement among ALifers doesn't help either. The result is a diverse line of projects that each advance along their unique paths. For better or worse，ALife mirrors the very subject it studies. Its muddled（混乱的）progression is a striking parallel（平行线） to the evolutionary struggles that have shaped Earth biosphere.
Undefined and uncontrolled，ALife drives its followers to repurpose old ideas and generated novelty. It may be，of course，that these characteristics aren't in any way surprising or singular. They may apply universally to all acts of evolution. Ultimately ALife may be nothing special. But even this dismissal suggests something：perhaps，just like life itself throughout the universe，the rise of ALife will prove unavoidable.
（1）Regarding Alan Smith's defence of ALife，the author is
| A． |
supportive |
| B． |
puzzled |
| C． |
unconcerned |
| D． |
doubtful |
（2）What does the word "enamoured" underlined in Paragraph 3 most probably mean？
| A． |
Shocked. |
| B． |
Protected. |
| C． |
Attracted. |
| D． |
Challenged. |
（3）What can we learn from this passage？
| A． |
ALife holds the key to human future. |
| B． |
ALife and AI share a common feature. |
| C． |
AI mirrors the developments of ALife. |
| D． |
AI speeds up the process of human evolution. |
（4）Which would be the best title for the passage？
| A． |
Life Is Undefined. Can AI Be a Way Out？ |
| B． |
Life Evolves. Can AI Help ALife Evolve，Too？ |
| C． |
Life Is Undefined. Can ALife Be Defined One Day？ |
| D． |
Life Evolves. Can Attempts to Create ALife Evolve，Too？ |
In recent years，researchers from diverse fields have agreed that short﹣termism is now a significant problem in industrialised societies. The inability to engage with longer﹣term causes and consequences leads to some of the world's most serious problems：climate change，biodiversity collapse，and more.The historian Francis Cole argues that the West has entered a period where "only the present exists，a present characterised at once by the cruelty of the instant and by the boredom of an unending now".
It has been proved that people have a bias（偏向） towards the present，focusing on loud attractions in the moment at the expense of the health，well﹣being and financial stability of their future selves or community. In business，this bias surfaces as short﹣sighted decisions. And on slow﹣burning problems like climate change，it translates into the unwillingness to make small sacrifices（牺牲） today that could make a major difference tomorrow. Instead，all that matters is next quarter's profit，or satisfying some other near﹣term desires.
These biased perspectives cannot be blamed on one single cause. It is fair to say，though，that our psychological biases play a major role. People's hesitancy to delay satisfaction is the most obvious example，but there are others. One of them is about how the most accessible information in the present affects decisions about the future. For instance，you might hear someone say："It's cold this winter，so I needn't worry about global warming." Another is that loud and urgent matters are given too much importance，making people ignore longer﹣term trends that arguably matter more. This is when a pop star draws far more attention than，say，gradual biodiversity decline.
As a psychologist once joked，if aliens（外星人）wanted to weaken humanity，they wouldn't send ships；they would invent climate change. Indeed，when it comes to environmental transformations，we can develop a form of collective "poor memory"，and each new generation can believe the state of affairs they encounter is nothing out of the ordinary. Older people today，for example，can remember a time with insect﹣covered car windscreens after long drives. Children，on the other hand，have no idea that insect population has dropped dramatically.
（1）The author quotes Francis Cole mainly to .
| A． |
draw a comparison |
| B． |
introduce a topic |
| C． |
evaluate a statement |
| D． |
highlight a problem |
（2）What can be inferred from the last paragraph？
| A． |
Climate change has been forgotten. |
| B． |
Lessons of history are highly valued. |
| C． |
The human mind is bad at noting slow change. |
| D． |
Humans are unwilling to admit their shortcomings. |
（3）What does the author intend to tell us？
| A． |
Far﹣sighted thinking matters to humans. |
| B． |
Humans tend to make long﹣term sacrifices. |
| C． |
Current policies facilitate future decision﹣making. |
| D． |
Bias towards the present helps reduce near﹣term desires. |
Sitting in the garden for my friend's birthday. felt a buzz（振动） in my pocket. My heart raced when I saw the email sender's name. The email started off："Dear Mr Green，thank you for your interest" and "the review process took longer than expected." It ended with "We are sorry to inform you…"and my vision blurred（模糊）.The position﹣measuring soil quality in the Sahara Desert as part of an undergraduate research programme﹣had felt like the answer I had spent years looking for. I had put so much time and emotional energy into applying，and I thought the rejection meant the end of the road for my science career.
So I was shocked when，not long after the email，Professor Mary Devon，who was running the programme，invited me to observe the work being done in her lab. I jumped at the chance，and a few weeks later I was equally shocked﹣and overjoyed﹣when she invited me to talk with her about potential projects I could pursue in her lab. What she proposed didn't seem as exciting as the original project I had applied to，but I was going to give it my all.
I found myself working with a robotics professor on techniques for collecting data from the desert remotely. That project，which I could complete from my sofa instead of in the burning heat of the desert，not only survived the lockdown but worked where traditional methods didn't. In the end. I had a new scientific interest to pursue.
When I applied to graduate school，I found three programmes promising to allow me to follow my desired research direction. And I applied with the same anxious excitement as before. When I was rejected from one that had seemed like a perfect fit，it was undoubtedly difficult. But this time I had the perspective（视角）to keep it from sending me into panic. It helped that in the end I was accepted into one of the other programmes I was also excited about.
Rather than setting plans in stone，I've learned that sometimes I need to take the opportunities that are offered，even if they don't sound perfect at the time，and make the most of them.
（1）How did the author feel upon seeing the email sender's name？
| A． |
Anxious. |
| B． |
Angry. |
| C． |
Surprised. |
| D． |
Settled. |
（2）After talking with Professor Devon，the author decided to .
| A． |
criticise the review process |
| B． |
stay longer in the Sahara Desert |
| C． |
apply to the original project again |
| D． |
put his heart and soul into the lab work |
（3）According to the author，the project with the robotics professor was .
| A． |
demanding |
| B． |
inspiring |
| C． |
misleading |
| D． |
amusing |
（4）What can we learn from this passage？
| A． |
An invitation is a reputation. |
| B． |
An innovation is a resolution. |
| C． |
A rejection can be a redirection. |
| D． |
A reflection can be a restriction. |