A baby mermaid was just born in Finland; Justin Bibber is getting married; iphone 6 is going to be released this year…We read rumors every day on the Internet. With the help of social media, rumors — no matter whether they are true or false — spread like wildfire, and sometimes we can’t be sure what to believe.
Now, an international group of researchers might be able to make it easier for us. They are working on a lie detector that could separate online truth from lies, Discovery news reported.
Named after the Greek goddess Pheme, famed for spreading bad rumors, the system is far from a traditional lie detector, which works by attaching a machine to a potential liar. Instead, Pheme analyzes the rumor directly.
When a rumor comes out, on a micro blog, for example, Pheme can trace the source of information to see if it was released by reliable sources like experts or news agencies. If it wasn’t, Pheme then examines the history and background of the account to identify whether it was created just to spread rumors — whether it’s what’s called an “Internet bot.”
After finding the source of the rumor, the system can keep a close eye on how other users react to the rumor — either confirming or denying it — to help analyze and further determine the reliability of the information.
Some people might find the Pheme system unnecessary based on the idea that false rumors never survive for long and people always get to the truth over time. While that’s a fair point, there is a certain class of rumors, such as “a tiger is at large” or “an asteroid (小行星) is about to hit the Earth”, that can cause panic among people and thus lead to serious consequences.
These are cases when we need to be able to check for accuracy quickly. “Our system aims to help with that, by tracking and verifying information in real time,” lead researcher Kalina Bontcheva, at the University of Sheffield, UK, told the BBC.
According to Bontcheva, Pheme is still under development and won’t be ready for another 18 months.
Until then, there’s an old fashioned technique that you can use to protect yourself from false information — ask questions, check sources and don’t believe any claim until you’ve seen the evidence for it.What is the article about?
| A．Tips on how to deal with rumors online. |
| B．Factors that make rumors so easy to spread. |
| C．A new device that can check whether online rumors are true or not. |
| D．An introduction to some types of lie detectors. |
By writing the first paragraph, the writer intends to ________.
| A．share with readers some exciting news |
| B．warn readers not to trust anything on the Internet |
| C．tell readers rumors are out of control |
| D．introduce the topic of the passage |
What makes Pheme different from a traditional lie detector?
| A．It works by attaching a machine to a potential liar. |
| B．It examines a statement’s truthfulness directly. |
| C．It can identify a rumor and prevent it from spreading. |
| D．It is controlled by what is called an “Internet bot” |
How does the Pheme system determine the reliability of a piece of information?
| A．Based on the reliability of its sources and the history of its authors. |
| B．Based on how the majority of people react to it. |
| C．By collecting and examining relevant information to further confirm it. |
| D．By making use of an “Internet bot” to track and verify the information. |
Which of the following statements might the author agree with?
| A．The Pheme system is not very helpful because all rumors eventually die down. |
| B．The Pheme system will be ready to help social networks become more accurate by the end of 2014. |
| C．The Pheme system can identify almost all kinds of rumors on social networking sites. |
| D．The Pheme system aims to respond to rumors quickly so as to reduce the impact of false ones. |
New York City consists of five parts: Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx and Staten Island. The population is about 7.5 million and there are 1.5 million in Manhattan alone.
Manhattan, the center of the city, is on the island between the Hudson River and the East River. Most of the famous buildings such as the Empire State and the United Nations and other skyscrapers are in Manhattan. Some of its districts are: Broadway, which has many theatres and cinemas, Fifth Avenue, with stores and apartments, Greenwich Village, where many artists and writers have lived, and Central Park, with a skating rink (溜冰场). From Manhattan you have to cross to the other parts of New York City through a tunnel or over a bridge. The bridge from Brooklyn to Staten Island is the longest in the world.
New York is the second biggest port in the world and it has two airports. The people who live there come from all over the world and speak many different languages. There are 324,000 Germans and 390,000 Poles as well as people from Greece, Scotland, Ireland, Italy and Romania. People call one district "Little Italy" and another "China town". The most important part of New York is _______.
| A．Hudson River | B．East River |
| C．Bronx and Staten Island | D．Manhattan |
The Empire State is ______.
A. a state of the U.S.A. B. a country
C. a skyscraper D. a district in New York If you are going to do some shopping in Manhattan, you will go to _______.
| A．Broadway | B．Fifth Avenue |
| C．Greenwich Village | D．Central Park |
From the article we understand ________.
| A．Staten Island and Brooklyn are separated by the sea |
| B．Staten Island and Brooklyn are one landmass |
| C．Manhattan and Queens are one landmass |
| D．Brooklyn and Queens are separated by the sea |
Many ________ live in the New York.
| A．people from Poland and China |
| B．children from Brooklyn and Staten Island |
| C．people from Germany and Italy do not |
| D．children from Greece and Romania do not |
A woman whose sports car was stolen with her dog in it put up notices all over the area that made it clear getting back her pet was more important than her car．
“Whoever did this can keep my car. Please let Benjerman come home,” the notice said．
It is not known whether the thief showed any pity, but almost 30 hours after the 1 pm theft Friday, Kimberly Atkins of Dover and Benjerman, a 12-year-old black retriever (猎犬), were reunited after police located them in Barrington.
“He’s hungry, he’s dirty, but he’s very happy to be home,” Atkins said．
The car was found at about 5 pm Saturday off Route 125 in a swampy (沼泽地) area frequented by off-the-road cars and dirt bikes. However, the police couldn’t control Benjerman, and they had to call Atkins to come and get him.
Atkins said the thief cared for Benjerman a little by providing him with some dry cat food. She believed Benjerman ended up drinking some muddy water in the area. She said they have been together for nearly 11 years after she took him back from a society shelter in Dallas, Texas.
Before Benjelman was found, Atkins and several friends put up notices all over the city and in Somersworth. They also contacted animal shelters，throughout southern New Hampshire and Massachusetts.
The notice stated there was a reward, and also that the dog needed medication. Any caller could remain anonymous (匿名的).
Atkins had parked the car outside a hardware store with the keys inside and gone in to rent a carpet cleaner. “It was l0 minutes and I came out and my car was gone along with Benjerman in broad daylight,” Atkins said. The car thief threw Atkins’ wallet and other personal items out of the car before escaping from the scene.What would be the best title for the passage?
| A．A car with a dog was stolen |
| B．Lucky dog was returned to his owner |
| C．Stealing cars: a most important social problem |
| D．Woman wants dog back more than stolen car |
Which of the following shows the correct order of what happened?
a. Notices were put up saying there was a reward．
b. Atkins saw Benjerman again．
c. Police found Atkins’ car．
d. Atkins took Benjerman back from a society shelter．
e. Atkins hired a carpet cleaner in a hardware store．
| A．d, e, a, b, c | B．d, e, a, c, b | C．e, a, d, b, c | D．e, a, c, d, b |
We can infer from the passage _________.
| A．the dog was treated extremely badly by the thief |
| B．car stolen accidents happen frequently nowadays |
| C．the dog was found because of the reward |
| D．the thief stole the car easily |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．Benjerman was sent back immediately after Atkins put up the notices. |
| B．Atkins and her friends made a great effort to look for Benierman. |
| C．The thief gave the dog back but kept the sports car. |
| D．The dog was back at 1 pm on a Friday. |
[1] What do you do to take care of the books in your library? Some collectors(收藏者) refuse to read the books in their collection; so the books remain in good condition. Others buy two copies of a book: they read one, and leave the other untouched. However, many readers must read their books, but they still want to protect and care for the volumes. Here are some tips to remember if you want your books to remain in good condition.
[2] Avoid Writing. You may have been told to write in your books, or even to underline words, phrases, and paragraphs. But if you plan to keep the book, add it to your library, or even sell it — don't write in the book. The ink may damage your book forever. Use a notebook to take notes or use pieces of paper. If you are required to write in your book, use a pencil, and remove the markings later.
[3] Avoid Food and Drinks. Food and drinks are things that may be dangerous to your books, so the best way is to avoid eating or drinking while you read. If you need to read while you eat, make sure your fingers are clean and dry as you hold the book or turn the pages. Also, keep the book well away from the food and drinks.
[4] Take Care. When you handle your book, hold it with care. When you read the book, don't fold down the corners of the pages (use a bookmark instead). Don't place your book with the book open, face-down. You'd better use a book cover to keep your book in the best condition.
[5] Put it on the Shelf. If you want to take care of your books, keep your books on a shelf when ____________. But, also, take care that the books should be placed in an upright (竖立的) position.What's the main idea of the text? (Please answer within 10 words.)
_________________________________________________________ Why shouldn't you use a pen if you have to write in your book? (Please answer within 10words.)
_________________________________________________________Which sentence in the text is the closest in meaning to the following one?
A book cover may be what you need most to keep your book in the best shape.
_________________________________________________________Fill in the blank in the last paragraph with proper words. (Please answer within 6 words.)
_________________________________________________________Translate the underlined sentence in Paragraph 3 into Chinese.
_______________________________________________________
Now those same people perhaps come to realize that their kids are born with their own sets of DNA and personality traits(特点)，and all you can do is loving and accepting them．As parents，throughout their growing years and beyond that, we need to be our kids' best cheerleaders，guiding them and helping them find their way.
I have stopped asking my son to sit down and concentrate．Obviously, he is concentrating just in his own way and not mine．We need to learn to accept our kids' ways of doing things．Some way may have worked for me but doesn't mean we need to carry it through generations．There is nothing sweeter than being individual(个体的) and unique(独特的)．It makes us free and happy and that's just the way I want my kids to live their own life．At the beginning, the author tried to keep his son seated in order to make him________.
| A．pay more attention to his study. | B．keep silent in the room. |
| C．finish his homework on time. | D．get right answers. |
Inspired by the case of his son，the author began to doubt________.
| A．the importance of parents. |
| B．the old form of education. |
| C．the relationship between kids and their parents. |
| D．the good grades of some kids. |
According to the passage, which of the following statements is right?
A. We should help kids correct their wrong ways.
B. Parents should study their kids’ DNA.
C. Kids should be taught to behave themselves.
D. Parents should love and accept their kids.The author has stopped asking his son to sit down because __________.
| A．he has changed his traditional ideas. |
| B．his son wants to be unique. |
| C．his son doesn’t follow his advice. |
| D．his son’s DNA is different. |
Which of the following would be the best title of the passage?
| A．Study hard and you'll be successful. |
| B．Be friendly to your children. |
| C．Children's success in their own style. |
| D．Parents' help with their children's study. |
Baby girls make their way directly for dolls as soon as they can crawl, while boys will head for the toy cars, a study has shown. The findings, the first to show differences in very young babies, suggest there is a biological（生物学的） basis(基础) to their preferences（偏爱）.
Psychologists(心理学家) Dr. Brenda Todd from City University London carried out an experiment involving 90 infants(婴儿) aged nine months to 36 months. The babies were allowed to choose from seven toys. Some were stereotypically boys' toys - a car, a digger, a ball and a blue teddy. The rest were girls’ toys: a pink teddy, a doll and a cooking set. They were placed a meter away from the toys, and could pick whichever toy they liked. Their choice and the amount of time they spent playing with each toy were recorded.
Of the youngest children (nine to 14 months), girls spent significantly(明显的) longer playing with the doll than boys, and boys spent much more time with the car and ball than the girls did. Among the two-and three-year-olds, girls spent 50 percent of the time playing with the doll while only two boys briefly(简单地) touched it. The boys spent almost 90 percent of their time playing with cars, which the girls barely(几乎不) touched. There was no link between the parents’ view on which toys were more appropriate for boys or girls, and the children’s choice.
Dr Brenda Todd said: “Children of this age are already exposed (暴露)to much socialization(社会化). Boys may be given ‘toys that go’ while girls get toys they can care for, which may help shape their preference. But these findings agree with the former idea that children show natural interests in particular kinds of toys. There could be a biological basis for their choices. Males through evolution have been adapted to prefer moving objects, probably through hunting instincts（本能）, while girls prefer warmer colours such as pink, the colour of a newborn baby.”Baby boys and girls have different toy preferences probably because__________.
| A．baby boys are much more active |
| B．baby girls like bright colours more |
| C．their parents treat them differently |
| D．there is a natural difference between them |
Both baby boys and baby girls like to play with__________ according to the study.
| A．a ball | B．a teddy | C．a car | D．a doll |
What can we infer from Paragraph 3?
| A．Nine-month-old baby boys don’t play with dolls at all. |
| B．Two-year-old baby girls sometimes play with cars and balls. |
| C．The older the babies are, the more obvious their preference is. |
| D．Parents should teach their babies to share each other’s toys. |
What conclusion did Dr. Brenda Todd draw from the results of the study?
| A．Adults purposely（故意地） influence their babies preference. |
| B．Babies’ preference isn’t affected by social surroundings. |
| C．Baby boys preferring to moving toys will be good at hunting. |
| D．Baby girls preferring warmer colors will be warm-hearted. |
We may read this article in a_________ section of a newspaper.
| A．science | B．health | C．education | D．entertainment |