黑龙江省哈尔滨市第九中学2021-2022学年高三下学期英语2月开学考试

Being a blogger can be good business. Don't you believe it? Read on!

Meet Gary Vaynerchuk (GaryVaynerchuk. com)

Gary Vaynerchuk is a New Yorker who gained Internet fame because of a video blog that talked about everything related to wine. Through online video blogging, he built his wine business from a $3-million-dollar a year wine retail store to a $60-million-dollar wine wholesale business. Gary Vaynerchuk has built a multi-million-dollar empire relating to his personal brand.

Meet Rand Fishkind (moz. com)

Rand Fishkind is college dropout (辍 学 生 ) who started blogging about SEO (Search Engine Optimization) back in 2004 while working for a family-run web development company. He was also providing SEO consulting services for a few small clients. SEOmoz has left the consulting business since then and focuses on creating awesome SEO software instead. The company makes millions of dollars each month.

Meet Pat Flynn (SmartPassiveIncome. com)

Pat is one of the most inspirational bloggers in the world. After losing his job, he was forced to struggle to support his growing family. He started a website called Smart Passive Income to track his progress with various websites and online money-making- projects. He has since built massive followers and readership thanks to his honesty. Over the last 6 months, Pat has earned on average, around $50,000 per month.

Meet Andrew Sullivan (thedishdaily. com)

Andrew started his blog, The Daily Dish, near the end of 2000. By the middle of 2003, he was receiving about 300,000 unique visits per month. Just this year, Andrew made some big changes and decided to work on The Daily Dish full-time. On launch day in 2013, the blog reportedly took in over $330,000, charging $20/month per reader.

The sun was setting and the farm would be closing soon. I dressed our three daughters quickly as my husband started the van. Cutting down our own Christmas-tree had been a family tradition. As our family grew, so did our excitement for going out to find the perfect tree.

As we walked through the rows of trees, my youngest daughter Kimberly shouted excitedly, "There it is, the perfect tree!" The other two agreed. My husband and I looked at each other, puzzled. Its branches were misshapen and the trunk was visible through the spots where there were no pine needles.

We tried to persuade our daughters into changing their minds, but in vain. We had to tie the tree to the roof of our van and headed home. As we reached our house, Heather jumped out first. Suddenly she shouted, "The tree isn't there!" We thought she was kidding. However, it wasn't there.

The girls were so disappointed. "We'll get another tree tomorrow", I said, secretly hoping the new tree would be prettier. But the girls gave us the look that no parent could resist. We had no choice but to go back and find that tree.

After driving for about five minutes, we saw our tree on the side of the road. As we got closer, it was apparent that it had been run over by a truck. As we lifted the tree, we saw that a big part of the tree was ripped off, but we took our little broken tree home anyway.

That night, as we decorated our tree, something magical happened. We didn't realize it at that time that we were making a very special family memory. By the time we were done, I had to admit, it didn't look sad at all. This is the best tree we have ever had. "It's perfect!" my second daughter Samantha said excitedly. My husband and I couldn't have agreed more!

Now we always recall that little broken tree! Year by year, we tell the story of that very special Christmas almost twenty-five years ago.

We know that artificial intelligence (AI) is smart enough to do a few things our minds cannot, and with incredible accuracy. And now, it seems it also has the capacity to detect loneliness in humans, which is an otherwise challenging task.

A new study, led by researchers at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine, US, has shown how AI tools can predict levels of loneliness from a person's speech with an accuracy rate of 94 percent.

The study focused on 80 participants aged 66 to 94, a population particularly vulnerable to loneliness. The subjects were asked 20 questions from the UCLA Loneliness Scale, which uses a four-point rating scale (四分制评价量表) for questions such as "How often do you feel left out?" and "How often do you feel part of a group of friends?"

They were also interviewed in private conversations, which were recorded and transcribed (转 录 ) by researchers. The transcripts (文 字 记 录 ) were then examined using natural language processing tools, including IBM Watson Natural Language Understanding (WNLU) software, to quantify (量化) expressed emotions.

The interesting thing about this system is that it not only uses dictionary-based methods, such as searching for specific words that express fear, but also presents corresponding patterns by testing the words used in the response.

Varsha Badal, the first author of the study, noted that the WNLU software system uses deep learning to extract (提取) data from keywords, categories, emotions and grammar.

"Natural language processing and machine learning can systematically examine long interviews from multiple individuals and explore how subtle speech features such as emotions may indicate loneliness," Badal said. "Similar emotion analyses by humans would be open to bias ( 偏 见 ), lack consistency, and require extensive (大 量 的 ) training to standardize. "

The lonelier a person felt, the longer their responses to direct questions regarding loneliness. The system was capable of not just detecting the degree of loneliness in each subject, but also showing differences between the way men and women spoke about loneliness. The men were found to use more fearful and joyful words in their responses, while the women tended to acknowledge feeling lonely during interviews.

Co-author Dilip Jeste said that the IBM-UC San Diego Center is now exploring natural language patterns of loneliness and wisdom, which are inversely (成反比地) linked in older adults. "Speech data can be combined with our other assessments of cognition (认 知 ), mobility, sleep, physical activity and mental health to improve understanding of aging and to help contribute to successful aging," he said.

What would you do if someone did something you didn't agree with? Would you completely stop talking to them? Or would you tell them how their actions were wrong?

The "cancel culture" trend has been picking up some steam recently. According to Dictionary. com, "cancel culture" is defined as "publicly rejecting, boycotting or ending support for particular people or groups because of their socially or morally unacceptable views or actions" .

Neelam, a 17-year-old high school senior in the US, told The New York Times that she wasn't being sensitive when she saw someone doing something wrong and "called them out" for it.

However, others think that "canceling" people is counterproductive (适得其反的) and can actually be harmful to the person.

To Ben, a high school junior in Providence, Rhode Island, US, canceling someone "takes away the option for them to learn from their mistakes and kind of alienates (使疏远) them" . Ben, 17, thinks that people should be held accountable for their actions, regardless if they are your friend or someone famous.

In fact, quite a few celebrities have already faced the wrath ( 愤 怒 ) of cancel culture. Some celebrities who have been "canceled" this year include British author of the Harry Potter series J. K. Rowling, US comedian Ellen DeGeneres and English guitarist Eric Clapton.

And, over the summer, about 150 public figures like authors J. K. Rowling and Margaret Atwood signed an open letter against the cancel culture trend. The letter expressed that cancel culture was hurting people's freedom of expression in areas like the arts, universities and journals.

Professor Loretta Ross, who teaches a university course on cancel culture, is trying to fight back against this new trend. "It really does alienate people, and makes them fearful of speaking up," she told The New York Times. Ross also noted that cancel culture isn't new: "What's new is the virality (病毒式传播) and the speed and the anonymity (匿名). "

Our world is beautiful because of the wonderful mix of different cultures, ideas and opinions. So, the next time you think someone should be "called out" or "canceled", maybe try calling them in instead.

Kitchen robot is a robotic device designed to provide assistance with common kitchen tasks. These robots can handle work ranging from food preparation to dishwashing and general cleanup. They are also meant to serve as assistants to people who are unable by reason of age or illness to manage daily kitchen tasks without assistance.

Ordinary kitchen robots are usually designed to wash dirty dishes. Working as a dishwasher in a kitchen environment requires a set of skills. A successful robot must be able to grasp and clean dishes, and store them appropriately.

More advanced kitchen robot designs focus on the preparation and serving of food. Robots designed to serve as mechanical chefs need to be able to evaluate different food products to ensure freshness and quality. They also need to make appropriate selections from various ingredients, and perform a large number of different physical tasks as part of the cooking process.

Such devices are perfect for people who get a high salary but have very little free time. A kitchen robot could potentially take over many common kitchen tasks, allowing its owner to focus on other matters or to cook only on those occasions when they have the time to enjoy cooking.

Kitchen robots have more practical applications as well. The population of many Western nations is aging, often quite rapidly. A robot could potentially provide that assistance for them without causing any discomfort.

A. This requires an entirely different set of skills.

B. Convenience is one selling point of kitchen robots.

C. Some kitchen robots are designed for other special usages.

D. Older people may require some assistance with daily tasks.

E. They are intended to reduce the heavy housework of daily living.

F. Nowadays more and more robots walk into people's work and daily life.

G. It also has to avoid breaking them while making sure of a thorough clean.

I was walking down a dark street one evening when I heard screams coming from behind some1. Alarmed as I was, I2to listen, and panicked when I realized that what I was hearing were the sounds of a3. Only yards from where I stood, a woman was being attacked.

"Should I get4?" I thought.

I was5about my own safety, and I hated myself for having suddenly decided to take a (an)6route home that night. "What if I'm7too?"   Although it felt like a century, my thought process had only taken seconds. But already the girl's8 were growing weaker.

I knew I had to9fast. "How can I walk away from this?" I asked myself.

"No. " I finally resolved (决 定 ). "I cannot10my back on the fate of this unknown woman, even if it means risking my own life. "

I ran behind the bushes and pulled the11off the woman. Struggling, we fell to the ground, where we fought for a few minutes until the man jumped up and12.

Breathing heavily, I got to my13and approached the girl, who was sobbing behind a tree. In the darkness, I could14see her outline, but I could certainly sense her trembling with15. Not wanting to frighten her any16, I at first spoke to her from a distance.

"It's OK. " I said. "The man ran away. You're17now. "

There was a (n)18pause and then I heard the words, said in19.

"Dad, is that you?"

And then, from20the tree, stepped my youngest daughter, Katherine.

China's Shenzhou- 13 crew members Zhai Zhigang, Wang Yaping and Ye Guangfu livestreamed the first science lecture from the country's space station on Thursday afternoon, which amazed numerous students on Earth.

The lecture started at 3:40 p. m. (Beijing Time) and lasted about 45 minutes. total of 1,420 primary and middle school students(attend) the lecture from five classrooms across China.

At the beginning of the class, Wang, the first female taikonaut (enter) China's space station, gave the students a tour of (they) living and working areas the help of her two male crewmates. She showcased the bedrooms and toilet, a(full) functional kitchen in which the taikonauts prepare their meals each day, the area they conduct scientific experiments and their fitness(equip), including a treadmill ( 跑 步 机 ) and a spin bike. In response to a Hong Kong student's question about water, Wang said the water they drink is recycled, (note) that there is no difference in taste regular and recycled water.

The Shenzhou- 13 crew went into space aboard the Shenzhou- 13 spaceship and entered the Tianhe core module on October 16, setting out on their six-month stay in space, which is China's longest-ever crewed mission so far.

增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号（∧），并在其下面写出该加的词。

删除：把多余的词用斜线(\)划掉。

修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在其下面写出修改后的词。

注意：1）每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；

2）只允许修改 10 处，多者（从第 11 处起） 不计分。

I was riding my bike to a corner shop in a Saturday morning while I was attracted by a cute boy who was walking his dog. Suddenly my neighbor drives past and honked (按喇叭) at me. I was so surprising that I crashed into an old lady walk down the street. Lucky, the old lady wasn't hurt, but I fell off my bike and landed in the hole. My neighbor saw me to fall, so she stopped her car and rushed out to help her. The worst part was that the cute boy stopped to watch all happen. What an embarrassing but dangerous day！

注意：1）词数 100 左右；

2）可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；

3）参考词汇： "双减"政策 the Double Reduction policy;

4）开头已给出，不计入总词数。

Dear Cathy，

I am delighted to receive your letter asking me about my plan for after-school activities and I am writing to share it with you.

Yours ,

Li Hua