山东省潍坊市2020-2021学年高二上学期期末英语试题

The US is blessed with many of national parks that are home to some of the most breathtaking landscapes on Earth.

Sequoia National Park

◇ Date of Establishment: September 25 , 1890

◇ Total Area: 1, 635. 19 km²

The place is home to the largest trees in the world. Hiking routes crossing the sequoia groves（红杉林）will take you near these huge trees. These awe-inspiring forests filled with towering trees are a sight to see.

Yosemite National Park

◇ Date of Establishment: October 1, 1890

◇ Total Area: 3, 028. 81 km²

Its main draw is the Yosemite Valley that looks beautiful with its jaw-dropping scenery. Between glacially（由于冰川作用）sculpted cliffs（悬崖）and the towering waterfalls stretching out of the side of the mountains, your eyes will be treated to many natural wonders. The place was named as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1984.

Mount Rainier National Park

◇ Date of Establishment: March 2, 1899

◇ Total Area: 956. 60 km²

Establishing this national park was the end of a long battle by environmentalists to preserve the unique forest and glacial landscape found here. Mount Rainier is an icy active volcano.

Crater Lake National Park

◇ Date of Establishment: May 22, 1902

◇ Total Area: 741. 48 km²

Many visitors come to this park to see Crater Lake, the deepest lake in the US. The water appears in various shades of blue. It is surrounded by towering cliffs and sources its water from rain and snow. It sits in the middle of a dead volcano, so many spectacular volcanic formations can also be found here.

Brothers Ayaan and Mickey Naqvi, who live in Shelton, Connecticut, were decorating their family Christmas tree last year when one of their favorite ornaments (装饰品) was destroyed. While the ornament was beyond repair, from its broken pieces sprang a bright idea: What if there was a better way to hang ornaments so they'd be truly secure? From that, the Ornament Anchor (装饰锚) was born.

Using a special system, Ayaan created the model and presented it for a school project. The reception (反响) was overwhelmingly favorable-so favorable in fact, the boys quickly turned their invention into a potential money-making product.

This wasn't the boys' first commercial invention: A previous invention landed the pair and their family on a TV programme Shark Tank. While they didn't cut a deal, it was a true learning experience.

From $1, 000 in sales in six hours at a local Christmas trade show, the Ornament Anchor went on to be displayed on Good Morning America. In one year, the brothers' invention has brought in more than $250, 000.

After their success, Ayaan and Mickey are determined to pay their good fortune forward by contributing 10% of their profits to local animal shelters. "Ever since I was super young, I've had a fascination with all of life's creatures, " Ayaan explained. "My goal is to help as many animals in need as I can. "

The boys admit that starting a new business in 2020 had its challenges. While they are enjoying their success, adjusting to distance learning due to the coronavirus lockdown isn't easy.

Through the difficult times, they say they've just tried to take things one step at a time and keep a positive attitude because that-along with the love and support of their family-are what keeps them anchored (稳定).

Although ethics (道德) lessons are common around the world, scientists are unsure if the lessons can actually change behavior. But a new study found that a single ethics lesson may have had lasting effects.

The researchers investigated one lesson's impact on eating meat. They chose this particular behavior for three reasons, according to study co-author Eric, a philosopher at the University of California: students' attitudes on the topic are variable, behavior is easily measurable, and eating less meat is good because it reduces environmental harm and animal suffering. The researchers studied students in four classes. Half of them read an article on the ethics of factory-farmed meat, watched an 11-minute video on the topic and joined a 50-minute discussion. The other half focused on charitable giving instead. Then, the researchers studied their meal-card purchases for that semester-nearly 14, 000 receipts (收据) for almost 500 students. "It's an awesome data set, " says Nina Strohminger, a psychologist who teaches business ethics and was not involved in the study.

For students who discussed meat ethics, meal purchases containing meat decreased from 52 to 45 percent-and this effect held steady for the study's duration of several weeks. Purchases from the other group remained at 52 percent.

"That's actually a pretty large effect for a pretty small intervention," Eric says. Strohminger agrees, "The thing that still blows my mind is that just one ethics lesson should have such an obvious effect."

Eric believes the greatest impact came from classmates or teaching assistants leading the discussions. Second, the video may have had an emotional impact. Least influential, he thinks was argument. Now the researchers are investigating the specific effects of teaching style teachers' eating habits and students' video exposure.

"I'm sorry Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that. " The computer HAL's unforgettable line from the film 2001: A Space Odyssey (《2001太空漫游》) isn't only the beginning of a struggle for machine liberation. It's also a voice that should inspire concern with our lack of understanding of artificial intelligence (AI) psychology. HAL's "malfunction" (运转失灵) may be no malfunction at all, but rather a result of creating advanced AI with a psychology we can't yet grasp.

I mention the film to point out that we think we know everything about AI, but actually we don't. It warns us not to underestimate (低估) the psychological and emotional complexity of our future machines. Considering our current state of knowledge, it's true that making predictions about the psychology of future AI is an extremely difficult task. Yet difficulty shouldn't be a reason to stop thinking about their psychology. There are good reasons to think future AI will likely experience boredom (无聊). It's a serious but ignored problem for our future machines.

It's time to take the problem seriously. The presence of boredom is a likely feature of being smarter. If these machines are autonomous, then, given human responses to boredom, we should be worried about how machines will act due to their boredom. As long as future machines experience boredom, then they will misbehave. Worse still, they might even destroy themselves.

The issue of boredom becomes more urgent when we consider advanced self-learning AI. Does that mean future AI will necessarily experience boredom? Of course not. It would be foolish to strongly claim so. But it would be equally foolish to ignore the possibility of machine boredom. If super intelligence is a goal of AI, then we have to be prepared for the emotional complexities of our machines. Our dream of super intelligence could easily turn into a terrible one.

At present, the rapid development of our society is forcing people to rush.  However, it's better for people to take their time and live their life at a slower pace than to hurry to get things done.

The main reason for not working in a hurry is that we may make mistakes. When people do their jobs or other things in a hurry, they can't make a sound decision and probably have regrets later. As the saying goes, "Haste makes waste (欲速则不达). "  We should not make mistakes by doing work hurriedly.

Slowing down the pace of life helps people enjoy their life better. For example, taking a train to some place certainly will take more time than taking a plane. However, taking a train gives people enough time to get to know a lot of new friends. Moreover, it allows people to fully enjoy the beautiful scenery along the way.

Finally, a slower pace of life provides better health conditions for us. As is known to all, being in a hurry bothers people and raises their stress.  According to some studies people who have a quicker pace suffer more diseases, and tend to live much shorter than those whose life is not tense.

 Yet, too much stress can't bring enjoyment, friends and good health to individuals. Therefore, it's a good idea to take your time and live your life at a slower pace sometimes.

A. Should we work quickly?

B. Rushing does no harm to us actually.

C. People have got used to being in a hurry.

D. Working quickly can bring more material benefits.

E. We should think carefully before making a decision.

F. Besides, rushing can be bad for one's physical health.

G. However, rushing will make us lose chances to enjoy our lives.

Years ago, my house was broken into. I 1 with the police and when they 2 my doubt about my neighbour, Jared, they rolled their eyes. "He's got a (n)  3 already. If you accuse (起诉) Jared, he will 4 to juvenile detention (少管所) until he's 21. "

I asked the police to 5 until I could speak with Jared. When Jared saw me, his eyes were filled with fear, 6 a note of regret. I seized the moment. "We meet for one hour every Saturday for ten months. We'll spend a half-hour on homework and a half-hour 7 anything you like. But you must commit, and you must 8 the money you stole. "

He took the offer.

To my 9 , he showed up in the quiet, appointed place every Saturday. Saturday after Saturday we sat, we 10 , and I listened. I learned about his broken family, the ambitions that seemed far beyond his 11 to work toward them, and his lack of meaningful connections with others. He repaid the money to me. When the ten months ended, I 12 my hand to Jared, "That's it. Thank you. "

He laid his hand in mine, 13 , and looked at me. "That's it?" he repeated.

"Yeah," I said.

Later, we became good friends. Whatever problems our neighbors had, he was ready to help them.

Young people sometimes make us 14 with their behavior, but as an adult, our positive guidance may make a great 15 to their whole life.

The Richfield Museum of Fine Art is going to present a new exhibition. Its goal is  (display) the Chinese artistic genius from ancient times.

The highlight of the exhibition is the painting of Tang Yin,  was born in Ming Dynasty. He sought and failed to gain entry into the civil service, so he turned to painting and gained  (recognize) as one of the greatest Chinese artists. His painting Clearing After Snow on a Mountain Pass,  (show) high mountains, trees and houses covered in snow, was made with extraordinary skill.

In addition, there is a collection of nearly 100 bronze objects from the Shang Dynasty. Some of the items  (think) to have come from the collection of Emperor Qianlong,  admirer of Shang Dynasty bronze.

Finally, it has many fine examples of Tang Dynasty sculptures. In the  (seven) century, Buddhism began to show expansion in China and trade along the Silk Road also boomed. Therefore, Chinese sculpture found itself  (influence) by Buddhist art. These  (amaze) works are intended to spread Buddhism and they are  exceptional beauty and quality.

It is really an art feast you can't miss!