A
UNESCO World Heritage Sites were created to celebrate and safeguard the most unique places around the world.Below are my 4 favorite UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
Cinque Terre,Italy
With cars banned here,you'll really get to feel the unique history and character of the Cinque Terre's five centuries-old coastal villages.The breathtaking views of harbors （港口）far below the wild coastline along with the rich colors will definitely make it a memorable holiday. Angkor Wat,Cambodia
Angkor Wat is the world's largest religious （宗教的）monument and it contains impressive remains from the Khmer Empire （9th to 15th century）.The site has dozens of iconic temples like Ta Prohm （a magnificent temple ruin hidden in the jungle）.Hosting more than two million visitors annually,this artistic masterpiece is a must-see site.
Petra,Jordan
Petra's rock-cut architecture has contributed to its nickname,the Rose City,based on the color of the stone it was carved from.The delicate constructions of temples and tombs along with the remains of churches and temples are only a couple of reasons why this world-famous site is a must-visit destination.
Yellowstone National Park,USA
Yellowstone's vast wilderness includes mountain ranges,lakes and waterfalls.One of the main reasons for tourists to visit Yellowstone is to observe the amazing wildlife like grizzly bear,bison,bighorn sheep wander the plains and valleys.
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1.Where can tourists enjoy beautiful harbor views？______
A. In Cinque Terre.
B. In Angkor Wat.
C. In Petra.
D. In Yellowstone National Park.
2.What do Angkor Wat and Petra have in common？______
A. Colorful stones.
B. Religious relics.
C. Coastal villages.
D. Amazing wildlife.
3.Where is the text probably from？______
A. A news report.
B. A wildlife brochure.
C. A travel blog.
D. A culture guidebook.
B
Andie Ang's personal interest in monkeys was awakened when she was a child.In 1995，Ang's father saw some sailors mistreating a small young African monkey and brought it home.
Just ten at the time,Ang clearly remembers her excitement on first seeing the golden-furred little monkey.She named him Ah Boy and they soon became close companions. "I would cycle through the neighbourhood and Ah Boy would always follow me," recalls Ang. "Neighbors would stop to look and comment,'Oh,so cute!'" Ah Boy quickly developed a daily routine of climbing onto Ang's shoulders to pull her hair apart in search of anything that shouldn't have been there.
But as the years passed,the family became unable to care for the monkey,so Ang turned to the internet for help.After a complicated and costly process,the day arrived for Ang and Ah Boy to say goodbye.It was a tearful parting for her.Later that day,Ang made up her mind to study monkeys. "The time we spent together made me want to know more about monkeys,the threats to them,and how we can help," she says.
After getting a Life Sciences degree,Ang went on to complete a PhD in Biological Anthropology with a specialty in Raffles' banded langurs（黑脊叶猴），a critically endangered species which hadn't be
en studied for 15 years.
Today,she spends hours in Singapore's Central Catchment Nature Reserve,where the entire local population of Raffles' banded langurs can be found,doing field research in the forest.Her group has done lots of things to preserve this species,identifying and naming every monkey living in residential areas.They enjoyed discovering their individual personalities.As a result of Ang's work and growing support among locals,the community has come to better understand the value of native wildlife.The future of this small population of Raffles' banded langurs has become a lot more certain.
4.The author writes Paragraph 2 mainly to show ______ .
A. the excitement of Ang
B. the connection between the neighbors
C. the cleverness of Ah Boy
D. the closeness between Ang and Ah Boy
5.What made Ang decide to study monkeys？______
A. Her father's encouragement.
B. Her experience of caring for Ah Boy.
C. Her neighbors' comments.
D. Her interest in getting a science degree.
6.What do we know about Raffles' banded langurs______
A. They are under local protection now.
B. They have been sent back to Africa.
C. They are human beings' life companions.
D. They have already had a large population.
7.What is the text mainly about？______
A. A monkey researcher.
B. Central Catchment Nature Reserve.
C. Man's threats to monkeys.
D. Raffles' banded langurs' protection.
C
According to the World Economic Forum（WEF），eight million tons of plastic waste is being poured out into the oceans every year.That's the equivalent（相等物）of an entire garbage truck being dumped every three minutes,and the source of the problem—the world's cities.In Amsterdam,a simple solution has been found that could stop up to 86 percent of plastic waste ever reaching the oceans—a barrier made of bubbles（气泡）.
The way the bubble barrier system works is basically that it is a tube placed diagonally（沿对角线地）on the bottom of the waterway. "The tube has a lot of tiny holes," according to Phillip Ehrhorn,Chief Technology Officer in The Great Bubble Barrier, "We pump air through it,and the air bubbles will rise towards the surface.The plastics are brought to the surface with the air bubbles and then,with the natural flow of the river,towards one side of the river." Then the other part of the bubble barrier system collects and removes the waste.
"Ship traffic is a key economic driver；we won't be able to stop that.So,we would have to find a solution which would not affect all the other existing activities and the ecosystem," Phillip added.The bubble barrier does exactly .While it provides no block to water traffic and sea life
can pass through freely,it also catches plastic waste of all sizes.
The Great Bubble Barrier is trying to work together with Amsterdam and local
Non-governmental Organizations（NGOs）to evaluate what the bubble barrier system is catching so as to carry out new policies and additional measures on land.In this way,plastics entering the water could be reduced in the first place. "Our next step is a bubble barrier within Europe and we,of course,want to move to Asia because we think we can make a lot of influence there." said Francis Zoet,the founder of The Great Bubble Barrier.
8.What contributes to the invention of the bubble barrier______
A. Suggestions from the WEF.
B. Large amounts of sea waste.
C. Construction of the waterway.
厦门英语D. Requests from the government.
9.What is the function of the air bubbles？______
A. Creating tiny holes on the tube.
B. Removing the waste in the water.
C. Sending plastics to the surface.
D. Changing the speed of the river flow.
10.What does the underlined word "that" in Paragraph 3 refer to？______
A. The waste
B. Ship traffic.
C. Sea life.
D. The bubble.
11.What can be inferred from the last paragraph______
A. Plastics entering the water will increase.
B. The city will evaluate the bubble barrier.
C. The NGOs will move to Europe and Asia.
D. The bubble barrier will benefit more places.
D
Computers have become amazingly exact at translating spoken words to text messages and searching a large supply of valuable information for answers to difficult questions.At least,that is,so long as you speak English or other world's main languages.But try talking to your phone in Yoruba,Igbo or any number of widely spoken African languages and you'll find difficulty in accessing information,trade and other benefits of the global tech economy.
American tech giants don't have a long history of making their language technology work well outside the wealthiest markets,a problem that has also made it harder for them to discover dangerous misinf
ormation on their platforms.Google,for instance,upset members of the Yoruba community when its language app mistranslated a nice African god as a devil.Part of
the reason is that there's just not enough online data in those languages for the AI systems to effectively learn how to get better at understanding them.
"We are getting to the point where if a machine doesn't understand your language,it will be like it never existed," said Vukosi Marivate,who has devoted some of his AI research to the southern African languages of Xitsonga and Setswana. "Considering our history,some of the bias（偏见）is intentional.The history of the African continent and in general in colonized（殖民化的）countries,is that when language had to be translated,it was translated in a very narrow way," Marivate added.
However,Google and Microsoft are among the companies that say they are trying to improve technology for so-called "low-resource" languages that AI systems don't have enough data for.Computer scientists at Meta announced a breakthrough on the path to a "universal translator" that could translate multiple languages at once and work better with
lower-resourced languages.Meanwhile,Marivate and other researchers have founded a research project across Africa.Increasingly,people are joining hands to develop a variety of language approach
es.
12.What can we learn from Paragraphs 1 and 2？______
A. Yoruba and Igbo are widely spoken in the world.
B. English speakers fail to access online information.
C. The online data of African languages is limited.
D. Computers can translate all text messages exactly.
13.Why does the author mention "Google" in Paragraph 2？______
A. To make a prediction.
B. To draw a comparison.
C. To reach a conclusion.
D. To give an example.
14.What is Marivate's attitude towards "American tech giants"？______
A. Friendly.
B. Unconcerned.
C. Dissatisfied.
D. Proud.
15.What can be a suitable title for the text？______
A. Joint Efforts to Improve AI in African Languages
B. Computers Good at Translating Spoken Language
C. US Tech Giants Misunderstand African Languages
D. African Researchers Exchange Ideas with Tech Giants
二、阅读七选五（本大题共5小题，共12.5分）
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