1、While the start of a new school year is always exciting, this year was even more so for some elementary school students in Auckland, New Zealand. They became the world’s first kids to be “taught” by a digital teacher. Before you start imagining a human-like robot walking around the classroom, Will is just an avatar that appears on the student’s desktop, or smartphone screen, when ordered to come.
The autonomous animation platform has been modeled after the human brain and nervous system, allowing it to show human-like behavior. The digital teacher is assigned to teach Vector’s “Be sustainable with energy”— a free program for Auckland elementary schools.
Just like the humans it replaced, Will is able to instantly react to the students’ responses to the topic. Thanks to a webcam and microphone, the avatar not only responds to questions the kids may have, but also picks up non-verbal cues. For instance, if a student smiles at Will, he responds by smiling back. This two-way interaction not only helps attract the students’ attention, but also allows the program’s developers to monitor their engagement, and make changes if needed.
Nikhil Ravishankar believes that Will-like avatars could be a novel way to catch the attention of the next generation. He says, “I have a lot of hope in this technology as a means to deliver cost-effective, rich, educational experience in the future.”
The program, in place since August 2018, has been a great success thus far. Ravishankar says, “ What was fascinating to me was the reaction of the children to Will. The way they look at the world is so creative and different, and Will really captured their attention.” However, regardless of how popular it becomes, Will is unlikely to replace human educators any time soon. 1.What was special for some elementary school students in Auckland? A.A digital teacher taught them. C.This was the start of a new school year.
B.They first saw something digital.
D.They could get close to smartphone screen.
2.What is the benefit of this two-way interaction? A.It can smile back.
B.It can use microphone. D.It can change if necessary.
C.It can talk any topic for free.
3.What’s Ravishankar’s attitude to Will’s replacing Human educators soon? A.Optimistic.
B.Doubtful.
C.Unclear.
D.Disapproving.
4.What might be the best title for the passage?
A.New High-tech Contributes to Education
B.The World’s First Digital Teacher Appears in Classroom. C.The World’s First Digital Teacher, a Help to Students D.New Zealand Will Replace Teachers in Classrooms
2、Riding on an exercise bike at home may keep you in physical shape, but it can get pretty boring after a while. Aaron Puzey had been on his exercise bike for half an hour a day for years when he decided to look for a way to make it a bit more fun.
With virtual reality technology widely available nowadays, all he needed to do was find a way of applying it to his needs. So he set out to build an app for the Samsung Galaxy Gear VR headset(头戴式视图器) which would allow him to hook it up to Google Street view and make it seem like he's cycling through different real-life locations.
Building the app to download the 3D data from Street View and make it viewable in the VR headset was the toughest part of his project. Other than that, all he needed to do was tape a Bluetooth monitor to his exercise bike. Although the quality of the images sometimes leaves a lot to be desired, leaving complex scenes like trees looking like a mess, Aaron has been having a lot of fun on his journey.
Aaron's project is obviously no substitute(替代品) for real outdoor cycling as it lacks things like the wind blowing in your face or the pain of battling an uphill climb, but it has given him a goal, as well as the chance to take in the beauty of places he might have otherwise never seen. It definitely beats staring at a wall or at the TV for 30 minutes, anyway.
Obviously, Aaron's set up the oretically allows him to ride a bike anywhere around the world. He says he has always wanted to see Japan, so once his ride comes to an end, he plans to start another one across the Land of the Rising Sun. 1.Why did Aaron Puzey build the app? A.To invent a new kind of bicycle C.To satisfy the needs of the public.
B.To participate in a competition. D.To add fun to his exercise bike routine
2.Which of the following can best describe Aaron Puxey? A.Creative.
B.Ambitious.
C.Funny.
D.Boring.
3.What was the challenge for Puzey in his project? A.Changing the 3D data into pictures.
B.Downloading the software from the Internet. C.Making the 3D data viewable in the headset. D.Taping a Bluetooth monitor to his exercise bike. 4.What might be the best title for the text? A.Cycling Across the World at Home C.A New Way of Cycling Without Effort
B.The Lazy Man and His Crazy Idea D.A Substitute for Real Outdoor Cycling
3、Many Android and iPhone owners use Google services on their mobile phones or tablets. One of the most widely used location(位置)services is Google Maps. When someone uses Google Maps, information about times and locations are recorded and stored.
Google also uses tracking tools with other services. Weather apps, for example,are designed to identify a user's location to provide local weather information. Even some Google Internet searches can result in the collection of information about exactly where a person was when the search was made.
Google says it collects the data to improve users' localized experiences. But such practices have also raised privacy concerns. Privacy activists have called on Google and other major technology companies to make it easier for users to turn off location services if they do not want to be tracked. In some ways, Google is clear about asking permission to use location information. For instance, Google Maps will seek approval from a user to give the app access to locations. If a user agrees to let Google collect location information over time, Google Maps will show this history in a \
Google also has a \Location History at any time. And when Location History is turned off for a users account, it is turned off for all equipment linked to that Google account. But the AP (Associated Press) found this does not appear to be true, finding that Google continued to save location history even if a user had turned off Location History.
Google states users can stop the saving of all location markers by turning off another setting, however, which is not clearly identified as being connected to location tracking. The setting is called \websites to a users Google account.
1.Why does the author mention Weather apps?
A.To stress Google sendees are widely used. B.To show many apps can track a users location.
C.To prove Google collects users' data illegally. D.To advise people to stop using them. 2.What is the voice from the privacy activists? A.Users should use the Internet less. C.Google should respect users' privacy. 3.What does the author indicate in paragraph 4? A.The Location History setting is difficult to find. B.The AP asks Google to remove Location History. C.Turning off Location History can avoid being tracked. D.What Google announces is hardly consistent with the fact. 4.Which can best summarize the passage? A.Google still tracks you with Location History off. B.Using Google puts you into a dangerous state. C.Google services urgently need to get improved. D.Web and App Activity has endangered peopled life.
4、Preparing Cities for Robot Cars
The possibility of self-driving robot cars has often seemed like a futurist's dream, years away from materializing in the real world. Well, the future is apparently now. The California Department of Motor Vehicles began giving permits in April for companies to test truly self-driving cars on public roads. The state also cleared the way for companies to sell or rent out self-driving cars, and for companies to operate driverless taxi services. California, it should be noted，isn't leading the way here. Companies have been testing their vehicles in cities across the country. It's hard to predict when driverless cars will be everywhere on our roads. But however long it takes, the technology has the potential to change our transportation systems and our cities, for better or for worse, depending on how the transformation is regulated.
While much of the debate so far has been focused on the safety of driverless cars （and rightfully so), policymakers also should be talking about how self-driving vehicles can help reduce traffic jams, cut emissions(排放) and offer more convenient, affordable mobility options. The arrival of driverless vehicles is a chance to make sure that those vehicles are environmentally friendly and more shared.
B.Google should stop tracking users. D.Google should turn off location services.
Do we want to copy—or even worsen —the traffic of today with driverless cars? Imagine a future where most adults own individual self-driving vehicles. They tolerate long, slow journeys to and from work on packed highways because they can work, entertain themselves or sleep on the ride, which encourages urban spread. They take their driverless car to an appointment and set the empty vehicle to circle the building to avoid paying for parking. Instead of walking a few blocks to pick up a child or the dry cleaning, they send the self-driving minibus. The convenience even leads fewer people to take public transport—an unwelcome side effect researchers have already found in ride-hailing(叫车) services.
A study from the University of California at Davis suggested that replacing petrol-powered private cars worldwide with electric, self-driving and shared systems could reduce carbon emissions from transportation 80% and cut the cost of transportation infrastructure(基础设施） and operations 40% by 2050. Fewer emissions and cheaper travel sound pretty appealing. The first commercially available driverless cars will almost certainly be fielded by ride-hailing services, considering the cost of self-driving technology as well as liability and maintenance issues(责任与维护问题).But driverless car ownership could increase as the prices drop and more people become comfortable with the technology.
Policymakers should start thinking now about how to make sure the appearance of driverless vehicles doesn't extend the worst aspects of the car-controlled transportation system we have today. The coming technological advancement presents a chance for cities and states to develop transportation systems designed to move more people, and more affordably. The car of the future is coming. We just have to plan for it.
1. According to the author, attention should be paid to how driverless cars can . A. help deal with transportation-related problems B. provide better services to customers C. cause damage to our environment D. make some people lose jobs
2. As for driverless cars, what is the author’s major concern? A. Safety. B. Side effects.
2020届高考英语二轮复习题型专练：阅读理解(科技类)
