(共4篇，限时28分钟) A
(2020·无锡一模)“The world feels anxious and divided, and Facebook has a lot of work to do — whether it's protecting our community from abuse and hate, defending against interference by nation states, or making sure that time spent on Facebook is well spent，”Zuckerberg wrote on Facebook in January.
If the tech firm succeeded, Facebook would end 2020 on a much better path.But the cracks in Zuckerberg's social media empire only grew as scandals (丑闻) about data misuse, security and even Facebook's leadership piled up.
The social network has faced criticism many times since launching 14 years ago, but the public uproar reached new heights in 2020.Facebook's missteps, even as it tried to fix its problems, were yet another reminder of what happens when a company grows rapidly with little oversight (监管)．They also set the stage for another showdown between the tech powerhouse and lawmakers who have their own ideas on how to manage a platform used by 2.3 billion people every month.
“I think there's just a general growing consensus from both parties in Congress that selfpolicing is not going to work，” Democratic senator Mark Warner of Virginia said in an interview.Facebook pointed to a series of notes Zuckerberg published this year outlining what the tech firm has done to combat (战斗，争论) election meddling (好干预的), as well as hate speech, misinformation and other offensive content.The social network pulled down more than 1.5 billion fake accounts, launched a database of political ads and announced the creation of a Supreme Courtlike independent body to oversee
content appeals.
But in many ways, Zuckerberg fell short of his New Year's resolution (决议)．UN investigators said Facebook played a role in spreading hate speech that fueled ethnic cleansing (清洗) in Myanmar.Media outlets found loopholes (漏洞) and errors in Facebook's political ads database.Users questioned whether they should delete Facebook after learning that Cambridge Analytica, a UK political consulting firm with ties to Donald Trump's 2020 presidential campaign, gathered data on as many as 87 million Facebook users without their permission.
In short, Facebook's problems ballooned out of the company's control. “They created a platform where sharing was mindlessly easy and interacting with each other required almost no forethought at all，” said Woodrow Hertzog, a law and computer science professor at Northeastern University.“As a result, there was massive sharing, including leaking of personal information that put lots of people at risk.”
语篇解读：本文主要介绍了Facebook在发展的过程中，由于缺少监管，出现了一些令公司自己无法控制的问题。 1．What can be inferred about Facebook from the passage? A．It is a platform where people can easily share wellselected information.
B．It is a social network that has faced criticism because of data misuses from Zuckerberg.
C．It is a social network which grows rapidly without enough management from the government.
D．It is a popular app that 2.3 billion people use for information and communication every day.
解析：选C 细节理解题。根据第三段第二句“Facebook's missteps, even as
it tried to fix its problems, were yet another reminder of what happens when a company grows rapidly with little oversight(监管)．”可知，Facebook在其迅速发展的过程中并没有受到足够的监管。
2．The underlined word “uproar” in Paragraph 3 has the similar meaning to “________”．
A．crack C．disagreement
B．criticism D．argument
解析：选B 词义猜测题。找回原句 “The social network has faced criticism many times since launching 14 years ago, but the public uproar reached new heights in 2020.”可知uproar和criticism同义。
3．What is the best title of this passage? A．A tough challenge for Facebook B．Zuckerberg's new year resolution C．Criticism of Facebook for misusing D．A dark future for Facebook
解析：选A 标题归纳题。文章一开始第一句“The world feels anxious and divided, and Facebook has a lot of work to do ... ”，就指出Facebook面临着很多的问题，倒数第二段“In short, Facebook's problems ballooned out of the company's control.”又强调了Facebook的问题已经膨胀到公司无法控制的程度。本文是属于首尾呼应型的，所以选A作为文章的标题比较适合。
B
(2020·南通一模)Statistics often sounds like a dry subject, but sometimes it's necessary to take a statistics course to get the correct answer to this problem.Take the following case for example: a football scout (球探) hears of a player who has powered his team to a good winloss record.His coaches think he's one of the most talented players they've seen.But the scout is unimpressed by the one practice game he sees him in; he tells his manager it's not worth trying to recruit (录用) the player.
Most sports fans would think that was a pretty foolish decision, right? Athletic performance is much too variable to base an important judgment on such a small sample.But consider this problem: an employer gets an application from a junior executive (主管人员) with an excellent college record and strong references from his current employer.The employer interviews the applicant and is unimpressed.The employer tells his colleagues that it's not worthwhile recruiting him.
Most people regard this as a reasonable sort of decision.But it isn't.Countless studies show that the unstructured 30minute interview is virtually worthless as a predictor of longterm performance by any criteria that have been examined.
In both cases, predictions based on references — school reports, prior performance, letters of recommendation — give a 65－75% chance of choosing the better of the two.
Why do we get the athletic problem right and the employment problem wrong? Because in the case of the job, unlike for athletic performance, we haven't seen hundreds of candidates in interviews of a particular type and seen how well performance in the interview corresponds to ultimate(最终的) performance in the setting we're concerned about.We haven't seen that the guy who looks like a fool in the interview turns out to be clever on the job and the guy who does well in the interview turns out to be average.The only way to see that the interview isn't going to be worth much is to be able to apply the“law of large numbers”，which assists the recognition that an interview represents a very small sample of behaviour.
The bottom line: there's safety in numbers.The more recommendations a person has, the more positive the outcome is likely to be for the employer.Consider the job interview: it's not only a tiny sample, it's not even a sample of job behaviour but of something else entirely.Psychological
theory and data show that we are incapable of treating the interview data as little more than unreliable gossip.It's just too compelling (强迫性的) that we've learned a lot from those 30 minutes.
My recommendation is not to interview at all unless you're going to develop an interview protocol (体系), with the help of a professional, which is based on careful analysis of what you are looking for in a job candidate.And then ask exactly the same questions of every candidate.It's harder to develop such a protocol than you might guess.But it can really pay off.
语篇解读：本文主要讨论了30分钟的面试能否作为公司录用新人的依据。 4．The cases in the first two paragraphs are meant to ________. A．illustrate the influence of fans B．show the weaknesses of scouts C．attach importance to interviews D．introduce the topic of the passage
解析：选D 推理判断题。根据第一段中的“it's necessary to take a statistics course to get the correct answer to this problem.Take the following case for example ...”和第二段中的“consider this problem ... ”可见提出的例子是用来论证数据是否能运用于最终决定的，也就是文章的中心主题，故选D。
5．The author believes that ________.
A．the setting in the job interview is too artificial to be convincing B．a successful candidate usually uses tricks to cover his real characters C．a small sample is not enough to make a generalized judgement of a candidate
D．the number of candidates hasn't satisfied the requirements for a job interview
解析：选C 细节理解题。根据第三段中的“Countless studies show that the
unstructured 30minute interview is virtually worthless”，以及第六段中的“it's not only a tiny sample, it's not even a sample of job behavior but of something else entirely.”可知选C。
6．What is the best title for the passage? A．How employees are selected B．Where statistics are available C．Why job interviews are pointless D．When recommendations are needed
解析：选C 标题归纳题。根据第五段最后一句中的“interview represents a very small sample of behavior”，第六段中的“Psychological theory and data show that we are incapable of treating the interview data as little more than unreliable gossip.”可知，作者认为job interview是无意义的。
C
(2020·扬州一模)Regulating a complex new technology is hard, particularly if it is evolving rapidly.With autonomous vehicles (AVs) just around the corner, what can policymakers do to ensure that they arrive safely and smoothly and deliver on their promise?
The immediate goal is to make sure that AVs are safe without preventing innovation.In America, experimental AVs are allowed on the road in many states as long as the companies operating them accept responsibility.Chris Urmson of Aurora says American regulators have got things right, working closely with AV firms and issuing guidelines rather than strict rules that might prevent the progress of the industry.“It's important that we don't jump to regulation before we actually have something to regulate.” he says.
On the other hand, Singapore's government has taken the most handson approach to preparing for AVs, says Karl Iagnemma of Nutonomy, an AV startup that has tested vehicles in the city state.For example, it has introduced a “driving test” that AVs must pass before they can go on the road.This
does not guarantee safety but sets a minimum standard.
Elsewhere, regulators have permitted limited testing on public roads but want to see more evidence that the vehicles are safe before going further, says Takao Asami of the Renault issanMitsubishi alliance (联盟)．“Simple accumulation of mileage (里程) will never prove that the vehicle is safe.” he says.Instead, regulators are talking to car makers and technology firms to develop new safety standards.
Marten Levenstam, head of product strategy at Volvo, compares the process to that of developing a new drug.First, you show in the laboratory that it might work; then you run clinical trials in which you carefully test its safety and efficiency; and if they are successful, you ask for regulatory approval to make the drug generally available.Similarly, autonomous cars are currently at the clinicaltrial stage, without final approval as yet.It is not possible to prove that a new drug is entirely safe, but the risk is worth taking because of the benefits the drug provides.It will be the same for AVs, he suggests.After all, nowadays humandriven vehicles are hardly riskfree.
语篇解读：无人驾驶技术正在快速地发展，政策制定者能做些什么来确保他们安全、顺利到达并兑现承诺？ 7．In Chris Urmson's opinion, ________. A．strict rules are necessary in the progress of AVs B．we must regulate AVs before problems occur
C．governments should take approaches to preparing for AVs
D．regulators had better cooperate with AV firms and issue guidelines 解析：选D 推理判断题。根据第二段第三句“Chris Urmson of Aurora says American regulators have got things right, working closely with AV firms and issuing guidelines rather than strict rules that might prevent the progress of the industry.”可知，Chris Urmson认为美国规则的制定者应该与无人驾驶汽
车的公司紧密合作而不是发布限制产业发展的严苛条例，因此答案选D。
8．How is the process of developing new safety standards of AVs explained in the last paragraph?
A．By giving examples. B．By making comparisons.
C．By analyzing cause and effects. D．By listing statistics.
解析：选B 推理判断题。根据最后一段中“Marten Levenstam, head of product strategy at Volvo, compares the process to that of developing a new drug.”可知，新的安全标准的制定是与新药进行了对比。
9．What is Marten Levenstam's attitude towards AVs? A．Positive. C．Neutral.
B．Negative. D．Doubtful.
解析：选A 推理判断题。根据最后一段中“It is not possible to prove that a new drug is entirely safe, but the risk is worth taking because of the benefits the drug provides.It will be the same for AVs”可知，作者认为承担无人驾驶汽车的风险是值得的，所以作者的态度是支持它的发展。
D
(2020·南京、盐城一模)If you could travel back in time five centuries, you'd encounter a freshly painted “Mona Lisa” in Renaissance Europe and cooler temperatures across the Northern Hemisphere.This was a world in the midst of the Little Ice Age and a period of vast European exploration now known as the Age of Discovery.
But what if we could look 500 years into the future and glimpse the Earth of the 26th century? Would the world seem as different to us as the 21st century would have seemed to residents of the 16th century? For starters, what will the weather be like?
Depending on whom you ask, the 26th century will either be a little chilly
or extremely hot.Some solar output models suggest that by the 2500s, Earth's climate will have cooled back down to near Little Ice Age conditions.Other studies predict that ongoing climate change and fossil fuel use will leave much of the planet too hot for human life by 2300.Some experts date the beginning of human climate change back to the Industrial Revolution in the 1800s, others to slashandburn agricultural practices in prehistoric times.Either way, toolwielding humans alter their environment — and our 26th century tools might be quite impressive indeed.
Theoretical physicist and futurist Michio Kaku predicts that in a mere 100 years, humanity will make the leap from a type zero civilization to a type Ⅰ civilization on the Kardashev Scale.In other words, we'll become a species that can use the entire sum of a planet's energy, mastering clean energy technologies such as fusion and solar power.Furthermore, they'll be able to handle planetary energy in order to control global climate.
Technology has improved significantly since the 1500s, and this pace will likely continue in the centuries to come.Physicist Stephen Hawking proposes that by the year 2600, this growth would see 10 new theoretical physics papers published every 10 seconds.If Moore's Law holds true and both computer speed and complexity double every 18 months, then some of these studies may be the work of highly intelligent machines.
What other technologies will shape the world of the 26th century? Futurist and author Adrian Berry believes the average human life span will reach 140 years and that the digital storage of human personalities will enable a computerized state of living forever.Humans will farm the oceans, travel in starships and reside in both lunar and Martian colonies while robots explore the outer cosmos.
语篇解读：本文对5世纪之后地球的气候做了预测。 10．Why does the author mention the Little Ice Age in the first paragraph? A．To show the severity of the current global warming. B．To stress the close connection with the current climate. C．To provide contrast to the prediction of future climate. D．To illustrate the importance of protecting the environment. 解析：选C 推理判断题。 作者借由谈论历史出现的Litter Ice Age来和5世纪后预测的形成对比。
11．The prediction that Earth will cool down is based on ________. A．changes in solar activity B．ongoing climate change C．previous general assumptions D．current consumption of fossil fuel
解析：选A 细节理解题。根据文章第三段第二句“Some solar output models suggest that by the 2500s, Earth's climate will have cooled back down to near Little Ice Age conditions.”可知答案选A。
12．What effect will the 26th century technologies have on human beings? A．Humans will suffer from severe global warming. B．Cyber technology helps human personalities survive. C．Humans needn't work with the application of robots. D．Highly intelligent machines will replace humans.
解析：选B 细节理解题。通过最后一段第二句中“the digital storage of human personalities will enable a computerized state of living forever.”可知，人们可将人格进行数字化储存，实现电脑化永生。
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