Wouldn't it be wonderful to travel to a foreign country without having to worry about the headache of communicating in a different language?

In a recent Wall Street journal article, technology policy expert Alec Ross argued that, within a decade or so. We’ll be able to communicate with one another via small earpieces with built-in microphones. That's because technological progress is extremely rapid. It’s only a matter of time. Indeed, some parents are so convinced that this technology is imminent that they're wondering if their kids should even learn a second language.

It's true that an increase in the quantity and accuracy of the data loaded into computers will make them cleverer at translating "No es bueno dormir mucho" as "It's not good to sleep too much. " Replacing a word with its equivalent (同義詞) in the target language is actually the "easy part of a translator's job". But even this seems to be a discouraging task for computers.

It’s so difficult for computers because translation doesn't-or shouldn’t-involve simply translating words, sentences or paragraphs. Rather, it’s about translating meaning. And in order to infer meaning from a specific expression, humans have to interpret a mass of information at the same time.

Think about all the related clues that go into understanding an expression: volume, gesture, situation, and even your culture. All are likely to convey as much meaning as the words you use.

Therefore, we should be very skeptical of a machine that is unable to interpret the world around us. If people from different cultures can offend each other without realizing it, how can we expect a machine to do better? Unless engineers actually find a way to breathe a soul into a computer, undoubtedly when it comes to conveying and interpreting meaning using a natural language, a machine will never fully take our place.

1.What does the underlined word "imminent" in Paragraph 2 probably mean?

A. Ready.B. Approaching.C. Helpful.D. Advanced.

2.Why is it hard for computers to replace a word with its equivalent?

A. Their data is not adequate enough.

B, The real meaning of words can vary.

C. Their accuracy needs big improvement.

D, A soul hasn't been breathed in them.

3.What view does the author hold about translation?

A. Proper translation can be tough for humans.

B. Slight distinctions matter little in translation.

C. Some machines will interpret our world properly.

D. Cultures deserve more attention than words used.

4.What is the best title for the text?

A. An Expert's Precise Prediction

B. The Complexity of Translation

C. Who Will Be a Better Translator

D. Will Language Barrier Actually Fall

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We know that hugs make us feel cosy inside. And this feeling could actually ward off stress and protect the immune (免疫) system, according to a new research from Carnegie Mellon University.

It’s a well-known fact that stress can weaken the immune system. In this study, the researchers sought to determine whether hugs could protect individuals from the increased sensitivity to illness brought on by the particular stress that comes with interpersonal conflict.

“We know that people experiencing ongoing conflicts with others are less able to fight off cold viruses. We also know that people who report having social support are partly protected from the effects of stress on psychological states, such as depression and anxiety, ” the study’s lead author, psychologist Dr. Sheldon Cohen , said in a statement. “We have tested whether awareness of social support is equally effective in protecting us from sensitivity to infection caused by stress and also whether receiving hugs might partially account for those feelings of support and thus protect a person against infection.”

In the experiment, over 400 healthy adults filled out a questionnaire about their perceived (感知到的) social support and also participated in a nightly phone interview for two weeks. They were asked about the frequency that they engaged in interpersonal conflict and received hugs that day.

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“This suggests that being hugged by a trusted person may act as an effective means of conveying support and that increasing the frequency of hugs might be an effective means of reducing the effects of stress,” Cohen said. “The apparent protective effect of hugs may result from the physical contact itself or hugging being a behavioral indicator of support and closeness. Either way, those who receive more hugs are somewhat more protected from infection.”

If you need any more reason to wrap your arms around someone special, consider this: hugs also lower blood pressure, reduce fears, improve heart health and decrease feelings of loneliness.

1.Which of the following can replace the underlined words “ward off” in Paragraph 1?

A. produce B. increase C. prevent D. support

2.What does Dr. Sheldon Cohen’s experiment show?

A. Hugs can hide serious illness symptoms

B. Social conflicts can monitor sign s of infection

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D. Depression and anxiety result from less social support

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A. Hugs can have protective effects

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While engineers have made out fantastic products for sitting still—Munchery instead of walking to lunch, Uber instead of walking to the bus stop—services to make you move have been less appealing for consumers.

Fitbit’s stock price fell 18% after they announced their latest Apple Watch-like product named Fitbit Force. And new data suggests that, for the first time, death rates for large parts of the American population are rising, with signs pointing to inactivity and weight gain as the reasons. Our digital lifestyles and desk-based workplaces are contributing to serious health problems and could be shortening our lives, wellness firms want us to believe.

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科目:高中英語 來源:2017屆河南中原名校豫南九校高三上第四次質(zhì)評(píng)英語卷(解析版) 題型:完形填空

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A plane that crashed in the mountains of Colombia, 1. (kill) 71 people, including members of a Brazilian football team, may have run out of fuel.

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增加:在缺詞處加一個(gè)漏字符號(hào)(),并在其下面寫出該加的詞。

刪除:把多余的詞用斜線(\)劃掉。

修改:在錯(cuò)的詞下劃一橫線,并在該詞下面寫出修改后的詞。

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2.只允許修改10處,多者(從第11處起)不計(jì)分。

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1. 生日祝福;

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3. 選擇該禮物的原因。

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Dear Jim,

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________ by the heavy rain, we had to take shelter under a big tree.

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Depressed? Do What You Love

About 350 million people around the world suffer from depression. Therapists can use many different techniques to help, but none has more accurate scientific evidence behind it than cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). This “inside-out” technique focuses mainly on thought patterns, training patients to recognize and reframe their thinking. __1.__

BA is an outside-in technique in which therapists focus on adjusting actions rather than thoughts. “The idea is that what you do and how you feel are linked,” says David Richards, a health services researcher at the University of Exeter in England. If a patient values nature and family, for example, a therapist may encourage him to schedule a daily walk in the park with his family members. __2.__This could create an alternative to more negative pastimes such as thinking on loss. BA has existed for decades, yet until now it has never been tested with the scale and exactness needed to assess its relative strength as a stand-alone approach.

In one of the largest studies of its kind, Richards led a group of 18 researchers working at three mental health centers in the U.K. who put BA and CBT head-to-head. They assigned 440 people with depression to about 16 weeks of one of the two approaches, then followed the patients’ progress at six, twelve and eighteen months after treatment began. __3.__ A year on, about two thirds of the patients in both groups reported at least a 50 percent reduction in their symptoms.

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In addition, Richards and his colleagues found that junior health workers could provide BA after a brief training period, which makes it significantly cheaper compared with CBT, for it requires highly specialized therapists. __5._

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B. As shown in a report, the team found the treatments equally effective.

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科目:高中英語 來源:2017屆北京東城區(qū)高三上期末考試英語試卷(解析版) 題型:單項(xiàng)填空

As soon as I got to the airport, I realized I ________ my ID card at home.

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