青浦区2016学年高三年级第二次学业质量调研测试

III. Reading Comprehension Section A

Directions: For each blank in the following passage there are four words or phrases marked A, B, C and D. Fill in each blank with the word or phrase that best fits the context.

Ask Siri if she?s a woman. Go ahead: try it. She'll tell you she?s____41____. “Like cacti, a certain species of fish,” she might say. So is Amazon?s Alexa, Microsoft?s Cortana, Samsung?s S Voice, and Google Now. But, man, do they ever sound a lot like women? ____42____, we think of them as ladies too. In Old Norse(古挪威语), Siri translates to “a beautiful woman who leads you to victory”. We assign female pronouns to them, and, in turn, they fold female turns of phrase into their robotic and occasionally silly answers to our requests.

If we prize gender diversity(多样性) in other areas of daily life, why does our tech sound so____43____? The biggest reason for the female phone fixation rests in social science. “Research indicates there?s likely to be greater acceptance of female____44____,” says Karl MacDorman, a professor at Indiana University who specializes in human computer interaction. MacDorman and his team played clips of male and female voices to people of both genders, then asked them to identify which they____45____. The researchers also measured the way participants responded to the voices. In a 2011 paper, they reported that both women and men said female voices came across as warmer. ____46____, women even showed a subconscious preference for responding to females; men remained subconsciously neutral.

Why the____47____? Stanford University communications professor Clifford Nass wrote that people tend to see female voices as helping them solve their problems by themselves, while they view male voices as authority figures who tell them the answers to their problems. We want____48____ to help us, but we also want to be the boss of it, so we are more likely to choose a female interface(接口程序).

This tendency suggests that companies will make a better impression on a ____49____ group of customers with a woman's voice. But not just any voice. It has to ____50____ a brand?s personality. For help with that, companies often turn to Greg Pal, vice president of marketing, strategy, and business development at Nuance Communications, which licenses its ____51____of more than 100 voices. Pal insists that some brands choose male speakers. He turned on his iPhone and pulled up the Domino's Pizza app, which has an assistant, Dom. He sounded like a high school English teacher--educated and helpful but not ____52____. That's about right for a brand attempting to ____53____ guys ordering pies before the big game.

As voice technology improves, though, designers say diversity will too. Many devices already let

you ____54____ a voice interface. For example. Homer Simpson, a famous cartoon character can tell you where to take a left on our GPS device. And Siri can become a sir, if you take the time to____55____. Want to know how to do it? Ask her. She'll tell you in her uniquely warm, helpful--and female--tone. 41. A. robotic

B. high-tech B. Obviously

C. genderless

5

D. creative D. Undoubtedly

42.A. Culturally C. Grammatically

43.A. female 44. A. charm 45.A. accepted

B. ridiculous B. professors

C. professional C. speech C. studied

D. reasonable D. participants D. preferred D. At first D. conscience D. society D. wealthier D. suit D. library D. unique D. run after D. answer

B. misunderstood B. On the contrary B. prejudice B. technology B. develop B. business B. bossy

B. look into B. customize

46. A. In practice 47. A. neutrality 48. A. interaction 50. A. improve 51. A. market 52.A. strange 54. A. educate

C. By this means C. authority C. personality C. broader C. admire C. reliable C. leave

49. A. more sociable B. more talented

C. research C. meet with

53. A. appeal to

55. A. repeat B. assist C. reprogram D. communicate Section B Directions:

Read the following three passages. Each passage is followed by several questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A. B, C and D. Choose the one that fits best according to the information given in the passage you have just read.

(A)

This is the opening of a short story in a town in the United States by Alison Randall …

When Frank and I stepped through the post office doors. there was a crowd gathered, looking at the new device on the wall with amazement like a crowd of wide-mouthed frogs. I had to get closer. and that was where being a girl that?s skinnier than a wire fence came in handy. Fortunately, Frank, my twin of eleven years, was just the same.

“Come on.” I said, grabbing his hand, and we slid through the cracks between people until we spilled out in front.

Finally I got a good look. It was fixed to the plaster(石灰板) next to the postmaster's window, the place of honour usually reserved for the Wanted posters. Beady-eyed Zedekiah Smith, the bank robber, still hung there, but even he had been pushed aside for something more important.

A telephone. The first one in town.

“How?s it work?” Noah Crawford called out. Noah?s the best fix-it man around, and I could tell he was dying to get his fingers on those shiny buttons.

“Don?t rightly know,” answer the postmaster, and he pulled hard at his beard as if it might tell him. “I do know the sound of your voice moves along wires strung on poles. It?s sort of like the telegraph, only you hear words instead of dots and dashes.”

“Ah,” the crowd whispered, and I felt my own mouth move along.

I gazed at the shiny wood box and something happened inside me. Something--I can only guess--that might be like falling in love. The thought of talking into that box--of making my voice sail through wires in the sky--it took over my brain. I couldn't get it out. “Frank,” I whispered to my twin. “I have to use that telephone.”

Five minutes later, Frank dragged me to Main Street, toward borne. “Liza--” he began, but I cut him off. We two thought so much alike, I had Frank?s questions answered before he even asked.

56. People crowded in the post office because________. A. a new poster grabbed their attention B. the postmaster was delivering a speech

6

C. they were curious about the telephone D. there was a wanted bank robber captured 57. Which of the following is not true according to the passage?

A. Many people stared at the new device in open-mouthed amazement. B. The slight-figured twins managed to push to the front of the crowd. C. Even the best fix-it may in the town got no idea about the new device: D. The postmaster didn?t know anything about how the telephone worked.

58. By “…it took over my brain. I couldn't get it out.”, we get a clear picture of the girl?s______. A. eagerness to use the telephone B. fascination for the wood box C. puzzlement over the strange sound D. determination to fly in the sky 59. What is the passage mainly about?

A. The twins? frustrating experiences in the town. B. A special assembly called in the local post office. C. People?s reaction to the arrival of tile first telephone. D. A great celebration of the start of telephone service.

(B)

LUSH

Welcome to the LUSH life!

FRESH HANDMADE COSMETICS www.lush.com

Our values are at the core of everything we do. From morally sourcing each ingredient and piece of packaging to creating fresh, innovative cosmetics by hand, you?ll find a world of love and care in every product. Breathe deeply and soak up everything inside this box: we?ve made it just for you! A LUSH LIFE WE BELIEVE …in making effective products from fresh organic(有机的) fruit and vegetables, the finest essential oils and safe synthetics. We believe in buying ingredients only from companies that do not conduct tests on animals and in testing our products on humans. We invent our own products and fragrances(香料). We make them fresh by hand using no preservative. We also believe words like ?Fresh? and ?Organic? have an honest meaning beyond marketing. Handmade Fighting Animal Testing Everything we do is made for you, by You can rest easy knowing each and every LUSH product is us: each product is carefully crafted by 100% cruelty-free. For over 30 years, we?ve been buying ingredients experts in our cosmetic kitchens, and each only from companies that do not conduct tests on animas, and testing gift is lovingly packed by hand. There are our products on human volunteers. real, smiling people behind every aspect of Learn more at www.fightinganimaltesting.com 7

our business. Watch for their face sticker on your next purchase--it?s our seal of handmade quality. Naked! When it comes to packaging, less is more--and none is even better! We?ve revolutionized the cosmetics industry by inventing solid, unpackaged products which save millions of plastic bottles from being produced, transported and disposed of every year. Any packaging we do use is recycled or recyclable. 60. From the leaflet, we can get to know all the following facts about LUSH except______. A. providing financial support to society B. taking the lead in cosmetics marketing

C. testing on humans instead of on animals D. crafting and packing their products by hand 61. In the section Naked!, LUSH claims that they______. A. advocate recyclable or even no packaging B. sell cosmetics without any wrapping paper C. have invented some refillable cosmetics D. have improved ways of transporting products 62. What is LLSH?s business philosophy we can find from the leaflet? A. The market image of a company should make way for its beliefs. B. Cosmetics are among the essentials of our lives in modern society.

C. Homegrown vegetables and fruit are natural and reliable sources of cosmetics. D. Social responsibilities of a company can go hand in hand with profit making.

(C)

Since quitting can start feelings such as guilt and shame, we often do everything possible to avoid it, “We're taught from our earliest days that if you quit something, it means you're a failure,\He, however, suggests we view quitting differently.

Quitting is like deciding to rearrange a room: you?ve grown comfortable with the status, and it can be hard to picture the end result or even see why change is necessary. And yet, there's the upsetting feeling that you?re no longer entirely satisfied with your current circumstances, perhaps even that you?ve stopped making progress. While it's not out of the question for feelings of regret to surface after a major refit, leaving a position, project or situation can reveal exciting possibilities, making you feel inspired and renewed.

Quitting, often happens in situations where we're unhappy, fearful or have determined we have no other choice, factors that can have ill effects on our health. Perhaps you find your work unfulfilling, or you've jumped into a new relationship before you're ready--and, as a result, you're operating under intense pressure. “If stress is enduring and not managed well, it can start to take a toll,” says Meek. According to the American Psychological Association, long-term, ongoing stress can increase the risk for high blood pressure and heart attack so walking away from whatever is causing it can deliver significant physical and emotional health benefits. “We often see a reduction in the

8

Charity Pot Spread a little love. Hand and body cream is canned in our Charity Pot, which gives 100% of its purchase price to grassroots causes benefiting people, animals and the environment. To learn more about the charities we support and how to apply for funding, visit www.lush.com/charitypot