New crime prediction software should reduce not only the murder rate, but the rate of other crimes. Developed by Richard Berk, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, the software has already used in Baltimore and Philadelphia to predict which individuals on probation(緩刑) or parole(假釋) are most likely to murder and to be murdered.
“When a person goes on probation or parole he is supervised(監(jiān)督) by an officer. The question is ‘what level of supervision is appropriate?’” said Berk. It used to be that parole officers used the person’s criminal record, and their judgment to make decisions.
“This research replaces those seat-of-the –pants calculations,” he said.
Technology helps determine level of supervision. On average there is one murder for every 100,000 people. Even among high-risk groups the murder rate is one in 100. Predicting such a rare event is very difficult, but advances in computer technology works.
Years ago, the researchers made a dataset of more than 60,000 various crimes. Using the software they developed, they found some much more likely to commit murder when paroled or probated. They could identify eight future murderers out of 100.
Berk’s software examines roughly two dozen variables(可變因素), from criminal record to geographic location. The type of crimes, and more importantly, the age at which that crime was committed, were two of the most predictive variables.
“People assume that if someone murdered then they will murder in the future,” said Berk. “ What really matters is what that person did as a young individual. Predicting future crimes sounds well. But we aren’t anywhere near being able to do that.”
“Berk’s scientific answer leaves policymakers with difficult questions. By labeling one group of people as high risk, and supervise them closely, there should be fewer murders, which the potential victims should be happy about. It also means that those high-risk individuals will be supervised more aggressively. For human rights advocates, that means punishing people who, most likely, will not commit a crime in the future,” said Bushway. “It comes down to a question of whether you would rather make these errors or those errors.”
小題1:The underlined words(in Para.3) probably mean___. 
A.calculations based on subjective opinions
B.calculations based on widespread voting
C.calculations made by advanced technology
D.calculations based on serious considering
小題2:For 650 people with crime records, how many potential murderers would the software find?
A.6.5.B.13.C.52.D.65.
小題3:From Para 7, we can infer that______.
A.the technology developed by Richard Berk will soon be widely used in the US
B.the technology would not be widely accepted in the short term
C.whether a person murders or not largely decided by his upbringing while young
D.if a person murdered when he was fifty, he is sure to murder again while on probation
小題4:Bushway’s attitude to the technology put forward by Richard Berk is ____.
A.positiveB.negativeC.objectiveD.indifferent
小題5:Which would be the best title for the passage?
A.Closely Supervise Potential Murders
B.Measures Taken to Prevent Criminal Behavior
C.Technology Revolutionizes Judges’ Way of Working
D.Software is Developed to Predict Criminal Behavior

小題1:A
小題2:C
小題3:B
小題4:C
小題5:D

試題分析:文章全篇介紹了預(yù)測犯罪行為軟件的開發(fā)是把雙刃劍,雖然可以提高對高危人群發(fā)生犯罪行為預(yù)測的精準(zhǔn)度,預(yù)防犯罪行為發(fā)生,但也會給那些不會再發(fā)生犯罪行為的人帶來不必要的實時監(jiān)控,使他們的權(quán)益受到損害。
小題1:推理題:劃線部分“seat-of-the –pants calculations”可用上一段中“It used to be that parole officers used the person’s criminal record, and their judgment to make decisions”解釋,指的是過去假釋官根據(jù)一個人的犯罪記錄和自己的判斷來做決定,可知假釋官的主觀因素很大。A項符合原句意。故選A。
小題2:細節(jié)題:根據(jù)文章第四段中“They could identify eight future murderers out of 100”他們將來可以確定100個人中有8個殺人犯,因此650個人中會有52個罪犯。故選C。
小題3:推理題: 根據(jù)第七段最后一句“ But we aren’t anywhere near being able to do that.”但我們現(xiàn)在還做不到,可知這項技術(shù)短時間內(nèi)還不能被廣泛接受。故選B。
小題4:推理題:根據(jù)最后一段內(nèi)容可知對高危人群的監(jiān)控雖然會讓潛在的受害者高興,但也會對那些將來不會在犯罪的人是一種不必要的懲罰。由此可知他的觀點比較客觀。故選C。
小題5:主旨題:閱讀全文可知是在討論預(yù)測犯罪行為軟件的開發(fā)。故選D
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科目:高中英語 來源:不詳 題型:閱讀理解

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Move Earth—It’s Not Science Fiction

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The plan put forward by Dr. Laughlin, and his colleagues Don Korycansky and Fred Adams, needs carefully directing a comet or asteroid so that it passes close by our planet and sends some of its gravitational energy to Earth.
“Earth’s orbital speed would increase as a result and we would move to a higher orbit away from the Sun, ”Laughlin said.
Engineers would then direct their comet so that it passed close to Jupiter or Saturn. The comet would pick up energy from one of these giant planets. Later its orbit would bring it back to Earth, and the process would be repeated.
In the short term, the plan provides an ideal way to global warming, although the team was actually concerned with a much greater danger. The Sun is certain to heat up in about a billion years and so“seriously compromise” our biosphere(生物圈)—by cooking us.
That’s why the group decided to try to save Earth.
The plan has one or two worrying aspects, however. For a start, space engineers would have to be very careful about how they directed their asteroid or comet towards Earth. The smallest miscalculation(誤算)in orbit could fire it straight at Earth—with deadly consequences.
There is also the question of the Moon. As the current issue of Scientific American magazine points out, if Earth was pushed out of its current position, it is“most likely the Moon would be stripped away from Earth”. This would greatly change our planet’s climate.
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A.A few comets are moving to the direction of Earth.
B.Earth’s working life is coming to an end soon.
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D.The moon is moving farther and farther away from Earth.
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C.18 billion D.24 billion
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D.Earth’s working life might be greatly shortened.
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科目:高中英語 來源:不詳 題型:閱讀理解

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The study shows that musical harmony can be learnt, and it is a matter of training the brain to hear the sounds. So if you thought that the music of some foreign culture (or Jazz) sounded like the crying of cats, it’s simply because you haven’t learnt to listen by their rules.
The researchers used 66 volunteers with a range of musical training and tested their ability to hear combinations of notes(音符) to determine if they found the combinations familiar or pleasing. They found that people needed to be familiar with combinations of notes. If they found the notes unfamiliar they also found the sound unpleasant. This finding put an end to centuries of theories claiming that physical functions of the ear determine what we find attractive.
The study found that trained musicians were much more sensitive to unpleasant notes than non-musicians. When they couldn’t find the note, the musicians reported that the sounds were unpleasant, while non-musicians were much less sensitive. This shows the importance of training or nurturing(培養(yǎng)) the brain to like particular sound of combinations of notes, like those found in jazz or rock.
Depending on their training, a strange chord(和弦) sound was pleasant to some musicians, but very unpleasant to others. This showed us that even the ability to hear a musical note is learnt.
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The question of why some combinations of musical notes are heard as pleasant or unpleasant has long been debated. “We have shown in this study that for music, beauty is in the brain of the beholder(觀看者)”, a researcher said.
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A.they hear the music much too often
B.they don’t like the person playing it
C.they have no idea about how to listen
D.they have no born musical ability at all
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A.be trained to like particular music
B.make friends with real musicians
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D.enjoy the beauty of music when played by musicians
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A.the brain likes particular combinations of notes
B.not a strange note was pleasant to all musicians
C.how the chords were played was very important
D.people’s ability to hear a musical note can be learnt
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A.Love of musical harmony can’t be taught.
B.Love of music is not natural but nurtured.
C.Listening to music can improve your brain.
D.You can be a musician without being trained.

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科目:高中英語 來源:不詳 題型:閱讀理解



Google has been collecting tons of data about smartphone usage around the world.  Here are some of the most surprising and interesting facts:
Android is most popular in Japan, with 55% of respondents(調(diào)查對象) using it, compared with 39% for iOS.Android is also number one in a few other countries, including New Zealand (41%), the US(40%), and China (38%).
iOS is farthest ahead in Switzerland, with 52% usage vs 23% for Android.Other countries where iOS is far ahead include Australia (49% vs 25% Android), Canada (45% vs 23% Android and 23% Blackberry),  and France (43% vs 25% Android).
In Egypt, Windows Mobile is far more popular than iOS.13% of survey respondents use the Microsoft smartphone platform, behind Symbian (19%) and Android (14%). iOS is very far down at 4%.
Mobile social networking is biggest in Mexico and Argentina, where 74% and 73% of users visit a social network daily.But mobile-social is weak in Japan where 34% of users never visit a social network on their phone, and this figure rises to41% in Brazil.
Watching video is most popular in Saudi Arabia, with 59% of respondents doing it daily.Number two is Egypt, with 41%.
Chinese users shop from their phones.59% of Chinese users do this, compared with only 41% in second-place Egypt.Chinese users also love to write reviews.41% of them write a review of a local business after looking it up on their smartphone.Number two, Japan, is far behind, with only 24% of respondents doing this.
小題1:Which of the following best describes the usage of the smartphone operating systems in Egypt?
A.Windows Mobile>iOS>Symbian>Android
B.Android>W(wǎng)indows Mobile>iOS>Symbian
C.iOS>Android>Symbian>W(wǎng)indows Mobile
D.Symbian>Android>W(wǎng)indows Mobile>iOS
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A.Brazil.B.Japan.C.Mexico.D.Argentina.
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科目:高中英語 來源:不詳 題型:閱讀理解

As they migrate (遷移), butterflies and moths choose the winds they want to fly with, and they change their body positions if they start floating in the wrong direction. This new finding suggests that insects may employ some of the same methods that birds use for traveling long distances. Scientists have long thought that insects were simply at the mercy of the wind.
Fascinating as their skills of flight are, migrating behavior has been difficult to study in   insects because many long distant trips happen thousands of feet above ground. Only recently have scientists developed technologies that can detect (測出) such little creatures at such great heights.
To their surprise, though, the insects weren’t passive travelers on the winds. In autumn, for example, most light winds blew from the east, but the insects somehow sought out ones that carried them south and they positioned themselves to navigate directly to their wintering homes.
Even in the spring, when most winds flowed northward, the insects didn’t always go with the flow. If breezes weren’t blowing in the exact direction they wanted to go, the insects changed their body positions to compensate (補償). Many migrating birds do the same thing.
The study also found, butterflies and moths actively flew within the air streams that pushed them along. By adding flight speeds to wind speeds, the scientists calculated that butterflies and moths can travel as fast as 100 kilometers an hour. The findings may have real-world applications. With climate warming, migrating insects are growing in number. Knowing how and when these pests move could help when farmers decide when to spray their crops.
小題1:What’s the main idea of the text?  
A.Insects migrate with the seasons.
B.Wind helps insects greatly in migrating.
C.Windsurfing insects have real direction.
D.Scientists have trouble in observing insects.
小題2:Scientists originally thought that ________.
A.insects always waited for their favorable winds
B.insects chose the winds they wanted to ride
C.insects were just blown about by the wind
D.insects positioned themselves in the winds
小題3:It is not easy to study the migrating behavior of the insects because ________.         
A.the little creatures can fly very fast
B.they have no regular migrating courses
C.the wind’s direction is hard to foresee
D.their flight is long and high above ground
小題4:We can learn from the text that _________.          
A.insects fly in the way birds do
B.insects travel more easily in autumn
C.insects never position themselves when flying low
D.insects rest a lot when the wind pushes them along
小題5:According to the passage, the findings can__________.             
A.increase insects in numberB.instruct farmers when to spray
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