【正文】 uld be holding children back. There has been an increasing amount of research in recent years underlining the lack of contact and experience with nature among modern children. Some have argued that this is having a negative impact on their health, education and behaviour. The RSPB says its new study is the first to quantify the scale of British children’ s exposure, or lack of it, to the natural world. They came up with a definition of what “ connected to nature” actually means and then deve loped a questionnaire with 16 statements designed to assess the level of connection among children. Some 1, 200 children from across the UK were asked to agree or disagree with these statements. Only 21 % of children in the UK had a level of connection with wildlife and the natural world that the RSPB believes should be realistic and achievable for all youngsters. This 五月供題二 第 13 頁 共 23 頁 “ realistic and achievable” value is based on the average scores of children visiting RSPB sites or who are junior members of the anization. One interesting finding was the gender difference. While 27 % of girls were at or above the “ realistic and achievable” target, only 16 % of boys were at the same level. “ We need to understand these differences,” Sue Armstrong Brown, head of conservation at the charity, told BBC New. “ Whether boys and girls are scoring differently on different questions, are girls more empathetic(同情的 )to nature than boys for instance? We need to analyze the data to find that out.” The report also stressed significant regional differences. Only 13% of children in Wales achieved the basic level of exposure, pared with almost twice this number in Northern Ireland and Scotland. 59. Modern children across the UK lack contact and experience with nature because____. A. they all live in big cities B. they are busy with their homework C. some people are anxious about their safety D. headteachers think it’ s dangerous to explore nature 60. How did the RSPB assess the level of nature connection among children? A. By doing an experiment. B. By carrying out a survey. C. By running a test. D. By visiting wildlife. 61. The RSPB believes that it’ s valuable for children to ____. A. be exposed to the natural world B. miss out on the natural world 五月供題二 第 14 頁 共 23 頁 C. conduct a questionnaire D. visit dangerous places 62. From the last paragraph of this passage we know that______. A. children in Wales achieved the best level of exposure B. children in Scotland achieved the basic level of exposure C. children in Ireland achieved the worst level of exposure D. children in Northern Ireland achieved a good level of exposure D She might not be paid, but Carnegie Mellon University’ s newest staff member does all that a typical receptionist can do: give directions, answer the phone — and even gossip about her life. University officials revealed what it considers to be the world’s first robot receptionist with a personality of her own. The blond(白膚金發(fā)碧眼的 ) receptionist, named “ Valerie,” puts on a headset and interacts with people by talking about her boss, her psychiatrist(精神病醫(yī)生 ) and her dream. Valerie, the roboceptionist, sits in a custommade booth at the entrance of a puter science hall. With her ability to distinguish motion, she greets visitors as they e near. Type in a question on a keyboard and she gives directions around the Pittsburgh campus and provides visitors information about the weather. More than that, she tells stories about her life. From her booth, passersby often can hear her talking on the phone. She recognizes when someone is in front of her and remembers their characteristics. She can change between tasks from talking on the phone to answering a question. Valerie, however, does have her limit. 五月供題二 第 15 頁 共 23 頁 She is a drumshaped mechanical device with a digitally lively face that appears on a puter display. Visitors have to type on a keyboard to municate with her. And she understands only simple questions. Eventually her creators would like to install face recognition so people don’ t have to insert an identity card for her to remember them. And people won’ t have to type their questions on a keyboard if they can solve the problem of voice recognition in a crowded hall. Valerie will tell the story of a robot living in a human world. 63. What does the underlined sentence suggest? A. She is not paid because she is the newest staff in the university. B. She is a poor woman because she has to do all the work without payment. C. She is not paid because she is a robot instead of a human being. D. Employees should not gossip about their life, or they won’ t be paid. 64. According to the passage we know that____. A. Valerie looks like a real beautiful woman B. Valerie can do whatever a human receptionist can’ t C. Visitors can have a conversation with Valerie D. Valerie doesn’ t understand of the visitors’ questions sometimes 65. According to the passage, what can’ t Valerie do now? A. She gives directions around the Pittsburgh campus. B. She provides visitors information about the weather. C. She answers the telephone. D. She tells a story of a robot living in a human world. 66. Which would be the best title for this passage? A. Robot Receptionist Gets a Job. B. The 五月供題二 第 16 頁 共 23 頁 Future Receptionist. C. What Can Robots Do for Us? D. Robot Staff. E We eat what our friends eat, according to a new study presented at the Agricultural and Applied Economic Association’ s 2021 annual meeting in Washington, D. C. The study, conducted by researchers from the University of Illinois and Oklahoma State University, provided fresh confirmation of how much our environment influences