Passage One

Many teachers believe that hands-on experiences is the best way to learn. A group of students in the United States is putting that belief to the test.
The students are with the Stevens Institute of Technology, in Hoboken New Jersey. They successfully designed and built a robot for 1) unexploded mines at the bottom of the sea. The students made the robot to answer a(n) 2) from the US Department of Defense.
The underwater vehicle is called Perseus II. The students recently 3) Perseus II in a 95-meter-long tank of water at the Stevens Institute of Technology.
The robot costs about $15,000 to build. The students use a video game controller to 4) its movements at the bottom of the tank. Devices known as thrusters enable the robot to go up, down and toward its 5) in the water.
Video cameras on the robot send images back to a computer through a 13-meter-long cable. Perseus II also has a set of lasers, which are used to 6) the size of an object.
The robot is the creation of five undergraduate students. For over six months, they worked between 15 and 20 hours a week, to design and build Perseus II.
Michael DeLorne 7) the project. He says the requirements of robot were 8) . The students came up with some 9) solutions for difficult problems.
Perseus II was successfully tested in Florida with similar robots built at other engineering schools. In a(n) 10) development, new students at the Stevens Institute of Technology have already started on the next project. It is an unmanned flying vehicle they are calling Perseus III.

A) separate B) measure C) enlightening D) tested
E) locate F) target G) specialized H) demanding
I) direct J) uncovering K) supervised L) attempt
M) challenge N) adapt O) resourceful

Passage Two

For more than 60 years, investors, analysts, business leaders, and even governments, have 1) companies based on industries. First there were Standard Industry Classification codes, then the North American Industry Classification System, and now Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS). Even though these systems are updated 2) , we can no longer rely on standards and measures that were developed in a different age to 3) today’s realities—especially when we’re evaluating tech firms.
Many of our current economic measurements saw their birth in the Industrial Age when the companies that were growing and 4) the world were giants with big physical plants and lots of material products—companies like Exxon Mobile and GE. There were no tech companies back then, at least not as we 5) define.
Times have changed. Industry walls are 6)at a rapid pace. Over the past five years, Apple and Google have made significant 7) in the automotive, healthcare, media, and smart home markets, among many others. They have expanded far beyond the “Information Technology” tag 8) to them by GICS. Today, technology is just a standard part of corporate infrastructure, like operations or marketing. It’s not an industry in itself.
And new companies such as LinkedIn, Uber, Pinterest, and Airbnb have sprung up to take advantage of new 9) —to combine technology with more traditional offerings, and to build open platforms that leverage worldwide networks. Rather than build and manage everything themselves, these companies leverage the assets of you and me—our cars, homes, skills, and networks.
Consider the five most valuable companies in the world: Apple, Alphabet (Google), Amazon, Microsoft, and Facebook, which we call the Fab Five. 10) the fact that these companies make money in different ways, they do share a lot of similarities. But “Information Technology” doesn’t seem like the right category to group them into.
A) Despite B) shaping
C) attached D) affect
E) regularly F) transferring
G) classified H) Likewise
I) disintegrating J) offers
K) opportunities L) reflect
M) worsen N) currently
O) moves

Passage Three

Becker observed that people do acquire general human capital (技能资本), but they often do so at their own expense, rather than that of employers. This is similar to the case that students take on 1) to pay for education before entering the workforce. It is true of workers in almost all industries: Interns, trainees and junior employees 2) a common situation where they are paid less and work hard to learn skills.
Becker made the 3) that people would be practical in calculating how much to invest in their own human capital. They would compare expected future 4) from different career choices and consider the cost of acquiring the education to 5) these careers, including time spent in the classroom. He knew that reality was far messier, with decisions plagued by uncertainty and complicated motivations, but he described his model as an “economic way of looking at life”. His simplified assumptions about people being purposeful and 6) in their decisions laid the groundwork for an elegant theory of human capital, which he recounted in several seminal articles and a book in the early 1960s. His theory helped explain why younger generations spend more time in 7) than older ones: Longer life expectancies raised the profitability of 8) knowledge. It also helped explain the spread of education: Advances in technology makes it more profitable to have skills, which in turn raises the demand for education. It showed that under-investment in human capital has a(n) 9) risk: Young people can be short-sighted given the long payback period for education; and lenders act with caution in supporting them. It suggested that there was no fixed number of good jobs but that 10) paid work would increase as economies produced more skilled graduates who generated more innovation.
A) earnings B) belongings C) rational D) acquiring
E) schooling F) striving G) potential H) pursue
I) share J) spend K) constant L) debts
M) assumption N) highly O) relative

Passage Four

A leading Chinese official is suggesting technological upgrades have 1) for a larger percentage of China’s overall growth. Wang Zhigang, Vice Minister of Science and Technology estimates that 57.5 percent of China’s economic increase this year will be 2) by technological improvements. This figure rose up from 56.2 in 2016 and is approaching those of top 3) countries.

It’s also reported that China has become the world’s second largest investor in research and development. The money China 4) in technological advancements last year was about more than 20 percent of the world’s total. As a result, 5) have been made in key areas including quantum communication computers, power transmission, hybrid rice and satellite navigation, among other areas. Wang Zhigang says building an innovative country is a(n) 6) strategic measure for China. “Speeding up the construction of an innovative country is significant to China’s aim to move into a modernized power. Technology is like a strong weapon. Every superpower in this era is, without 7) , a technology powerhouse. Hence, a sound innovation development will put China on track to 8) modernization. Otherwise, China would fall behind and miss this window of great development opportunity.” Wang said.

Looking into the future, Wang says the 9) of technology and the digital economy, as the core of innovation, should be further strengthened. “Technological innovation should be 10) with development of the Internet, big data, artificial intelligence, and the real economy.”
A) poured B) combined C) innovative D) global
E) exception F) distinction G) breakthroughs H) contributions
I) crucial J) accounted K) overall L) inventions
M) integration N) contributed O) radical

Passage Five

Food is closely related to people’s lives and it is considered the most important element in Chinese culture. Chinese food is famous all over the world, too. American Chinese cuisine differs 1) from the traditional Chinese cuisine, and even though the variation in taste can be so, it is still 2) to many people. When it comes to food, Chinese people always care about the color, taste, smell and shape of Chinese dishes. In 1784, a group of passengers on the ship Empress of China 3) the first Americans to land in China and they were also the first group of people to eat Chinese food; it was the first time the American palate 4) Eastern cuisine. There are many differences in food culture between China and the United States. Strong differences exist 5) cooking methods, ingredients, desserts, and cutlery. There are many cooking methods in Chinese food and it may be easy to be 6) by terms such as sauté, marinade, stir-fry and deep-fry, especially for someone new to Chinese food. Boiling is the most common form of Chinese 7) ; Chinese boiling means cooking food in boiling water. It wastes fuel. It does not cook the food any faster and it 8) to make the food break up and so 9) the appearance. Frying is divided into deep-frying, slippery-frying, quick-frying, and several types of stir-frying; this method mainly 10) with vegetables. One cooking method that American dishes seldom use is steaming. It is a kind of slow process and time consuming. Chinese cooking uses two methods of steaming, which are basic steaming and steaming with one tightly-closed pot placed inside a larger pot.
A) cooking B) spoils C) encountered D) regards
E) became F) confused G) attractive H) deals
I) significantly J) tends K) regarding L) confusing
M) desirably N) examined