大学英语四级6月18日题目

The fifth largest city in US passed a significant soda tax proposal that will levy (征税)1.5 cents per liquid ounce on distributors.

Philadelphil's new measure was approved by a 13 to 4 city council vote. It sets a new bar for similar initiatives across the country. It is proof that taxes on sugary drinks can win substantial support outside super-liberal areas. Until now, the only city to successfully pass and implement a soda tax was Berkeley, California, in 2014.

The tax will apply to regular and diet sodas, as well as other drinks with adder sugar, such as Gatorade and iced teas. It's expected to raise $410 million over the next five years, most of which will go toward funding a universal pre-kindergarten program for the city.

While the city council vote was met with applause inside the council room, opponents to the measure, including soda lobbyists, made sharp criticisms and a promise to challenge the tax in court.

"The tax passed today unfairly singles out beverages — including low —and no-calorie choices," said Lauren Kane, spokeswoman for the American Beverage Association. "But most importantly, it is against the law. So we will side with the majority of the people of Philadelphia who oppose this tax and take legal action to stop it."

An industry-backed anti-tax campaign has spent at least $4 million on advertisements. The ads criticized the measure, characterizing it as a "grocery tax".

Public health groups applauded the approved tax as step toward fixing certain lasting health issues that plague Americans. "The move to recapture a small part of the profits from an industry that pushed a product that contributes to diabetes, obesity and heart disease in poorer communities in order to reinvest in those communities will sure be inspirational to many other places," said Jim Krieger, executive director of Healthy Food America. "indeed, we are already hearing from some of t

When travelling overseas, do you buy water in plastic bottles or take your chances with tap water? Imagine you are wandering about on a Thai island or __26__ the ruins of Angkor. It's hot so you grab a bottle of water from a local vendor. It's the safe thing to do, right? The bottle is __27__ , and the label says "pure water". But maybe what's inside is not so __28__ . Would you still be drinking it if you knew that more than 90 percent of all bottled water sold around the world __29__ microplastics?

That's the conclusion of a recently __30__ study, which analysed 259 bottles from 11 brands sold in nine countries, __31__ an average of 325 plastic particles per litre of water. These microplastics included a __32__ commonly known as PET and widely used in the manufacture of clothing and food and __33__ containers. The study was conducted at the State University of New York on behalf of Orb Media, a journalism organisation. About a million bottles are bought every minute, not only by thirsty tourists but also by many of the 2.1 billion worldwide who live with unsafe drinking water.

Confronted with this __34__ , several bottled-water manufacturers including Nestle and Coca-Cola undertook their own studies using the same methodology. These studies showed that their water did contain microplastics, but far less than the Orb study suggested. Regardless, the World Health Organisation has launched a review into the __35__ health risks of drinking water from plastic bottles.

A) adequate

B) admiring

C) contains

D) defending

E) evidence

F) instant

G) liquid

H) modified

I) natural

J) potential

K) released

L) revealing

M) sealed

N) solves

O) substance

Professor Ashok Goel of Georgia Tech developed an artificially intelligent teaching assistant to help handle the enormous number of student questions in the online class, Knowledge-Based Artificial Intelligence. This online course is a core requirement of Georgia Tech's online Master of Science in Computer Science program. Professor Goel already had eight teaching assistants, but that wasn't enough to deal with the overwhelming number of daily questions from students.

Many students drop out of online courses because of the lack of teaching support. When students feel isolated or confused and reach out with questions that go unanswered, their motivation to continue begins to fade. Professor Goel decided to do something to remedy this situation and his solution was to create a virtual assistant named Jill Watson, which is based on the IBM Watson platform.

Goel and his team developed several versions of Jill Watson before releasing her to the online forums. At first, the virtual assistant wasn't too great. But Goel and his team sourced the online discussion forum to find all the 40,000 questions that had ever been asked since the class was launched. Then they began to feed Jill with the questions and answers. After some adjustments and sufficient time, Jill was able to answer the students' questions correctly 97% of the time. The virtual assistant became so advanced and realistic that the students didn't know she was a computer. The students, who were studying artificial intelligence, were interacting with the virtual assistant and couldn't tell it apart from a real human being. Goel didn't inform them about Jill's true identity until April 26. The students were actually very positive about the experience.

The goal of Professor Goel's virtual assistant next year is to take over answering 40% of all the questions posed by students on the online forum. The name Jill Watson will, of course, change to something else

裸婚(down-to-earth marriage )是一种新的结婚方式，指的是一对恋人没有房子、没有车、不办婚礼、不度蜜月甚至没有婚戒，只领取结婚证（marriage certificate)的结婚方式。这种形式的结婚最低成本只有9元钱。现代年轻人的生活压力较大，而且强调爱情的独立，必须有房再结婚或者大肆操办婚事的传统在年轻一代中被削弱。许多人都相信裸婚是两个人纯粹爱情的见证。

微博名人的言论

当下，名人微博（Weibo)已成为信息发布和舆论制造的重要源头。各种媒体也热衷于对名人微博的言论进行传播，共同推动其成为舆论热点。名人与公众人物，拥有很多的粉丝、更多的话语权，正因为如此，名人必须有比普通人更多的义务，对这个社会多承担一些责任；名人在进行微博发言时需以负责任的态度谨慎使用手中的话语权。

火锅

火锅中，重庆火锅（hotpot)最著名，也最受欢迎。重庆人认为以麻辣 (peppery and hot)著称的火锅是当地特色。人们喜欢围在用木炭(charcoal)、 电热或天然气加热的火锅旁边吃边聊美味和有营养的食物。人们可以选择辣汤、清汤以及鸳鸯（combo)锅底，再将肉片、鱼片、各种豆腐产品和蔬菜加进火锅，之后蘸上特制酱料即可食用。在寒冷的冬天里，吃火锅成为一件惬意十足的事情。

普洱(Pu'er)茶深受中国人喜爱,最好的普洱茶产自云南的西双版纳(Xishuangbanna)，那里的气候和环境为普洱茶树的生长提供了最佳条件。普洱茶颜色较深,味道与其他的茶截然不同。普洱茶泡(brew)的时间越长越有味道。许多爱喝的人尤其喜欢其独特的香味和口感。普洱茶含有多种有益健康的元素,常饮普洱茶有助于保护心脏和血管,还有减肥、消除疲劳和促进消化的功效。

铁观音 (Tieguanyin) 是中国最受欢迎的茶之一，原产自福建省安溪县西坪镇。如今安溪全县普遍种植，但该县不同地区生产的铁观音又各具风味。铁观音一年四季均可采摘，尤以春秋两季采摘的茶叶品质最佳。铁观音加工非常复杂，需要专门的技术和丰富的经验。铁观音含有多种维生素，喝起来口感独特。常饮铁观音有助于预防心脏病、降低血压、增强记忆力。

龙井 (Longing) 是一种绿茶，主要产自中国东部沿海的浙江省。龙井茶独特的香味和口感为其赢得了“中国名茶”的称号，在中国深受大众的欢迎，在海外饮用的人也越来越多。龙井茶通常手工制作，其价格可能极其昂贵，也可能比较便宜。这取决于生长地、采摘时间和制作工艺。龙井茶富含维生素C和其它多种有益健康的元素。经常喝龙井茶有助于减轻疲劳，延缓衰老。

Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay on are people becoming addicted to technology. You should write at least 120 words but no more than 180 words.