Many experts say that Billy Wilder changed the history of American movies. He is often called the best movie maker Hollywood has ever had. He was known for making movies that offered sharp social comment.Wilder was one of the first directors to do this.Between the middle l930s and the l980s,Billy Wilder made almost fifty movies.During that time he received more than twenty nominations from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.He won six of the Oscar awards.His movies have been seen by people around the world. In l944,Billy Wilder made the film Double Indemnity.Some critics said this movie established him as one of the greatest Hollywood directors.Wilder directed The Lost Weekend in 1945.Ray Milland plays the part of an alcoholic writer in the movie.It shows that alcohol rules his life,yet he does not admit it.He hides alcohol in his home and says he is not drinking. In l950, Wilder made Sunset Boulevard.This movie told of an aging actress in silent movies.She plans to return to movies though facing many problems.In l954,Billy Wilder became an independent producer.The next year,Wilder's first movie as an independent filmmaker was a huge success.It was The Seven Year Ihch.In this movie,a married man wants to cheat on his wife with some of his friends.In l959,Wilder made a funny movie that was very popular.It was Some Like It Hot.It tells about two jazz musicians being chased by criminals.They decide to wear women's clothes and join a band in which all the musicians were women. Wilder died in March,2002.He was ninety--five.A current Hollywood producer said:"Billy Wilder made movies that people will never forget." Which of the following made Wilder among the greatest Hollywood directors? A) The Lost weekend. B) Sunset Boulevard. C) Double Indemnity. D) Some Like It Hot.
C
IMAGINE if there was a device that could do everything for you - wake you up every morning, chat with you and type your e-mails. The piece of technology in question would be smart, able to tell you about the weather and where the nearest restaurants are. The good thing is you no longer need to wonder, because something like this already exists. And its name is Siri. Siri is a voice recognition application designed for Apple products and the concept has been around for almost a year. When Siri first came out it could only speak English, but now it has "learned" lots of new languages, including Chinese, Cantonese and Taiwanese, reported The Wall Street Journal. So, you can give it orders in your mother tongue. But how could a cell phone or a computer "hear" what you are saying and understand it? This is all because of voice recognition technology. When you speak, your voice creates vibrations in the air - a bit like waves in the water when you throw a rock into the lake. The microphone receives the vibrations and the computer changes them into digital data that is then divided into many parts. They are analyzed one by one to see what pronunciations each part stands for. The computer then puts these pronunciations together into possible words according to its built-in dictionary. But figuring out the words is far from enough; building words into meaningful sentences is the most difficult part. The computer has to compare what it hears to a large library of known phrases and sentences to determine what the user is saying. However, people don't always talk in the most standard way and sometimes make grammatical mistakes. This is why traditional voice recognition software always requires you to remember keywords and to speak in a certain way. Fortunately, Siri isn't like that. It's not just "voice recognition"; it's "natural language understanding (NLU)". You can ask it things like "Do I need an umbrella today?" and it will know that you are asking about the weather, according to ABC News. "The key thing is NLU -... How can you get Siri to respond according to the article? A) You can speak in a natural way as you would to a person. B) You can only speak English and Chinese. C) You have to say things in a certain way. D) You have to remember keywords and speak specific commands.
A
Q: I was late on my first day of high school. My next class, Spanish, scared me. As the second bell rang in the hallway, I ran to the door of the classroom. At the door, a hand reached out and shook mine firmly. I looked up. A man smiled and introduced himself as Profe, which means teacher or professor in Spanish. Right away, his warm smile and welcoming words eased my fears. I enjoyed his classes a great deal because I learned more than just Spanish. I admit I only speak a little Spanish. But I try to live out the life lessons I learned from Profe every day. "Everyone is worth your time. " Profe stood outside his classroom door every day before and after class. During lunch, his room was always filled with students. He would stay after school to listen to and chat with students. He taught me that every person is special. "Don't fear the difficulties." One time, I ran into his class crying. My friends had _ me, and I wasn't even sure why they always left me alone. Profe told me, "Linda, life gives you ashes . But learning its lessons will turn those ashes to jewels. The hard stuff will help you become a better person." I learned to look at my troubles differently because I know I'll grow in difficult times. A year ago. I visited my old high school hoping to see Profe. But he had retired. My high school helped me contact him. Now we stay in touch through e-mail. The author William Arthur Ward wrote: "The ordinary teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher shows. The great teacher inspires. " Thank you, Profe, for inspiring me. Profe was a teacher of _ . A) English B) German C) French D) Spanish
A: D
(Q).
Every year mobile phones develop. Imagining what they will look like and be able to do in 2020 is really a challenge. To help, experts have outlined three major mobile trends that they believe will have become reality by then. Our phones will be so smart in 10 years' time that they'll know everything about our situation and warn us when something needs our attention. This is the top prediction of both Nokia and Google. They predict that our cars and home appliances will be able to communicate with our mobile. For example, fridges will tell your mobile to tell you to pick up milk on the way back from work. While driving, your mobile will suggest that you take a different route because there's a road accident up ahead. The second trend is in gesture-based controls. People who know the iPhone's touch-sensitive screen are already familiar with the technology. It translates hand movements into actions on-screen. But gestural communications will make the phone more convenient to use and may completely replace touchpads. According to industry insiders, the most immediate step forward in gestural technology will be in voice recognition. It's believed voice recognition technology will speed up communications. It is quicker to speak than type. Eventually, phone screens will disappear. The third major development will change our understanding of a mobile phone. From a single phone, the mobile will be developed into multi-part devices. It is opposite to the current trend in which mobile phones are combining the functions of cameras, music players and game consoles. The prediction is based on the idea that the world will become more wireless and all these--cameras, music players and game consoles--will be wirelessly connected. Mobile phones won't need to contain these devices because users will be able to control them wirelessly through their phones. The text mainly tells us _ . A) three major trends of mobile phones B) what mobile phones will look like in 2020 C) the future mobile phones are gesture-based D) some new functions of the present mobile phones
(A).
A