Choosing the right job is probably one of the most important decisions we have to make in life, and it is frequently one of the hardest decisions we have to make. One important question that you might ask yourself is: “How do I get a good job?” {#blank#}1{#/blank#}.

    There are people who can answer an insignificant advertisement in the local paper and land the best job in the world; others write to all sorts of places all over the country, and never seem to get a reply at all. Still others believe that the in person, door-to-door approach is by far the best way to get a job; and then there are those who, through no active decision of their own, just seem to be in the right place at the right time. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}. He used to spend a lot of his free time down by the sea watching the tall ships, but never thinking that he might one day sail one of them. His father was a farmer, and being a sailor could never be anything for the boy but an idle dream. One day, on his usual wandering, he heard the captain of the ship complaining that he could not sail because one member of his crew was sick. Without stopping to think, the lad (少年) offered to take his place. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}. If the lad had gone home to consider his decision for a week, he may have missed his chance. It is one thing to be offered an opportunity; it is another thing to take it and use it well.

    Sometimes we hear stories about people who break all the rules and still seem to land good jobs. When you go for a job interview or fill out an application, you are expected to say nice things about the company to which you are applying. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}. And within a year this person had become general manager of the company.

A. This story also illustrates the importance of seizing an opportunity when it presents itself.

B. People find jobs in an infinite number of ways.

C. it's almost impossible to find a good job by answering advertisement in newspapers

D. Take for example the young man who wanted to be a sailor.

E. But there was one person who landed an excellent job by telling the interviewer all the company's faults.

F. He spent the rest of his life happily sailing the ships he had always loved.

G. It is very important to seize an opportunity when it presents itself.

Read the following passage and then answer the questions.

    When thinking back to an experience that has affected me the most, I can't help but recall the first time I performed for a crowd with my band.

    As I stood in the dark, in front of 300 people, my head began to pound and my eyes began to hurt from straining to see the faces before me. No matter how many times I wiped off my hands, they were covered with sweat, making them fumble across the strings of my guitar. Then, in a flash, the spotlights were turned on and the crowd yelled. My heart raced and I knew that the night of my first concert would be exciting and memorable.

    The concert was held annually at Frank's school. Being the largest activity for the students in the spring, we were told to expect the whole school to come to see us play. That fact went over and over in my mind. True, I had played in the school band in concerts for many people, but that was with a large group and I had sat in the back. Here it was just the three of us, all up front. I had had different visions of what performing would be like, but what ended up happening was a pleasant surprise.

    During the first song, the crowd stood in a mixed state of confusion and excitement. I could see nothing but their dark shapes, some swaying to the beat of the bass drum, others standing still, examining our every move. The song ended with hesitant applause.

    Glancing at Frank, the guitarist and singer, I read a message in his eyes. "I don't think they like us." His look pierced through my heart and I almost left the stage, yet kept going anyway. The second and third songs went the same way with the crowd looking at us like monkeys in a zoo. But then the magic started.

    Our fourth song we had was written for the occasion and it was as if it were the beginning of a trip that we would take with the crowd of onlookers. The funk bass and driving drums seemed to pick these people up like puppets and do with them what they pleased. The crowd danced and jumped and clapped, in and out of beat. Our music was giving these people a reason to lose their inhibitions and for a short time, enjoy themselves. By the end of the second to last song the crowd was at our mercy. Finally creating a situation that I had only dreamed of, during the last song the crowd began to sing the words. But it was not just any song, it was a song we had written. This sent my heart racing and I couldn't help smiling and even laughing. The song ended and an echoing roar came over the crowd.

    The concert was to me part of a childhood dream. My friends and I were responsible for giving 300 people a good time for an evening. They sang my words and they hummed my tune, and all helped to make the dream come true. That night back in my room, I sat up all night. I saw the bodies dancing in front of me and heard their screams. Even though I may perform in college and in the future, this feeling is one I may never feel again.

How to become a professional athlete?

    Everyone wants to be a superstar athlete. However, there is a lot of competition to make it. So if you want to be a professional athlete, you have to know all the tricks of the trade to rise up above the rest.

{#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    To play your sport better than anyone else, you have to practice your skills with lots of repetition. For example, you have to shoot 100 free throws every day for basketball.

    Make steady improvements

    If you are a baseball pitcher (投手) and your fastball is stuck at about 60 miles per hour, change it up! Try to walk your first step a little bit longer, bring in your elbow a little bit tighter, or try to reach higher when you're following through{#blank#}2{#/blank#}

Quality coaches

    Have you ever noticed that a lot of kids with parents who are professional athletes will often become professional athletes in the same sport? They have access to a professional athlete's tips and tricks{#blank#}3{#/blank#} You should try to find coaches or professional athletes that are willing to answer your questions.

Diet of champions

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} If you can change your diet to a healthy one, you're going to be stronger.

    Friends and enemies

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} By having great teammates or competitors, it pushes you to try harder and that always results in getting better.

A. Practice makes perfect

B. Better late than never

C. The big secret to advancing your skills above anyone else is to improve.

D.The biggest thing that most kids often ignore is their diet.

E.Surrounding yourself with quality teammates and competitors is the best way to get better.

F. These little improvements are things that will help you advance your skills.

G.But don't get discouraged if you don't have parents who were professional athletes.

    Sometimes we can get so caught up in the stress and worry of our personal lives that our minds become too confused to operate effectively.This is especially dangerous in a test-taking situation.After hours of reading and studying,our brains can lock up in a state of overload.

    In a stressful situation it's often a must to clear your mind completely to allow your brain to refresh itself and recalibrate all of its functions.But when you're tense,clearing your mind isn't so easy!Try this relaxation technique if you think your brain has seized up from information overload.

    ⒈Set aside at least five minutes for quiet "clearing" time.If you're at school,see if you can put your head down somewhere or find an empty room or quiet space.If necessary,set a watch (or phone) alarm or ask a friend to tap you on the shoulder at a designated time.

    ⒉Think of a time or place that puts you into a complete state of peace.This place will vary from person to person.Have you ever sat on the beach watching the waves come in and realized you've "zoned out" fora while?This is the sort of experience you're looking for.Other experiences that make us zone out could be: Sitting in the dark and staring at Christmas tree lights—remember how peaceful that feels?

    ⒊Cover your eyes and go to your "place".If you are at school preparing for a test before class,you may simply rest your elbows on the desk and put your hands over your eyes.For some people,it may not be a good idea to put your head down.(You might fall asleep!)

    Don't let any thoughts creep into your head.As soon as you start to think about a test problem,clear away the thought and concentrate on your peaceful place.

    ⒋Snap out of it!Remember,this is not nap time.The point here is to refresh your brain.After five or ten minutes of clearing time,take a brisk walk or take a drink of water to re-energize your mind and body.Stay relaxed and resist the urge to think about the things that are stressing you out or clogging your brain.Don't let your brain go back to freeze-out.

    Now go on with your test or study session refreshed and ready!

AlphaZero--an Updated Model of AI

    Soon after Garry Kasparov, the former world chess champion, lost his rematch against IBM's Deep Blue in 1997, the short window of human-machine chess competition slammed shut forever. Unlike humans, machines keep getting faster, and today a smartphone chess app can be stronger than Deep Blue. However, as people see with the new AlphaZero system, machine dominance has not ended the historical role of chess as a laboratory of cognition.

    Much as airplanes don't flap their wings like birds, machines don't produce chess moves like humans do. Based on a generic algorithm (算法), AlphaZero incorporates deep learning and other AI techniques like Monte Carlo tree search to play against itself to develop its own chess knowledge. Unlike the traditional program Stockfish, which employs many preset evaluation functions as well as opening and endgame moves, AlphaZero starts out knowing only the rules of chess, with no preset human strategies. In a few hours, it plays more games against itself than have been recorded in human chess history. It teaches itself the best way to play, reevaluating the relative values of the pieces. It quickly becomes strong enough to win 28, draw 72, and lose none in a victory over Stockfish. Since AlphaZero can program itself, this superior understanding allows it to outclass the world's top traditional program despite calculating far fewer positions per second. It's the typical example of the cliché, "work smarter, not harder".

    AlphaZero shows that machines can be the experts, not merely expert tools. Explainability is still an issue—it's not going to put chess coaches out of business just yet. But the knowledge it produces is information humans can learn from. AlphaZero is surpassing humans in a profound and useful way, and researchers are working on transferring the knowledge acquired from AlphaZero to other fields.

    Machine learning systems aren't perfect. Even though great progresses have been achieved, AI algorithms are still struggling on open problems such as computer vision, natural language understanding... There will be cases where an AI will fail to detect exceptions to its rules. Therefore, as Kasparov writes, "We must work together to combine our strengths. I know better than most people what it's like to compete against a machine. Instead of raging against them, it's better if we're all on the same side."

    When was the last time you sat on a park bench(凳子)? Did you stay for long? A new kind of park benches will limit the amount of time you can sit there. If you don't get up in time, it could be very painful: there are many sharp spikes (钉子) on the part that you sit on!

    Visitors who want a rest on the bench need to put a coin in a machine next to it. Once the money was accepted, the spikes disappear into the bench. Then visitors can sit down comfortably, but only for half an hour. When the time's up, the spikes slowly start moving up again. It doesn't hurt at first, but after a minute, they start coming up even more quickly. They aren't long enough to cause serious hurt, but they do cause pain, as tests have shown. But why have they been installed (安装)?

    "Our public park is very popular in summer," a spokesperson for the park explained. "But with all the thousands of people who visit the park, there aren't enough benches for everyone. We want to make sure that the benches are shared by more visitors, and to stop people taking a bench and staying there all day. Installing spikes seems to be the fairest way of stopping people doing this."