the Washington times 外刊原创出题

这是一份the Washington times 外刊原创出题，共4页。
题源  The Washington Times（November 1, 2022），有删减 阅读理解ATwitter’s unending fight against spam accounts(垃圾账号) is now a problem for new owner Elon Musk, who promised in April to defeat the fake profiles. He later cited fake accounts as a reason to back out of buying the social platform. Now that the billionaire has completed the deal, he’s faced with the task of delivering on his promise to clean up the fake profiles.The challenge carries high stakes. The spam accounts matters because advertisers — Twitter’s chief revenue source — want to know roughly how many real humans they are reaching when they buy ads. It’s also important in the effort to stop bad actors from accumulating an army of accounts to multiply misinformation or harass(骚扰) political opponents.“The bigger picture in my mind is: How do we make Twitter a better place for everybody,” said expert Emilio Ferrara, who worked over the summer to investigate the problem for Mr. Musk. He cited the “value of the platform as a societal experience, as a collective place to have civilized communication and talk freely without interference from nefarious accounts,” or scams(诈骗), spam and harassment.To find out just how bad the spam accounts are, Mr. Musk hired Mr. Ferrara and other data scientists to investigate. At the time, he sought to prove that Twitter was misleading the public when it said fewer than 5% of its daily active users are fake or spam accounts. If Twitter lied or withheld crucial information about the fake accounts, Mr. Musk could argue that he was justified in terminating the $44 billion agreement. Mr. Ferrara said he had no real interest in whether Mr. Musk ultimately ended up owning the platform. Instead, he hoped that “any findings would be able to help improve the platform.” The question now is what Mr. Musk will do with that information. Mr. Ferrara’ presentation— some 350 pages of analysis and supporting documents — is locked up in confidential (机密的) files, and he said he can’t disclose his conclusions.Twitter’s former leaders and its lawyers said Mr. Musk wildly exaggerated the problem. However, precise counts are “almost impossible” because any estimate is based on assumptions that can lead to bias, said Filippo Menczer, a researcher who has been studying spam accounts for more than a decade. “Nobody knows exactly how bad the problem is, but I would guess it’s not as bad as Musk said and not as good as Twitter claimed.” said Mr. Menczer. Many experts also doubt Mr. Musk’s ability to easily make improvements, which he’s suggested would rely on using algorithms(算法) to track and remove fake accounts and implementing new measures to “authenticate” real people.Which of the following is not the reason why is it important to clean up spam accounts?A. It will help Twitter attract more advertisers to earn more revenue. B. It will keep Musk from buying the social platformC. It will prevent the spread of misinformation.D. It will stop collecting piles of accounts to bother political rivals2. The underlined word “nefarious” can be replaced by _______A. immoral B. serialC. disabledD. artificial3. Which statement is correct about Emilio Ferrara’s investigation? A. He drew the same conclusion as Filippo Menczer did. B. Mr. Ferrara’ presentation hasn’t been revealed yet.C. His findings enable to get Twitter improved D. It proves that Twitter was misleading the public4. What are many experts’ attitude towards Twitter’s fight against spam accountsA. supportive B. satisfiedC. carefreeD. skeptical BHistorians, neighbors and Fairfax County officials are protesting a Prince William County plan to build data centers on Civil War battle sites next to the Manassas National Battlefield Park.The Prince William County Historical Commission and Manassas Battlefeld National Park have all come out against the proposed development. “It is part of a battlefield, no question about it" said Blaine Pearsall, who represents the Gainesville District on the commission. "The land is on the National Register of Historic Places and this proposal would completely destroy the battlefield map.' Board approval would clear the way for Compass Datacenters to obtain construction permits.Chris Curtis, senior vice president of development and acquisitions for Compass, said the company has committed to preserving any historical artifacts. “The draft policies prepared by Prince William County staff include several recommendations on preserving and protecting identified cultural and historical resources, and Compass anticipates incorporating whatever policies are adopted into its overall development plans as the project moves forward and appreciates the opportunity to invest in the County's future while helping to preserve its history," he added.At a contentious meeting in September, the Prince William County Planning Commission voted 43 to recommend the project to the Board of Supervisors. Supervisor Jeanine Lawson, a Republican representing the Brentsville District, said she's expecting a split vote as she clashes Tuesday with Chair Ann B. Wheeler, a Democrat who supports the proposal. “I'm hoping to defeat this disastrous project because it will forever change the landscape of Prince William County if it passes," Ms. Lawson said Monday. “This is a project that is doomed for failure in the long run." Colesville Supervisor Yesli Vega, has also declared her opposition to the proposal. The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors is opposing the project for environmental reasons. The planned development impacts the Occoquan Watershed within Prince William's “rural crescent." The land includes parts of Little Bull Run and Catharpin Creek, tributaries（支流） to Bull Run, which feeds the reservoir（水库）.1. Why is the plan to build data centers strongly opposed by the Prince William County Historical Commission?  A. It would prevent the government from obtaining construction permitsB. It would hold back the overall development plansC. It would completely destroy the battlefield mapD. It would ruin the opportunity to invest in the County's future2. Who gives strong backing to data center construction?  A. Yesli VegaB. Chris CurtisC. Blaine PearsallD. Jeanine Lawson3. According to paragraph 3, which of the following will not be done by Compass Datacenters if the plan is approved?A. Change the landscape of Prince William CountyB. Preserve and protect identified cultural and historical resources C. Support the County’s overall development plansD. Help to preserve the County’s history4. What is the purpose of the text?A. To state different perspectives on a social issueB. To draw a conclusion on a heated discussion C. To appeal to the readers to accept an opinion D. To predict a future trendCStephanie Terrell bought a used Nissan Leaf this fall and was excited to join the wave of drivers adopting electric vehicles to save on gas money and reduce her carbon footprint.But Ms. Terrell quickly encountered a bump in the road on her journey to clean driving: As a renter, she doesn’t have a private garage where she can power up overnight, and the public charging stations near her are often in use, with long wait times. The great transition to electric vehicles is underway for single-family homeowners who can charge their cars at home, but for millions of renters like Ms. Terrell, access to charging remains a significant barrier.Now, cities from Portland to Los Angeles to New York City are trying to come up with innovative public charging solutions as drivers string power cords across sidewalks, stand up their own private charging stations on city right-of-ways and line up at public facilities. The Biden administration last month approved plans from all 50 states to roll out a network of high-speed chargers along interstate highways coast-to-coast using $5 billion in federal funding over the next five years.“We have a really large challenge right now with making it easy for people to charge who live in apartments,” said Jeff Allen, executive director of Forth, a nonprofit that advocates for equity in electric vehicle ownership and charging access. “There’s a mental shift that cities have to make to understand that promoting electric cars is also part of their sustainable transportation strategy. Once they make that mental shift, there’s a whole bunch of very tangible things they can — and should — be doing.”Nationwide, there are about 120,000 public charging ports featuring Level 2 charging, slower chargers which take several hours or above, a fast charger known as DC Fast, and nearly 1.5 million electric vehicles registered in the U.S. — a ratio of just over one charger per 12 cars nationally, according to the latest Department of Transportation data from December.But those chargers are not spread out evenly: In Arizona, for example, the ratio of electric vehicles to charging ports is 18-to-1, and in California, which has about 39% of the nation’s EVs, there are 16 zero-emissions vehicles for every charging port.What situation did Ms. Terrell face when she bought an electric vehicle?A. Her demand for more power was not satisfiedB. It was possible for her to find reliable public charging easily.  C. She crashed into a bump in the road accidentally D. Her footprint could be reduced sharply2. What creative public charging solutions are proposed in several big cities?A. Drivers can propose a sustainable transportation strategy.B. Drivers can thread power cords across sidewalks  C. Drivers can stand up a public charging stations on their ownD. Drivers can invest a network of high-speed chargers3. What can we learn from Jeff Allen’s words?A. Customers should adopt a mental shift to buy electric carsB. Single-family homeowners have a really large challenge to charge their carsC. Many cities haven’t decided to promote electric carsD. The country has achieved equity in electric vehicle charging access4. What can we infer from the last two paragraph?A. DC Fast outnumbers Level 2 charging B. Drivers in California are more likely to find a charger than drivers in ArizonaC. The ratio of electric vehicles to charging ports in Arizona exceeds the national oneD. California has more than half of the nation’s EVs    答案 BABDCBAA BBCB