英语 热门试卷

I never make resolutions (important decisions made on important occasions). Every December 31st, at the stroke of midnight, my mind usually wanders from the resolution-making task and is more concerned with why I am not at a fantastic party, wearing an evening dress, and talking to a gentleman.

I mean, will all of my photos consist of New Year’s Eves, one after another, with me in my sweater, eating leftovers? All I want is one, just one, fantastic picture to hang on my wall so all the world can see what an exciting and enviable life I lead. Is that too much to ask?

One year, all of this depressing thought got me to think a lot. Why did I feel the pressure to have a perfect New Year Eve? Why did I care? Probably the same reason I felt like I should be settled in a career and married with three kids already. Throughout most of my life, I had been far from the normal; somehow, I still felt it necessary to make apologies.

But why? Where was this desperate need to please coming from? I had travelled the world, owned my own business, bought my first house, and started fulfilling my dream of writing, all before the age of 25. So what did I have to apologize for? Well, as previously stated, I was still single and unsettled about my career, which for a woman of my age was not considered “the normal”.

Then, suddenly, as I was about to celebrate the new year by doing some laundry, an insight shone down from the heavens. It was a lightning of realization. For my first resolution, I was going to decide not to care. Not to care about anyone else’s expectation but my own and to make no apologies for it. After all, I had gone wherever the road had taken me, and it had taken me to a lot of fantastic places, places I would have never been able to go if I had “settled down” already. Not to mention, I had probably be starring in Desperate Housewives.

And as far as my career went, being unsettled was just being honest. I couldn’t change who I was just because I didn’t fit into the social norm. At least I wasn’t going to watch my life go by as I punched the clock at a job I hated. Just to climb an uninteresting ladder for a higher position? No, thanks! If I didn’t try out my options, I would never discover my passions. And don’t we all want to do something we feel crazy about?

Of course, there were all great thoughts, but actually combining them into my everyday thinking process would be a whole other story…So, was I able to rise to the challenge of my first resolution?

Well, let’s just say that I have made the choice to be okay. Okay with my singlehood and my ever-changing career path, and okay that others might not be okay with it. I think that is the most important. And every New Year’s Eve, I make sure to clear my schedule, dress up in my ugliest sweater, eat some delicious leftovers and relaxed with my cat. Then as I tune in to watch the rest of the world create a perfect New Year’s Eve, I glance at the photos on my own wall and think, “What a beautiful year it has been!”

This coming year promises to be an exciting one for technology and science. There is already a line-up of great new gadget(小玩意). We have chosen four for you.

No. 1 The Air Board 1.0 is a fantastic new way to get around. If you are tired of walking, or just want to get somewhere at a relaxed pace, then the Air Board 1.0 is for you. The board works when you step onto the pressure pads. These can read the weight and the movement of the rider. If you want to turn, all you have to do is move your weight to the left or right and the board will do the rest. It is very quick and easy. According to the official website, the power will last for about ten miles(16 km). It can travel at the speed of 10 miles an hour and it takes one hour to be fully charged.

No. 2 Do you enjoy using herbs and spices(香料) when cooking? Then this little gadget, inspired by NASA space technology, might be for you. It makes sure that you always have fresh and well-grown herbs or plants when and where you need them. The Click & Grow is designed to be small and efficient so it can fit on your countertop(厨房操作台). It is self-watering, it checks itself and it also has a LED grown light that makes sure the plants grow fast, strong, and healthy. For those interested, to use this gadget, all you need to do is place the plant box in, fill it up with water and plug it in. Simple, right? So instead of digging through the garden mud for your herbs, why don’t you make them in the control of your own kitchen?

No. 3 The Miito gadget is perfect for all homes, and especially those who like to care for the environment. Miito has been called “the kettle of the future” by the Gadget Flow platform for its futuristic ideas and design. The Miito kettle is designed to heat up the water in any container. For example, if you need a cup of water, you would fill the cup with the right amount of water and place it onto the kettle. After placing the rod into the water, the rod would heat up and so would the water. Though it can’t heat anything made of iron, the Miito’s design and unique method of heating don’t only save water. They also save electricity.

No. 4 Have you ever wished you could walk through the worlds of your games, seeing things as your characters would? Well now, you can. The Rift released by Oculus VR is the latest and greatest in gaming technology so far. Designed by American Palmer Luckey, 23, this clever head set allows you to see the worlds of your games in 3-D. Although you might need to upgrade your computer to get the full gaming experience with the Rift, it’s the next step in virtual reality and it’s improving the way we can play games. Alongside the Oculus headset, the teams are working on creating a controller named Oculus. The Oculus Rift has been designed so that players can’t only see, but also play in, 3-D worlds.

In February, 2015, a South Korean woman was sleeping on the floor when her robot vacuum(吸尘器) ate her hair, forcing her to call for emergency help. It surely isn’t what Stephen Hawking warned us that intelligent devices “mean the end of the human race”. But it does highlight one of the unexpected dangers of inviting robots into our home.

There are many examples of intelligent technology going bad, but more often than not, they involve cheating rather than physical danger.

Meanwhile, increasing evidence suggests that we , especially children, tend to tell our deepest, darkest secrets to human robots. So how do we protect ourselves from giving-away code?

Once you’ve invited a robot into your home, you need to manage your expectations. Movies and marketing may have told us to expect deep interaction with robots friends but we’ve still got a long way to go before they are as socially aware as described. Given the gulf between expectation and reality, it’s important to avoid being tricked.

The message is clear: as robots became increasingly connected to the internet, and able to respond to natural language, you need to especially cautious about figuring out who or what you are talking about.

We also need to think about how information is being stored and shared when it comes to robots that can record our every move. Some recording devices may have been designed for entertainment but can easily be adapted for more dangerous purposes. Take Nixie, the wearable camera that can fly off your wrist at a moment’s notice and take shots around you in the air. It doesn’t take much imagination to see how such technology could be taken advantage of.

Most people protect their secrets in the presence of a recording device. But what happens once we get used to a robot around the house, answering every instruction and call? We may be at risk of letting our guard down, treating them as extended member of our family. If the technology around us is able to record and process speech, images and movement, or listen secretly to us, what will happen to that information? Where will it be stored? Who will have access? If our internet history can be a mirror, these details could be worth their gold weight to advertisement company. If we grow accustomed to having trustworthy robots getting into our daily lives, our words and deeds could easily become over-exposed.

So, what is the safest way to welcome robots into our homes, public spaces, and social lives? We should be cautiously optimistic that intelligent machines could become enriching companions, while acknowledging that we need to determine strict boundaries for robots.

We might think of expanding the reach of consumer protection agencies or creating new robot-centered policies. Advances in robots may call for a body responsible for the combination of robots with society. There should be someone to turn to should your robot commit a crime, steal your card… or try to eat your hair.