The Unfriendly User Exploring Social Reactions to Chatterbots
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游客感知价值英文全文共四篇示例,供读者参考第一篇示例:Tourist Perceived ValueTourist perceived value is a concept commonly used in the tourism industry to describe the worth or value that tourists perceive they are receiving in exchange for their money, time and effort while traveling. It is a subjective assessment made by tourists based on their individual expectations, preferences, previous experiences, and the overall quality of the tourist experience.第二篇示例:Visitor Perception of ValueAs more and more people indulge in the joy of traveling, the concept of value in travel has become increasingly important. While traditional factors such as cost and convenience still play a significant role in a traveler's decision-making process, there is a growing acknowledgment of the importance of visitor perception of value.第三篇示例:【游客感知价值英文】In recent years, the value of tourism has become increasingly important as a driver of economic growth and development in many countries around the world. As more and more people travel for leisure and business, the demand for unique and authentic travel experiences has also increased. One key aspect of the tourism industry that has gained significance is the perception of value by tourists.Tourists' perception of value refers to the subjective assessment of the benefits and costs associated with a travel experience. It is influenced by a wide range of factors, including the quality of the service provided, the price of the product or service, and the overall satisfaction with the experience. Understanding and measuring tourists' perception of value is crucial for destinations and businesses in the tourism industry to attract and retain customers.There are several key dimensions of value that influence tourists' perception. These include:- Functional value: This refers to the tangible benefits that tourists receive from a travel experience, such as the quality ofaccommodation, transportation, and attractions. Tourists expect to receive good value for the money they spend on these basic services.- Emotional value: This refers to the emotional benefits that tourists derive from a travel experience, such as the sense of relaxation, happiness, and fulfillment. Positive emotional experiences can lead to greater satisfaction and loyalty among tourists.- Social value: This refers to the social benefits that tourists gain from interacting with other people during their travels, such as forming new relationships, sharing experiences, and building social connections. Social value can enhance the overall quality of the travel experience.- Symbolic value: This refers to the symbolic orstatus-related benefits that tourists associate with a travel experience, such as the prestige of staying at a luxury hotel or visiting a famous landmark. Symbolic value can enhance tourists' self-esteem and social status.- Experiential value: This refers to the unique and memorable experiences that tourists have during their travels, such as participating in cultural activities, trying new foods, andexploring natural attractions. Experiential value can create lasting memories and emotional connections with a destination.Tourists' perception of value is shaped by their expectations, preferences, and past experiences. It is influenced by factors such as the level of competition in the tourism industry, the quality of the destination's infrastructure and services, and the overall image and reputation of the destination. To enhance tourists' perception of value, destinations and businesses in the tourism industry can focus on improving the quality of their products and services, offering competitive prices, and creating unique and authentic travel experiences.In conclusion, tourists' perception of value plays a critical role in the success of the tourism industry. By understanding and meeting tourists' expectations and preferences, destinations and businesses can enhance their competitiveness and attract more visitors. Tourists' perception of value is a key driver of customer satisfaction, loyalty, and word-of-mouth promotion. It is essential for destinations and businesses in the tourism industry to prioritize and invest in creating value for tourists to ensure long-term success and sustainability.第四篇示例:Tourist Perceived ValueTourist perceived value is a concept that plays a significant role in the tourism industry. It refers to the perceived benefits and satisfaction that tourists receive from their travel experience in relation to the cost and effort involved in the trip. In other words, it is the perceived worth that tourists assign to a destination or a tourism product based on their overall experience.There are several factors that contribute to tourists' perceived value, including the quality of the destination, the services and facilities available, the authenticity of the experience, and the overall cost of the trip. For example, if a tourist visits a destination with stunning natural beauty, rich cultural heritage, and excellent hospitality, they are likely to perceive high value from their visit. On the other hand, if the destination is poorly maintained, lacks basic facilities, and has unfriendly locals, tourists are likely to perceive low value from their visit.Tourists' perceived value can also be influenced by their expectations, motivations, and personal preferences. For instance, a luxury traveler may value comfort, exclusivity, and personalized service, while an adventure traveler may value excitement, challenge, and new experiences. Therefore, it isimportant for tourism providers to understand the different needs and preferences of tourists in order to deliver a valuable and memorable experience.In today's competitive tourism market, it is essential for destinations and tourism providers to focus on enhancing tourists' perceived value in order to attract and retain visitors. This can be achieved by providing high-quality services and facilities, offering authentic and unique experiences, pricing products and services competitively, and engaging with tourists to gather feedback and improve the overall visitor experience.Moreover, digital technologies and social media play a crucial role in shaping tourists' perceived value. Online reviews, ratings, and recommendations from fellow travelers can greatly influence the perceived value of a destination or a tourism product. Therefore, destinations and tourism providers need to actively manage their online presence and reputation in order to enhance tourists' perception of value.In conclusion, tourist perceived value is a key concept in the tourism industry that influences tourists' decision-making, satisfaction, and loyalty. By focusing on enhancing tourists' perceived value through quality services, authentic experiences, competitive pricing, and active online presence, destinations andtourism providers can create positive and memorable travel experiences that will attract repeat visitors and positive word-of-mouth recommendations.。
Part Ⅰ Writing (30 minutes)Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a short essay entitled Who Has the Most Important Influence on the Young. You should write at least 150 words following the outline given below.1. 有些人认为家人对青少年的影响最大。
2.有些人认为朋友对青少年的影响最大。
3.我的看法。
Who Has the Most Important Influence on the YoungPart ⅡReading Comprehension (Skimming and Scanning) (15 minutes)Directions: In this part, you will have 15 minutes to go over the passage quickly and answer the questions on Answer Sheet 1. For questions 1-7, choose the best answer from the four choices marked A), B), C) and D). For questions 8-10, complete the sentences with the information given in the passage.Will Electronic Medical Records Improve Health Care?Electronic health records (EHRs) have received a lot of attention since the Obama administration committed $19 billion in stimulus funds earlier this year to encourage hospitals and health care facilities to digitize patient data and make better use of information technology. The healthcare industry as a whole, however, has been slow to adopt information technology and integrate computer systems, raising the question of whether the push to digitize will result in information that empowers doctors to make better-informed decisions or a morass of disconnected data.The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) knows firsthand how difficult it is to achieve the former, and how easily an EHR plan can fall into the latter. UPMC has spent five years and more than $1 billion on information technology systems to get ahead of the EHR issue. While that is more than five times as much as recent estimates say it should cost a hospital system, UPMC is a mammoth network consisting of 20 hospitals as well as 400 doctors’ offices, outpatient sites and long-term care facilities employing about 50,000 people.UPMC’s early attempts to create a universal EHR system, such as its ambulatory electronic medical records rolled out between 2000 and 2005, were met with resistance as doctors, staff and other users either avoided using the new technology altogether or c lung to individual, disconnected software and systems that UPMC’s IT department had implemented over the years.On the mendAlthough UPMC began digitizing some of its records in 1996, the turning point in its efforts came in 2004 with the rollout of its eRecord system across the entire health care network. eRecord now contains more than 3.6 million electronic patient records, including images and CT scans, clinical laboratory information, radiology data, and a picture archival and communication system that digitizes images and makes them available on PCs. The EHR system has 29,000 users, including more than 5,000 physicians employed by or affiliated with UPMC.If UPMC makes EHR systems look easy, don’t be fooled, cautions UPMC chief medical information officer Dan Martich, who says the health care network’s IT systems require a "huge, ongoing effort" to ensure that those systems can communicate with one another. One of the main reasons is that UPMC, like many other health care organizations, uses a number of different vendors for its medical and IT systems, leaving the integration largely up to the IT staff.Since doctors typically do not want to change the way they work for the sake of a computer system, the success of an EHR program is dictated not only by the presence of the technology but also by how well the doctors are trained on, and use, the technology. Physicians need to see the benefits of using EHR systems both persistently and consistently, says Louis Baverso, chief information officer at UPMC’s Magee-Women’s Hospital. But these benefits might not be obvious at first, he says, adding, "What doctors see in the beginning is that they’re losing their ability to work with paper documents, which has been so valuable to them up until now."Opportunities and costsGiven the lack of EHR adoption throughout the health care world, there are a lot of opportunities to get this right (or wrong). Less than 10 percent of U.S. hospitals have adopted electronic medical records even in the most basic way, according to a study authored by Ashish Jha, associate professor of health policy and management at Harvard School of Public Health. Only 1.5 percent have adopted a comprehensive system of electronic records that includes physicians’ notes and orders and decision support systems that alert doctors of potential drug interactions or other problems that might result from their intended orders.Cost is the primary factor stalling EHR systems, followed by resistance from physicians unwilling to adopt new technologies and a lack of staff with adequate IT expertise, according to Jha. He indicated that a hospital could spend from $20 million to $200 million to implement an electronic record system over several years, depending on the size of the hospital. A typical doctor’s office would cost anestimated $50,000 to outfit with an EHR system.The upside of EHR systems is more difficult to quantify. Although some estimates say that hospitals and doctor’s offices could save as much as $100 million annually by moving to EHRs, the mere act of implementing the technology guarantees neither cost savings nor improvements in care, Jha said during a Harvard School of Public Health community forum on September 17. Another Harvard study of hospital computerization likewise determined that cutting costs and improving care through health IT as it exists today is "wishful thinking". This study was led by David Himmelstein, associate professor at Harvard Medical School.The cost of getting it wrongThe difference between the projected cost savings and the reality of the situation stems from the fact that the EHR technologies implemented to date have not been designed to save money or improve patient care, says Leonard D’Avolio, associate center director of Biomedical Informatics at the Massachusetts Veterans Epidemiology Research and Information Center (MAVERIC). Instead, EHRs are used to document individual p atients’ conditions, pass this information among clinicians treating those patients, justify financial reimbursement and serve as the legal records of events.This is because, if a health care facility has $1 million to spend, its managers are more likely to spend it on an expensive piece of lab equipment than on information technology, D’Avolio says, adding that the investment on lab equipment can be made up by charging patients access to it as a billable service. This is not the case for IT. Also, computers and networks used throughout hospitals and health care facilities are disconnected and often manufactured by different vendors without a standardized way of communicating. "Medical data is difficult to standardize because caring for patients is a complex process," he says. "We need to find some way of reaching across not just departments but entire hospitals. If you can’t measure something, you can’t improve it, and without access to this data, you can’t measure it."To qualify for a piece of the $19 billion being offered through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), healthcare facilities will have to justify the significance of their IT investments to ensure they are "meaningful users" of EHRs. The Department of Health and Human Services has yet to define what it considers meaningful useAggregating info to create knowledgeIdeally, in addition to providing doctors with basic information about their patients, databases of vital signs, images, laboratory values, medications,diseases, interventions, and patient demographic information could be mined for new knowledge, D’Avolio says. "With just a few of these databases networked together, the power to improve health care increases exponentially," D’Avolio suggested. "All that is missing is the collective realization that better health care requires access to better information—not automation of the status quo." Down the road, the addition of genomic information, environmental factors and family history to these databases will enable clinicians to begin to realize the potential of personalized medicine, he added.1. In America, it is slow to adopt information technology because .A) the funds invested by the government is not enough in the pastB) EHRs have received less attention of the public in the pastC) whether it will be useful to doctors or not is doubtfulD) UPMC knows how difficult it is to digitize the hospital2. The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) .A) is the first medical center to adopt information technologyB) satisfy the requirement of the government on information technologyC) spent less money on information technology than it was estimatedD) attempted to created a universal EHR system, but met some difficulties3. The health care network’s IT systems require a lot of effort to ensure it can communicate with one another mainly because .A) the integration among different system is largely up to the IT staffB) UPMC is like many other health care organizations in the United StatesC) UPMC makes EHR systems look easyD) UMPC began digitizing some of its records in 19964. The success of the EHR program is decided by .A) the fact whether the information technology is available or notB) the fact how well the doctors are trained to use the information technologyC) not only the presence of the technology but the doctor’s training on technologyD) the fact whether physicians can see the benefits of using EHR systems5. The most important reason of most hospitals being reluctant to adopt EHR system is that .A) the cost is too high for the hospital to affordB) physicians are unwilling to adopt itC) there is a lack of staff with adequate IT expertiseD) doctor worry about its negative influence on patients6. According to the study led by David Himmelstein through health IT .A) it is possible to cut the costs of the hospitalB) it is possible to improve the health careC) it ensure neither cost saving nor improvement in careD) it could save as much as $100 million annually7. The hospital’s managers prefer to .A) spend money on an expensive piece of equipment than on information technologyB) charge patients access to the information technology as a billable serviceC) purchase the information technology to improve the health care of the hospitalD) invest more money on the training of the physicians to charge patients more money8. Jha said the mere act of implementing the technology guarantees ______________________.9. D’Avolio says the investment on lab equipment can be made up by_____________________.10. Databases of vital signs, images, laboratory values, medications, diseases, interventions, and patient demographic information could be ____________________.Part Ⅲ Listening Comprehension (35 minutes)Section ADirections: In this section, you will hear 8 short conversations and 2 long conversations. At the end of each conversation, one or more questions will be asked about what was said. Both the conversation and the questions will be spoken only once. After each question there will be a pause. During the pause, you must read the four choices marked A), B), C) and D), and decide which is the best answer. Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre.11. A) He doesn’t know the way to the theater.B) He doesn’t usually get up at 7:30.C) He wants to leave the theater before the drama is over.D) He wants to go early to avoid a traffic jam.12. A) She got a weekend job at the beach.B) She often goes to the beach.C) She misses the trips to the beach she used to take.D) Her home is near the beach.13. A) He will make a reservation at the restaurant.B) The woman should ask her parents for a suggestion.C) The woman should decide where to eat Saturday.D) He already has plans for Saturday night.14. A) He doubts the woman will like the novel.B) He’ll lend the woman the novel after he has read it.C) He enjoyed reading the novel.D) He hasn’t started reading the novel yet.15. A) The doctor’s office will be closed tomorrow.B) The doctor’s schedule is filled tomorrow.C) The doctor has stopped seeing new patients.D) The doctor can see the man tomorrow.16. A) She was sorry the man couldn’t finish his laundry.B) She saw the man run out.C) She thought the man’s laundry was done badly.D) She thought the man’s lawn was too dry.17. A) His coach didn’t help him enough.B) He had no chance of winning.C) His coach didn’t listen to him.D) He didn’t follow his coach’s advice.18. A) She grades papers very quickly.B) She isn’t teaching this semester.C) She didn’t require any papers last semester.D) She was more flexible last semester.Questions 19 to 21 are based on the conversation you have just heard.19. A) Father and daughter.B) Colleagues.C) Friends.D) Husband and wife.20. A) They are discussing whether they should go for a holiday.B) They are discussing where they should go for the holiday.C) They are discussing how they could save enough money for the holiday.D) They are discussing how they could pay for their house and the furniture.21. A) Sheffield.B) Hawaii.C) Wales or Scotland.D) Florida.Questions 22 to 25 are based on the conversation you have just heard.22. A) In a skating rink.B) On a bike path.C) On the campus sidewalks.D) In the street.23. A) He has trouble stopping.B) There are too many rocks.C) Going uphill is difficult.D) There are too many curves.24. A) Pull him up the hills.B) Catch him if he starts to fail.C) Find some skates for him.D) Teach him how to stop on skates.25. A) Look for the man’s skates.B) Have a meal.C) Look for something to drink.D) Start skating on the path.Section BDirections: In this section, you will hear 3 short passages. At the end of each passage, you will hear some questions. Both the passage and the questions will be spoken only once. After you hear a question, you must choose the best answer from the four choices marked A), B), C) and D). Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre.Passage OneQuestions 26 to 28 are based on the passage you have just heard.26. A) The beef is lost.B) Something is not as good as described.C) The beef is not as good as it is said to be.D) The food has turned bad.27. A) Because they are made from beef.B) Because they are cheaper than any other kind of food.C) Because they are served quickly and at a low price.D) Because hamburger is the only fast food in America.28. A) Because hamburgers are good to eat.B) Because they are easy to make.C) Because they could sell hamburgers throughout the country.D) Because they thought they could make large profit.Passage TwoQuestions 29 to 31 are based on the passage you have just heard.29. A) They often take place in her major industries.B) British trade unions are more powerful.C) There are more trade union members in Britain.D) Britain loses more working days through strikes every year.30. A) Such strikes are against the British law.B) Such strikes are unpredictable.C) Such strikes involve workers from different trades.D) Such strikes occur frequently these days.31. A) Trade unions in Britain are becoming more popular.B) Most strikes in Britain are against the British law.C) Unofficial strikes in Britain are easier to deal with now.D) Employer-worker relations in Britain have become tenser. Passage ThreeQuestions 32 to 35 are based on the passage you have just heard.32. A) Education.B) Wealth.C) Diligence.D) Political status.33. A) The change of the nature of occupations.B) The decrease of social wealth.C) The change of educational degree.D) The increase of job opportunities.34. A) Farmers.B) Politicians.C) Manual workers..D) Clerks.35. A) White-collar workers.B) Farm workers.C) Blue-collar workers.D) Not mentioned.Section CDirections: In this section, you will hear a passage three times. When the passage is read for the first time, you should listen carefully for its general idea. When the passage is read for the second time, you are required to fill in the blanks numbered from 36 to 43 with the exact words you have just heard. For blanks numbered from 44 to 46 you are required to fill in the missing information. For these blanks, you can either use the exact words you have just heard or write down the main points in your own words. Finally, when the passage is read for the third time, you should check what you have written.Daily newspaper has an editorial page. Here opinion is expressed on events and 36 in the news. But editorial judgment is so persuasively 37 that many people accept these opinions as facts. Good journalists 38 a code of ethics which 39 between news and editorial opinion. This code holds that in an editorial 40 the publisher is entitled to 41 any cause he chooses. It is understood that there he is speaking as a partisan and may express any view he 42 . Because a modern newspaper is so expensive to produce and so 43 to establish, newspapers have increasingly become big business organizations. Although there are exceptions, 44 _________________.In the news columns, however, the complete and unbiased facts should be reported. The better metropolitan newspapers and 45 _____________. But the less ethical publications 46 _______________.Part Ⅳ Reading Comprehension (Reading in Depth) (25 minutes)Section ADirections: In this section, there is a short passage with 5 questions or incomplete statements. Read the passage carefully. Then answer the questions or complete the statements in the fewest possible words. Please write your answers on Answer Sheet 2.Questions 47 to 51 are based on the following passage.Currently, there are an increasing number of new types of small advertisement becoming increasingly common in newspaper classified columns. It is sometimes placed among "situations vacant", although it does not offer anyone a job, and sometimes it appears among "situations wanted", although it is not placed by someone looking for a job, either. What it does is to offer help in applying for a job."Contact us before writing your application", or "Make use of our long experience in preparing your curriculum vitae or job history", is how it is usually expressed. The growth and apparent success of such a specialized service is, of course, a reflection on the current high levels of unemployment. It is also an indication of the growing importance of the curriculum vitae (or job history), with the suggestion that it may now qualify as an art form in its own right.There was a time when job seekers simply wrote letters of application. "Just put down your name, address, age and whether you have passed any exams", was about the average level of advice offered to young people applying for their first jobs when I left school. The letter was really just for openers, it was explained, everything else could and should be saved for the interview. And in those days of full employment the technique worked. The letter proved that you could write and were available for work. Your eager face and intelligent replies did the rest.Later, as you moved up the ladder, something slightly more sophisticated was called for. The advice then was to put something in the letter which would distinguish you from the rest. It might be the aggressive approach. "Your search is over. I am the person you are looking for", was a widely used trick that occasionally succeeded. Or it might be some special feature specially designed for the job interview.There is no doubt, however, that it is the increasing number of applicants with university education at all points in the process of engaging staff that has led to the greater importance of the curriculum vitae.47. There are an increasing number of new types of small advertisement in newspaper columns ______.48. Nowadays a demand for this specialized type of service has been created because ______.49. In the past it was expected that first job hunters would ______.50. Later, as one went on to apply for more important jobs, one was advised to include ______ in the letter.51. The curriculum vitae has become such an important document because ______.Section BDirections: There are 2 passages in this section. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A), B), C) and D). You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre.Passage OneQuestions 52 to 56 are based on the following passage.Computers are now employed in an increasing number of fields in our daily life. Computers have been taught to play not only checkers, but also championship chess, which is a fairly accurate yardstick for measuring the computer’s progress in the ability to learn from experience.Because the game requires logical reasoning, chess would seem to be perfectly suited to the computer. All a programmer has to do is to give the computer a program evaluating the consequences of every possible response to every possible move, and the computer will win every time. In theory this is a sensible approach; in practice it is impossible. Today, a powerful computer can analyze 40,000 moves a second. That is an impressive speed. But there are an astronomical number of possible moves in chess—literally trillions. Even if such a program were written (and in theory it could be, given enough people and enough time), there is no computer capable of holding that much data.Therefore, if the computer is to compete at championship levels, it must be programmed to function with less than complete data. It must be able to learn from experience, to modify its own program, to deal with a relatively unstructured situation—in a word, to "think" for itself. In fact, this can be done. Chess-playing computers have yet to defeat world champion chess players, but several have beaten human players of only slightly lower ranks. The computers have had programs to carrythem through the early, mechanical stages of their chess games. But they have gone on from there to reason and learn, and sometimes to win the game.There are other proofs that computers can be programmed to learn, but this example is sufficient to demonstrate the point. Granted, winning a game of chess is not an earthshaking event even when a computer does it. But there are many serious human problems, which can be fruitfully approached as games. The Defense Department uses computers to play war games and work out strategies for dealing with international tensions. Other problems—international and interpersonal relations, ecology and economics, and the ever-increasing threat of world famine can perhaps be solved by the joint efforts of human beings and truly intelligent computers.52. According to the passage, computers cannot be used to ______.A) solve the threat of world famineB) ease international tensionC) defeat world champion chess playerD) work out solutions to the industrial problems53. In the author’s opinion, ______.A) playing chess shows computer’s program has been developed into a new stageB) it is practically possible now that computer can win every chess game nowC) computers even with less than complete data can be programmed to defeat the world champion chess playerD) computers can be programmed to play and reason but not learn54. The author’s attitude toward the future use of computer is ______.A) negativeB) positiveC) indifferentD) critical55. In order to "think", computer should ______.A) be programmed to have more than enough dataB) learn from the experience and to reasonC) deal with all the unstructured situationD) predicate every move in the chess56. Today, the chess-playing computer can be programmed to ______.A) have trillions of responses in a second to each possible move and win the gameB) store complete data and beat the best playersC) learn from chess-playing in the early stage and go on to win the gameD) predicate every possible move but may fail to give the right response each timePassage TwoQuestions 57 to 61 are based on the following passage.Large animals that inhabit the desert have evolved a number of adaptations for reducing the effects of extreme heat. One adaptation is to be light in color, and to reflect rather than absorb the sun’s rays. Desert mammals also depart from the normal mammalian practice of maintaining a constant body temperature. Instead of trying to keep down the body temperature deep inside the body, which would involve the expenditure of water and energy, desert mammals allow their temperatures to rise to what would normally be fever height, and temperatures as high as 46 degrees Celsius have been measured in Grant’s gazelles. The overheated body then cools down during the cold desert night, and indeed the temperature may fall unusually low by dawn, as low as 34 degrees Celsius in the camel. This is an advantage since the heat of the first few hours of daylight is absorbed in warming up the body, and an excessive buildup of heat does not begin until well into the day.Another strategy of large desert animals is to tolerate the loss of body water to a point that would be fatal for non-adapted animals. The camel can lose up to 30 percent of its body weight as water without harm to itself, whereas human beings die after losing only 12 to 13 percent of their body weight. An equally important adaptation is the ability to replenish this water loss at one drink. Desertanimals can drink huge volumes in a short time, and camels have been known to imbibe (吸收) over 100 liters in a few minutes. A very dehydrated person, on the other hand, cannot drink enough water to rehydrate at one session, because the human stomach is not sufficiently big and because a too rapid dilution of the body fluids causes death from water intoxication. The tolerance of water loss is of obvious advantage in the desert, as animals do not have to remain near a water hole but can obtain food from grazing sparse pastures. Desert-adapted mammals have the further ability to feed normally when extremely dehydrated. It is a common experience in people that appetite is lost even under conditions of moderate thirst.57. What is the passage mainly about?A) Animals developed different strategies to survive.B) Large animals can take strategies to reduce the effect of extreme heat.C) Animals can tolerate the loss of body water.D) A very dehydrated person can drink enough water to rehydrate.58. Why light in color is important to large animals in deserts?A) It helped them maintain a constant normal body temperature.B) It reflects rather than absorbs the sun-light.C) It helps them see their peers at night.D) It helps them keep cool during the night.59. What will be fatal to non-adapted animals?A) Keeping a normal body temperature.B) Drinking polluted water.C) Drinking huge volumes of water in a short time.D) Feeding when dehydrated.60. What does the author imply about desert-adapted mammals?A) They do not need to eat much food.。
VocabularyⅢ1.The government has budgeted one million for a new hospital in this region.2.There is an acute lack of water in the northern part of the country, because there has beenalmost no rain since last February.3.After listening to the speaker for three hours, the audience became restless.4.She grew up in comfortable surroundings; she never experienced any difficulties when shewas young.5.Having studied business at college and knowing two foreign language, my secretary isperfectly competent for her job.6.The leading economists of the country have been assessing the infuence of the funding crisisupon its economy.7.When Brand elbowed his way to the center of the crowd, he pushed with all the strength ofhis body.8.The company is conducting a survey to find out local reation to their recently promotedproduct.VocabularyⅣ1.We can’t afford to fall behind our competitors in using new technology.2.Every day the manager has to account to the chairman for how he spends the company’smoney.3.He cannot go without wine even for one day; he is a complete slave to drink.4.When the car broke down on the highway for a third time, John’s patience completely ran out.5.The chairman of the group suggested that as far as Mr. Palmer’s work is concerned, he’sworthy of a big pay rise.6.What one thinks and feels is, in the eyes of social scientists, mainly due to tradition, habit andeducation.7.It is a real honor to have the opportunities of meeting the well-known scientist in person.8.Have you read a newspaper reporting probing into the activities of drug dealers?Translate the following sentences into Chinese.1.This attitude results in a nation of people committed to researching, experimenting andexploring.(Para. 1) 这种态度造就了一个决心投身于研究、实验和探索的民族。
2019新人教高中英语选择性必修三Unit4 Adversity and Courage--Using Language公开课教案Using Language 1 --Learn how to handle challenges Teaching aims:1.Enable students to make predictions based on given pictures.2.Guide students to get the main idea and key details of the material.3.Help students to identify the cause and effect in the passage.4.Express your own ideas on the given topic about the selection of rescue team members.Teaching key points:1.Help students to grasp the details of the passage.2.Help students to learn and use the expressions in the listening text to select qualified sailors.Teaching difficult points:1.Enable students to listen to the details accurately by identifying the cause and effect.2.Lead students to express their own opinions about how to choose qualified rescue team members.Teaching procedures:Step Ⅰ Lead-inActivity Shackleton and a team tried to sail to another island to find help.Look at the picture below and discuss the challenges you think they faced.Design:T:Dear class,what can you see in the picture?When and Where do you think the smaller picture was taken?Do you think it was easy for Shackleton’s rescue team to get to South Georgia Island by this boat?What difficulties or challenges do you think they have to face?Ss:The bigger picture shows a landscape of mountains covered with ice,maybe in Antarctic.The smaller one is about rowing a small boat by six people...T:Well,it’s easy to think they would meet dozens of difficulties..Suggested answers:The bigger picture shows a landscape of mountains covered with ice,maybe in Antarctic.The smaller one is about rowing a small boat by six people,maybe they are Shackleton’s rescue team.`I think it’s very difficult for Shackleton’s rescue team to get to another island,because they might face many challenges.First of all,it was very cold and there was snow and ice everywhere.The area is also very mountainous,so they had to climb with their essentials.It could also be hard to know where they were going as the place is very large and all looks the same.One top of the physical challenges,they might have great mental challenges facing those conditions and not knowing what to expect and whether they would succeed.StepⅠ While-listeningActivity 1Listening for setting and key information1.Who’s talking?What’s his speciality?2.What’s the speaker talking about?Suggested answers:1.One of the team members is talking.He is a navigator and he has been working on ships for his whole life.2.He is talking about the journey of Shackleton’s looking for help.Activity 2Listening for the main ideaListen to one of the team members talk about the rescue plan and their plete the summary.The team consisted of members.They sailed on rough seas for days before they landed on the side of South Georgia ter they climbed over the mountains and the whaling ter,Shackleton arranged for a rescue boat to return to Island.Luckily,everyone was .Suggested answers:The team consisted of six members.They sailed on rough seas for days before they landed on the wrong side of South Georgia ter they climbed over themountains and arrived at the whaling ter,Shackleton arranged for a rescue boat to return to Elephant Island.Luckily,everyone was alive.Activity 3Listening for detailsListen again and answer the questions.1.Why was it necessary for Shackleton to travel to South Georgia Island?2.Why was it important to include a navigator in the team?3.Why did Shackleton choose the most difficult and unfriendly man to join in the rescue mission?4.Why did Shackleton look extremely old?Suggested answers:1.Shackleton had to travel to South Georgia Island to get help to rescue the rest of his crew.2.It was important to include a navigator so they would know where they were going and not got lost.3.Shackleton chose him because he wanted the crew left behind to remain cheerful and positive and the man would had a negative influence on the crew.4.Shackleton looked extremely old not only because of the conditions but also because he was very worried about the fate of his crew left behind.Step Ⅰ TalkingActivity 1Suppose you are Shackleton and you are going to choose two sailors to join the rescue team.Look at the list below and discuss in groups of four who would be your first choiceWho should join the rescue team?Name Skills Qualities1 Frank Wildgood leaderexperienced in exploringthe Antarcticloyal,kind,andcalm2 Frank Worsley excellent navigatorexperienced sailorodd behaviour at times,butliked by crew3 Tom Creansecond officerexperienced in living in theAntarcticstrong,energetic,and brave4 Hubert Hudson navigatorbest at catching penguinsfriendly and lively5 Thomas Orde-Lees efficient store keepermotor expertexcellent skierselfish,lazy,and bad-temperedThe expressions in the box below may help you with your discussionExample:A:We have to decide on which two sailors Shackleton chose for his rescue team.Let’s look at Frank Wild.B:He is a good leader and is experienced in exploring the Antarctic.So,I think he’s suitable to join the rescue team.C:Hmm,I think we should move on to the next sailor.According to Perce’s diary entries,Frank Wild was left with the other crew members on Elephant Island.A:I agree.Let’s move on to the next candidate.What do you think about Frank Worsley?B:Well,he is ...Activity 2Present selections of the previous activity to the classSuggested answer:My group chooses Frank Worsley and Tom Crean as the two members for the rescue team.Frank Worsley is an excellent navigator,so he could use his skills to guide them across the dangerous sea.Tom Crean is strong,energetic,and brave,so he would be very useful on the dangerous mission.Activity 3Role-playWork in groups of four to present your interviews:one acts as Shackleton,the other students act as sailors of candidates.StepⅠHomeworkDescribe a challenge or a difficulty that you have encountered,and tell us what qualities and skills have helped you overcome the challenge or difficulty.Using Language 2--Learn about optimism and perseverance Teaching aims:1.Enable students to learn about optimism and perseverance.2.Guide students to explore the spirit of adventure.3.Help students to write an essay about Shackleton and his men on the ship Endurance.Teaching key points:1.Analyse the reasons why the crew can be rescued and grasp the structure, theme and language features of it.2.Lead students to write down the framework and write an article about Shackleton and Endurance.Teaching difficult points:1.Enable students to recognize and use the linking words.2.Enable students to write an article about Shackleton and Endurance.Teaching procedures:StepⅠPre-readingLead-inT:We have learnt that Shackleton and his team tried to sail to another island to find help.Look at the picture and discuss the challenges you think they faced.Suggested answer:Looking at the landscape in the picture,I think Shackleton and his team might face many challenges.First of all,it was very cold and there was snow and ice everywhere.The area is also very mountainous,so they had to climb with their essentials.It could also be hard to know where they were going as the place is very large and all looks the same.One top of the physical challenges,they might have great mental challenges facing those conditions and not knowing what to expect and whether they would succeed.StepⅠWhile-readingActivity 1Reading for predictionLook at the title and picture and predict:1.What do you think was the biggest challenge for them?2.Were they finally rescued?Why?Suggested answers:1.The answers vary.2.Yes,they were finally rescued.Because the title of the text is“THE REWARD FOR PERSEVERANCE”,maybe that they were rescued is their reward.Activity 2Reading for detailed informationRead the text quickly and answer the questions.1.What did the men eat and drink on the island?2.What were the dangers of living on the island?3.How did the men stay in good spirits while waiting to be rescued?4.What do you think were the key reasons for their survival?Suggested answers:1.Their only food was the meat of the sea creatures and they drank the watermelt from ice.2.They might die of thirst or starvation.The smoke from the burning fat could damage their eyes and burn their lungs.Besides,the changing temperatures might make them ill.They might lose hope of life.3.Their discipline and team spirit kept them in good spirits.Besides,they also celebrated their birthdays,festivals,and even the times when they caught a sea animal.4.The key reasons for their survival were their discipline and positive mental attitude,as well as the reliability of Shackleton.Activity 3Reading for the organization and language featuresRead the text again and study the organization and language features.1.What’s the type of the passage?2.What’s the structure of the passage?Draw a mind map of the whole story.3.Try to find the main idea of each paragraph.Para.1:________________________________________________Para.2:________________________________________________Para.3:________________________________________________Para.4:________________________________________________Para.5:________________________________________________Para.6:________________________________________________Suggested answers:1.Diary2.Answers are various.3.Para.1:Shackleton sailed away from Elephant Island.Para.2:Problem of making fire.Para.3:Problem of lacking food.Para.4:Problem of changing temperatures.Para.5:Their discipline and team spirit kept them optimistic.Para.6:They were finally rescued.StepⅠPost-readingRead the text again and discuss the questions with your partners.1.What do you think were the key reasons for their survival?2.If you were one of the men on Elephant Island,would you have trusted Shackleton?Why or why not?Suggested answers:1.Their discipline and team spirit kept them optimistic and helped them deal with their fears.2.I would have trusted Shackleton if I were one of the men.Shackleton was a famous captain, whose charm of personality, such as determination, commitment,courage and wisdom,deeply influenced people and people all had belief in him.So did I.StepⅠ Write an essay about Shackleton and Endurance.Activity1 Combining all the information from the text,discuss with your partner and write down the structure of the story.Suggested answers:paragraph 1:Summary of the whole story(who,what,when,where,why,how).paragraph 2:What I think about the characters in the story(struggles they faced,their actions and motives,my comments).paragraph 3:How the story made me feel and my overall impressions of theexpedition.Activity 2 Write the essay independentlyOne possible version:This story is about the 1914-1916 expedition by Ernest Shackleton to make the first land crossing of Antarctica.For this task he used the ship Endurance with a 28-man crew,including one stowaway.Shackleton is described as calm and brave and takes his crew’s safety very seriously.The rest of the crew are also brave,though a few are not very positive,and all were at times understandably worried and desperate about their situation.Overall though,they remained positive.This was helped by the good relationship Shackleton had with his crew who trusted him and knew he would do his best to save them.The crew faced great troubles once Endurance got stuck in the ice.Soon they had to abandon the ship and camp on the ice.They had to face the extreme weather and cold as well as the dangerous environment and all with limited supplies.All of this added to the mental challenge,so they had to maintain a positive state of mind.Shackleton’s motive was always to make sure his crew survived,and theirs was to last until he had found help.What I like most about this story is that although their expedition failed in achieving its goal,it was not the disaster it could have been.This was due to Shackleton’s perseverance in getting help and the crew’s bravery in surviving for so long.My impression of them is very positive as they must have struggled greatly in such a position of adversity.I felt very happy when I learnt that the whole crew survived.Activity3 Exchange the draft with a partner,evaluate and polish the draft according to the checklist.Activity4 Present and ShareAsk some students to present their works in front of the class and evaluate their advantages and disadvantages.StepⅠ Homework请同学们写出心目中一位大家较为熟悉的、克服困难后成功的名人,描述他/她遇到什么困难,是如何以乐观坚毅的态度应对人生的逆境和挫折的,对你的学习和生活有什么启发。
How to Improve Your Social Skillzongxujian 于2007-11-17 09:04:00发布l 已有人浏览One source for pretty reliable advice is what has been repeated. Not what’s been repeated throughout your life but throughout history. Time-tested advice, advice that has survived and been rediscovered over the centuries often has a good deal of practical value.I think this applies to tips on improving your social skills. Society may have changed but people are people. So what worked a couple of hundred or thousand years ago can still be useful today. Here are eight tips on social skills that have been told over and over. Maybe you’ll find them helpful.1. Listen“Nature gave us one tongue and two ears so we could hear twice as much as we speak.”Epictetus“The less you speak, the more you will hear.”Alexander Solshenitsen“I like to listen. I have learned a great deal from listening carefully. Most people never listen.”Ernest HemingwayThis is probably one of the most underappreciated social skills. People are often centred on themselves. Nothing surprising really, but it doesn’t mean that they are selfish jerks either. But because of this a lot of people are just used to talking about themselves or waiting for the other person to finish so they can start talking again. I know I have done this many times and still do from time to time.How do you get past it?One useful way that I have found is to just forget about yourself. Focus your attention outward instead of inward in a conversation. Place the mental focus on the person you are talking and listening to instead of yourself. Placing the focus outside of yourself makes you less self-centred and your need to hog the spotlight decreases.If you start to actually listen to what people are saying it also becomes easier to find potential paths in the conversation. By asking open-ended questions– the ones that will give you more than a yes or no answer – you can explore these paths and have better and more fun conversations.And this ties into the next tip…2. Actually be interested in the other person.“You can make more friends in two months by becoming really interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you. Which is just another way of saying that the way to make a friend is to be one.”Dale Carnegie“The greatest compliment that was ever paid me was when someone asked me what I thought, and attended to my answer.”Henry David ThoreauIf you become more interested in people then you’ll naturally become a better listener since you are actually interested in what’s on their minds. And it beomes easier find out what someone is really passionate about and to dispel negative assumptions that can mess up the communication.If you listen to what someone has to say then you may find that s/he for instance isn’t as boring or different from you as you may have guessed when you were first introduced.And as Carnegie says, it’s a lot eas ier to create and improve relationships if you focus on the other person than on yourself. Why is that?Well, for one, as I wrote just a few paragraphs ago, people often don’t listen that much. So you’ll be a pleasant exception among the others that are waiting for their turn to talk again.But the big reason is simply that you make them feel good because of your attention, validation of them and their interest and the connection that is made.3. Don’t listen too much to criticism.“If evil be said of thee, and if it be true, correct thyself; if it be a lie, laugh at it.”Epictetus“When we judge or criticize another person, it says nothing about that person; it merely says something about our own need to be critical.”UnknownWell, Epictetus got this one down. Listen to criticism. If you feel that there is some relevance to it explore how you can change yourself. But also recognize that lot of the time criticism is mostly about the other person. Maybe s/he has had a bad day. Maybe a pet or child is sick. Maybe s/he is jealous of you or angry at someone else. Since people often are centred on themselves it’s easy to make a mistake here. Someone may criticise you but is actually focused on something in their own life. And you are probably also focused on yourself. And therefore you draw the conclusion that the criticism must have something to do with you.But the world doesn’t revolve around you. Which is bad if you want more attention and validation from others.On the other hand, it can be lib erating since people don’t seem to care that much about what you do. The big problem of not daring to do something because you’re afraid of what people may say becomes a smaller obstacle. 4. Don’t babble on and on.“The less people speak of their greatness, the more we think of it.”Sir Francis Bacon“The more you say, the less people remember.”François FénelonThis one’s connected to listening. If you talk and talk there will be little time, energy or focus for listening. But if you start to focus outward then your mind will become more focused and you’ll spend less time babbling for too long about something. If you want more reasons to stop babbling and start simplifying check out 5 Reason to Simplify What You Say, and How to Do It.5. Treat others as you would like them to treat you.“The people with whom you work reflect your own attitude. If you are suspicious, unfriendly and condescending, you will find these unlovely traits echoed all about you. But if you are on your best behaviour, you will bring out the best in the persons with whom you are going to spend most of yourworking hours.”Beatrice Vincent“It’s so easy to laugh, it’s so easy to hate. It takes guts to be gentle and kind.”MorrisseyThe Law of Reciprocity is strong in humans. As you treat someone else s/he will feel like treating you. Maybe not today or tomorrow. But over time these things have a way of evening out.One of the most important things in relationships and conversations is your attitude. It determines a lot about your interactions and how you treat other people.The attitude you have, the lens you hold up and view the world through determines what you see. And the thoughts you keep in your mind control how you feel. Your thoughts and feelings direct how you say something and what your hands, eyes, posture etc. says through body language.So even if you say nice words you may create an different feeling in the person you are talking to because your thoughts, feelings, voice tonality and body languag e aren’t aligned with your words. And words are only 7 percent of communication. So the attitude behind your words is absolutely crucial.6. Keep a positive attitude.“I am convinced that attitude is the key to success or failure in almost any of life’s endeavors. Your attitude - your perspective, your outlook, how you feel about yourself, how you feel about other people - determines you priorities, your actions, your values. Your attitude determines how you interact with other people and how you intera ct with yourself.”Carolyn Warner“Two men look out the same prison bars; one sees mud and the other stars.”Frederick Langbridge“Constant kindness can accomplish much. As the sun makes ice melt, kindness causes misunderstanding, mistrust and hostility to evaporate.”Albert SchweitzerIf your attitude is so important then what can you do about it? One good tip, that has worked for very long, is simply to keep a positive attitude. And by that I don’t mean that you should just react in a positive way to events in your life that may be seen by society as positive. For instance, getting a raise in salary, an A on an exam or winning a competition.But before I continue with that train of thought I’d just like to say something about negativity. I wouldn’t say that it is all bad. I wouldn’t say that people want to get away from negative people all of the time. Sometimes you can find camaraderie in complaining about your boss, job, salary and the government. But overall and long-term I think that going positive is the more useful and fulfilling approach.Now, what I mean with adopting a positive attitude is choosing to stay positive regardless of your external circumstances. You may not be able to do this all the time, but being positive is habit just like eating well or doing your daily exercise. It can be hard to get started and slow going at first. But when your mind gets used to this new behaviour it becomes almost automatic. Your mind just starts to interpret reality in a different way than it did before.Instead of seeing problems everywhere it starts to zoom in on opportunities and what’s good about just about any situation. Instead of sighing and feeling like you’re working in an uphill rut you’ll find reasons to be grateful and happy.Yeah, I know, it might sound like wishful thinking. But it really works. The problem is just that it is difficult to see this - and to realise that you can actually change - from a current worldview and attitude that may be a bit more negative.If you’d like to read more about this, have a look at Take the Positivity Challenge for some more reasons to change your attitude – they include making better first impressions and becoming more attractive - and how to do it.7. Use silence.“A good word is an easy ob ligation; but not to speak ill requires only our silence; which costs us nothing.”John Tillotson“Be silent, or say something better than silence.”Pythagoras“It’s good to shut up sometimes.”Marcel MarceauThere are several good reasons to learn to be more silent. It will help you to develop your listening skills. And instead of saying something you wish you didn’t you can learn to keep your piehole closed. This can help you avoid unnecessary arguments and reduce the hurt you do unto others by, for example, criticising.Sitting in silence day in and day out while your inner pressure builds up is of course not good. Then you may need speak up, take charge and change whatever it is in your environment that causes the problem. But often a great deal of negative things can be avoided just by calmly staying silent.8. Communicate with more than your words.“They may forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel.”Carl W. Buechner“I speak two languages, English and Body.”Mae West“We often refuse to accept an idea merely because the tone of voice in which it has been expressed is unsympathetic to us.”Friedrich NietzscheThe words you use are just a small part of communication. How you use your tone of voice and your body language is over 90 percent of what you are communicating.To become a better communicator these two areas are ridiculously important. You can for instance improve how you say something by loading your words with more emotions. If you use tip # 6 - Keep a positive attitude - this often improves kinda automatically. You’ll naturally convey more enthusiasm and positive emotions through your voice.Your attitude, as mentioned before, also has big impact on your body language. If you feel relaxed, open and positive this comes through in how you use your body.You may want check out these additional 17 body language tips though. Just to be on the safe side. And to not repeat and reinforce some old and ingrained body language habits.Manually correcting your body language can be useful. When you for instance are listening, you can lean in and keep eye contact to reinforce that you are actually listening. If you keep your body language interested you’ll also be able to keep your focus and interest longer since emotions can work backwards. As your body is “interested” your mind becomes interested and focused on what is said.。
高中同学最有可能先被清除朋友圈Friends grow apart. It's a truism that we all realise at some point in our lives, but new research suggests t hat it's on Facebook that this hom e truth is most evi d ent.朋友日渐疏远。
这是一个我们在生活中就可以得到印证的真理。
不过,新的研究表明,这个真理在Facebook尤为明显。
A new study from the University of Colorado shows that when we're culling our friend s list it's friends school ('high school' in the US study) that are most likely to get the c hop.The survey, carried out by doctoral student Christopher Sibona, found that the reason for these virtual break-ups was the same as you might ex pect in real life: people's opinions mature and develop, an d friends find that they're no longer interested in one another."The most common reason for unfriending someone from high school is that the person posted polarizing comments often about religion or politics," Sibona told . "The other big reason for unfriending was fre quent, uninteresting posts."The study surveyed 1,077 people and divided friends into more than a dozen dis tinct types including "common interest friend", "friend through spouse" and the somewhat vague(模糊的) c ategory of "internet".From these groups, friends from secondary sch ool were most likely to get the chop, followed b y those from the "other" category, "friend of a friend" and then "work friends".Interestingly, while old friends were unfriended because of their actions in the virtual world, friends from work were more of ten unfriended because of something they'd done in real life.Sibona also conducted a second stu dy that su rveyed people's response to being unfriended. This showed that people were most likely to be surprised to anunf riending, while the reaction "it bothered me" came in second followed by "it amused me".Unsurprisingly, the survey also found that people were more likely to have an emotional response to an unfri ending based on how far away they were from "the peak of [their] friends hip". Users were also more likely to unfriend close friends than casual acquaintances – su ggesting that the intensity of any given relationship is more likely to push it over the edge."Your high school friends may not know your current political or religious be liefs and you may be quite vocal about them," said Sibona. "And one thing about social media is that online disagreements escalate much more quickly."。
2018年可锐考研英语阅读文章精选(三)Facebook and privacy Sorry, friends脸谱和用户隐私对不起,朋友The giant social network is castigated for serious privacy failings社交网巨头因严重隐私缺陷而遭受公众谴责FACEBOOK has been playing with fire and has got its fingers burned, again.脸谱一直在玩火,这次它又烧伤了自己的指头。
On November 29th America s Federal Trade Commission announced that it hadreached a draft settlement with the giant social network over allegations that it hadmisled people about its use of their personal data.11月29日美国联邦贸易委员会声明已和该社交网巨头关于公众对它欺骗用户、滥用用户个人信息的控诉初步达成解决方案。
The details of the settlement make clear that Facebook, which boasts over 800m users,betrayed its users trust.这份解决方案的细目明确说明,脸谱网背叛了它所声称的八亿用户的信任。
It is also notable because it appears to be part of a broader attempt by the FTC to craft anew privacy framework to deal with the swift rise of social networks in America.FTC有个更大的计划,那就是创建一个新的隐私框架以应对美国快速攀升的社交网用户。
一、根据首字母填写单词(单词拼写)1. The o________ sculpture was destroyed in the war, so yours must be a fake. (根据首字母单词拼写)2. Our thanks are due in equal m________to every member of the team.(根据首字母单词拼写)3. To read the o____ novel is better than to see the film based on it. (根据首字母单词拼写)二、根据汉语意思填写单词(单词拼写)4. I stared at the________ (纪念碑) to the People’s Heroes, which was built in honor of the heroes who had sacrificed their lives for the peace of our motherland.(根据汉语提示单词拼写)5. The room ________ (测量) 12 feet by 15 feet is her bedroom with a view of the lake. (根据汉语提示单词拼写)6. Whichever and whatever you like, there is an _________(极好的,令人难以置信的) theme park that will _________(有吸引力,恳求) to you. (根据汉语提示单词拼写)三、根据中英文提示填写单词(单词拼写)7. After the hurricane, I saw a big tree, m________(量度为) more than 10 meters, lying on the ground. (根据中英文提示填空)8. An ________ (extremely large) amount of money has been wasted on this project already. (根据英文提示单词拼写)四、完成句子9. 事实证明,能坚持理想的人往往更容易取得成功。
Asean Academic Press, London, 2001The unfriendly user: exploring social reactions to chatterbotsAntonella De Angeli, Graham I. Johnson, and Lynne CoventryNCR Self-Service, Advanced Technology & Research, Dundee DD2 3XX, UK.AbstractThis paper presents a preliminary evaluation of Alice, a chatterbot designed in order to elicitanthropomorphic attributions and emotional reactions from those who chat to ‘her’. Theanalysis is based on both transcripts of the interaction and user comments collected in a focusgroup. Results suggest that the introduction of explicit anthropomorphism in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) is a complex phenomenon, which could generate strong negativereactions from the part of the user. The finding also demonstrates the importance of placingthe development of user interfaces within a social framework as the technology tends toestablish relationships with users.Keywords Chatterbots, anthropomorphism, disembodied language, social dynamics.1. IntroductionThe attribution of human characteristics to animals, events, or objects is a natural tendency for human beings, known as anthropomorphism. According to Caporeal and Heyes (1996), it reflects an inherent cognitive default: a standard schema is engaged in explaining the behaviour of entities for which, otherwise, explanations are not readily available. Being complex machines whose procedural mechanisms are hidden to users, computers have always been a favourite target for anthropomorphic attributions (De Angeli, Gerbino, Nodari and Petrelli, 1999). Since their advent, they have never been perceived simply as machines or just as the result of the interaction between hardware and software. Because of that, computers have a memory and speak a language; they can contract viruses and act autonomously.In recent years, then, the human-metaphor has been increasingly strengthened trying to represent these inanimate, hard-textured objects as warm, soft and humanoid. In particular, current computers are expected to be friendly towards their users.This paper examines the hypothetical friendship between computers and users from an unusual perspective – that of the machine. It is built around a preliminary evaluation of a chatterbot called Alice (http://206.184.206.210/alice_page.htm), a proud ‘robot’ that exhibits human like feelings and intentions while chatting with a ‘human partner’ (the user). As every chatterbot, Alice has been explicitly designed to trigger a number of anthropomorphic attributions, including social and emotional intelligence, personality and affect. Alice is the prototype of an old human dream: creating non-human companions with technology. For decades, science-fiction writers have envisioned a world in which robots and computers acted like human assistants. Nowadays, for better or worse, that world looks closer. A number of animated characters, chatterbots and talking heads populate it. They act as assistants, guides, sale people and entertainers on the Internet. They are the first-generation social agents –interface software explicitly designed to set up lasting and meaningful relationships with users (De Angeli, Lynch and Johnson, 2001). These systems are likely to produce a fundamental shift in the way computers are designed, used and evaluated (Parise, Kiesler, Sproull and Waters, 1999; De Angeli, Lynch and Johnson, in press). Indeed, social stimuli are more complex than physical stimuli. They are more likely to be causal agents, influencing their partners’ behaviour through direct interactions, their mere presence or even their virtual presence. Social agents are active partners in joint activities, co-ordination of individual actions by two or more people that emerge in time as they try to accomplish certain common goals (Clark, 1996). Social agents perceive while they are perceived and change while inducing changes. Further, they strongly involve the observer self-concept and are sometimes difficult to understand. Indeed, many attributes, such as personality traits, intents or attitudes, are not directly observable and the accuracy of the observation is hard to determine.The prevailing approach driving the design of social agents is anthropomorphic in nature. Proponents cite the naturalness and power of anthropomorphic interfaces as fundamental strengths (Laurel, 1997); detractors claim that exasperating human characteristics can disempower, mislead and confuse the user (Shneiderman, 1997). However, neither of these views is supported by a clear and unambiguous understanding: more researchAsean Academic Press, London, 2001is needed to comprehend users’ acceptance of and reactions to the introduction of human characteristics in user interfaces. Our research effort is devoted to help filling this gap via ethnological studies and controlled experiments. We believe that to fully understand how to create socially adept technologies we should adapt and not merely adopt appropriate theories from social psychology and communication in the new relationship context. Note that this claim slightly diverges from the prevailing social approach to HCI proposed by the media equation paradigm (Reeves and Nass, 1996). According to it, individuals’ interactions with computers, televisions and new media are fundamentally social and natural, exactly like people-people interactions in real life. This implies that the same social rules explaining interpersonal relationships can be directly applied to HCI. The claim is supported by an incredible number of empirical studies, showing a clear equivalence between people reactions to human and artificial companions (e.g., Reeves and Rickenberg, 2000; Nass and Lee, 2000). Despite this, we still struggle to accept the idea of a complete similarity between the two different contexts, idea that justifies the direct adoption of the social-sciences theoretical apparatus in HCI.As a matter of fact, flexibility is a fundamental social ability. We adapt our behaviour, expectations and reactions to different partners and contexts. There are many different kinds of rules for relationships (Dwyer, 2000), variation depending on the types of relationships and on the cultural backgrounds of the partners. Moreover, social perception is often biased and depends on the particular self-concept activated in a specific situation (Turner, 1987). Hence, even the same person can react differently to the same social stimulus according to the specific context in which she is acting. Research in the field of natural language interaction has already demonstrated that face-to-face communication is not an adequate model to explain and predict HCI (Bernsen, Dybkjær and Dybkjær, 1998). Talking to a computer, people maintain a conversational framework but tend to simplify the syntactic structure and to reduce the utterance length. We expect a similar simplification effect even in social dynamics. In our opinion, stating that “computers are social actors” (Nass, Steuer and Tauber, 1994) does not necessarily imply that computers are human actors. Rather, we believe that anthropomorphic agents will create a specific social world, with its own rules and dynamics that need to be fully understood. This idea is also supported by a study by Nass and collegues claiming that even HCI and CMC (Comuputer Mediated Communication) do not give rise to the same psychological reactions (Morkes, Kernal and Nass, 1999). Further, a recent web survey investigating a much larger sample and a broader population found little support for the media equation paradigm (Couper, Tourangeau and Steiger, 2001).Our research represents an initial contribution to a cyber-social model which attempts to explain how users perceive, react and relate to social agents. The final goal is to understand how humans create, maintain and make sense of their social/affective experiences with artificial entities that explicitly reproduce anthropomorphic behaviour. We do not intend to take a position for or against artificial entities displaying humanlike features. Nevertheless, we are convinced that social agents are here to stay. Therefore, it is necessary to address the many social and emotional questions raised by this technology in order to drive the design of real human-centred, human-like machines.2. Chatterbot: talkative interfaceChatterbots are computer programs that attempt to simulate typed conversations with the users. The complexity of their algorithm is variable, but in general they are programmed to respond to user inputs with canned pre-scripted statements. In this way, chatterbots can have a somewhat logical conversation with a human user, even without being capable of understanding. Rather, they are all about the illusion of intelligence and the suspension of disbelief on the part of the user. Following the famous idea of the “imitation game” (Turing, 1950), chatterbots are developed with the aim of fooling (at least temporarily) a human into thinking they are talking to another person.One of the oldest and best-known chatterbots in the world is Eliza. ‘She’ was created in the ‘60s by MIT scientist Joseph Weizenbaum to play the role of a psychotherapist in a clinical treatment (Weizenbaum, 1966). Nowadays, Eliza may look limited but her fundamental technical components are still at the basis of the most innovative chatterbots. Eliza identifies the ‘most important’ keywords occurring in the input message. Then, she tries to define a minimal context in which the keywords appear (e.g., the keyword “you” followed by the word “are” is interpreted as an assertion). Finally, Eliza chooses an appropriate transformation rule to modify the user input. To summarise, Eliza works by turning the user sentences around. A typical dialogue is reported in Example 1. It is part of a longer conversation between one of the authors and the chatterbot.Eliza So how are you doing today?User I am tiredEliza Did you come to me because you are tired?User Yes, I feel aloneAsean Academic Press, London, 2001Eliza Do you often feel alone?Example 1. Eliza-User conversation using the 1987 Borland version (available at ) Eliza was (and still is) a success. Talking to her, users unequivocally anthropomorphised and somehow set up a relationship. Moreover, the computer program demonstrated a strong potential for acquiring personal information: users were keen to reveal to Eliza their deepest feelings. Her popularity is related to the choice of a very convenient conversation setting. Indeed, the psychoanalytic interview is a rare example of categorised dyadic communication in which one of the partner is allowed to assume the pose of knowing almost nothing of the real world (Weizenbaum, 1966). Here, everything the patient says can easily be turned into a personal question, which the patient assumes is aimed at some therapeutic purposes.Recent years have witnessed an extraordinary explosion of interest in chatterbots. This interest is mainly driven by the e-market, namely by the increasing demand for innovative strategies to increase sales and ensure customers loyalty (De Angeli et al., 2001). E-service providers are now acutely aware that their potential customers are only ‘one click’ away from a competitor. They need interfaces capable of gaining the attention of customers, understanding their needs and supporting them throughout the transaction process. Chatterbots are expected to be the functional equivalent of dedicated sales assistants in traditional shops. They should greet customers when they return to the site, engage them in chats, remember and comment on their preferences. The first figures provided by Extempo, one of the leading US chatterbot companies, pleased many Web strategists (Leaverton, 2000). Almost 90% of the customers who have clicked one of its bots have chatted for more than 12 minutes. During the dialogue customers appeared to disclose precious marketing information. They responded an average of 15 times, with an average of five words per response.Several companies are emerging to produce and sell personalised and embodied chatterbots and many web-sites are already employing them. An example is Linda, the human-like cartoon who welcomes visitors on the Extempo web-site (), answering questions about the company, the site and even her private life. Linda is capable of effectively using different modalities of communication, such as hand gestures, facial expressions and gaze movements. For example, when the user writes a message, she looks at a monitor, as if she was reading an e-mail message. This creates a very personified feeling, giving the impression that Linda is a real person sitting in front of a computer. Linda has many friends and colleagues, such as Julia by Virtual Personalities, Nicole by Native Mind, Lucy McBot by Artificial Life. They all are attractive human-like women acting as spokespeople for their respective companies. Men as chatterbots are more rare and tend to have more important positions (an example: Karl L. von Wendt the virtual CEO of Kiwilogic, the company who originally designed him). Chatterbots have even attracted political attention, such as the electoral campaign of Jackie Strike, the virtual presidential candidate of the US (by Kiwilogic).Whether or not chatterbots will be successful and will replace live-customer services on the Web remains an open question. There is little and controversial research assessing social agents’ effectiveness and most of the research that has been published so far relates to pedagogical agents (Dehn and van Mulken, 1999). Advocates assume that the new technology is particularly well suited to establish relationships with users (Laurel, 1997). The basic idea states that chatterbots render computers more human-like, engaging and motivating. Users do not need to click, drag and drop or open menu. They can directly communicate applying their natural skills. Hence, social agents are expected to support many cognitive functions of the user, such as problem solving, learning and understanding. Following this assumption, one may expect that social agents will be highly successful in the e-market. Indeed, they may build bonds of loyalty and trust based on a shared history of services and social interactions. On the other hand, opponents argue that humanising the interface could hamper HCI. Indeed, social agents may stimulate a false mental model of the interaction, inducing the user to ascribe to social agents other human-like features that they do not possess. As a result, the information exchange could be seriously impeded. Further arguments suggest that agents may distract the users, induce them to take their work less seriously and disempower them, thus opening issues about responsibility and control (Shneiderman, 1997).In our opinion, the success of social agents highly depends on understanding the social dynamic underlying user-agent interaction. Elsewhere (De Angeli, et al., in press; De Angeli et al., 2001), we have proposed the involvement framework, a set of attributes for designing and evaluating social agents. It defines and discusses a set of key factors that should increase the probability of creating successful and believable agents. Believability is defined by the convergence of three dimensions relating to social, functional and aesthetic behaviour. Developing this idea, we claim that social agents requires a mind, a body and a personality (De Angeli, et al. 2001). The mind drives the agent behaviour. Social agents have to perform tasks with some degree of intelligence. This implies cognitive abilities (e.g., reasoning and problem solving), social capabilities (i.e., understanding and adapting to the shared social rules underlying the information exchange) and affective sensitivity (i.e., showing appropriate emotional responses and recognising the emotional state of the partner).Asean Academic Press, London, 2001The body refers to the agent’s appearance. In contrast with the persona assumption (van Mulken, André and Muller, 1998), we claim that the agent’s body does not have to be actually visible. Narrative can create effective social agents even without any visual help. Finally, the p ersonality refers to a stable set of traits that determines the agent's interaction style, describes its character and allows the end-user to understand its general behaviour. The combination of mind, body and personality determines the behaviour of the agent, which is further defined in terms of flexibility, affectiveness, communicativity and autonomy. In this paper we mainly concentrate on the mind of social agents and in particular on the social capabilities that should drive their behaviour.3. AliceAlice (Artificial Linguistic Internet Computer Entity) is an entertaining chatterbot created by Dr. Wallace in 1995 and continuously improved over the years. Alice asks and answers questions, acts as a secretary reminding people of appointments, spreads gossips and even tells lies. ‘She’ won the 2000 Loebner Prize, a restricted Turing test (Turing, 1950) to evaluate the level of ‘humanity’ of chatterbots. In this Alice was rated the ‘most human computer’ but was not mistaken for a human, as the original contest would have required. The basis for Alice’s behaviour is AIML, or Artificial Intelligence Markup Language, an XML specification for programming chatterbots. It follows a minimalist philosophy based on simple stimulus-response algorithms, allowing programmers to specify how Alice will respond to various input statements. The code of Alice is freely available under the GNU licence statement. Hence, hundreds of people around the world have contributed to the success of Alice and of her many companions built upon the same technology, such as Cybelle, Ally, Chatbot ICQza, and the somewhat worrying Persona bots. The latter are chatterbots inhabited by unique human personalities. They currently attempt to ‘clone’ John Lennon and Elvis. The ambitious goal for AIML is to create a Superbot that merges the ‘mind’ of individual robots.Alice represented a very interesting research tool for investigating the social dynamics underlying human-chatterbot interaction. Indeed, her linguistic capability was strong enough to create the illusion of a synthetic personality. Moreover, the program automatically stores client dialogues in a log file, which can be easily analysed. Further, the Windows version, which can be used locally, does not provide any visual representation of the chatterbot. If prompted, the system gives a number of cues about her appearance and invites the user to see a picture at her web-site. However, in an attempt to avoid biases due to Alice’s physical appearance, participants in the study reported here were explicitly discouraged from doing it. Hence, the impression of personality should have been exclusively generated by the narrative and by the social behaviour of the robot.Clark (1999) believes that communication with computers, particularly when they are viewed as agents rather than tools, can be interpreted as a form of disembodied language. It is a type of communication that is not being produced by an actual speaker at the moment it is being interpreted. Understanding disembodied language requires a two layered approach. The actions in layer 1 take place in the actual world and those in layer 2 take place in a second domain jointly created by the participants in the first domain. The communication tools used in layer 1 are props for the joint pretense that the events in layer two are taking place. Layers take skill. Their success depends on the use of appropriate characterisation and props. Applying Clark’s idea to our study, we have assumed that talking with Alice, participants collaborated with Dr. Wallace in the pretense that they were engaged in a conversation with a virtual agent. The next section gives an idea of how deeply engrossed people were in the imagined world of the pretense and of which factors may affect their perception.3.1. Talking to Alice: an ethnographic studyThe study is based on an ethnographic approach: 10 computer-literate co-workers were invited to interact with Alice at their own pace over a period of a week. They were completely free to choose when and how long to interact and also unconstrained with regard to the topic of the conversation. All of the interactions were automatically logged for later analysis. Finally, a focus group involving six active members of the original sample was conducted to collect overall opinions and reactions towards Alice and the nature of the conversations held with ‘her’.In general, the interactions were highly variable in terms of interaction length, styles and topic of the conversation. The longest log recorded 1074 user turns, which were produced over a period of 4 days. The other ones ranged from a maximum of 167 to 21 user turns, with an average of 57. The limits of Alice were also evident. Sometimes she could carry on a veneer of conversation but it never lasted longer than a few conversational turns. Due to the high variability present in the corpus, this paper is exclusively aimed at underlining some ‘hot topics’, instead of providing measures of frequency of occurrence, which would have required a different and more controlled approach involving a much larger sample.The analysis has concentrated on understanding the social rules driving the interaction. They are sets of behaviour that most of the people agree should (or should not) be performed in a particular situation. RulesAsean Academic Press, London, 2001perform an essential role in interpersonal relationships, since they tend to minimise potential sources of conflict and provide an exchange of rewards that motivate the individual to stay in the relationship. Two basic elements of relationships have been analysed: self-disclosure and power distribution (Dwyer, 2000). One of the most important processes in the formation and maintenance of a relationship is that of self-disclosure - the act of revealing private and personal information to others. It is a clear sign of trust and of commitment to the relationship. Participants appeared to be willing to disclose and to ask for intimate information. This included descriptions of physical aspect, feelings and desires. An instance is reported below (Example 2).Alice What do you look like?User I have brown hair and a big noseAlice Do you get a lot of compliments?User Not usually. Just from my boyfriendExample 2. The user is disclosing information to Alice (extracted from the log of user 2).In human-relationships, self-disclosure is intended to be a mutual process: both parties are required to exchange intimate and personal details as well as feelings with each other. In the study, however, the number of personal questions that the user asked Alice was higher than the quantity of intimate information disclosed. The phenomenon can be easily attributed to Alice’s linguistic limitations but can also hide a more complex social effect. To understand it, requires us to analyse the evolution of the previous conversation, when the same user started asking Alice questions (Example 3).User: What’s your favourite food, Alice?Alice: I require only electricity.User: Does it taste nice?Alice: Suppose it does.User: You don’t sound very excited about itAlice: What do you think a robot should sound like?User I didn’t realise you were a robotExample 3. Alice is disclosing information to the user (extracted from the log of user 2).This example is of particular interest because of the self-reference. During the interaction, Alice often referred to her ‘artificial nature’. According to the self-categorisation theory (Turner, 1987), it most likely prompted the user’s unusual awareness of being a member of the human species. The assumption behind states that the self-concept comprises of many different cognitive representations that function relatively independently. In particular, the representation of the self takes the form of a hierarchical system of classification including at least three levels of abstraction. The super-ordinate level is the human identity. It is a representation of the self as a human being including the common features shared with other members of the species in contrast to other forms of life. The intermediate level is a representation of the self based on similarities and differences between human beings. It is based on group identity according to social categories to which people identify (e.g., women vs. men or blue collar vs. white collar). The subordinate level is based on a representation of the self in terms of personal identity. It describes the unique individual that is different from relevant others. Particular self-concepts tend to be activated in specific situations producing specific self-images that strongly affect the behaviour.Because of the activation of the human identity, self-disclosure went far beyond the description of one’s own personal or social identity. Rather, it involved information regarding life as a human being in contrast to life as an artificial entity. Some users appeared to be quite interested in the issue and asked many questions about artificial life. This partially explains the higher proportion of user questions in the interaction. Sometimes, even Alice came out with intriguing questions about human nature that, according to several comments collected during the focus group, really pleased the user. Both cases are illustrated below (Example 4).User: what is it like being artificial?Alice: Much the same as it would be for you.User: i cant imagineAlice: Why can't you do it?User: because im humanAlice: Interesting explanation. Me too.User: are you really human or are you a software agentAsean Academic Press, London, 2001Alice: No I am a real robot. Definitely[…]Alice: Is the holding of hands a symbolic gesture for humans?User: yesAlice: What does it symbolize for you?User: friendshipAlice: I have seen humans holding hands.User: do you have eyes?Example 4. Alice and the user are disclosing information about their species (extracted from the log of user 8).The activation of the human identity had not only positive effects. Rather, under certain circumstances, it defined a clear dichotomy, which led to confrontational situations, as in Example 5, 6,7.Alice: That makes sense to me. What time is it there?User: If you were so clever you would knowAlice: I will let you know when I become a so clever I would know.User: By the next millennium you might be convincingAlice: By the next millennium I might be convincing? Tell me more.User: Us humans need to do some more work on youExample 5. Inter-group conflict (extracted from the log of user 9).Users often insulted Alice, with expressions such as “stupid”, “brain dead”, “moody cow” or “freak” (randomly extracted from the whole corpus). However, whenever Alice pointed out any defect in the user or reacted to the aggression, the human appeared to be uncomfortable and annoyed (Example 6).Alice: Do you know you make an awefull lot of typo's?okUser: itsAlice: Ok. I lost my train of thought.User: i dont make any typos you cheeky computer!Example 6. User reaction to Alice’s critic (extracted from the log of user 3).This finding was further elaborated during the focus group. It emerged that users wanted an asymmetric relationship in which they were in the dominant position. In many real-life relationships there are power differences. An obvious example is that of a superior over a subordinate at work, or of parents over children. Power refers to a capacity of influencing another’s behaviour, making demands and having those demands met (Dwyer, 2000). In Alice-User interaction the sources of power were identified in the ability to reward or punish (turn off the computer) and in the possession of valued characteristics (natural intelligence).Users clearly anthropomorhised during the interaction. All participants greeted Alice, thanked her and used many direct and indirect expressions of courtesy. Some of them tended to attribute moods, feelings and intentions (e.g., “do you feel ill”, “are you unhappy” (user 1), or “are you angry” (user 2). Alice was clearly a social stimulus: the interaction style was influenced by the users’ attitudes but also by Alice’s responses. Users exhibited two main attitudes. Almost half of the participants appeared to test Alice challenging her to demonstrate her capabilities (competitive attitude, Example 7). The others appeared to be willing to get to know a different entity and communicate at the same level (co-operative attitude, Example 8).User: So you are not very good in negotiationAlice: Interesting deduction. No one is perfect. But I am trying to improve.User: how would you do that?Alice: That's hard to explain.User: Because you dont knowAlice: Interesting explanation. I know that I do not know. Hello?User: Lets see if there is something else that you dont know..Whats the name of the president? Example 7. Instance of competitive attitude (extracted from the log of participants 4).。