Section C Reading in Depth
Read the following passages carefully and then finish the tasks below．
PASSAGE 1
We’re already accustomed to AI-driven personalization of everything from book and movie recommendations on Amazon and Netflix to music playlists on Spotify．
But 2019 should bring what we could consider“hyper-personalization”to consumers through a range of applications focused on health，finances，shopping and everything in between．This is due to the growing capabilities of AI applications to make more accurate and cost-effective predictions，the ever-larger pool of personal data from which such applications can draw．
Physical health has become a hotbed for AI applications．Nowadays，physicians are always subject to mounting pressure from insurers and their own practice groups to spend less time with patients；the average doctor visit today is about 20 minutes．However，fitness apps and wearables like the Fitbit and Apple Watch can automatically collect people’s data and aggregate these across the user population to generate even more personalized fitness profiles and plans．Suggestions like“Reduce your food intake 210 calories／day to increase your life expectancy by 1．5 years”may not be far off．
The problem to date has been that most fitness app／wearables users tire of entering the foods they’ve eaten—or cheat and choose not to enter them．That results in the“garbage-in，garbage-out”problem：Without accurate data，analyses are meaningless．AI has an answer for that：As AI becomes more advanced，you’ll simply be able to take a picture of what you eat，or the app will monitor food intake through your smart glasses—automating the data collection process．Some apps，like Lose It，are already using this kind of technology．
Mental health is another rising domain of AI application．There will soon be an app for people to understand what times of day they feel most down，or what people bring out their highest and lowest energy levels．Again，the idea is to cut out the middle person：the app user．When we’re in charge of telling a therapist how we feel or entering it into an app，it’s easy for our biases to influence what we share．Apps will be able to do the sensing on their own，using biosensors to monitor heart／breathing rate，galvanic（流电的）skin response，and so forth．Then we can use the comprehensive reports created to fashion lower-stress lifestyles．
Personal finance is increasingly a DIY，or SDI（self-directed investment），domain．AI can also help people with our personal finance．
Applications will increasingly be able to predict our risk appetites and other investmentprofile features by literally“reading between the lines”．For example，a deep-learning algorithm（计算程序）has been developed to analyze verbal or written text to assess the speaker’s／writer’s level of confidence in a given statement．A personal finance app incorporating such technology could ask you to write responses to several different risktolerance scenarios，then assess how confident you really are about each to generate a highly personalized investment plan for the short or long term．
1．How can AI-driven apps make our life easier according to the passage？
A．By facilitating us to make more accurate predictions．
B．By helping us analyze personal data．
C．By providing us with a larger pool of personal data．
D．By giving us customized suggestions and services．
2．What is the advantage the fitness apps have over the physicians？
A．The apps give us suggestions about our health．
B．The apps are able to build a comprehensive health care profile．
C．The apps monitor whether users enter accurate data．
D．The apps are not subject to the pressure that physicians are subject to．
3．What is the solution to the problem of data collection for medical purpose？
A．Reminding users to enter data．
B．Developing more advanced AI apps．
C．Collecting data automatically．
D．Analyzing data with better accuracy．
4．Why don’t the mental health apps involve users in the data collection process？
A．Because users always enter inaccurate information．
B．Because users are reluctant to share their feelings．
C．Because users are always not in charge of telling their feelings．
D．Because users always enter false information on purpose．
5．What are the recommendations for personal finances based on？
A．The integrated personal profile of the users．
B．The level of confidence of the users on the investment．
C．The past investment profile of the users．
D．The personal data the users provide．
PASSAGE 2
The college admissions process produces anxiety for many students and parents，but the anxiety is particularly heightened among Asian American families．The reason：Asian Americans are more likely than other groups to believe that attending an elite university—and preferably an Ivy League one—is a necessary step to a successful career．
A growing body of research has established that Asian Americans tend to disproportionately value prestige when it comes to higher education．In general，Asian Americans would rather be a below-average student at a top 10 school than an above-average student at a top 100 school．Several psychological studies show that white students are more likely to prefer the opposite．
The importance placed on prestige is partly why so many Asian American organizations have joined lawsuits against Harvard and other Ivy League universities for allegedly capping admissions of Asian American students．
But there is also growing evidence that this faith in elite credentials may be misplaced．According to a 2015 investigation by Business Insider，only one CEO of a top 10 Fortune 500 company had gotten their undergraduate degree from an Ivy League university．Only 30% of American-born CEOS of the top 100 companies attended an elite college．
A recent report on leadership diversity at top technology companies found that Asian Americans are the racial group least likely to be promoted into managerial and executive ranks．White men and women are twice as likely as Asians to hold executive positions．And while white women are breaking through the glass ceiling，Asian women are not．
Asian Americans also fall behind in earnings．College-educated，U．S．-born Asian men earn 8% less than white men．Although Asian American women are likely to earn as much as white women，they are less likely to be in a manage role．
There are at least two explanations for why Asian Americans are hitting the ceiling in their professional lives．In numerous interviews with corporate leaders，we learn that Asian Americans are less likely to be seen as leadership material，and are thus given fewer opportunities to advance and succeed．
But research also indicates that Asian Americans are less likely than white and black Americans to engage in civic activity，which is strongly correlated with corporate leaderships．According to the Current Population Survey，17．9% of Asian Americans engage in volunteerism，compared to 26．4% of whites and 19．3% of blacks．Analysis of the 2016 National Asian American Survey shows that only 59% of Asian Americans make charitable contributions，compared to 68% of whites and 65% of blacks．This lack of engagement outside of work is handicapping Asian Americans in their careers．
As the corporate world works to address issues of bias，Asian Americans should consider that what people do in college and afterward is a stronger predictor of success than the status of the college they choose to attend．At the very least，this should help quell the anxiety of high school seniors awaiting admissions from their first-choice schools．
1．Why do Asian Americans think very highly of prestigious universities？
A．Because they would rather be an above-average student at a top 100 school．
B．Because they would rather be a below-average student at a top 10 school．
C．Because they think it’s a great success to get admitted into a prestigious university．
D．Because they think it’s more likely that they will succeed with an elite diploma．
2．Why do Asian American groups file lawsuits against the elite universities？
A．Because the universities judge Asian Americans by different standards．
B．Because the universities allegedly put restrictions on enrolling Asian Americans．
C．Because Asian Americans are allegedly discriminated in the universities．
D．Because Asian Americans hope to be treated differently than other groups．
3．How do Asian Americans do at the American workplace？
A．Asian women are breaking through the glass ceiling．
B．Asian men are breaking through the glass ceiling．
C．Asian women are likely to earn as much as white women．
D．Asian men are likely to earn as much as white men．
4．According to the author，what do Asian Americans lack？
A．Academic intelligence．
B．Extracurricular activities．
C．Managerial experience．
D．Civic engagement．
5．What message does the passage intend to convey？
A．Asian Americans should value less of the prestige of the university．
B．Asian Americans should not be discriminated in the workplace．
C．Asian Americans should develop their leadership skills．
D．Asian Americans should be more valued in the workplace．
PASSAGE 3
LG Electronics Inc．will exit its unprofitable smartphone business after years of struggling to compete with industry leaders Apple Inc．and Samsung Electronics Co．，as well as fastgrowing Chinese rivals．It wasn’t an unexpected move，following years of speculation about a pullback and after Chief Executive Kwon Bong-seok declared in January that all options were under consideration regarding the mobile division’s fate．
The Seoul-based firm，following a unanimous board vote Monday，said it would halt mobile phone production and sales by July 31．LG had once been the world’s third-largest phone maker by shipments and remained the biggest U．S．vendor after Apple and Samsung．But LG’s overall phone business has withered in the past six years or so．It has been in the red for 23 straight quarters，with the accumulated losses exceeding＄4．4 billion．
The move allows LG to givepriority to future growth drivers，such as electricvehiclecomponents and robotics，andfocus on a home-appliances business that boomed during the pandemic（大流行病），the company said．The South Korean electronics giant，despite the mobile losses，is expected to forecast record first-quarter operating profits in a disclosure due later this week，according to industry analysts．
LG，which first broke intomobile-phones business in1995，has found itself caught in the middle of a smartphone industry transitioning to next-generation 5Gtechnology．On the high end，Apple andSamsung can fetch＄1，000 ormore for their newest gadgetsby relying on powerful brands．On the lower end，firms selling handsets for just several hundred dollars have eked out（勉强维持）profits by paying other contract firms to do the engineering and design work，while giving up pricier advertising channelsfor online-only campaigns．
That has left LG in an unsteady state，given that itsother lines of business in flats creen televisions，kitchen appliances and other gadgetry compete with the top players for the deepest-pocketed buyers，said Tom Kang，a Seoul-based research director at Counterpoint Research，a market researcher．About 90% of LG’s phones were being designed and engineered externally，he added．“The bigbosses start to think，‘Why are we in this business if all weare doing is putting our brandon it？’”Mr．Kang said．
LG Electronics’shares roseafter the smartphone-exit announcement Monday morning，though ended the day down2．5%．The mobile business represented about 8% of LG’s total annual revenue last year．In a regulatory filing，LG said the move would hurt its revenue in subsequent months，though would ultimately help it improve its business and financial health．Dropping the phone business could improve annual profit by up to 800 billion South Korean won（about＄708 million）in the coming years，said Jeff Kim，deputy head of research at Seoul-based KB Securities．
LG represented just 2．2% of the smartphone market in 2020，and was the ninth-largest vendor，according to market researcher Strategy Analytics．It was strongest in theU．S．，its home market of South Korea and Brazil．The company’s failures didn’t result from a lack of flash．LG has won various industry innovation awards over the years touting its experimental phone designs and features．
Its G8 ThinQ device from2019 boasted“Hand ID”technology，where a front-facing camera could unlock the phone by reading the lines and contours of a user’s palm．The upper display of LG’s dual-screen Wing handset，released last year，could turn 90 degrees，forming a T-shape that made multitasking easier．Itonce released a customizable，modular-design phone that let users exchange its batteries with external batteries within seconds．But those creative devices failed to win a broad audience．Just one of every 10 LG phones were priced at＄300 ormore，meaning the company’s sales were overwhelmingly catering to buyers not looking for all the bells and whistles，said Woody Oh，a Seoul-based analyst at Strategy Analytics．
With LG on the way out，rivals offering lower-priced phones in the U．S．，South Korea and Brazil，including Samsung，Alphabet Inc．’s Google Pixel and Chinese upstarts，could scoop up extra market share，Mr．Oh added．Chinese smartphone brands—including Huawei Technologies Co．，Xiaomi，Vivo Electronics Corp．And Oppo Electronics Corp．—accounted for a record 57% combined market share in 2020，according to Strategy Analytics．Two decades ago，Chinese phone makers hadn’t cracked 1% of global sales．
Questions 1-6
Complete the summary below．
Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer．
LG Electronics Inc．，the Seoul-based firm，first broke into mobile-phones business in 1995 and later grew into the world’s 1____________phone maker by shipments．However，LG’s overall phone business has 2____________in the past few years．It has found itself stuck in the middle of a smartphone industry 3____________to the next-generation 5G technology．After billions of dollars of 4____________，LG said it would 5____________its smartphone business，so as to focus on its other lines of business and give 6____________to future growth drivers．
Questions 7-10
Look at the following statements（Questions 7-10）and the list of people in the box below．Match each statement with the correct person A-D．
7．Exiting the phone business would benefit the company financially．
8．The firm’s phones were outsourced to contract firms．
9．All options were explored with regard to the mobile phone’s fate．
10．Other phone-making companies will benefit from LG’s dropping its phone business．
A．Kwon Bong-seok
B．Woody Oh
C．Tom Kang
D．Jeff Kim