Computerised trading agents may help humans build better markets
THANKS to declining markets, investment banks are getting rid of many of their highly-paid traders. When markets recover, the banks might be tempted to replace them with rather cheaper talent. One alternative has been around for a while but has yet to catch on: autonomous trading agents-computers programmed to act like the human version without such annoying costs as holidays, lunch breaks or bonuses. Program trading has, of course, been done before; some blamed the 1987 stock market crash on computers instructed with simple decision-making rules. But robots can be smarter than that.
Dave Cliff, a researcher at Hewlett-Packard Laboratories in Bristol, England, has been creating trading robots for seven years. In computer simulations he lets them evolve "genetically", and so allows them to adapt and fit models of real-world financial markets. His experiments have suggested that a redesign of some markets could lead to greater efficiency. Last year, a research group at IBM showed that Mr Cliff's artificial traders could consistently beat the human variety, in various kinds of market. Nearly all take the shape of an auction(拍賣). One well-known type is the English auction, familiar to customers of the salesrooms(拍賣場)of Christie's and Sotheby's, where sellers keep mum on their offer price, and buyers increase their bids by stages until only one remains.
At the other extreme is the Dutch auction, familiar to 17th-century tulip-traders in the Netherlands as well as to bidders for American Treasury bonds. Here, buyers remain silent, and a seller reduces his price until it is accepted. Most markets for shares, commodities, foreign exchange and derivatives are a mixture of these two types: buyers and sellers can announce their bid or offer prices at any time, and deals are constantly being closed, a so-called "continuous double auction".
Mr Cliff's novel idea was to apply his evolutionary computer programs to marketplaces themselves. Why not, he thought, try and see what types of auction would let traders converge(趨同) most quickly towards a balance price? The results were surprising. In his models, auctions that let buyers and sellers bid at any time like most of today's financial exchanges were less efficient than ones that required relatively more bids from either buyers or sellers. These "evolved auctions" also withstood big market shocks, such as crashes and panics, better than today's real-world versions. Mr Cliff's most recent results, which will be presented in Sydney, Australia, on December 10th, show that the best type of auction for any market depends crucially on even slight differences in the number of buyers and sellers.
Bank of America has been investigating these new auctions, along with robotic traders, for possible use in electronic exchanges. The hope is that today's financial auctions and online marketplaces might work better by becoming more like their English and Dutch ancestors.
1.What is the passage mainly about?
A. A review of two kinds of auctions.     B. An introduction of trading robots.
C. A survey of the trading market.        D. About trading alternatives.
2.Which of the following is true according to the text?
A. Mr Cliff’s robot traders have now been used in real-world markets.
B. Robot traders can evolve like creatures.
C. There is room for improvement in efficiency in trading markets.
D. The English auction is the most popular trading form.
3.What can we infer from the text?
A. Existing auctions cannot withstand market shocks
B. The Dutch auction is better than the continuous double auction
C. It’s hard for traders to reach a balanced price
D. The best type of auction takes place when the number of the buyers is equal to that of sellers
4.What’s the author’s attitude toward robot traders?
A. Prejudiced         B. Objective            C. Critical                D. Optimistic

小題1:B
小題2:C
小題3:B
小題4:D
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科目：高中英語 來源：不詳 題型：完形填空


第Ⅱ卷（非選擇題，共35分）
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科目：高中英語 來源：不詳 題型：完形填空


第二節(jié)完形填空（共20小題，每小題1.5分，滿分30分）
閱讀下面短文，掌握其大意，然后從36-55各題所給的四個選項(A、B、C和D)中，選出最佳選項。
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科目：高中英語 來源：不詳 題型：閱讀理解


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科目：高中英語 來源：不詳 題型：完形填空


第二節(jié) 完型填空（共20小題；每小題1.5分，滿分30分）
閱讀下面短文，掌握其大意，然后從36至55各題所給的四個選項中，選出最佳選項，并在答題卡上將該項涂黑。
As the first report of the accident came in, Burton was sitting in his office on the top floor of the building．Immediately,   36   the seriousness of the whole incident, he   37   down to a ground floor room with a small waiting-room to look into the matter himself, leaving his colleagues to   38   all other cases．
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Burton   45   that regrettably it would be necessary for her to go to court because of the serious   46   of the disaster． More he could not say at present． He’d be thankful if the woman
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“Next witness, please．” He said．
36．A．remembering        B．guessing             C．supposing           D．realizing
37．A．moved            B．stepped              C．came             D．raced
38．A．take on           B．take in              C．take over           D．take off
39．A．prisoner           B．witness              C．murderer          D．lawyer
40．A．that                B．when                C．what              D．how
41．A．Therefore         B．However             C．Otherwise          D．Finally
42．A．hardly            B．simply              C．completely        D．nearly
43．A．memorizing        B．checking             C．organizing         D．improving
44．A．school           B．house               C．station            D．scene
45．A．predicted          B．spoken              C．taught             D．explained
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47．A．should            B．might               C．could             D．must
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52．A．to                B．with                C．for                 D．into
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科目：高中英語 來源：不詳 題型：完形填空


第二節(jié)完形填空（共20小題；每小題1分，滿分20分）
　 閱讀下面短文，從短文后所給各題的四個選項（A、B、C和D）中，并在答題卡上將該項涂黑。
Once upon a time there was a group of tiny frogs that held a running competition. The 36 was to reach the top of a very high tower. A big crowd had  37  around the tower to see the race and cheer on the  38 .
The race began,  39 , no one in the crowd really  40  that the tiny frogs would reach the top of the tower. You heard  41  such as, “They will never  42  it to the top.” or “There is no  43  that they will succeed. The tower is too high!”
The tiny frogs began  44 , one by one, except for those who were climbing  45  in different paces.
The crowd continued to yell, “It’s too difficult!  46  will make it!”
47  tiny frogs got tired and gave up,  48  one continued higher and higher.
49 , everyone else had given up climbing the tower, except for one tiny frog. After a lot of  50 , he was the only one who reached the top! Then all the other tiny frogs  51  wanted to know how this one frog  52  to do it?
A competitor asked the tiny frog how he had found the  53  to succeed and reach the goal. It turned out that the winner was  54 !
Never listen to other people’s tendencies to be negative or pessimistic…because they  55  your most wonderful dreams and wishes away from you--- the one you have in your heart!
36. A. wish         B. goal        C. plan        D. idea
37. A. looked      B. walked    C. turned     D. gathered
38. A. competitors        B. holders   C. actors     D. performers
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40. A. wondered  B. believed         C. guessed    D. hoped
41. A. statements    B. conclusions    C. arguments       D. explanations
42. A. achieve     B. spot   C. encourage D. make
43. A. problem   B. chance    C. doubt      D. favor
44. A. giving up  B. cheering up    C. escaping  D. settling down
45. A. faster and faster             B. higher and higher  
C. farther and farther           D. stronger and stronger
46. A. No one    B. Everyone       C. Anyone    D. Someone
47. A. Fewer      B. Less        C. More       D. Larger  
48. A. and   B. but         C. so    D. or
49. A. At the same time   B. At each time      C. At no time      D. In the end
50. A. step   B. attempt   C. effort      D. jump
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科目：高中英語 來源：不詳 題型：閱讀理解


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A. Before Francesco Sanna came to China, he only works in Italy.
B. Francesco studied cooking for 13 years.
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D. You can enjoy only 30 kinds of organic food in the Shanghai Hotel.
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A. TEL: 021-6359-9999 ext 4210          B. TEL: 021-2321-8888
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