יש לקרוא את הטקסט ולענות על השאלות באנגלית. אין להשתמש במילון: מילים שאינן ברשימות אוצר המילים מוסברות ברשימת המילים שמתחת לטקסט. אפשר לענות במילים שלך, אלא אם השאלה מבקשת להעתיק מהטקסט.
Read the text and answer the questions in English. You may not use a dictionary; words outside the vocabulary bands are explained in the word list under the text. Answer in your own words if the question does not ask for words from the text.
An interview with Lior Ben-Ami, 18, inventor of the SmartSort bin
Last month, Lior Ben-Ami, a high-school student from the north of the
country, won first prize at a national young scientists' competition for
SmartSort, a bin that sorts recycling by itself. We met him in his parents'
garage, which over the past two years has become his workshop.
How did the idea come about?
"Honestly, it began with an argument. At home we have four different
bins – for plastic, paper, glass and everything else – and my younger
brothers kept throwing things into the wrong one. My mum would get annoyed
and take everything out again. I thought: if people can't be bothered to
sort their rubbish, maybe a machine can do it for them."
How does SmartSort work?
"There's a small camera inside the lid. When you drop something in, the
camera takes a picture, and a program compares it to thousands of images it
has learned from. Within about a second, it identifies what the object is
made of, and a little flap directs it into the correct compartment. At the
moment it's accurate about 94 percent of the time."
That sounds complicated. Did you know how to do all this?
"Not at all! I knew some basic programming, but nothing about machine
learning. I followed online courses for months, and I failed again and
again. My first version was convinced that every bottle was a banana. I also
photographed more than 8,000 pieces of rubbish myself to train it. My family
thought I'd lost my mind."
What was the hardest part?
"Persevering. There were weeks when nothing worked and I was tempted to
give up. My physics teacher kept reminding me that every failure is just
more information. That sentence really helped me."
Do you think a machine is the real solution?
"Not completely. SmartSort can help, but the best rubbish is the rubbish
we never create. If my bin makes people stop and think about what they throw
away, that's already a success."
What's next?
"A company has offered to help me develop SmartSort further, but I want
to finish school first. My dream is to make a cheaper version for schools,
because that's where habits begin."
Exercices
Part A — Understanding the text
Exercice 1
What do we learn from the introduction? Choose the correct answer. (lines 1–4)
Voir la réponse et le corrigé
Réponse : B Lior won a national prize for a bin that sorts recycling.
Exercice 2
How did an argument at home lead to the idea for SmartSort? (lines 6–10)
Voir la réponse et le corrigé
Réponse : {{en|His younger brothers kept throwing things into the wrong bin, and his mother got annoyed and took everything out again. Lior thought that if people cannot be bothered to sort their rubbish, a machine could do it for them.}}
Exercice 3
Complete the table: how SmartSort works. (lines 12–16)
1. You drop something into the bin.
2. ___
3. ___
4. ___
2. ___
Voir la réponse et le corrigé
Réponse : {{en|a small camera inside the lid takes a picture}}
Exercice 4
Complete the table: how SmartSort works. (lines 12–16)
1. You drop something into the bin.
2. ___
3. ___
4. ___
3. ___
Voir la réponse et le corrigé
Réponse : {{en|a program compares it to thousands of images and identifies what the object is made of (within about a second)}}
Exercice 5
Complete the table: how SmartSort works. (lines 12–16)
1. You drop something into the bin.
2. ___
3. ___
4. ___
4. ___
Voir la réponse et le corrigé
Réponse : {{en|a little flap directs it into the correct compartment}}
Exercice 6
Complete the sentence. (lines 15–16)
SmartSort is accurate about ____ percent of the time, so it makes a mistake with about ____ objects out of every hundred.
Voir la réponse et le corrigé
Réponse : SmartSort is accurate about 94 percent of the time, so it makes a mistake with about 6 objects out of every hundred.
Exercice 7
Before he started, Lior already knew a lot about machine learning.
Voir la réponse et le corrigé
Réponse : Faux · “nothing about machine learning”
Exercice 8
Lior took the photos that were used to train SmartSort himself.
Voir la réponse et le corrigé
Réponse : Vrai · “I also photographed more than 8,000 pieces of rubbish myself to train it”
Exercice 9
Lior's family thought his project was a normal hobby.
Voir la réponse et le corrigé
Réponse : Faux · “My family thought I'd lost my mind”
Exercice 10
Lior says: "My first version was convinced that every bottle was a banana." What does this example show about the early stages of the project? (lines 19–20)
Voir la réponse et le corrigé
Réponse : {{en|At first the program made many (funny) mistakes / did not work well; it took a lot of work and failures before it became accurate.}}
Exercice 11
What helped Lior to continue when he wanted to give up? Explain the idea in your own words. (lines 24–26)
Voir la réponse et le corrigé
Réponse : {{en|His physics teacher kept reminding him that every failure is just more information. This means that a mistake is not the end: you learn from it and use it to improve.}}
Part B — Thinking about the text
Exercice 12
According to Lior, what is the best answer to the rubbish problem? Choose the correct answer. (lines 27–30)
Voir la réponse et le corrigé
Réponse : B creating less rubbish
Exercice 13
Lior wants to make a cheaper version of SmartSort for schools. (lines 32–34)
Why does he want to do this?
Voir la réponse et le corrigé
Réponse : {{en|Because schools are where habits begin: children who learn to sort rubbish at school will keep doing it.}}
Exercice 14
Lior wants to make a cheaper version of SmartSort for schools. (lines 32–34)
Do you agree that schools are "where habits begin"? Explain.
Voir la réponse et le corrigé
Réponse : {{en|Personal answer: clear opinion + good reason or example + clear English.}}
Part C — Vocabulary
Exercice 15
Complete the sentences with words from the list. There are two extra words.
Words: achieve · contribute · device · essential · eventually · reluctant · waste
The new ____ is small enough to fit in your pocket.
Voir la réponse et le corrigé
Réponse : The new device is small enough to fit in your pocket.
Exercice 16
Complete the sentences with words from the list. There are two extra words.
Words: achieve · contribute · device · essential · eventually · reluctant · waste
At first Maya was ____ to join the team, but her friends persuaded her.
Voir la réponse et le corrigé
Réponse : At first Maya was reluctant to join the team, but her friends persuaded her.
Exercice 17
Complete the sentences with words from the list. There are two extra words.
Words: achieve · contribute · device · essential · eventually · reluctant · waste
Clean water is ____ for good health.
Voir la réponse et le corrigé
Réponse : Clean water is essential for good health.
Exercice 18
Complete the sentences with words from the list. There are two extra words.
Words: achieve · contribute · device · essential · eventually · reluctant · waste
After many failures, the scientists ____ found a solution.
Voir la réponse et le corrigé
Réponse : After many failures, the scientists eventually found a solution.
Exercice 19
Complete the sentences with words from the list. There are two extra words.
Words: achieve · contribute · device · essential · eventually · reluctant · waste
Everyone can ____ to a cleaner environment by recycling.
Voir la réponse et le corrigé
Réponse : Everyone can contribute to a cleaner environment by recycling.