Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba has released a major upgrade to its Quark application, introducing the “New Quark” app equipped with an innovative “AI Super Box.” This update marks a strategic shift for Alibaba as it aims to redefine how users interact with artificial intelligence in their daily lives. Powered by Alibaba’s advanced Qwen reasoning model, New Quark integrates diverse functions — from academic research to travel planning — into a single, user-friendly interface (界面). Notably, this is the first time Alibaba has fully applied its own foundation models to consumer products.
The upgraded Quark combines a chatbot, deep research tools, and task execution (执行) features to assist users with complex needs. Unlike traditional search engines, it handles multi-part questions and provides detailed follow-up responses with reference links for verification. For example, students can request a step-by-step analysis of a physics problem, while professionals might ask for a presentation outline with supporting data. Additionally, New Quark keeps popular tools like image generation and medical diagnostics, positioning itself as an all-round companion for both work and personal tasks.
Central to the upgrade is Alibaba’s Qwen model, which surpasses many mainstream AI systems in real-time information accuracy and depth. Benchmarked against competitors such as DeepSeek, the Qwen model enables Quark to analyze and synthesize (综合) data from multiple sources quickly. Alibaba plans to invest over $1 billion in the next three years to upgrade AI infrastructure, including cloud computing and AI-native apps, directly supporting Quark’s evolution. New Quark enters a competitive market dominated by apps like ByteDance’s Doubao and OpenAI’s ChatGPT, with a gradual rollout starting with a pilot phase on March 13.
Wu Jia, Quark’s CEO, emphasized that this upgrade is “just the beginning,” with plans to evolve Quark into a gateway for limitless AI exploration. Meanwhile, Alibaba CEO Eddie Wu noted that integrating large AI models could revolutionize productivity and content creation.
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1.1. What’s special about the New Quark?
A It works just like traditional search engines.
B It only uses common models for its functions.
C It combines multiple functions for various needs.
D It focuses only on academic research tasks.
解析：选C。C 细节理解题。根据第一、二段内容可知，新夸克将从学术研究到旅行规划等各种功能集成到一个单一的、用户友好的界面中，结合了聊天机器人、深度研究工具和任务执行功能，以帮助用户满足复杂的需求。即它整合了多种功能来满足不同的需求。故选C。
2.2. What does the underlined word “verification” probably mean?
A Confirmation.
B Exploration.
C Creation.
D Explanation.
解析：选A。A 词义猜测题。根据语境，新夸克提供参考链接以及详细的后续回复。这些参考链接的目的是让用户去查证和确认回复的准确性。故选A。
3.3. What do we know about the Qwen model from the passage?
A It can’t match DeepSeek in any performance aspect.
B It helps New Quark process diverse data swiftly.
C It will be phased out soon due to its limitations.
D It’s mainly applied to old-style search engines.
解析：选B。B 细节理解题。根据第三段的“the Qwen model enables Quark to analyze and synthesize data from multiple sources quickly.”可知，通义千问模型使新夸克能够快速处理来自多种来源的数据。故选B。
4.4. What is the main idea of the passage?
A Alibaba’s new business strategy in commerce.
B The development of AI technology in China.
C The upgrade of Alibaba’s Quark application.
D The competition between different AI apps.
解析：选C。C 主旨大意题。文章主要讲述了阿里巴巴旗下夸克宣布重磅升级，推出多功能“AI超级框”新夸克，介绍了新夸克的功能、技术以及未来发展潜力等。故选C。
