1 . Simone Biles was born in 1997. Soon, her parents found that she couldn’t sit still. When she was 6 years old, her day-care group went on a field trip to a gym. Simone loved watching the gymnasts train and performances. She couldn’t just watch them, though—she had to try their moves. She was so good that one of the coaches sent a letter home with her, inviting Simone to take gymnastics classes.
Simone loved the classes, and she was excellent at climbing, swinging, jumping, and tumbling(翻筋斗). Though she had a lot to learn, the coaches could hardly keep up with Simone. When one, girl performed a standing back tuck(翻折), Simone was sure she could do one too. Her coach didn’t believe her, so Simone tried the trick and made it on the spot.
At 9, Simone learned why she couldn’t sit still: She had ADHD(多动症). Her brain moved fast and her body did too—which made it hard for her to concentrate in school but which also made her an amazing gymnast. “The challenges we face help define who we are,” Simone, wrote. “My challenge is also my superpower.” Simone’s superpower would help make her one of the most dynamic gymnasts ever seen.
Simone is one of the greatest athletes in history. At age 16, she won two gold medals at the Artistic Gymnastics World Championships(AGWC), including the all-around(the total score from competing in all events). She has now won 25 world medals, 19 of them gold. That’s the most in world gymnastics history.
Simone competed in her first Olympics in 2016. She was the first female U. S. gymnast to win four gold medals in an Olympic Games. Since then, Simone has debuted(首次呈现)some moves never successfully done in world competitions, including a double-double dismount(下马)from the balance beam. The move became known as the Biles. Several signature moves have been named after Simone.
1. Who found Simone Biles’ gymnastics talent?| A．Her parents. | B．A tour guide. |
| C．A gymnastics coach. | D．Her kindergarten teacher. |
| A．A disease. | B．An accident. |
| C．A superpower. | D．A family tradition. |
| A．She has now won 25 world gold medals. |
| B．Some competitions are named after Simone. |
| C．She won two gold medals at AGWC in 2013. |
| D．She competed in her first Olympics at 21. |
| A．A research paper. | B．A travel brochure. |
| C．A chemistry textbook. | D．A sports magazine. |
2 . Daniel Brush, an astonishing worker in gold, jewels and steel died on November 2022, aged 75. Students from a jewellery school once came to Brush’s studio, a loft in mid-Manhattan, awed to be meeting a figure who, to them, was a worker of miracles.
For 45 years in that loft, he had pursued his calling. His wife Olivia was the only company. He produced hundreds of objects of all sorts, most of them exquisite and many astonishingly small. Rather than use electricity, he laboured alone in a forest of antique machines and when tools frustrated him he made his own, displaying them in cupboards as art in themselves.
Above all else, he worked in gold. His obsession took fire when at 13 he saw an Etruscan gold bowl in the Victoria and Albert Museum. The ancient technique of applying gold beads as fine as sand-grains to a curved gold surface without solder (焊接), was stunning, but so was the lightness of spirit.
He resolved then that he would make such a bowl, and gold became the study of his life. Simply to watch it melt, turn to red-hot and white-hot, then glow purple, was magical. To hold pure gold grain and let it move slowly through his fingers restored his calm of spirit. His chief motivation, he said, was to understand the material and, through that, himself. He wondered why his heart had beaten so fast in the museum that day. Gold in particular had a message for him. His contact with this glorious metal might focus all his attention and help him to hear it.
He developed delicate craftsmanship, with each object virtually a museum piece. For Daniel Brush, he loved the idea that one might take a piece made by Brush out of a pocket, let its beauty pass from mind to mind, and smile. That too was what its maker was after.
1. What can we learn about Daniel Brush?| A．Students visited him regularly. |
| B．He began to live in his loft in 1975. |
| C．He tended to use ancient crafts to produce objects. |
| D．Most objects he produced were of a surprisingly small size. |
| A．He wanted to learn more about both gold and himself. |
| B．He wondered why his heart had beat fast in the museum. |
| C．His calm was restored when gold grain moved through fingers. |
| D．Gold had a particular message for him and he was eager to hear it. |
| A．Stubborn. | B．Wealthy. | C．Dedicated. | D．Lonely. |
| A．Brush’s valuable works. | B．The admirers Brush expected. |
| C．Brush’s desire for fame. | D．The artistic ideal Brush pursued. |
3 . Marco Polo
Marco Polo was born in Italy in 1254. A traveller and businessman, he was one of the first Europeans to travel across Asia and into China. His journey lasted 24 years.
He set out, aged 17, with his father Nicolo and his uncle Maffeo on their great journey to China. They sailed south from Venice, Italy and stopped off in the Middle East. They often carried on overland to Persia (now Iran), through the Pamir Mountains and the Gobi Desert before they got to Beijing, China. At that time, China was more advanced than Europe. They already had paper, so large numbers of books were available. They also used paper money in many parts of the country.
After he got back to Italy, Marco Polo talked about his experiences in China, and he wrote a book describing the riches of Asia. His book was the first western record of porcelain (瓷器), coal, gunpowder, printing and silk. Unfortunately, not many people believed Polo’s stories and he became known as “the man of a million lies”. He died in 1324.
Jacques Cousteau
Jacques Cousteau was a French undersea explorer, environmentalist and inventor. He was born in France in 1910. When he was young, he was attracted by the sea, machines and filmmaking. In the French navy, Cousteau began exploring underwater and worked on a special breathing machine which allowed divers to stay underwater for several hours. This gave them time to really look around under the ocean. In 1948, Cousteau began travelling the world’s oceans in his research ship Calypso. Cousteau produced many films and books about his underwater experiences, including the TV series The Underwater World of Jacques Cousteau, which introduced the public to the world of sharks, whales, dolphins and treasure.
Cousteau started the Cousteau Society to protect ocean life. In 1989, he received a great honour: he was made a member of the French Academy. Finally, after a long and varied life, Cousteau died on 25th June, 1997.
1. What do we know about Marco Polo’s trip to China?| A．He travelled with members of his family. |
| B．He planned to trade with the East. |
| C．He travelled with his father. |
| D．He brought advanced technologies to China. |
| A．He started to sell books about about his underwater experiences. |
| B．He taught people to make paper. |
| C．He made up stories to fool people. |
| D．He recorded his experiences in China. |
| A．He was really interested in China. |
| B．He invented his research ship Calypso. |
| C．He cared for the surroundings. |
| D．He published books about his family life. |
| A．They were highly talented. | B．They were great explorers. |
| C．They were imaginative. | D．They were sealovers. |
Famous for carrying his tennis rackets in a bamboo basket, Wang Fa, a 14-year-old dark horse,
Wang, a Chinese Wa ethnic(佤族)boy, started to learn tennis after he was selected by Zhang Xiaohong, head coach of a tennis club in southwest China’s Yunnan Province in 2016. Over the years, Wang and his peers
Home for Wang is a mountainous area named Cangyuan Wa Autonomous County.
LiZiqi has made a name for
Li,
A Weibo user remarked, “ Li’s success lies
6 . Zheng Qinwen announced herself as a major new force in women’s tennis with an important French Open debut(首秀) last month. Now the Chinese teenager hopes the fighting spirit she showed at the Grand Slam (大满贯) tournament can encourage kids starting out in the sport to chase their dreams on the court with the same determination.
“If tennis is your dream, I think you always have to fight for your dream. Because we only have one life, you shouldn’t have any regrets,” Zheng said last week in an interview.
The 19-year-old showed she possesses the talent to be a contender at the very top level of tennis with a breakout campaign at French Open.
Accounting for two-time Grand Slam winner Simona Halep along the way, Zheng’s journey was ended in the fourth round by a three-set defeat to eventual champion Iga Swiatek. Zheng, though, gave the Polish world No. 1 a big scare, battling back from 3-0 down in the first set to force and win a tiebreak(平分决胜局).
“That was the first time I had played against the world No.1, so I really wanted to grab this chance so I could judge her level and test myself,” said Zheng. “I didn’t want to give her the match so easy like that. It was pretty difficult for me to hold on in that match because of what my body was going through, but I wanted to show her I’m not easily beaten.”
Looking back at Zheng Qinwen’s performances in this year’s French Open, there’s no doubt that she’s a true fighter. Zheng says she avoids being discouraged by higher-ranked opponents by simply focusing on the next point, one shot at a time. Supported by her team, she hopes she can one day win a Grand Slam title.
Zheng’s impressive French Open run has inevitably(不可避免地) led to comparisons with China’s solitary Grand Slam singles champion Li Na, who won the 2011 French Open and 2014 Australian Open titles.
“When I was a kid, Li Na showed that Asian people also can do something really good in tennis. She was the first one. I will just focus on my own game and then let’s see if I can really compete at the highest level,” said Zheng.
1. What does the underlined word “contender” in paragraph 3 mean?| A．Competitor | B．Announcer. | C．Campaigner. | D．Designer. |
| A．Iga Swiatek beat Zheng easily. |
| B．Zheng lost to Iga Swiatek at last. |
| C．Zheng won the match despite her pain. |
| D．Iga Swiatek lost because of her mistakes. |
| A．To show how excellent Zheng Qinwen is. |
| B．To prove failure is the mother of success. |
| C．To explain why Li Na has achieved a lot. |
| D．To compare the difference between Zheng Qinwen and Li Na. |
| A．Optimistic and generous | B．Adventurous and realistic. |
| C．Independent and helpful | D．Struggling and determined. |
7 . In 2018, the state of California was on fire. Alexandria Villasenor, who was 13 at the time, witnessed the destruction of Northern California’s Camp Fire, which would go on to burn more than 150,000 acres of land. Villasenor was scared. “That’s when I found out how important climate education was,” she reflected. “And just how much we lacked climate education these past couple of years.”
Villasenor, now 15, is determined to have a bigger conversation. She quickly realized the fight requires international, government-level changes. For her, what started as local concern turned into a year-long protest (抗议) in front of the United Nations’ New York City headquarters and a global campaign for more compulsory climate education. She sat on a bench in front of the headquarters, pleading for the world’s leaders to take climate change seriously.
Her action received national attention, with millions of other students around the world joining in the movement. “It’s completely unacceptable to not learn anything about our planet and our environment in school, after all the young people would ‘inherit’ the Earth.” Villasenor said, “That’s why I think that climate education is so important, and that’s why I concentrate on it now.”
Right now, Villasenor is working with the Biden-Harris administration on its climate plan, which has promised to center the needs of young people and communities most impacted by climate change. She even spoke at the 2020 Democratic National Convention. “That was definitely a huge moment when I realized that people were listening to the voices of me and youth climate activists,” Villasenor said.
When she isn’t connecting with her fellow youth activists or holding elected officials accountable to the climate concerns of their young voters, Villasenor is like most other teens. “My favorite thing to do, of course, is sleep.” she said. “I like to read a lot. I like fantasy books, normally. I also like to write.”
1. What made Villasenor realize the lack of climate education?| A．The current education system of California. | B．The vast land of California. |
| C．The severe Camp fire in California. | D．The fire disasters in America. |
| A．Villasenor thinks local people have taken climate change seriously. |
| B．Young people should do more things for the earth so as to inherit it. |
| C．The protest aimed to fight against government’s administration. |
| D．Villasenor turned her original appeal into a lasting and widespread one. |
| A．More schools have set up climate courses. |
| B．She can sleep and read in her spare time. |
| C．She’s working with the Biden-Harris administration on its climate plan. |
| D．Villasenor and other youth climate activists’ opinions caught people’s attention. |
| A．A young girl receives climate education. |
| B．The 15-year-old activist fights for better climate education. |
| C．Young activists make their voices heard. |
| D．Climate education plays an importance role in life. |
8 . Will Smith jumped into a live volcano and kayaked (划皮艇) down an Icelandic whitewater river for his latest project. But he wasn’t making an action movie. It was personal.
Smith, a Hollywood leading man who admits that he’s far from enjoying outdoor activities, has put himself in danger while filming Welcome to Earth, a Disney original series from National Geographic. He was afraid at that time, but he says “It’s really difficult to enjoy things if you’re scared. I think the ability to see how beautiful things are is directly connected to your openness to them and fear closes you down.”
Smith says he was once scared of everything and hated water, but he learns to read the rapids (急流) while whitewater kayaking, rescues turtles near the Great Barrier Reef and goes 3,000 feet below the sea in a deep-water submarine.
Dr. Albert Lin, an engineer and explorer who has uncovered lost cities previously for National Geographic, was astonished to find that Smith was able to control his fears even in the face of real danger. While diving in the underground lake in Namibia, Smith got into trouble and Lin watched him “dropping at a rate that felt like maybe we wouldn’t see him again.” But Smith was able to control his mind and deal with the situation. “I respected Will Smith, the actor, before, but now I definitely have grown to truly respect Will Smith, the human being,” says Lin.
Produced by famous filmmaker Darren Aronofsky, the series carries on the tradition of National Geographic pushing the exploring envelope (极限) and employing the latest technology to help us understand our world. “I hope this can help people out there get a sense of how absolutely incredible our planet is,” says Lin.
The experts Smith has paired with teach him about speed, smell and sound and the colors out there he might miss. “You can’t really want to protect something that you don’t understand. And you can’t want to protect something that you can’t recognize as beautiful,” Smith says.
1. What enables you to enjoy beautiful things according to Smith?| A．Spirit of adventure. | B．Ability to find beauty. |
| C．Respect for nature. | D．Openness to change. |
| A．He found a lost city. | B．He nearly lost his life in a lake. |
| C．He entered a diving competition. | D．He went deep under the sea in a submarine. |
| A．It explains the origin of our planet. | B．It targets potential explorers. |
| C．It won important film awards. | D．It applied advanced technology. |
| A．A guidebook. | B．A book review. | C．A magazine. | D．A diary. |
9 . At 1:43 a.m. October 5, 2022, Stanford chemist Carolyn R. Bertozzi was awakened by a phone call from a Nobel committee representative who told her, “You have 50 minutes to collect yourself and wait until your life changes.” Instructed not to share the announcement outside of her tightest inner circle, the first person Bertozzi called was her father, a retired physics professor from MIT. “He’s 91 and, of course, he was just overjoyed,” said Bertozzi.
Carolyn Bertozzi, born October 10, 1966, Boston, was awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry for her development of bioorthogonal reactions, which allow scientists to explore cells and track biological processes without disturbing the normal chemistry of the cell. She shares the $10 million Swedish kronor (about $1 million USD) prize equally with Morten Meldal, professor at University of Copenhagen and K. Barry Sharpless, professor at Scripps Research “for the development of click chemistry and bioorthogonal chemistry.”
Carolyn received a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Harvard University in 1988 and a doctorate in the same subject from the University of California, Berkeley in 1993. She was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, San Francisco, from 1993 to 1995. She became an assistant professor at Berkeley in 1996 and a full professor of chemistry and molecular and cell biology in 2002. She also held an appointment as a professor of molecular and cellular pharmacology from 2000 to 2002 at the University of California, San Francisco. In 2015 she became a professor of chemistry at Stanford University.
“I could not be more delighted that Carolyn Bertozzi has won the Nobel Prize in chemistry,” said Stanford President Marc Tessier-Lavigne. “In pioneering the field of bioorthogonal chemistry, Carolyn invented a new way of studying biomolecular processes, one that has helped scientists around the world gain a deeper understanding of chemical reactions in living systems. Her work has had remarkable real-world impact, providing new diagnostic and therapeutic approaches to treat disease. Carolyn is so deserving of this honor, and all of us at Stanford are too proud to call her one of our own.”
Carolyn’s bioorthogonal reactions have been used to study how cells build proteins and other molecules, to develop new cancer medicines, and to produce new materials for energy storage, among many other applications.
1. Why does the author mention the phone call Carolyn received in Paragraph 1?| A．To introduce the background information of Carolyn. |
| B．To reveal a conversation between two scientists. |
| C．To arouse the readers’ interest in the passage. |
| D．To show the urgency about the information. |
| A．Her education and success. | B．Her delight and pride. |
| C．Her kindness and devotion. | D．Her dream and ambition. |
| A．He wants to cooperate with Carolyn. |
| B．Carolyn has found a new cure for cancer. |
| C．He benefits greatly from Carolyn’s findings. |
| D．Carolyn’s findings are of great significance. |
| A．A profile. | B．A news report. |
| C．A journal. | D．A book review. |
10 . It is that time of the year, when a handful of world’s leading scholars, social activists and researchers are rewarded with what is often cited as the most prestigious acknowledgement of human effort-the Nobel Prize. Here’s a look at who has won the prize and for what.
Physiology or Medicine
Swedish geneticist Svante Peabo won the first Nobel of the year, for starting the field of ancient DNA studies. He is well-known for extracting, sequencing, and analyzing ancient DNA from Neanderthal bones.
Physics
Alain Aspect, John F. Clauser and Anton Zeilinger’s work in quantum (量子) technology landed them the second Nobel Prize announced in 2022. Although Aspect is from France, Clauser from the U.S, and Zeilinger from Austria, the three separately performed “groundbreaking experiments” as one team. “Their results have cleared the way for new technology,” the committee stated.
Chemistry
The Nobel Prize for chemistry went to another trio, Carolyn R. Bertozzi from the U.S., Morten Meldal from Denmark and K. Barry Sharpless from the U.S. “for the development of click chemistry and biorthogonal chemistry,” the committee stated. Dr. Bertozzi is the eighth woman chemist to be awarded the prize, while Dr. Sharpless is the fifth scientist to be awarded two Nobel Prizes.
Economics
The Prize in Economic Sciences was awarded to three American economists, Ben S. Bernanke, Douglas W. Diamond and Philip H. Dybvig “for research on banks and financial crises,” the Nobel Prize committee announced on Monday. By studying the history of American economics, particularly the Great Depression of the 1930s,they improved how we understand the role of banks during times of hardship and the bank’s impact on societal functions.
1. What prize is related to the research with bones?| A．Physiology. | B．Chemistry. | C．Physics. | D．Economics. |
| A．About societal functions. | B．About the history of America. |
| C．About banks and financial crises. | D．About the Great Depression of the 1930s. |
| A．Their winners are from different countries. | B．They have three winners. |
| C．They improve new technology. | D．They help people understand hardship. |
