Many people in the UK have poor mathematical skills. Dr.Richard Pike, a member of the Royal Society of Chemistry, said that mathematics questions in entrance tests to British universities were much too simple.
About two thirds of British universities now offer special courses in mathematics to new students. The courses are necessary because new students do not know enough mathematics when they leave high school. A university teacher said that there was a serious risk that there would not be enough scientists and engineers coming out of British universities in the future.
New university students are bad at mathematics. So are a lot of other people in Britain. A survey found that 7 million people in England were bad at mathematics. It is necessary to help people improve their math skills, which are important in lots of ways.
One problem is that many students do not want to study math because they think it is a difficult subject. They want to have high grades in their A levels. High A level grades are necessary in order to go to university. This is one reason why students do not choose to study mathematics at A level. Sometimes schools also prefer students to study easier subjects instead of mathematics. A school will have a better reputation if more students pass A level exams.
Another problem is that some educated people think mathematics is not important. They think it is not a creative subject. This way of thinking is very dangerous. When people do not understand mathematics, they are not able to make proper judgments about important questions. Nowadays, a lot of people use the Internet to find the answers to scientific questions. But they don’t understand science. They cannot judge the value of the information which they find. People will become very ignorant if they don’t study mathematics and science.
1. What is the text mainly about?| A．Mathematics problems in the UK. | B．Simple exams for British students. |
| C．Unscientific course structure in the UK. | D．Problems for British high school students. |
| A．students hope to learn more about mathematic skills |
| B．students’ parents want them to continue math study |
| C．students do not learn enough mathematics in high school |
| D．students are expected to become scientists or engineers |
| A．students think mathematics is not important |
| B．schools ask all students to pass A level exams |
| C．schools encourage students to study mathematics |
| D．students are afraid to study mathematics at A level |
| A．They can’t make any achievements in some creative work. |
| B．They can’t make correct decisions on some important issues. |
| C．They can properly use the Internet to look for information. |
| D．They can gain the respect of students who are bad at math. |
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【推荐1】Cassandra Feeley finds it hard to manage on her husband's income. So this year she did something more than a hobby: She planted vegetables in her yard: For her first garden, Ms Feeley has put in 15 tomato plants, and five rows of a variety of vegetables. The family's old farm house has become a chicken house, its residents arriving next month. Last year, Ms. Rita Gartin kept a small garden. This year she has made it much larger because, she said, "The cost of everything is going up and I was looking to lose a few pounds too; so it's a win-win situation all around."
They are among the growing number of Americans who, driven by higher living costs and a falling economy, have taken up vegetable gardening for the first time. Others have increased the size of their existing gardens. Seed companies and garden shops say that not since the 1970s has there been such an increase in interest in growing food at home. Now many gardens across the country have been sold out for several months. In Austin, Texas, some of the gardens have a three-year waiting list.
George C. Ball Jr, owner of a company, said sales of vegetable seeds and plants are up by 40% over last year, double the average growth of the last five years. Mr. Ball argues that some of the reasons have been building for the last few years. The big one is the striking rise in the cost of food like bread and milk, together with the increases in the price of fruits and vegetables. Food prices have increased because of higher oil prices. People are now driving less, taking fewer vacations, so there is more time to garden.
1. What does the word "residents" in Paragraph 1 probably refer to?| A．gardens | B．tomatoes | C．chickens | D．people |
| A．The cost of living is on the rise. | B．The price of oil is lower than before. |
| C．There's a growing need for fruits. | D．More Americans are doing it for fun. |
| A．Family Food Planning | B．Gardening as a Hobby |
| C．Money-saving Moves | D．Banking on Gardening |
【推荐2】A short cooking video posted by a netizen on TikTok has recently become a popular hit on the site. Bearing the tag “Chinese food”, the video not only showed off the chief’s superb skills in making Chinese dishes, but it also got netizens abroad wanting to get a taste of China’s unique food culture.
Although the video was nothing master-level, just a rather standard homemade fried potato dish, it received more than 200, 000 likes after only three days of posting. In addition to praising the chef, commenters wondered why such a simple Chinese dish could look like a fancy cuisine that had been made through tons of effort. “Even the most basic Chinese dish needs to have three elements: color, smell and taste. For example, color not only requires a chef to have sharp eyes, but also valuable experience,” said Wang, an experienced Chinese chef in Guangzhou.
Chinese cooking is not the only type of content covered by the tag. Other popular videos under the tag include “odd food” challenges, traditional Chinese dishes and Chinese snack tasting, the latter of which has become particularly popular among young omnivore vloggers (video bloggers) living in a world of continually expanding cultural globalization.
“I have been a fun of Chinese food ever since my Chinese friend cooked me di san xian at university. I was surprised by the dish’s taste and its look, which was very different from my home food, but felt it was very familiar to me because I noticed we share similar cooking skills,” said Bianca, an Italian Asian food fan.
“I started my channel by recording my roommate tasting my cooking. These videos got likes and comments gradually. Seeing some people commenting in German or English and saying ‘I want to try it’, I felt these videos can narrow the gap between the two cultures,” said Mr. Bear, a vlogger on Bilibili who promotes Chinese cooking.
1. What does the underlined word “omnivore” in Paragraph 3 refer to?| A．People eating meat | B．People eating vegetables |
| C．People eating odd food | D．People eating diverse food |
| A．Common and dear | B．Special and familiar | C．Weird and delicious | D．Similar and disconnected |
| A．The majority of his fans tasted the food he cooked. |
| B．His roommate encouraged him to cook Chinese food. |
| C．He is an expert determined to become a Chinese chef. |
| D．His videos make a difference to cultural communication. |
| A．advanced technology plays A great part in modern society |
| B．online videos can make young people internationally famous |
| C．Chinese cooking has become popular among young vloggers |
| D．master-level Chinese dishes are attracting more foreign fans |
【推荐3】They like using the Internet. They have lots of pocket money to spend．And they spend a higher proportion of it online than the rest of us. Teenagers are just the sort of people an online seller is interested in, and the things they want to buy — games, CDs and clothing — are easily sold on the Web.
But paying online is a tricky business for consumers who are too young to own credit cards. Most have to use a parent’s card. They want a service that allows them to spend money.
That may come sooner than they think: new ways to take pocket money into cyber (网络的) space are coming out rapidly on both sides of the Atlantic. If successful, these products can stimulate (刺激)online sales.
In general, teenagers spend huge amounts: $153bn (billion) in the US last year and ￡20bn annually in the UK．Most teenagers have access to the Internet at home or at school — 88 percent in the US, 69 percent in the UK. According to the Jupiter Research, one in eight of those with Internet access has bought something online — mainly CDs and books.
In most cases, parents pay for these purchases with credit cards, an arrangement that is often unsatisfactory for them and their children. Pressing parents to spend online is less productive than pressing on the high street. They are more likely to ask “Why?” if you ask to spend some money online.
One way to help teenagers change notes and coins into cyber cash is through prepaid cards such as Internet Cash in the US and Smart cards in the UK. Similar to those for pay-as-you-go mobile telephones, they are sold in amounts such as￡20 or $50 with a concealed (隐藏的) 14-digit number that can be used to load the cash into an online account.
1. What does the word “They” in paragraph 1 refer to?| A．Sellers. | B．Buyers. |
| C．Teenagers. | D．Parents. |
| A．More than half of the teenagers in the US and the UK have Internet access． |
| B．Teenagers pay for goods online with their own credit cards. |
| C．Most teenagers in the US and the UK have bought something online. |
| D．Teenagers found it easier to persuade parents to buy online than in a shop. |
| A．a new machine | B．special coins and notes |
| C．prepaid cards | D．pay-as-you-go mobile phones |
| A．Online shopping traps. | B．Internet users in the US and the UK. |
| C．New credit cards for parents. | D．The arrival of cyber pocket money. |
【推荐1】In most museums, there is no shouting or running, and you must not touch anything. But the Science Museum in London is different. It is noisy! People talk about what they see and do here, and there are some very noisy machines as well.
You learn about communications and environment as well as maths, physics and chemistry on the second and third floors. For example, you can find out how people dig coal from the ground and use it to create energy. They even explain how X-rays let you see inside your body.
The Launchpad on the third floor is the most popular room. There are lots of physics experiments. For example, if you want to fill a bag with sand, you control a truck on wheels and move it into the correct place. You can also find out how people travel into space and back again.
On the fourth and fifth floors, you can learn about what medicine was like in the past. If you compare (比较) the medicine of the past with the medicine of today, you will feel lucky next time you visit a doctor!
The Science Museum is interesting for people of all ages. You can always find something new and have a wonderful time there. The museum is free to enter, so you can go in for a few minutes or stay all day. It is open daily from 10 a. m. to 6 p. m.
1. What does Paragraph 1 mainly tell us about the Science Museum in London?| A．It’s large. | B．It’s small. |
| C．It’s unusual. | D．It’s common. |
| A．2nd floor | B．3rd floor | C．4th floor | D．5th floor |
| A．It’s usually noisy there. | B．People of all ages can go there. |
| C．It’s open 8 hours a day. | D．People have to pay to get in. |
| A．Traditional. | B．Quiet. | C．Interesting. | D．Challenging. |
Americans also attend tailgate parties. A tailgate is the back end of a truck or other vehicle that opens down. The tailgate parties are a big part of sports culture in the United States. Friends bring food and drink to a sports event. They eat together in the parking area of the sports stadium.
Birthday parties are also very popular. Many parents organize a party for their child around a theme. Birthday parties usually include gifts and a birthday cake with candles. In many parts of the United States, cupcakes have become a popular replacement for cakes.
Birthday parties can be low cost or very costly. Some parents take their children’s birthday parties very seriously, even when the child is too young to fully understand the celebration.
One group of parents started a website called Birthdays Without Pressure. They decided that some parents were under too much social pressure to plan costly parties for their children. The group sees this movement as an example of America’s culture of “too much stuff”. The group’s website gives suggestions on how to keep birthday celebrations simple, meaningful and fun without spending a lot of money. Their advice may be very helpful during this period of economic recession (萧条)．
1. What can be the best title for the passage?
| A．Reasons for parties | B．Birthdays without pressure |
| C．Different parties in the world | D．American parties |
| A．5. | B．7. | C．6. | D．8. |
| A．Birthday parties are the most popular in America. |
| B．Some parties in America are the same as in other countries. |
| C．There’s a party for the mother before her new baby is born. |
| D．Block party is especially American |
| A．relieve people’s pressure |
| B．make birthday parties meaningful and costly |
| C．have meaningful birthday parties with low cost |
| D．spread America’s culture |
【推荐3】For anyone trying to lose weight, there’s a truth we can all universally acknowledge that better health is often positioned as a numbers game. Hit the right number, and all your health problems will magically resolve, so the logic goes. Yet increasingly, science is revealing that losing weight may not be a silver bullet after all. In a mouse study published in the journal Science, looking specifically at an inflammatory(炎症的) eye condition linked to obesity called macular degeneration(黄斑退化), researchers found the struggle for better health doesn’t necessarily begin and end with weight loss.
Researchers conducted experiments on mice that were fed a high-fat diet for 11 weeks, making them gain weight. The mice were then put on a diet of low-fat food for 9 weeks, making them lose weight. Another group of mice only ate the low-fat diet as a control. Researchers shot lasers into the eyes of both the yo-yo dieter mice and the control mice to encourage atypical blood vessel(非典型性血管) growth, a mark of macular degeneration.
Among the mice that had gained and then lost weight, there was about 40 percent more atypical blood vessel growth than their stable diet peers. Driving the growth appeared to be macrophages(巨噬细胞). In the yo-yo dieter mice, these cells had been reprogrammed to cause inflammation. Taken together, these cells appeared to have an outsize role in atypical blood vessel growth in the eyes. Meanwhile, in the mice fed only a low-fat diet, inflammatory changes were absent. The results suggest that eating a high-fat diet that causes weight gain, even if followed by weight loss, leaves an inflammatory mark on mouse macrophages.
The research comes during a period of renewed interest in anti-obesity drugs. But medicines that help people shed pounds do not treat inflammation linked to a history of weight gain. “How to engage these findings with medicine interventions is a challenge,” says Bapat, head of the research.
1. Which of the following best explains “a silver bullet” underlined in paragraph1?| A．A workable solution. | B．A tough choice. |
| C．An ultimate objective. | D．A major challenge. |
| A．By making comparison. | B．By listing examples. |
| C．By controling test methods. | D．By analyzing diet components. |
| A．Stable dieting drives the growth of macrophages. |
| B．Reprogrammed cells are to blame for weight gain. |
| C．Inflammatory changes are caused by the low-fat diet. |
| D．Losing weight doesn’t resolve the inflammation tied to weight gain. |
| A．Exploring ways of losing weight. | B．Tracking the history of weight loss. |
| C．Treating obesity-linked inflammation. | D．Boosting interest in anti-obesity drugs. |
【推荐1】While the start of a new school year is always exciting, this year was even more so for some elementary school students in Auckland, New Zealand. They became the world’s first kids to be “taught” by a digital teacher, Will. Before you start imagining a human-like robot walking around the classroom, Will is just an avatar(化身, 虚拟人物)that turns up on the students’ desktop, tablet, or smartphone screen when called.
Thanks to a digital camera and microphone, the avatar not only responds to questions the kids may have, but also picks up non-verbal signals. For example, if a student smiles at Will, he responds by smiling back. This two-way communication not only helps draw the students’ attention, but also allows the program’s developers to monitor their involvement(参与)and make changes if needed.
Vector’s Chief Digital Officer, Nikhil Ravishankar, believes that Will—like avatars could be a new way to attract the attention of the next generation. He says, “Using a digital human is a very popular method to deliver new information to people, and I have a lot of hope in this technology as a means to deliver rich and educational experience in the future.” Greg Cross, the Chief Business Officer for Soul Machines, states that kids who have grown up in this digital time adapt to new technology quickly, and he hopes to develop the idea of digital humans in the area of educate further.
The program, in place since August 2018, has been a great success so far. However, no matter how popular it becomes, Will is unlikely to replace human educators any time soon. For one, the avatar’s knowledge base is severely limited. But more importantly, even the smartest digital avatars could never predict and react to all the unexpected situations that educators have to deal with on a daily basis. However, it could come in handy as a “personal teacher”, providing kids with one-on-one help on the subjects or even topics.
1. What can be inferred about the digital teacher from the last paragraph?| A．It has entered many homes as kids’ private teacher. |
| B．It will teach in class in place of human educators. |
| C．It’s good at handling unexpected situations. |
| D．It remains to be improved. |
| A．He is a human-like robot teacher. |
| B．He is the first robot teacher in the world. |
| C．He is a digital teacher teaching in a school. |
| D．He will walk across the classroom to you when called. |
| A．By taking part in discussion. |
| B．By changing teaching methods. |
| C．By communicating with students. |
| D．By monitoring students’ behavior. |
| A．Supportive. | B．Doubtful. |
| C．Uncaring. | D．Dissatisfied. |
【推荐2】The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in educational technology has brought convenience and efficiency to classrooms worldwide. However, despite these advancements, it is crucial to recognize the significant challenges it poses to the autonomy and professional judgment of instructors. One of the primary concerns associated with AI-driven tools in education is the depersonalization of instruction. These tools often rely on pre-packaged digital content and standardized solutions, leaving little room for instructors to tailor their teaching methods.
Each student possesses unique characteristics, including distinct learning styles, strengths, and weaknesses. Instructors, armed with their wealth of experience and expertise, are best positioned to customize their approaches to meet these individual needs. They know how to adapt to their students’ varying learning styles. However, AI-driven platforms restrict their ability to do so effectively, resulting in a one-size-fits-all approach that fails to engage and inspire students to reach their maximum potential.
The implications of this depersonalization are far-reaching. By diminishing(降低) the role of instructors as facilitators of meaningful educational interactions, we run the risk of preventing the growth of critical thinking and problem-solving skills among students.
Education should not merely focus on knowledge acquisition (习得), but should also develop the ability to analyze, evaluate, and apply that knowledge in real-world contexts. It should help one’s mind grow, not simply possess information. Through dynamic classroom discussions, cooperative projects, and hands-on activities, instructors play a vital role in cultivating these essential skills. AI-driven platforms, with their standardized solutions and automated features, are ill-equipped to provide the same level of engagement and intellectual stimulation as human instructors. While AI-driven platforms undeniably have their advantages, we must not lose sight of the importance of preserving instructors’ autonomy and the educational experience they provide.
1. Why do AI-driven tools fail to help instructors adjust their teaching methods?| A．Their solutions will be challenged. | B．They don’t have professional judgement. |
| C．Their digital content is set previously. | D．They think little of the students’ autonomy. |
| A．They are more professional. | B．They can satisfy individual needs. |
| C．They have higher efficiency. | D．They adopt one-size-fits-all approach. |
| A．Their response in classroom discussions. |
| B．Their ability in solving real life problems. |
| C．Their willingness to cooperate with others. |
| D．Their adaptability to various learning styles. |
| A．Doing cooperative projects. | B．Organizing hands-on activities. |
| C．Developing thinking ability. | D．Evaluating students’ development. |
【推荐3】Home schooling nowadays becomes more popular. Home schooling is the education of children taught at home, typically by parents but sometimes by tutors, rather than in a formal setting of public or private school. The advantages of home schooling are plentiful, including the ability to create a positive learning environment without the danger and distractions of public school. What’s more, parents could stay with their children together for more time. However, home schooling also has disadvantages.
First, home schooling may lead to students less communication with others. As we all know, the students who learn in public schools may find a lot of friends. When they meet difficulties, they can get help from others. But as for the students studying at home, the only persons they meet are their parents or tutors. It is certainly true that the children will have less interaction with their peers than those who attend public school on a regular basis.
Second, home schooling may make children not know how to cooperate with others. Children who learn at home always stay with their parents or tutors. When they meet difficulties, they are always turning to and depending on their parents. But the children in public schools may know how to solve the problem with their friends.
What’s more, home schooling may cost much more money than public school. If the parents want to take on the responsibility of educating their children themselves, it’s up to them to finance the entire experience. Learning materials, computer software and books that are otherwise paid for by the public school are needed, in addition to the regular school supplies all parents must purchase for their children. Considering that the parent doing the home schooling is unlikely to manage a full-time job on the side, these expenses are tough for some families to meet.
1. What is one of the benefits of home education?| A．It creates a more negative learning environment. |
| B．Parents can stay with their kids for more time. |
| C．Children have more social abilities. |
| D．It has much lower cost. |
| A．One will have less peer pressure. |
| B．One will learn more knowledge than in public or private school. |
| C．One will have little cooperation with others. |
| D．One will have an easier way to make friends. |
| A．By following space order | B．By following time order. |
| C．By making comparisons. | D．By giving examples. |
| A．The advantage of home schooling. |
| B．America’s home schooling. |
| C．The disadvantages of home schooling. |
| D．Differences between school education and home education. |
| A．subjective | B．objective |
| C．neutral | D．indifferent |
