1 . ChatGPT is back! OpenAI, the company behind the popular chatbot, has now introduced a powerful new language model: GPT-4.
On March 14, GPT-4 showed the world how smarter it is than the GPT-3.5. One of its best new features is that it can understand pictures. For example, if you show a picture of a phone using the wrong charger (充电器), GPT-4 can tell why the picture looks strange.
But GPT-4’s developments don’t stop there. The new language model can code (用代码编写) classic games in a few minutes, and produce the code and layout (布局) for a website based on a hand-made drawing. GPT-4 is much better than the older GPT at passing tests. According to CNN, GPT-4 did really well on a law school test, with a score in the top 10 percent of test takers. ButGPT-3.5 only got a score in the bottom 10 percent.
GPT-4 will also power other apps and services. For example, the language learning app Duolingo plans to use GPT-4 in their coming products. Users can learn languages by talking with AI. Another app, Be My Eyes, will have a digital assistant (数字助手) to help blind people better understand the world around them. The government of Iceland also plans to use GPT-4 to protect the Icelandic language.
There are still problems with the new language model, however. GPT-4 still tries hard to get completely correct answers. And it will sometimes insist that wrong information is true.
1. What does the underlined word “it” refer to?| A．OpenAI. | B．GPT-3.5. | C．GPT-4. | D．A chatbot. |
| A．Because GPT-4 is much new er than GPT-3.5. |
| B．Because GPT-4 can spend less time coding games. |
| C．Because GPT-4 got better scores than GPT-3.5 at tests. |
| D．Because GPT-4 powers other apps and services. |
| A．let users learn language by talking with AI |
| B．help blind people understand the world better |
| C．give support to the Icelandic language |
| D．earn much money by selling services |
(①=Paragraph 1, ②=Paragraph 2, … )
A． | B． | C． | D． |
The Spring Festival always begins on doors and walls. Spring couplets (春联) stand for people’s wishes for a happier life in the coming year.
The couplets are written on red paper. They are the most important symbol of the Spring Festival. Although people are busy with all kinds of things before the Spring Festival, sticking couplets is always in the first place on the to-do list. And my mother would ask me to take some gifts to people who wrote couplets for us. When they were writing, I would watch how they used the brush to create these wonderful works.
Later when I was a little older, my parents encouraged me to learn how to write couplets. I asked some elder people to teach me some skills. When learning from them, I became greatly interested in traditional culture. Every time when our family visited relatives during the Spring Festival, I always collected the poems of the couplets and used them to express my good wishes like “health, wealth and long-life” to my relatives.
Nowadays as the science and technology is developing rapidly, couplets are mainly produced by machines. We can easily buy all kinds of beautiful couplets on the streets. Though forms of making couplets have changed, the best wishes that couplets express remain. The red paper and black words are not only used to write the couplets, but also carry our love for traditional culture. They will never be forgotten.
1. What do spring couplets stand for in the Spring Festival?2. How did the writer express good wishes to his or her relatives?
3. Why can we easily buy all kinds of beautiful couplets on the street?
4. Do you think we should stick couplets or not? Why? (Write 30 words or more)
3 . Electric vehicles (电动汽车) or EVs recently have become more and more popular. Technological improvements, especially batteries, make EVs rather than gas cars become more people’s first choice.
Mueller, an expert in studying cars, explains why they are the future of cars. He writes, “I think EVs are the future. They have better torque (扭转力), acceleration (加速) and better control.”
Best of all, you never have to visit a gas station. Every morning your car is charged (充电) and ready to go. And if you are worried about miles they can cover, that’s not necessary. Almost all trips can be done in an EV with a proper battery. And fast chargers (充电器) along the way make it possible to do longer road trips if necessary.
Besides, it’s clean technology: a traditional gas car causes more than twice as carbon (碳) pollution as an EV. Even in places that get almost all of their electricity from burning coal (煤), an EV still pollutes less than a typical traditional gas car. Supposing a 10-year service life, a traditional car will let out 66,000 pounds more carbon pollution than an electric vehicle.
Human science technology is always moving forward. However, some challenges still remain about EVs. According to the present situation of EVs, scientists and researchers still have a long way to go.
1. EVs have become more popular than gas cars thanks to ________.| A．technological improvements | B．social development |
| C．lower prices | D．beautiful appearance |
| A．better torque | B．acceleration | C．better control | D．fast chargers |
| A．EVs are always cleaner than gas cars. |
| B．Electricity is from burning coal in China. |
| C．A gas car causes less pollution than an EV. |
| D．A traditional car lets out 6,600 pounds of carbon a year. |
| A．The Future of EVs in China | B．EVs and Environmental Protection |
| C．EVs Makes Our Life Better | D．EVs: The Future of Cars |
4 . Many students suffer from stress (压力) in their daily lives. They are under stress because their lives are not balanced. They worry about their study, getting on with classmates and what others think. You may want to know if stress is a serious problem. The answer is “Yes”. You should realise that stress is a risk to your health. If you want to live a long and healthy life, you need to try to prevent (防止) stress from a young age.
Here are some ways to deal with stress and bring balance to your life:·Be positive
One way to stop being stressed is through positive thinking. You should always look on the bright side of life, and imagine you will have a happy and successful future.
·Learn to relaxMake yourself take a break from your studies and worries about exams. You can do this by taking a walk, reading a book, going to a concert or seeing a film, or just sitting in a private place and being silent for a moment.
____△____
Learn to paint, take up skating, or start playing a musical instrument. When you are busy with a hobby, you leave all your worries behind.
·Take care of your bodyStress does harm to your body. Taking exercise, eating a healthy diet and getting enough sleep are all the things that can help you.
·LaughSometimes laughter is the best medicine for stress. Seeing a funny film or telling jokes with friends will often cheer you up when you are not happy.
1. Many students are under stress in their daily lives because they ________.| A．have a boring life | B．are afraid of studying |
| C．have too many worries | D．can’t get on well with their parents |
| A．eating a healthy diet | B．playing a musical instrument |
| C．telling jokes with friends | D．going to a concert or seeing films |
| A．See a doctor | B．Take up a hobby | C．Stay with friends | D．Be patient |
| A．How to keep healthy. | B．How terrible stress is! |
| C．How to live a balanced life. | D．How can we improve ourselves? |
How do you like your school? Have you ever written to your head teacher to express your idea? What would you like to suggest? Here are some posts by students from different schools.
Li Ming, 14, Liaoning Province
I will give some suggestions about our school uniform (校服). In our school, we students have to wear uniforms every day. But the grey and blue sports kit (服装) looks really dark and old. It can’t stand for lively spirit. We can add some red or orange colours and make a new type of uniform.
Wang Ping,14, Zhejiang ProvinceI have a suggestion for my head teacher. I think we should have more classes in science, such as model plane making class and computer programming class. It is really boring to study basic subjects all the time.
Liu Hua, 15, Shanxi ProvinceI’d like to give my thanks to my head teacher. About one week ago, I got a bad cold after playing basketball. Our head teacher came to me after he knew about it. He took care of me until my parents came. I really want to thank him for that.
He Xiaolei, 14, Shandong ProvinceI want to talk about the possibility of personalized (个性化的) classes. Now many middle schools are using the “personalized class” system. Students can choose lessons they want to take. I think it is more effective.
1. What is Li Ming’s suggestion about the school uniform?2. Why does Liu Hua want to thank his head teacher?
3. How many students give suggestions about classes in school?
4. What suggestion would you like to give to your head teacher? Why? Write 30 words or more.
6 . ①With the development of technology, education is changing. The classroom of the future will surely not be the same as the classroom of today. So what will the future classroom be like? Let’s try to find it out.
②To start with, facing the blackboard will be a thing of the past. Students will take classes by looking at their touch-screen (触摸屏的) desks. And doing homework, taking down notes, and taking tests will be just a click away (点击鼠标即可). The walls of the classroom will also be filled with real-time screens for students and teachers to show any information they want.
③In the coming years, another technology called metaverse (元宇宙) will make learning more exciting. Metaverse is a 3D virtual (虚拟的) world where people can meet, play, and work with others through digital avatars (数字化身). In the metaverse, people can do things like going to the mall, attending a concert or buying virtual clothing. The only difference is that they’ll do all these in a virtual environment. Teachers and students can get into a virtual classroom, while in real life, they may be sitting on the sofa at home. The experience will be like being in an actual classroom. Students can also “visit” historical sites, see the real geography of the planet, take tours through international universities or research labs, and much more.
④Besides, the classroom of the future holds several learning styles for students. They will be free to learn things in the way they want. This includes learning through video lectures. Everyone moves at their own pace (节奏), with teachers guiding them along the way. This practice will help students learn faster and have better results.
1. What might happen according to Paragraph ②?| A．Students won’t need to take tests. | B．There will be no desks in the classroom. |
| C．Students won’t need to do their homework. | D．There will be no blackboard in the classroom. |
| A．An AI tool. | B．A virtual world. |
| C．A new kind of class. | D．A robot teacher. |
| A．describe how the metaverse will change our life |
| B．show how students will learn at their own pace |
| C．tell how the classroom will change in the future |
| D．explain how virtual classrooms will become popular |
A． | B． | C． | D． |
7 . Singapore started to put labels (标签) on every drink recently. The labels are from A to D. A is the most healthy, and D is the least healthy. The more sugar and saturated fat (饱和脂肪) a drink has, the less healthy the drink is. D-grade drinks aren’t allowed to be advertised (打广告) by companies to attract customers.
| A．Grade A | B．Grade B | C．Grade C | D．Grade D |
| A．<1%. | B．1—5%. | C．5—10%. | D．>10%. |
| A．To stop people buying drinks. | B．To guide people to choose healthy drinks. |
| C．To tell people how much sugar is in the drinks. | D．To show there are many kinds of drinks. |
| A．Music and Movie. | B．Sports and Travel. | C．History and Culture. | D．Life and Health. |
8 . 
In an unusual move, the wildlife workers in Florida, the US, are feeding manatees (海牛) to keep them from hunger. So far, they have already given out 25 tons of lettuce (生菜). Manatees can be as long as 13 feet when they grow up. They can weigh up to 590 kilos. Although they look big, manatees only eat sea grass and other sea plants. That’s one reason why they’re sometimes called “sea cows”. They spend most of their time in warm water which is not deep looking for food.
But Florida’s manatees have been on the US government’s list of endangered animals since 1967. One of the biggest problems for manatees is boats. Manatees are curious, and quite slow. That has led to thousands of manatees being hurt or killed by boats!
With protection, manatees managed to pick themselves up. At one point, there were only about 2,000 manatees left in Florida. But in 2016, there were about 8,800 manatees.
But now manatees are facing a new problem. Many of the beds of sea grass that manatees depend on have been killed by pollution. Polluted warm sea water and fertilizers (化肥) from farmlands have created huge growths of algae (海藻) on the ocean’s surface. It prevents the sunlight that allows the sea grass to grow. The problem is especially serious in Indian River Lagoon. About 90% of the sea grass beds in the area have died off.
So last December, the wildlife experts came up with a plan to get emergency food for the manatees. They decided to feed them green vegetables like lettuce. It has been very successful. They’re working hard to make a difference.
1. The writer describes manatees by ________.| A．telling stories | B．raising questions |
| C．listing numbers | D．giving examples |
| A．To tell us what can cause manatees’ illness. |
| B．To explain why manatees are in great danger. |
| C．To introduce several ways of protecting manatees. |
| D．To offer some information about the US government. |
| A．Because lettuce is easy to grow in the United States. |
| B．Because sea grass nearly dies off because of pollution. |
| C．Because manatees eat nothing but vegetables like lettuce. |
| D．Because wildlife experts create a new way to feed manatees. |
| A．Let’s save endangered manatees. | B．Manatees face serious problems. |
| C．What manatees’ living habits are. | D．What we should feed manatees on. |
9 . Xuwen, a small town in the south of Guangdong, is called the “hometown of pineapples (菠萝)” in China. One in three pineapples sold in the country comes from this place. There, farmers produced nearly 700,000 tons of pineapples in 2021. But what makes Xuwen so successful?
In 2019, the Guangdong government introduced a marketing system (市场体系) for pineapples grown in Xuwen and set up a special working group to make it happen. They called it “12221”, including the following five parts: “one” database of agricultural products (农产品数据库); “two” teams, namely buyers and producers; “two” marketing areas, sales areas and production areas; “two” activities, helping buyers into the production area and agricultural products into the market; and “one” goal—rural vitalization (乡村振兴).
The project sent the fruit to bigger markets by finding buyers and improving the business sense of growers as well as using big data to guide production and sales methods. “It changed people’s opinions and helped farmers have a better understanding of marketing,” said Liu Yicun, who used to work at the Xuwen government.
A lot of people from around the country visit Xuwen because of pineapples, helping the development of the local tourism industry. The local food plays an important part when young tourists choose where to go. It’s common for young travelers, especially those born in the 1990’s and 2000’s to go on journeys. At the same time, they can taste something new.
1. What is Xuwen in Guangdong famous for?| A．Its changeable weather. | B．Its colorful history. |
| C．Its hard-working farmers. | D．Its local products. |
| A．The marketing system. | B．The Guangdong government. |
| C．The special working group. | D．The hometown of pineapples. |
| A．They can grow different kinds of fruits. | B．They can buy local products more cheaply. |
| C．They can find more sale areas and buyers. | D．They can work at the government more freely. |
| A．All pineapples sold in the country come from Xuwen. |
| B．More tourists will visit Xuwen because of pineapples. |
| C．Project 12221 has been introduced to the whole country. |
| D．Tourism industry will take the place of pineapple industry. |
10 . 
As a Brazilian, I think the Brazil Carnival (巴西狂欢节) is more than just a festival—it’s a big party that shows how lively our country is. This year, Rio de Janeiro Carnival took place from Feb. 9 to 17.
Carnival holds different meanings for different people. When I was a little boy, it was a national holiday—a time to get off the school uniforms and enjoy ourselves in a world of unusual costumes (服饰). My mom made smart costumes for me, from Wonder Woman to Cinderella.
But as we grow older, carnival takes on new meanings, like a samba (桑巴) dancer learning difficult steps. In my hometown, samba groups from all over the city have exciting parades (游行) in the streets. It’s a time when everyone forgets their worries and enjoys themselves together. People who don’t know each other become friends, and laughter fills the air.
And then there’s Rio de Janeiro’s famous Carnival—it makes all other parties seem like warm-ups. I once had the chance to see it firsthand. I saw the lively streets and people from all walks of life hug each other. The whole city danced into the night until the morning. But more than just the excitement, carnival shows how strong and united (团结的) Brazilians are. It’s a time when people forget their differences and come together in a celebration of happiness.
1. How long did Rio de Janeiro Carnival last this year?| A．7 | B．8 | C．9 | D．10 |
| A．People become friends in the exciting carnival parades. |
| B．His family dress up in unusual costumes during carnival. |
| C．Samba dancers learn difficult steps in the streets for carnival. |
| D．Carnival holds different meanings for him at different ages. |
| A．In person. | B．In general. | C．In public. | D．In surprise. |
| A．Exciting Parties in Brazil | B．A Lively City—Rio de Janeiro |
| C．Strong and United Brazilians | D．A Big Festival—Brazil Carnival |
