1 . Accompanied by her father, using a combination of aid and free climbing and taking advantage of some special equipment and ropes for protection, 10-year-old Selah made it to the top of El Capitan on June 12 after five days of big wall climbing.

Climbing the challenging and adventurous Nose route of El Capitan was a labor of love for Selah in more than one way. Her parents , Mike and Joy Schneiter, fell in love on this 3,000- plus-foot huge rock and she has always wanted to feel the way that her parents felt when they were up there together. Selah showed great interest in rock climbing at an early age. She wore her first rock-climbing equipment shortly after she learned to walk. She first dreamed of climbing El Capitan when she was 6 or 7.

El Capitan is a famous mountain-sized rock in Yosemite National Park. Getting to its top is no easy task. It's taller, as reported, than the tallest building in the world-Dubai^’s Buri Khalifa. El Capitan and its difficult Nose route, which runs more than 3,000 feet high up the center of the rock's face, is considered one of the world's hardest big wall climbs and has attracted the best climbers over time. But never before had a youngster accomplished it.

Selah's achievement caught national attention. Outside Magazine called her the youngest documented person to climb the Nose. Ken Yager, president of the Yosemite Climbing Association, said he also couldn't think of anyone younger who has done it.

Selah is humble about her El Capitan accomplishment. "I'm not necessarily a special kid or anything like that, she said. "There were a few times when I would be so worn that it would kind of discourage me from holding on. But overall, it was just great to keep plugging away.”

Selah shared this advice for other young climbers dreaming of big walls, "It doesn't take necessarily a super special person to do something like that. You just have to put your mind to it.”

1. What do we learn about Selah climbing El Capitan?

A．She began her climbing on June 5.

B．She got inspired by her family history.

C．She managed without any external help.

D．She was the first female to reach the top.

2. What is the purpose of paragraph 3?

A．To state El Capitan's height.

B．To prove El Capitan's popularity.

C．To introduce El Capitan's location.

D．To stress the challenge of climbing El Capitan.

3. Which of the following best describes Selah?

A．Determined.	B．Generous.
C．Warm-hearted.	D．Fortunate.

4. What may be Selah's advice for other young climbers?

A．Dream big and aim high.

B．Be committed to your ambition.

C．Chance favors the prepared mind.

D．Nothing is impossible for a genius.

2 . Children may learn new words better when they learn them in the context of other words they are just learning—according to a new research from the University of East Anglia.

Researchers investigated how 18–24-month-olds learn new words—in the context of words they already know well and those they don’t. The findings help explain how children learn new words and suggest a new way that parents and carers could help boost language development.

Previous research suggests that when children hear a word they do not know and see an object they have never seen in the context of some objects that they can already name, such as a toy or a ball, they guess that the new word refers to the new thing.

Dr. Larissa Samuelson from the university wanted to know if the strength of a child’s knowledge of familiar things—how well they know what “cars” or “balls” are, for example—mattered for learning new words and remembering them. They asked 82 children to take part in the study and carry out two experiments among them. And then they got some really surprising findings.

“We had expected that a stronger knowledge of familiar words would be better for learning new words, but we found the opposite was true.” Dr Samuelson said. “This new study suggests another way we might be able to help boost children’s ability to remember new word-object links – by teaching them in the context of other things that they are just learning.”

It seems counterintuitive, but it is perhaps because the less well-known items don’t compete with the new words as much. If they learn new words in the context of playing with well-known items such as a ball or book, they don’t process the new word as much.

1. What is the purpose of the new research?

A．To challenge the findings of previous studies.	B．To observe the process of children’s learning.
C．To better understand children’s word learning.	D．To compare children’s different learning styles.

2. What can be inferred from Dr. Samuelson’s words?

A．Their findings are out of expectation.	B．Their research should focus on children.
C．We should be more patient with children.	D．We need to provide guidance on learning.

3. What does the underlined word “counterintuitive” mean in the last paragraph?

A．Consistent.

B．Encouraging.

C．Impractical.

D．Unreasonable.

4. What does the text mainly tell us?

A．Less familiar words help children learn better.

B．Word-object links contribute to better learning.

C．New research finds the secrets of raising children.

D．Children learn better with the help of their parents.

3 . The streets of Cotonou, Benin’s largest city, have been Domingo Soule’s workplace for 35 years. The 50-year-old motorcycle taxi driver spends his days driving for miles on roads blanketed in exhaust fumes (尾气), picking up customers and taking them to where they want to go. But Soule has developed a cough from breathing in air pollution, he believes, and at the end of each day his eyes hurt.

Things maybe about to change, however. In recent months, he’s seen more and more electric motorbikes on the streets of Cotonou. The Indian manufacturer (制造商) M Auto introduced its electric bikes in Benin in July 2022 and there are already 2,000 on the roads; an additional 2,000 people have paid deposits (定金) and are waiting for delivery.

Shegun Bakari, M Auto’s chief executive, has ambitions to get all moto-taxi drivers in Benin to switch to electric. This month he plans to launch a campaign to encourage them to swap (交换) their old bikes for new electric models.

The only sticking point is the battery. M Auto’s business model relies on “swap stations” throughout the city. When the battery runs out after about 60 miles, drivers must visit a station and pay to exchange the empty battery for a full one. Concerns about the battery are also preventing Soule form buying an electric bike. It could cost him 4,000 CFA ￡(5.40) a day to replace batteries, Soule says, whereas at the moment he can buy five litres of petrol (enough for one day) for 3,000CFA.

Bakari understands his concerns. In Beni, close to 40% of the population live under the poverty line, earning less than US$2 a day. “If I’m living with $2 a day, I can’t afford to pay more just because I want to save the planet,” he says.

He and his team are working to persuade governments in Africa to reduce taxes on electric vehicles, as well as putting plans in place to produce the electric bikes in Benin. They are also in talks with the government to build a solar plant to provide the extra energy that will be needed.

1. What does the author want to show by telling Soule’s story?

A．Air pollution becomes a health issue.

B．Road conditions badly need improving.

C．Taxi drivers find it hard to make a living.

D．Motorbikes area major means of transport.

2. What is the solution to the problem caused by motorbikes?

A．Riding old bikes.	B．Building more roads.
C．Banning them on road.	D．Moving to electric bikes.

3. What is the major concern of a potential electric bike user?

A．Short battery life.	B．Battery safety.
C．Insufficient charging points.	D．High battery replacement cost.

4. What are Bakari and his team making efforts to do?

A．Create more job opportunities.	B．Make electric bikes affordable.
C．Cutback on fuel supplies.	D．Improve taxi drivers’ welfare.

6 . What are the best gardens in Ireland to visit? The answer is: everywhere.

Brigit’s Garden

The garden sits on 11 magical acres of natural woodlands and wildflower areas. The garden areas take you on a walk through ancient Celtic seasons. This is an educational area and it provides tours and walking groups with lessons for the local schools. There is a super cafe on site. When you have finished exploring, you can enjoy a snack or a cup of coffee.

Caheer Bridge Garden

An award-winning garden in County Clare, this garden is created around an old restore cottage on the river. It has been featured in several publications including the Irish Times and is open for viewing by appointment only.

It is also an area known for its challenging weather systems, constant westerly winds, and lack of naturally growing plants and trees.

Helen Dillon’s Garden

Starting her career as a junior assistant to other famous gardeners working at a gardening magazine and cultivating her own grounds for over 40 years, Helen has authored several books on gardening and has been quoted as claiming that gardening is a constant editing process and that what you take out can be as important as what you put in. The Dillon’s garden reflects Helen’s constantly changing style and is open to the public to view and tour.

Bellfield Garden

Covering almost one complete hectare and featuring a victorian glass house, Bellfield Garden has become a popular visitors spot.

It has been listed as one of the best 10 gardens in Ireland and has an impressive water feature. As a popular vacation destination, the grounds contain cottages that are fashioned from the old farmhouses where visitors may stay.

1. In which garden can you experience education?

A．Bellfield Garden.	B．Brigit’s Garden.
C．Helen Dillon’s Garden.	D．Caheer Bridge Garden.

2. What is Bellfield Garden famous for?

A．Snacks.

B．Books.

C．Water.

D．Weather.

3. Where is this text probably taken from?

A．A story book.	B．A magazine.
C．A science book.	D．A Tour Guide.

7 . Science reporting on climate change does lead Americans to adopt more accurate beliefs and support government action on the issue, but these gains are fragile, a new study suggests. Researchers found that these accurate beliefs fade quickly when people are exposed to coverage skeptical of climate change.

“It is not the case that the American public does not respond to scientifically informed reporting when they are exposed to it,” said Thomas Wood, associate professor of political science at the Ohio State University. “But even truly accurate science reporting recedes from people’s frame of reference very quickly.”

Results showed that accurate science reporting didn’t persuade only politicians and people who initially rejected human-caused climate change also had their opinions shifted by reading accurate articles. The study involved 2,898 online participants who participated in four waves of the experiment during the fall of 2020.

In the first wave, they all read authentic articles in the popular media that provided information reflecting the seientifie views on climate change. In the second and third waves, they read either another scientific article, an opinion article that was skeptical of climate science, or an article on an unrelated subjeet. In the fourth wave, the participants simply were asked their beliefs about the science of climate change and their policy attitudes.

To rate participants’ scientific understanding. the researchers asked after each wave if they believed that climate change is happening and has a human cause. To measure their attitudes, researchers asked participants if they favored government action on climate change and if they favored renewable energy.

“What we found suggests that people need to hear the same accurate messages about climate change again and again. If they only hear it once, it recedes very quickly,” Wood said. It was significant that accurate reporting had positive effects on all groups, including those who originally rejected climate change. But it was even more encouraging that it affected attitudes.

1. What does the underlined word “recedes” in paragraph 2 mean?

A．Increases.

B．Graduates.

C．Disappears.

D．Strikes.

2. What does paragraph 4 mainly tell us?

A．The research object.	B．The research result.
C．The research purpose.	D．The research procedure.

3. Why did researchers ask participants the second question?

A．To survey the government’s satisfaction rate.

B．To make an assessment on their attitudes.

C．To teach them scientific understanding.

D．To measure action on climate change.

4. What can be the best title for the text?

A．Science Report Of Climate Change Can Affect Minds

B．Online Participants Joined In A Four-Wave Experiment

C．Accurate Science Reporting Don’t Persuade Only Politicians

D．People Should Hear Accurate Messages About Climate Change

8 . On a tram smoothly pulling into the heart of Luxembourg City, Marck gives a smile and takes a look at the fabric of the seat next to him. For him, the city’s trams are more than just transport. More even than the focus of his job. They are about transforming his country and, perhaps, changing the world.

Marck is the director general of Luxtram, Luxembourg’s modern trams. It first started running services two years ago. Next year, Luxembourg will become the world’s only country to get rid of fares on all its forms of public transport. Luxembourg’s traffic problems come from its army of workers. The population of the capital city almost doubles during the working day, when more than 110,000 people travel in and out.

After three decades when its roads have become so crowded, Luxembourg is going to do something remarkable. Free fares, and a plan to persuade people to switch from cars to trams or trains. Marck, along with many others, is excited to see what happens next. “The fact that this is free means that everyone can use it — young or old, rich or poor,” he said. “Everyone can say to themselves it’s better to leave the car at home. We must continue to improve and extend the network. It must always be comfortable, well-connected, efficient.”

Lydie Polfer, the city’s mayor, says she hopes to reach the point where more than a third of people come into the city using public transport — at the moment, it’s less than one in five. She said, “It’s not practical to ban cars because some people, like the elderly, need them. But everyone has to be aware that he or she can do something to improve the situation. There is an expression in German — you are not in the traffic jam — you are the traffic jam, and that is true. I think that making it free will be the biggest arguments for people to use public transport. ”

1. Why does Marck think the city’s trams are more than just transport?

A．The trams are his goal that he strives for.

B．There are more means of transportation than trams.

C．City’s trams bring more changes beyond transport.

D．The trams are the heart of Luxembourg City transport system.

2. What does paragraph 2 mainly talk about?

A．The cause of the traffic problems.	B．The means of public transport.
C．The development of running services.	D．The increase of working population.

3. What concerns people most when using the public transport?

A．The convenience.

B．The fare.

C．The comfort.

D．The efficiency.

4. What can be inferred from what Lydie Polfer said?

A．The elderly needn’t use public transport.

B．It’s possible to persuade most people to use the trams.

C．Everyone can do his part to improve transport situation.

D．Those who don’t take public transport cause traffic jams.

9 . The rhino census (犀牛普查) is out, bearing good news for the greater one-horned rhinos! In September, 2022, the International Rhino Foundation (IRF) documented in a report that there is a baby boom in this population, representing an increase of 167 percent.

According to the report, there are a total of 4,014 greater one-horned rhinos living in India, Nepal, and Bhutan. Although this is positive news, their IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) status still remains vulnerable.

In India alone, the home to 70 percent of the world’s greater one-horned rhinos, there was an increase of 274 rhinos since the last biannual census, according to the organization Rhino Review.

An important reason for this baby boom is the fact that Assam, India, has enlarged Kaziringo National Park, home to the world’s largest one-horned rhino population. The park went from 430 square kilometers to 1,040 square kilometers. This gives more breeding areas for the rhinos, and they are closed to visitors during breeding season.

India and Nepal are also protecting the rhinos by enforcing wildlife crime laws. To reduce rhino death by poaching (偷猎), the IRF donates vehicles and equipment, plus education including guard training and crime investigation.

The IRF data for other rhino species is not as promising, although the greater one-horned rhino numbers are encouraging for future conservation. According to the report, there is a decline in Sumatran rhinos, Africa’s white rhinos, while the Javan rhino population is stable and threatened by loss of habitat.

The State of the Rhino report offers hope for these other species. Given that the greater one-horned things were once close to extinction, with fewer than 100 living in the world, their recovery is incredible. This demonstrates that there are solutions when organizations and people work together. Let us hope that this successful rhino baby boom will affect other endangered wildlife species around the globe.

1. What contributes to the baby boon of one-horned rhinos in Assam, India?

A．Extending the protected areas for rhinos.

B．Raising fund to set up more reserves for rhinos.

C．Leaving the one-horned rhinos alone in the wild.

D．Keeping visitors away from the Kaziringo National Park.

2. How does IRF help protect the one-horned rhinos?

A．By cooperating with other organizations.

B．By enhancing anti-poaching efforts.

C．By transferring the rhinos to other habitats.

D．By guarding the rhinos with new equipment.

3. What can we learn from the rhino report?

A．Rhinos are no longer a vulnerable species.

B．Rhinos will affect other wildlife in the world.

C．Everyone can play a role in protecting nature.

D．It is possible to protect other endangered species.

4. What is the purpose of this text?

A．To inform good news on the greater one-horned rhinos.

B．To show the measures taken to protect the one-horned rhinos.

C．To introduce an endangered species—the greater one-horned rhinos.

D．To indicate the decline of other species of rhino population.

10 . Horseback riding might not seem like a typical New York City activity, but one program has several horse farms throughout the city’s busy districts. GallopNYC provides lessons to veterans(老兵) and people with disabilities — horseback riding is their therapy(疗法).

Olivia Diver visits the GallopNYC location in the Howard Beach neighborhood in Queens. Diver has only been riding horses for a few months, but says she’s already felt the benefits. “It helped me come out of my comfort zone and be less shy and less in my shell,” she said. Trying something new shows her she can accomplish other things as well.

James Wilson,executive director at GallopNYC, says there are many ways horses can be therapeutic. “The horse sees the world in the way somebody with post-traumatic stress disor-der (PTSD) might see the world, in a really guarded, sort of anxious way,” he explained. “So,somebody with PTSD and a horse can sort of partner together and see the world in the same way and kind of take care of each other.” Horses can also help with physical disabilities. After two years of therapeutic riding, a teenager, who had so little core strength that his mother had to be in the bathtub with him, had enough core strength that he could be in the shower by himself. Wilson said, “The movement of the horse will loosen up muscles that might be really tight. And the movement helps stimulate other body parts and other muscles that you might not use. ”

“CallopNYC has about 1,000 people on is waitlist for lessons, but prioritizes people with disabilities and veterans. We believe that everybody benefits from the time on a horse, so if you want to ride a horse, come on, let’s go,” Wilson said. Lessons are $55, but the non-profit fundraises to help cover or lower the cost for customers who may need support.

1. Why does GallopNYC offer the lessons?

A．To make horse riding typical in NYC.

B．To provide part-time jobs for veterans.

C．To promote disabled people’s incomes.

D．To offer a cure to special groups.

2. What can we infer about Olivia Diver?

A．She has learned new life skills.

B．She has found her comfort zone.

C．She has gained much confidence.

D．She has changed her attitude to horses.

3. What does paragraph 3 intend to show?

A．GallopNYC’s leader.	B．The effect of the therapy.
C．Profit James Wilson has got.	D．Ways of guarding people’s anxiety.

4. What does Wilson think of the program according to the last paragraph?

A．It is well received.	B．It is highly profitable.
C．It needs to be more creative.	D．It takes ages to see the results.