1 . 3-D printers are very hot today. They are being put to all kinds of uses, ranging from creating car models for movies to architectural models. However, none of these ideas are as shocking as the one suggested by Anjan Contractor, who believes that they will be the key to ending world hunger.
According to some experts, world population will increase to 10-12 billion by the end of this century. This means that food will become very expensive and possibly, even out of reach, for billions of people.
This is where 3-D printing may save the day. Anjan thinks that the only way to solve the problem will be to equip every kitchen with a 3-D printer and print out meals from tubes of powder and oil. He believes that these meals with a shelf life of over 30 years would result in less food wastage.
Most important of all, it would be easier to make food from things that we now do not consider edible (可食用的). A great example of that is the protein from meat. Most experts believe that as the population grows, the supply is not going to be enough to feed everyone. Anjan believes that we could easily get the same protein from insects. Though all this futuristic food may sound unappealing, the scientists believe that when faced with a terrible food crisis, it will be very welcomed.
While this may sound a little difficult to believe, Anjan seems to have convinced the scientists at NASA, who are looking for a solution to feeding astronauts when they go on really long missions, like the one being planned to Mars. They gave Anjan $125, 000 to start building the first real 3-D printer that creates the food.
Anjan is not the only one with this idea. A group led by Professor Hod Lipson has been experimenting with this idea since 2011 and has even succeeded in printing out cube-shaped creations from powdered milk and cookies with limited sugar!
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1. The passage mainly talks about .| A．whether 3-D printers will have a bright future |
| B．3-D printers will be used in every field in future |
| C．3-D printers will solve the problem of the increasing population |
| D．whether 3-D printers will be the key to ending world hunger |
| A．people get unappealing futuristic cube-shaped creations |
| B．3-D printers can only create powdered milk and cookies |
| C．futuristic food that contains protein can be made by 3-D printers from insects |
| D．insects will be the most popular food in the future, though unappealing now |
| A．The people in Africa. |
| B．The scientists and researchers. |
| C．The astronauts working in space. |
| D．The farmers and off-land workers. |
| A．On a notice board. |
| B．In a college newspaper. |
| C．In an institution brochure. |
| D．On a high technology website. |
2 . A short period of sleep taken during the day is known as a nap. Naps don’t just have benefits for adults at work, though. They could also help pupils to make the most of their school day. Studies have shown that a 20 to 30-minute “beauty sleep” makes people more alert and focused. This improves people’s ability to remember new information, which would help school children concentrate during lessons. Experts say that napping also improves brain functions, such as memory and the ability to complete difficult tasks.
The school day starts early, which means that pupils don’t always get enough sleep because there’s no chance to have a lie-in. Adding naptime during the school day would help exhausted pupils to make up for any sleep they’ve lost from getting up so early.
There are long-term benefits to taking a short nap, too. According to a recent study from University College London, the brains of people who have regular naps are bigger than those who don’t. People’s brains naturally shrink when they grow old, and the results showed that little sleeps can help people’s brains to age more slowly.
Although a nap can seem like a good idea, going to sleep for too long can actually make you feel worse. It’s not very pleasant to wake up from a daytime nap feeling confused and sleepy. Napping during the day can also have a negative impact on how well you sleep at night. This can create a cycle of not being able to sleep as well at night, leaving you feeling even more tired in the daytime. Sleep expert Dr Clete Kushida said, “It’s generally recommended to maximize sleep at night.”
Another consideration is that there really isn’t time in the school day for pupils to go to sleep. Some parents and teachers are concerned that it would cause children to miss too much lesson time. Pupils might take advantage of the system and use their need for a nap as an excuse to get out of lessons.
So, what do you think? Should school allow kids to have naps, or should you wait until the evening to catch up on your sleep?
1. It can be inferred from the passage that ________.| A．children need more naps than adults do |
| B．naps improve memory, efficiency and beauty |
| C．both children and adults are equally in need of naps |
| D．naps can bring more benefits to children than to adults |
| A．it may affect a healthier cycle of sleep |
| B．school kids will feel too sleepy to wake up |
| C．it can’t make up for the sleep lost from waking up early |
| D．it extends the school day for kids to have enough lessons |
| A．It’s better for babies to have as many daytime naps as possible. |
| B．Regular naps can slow the rate at which brains shrink with age. |
| C．There’s no need to guarantee night sleep if one has regular naps. |
| D．Different from teachers, parents want their kids to have naptimes. |
| A．Should Schools Have Naptimes? | B．How Could Naptimes Benefit Kids? |
| C．Are Kids Losing Too Much Sleep? | D．Do You Get Enough Daytime Sleep? |
3 . Some places are to be appreciated and visited during the winter months, with fresh layers of snow transforming already beautiful landscapes into wonderlands. Read on to discover these winter resorts around the world that are enough to wake you up.
Gullfoss Waterfall, Iceland
The falls are especially impressive in winter. It has two impressive layers, reaching up to 36 feet and 69 feet, and it’s quite dramatic to see the golden light reflected off its steep water at sunset. If you want to catch a sight of the polar lights on your trip, you can also see it from September to mid-April in Iceland.
Tromso, Norway
Tromso is a charming fishing village and energetic university town. Located on the Norwegian Sea off the northern coast of Norway, Tromso is particularly suitable for winter holidays as it is a popular gateway to the Arctic Circle. Surrounded by picturesque glaciers (冰川), the winter landscape of this region is unforgettable. You can also take part in many guided tours designed around the local Sami culture and maritime history.
Banff National Park, Canada
As Canada’s first national park, Banff National Park offers excellent views of the snow- covered Canadian Rockies. Located about two hours’drive from Calgary, the park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site with cross-country skiing opportunities.
Crater Lake National Park, United States
Crater Lake National Park, about a four-hour drive south of Portland, Oregon, is especially notable during the winter when the volcano lake is covered in snow. Crater Lake was formed as a result of a volcanic eruption some 7,700 years ago and is now a must-see for travelers seeking natural experiences, such as camping and cross-country skiing.
1. Where will you go if you are interested in Sami culture?| A．Gullfoss Waterfall. | B．Banff National Park. |
| C．Tromso. | D．Crater Lake National Park. |
| A．They feature the polar lights. | B．They offer cross-country skiing. |
| C．They are formed by volcanic eruptions. | D．They are UNESCO World Heritage Sites. |
| A．To share winter travel tips. | B．To ask us to enjoy delights of nature. |
| C．To persuade people to come to Iceland. | D．To recommend winter tourist attractions. |
4 . For many years, Croatian-American recording artist Nenad Bach toured the world performing with famous musicians like Bono and Pavarotti. Everything came to a stop in 2010, however, when Nenad was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease — a progressive disease that affects a person’s movement.
“I love music,” he said. “When I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2010, I didn’t know what it was. Five years later, I couldn’t even play the guitar.”
One day, a friend of Nenad’s asked him to play ping-pong with him, and Nenad said yes. The effects were immediate and positive: he woke up the next day filled with a “desire to live”, and his physical and mental issues had improved. Encouraged, he kept playing.
For months he told everyone around him about how ping-pong was helping his Parkinson’s, but his praise fell on deaf ears. Finally, he took matters into his own hands and started hosting Ping Pong Parkinson’s events at the Westchester Table Tennis Center in Pleasantville, New York. Once the events attracted enough attention, he started an organization called Ping Pong Parkinson (PPP) in March 2017.
PPP hopes to encourage people living with Parkinson’s to play ping-pong for its benefits. In addition to promoting social connectivity, PPP also says that it increases neuroplasticity (神经可塑性) which creates new neural pathways in the brain. Nenad has seen evidence of this with his own eyes many times in the past years. He said that their “facial expression changes from when they arrive until they leave. In addition, some people start walking again.”
Nenad has made spreading the word about the power of ping-pong his new life’s work! He hopes others will take up the sport and see the same improvements he’s enjoyed since the first time he picked up a paddle (乒乓球拍).
1. What happened to Nenad in 2015?| A．His disease got worse. | B．He learned to perform. |
| C．He began to play the guitar. | D．His acting journey ended. |
| A．Organizing social events. | B．Taking his mind off his work. |
| C．Setting up Ping Pong Parkinson. | D．Playing ping-pong with his friend. |
| A．Uncertain. | B．Favorable. | C．Uninterested. | D．Curious. |
| A．Nenad’s fighting against Parkinson |
| B．The benefits of playing ping-pong |
| C．The severity of Parkinson’s disease |
| D．The sporting experience of Nenad |
5 . The combined quantity of water on Earth has varied over the course of our planet’s geological history, and it still does.
Today, Earth includes some 1,386 million cubic kilometres of water, a volume that includes water in oceans, lakes and rivers, plus ground water, vapour in the atmosphere, and the frozen water of glaciers and ice caps. On the young Earth — some four billion years ago — vast quantities of water were added to the planet by ice-containing comets (a mass of ice and dust that moves around the sun and looks like a bright star with a tail) that struck us, eventually making our world a “blue planet”. But such events became increasingly rare in Earth’s more recent history, and today we are in an age during which Earth is losing water.
The water loss is due to the fact that particles (微粒) sometimes escape Earth’s gravity to travel into space. This is particularly true of the light hydrogen atoms that form part of water molecules (分子) together with oxygen. Every time the atmosphere loses hydrogen, we lose one of the building blocks of water. Scientists estimate that Earth loses about 3kg of hydrogen per second. At this pace, Earth would run out of water in three billion years — but that assumes that we don’t get any new water supplies.
New water need not come from space — it might come from the inside of the Earth. At depths below 50km, minerals contain water that is not reckoned within the water cycle. Some of it dates back to Earth’s formation; the rest is part of slow geological exchange between the planet’s layers. When Earth’s plates sink and melt, deep minerals can release these bound water molecules so that they can subsequently rise to the surface via volcanic eruptions, adding to the planet’s overall water resources.
1. How did Earth become a “blue planet” in geological time?| A．By getting water from comets | B．By making use of glaciers. |
| C．By releasing its inside water. | D．By storing water in the ocean. |
| A．Serious. | B．Regretful. | C．Uncertain. | D．Unworried. |
| A．locked | B．displayed | C．counted | D．marked |
| A．Where Can Water Be Stored? | B．Could Earth Run Out of Water? |
| C．How Can New Water Be Found? | D．Will There Be More Water on Earth? |
6 . “John Cotter’s Losing Music is a powerful addition to the classic memoir (自传),” said Gretchen Cherington in The Millions. The first-time author has a strange disease that causes severe hearing loss, and Cotter shows well how destructive (破坏性的) the condition can be. Music first began disappearing, then the sound of the ocean. Beginning when he was 30, a ringing in his ears came and went, sometimes becoming so loud that it was painful. As his condition got worse significantly, he found how the loss of normal hearing separated him quickly from the whole world of pleasure. “The feeling is like losing life’s colour.” After detailing how he fell into complete despair, his “hard-hitting, beautiful, deep-going” book also reveals how he managed to rediscover a certain sense of satisfaction again.
“The most memorable sections in Losing Music are about Cotter’s daily struggles” said Lisa Zeidner in The Washington Post. As a poet and essayist who was working as a part-time writing professor when his hearing troubles began, he is lyrical about sounds we take for granted: rain beating windows, old-fashioned heating hissing (嘶嘶响), a cat drinking water. Still, “he reserves his most passionate writing for music,” providing poetically precise descriptions of much of the music he has loved, and connecting the loss of those experiences to the loneliness of being deaf. By 33, his hearing was gone. Hearing aids and medication helped begin a partial improvement.
“Cotter ultimately finds the best hope for a life without music: to get right with silence,” said Melissa Holbrook Pierson in The Wall Street Journal. There can be no happy ending in a book about hearing loss, but in writing it, he “turned difficulty into quiet success.” Losing Music comes closest to capturing what’s behind music “by nearly being music itself.” Even though his hearing has failed him, “evidence that Cotter’s ear is still keen for the beautiful tune of language sings from every page.”
1. What do we know about Cotter from Paragraph 1?| A．Losing Music is his first work. | B．He knows well about his illness. |
| C．The ringing in his ears was like music. | D．He drives away loneliness by writing. |
| A．His keen sense of music. | B．His position as a professor. |
| C．His daily hardship and effort. | D．His detailed style of writing, |
| A．He tries his best to cure it. | B．He comes to terms with it. |
| C．He ignores the inconvenience of it. | D．He collects evidence about it. |
| A．A diary entry. | B．A book review. |
| C．A news report. | D．A biography. |
7 . 2023 Hot List: The Best New Restaurants in the World
Place des Fetes — New York City
This famous wine bar provides a spot with a rare sweet and warm atmosphere. For date night, go to the bar with views of the open kitchen, or fill up the large table in the back with a group and taste the entire item menu. Either way, do not miss the famous mushroom soup.
Le Doyenne — Saint — Vrain, France
Australian chefs James Henry and Shaun Kelly transformed the former stables (马厩) of a 19th-century private estate into a working farm, restaurant, and guesthouse driven by the principles of regenerative agriculture. More than one hundred varieties of fruits, vegetables, and herbs make their way into Henry’s cooking after being carefully nurtured by Kelly.
Mi Compa Chava — Mexico City
Almost everyone eating here is devoted to fixing last night’s damage from drunkenness and getting a head start on creating today’s. On the sidewalk, crowds of locals and tourists alike line up for fisherman Salvador Orozco’s creative takes on Sinaloa and Baja seafood. Anything from the raw half of the menu is a sure bet, though cooked dishes like fish can help fill out a meal.
Vilas — Bangkok
Can a dish inspired by a Spanish recipe using Japanese ingredients (原料) still be considered Thai? For Chef Prin Polsuk, one of Bangkok’s most famous Thai chefs, it most certainly can. At his latest restaurant, a small dining room at the base of Bangkok’s hulalongkorn’s 1897 journey around Europe and the foreign ingredients and landmark King Power Mahanakhon Tower, he draws inspiration from King Chulalongkorn’s 1897 journey around Europe and the foreign ingredients and cooking techniques he added to the royal cookbooks.
1. What can you do in Place des Fetes — New York City ?| A．Drink the red wine. | B．Taste the mushroom soup. |
| C．Watch the musicals. | D．Enjoy the beautiful views. |
| A．Place des Fetes. | B．Le Doyenne. |
| C．Mi Compa Chava. | D．Vilas. |
| A．To introduce the features of some restaurants. |
| B．To compare the origins of some restaurants. |
| C．To state the similarities of some restaurants. |
| D．To recommend some foods of some restaurants. |
8 . There are more than 57 million amputees (截肢者) worldwide and only about 5 percent of them have access to prosthetic (假肢) care and technology. Those who do have access to prosthetics are often burdened with an inconvenient fitting and training process, high price tags of up to $80,000. and long wait times of more than a year.
Despite the cumbersome (繁琐的) user experience present in the current prosthetics industry, there has been little structural change in the market for more than 50 years, expert say. The global prosthetics industry was valued at $6.1 billion in 2020 and is expected to grow to $ 8.6 billion by 2028.
But a small prosthetics company called Unlimited Tomorrow in Rhinebeck, N.Y., is shaking up the situation.
Unlimited Tomorrow was founded in 2014 by robotics genius Easton LaChappelle. When LaChappelle was 14 years old, he created a control glove operated bionic (仿生) hand and entered it into the Colorado State Science Fair. LaChappelle’s project caught the eye of a 7-year-old amputee who was wearing a bionic prosthetic. LaChappelle learned that her prosthetic, which wasn’t much more difficult than the science project he created in his bedroom, cost $80,000. He spent the next few years researching how he could improve the current state of the prosthetics industry. When LaChappelle was 18, with the help of Tony Robbins, author and philanthropist (慈善家), who was interested in investing in LaChappelle’s idea, Unlimited Tomorrow was established.
Unlimited Tomorrow’s star product is called TrueLimb, a super cool 3D printed robotic arm! “Basically, it’s like a robot hand.” says LaChappelle. What’s awesome is that TrueLimb isn’t one-size fits all—each one is made special for each person.
Unlimited Tomorrow sends a special 3D scanner to their customers. People can use it at home to scan their arm. Once they get that scan, the smart engineers at Unlimited Tomorrow make a perfect socket filled with special sensors for the individual amputee. Then, they use a 3D printer to make the personalized TrueLimb. Hundreds of people are already using these amazing TrueLimbs every day!
1. Which is the disadvantage of traditional prosthetics?| A．Low cost. | B．Short life. |
| C．Lack of convenience. | D．Limited color options |
| A．Significantly changing. | B．Narrowly losing. |
| C．Unexpectedly controlling. | D．Confidently improving. |
| A．When Unlimited Tomorrow was set up. |
| B．Who lent a helping hand to LaChappelle. |
| C．How LaChappelle invented a unique prosthetic. |
| D．What inspired LaChappelle to found Unlimited Tomorrow. |
| A．The Strengths and Weaknesses of Traditional Prosthetics |
| B．The comments on the Latest Prosthetic Product TrueLimb |
| C．Unlimited Tomorrow: Benefiting the Disabled with TrueLimb |
| D．A Teenager’s Company: Transforming the Prosthetics Industry |
9 . Like millions of other parents, Emily Hobey drops her son at day care before she heads to work every morning. But what makes her mornings different from other parents’ mornings, is that she gets to leave her one- and half-year old in a day care center run by her employer, Whirlpool.
The day care, called the Eddy, is located at the company’s global headquarters in Benton Harbor, Mich. — a five minute drive away from her office at the company’s North America Headquarters building. “Every day there is a safe environment waiting for him with great teachers.” said Hobey. “And we can really depend on that.”
A small but growing number of workplaces are offering on-site day care for their employees, according to data from network The Best Place for Working Parents, which covers over 600 businesses of varying sizes and services.
The organization has tracked how many businesses within its network offer on site child care since right before the pandemic (疫情). In 2020, the Best Place for Working Parents found that 8.5 percent of those companies offered on-site child care. That number grew to 11.9 percent in 2021. fell slightly to 11.4 percent in 2022 and climbed to 13.9 percent this year, a network spokesperson said.
A 2022 survey from McKinsey & Company found that 45 percent of mothers with children aged 5 or younger who left the workforce during the COVID-19 cited child care as a major reason for their departure. And 24 percent of mothers with children 5 years old or younger said they considered reducing their work hours or switching to part time work because of child care. Only 14 percent of fathers said the same.
Like Whirlpool, many workplaces offer on-site day care to help make their companies more attractive to employees. Research also shows that when companies offer on site child care, workers are happier at their job and are less likely to leave. This has been the case at clothing company Patagonia, which has offered on-site child care since 1983. Hilary Dessouky, general counsel at Patagonia, said that the on-site child care has resulted in almost 100 percent of mother’s returning to work after maternity leave (产假).
1. What makes Emily Hobey’s morning routines unique?| A．She drops her son at day care. |
| B．Her office is very close to her home. |
| C．Her employer provides on site day care. |
| D．She has a well-paid job in Whirlpool. |
| A．By making comparisons. | B．By providing examples. |
| C．By listing data. | D．By analyzing cause and effect. |
| A．Mothers love their children more than fathers. |
| B．Many women became jobless due to the pandemic. |
| C．Whirlpool offers the most attractive on-site day care across the world. |
| D．Lack of child care made many mothers leave work during the pandemic. |
| A．To describe some best child care services. |
| B．To show the positive effects of on site child care. |
| C．To stress the challenges faced by working mothers. |
| D．To compare it with companies without on-site child care. |
10 . Best Places to Visit in the World
Mumbai
Mumbai is a busy city located in India, celebrated for its distinctive culture and history. Notable attractions include Elephant Island and the Mumbai Museum. Additionally, Mumbai is a cooking paradise, offering a variety of local dishes and snacks. Visitors can enjoy a range of delicacies, including curry, Indian flatbreads, and yogurt. Best Time; October to February.
Barcelona
Barcelona is an energetic and lively city located in the northeast of Spain, known for its rich history, culture, and delicious cuisine. It boasts (拥有) world-renowned attractions like the Sagrada Familia and the Gothic Quarter. Additionally, Barcelona is famous for its unique football culture, making it one of Europe’s most beloved football cities. Best Time: May to August.
Mauritius
Mauritius is a beautiful island nation situated in the southwest of the Indian Ocean. It is well-known for its amazing beaches, crystal-clear waters, and diverse marine life. Visitors can enjoy water activities like diving, surfing, and fishing, as well as explore jungles and volcanic landscapes. Mauritius also offers world-class hotels and resorts, providing excellent dining and service. Best Time: March to October.
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is a dynamic and culturally rich city located in the Netherlands. Known for its historic architecture, museums, and art galleries, Amsterdam boasts famous landmarks like the Rijks museum and the Van Gogh Museum. The city is also diverse, with international communities and unique cultural events. Best Time: July to October.
1. What do Mumbai and Barcelona share?| A．They are both located in Europe. |
| B．They are both famous for football. |
| C．They both offer delicious food. |
| D．They both feature world-class museums. |
| A．Relax on the beaches. C. Experience live concerts. |
| B．Enjoy cultural events. D. Visit art galleries. |
| A．February. | B．March. | C．May. | D．September. |
