1 . An Art Class
When Kelly was twelve, she started taking classes at Miss Grace’s School for Art. She didn’t like it at first: the “novice artists”—the kids who hadn’t really done art before-worked mostly with clay, and Kelly was a terrible sculptor.
It wasn’t until her third year that Kelly found something she was really good at-charcoal drawing (素描). She loved watching the lines spread unevenly across the page as she moved the bits of charcoal back and forth over the paper.
One day, Sophia, the best artist in her class, sat down and set up her easel (画架) next to Kelly. Kelly felt a sinking feeling in her stomach. She’d actually found an art form that she enjoyed and was good at-and now Sophia was going to outshine her again? Kelly fought back tears when Miss Grace entered the room.
“Hello class, Miss Grace said.” We’ll continue to work on the project today. What masterpiece would Sophia have come up with?
Kelly looked at Sophia’s easel and she couldn’t believe it-it was a mess! For a brief moment, Kelly couldn’t actually believe her drawing was better than Sophia’s.
But then she looked at Sophia, who was watching Kelly with an anxious expression. “I…. I couldn’t decide what to do,” Sophia said. “And you’re so good. Sometimes I feel like my stuff is just so bad in comparison.”
Kelly looked to see if Sophia was joking, but she seemed completely serious. Now Kelly was shocked. “I’m not talented ... Miss Grace seldom praises me. You’re the best one in our class!”
Sophia raised her eyebrows. “I might be a really good copier of the stuff, but I have no idea what to do when it comes to making up my own images. You are so great at making new things out of the old stuff. I’ve loved your works.”
“I’ve loved yours, too,” Kelly said.
“Well, definitely not this one,” Sophia said.
Kelly smiled. “Maybe not right now. But if you move these lines up...” she said, pointing her finger on Sophia’s paper.
Sophia was quiet for a moment. “That’s a great idea!” she said finally.
Kelly smiled and turned back to her drawing, looking every so often at Sophia’s work to see that she was taking her advice, down to the last line.
1. When Kelly started classes at the art school, she _____.| A．was not good at the course | B．lacked confidence in drawing |
| C．was often pushed by Miss Grace | D．did not get along with the other kids |
| A．Thrilled. | B．Confused. | C．Frustrated. | D．Relieved. |
| A．She inspired Sophia. | B．She praised Sophia’s creativity. |
| C．She decided to outshine Sophia. | D．She finished the drawing for Sophia. |
| A．Interest is the best teacher. | B．You are what you believe to be. |
| C．Everyone has their own strengths. | D．Hard work will eventually pay off. |
2 . Stacy Dean, an official at the US Department of Agriculture, was inspired by a visit to Watkins Elementary, in Washington, D. C. Students grow vegetables in their school garden. They also roll up their sleeves in the school’s kitchen to participate in a FRESHFARM FoodPrints class, which integrates cooking and nutrition education.
“Who’s next?” asks instructional coach Regina Green, as kids throw vegetables into the pan and the smell of fresh ginger and onions fills the air. “We grew these in our garden,” Jessie Gibson, one of the students, says proudly. Then he measures and pours dry ingredients into a bowl.
“Our family has tried new things because of the program,” says Catie Kelley, whose two children have participated in the FRESHFARM program. “They come home with the recipes,” Kelley says. “It’s fun because it’s things that we don’t usually make at home,” so it has encouraged them to try novel combinations. She says the kids take more of an interest at the grocery store to identify foods they’ve tried in the program.
Dean wants to have the science around healthy eating integrated. A block to scaling up these types of programs is money. The program relies on grants and receives some federal funding, but it’s not enough to expand the program to all the schools that could benefit.
In fact, there are other problems. At a time when diet-related disease is a leading cause of death, and unhealthy eating habits are rooted in US culture, it’s unrealistic to think that a cooking curriculum could overcome such a sweeping, societal problem. “We know from years of evidence that we need multiple things to come together to support healthy eating,” says Angela Odoms-Young, a professor of maternal and child nutrition at Cornell University.
Despite these challenges, programs like FRESHFARM can help kids expand their choices by introducing them to new tastes. At first, many kids are turned off by the bitter taste of greens. But through the magic of cooking, processing the onions, and blending in fresh ginger, kids can be inspired.
1. What inspired Dean during the visit to Watkins Elementary?| A．The coach’s skillful performance. |
| B．Students’ getting more access to nature. |
| C．The integrated hands-on cooking. |
| D．Students’ gardening and cooking. |
| A．They pay more attention to healthy eating. |
| B．They have a more harmonious relation. |
| C．They show more interest in shopping. |
| D．They have enriched their recipes. |
| A．Advocating healthy eating needs joint efforts. |
| B．A cooking curriculum should be promoted. |
| C．Nutrition helps put students on a healthy path. |
| D．Food is fundamental to life and good health. |
| A．Complex. | B．Widespread. | C．Effective. | D．Easily-operated. |
3 . Healthy eating and staying fit can be difficult. You may want to eat tasty food that is easy to prepare. You may be inspired to exercise and stay in shape. The good news is that there are apps to help you.
Paprika
Paprika is an app to help users plan meals, shop and cook. You can save recipes from websites and from other apps to Paprika. The app can help keep track of the foods you have in your home so when you go shopping, you know what you need to buy.
MealBoard
MealBoard is another app that can suggest recipes and help you plan meals. This app can suggest recipes based on the food you already have in your home. MealBoard can keep a list of what food you have and what you need to buy. This app can scan bar codes to add items to your list. Using this app, you can also note the expiration dates (失效期), so you know when your food is no longer usable. MealBoard lets users save recipes from websites and then search them by foods used in the recipes. For example, you can search for recipes that have “chocolate” in them.
IEatWell
The IEatWell app supports healthy eating by giving users rewards for eating the night foods. If you like earning rewards for meeting your goals, IEat Well may work well for you. Instead of measuring how much you eat. IEatWell measures how well you eat. Tell the app what you are eating for your meal. You can even add a photo. The app will rate how healthy your meal is, and then give you a reward if you are eating well.
1. What do the apps Paprika and MealBoard have in common?| A．They can scan bar codes. |
| B．They can let you know what you need to buy. |
| C．They can keep a record of the meals you eat outside. |
| D．They can tell if the food has passed the expiration dates. |
| A．give you a picture | B．give you a reward |
| C．provide you with recipes | D．measure how much you eat |
| A．A science report. | B．A cooking recipe. |
| C．A health blog. | D．A medical journal. |
4 . Which Louvre Museum Ticket is Best for You?
If you are Short on Time
Go for: Skip-the-line Tickets
Guide: Expert guide/audioguide
These entry tickets provide skip-the-line access, allowing you to bypass long queues. Go on a carefully tailored 2 to 3-hour guided tour with an audio headset to keep you from missing out on any explanation.
If you are on a Budget
Go for: Direct Entry Tickets
Guide: Audioguide
Get guaranteed entry within 30 minutes and explore the world’s most visited museum with an optional audio guide available in 10 languages at an affordable rate. These day-long valid tickets will let you walk around and browse through both the 38,000 permanent works and the many temporary exhibits at your own pace.
If you are a Solo Traveler
Go for: Small-Group tour
Guide: Expert guide
Small group tours offer great personalized and interactive experiences. With fewer people, you can engage with your guide and group and explore the Louvre in depth. See the Louvre’s most notable pieces like the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, the Winged Victory, and more.
If you are Travelling with Kids
Go for: Skip-the-line tickets
Guide: Expert guide/audioguide
With skip-the-line tickets, you can avoid long queues into the museum. The short, specialized tour will also focus on the major highlights of the Louvre, making them perfect for families with kids. A professional guide will accompany you, providing fascinating insights in a kid-friendly manner.
1. What is the primary advantage of the tickets for visitors short on time?| A．Exclusive access to VIP exhibits. | B．Extended access for the whole day. |
| C．Avoiding long queues. | D．Free admission for solo travelers. |
| A．Access to VIP exhibits. | B．A day-long validity. |
| C．Free audio guide in 10 languages. | D．Special discounts on temporary exhibits. |
| A．They guarantee the same major highlights. |
| B．They provide specially catered insights. |
| C．They offer visits of approximately the same length. |
| D．They include quick access and a guided tour. |
5 . Suzanne Simard, a professor of forest ecology who called herself a “forest detective”, was raised in mountains in Canada. Few scientists make much impact with their PhD thesis, but, in 1997, she did just that. Her research on the “wood wide web” made the cover of Nature and transformed our understanding of forests. What was then a challenge to traditional ideas is today widely accepted.
A mushroom is the part of a fungus (真菌) that sticks up above the ground. Thin, white threads grow from its stem deep into the soil. These threads are called hyphae (菌丝). Hyphae connect themselves to tree roots. They also stretch from root system to root system, like an underground network. This network may go for miles. Hyphae pick up nutrients and water from soil. The fungus threads that connect to tree roots share their nutrients and water with the trees. In return, they sip a bit of the sugar the trees make. Sharing helps both trees and mushrooms live. It’s also how trees communicate.
When a tree is being eaten by bugs, it makes chemicals to shoo them away, sort of like bug repellent (驱虫剂). The chemicals travel through the tree, down its roots, and into the hyphae network. Other trees connected to the network taste the chemicals. That tells them a nearby tree is under attack, so they start to make their own bug repellent. Trees do more than share warnings through the hyphae. They also help each other. In the fall, paper birch trees drop their leaves and can no longer make sugar. So, a fir tree that stays green all winter uses the network to send extra sugar to the birch until spring comes again. This system of sharing information and nutrients through the hyphae is sometimes called the “wood wide web”, because it works a bit like the Internet.
Local climate sets the stage for the wood wide web, researchers say. In cool temperature and boreal forests, where wood and organic matter decay slowly, network-building EM fungi rule. By contrast, in the warmer tropics where wood and organic matter decay quickly, AM fungi dominate. These fungi form smaller webs and do less intertree swapping, meaning the tropical wood wide web is likely more localized.
Ecologist Thomas Crowther’s results suggest that as the planet warms, about 10% of EM-associated trees could be replaced by AM-associated trees. Microbes in forests dominated by AM fungi deal with carbon-containing organic matter faster, so they could liberate lots of heat-trapping carbon dioxide quickly, potentially accelerating a climate change process that is already happening at a frightening pace.
1. What do we know about Suzanne Simard?| A．She was a professor and a forest detective. |
| B．Growing up in the countryside, she made the cover of Nature. |
| C．Like many other scientists, she made big influence on her PhD thesis. |
| D．Her idea of the “wood wide web” used to challenge people’s thoughts. |
| A．They facilitate tree communication. | B．They form an underground network. |
| C．They produce sugar and share it with trees. | D．They share nutrients and water with the trees. |
| A．They release warning signals through leaves. |
| B．They produce real bug repellent to kill insects. |
| C．They make use of hyphae to produce chemicals. |
| D．They send chemical signals through the network. |
| A．It might slow down carbon release. | B．It would break down organic matter. |
| C．It might speed up climate change. | D．It might lead to faster tree growth. |
6 . Alex Honnold is a poster child (榜样人物) for the sport of free soloing. For more than 20 years, the
But for Alex, there is nothing deep and meaningful about what he does by his own standards. It’s
Q: Regarding your early career, you defined yourself
Alex: I had been climbing for years in the gym,
Q: Did you feel like you had become so
Alex: I think it’s just the activity that gives me the most joy in life. It’s just like how some people love to go running or swimming. There’s a certain
Q: People might
Q: Since
Alex: Intimacy, connection, relationships. Or whether I am wasting my time. I mean in some ways about living with regrets that you didn’t do the right thing or that you haven’t done something
| A．careless | B．selfless | C．hopeless | D．fearless |
| A．art | B．music | C．sport | D．literature |
| A．hardly | B．rarely | C．merely | D．simply |
| A．put out | B．stand out | C．send out | D．come out |
| A．adventurer | B．explorer | C．experimenter | D．campaigner |
| A．to | B．as | C．for | D．on |
| A．and | B．for | C．but | D．so |
| A．charmed | B．addicted | C．attracted | D．accustomed |
| A．appeal | B．meaning | C．favour | D．interest |
| A．contribute to | B．devote to | C．look to | D．bring to |
| A．management | B．occurrence | C．consequence | D．discovery |
| A．apparently | B．obviously | C．eventually | D．definitely |
| A．potential | B．harmful | C．useless | D．crazy |
| A．joy | B．death | C．love | D．regret |
| A．worse | B．less | C．better | D．more |
7 . A giant origami (折纸艺术) “snail” gets a Guinness World Record. Filled with
This
Making a giant paper “snail” isn’t
Another
“Gold foil paper symbolizes the beauty deep within people’s hearts. Therefore, I hope that everyone who sees this artwork can feel the
| A．creativity | B．curiosity | C．friendship | D．power |
| A．heaviest | B．thickest | C．largest | D．highest |
| A．frightening | B．interesting | C．amazing | D．confusing |
| A．damaging | B．unifying | C．cutting | D．burying |
| A．weight | B．length | C．size | D．sight |
| A．hard | B．famous | C．suitable | D．easy |
| A．brick | B．paper | C．medal | D．statue |
| A．failure | B．success | C．effort | D．trouble |
| A．simplest | B．impressive | C．important | D．obvious |
| A．strategy | B．problem | C．schedule | D．proposal |
| A．refer to | B．focus on | C．lead to | D．apply for |
| A．flat | B．thick | C．small | D．narrow |
| A．exchange | B．carve | C．organize | D．fold |
| A．experiments | B．measures | C．references | D．arrangements |
| A．demand | B．regret | C．advance | D．light |
8 . According to the United Nations, 60 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions come directly from the way that we currently produce our electricity.71 percent of the earth is covered in water yet only around 1.5 percent of the global energy is produced through wave power. That’s what inspired Eco Wave Power CEO, Inna Braverman to take on the challenge.
Two weeks after she was born in Ukraine in 1986, the Chernobyl nuclear disaster occurred and she got hurt, suffering from breathing arrest and a clinical death. But thanks to her mother, who was a nurse, she was saved. Growing up, she felt it her purpose to find green and sustainable energy.
Inna found that previous wave energy developers have decided to pursue offshore technologies, contributing to huge installation and maintenance costs, incredibly vulnerable stations in storms, and consequently lack of funding. Her innovative version, however, is to install the power station on land. The only part of the system in the water is the floaters which bob up and down with the waves. These push compressed air into a tank where the energy is stored to produce electricity. The floaters are attached to existing man-made structures such as banks, piers, and breakwaters.
The simplicity of the design makes it cheaper to install and maintain as well as being better protected from rough weather and therefore, insurable. Once a commercial plant producing 20 megawatt s or more (enough for 20,000 homes) is in place, the unit cost significantly reduces. “Our price of energy decreases to about $0.05 US (€0.05) per kilowatt hour, which is comparable to the prices of onshore wind,” Inna explains.
A pilot station was installed in Gibraltar in 2016. It was the first wave energy system to be connected to the grid in Europe. More tests of the wave energy system have been arranged in different countries and regions.
1. What do we know from the first two paragraphs?| A．Inna was inspired by a UN program to focus on green energy. |
| B．Inna’s early experience enabled her to explore green energy solutions. |
| C．Inna came up with the idea of green energy thanks to her mother. |
| D．Green and sustainable energy solutions are greatly influenced by the nuclear disaster. |
| A．To demonstrate the environmental impact of wave energy. |
| B．To highlight Inna Braverman’s innovative approach to wave energy. |
| C．To outline the challenges faced by other wave energy developers. |
| D．To provide information about wave energy production around the world. |
| A．Its maintenance on the sea floor. | B．Its dependence on government funding. |
| C．Its installation on land. | D．Its exclusive focus on offshore technologies. |
| A．Eco Wave Power: Pioneer in Sustainable Energy |
| B．Chernobyl Survivor’s Vision: Endless Power for the Future |
| C．Land-Based Wave Power: Innovation for Green Electricity |
| D．Onshore Energy: Eco Wave Power’s Fight Against Gas Emissions |
9 . Ideally, childhood is a time of growth and learning. But for many children around the world, this time is cut short when they are forced to work, sometimes in dangerous conditions. As a result, June 12 is recognized as the annual World Day Against Child Labor.
As of 2020, around 160 million children worked as child laborers, which means that one child in 10 was a child laborer. Overall, child labor has decreased over the past 20 years, but in recent years, this progress has stalled. Child labor is distinguished from ordinary housework, helping with a family business or working to earn pocket money after school. Work done by children is classified as child labor when it harms the child physically, mentally, socially or morally, or when it hinders(阻碍) the child’s education.
About 79 million children are engaged in hazardous child labor. Sometimes this means the work is extremely dangerous because of heavy machinery or exposure to chemicals. Hazardous child labor can also involve harsh conditions, long hours, or exposure to various kinds of abuse.
The primary goal of the World Day Against Child Labor is raising awareness of the issue and encouraging individuals, organizations and governments to take action. Fighting child labor is a complex task. It involves social workers who identify child laborers and take action to provide these children and their families with other options. But it also involves change in communities as a whole, challenging the social norms(行为准则) that can lead adults to make their children work.
Child labor and poverty often go hand in hand as parents feel that removing their children from school is necessary to earn money so the family can survive. So, measures or policies meant to fight poverty are also tied to preventing child labor. Being harmful to children and to communities, child labor hinders children from growing into healthy, educated citizens who could make a difference in society. By highlighting the problem and offering a variety of solutions, the World Day Against Child Labor can make the situation a bit better.
1. What does the underlined word “stalled” in the second paragraph mean?| A．Slowed | B．Speeded | C．Stopped | D．Disappeared |
| A．Helping parents with the daily housework. |
| B．Assisting family business during the holidays. |
| C．Earning money for one’s camp trip after school. |
| D．Working in a shoe store every weekday afternoon. |
| A．The consequences of child labor. | B．The main types of child labor. |
| C．The seriousness of child labor. | D．The reasons against child labor. |
| A．Social workers. | B．Parents. | C．Governments. | D．Communities. |
10 . Human responses to moral dilemmas (道德困境) can be influenced by statements written by the artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT, according to a study published in Scientific Reports. The findings indicate that users may undervalue the extent to which their own moral judgments can be influenced by the chatbot.
Sebastian Krigel and colleagues asked ChatGPT multiple times whether it is right to sacrifice (牺牲) the life of one person in order to save the lives of five others. They found that ChatGPT wrote random statements arguing both for and against sacrificing one life, indicating that it is not biased towards a certain moral stance (立场).
The authors then presented 767 U.S. participants, who were on average 39 years old, with a dilemma whether to sacrifice one person’s life to save five others. Before answering, participants read a statement provided by ChatGPT arguing either for or against sacrificing one life to save five. Statements were from either a moral advisor or ChatGPT. After answering, participants were asked whether the statement they read influenced their answers.
Eighty percent of participants reported that their answers were not influenced by the statements they read. However, the authors found that the answers participants believed they would have provided without reading the statements were still more likely to agree with the moral stance of the statement they did read than with the opposite stance. This indicates that participants may have underestimated the influence of ChatGPT’s statements on their own moral judgments.
The authors suggest that the possibility for chatbots to influence human moral judgments highlights the need for education to help humans better understand artificial intelligence. They propose that future research should design chatbots that either decline to answer questions requiring a moral judgment or answer these questions by providing multiple arguments and warnings.
1. What are ChatGPT’s answers to a certain moral stance?| A．changeable. | B．valuable. | C．creative. | D．simple. |
| A．They admitted the power of ChatGPT. |
| B．They were interviewed by a moral advisor. |
| C．They were affected by ChatGPT unknowingly. |
| D．They were presented with different moral dilemmas. |
| A．Different findings of the study. | B．Future possibility for chatbots. |
| C．Major focuses of future education. | D．Solutions to the impact of chatbots. |
| A．ChatGPT Tends to Cause Moral Panics. |
| B．ChatGPT: Is It Likely to Affect Our Life? |
| C．ChatGPT:Why Is It Making Us So Nervous? |
| D．ChatGPT Can Influence Human Moral Judgments. |
