1 . While facial recognition technology continues to promote many aspects of human life, it's now being applied to aid the protection of giant pandas, Xinhua News Agency reported on 6 January 2022.

A nature reserve has built an AI-enabled video monitoring system to better protect giant pandas. Installed with 300 infrared (红外线) cameras, the monitoring system helps ensure the health and safety of 110 wild giant pandas there. It was put into operation two years ago, and has captured numerous photos and videos of pandas engaged in activities such as eating, resting and fighting for mates. It provides scientific data to help us grasp pandas’ living conditions and establish conservation strategies. More importantly, it achieves real-time monitoring of the reserve so that we can discern the threats to the wildlife as early as possible.

A recent study found the facial recognition system can automatically recognize various wild animals caught in infrared cameras, allowing researchers to collect data on giant pandas while staying indoors. It's shown that by equipping the AI-aided system to retain the filed photos of giant pandas, we obtain a 98% success rate for species recognition. Its success rate of recognizing other wild animals can top 80%. In 2021 alone, this monitoring system captured 2, 896 photos of giant pandas and other rare animals and filmed 3,218 seconds of footage, showcasing the reserve's sound ecological environment as well as a gradual rise in panda population there.

Head of the reserve's administration, Liu Xingming, said researchers used the system not only to observe the dynamics and health of the giant panda population but also to learn about changes in the natural surroundings of their habitat. “The monitoring system has enabled systematic, scientific, and intelligent conservation of wildlife,” he added. “However, it is expected to be further improved and optimized in the near future.”

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

A．Solve.

B．Pose.

C．Attach.

D．Detect.

2. What can be inferred about the new technology from the study?

A．It precisely recognizes any species.	B．It makes panda population rise rapidly.
C．It contributes to species data collection.	D．It understands pandas' facial appearance.

3. What is Liu Xingming's attitude to the facial recognition monitoring system?

A．Critical.	B．Objective.
C．Ambiguous.	D．Conservative.

4. Which of the following can be the best title for the text?

A．Panda Facial Recognition Using Database

B．Functions of Facial Recognition Technology

C．AI Technology for Better Panda Protection

D．A Breakthrough in Video Monitoring System

2 . Do you want to see majestic lions roaring, rare rhinos running and colorful birds flying? You’ll find this incredible display of nature in the Kenya Lake System in the Great Rift Valley.

First stop

Fly into Nairobi, the capital of Kenya. This great city is known for its fashion markets and beautiful art. And be sure to pick up some rich Kenyan coffee while you’re there! Then head for the countryside.

Plan your trip

The largest of the three lakes in the system, Lake Nakuru, is less than 175 kilometers from Nairobi. But Lakes Bogoria and Elementaita are equally worth a visit. You can stay at one of several choices of luxurious cabins in the valley. And if you sign up for a trip, be sure to put flamingos, the white and pink birds, at the top of your list.

Paradise

The Kenya Lake System is shallow and alkaline (碱性的). That means it supports vegetation such as green algae, a food source for many waterfowl. Hundreds of species of birds flourish here, using this area as a major breeding and nesting ground. Water buffalo, leopards, monkeys and the endangered Rothschild giraffe also make this area their home.

Other sights

Wildlife isn’t the only natural wonder in the Great Rift Valley. The valley marks a place where the earth is divided far below the surface. This rock separation below ground leads to noticeable features above ground. Walking around Lake Bogoria especially, you will see steam rising from hot springs.

Other activities include golfing, horseback riding and hiking. The fun doesn’t stop when the sun goes down, either. The river valley is far from city lights, so many visitors gaze at the stars shining above.

If you are ready for a wildlife experience, don’t hesitate!

1. Where can you buy fashionable gifts in Kenya?

A．Nairobi.

B．Lake Nakuru.

C．Lake Bogoria.

D．Lake Elementaita.

2. Which should be the first choice on your travelling list?

A．Living in a cabin.	B．Seeing flamingos.
C．Visiting hot springs.	D．Gazing at shining stars.

3. What can we learn about the Kenya Lake System?

A．It has countless lakes worth visiting.	B．It’s an ideal place for wildlife to live.
C．Its water is unsuitable for plant growth.	D．It’s famous for rich culture and history.

3 . After the long, boring winter, kites everywhere couldn’t wait for the chance to go dance in the air and to run after the sun. Every kite was _________ but one.

In the back of a closet, looking depressed and thin, one lonely kite preferred to _________. His outline was so classic, which you may think was a _________ to steady his flight. But he didn’t like flying. _________, it was the belief that the higher the flight, the further the fall that scared the kite most of all.

The kite _________ it wouldn’t be long before his boy would take him away for another _________ public display. At that very moment, the closet door opened.

“Come on,” said the boy excitedly and _________ outside to play with the kite. The boy started _________ to give the kite a lift. The _________ on the kite was at once strong and swift, carrying him up high into the air. Closing his eyes tightly, he __________ violently all over in panic. The boy ran all through the park while other kids __________ at his kite rolling over and falling. “The kite must either be __________ or broken”, other kids were joking. The boy went back to his kite. “Facing fears bravely, we can scare them away.” With these words, the kite got up his __________ and decided to give flying another try.

The timid kite felt peaceful and delighted, __________ his wings and waved his rag tail, a broad smile spreading on his face. The boy believed the kite learned a __________ — don’t be afraid of fear. Instead, embrace it bravely and optimistically.

1.

A．satisfied

B．shocked

C．thrilled

D．ashamed

2.

A．move on

B．stay in

C．show off

D．set out

3.

A．sign

B．hope

C．line

D．clue

4.

A．Moreover

B．Initially

C．Actually

D．Therefore

5.

A．promised

B．insisted

C．concluded

D．imagined

6.

A．interesting

B．embarrassing

C．disappointing

D．fascinating

7.

A．escaped

B．tiptoed

C．departed

D．skipped

8.

A．shouting

B．jumping

C．running

D．preparing

9.

A．courage

B．force

C．balance

D．wind

10.

A．trembled

B．sank

C．danced

D．rose

11.

A．stared

B．glanced

C．aimed

D．threw

12.

A．curious

B．anxious

C．stupid

D．lonely

13.

A．faith

B．nerve

C．duty

D．goal

14.

A．folded

B．stretched

C．pulled

D．controlled

15.

A．skill

B．principle

C．trick

D．lesson

4 . Feeling a bit bored? It could be just what you need to produce your best ideas, excite your creativity or simply give your brain a rest.

Nowadays, in the age of round-the-clock entertainment, it’s (technically) trickier to be bored. If the show you’re watching has lost its spark, you can easily amuse yourself on social media without even leaving the sofa. But that’s not necessarily a good thing. Feeling disengaged from the task in hand, or a lack of stimulation (刺激), does have its benefits, according to researchers at the University of Central Lancashire.

Being bored motivates you to search out something less boring to do. For example, if you decide there’s nothing worth watching on TV, you might choose to switch off and take up a new hobby. This, according to researchers, can explain why the lockdowns of the past two years saw a surge (激增) in creativity among people stuck at home from banana-bread-making to picking up a paintbrush for the first time since childhood.

But what about those times when you have no choice but to stick with the boring situation, waiting for a bus, for instance? The good news is that the boredom you’re feeling now could spark your creativity later, says a 2019 study published in the Academy of Management Discoveries journal. People who’d taken part in a bean-sorting task later performed better at coming up with creative ideas than another group who’d been given something more interesting to do first.

Ultimately, don’t take it for granted that there’ll always be something close at hand to entertain us. With boredom, we will not run the risk of becoming boring ourselves.

1. What does the author imply in paragraph 2?

A．Wondering mind can be healthy.

B．Social media can surely entertain us.

C．Being bored may be something good.

D．Being involved in the task is beneficial.

2. Why was the surge in creativity seen recently?

A．People were stimulated by boredom.

B．People were better equipped at home.

C．People had more hobbies to choose from.

D．People were more concerned about mental being.

3. What is the purpose of the bean-sorting task in the 2019 study?

A．To create a boring situation.	B．To reduce people’s boredom.
C．To make a funny performance.	D．To show an entertainment at hand.

4. What is the best title of the passage?

A．What is the point of creativity?

B．Are we more easily bored nowadays?

C．How can we deal with daily boredom?

D．Does boredom make us more creative?

6 . The little cow Jenna and her twin brother were born on a North Carolina dairy farm in 2018. For some reason Jenna was _________ with being killed shortly after her birth. _________, the farmer’s 16-year-old son persuaded his dad to let him find a _________ for Jenna instead. When Jenna was just three days old, I drove from Williamsburg to Durham to _________ the little cow.

Jenna was so sweet and tiny that I was too _________ to stop during the ride home. Sure, she had a few _________ on the road, but nothing could change my mind to rescue this little cow.

I _________ Jenna three bottles a day for six months and spent many nights in the barn (畜棚) to make sure she never felt _________. She loved to circle and chase me at _________ time. Occasionally, she shook her head and __________ it onto my head — and felt bad as soon as she realized she __________ me. She had so much fun pretending our __________ was close to equal, even though she could __________ throw me across the yard if she wanted to.

I take her for walks around our city. The __________ people always stare at me with a cow in a bright pink coat. She is so much like a cute doggy — a dog who __________ so much.

1.

A．compared

B．faced

C．tested

D．stuck

2.

A．Suddenly

B．Obviously

C．Fortunately

D．Curiously

3.

A．doctor

B．cave

C．market

D．home

4.

A．take up

B．live with

C．pick up

D．chat with

5.

A．careless

B．strange

C．surprised

D．nervous

6.

A．accidents

B．changes

C．choices

D．worries

7.

A．showed

B．raised

C．fed

D．threw

8.

A．lonely

B．bored

C．tired

D．silly

9.

A．story

B．pillow

C．book

D．bottle

10.

A．covered

B．knocked

C．lifted

D．pointed

11.

A．excited

B．amused

C．caught

D．hurt

12.

A．strength

B．height

C．sight

D．right

13.

A．angrily

B．happily

C．easily

D．gently

14.

A．relaxed

B．puzzled

C．delighted

D．annoyed

15.

A．cares

B．weighs

C．barks

D．plays

7 . Metin Sitti at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems in Stuttgart, Germany, and his colleagues have developed tiny robots called “microrollers” that can carry cancer drugs and selectively target human breast cancer cells. The team drew inspiration for the design of the robots from white blood cells in the human body, which can move along the walls of blood vessels (血管) against the direction of blood flow.

The microrollers are round and made from glass microparticles. One half of the robot was coated with a thin magnetic nanofilm (磁性纳米膜) made from nickel and gold. The other half was coated with the cancer drug doxorubicin as well as molecules that recognize cancer cells.

The team tested the robots using mouse blood and artificial channels lined with human endothelial cells—the kind of cells that line the inner walls of our blood vessels. The robots were exposed to a mixture of cancerous and healthy tissue. The microrollers selectively attached to the cancer cells and were activated using UV light to release the doxorubicin.

By applying magnetic fields, the team was able to control the movement of the microrollers, both with and against the flow of blood. The microrollers can reach a speed of up to 600 micrometers per second. “If you come to a spot where you need to take the right path and if you miss it, then you could go back and go to the right one,” says Setti.

In future, the researchers want to use other methods to start the drug release, such as heat or near-infrared light. They also plan to try making microrollers out of materials that would break down in the body over a few weeks or months.

The team hopes to test the microrollers in animals soon. “The rollers need to carry enough cancer drugs, which is why we need to have them in large numbers,” says Setti. “But since we can locally take drugs to the right target, we don’t need huge dosages (剂量).”

1. What can the microrollers be used for?

A．Repairing blood cells.

B．Delivering drugs.

C．Improving blood flow.

D．Performing operations.

2. What does Paragraph 2 mainly tell us about the microrollers?

A．Their shape.

B．Their advantage.

C．Their design.

D．Their application.

3. What can we learn about the robots from Paragraph 4?

A．Their direction can be adjusted.	B．They might miss the target cells.
C．They might get stuck in the blood.	D．Their speed can change automatically.

4. What will the scientists probably do next?

A．Put the microrollers to clinical use.	B．Sell the microrollers in large quantities.
C．Tear the microrollers down in the body.	D．Experiment with the microrollers further.

8 . To say that Spanish painter Pablo Picasso was a leader in Western art in the 20th century is to repeat an accepted fact, according to Time magazine. “No painter before him had enjoyed such a large following in his own lifetime.”

This year marks the 140th anniversary of Picasso’s birth. Born on Oct. 25, 1881, Picasso had created more than 20,000 paintings, drawings, sculptures and other pieces of art by the time he died at 91.

That’s a long time to paint! The result is not only a lot of art, but a lot of different phases in Picasso’s work. On its website, Christie’s auction (拍卖) house lists eight different periods in the course of his painting career.

Over a century ago, the painter once said that, “Every act of creation is first of all an act of destruction.” So the eight periods are all very different in their choice of subjects and yet unmistakably drawn by Picasso’s hands. Financial Express called his style unusual.

As his style changed over time, it became more simplistic. A common joke is that Picasso forgot how to paint. After all, he was classically trained at the School of Fine Arts in Barcelona.

Now he is best known for leading an artistic movement known as “Cubism (立体派)”. It used geometric shapes to create human and animal figures. With this method, Picasso tried to show his figures from multiple perspectives (视角) in two-dimensional space. For example, a person’s left eye may be shown from straight ahead while his right eye and nose are shown from the side. The result is strange and beautiful, frightening and funny.

Picasso often said that he admired primitive art and drawings made by youngsters. “When I was the age I could draw like Raphael, but it took me a lifetime to learn to draw like them,” he said. Maybe that’s why Picasso is still so popular. We look at his work and think, “Maybe I could do that!”

1. Which of the following best describes Pablo Picasso?

A．Productive.

B．Optimistic.

C．Traditional.

D．Generous.

2. Why did Financial Express call Picasso’s style unusual?

A．His act of creation was destructive.	B．He created a series of simple images.
C．His painting style remained unchanged.	D．He drew different subjects in different periods.

3. What is special about a cubist painting according to the text?

A．It is rather difficult to understand.	B．It shows figures from various perspectives.
C．It covers different subjects at the same time.	D．It reflects the relationship between humans and animals.

4. What does the underlined word “them” in the last paragraph refer to?

A．Raphael’s works.

B．Artists.

C．Drawings.

D．Youngsters.

9 . Under the background of the slow growth of its total population to 1.44 billion, China has seen a sharp rise in older adults over the past decade, solidifying the country’s rapidly aging pattern, the latest national census (人口普查) data shows. The population on the Chinese mainland increased by an average of 0.53 percent annually during the past 10 years to 1.41 billion, compared with an annual growth rate of 0.57 percent from 2000 to 2010, according to the 7th national census published by the National Bureau of Statistics.

“The growth of the total population has slowed down but remains at a steady pace,” Ning Jizhe, head of the bureau, said at a news conference. “Based on trends in recent years, China’s population will grow at an increasingly slow rate in the future while remaining above 1.4 billion.” The increasing elderly population has become a defining feature of the past decade.

Ning said an aging society will set the tone for China's population structure for a long time, presenting challenges and opportunities. “A graying population will pile pressure on supply of labor force and social services, as well as adding to families’ elderly care burden. But more elderly people could also motivate consumption of products and services targeting this age group, and advance the development of some technologies,” he said.

Ning added that those between the ages of 60 and 69, who are equipped with knowledge, experience and skills and are generally in good health, make up nearly 56 percent of all older adults. “Their potential to continue making contributions to society and playing a constructive role is big,” he responded to a question on the outlook for raising the retirement age and carrying out other potential measures aimed at addressing the aging trend. Some population economists also said the latest number and proportion (比例) of elderly are largely within predictions, and the aging trend will continue for a long time.

1. What does the 7th national census data show?

A．The aging population of China has risen rapidly.

B．The annual growth rate has increased by 0.04%.

C．The annual growth rate was 0.57% during the past 10 years.

D．The total population of Chinese mainland increased to 1.44 billion.

2. What does Ning Jizhe say about the growth of graying population?

A．It is beyond predictions.	B．It brings few advantages.
C．It has sharply slowed down.	D．It will increase pressure on family.

3. What is Ning Jizhe’s attitude to the graying population?

A．Objective.

B．Doubtful.

C．Unclear.

D．Negative.

4. What can be a suitable title for the passage?

A．The aging trend brings problems

B．An aging society presents opportunities

C．China’s population gets old as growth slows

D．Measures are to be taken to tackle the aging trend

10 . I was out of work when I was in Key Largo. Though I was in ______ times, I chose to enjoy my life. I ______ taking walks in the morning, which became a large part of my ______ lifestyle.

I walked out of my house for my little walk at about 7:30 one morning. I usually ______ sneakers (运动鞋) for walking, but I decided to ______ with other shoes that day. While walking through the neighborhood for a while, I ______ my feet were starting to hurt. But I ______ the peaceful walk so much that I went on.

______, I felt like dancing. So I did. Some people passing by seemed a little ______ but amused (逗乐) by my early morning dance. I politely ______ as I continued my dance.

My ______ went to how grateful I was to be here. I ran through all the things I ______: my health, my great friends, my family, etc. I believed that my thanks ______ the dance I was performing.

I have spent my life searching for my ______ here on earth. I have been looking for the meaning of life. But now I fully understand that my true purpose is to spread this joy and show that the happy and peaceful ______ is for all of us who truly seek it.

1.

A．new

B．hard

C．serious

D．dangerous

2.

A．loved

B．finished

C．suggested

D．imagined

3.

A．stressful

B．strange

C．curious

D．peaceful

4.

A．wore

B．bought

C．threw

D．left

5.

A．experiment

B．option

C．journey

D．match

6.

A．guessed

B．realized

C．dreamed

D．believed

7.

A．experienced

B．doubted

C．enjoyed

D．planned

8.

A．Luckily

B．Secretly

C．Similarly

D．Suddenly

9.

A．surprised

B．moved

C．pleased

D．interested

10.

A．waved

B．refused

C．pointed

D．circled

11.

A．reason

B．effort

C．mind

D．question

12.

A．own

B．offer

C．save

D．share

13.

A．made up

B．differed from

C．came across

D．turned into

14.

A．choice

B．purpose

C．wealth

D．decision

15.

A．result

B．lesson

C．life

D．role