1 . Scientists are now digging into precisely why exercise holds so many benefits for our mental health and memory. The answer, studies say, lies in our brain chemistry.
Each time you work up a sweat, your body releases feel-good happy hormones (荷尔蒙), including endorphins, dopamine and endocannabinoids, the latter being responsible for the so-called runner’s high. Now researchers are also pointing to myokines (肌肉因子) as an important contributor to the mental health benefits of exercise. When our muscles contract, myokines are released into the bloodstream, helping your muscles and organs communicate. They think this communication increases resilience to stress, reduces symptoms of mental suffering and anxiety and has a direct effect on depression.
A 2021 scientific report published in Neuropharmacology showed evidence that myokines boost brain function, like improving memory and mood. “Myokines reduce systemic inflammation (炎症), which is especially beneficial for people with drug-resistant depression whose low mood is linked to high inflammation,” explains Dr Jennifer Heisz, an expert in brain health and associate professor in the department of kinesiology at McMaster University in Canada.
A recent study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine showed that treatment for depression can be much more effective when physical activity is added to the usual care. Participants found benefits after 12 weeks of exercising for 30 to 60 minutes a day. “While exercise is not a replacement for professional mental health treatment, physical activity can complement and enhance the effects of the treatment,” says lead researcher Ben Singh, a research fellow at the University of South Australia.
“It is amazing to consider how moving our bodies can heal our minds,” says Heisz. Whether you’re cycling, walking around your neighbourhood or doing yoga, getting sweaty is good for your body and mind. To get the biggest overall health boost, the key is to zero in on sports and activities you enjoy, so you’ll keep going back to them.
1. How do myokines boost our mental health?| A．By bonding muscles with organs. |
| B．By slowing down our bloodstream. |
| C．By contracting muscles through the body. |
| D．By releasing happy hormones in our brain. |
| A．Doubtful. | B．Negative. |
| C．Uncertain | D．Approving. |
| A．Adapt to. | B．Give up. |
| C．Focus on. | D．Put off. |
| A．By making comparisons. |
| B．By presenting research findings. |
| C．By offering suggestions. |
| D．By conducting some experiments. |
2 . The maleo (塚雉), a bird with black feathers and a pink chest, is native to Indonesia’s Sulawesi island and a few neighboring ones. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), which identifies wildlife across the world currently facing threats, estimates only 800 to 1,400 adult maleos remain in the wild. Experts do not know how many maleos still live across West Sulawesi island. They were only able to record the presence of nesting grounds in 23 villages based on reports from locals in the area. But of those, only 18 are considered active nesting areas.
Recently, the birds have been faced with new threats, which accelerate their decline. The Indonesian government plans to move the nation’s capital from Jakarta to a new city on Borneo island, which is just a six-hour boat trip apart from Sulawesi island. The island takes on the building of new roads and seaports to be used to transport materials to the new capital. Activities also include tree clearing, digging, and removing stones. The process already has changed the forest environment on West Sulawesi and is harming maleo nesting areas near the beach. These changes have made the trip for maleos to lay their eggs increasingly difficult.
Another problem has been poachers. The Associated Press reports that, regardless of official ban, they steal maleo eggs that the males’ parents have hidden in the sand, and sell the eggs for about $1 to people as food. The eggs are a traditional gift for many people in Mamuju and other parts of Sulawesi.
“As far as I know, maleo birds are in decline,” said Andi Aco Takdir, chief of the West Sulawesi Forestry Agency. He pointed to several reasons for the decline, including destruction of beach areas, and expanding human development activities. He added that government officials there are prepared to take steps to protect the maleos even with the new capital development. Andi said, “Nature conservation must be used as an achievement and must not be built leaving behind problems.”
1. Which word can be used to describe the maleos?| A．Endangered. | B．Adaptable. |
| C．Widespread. | D．Extinct. |
| A．The sudden changes of climate. |
| B．The disappearance of the forests. |
| C．The development of Sulawesi island. |
| D．The supporting work for the new capital. |
| A．People who hunt maleos for their meat. |
| B．People who live by selling maleo eggs. |
| C．People who engage in illegal hunting. |
| D．People who regard maleo eggs as gifts. |
| A．The new capital development might be stopped at once. |
| B．The government will balance conservation and development. |
| C．There seems to be a tough way for the new capital to develop. |
| D．The government will concentrate on solving urban problems. |
3 . It’s January and time to go back to school. For some, that might be a gloomy prospect after the joys of the post Christmas festive period. For me, though, it’s as exciting as a trip to Antarctica, also as scary as starting a job for which I’m not sure whether I’m qualified.
To be embarking on a master’s degree in Psychotherapy and Counselling at Regent’s University at 71 is perhaps an unlikely route for someone who dropped out of school at 17. But now I’ve come full circle to the conclusion that nothing, for me, feels more stimulating at this point in my life than learning new things. That studying, far from being the bore and the chore it used to be, is a treat.
Turning 70 came as something of a shock. I started to feel I was drifting (飘). Without a big project, and without any major family responsibilities, I was starting to feel I was lying on a bed of thorns. Friends of similar age were lapping up their lives, socializing and travelling. However, I longed for something more. Or perhaps not more, but different.
As the gloom grew, I thought perhaps I needed to see a therapist. A friend, a psychotherapist, suggested that while therapy might be useful, doing a course on the basics of psychotherapy and counselling might be more up my street. Without too much thinking, I decided to give it a shot.
So that’s how every weekday I beep (发出哔哔声) myself through the gate with my student pass, which makes me smile every time. I felt privileged to be exposed to a group of my fellow students who were willing to be open to me.
While ageing is an inevitable process, we can get rid of a lot of the rules about what’s age-appropriate. Studying for a master’s degree in old age is a challenge, but it has provided me with a new perspective on life. Hence, ageing should never limit your ambitions.
1. How did the author feel when going back to school?| A．Unrealistic. | B．Resistant. |
| C．Awkward. | D．Expectant. |
| A．She achieved nothing before. | B．She lived without a purpose. |
| C．She had to support her family. | D．She was separated by her fellows. |
| A．Keeping your passions alive. | B．Seeking support if needed. |
| C．Behaving age-appropriately. | D．Socializing with young students. |
| A．Returning To School — My Dream Since Childhood |
| B．My Efforts To Learn At An unlikely Age Paying Off |
| C．Learning — My Way To Overcome The Ageing Crisis |
| D．My Tough Journey To Pursuing A Master’s Degree |
4 . Tai chi, a traditional, slow-moving form of Chinese physical exercise, is known to increase flexibility and improve balance. New research has been conducted to determine whether tai chi has an influence on lowering blood pressure in people with prehypertension (高血压前期).
In the study, Chinese scientists put 342 adults with prehypertension into two groups. The average age of people taking part in the study was 49. About half the participants (参与者) took part in aerobic exercise, including jogging, climbing stairs and cycling. The other half was trained to practice tai chi. Both groups got hour-long exercises four times a week.
Nearly 22% of the people who practiced tai chi saw their blood pressure fall to be normal, compared with nearly 16% of people in the aerobic exercise group. And fewer patients in the tai chi group went on to develop high blood pressure than patients in the aerobic exercise group.
So what is it about tai chi that helps lower blood pressure? “The practice tends to get more of a response from the parasympathetic (副交感的) nervous system, which is the network of nerves that relaxes your body after periods of stress or danger,” says Ruth Taylor-Piliae, a professor at the University of Arizona’s College of Nursing.
“I think the beauty of tai chi is that you don’t have to have a special gym membership, you don’t have to have special clothing,” Taylor-Piliae says. “Once you learn tai chi, you can do it anytime and anyplace. And it does provide a calming and relaxing effect.”
Evidence suggests it can also help protect against cognitive fall and even improve memory. But you have to practice it continually to get the most benefit.
1. What is the function of paragraph 1?| A．To offer some examples. | B．To explain a definition. |
| C．To introduce the topic. | D．To give people suggestions. |
| A．They were divided into two groups. | B．They suffered from heart disease. |
| C．They were 49 years old. | D．They got exercises five times a week. |
| A．It can make people calm down. |
| B．It requires training and specialized equipment. |
| C．It has no influence on the parasympathetic nervous system. |
| D．It is suitable for individuals with aerobic exercise experience. |
| A．A Traditional Sport | B．The Benefits of Aerobic Exercise |
| C．Exploring Chinese Physical Exercise | D．Managing Blood Pressure with Tai Chi |
5 . Humans can make do with scarves, coats and gloves in cold weather. Some animals can hibernate (冬眠) for the winter. A new study finds that reptiles (爬行动物) and birds do something that is similar to hibernation, but a little different. In very cold weather, their body temperatures greatly drop into an energy-saving state in order to survive. The ability to thermoregulation (体温调节) for reptiles and birds is possible.
In Texas, where the city of Beaumont reached a low of 18 degrees Fahrenheit last month, it looked as if alligators (短吻鳄) had died of cold — yet alive in iced-over water. By ensuring their long noses stayed above the water line, the cold-blooded creatures were able to lower their body temperatures to survive the sudden short period of very cold weather. The process, in the case of cold-blooded animals like reptiles, is called brumation — it’s like a short state of hibernating. While in this state, reptiles become sleepy and they can go for a long time without eating or drinking. For example, alligators can be in brumation from just a few hours to months.
Like reptiles and mammals, birds can go into a state called torpor in order to save energy under very cold conditions. “Torpor is somewhere between a short sleep and hibernation,” said Justin Baldwin, a PhD candidate in biology at Washington University in St. Louis. Baldwin studied 29 species of hummingbirds living in Colombia. Researchers found that hummingbirds can enter into deep or shallow torpor, depending on several factors, including their size and weather conditions. In deep torpor, the birds are much more likely to be affected by disease. And what’s more, they would be easily harmed by their enemies.
Some bird lovers want to help the birds when they are in torpor. For example, the Bird Alliance of Oregon offers a few tips on how to keep the birds from danger.
1. What does the new study show?| A．Body temperature is important for animals. |
| B．Thermoregulation exists in reptiles and birds. |
| C．Reptiles and birds’ thermoregulation is unusual. |
| D．Body temperature drops greatly during reptiles and birds’ sleep. |
| A．They are active in brumation. | B．They are dead in cold weather. |
| C．They face extinction in cold weather. | D．They eat and drink nothing in brumation. |
| A．They can get enough sleep. | B．They may harm other birds. |
| C．They may waste plenty of energy. | D．They may be under threat. |
| A．Risks of animal hibernation. |
| B．His opinions of the study about birds. |
| C．Some detailed measures to protect the birds in torpor. |
| D．Other problems raised by cold weather. |
6 . Here are the Disney movies recommended by Brandon Dammit for this weekend.
Fantasia 2000
Budget: $80 million
Score: 75%
I remember disliking Fantasia 2000 in theaters as a young child, but I have developed a much deeper appreciation for the fantastic music as an adult. Disney has employed advanced sound tools to produce a movie that was under-appreciated at its first appearance.
Pete’s Dragon
Budget: $65 million
Score: 60%
I love Disney as much as the younger generation. But it’s disappointing to see flavorless remakes like The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast harvest billions at the box office while more soulful remakes like Pete’s Dragon is largely ignored.
The Rescuers Down Under
Budget: $38 million
Score: 70%
I won’t lie to you, kind reader. The Rescuers Down Under is the only movie that I’ve never seen here and my honor won’t allow me to pretend otherwise. According to Disney, it’s about the world’s bravest mice, Bernard and Bianca, who race to Australia to save a boy and a rare golden eagle from a cruel hunter. So, you know, normal Disney stuff.
The Great Mouse Detective
Budget: $14 million
Score: 72%
Picture this: a young mouse named Olivia is committed to discovering the truth of her father’s disappearance in 1897 London, and she got the help from his friends, Dr. Dawson and Toby. It’s basically Disney’s Sherlock Holmes.
1. What does Brandon Dammit like about Fantasia 2000?| A．The plot. | B．The dialogue. | C．The music. | D．The actors. |
| A．The Lion King. | B．Pete’s Dragon. |
| C．Beauty and the Beast. | D．The Rescuers Down Under. |
| A．$14 million. | B．$ 38 million. | C．$ 65 million. | D．$80 million. |
7 . Most of us are familiar with Groundhog Day, wherein a large groundhog checks to see its shadow on February 2 and helps to predict when winter will end. But have you ever heard about how a mountain town in North Carolina uses a caterpillar (毛毛虫) known as the Woolly Worm to make similar predictions?
According to the folklore (民间传说), the amount of black on the woolly worm in autumn predicts the severity of the upcoming winter. The longer the woolly worm’s black bands (带) are, the longer, colder, snowier, and more severe the winter will be. Similarly, a wider middle brown band is associated with a milder upcoming winter. The position of the longest dark bands supposedly indicates which part of winter will be coldest or hardest. If the head end of the caterpillar is dark, the beginning of winter will be severe. If the tail end is dark, the end of winter will be cold. In addition, the woolly worm caterpillar has 13 segments to its body, which traditional forecasters say correspond to the 13 weeks of winter.
Scientific studies on worm forecasting are few and far between. The most often cited is a small trial that American Museum of Natural History entomologist Howard Curran conducted in 1948. Having heard about the caterpillar folklore, Curran traveled to Bear Mountain State Park to collect woolly worms each fall for eight years. He found that if the worms had brown markings on more than a third of their body, winters tended to be milder.
Most scientists discount the folklore of caterpillar predictions as just a folklore. “It’s a wonderful story, but I do think it was a playful trial,” says Joe Boggs, an entomologist at Ohio State University Extension who has studied woolly worms. “Curran was a real scientist. He had a bunch of papers published, but he never published this one—probably because he knew it wouldn’t stand up to peer review.”
Mike Peters, an entomologist at the University of Massachusetts, doesn’t disagree, but he says there could be a link between the band of a woolly worm and the severity of winter. Peters suggests that the timing of their growth and environmental conditions, such as temperature, moisture levels, and food sources, can impact the appearance of woolly worms, including their size, coloration, and band patterns. By analyzing these characteristics, researchers can potentially infer information about the weather conditions. “The band does say something about a heavy winter,” he says. “The only thing is that it’s telling you about the previous year.”
1. How do people predict the weather through woolly worms?| A．By analyzing their living habits. | B．By measuring the change of their size. |
| C．By studying color bands on their bodies. | D．By calculating the number of their segments. |
| A．A survey on the locals. | B．His personal observations. |
| C．Studies by previous scientists. | D．Statistics collected by the museum. |
| A．consider. | B．believe. | C．doubt. | D．dismiss. |
| A．The caterpillar forecasting needs long-term data to support it. |
| B．The color band of caterpillars can be a mirror of past weather. |
| C．The cold environment has a great impact on caterpillars’ growth. |
| D．Woolly worms can help predict the severity of winter accurately. |
8 . I used to tell my children that they were smart, because I was impressed by their rapid growth. I remember clearly watching my daughter figure out how to build a Lego house that would stand up on its own, and thinking: Look at this tiny architectural genius.
But decades of research now suggest that we should not tell our children they’re “smart” when they do impressive things. When I first heard it, I felt instinctively irritated. But after I dug into the research, I was persuaded. It all goes back to something called “growth” mindset, a term developed and popularized by Carol Dweck, a professor of psychology at Stanford. Professor Dweck believes that we can change our abilities through effort and strategy. The alternative to a growth mindset is a “fixed” mindset — the idea that our abilities are inborn and can’t be changed. When we praise our children for being “smart”, based on victories like doing well on a test, we’re unwittingly (不知不觉地) encouraging them to believe that if they do poorly or make mistakes, they’re not smart.
It’s not just what we say that matters, but how we tolerate our children’s failures. A 2016 study by Dweck showed that parents’ “failure mindsets” affect their children more than their views on intelligence. In other words, if parents think that failure is shameful, their children are more likely to be afraid of making mistakes. The study concludes that everyone is actually a mixture of fixed and growth mindsets, continually evolving with experience. Whatever we say or don’t say to our kids, the key is to get them more comfortable with failures big or small.
It’s helpful for kids to understand that you make mistakes and learn how they happen. When you chat with them, you can describe what you learned, or how you strategized a solution. “You don’t have to deny you have negative emotional reactions,” Dweck said. “We, as a society, don’t do that enough because we feel embarrassed when we make mistakes.” But if we discuss our missteps more and explain how we overcame them, our children can learn to do the same.
1. How did the author feel about the research advice at first?| A．It was confusing. | B．It was annoying. |
| C．It was persuasive. | D．It was encouraging. |
| A．Smartness is the key to success. |
| B．Difficulties in daily life teach them a lot. |
| C．Their abilities can be improved through hard work. |
| D．They are impressive due to their good grades on tests. |
| A．Help children face failures positively. |
| B．Hide their negative feelings from children. |
| C．Remind children to avoid making mistakes. |
| D．Pay attention to developing children’s intelligence. |
| A．Ways to Cultivate Smart Children |
| B．The Effect of a Fixed Mindset on Children |
| C．The Power of Proper Praise for Children’s Growth |
| D．The Importance of a Growth Mindset in Parenting |
9 . Singapore’s lively art scene is far beyond museums and galleries, and also includes fashionable art spaces and pop-up exhibitions. If you plan a trip to Singapore, be sure to arrange your favorite art and light festivals for a truly memorable experience.
Singapore Art WeekArt lovers have many choices when Singapore Art Week returns to the city. Don’t miss the chance to check out countless events and activities across the island, including works by local and international artists. Join discussions and talks or sign the whole family up for a public art walk or tour.
Light to Night SingaporeLight to Night Singapore, organised by National Gallery Singapore, is a visual treat, so get your cameras ready. Enjoy an evening walk in the city to catch the all-time favorite light shows—amazing light projections (投影) dreamed up by various artists on some of Singapore’s most famous buildings. Have a chance to enjoy art installations (现代雕塑装置) at unexpected public spaces.
ArtboxSingapore’s creative pop-up market combines delicious food with music, and art installations. You can find everything from jewelry to artisan crafts from around the region. But that’s not all—there’s lively music and art installations. When you are hungry, follow your sense to the different kinds of food offerings there.
ChingayExperience the spirit of Singapore’s largest street parade. The Chingay celebration, traditionally held during Chinese New Year, promises a visual spectacle with art, music, dance performances and a parade of colourful floats (彩车). Don’t miss the chance to watch Singapore’s multicultural heritage (遗产) come to life. Get ready to be impressive!
1. What can people do at Light to Night Singapore?| A．Appreciate light shows. | B．Discuss with artists. |
| C．Watch a float parade. | D．Buy cameras. |
| A．Singapore Art Week. | B．Light to Night Singapore. |
| C．Artbox. | D．Chingay. |
| A．They have works collected by local artists. | B．They are held in China. |
| C．They bring heritage back to life. | D．They are related to art. |
10 . Until 2001, I had worked in a technology company for 20 years. On November 6, I learned I was going to be
Unwilling to let people
Jerry’s caring attitude made a difference to many lives, and I was
| A．promoted | B．investigated | C．estimated | D．fired |
| A．motivational | B．important | C．unscheduled | D．unexplainable |
| A．analyzed | B．encountered | C．predicted | D．restricted |
| A．occasion | B．nature | C．member | D．skill |
| A．emotions | B．excuses | C．decisions | D．conversations |
| A．shame | B．disappointment | C．amusement | D．worry |
| A．forget | B．guess | C．judge | D．announce |
| A．understanding | B．greetings | C．comfort | D．opinions |
| A．warned | B．informed | C．persuaded | D．reminded |
| A．optimistic | B．humorous | C．supportive | D．generous |
| A．protected | B．replaced | C．discovered | D．reemployed |
| A．compete | B．cooperate | C．interact | D．agree |
| A．recognized | B．challenged | C．ignored | D．infected |
| A．dream | B．example | C．tradition | D．advice |
| A．sensitive | B．harmonious | C．precious | D．attractive |
