1 . The printed book is back. Recent studies have shown that students remember more information when they read a paper book compared to reading an e-book. One school responded to these findings by ditching its e-readers and encouraging students to pick up traditional books. The students found that “the ease of navigation (导航)” was greater when using a traditional book.
I love the way we now judge printed books using the language of the digital world. E-books may come with “navigational tools,” but it turns out the best navigational tools are the “devices (设备)” at the ends of your arms. You can use them to flip (翻) the pages forward and backward.
Fans of digital books may point out that e-readers have a handy “search” tool. Old-fashioned books also have a search function, in which you turn back to the opening part to help you remember the hero’s name. They even have a “bookmark system,” which uses something called a “bookmark.”
Can a traditional book offer all the features of an e-book? Also, no. It has no “progress bar (进度条)” indicating how much of the book has been read. Luckily, a clever tip is available: turn your book so that it can be viewed from the side or top. It will naturally form two parts joined in the middle. If the left part is thicker than the right one, you are more than halfway through.
Admittedly, e-books are lighter than paper books, but one must question whether this is really an advantage. In secondary school my body figure was actually transformed by the daily need to carry textbooks. For me and my fellow students, these weighty books would draw our shoulders back and our chests forward.
Educational fashions come and go, so maybe the return of traditional books won’t last. But for the moment, I find myself welcoming their wonderful return.
1. Which can best replace the underlined “ditching” in paragraph 1?| A．Referring to. | B．Getting used to. |
| C．Getting rid of. | D．Making use of. |
| A．Bookmarks. | B．Fingers. | C．The progress bar. | D．The opening part. |
| A．It has a handy search function called a bookmark. |
| B．It is convenient for us to search whatever you want. |
| C．It is lighter than a paper book to help change our body shape. |
| D．It tells you how much of the book has been read by a progress bar. |
| A．Why the Printed Book Is Back? | B．How the Printed Book Benefits us? |
| C．What Future the Printed Book Faces? | D．Which Is Better, Printed Book or E-book? |
2 . You can improve learning by handwriting your class notes. Although computer technology is often necessary today, using a pen or pencil activates more areas of your brain than a keyboard does. These are findings of a new study.
As digital devices (数码设备) have taken over society, “keyboard activity is now often suggested as a substitute (替代品) for early handwriting,” a new study notes. The idea is that typing may be easier for young children. “Some schools in Norway have become completely digital,” notes Audrey van der Meer, the new study’s leader. She believes that “young children should learn to write by hand successfully, and, at the same time, learn to manage a keyboard. ”
Using a pen involves more of the brain than using a keyboard, the new findings show. This is because writing and printing involve complicated movements that activate more areas of the brain. The increased brain activity gives the brain more “hooks” to hang your memories on, Audrey explains.
Think about it. The same movement is required to type each letter on a keyboard. In contrast, when we write, our brain needs to think about the shape of each letter. We also need to use our eyes to watch what shapes we’re writing. And we need to control our hands to press a pen or pencil to shape different letters. All of this uses and connects more areas of the brain.
Along the way, these processes appear to “open the brain up for learning”, says Audrey. So learning through only one form—digital—could be harmful, she worries. She also points out that taking notes by hand encourages “visual notetaking”. Rather than typing blindly, the visual notetaker has to think about what is important to write down. Then, key words can be “interlinked by boxes, arrows, and supplemented by small drawings”.
1. Why does keyboard activity come first for children’s early handwriting?| A．It can train their hands. |
| B．It may be easier to operate. |
| C．It has been adopted by many schools. |
| D．It helps them adapt to the digital society. |
| A．The disadvantages of keyboards. |
| B．Handwriting turns on parts of the brain. |
| C．Keyboards require people to “think more”. |
| D．The relationships between the brain and hands. |
| A．We should learn in different ways. |
| B．Handwriting and drawing are similar. |
| C．We should challenge our brain to get smarter. |
| D．Handwriting can help remember new information. |
| A．Keyboards are not bad |
| B．How to read brain activity |
| C．Handwriting beats typing when taking notes |
| D．Differences between typing and handwriting |
3 . I was driving to a business appointment when I came to a very busy crossroad. The traffic light had just turned red. Suddenly, an unforgettable
At first I was moved. They were trying to
To my astonishment, I saw a
Amazed, I
| A．scene | B．car | C．accident | D．driver |
| A．wandering | B．walking | C．rushing | D．marching |
| A．inspect | B．guide | C．preserve | D．approach |
| A．overcome | B．achieve | C．suffer | D．recover |
| A．sorrow | B．regret | C．terror | D．frustration |
| A．realizing | B．recognizing | C．removing | D．preventing |
| A．concerned | B．certain | C．lucky | D．interested |
| A．familiar | B．peaceful | C．wonderful | D．terrible |
| A．agreement | B．conclusion | C．end | D．stop |
| A．yell | B．order | C．announce | D．promise |
| A．developed | B．calmed | C．froze | D．changed |
| A．looked for | B．looked around | C．looked up | D．looked at |
| A．Strangely | B．Obviously | C．Suddenly | D．Hopefully |
| A．arrived | B．followed | C．replied | D．accepted |
| A．schedule | B．voice | C．speed | D．course |
4 . A dramatic video emerged on social media last Friday. It showed the heroic efforts of Australian police as they
In the middle of the
The police chief, who played a key role in the
| A．applied for | B．commented on | C．put off | D．set about |
| A．vividly | B．abstractly | C．complexly | D．theoretically |
| A．farmers | B．officers | C．businessmen | D．photographers |
| A．ceremony | B．inspection | C．operation | D．reform |
| A．ecological | B．peaceful | C．calm | D．intense |
| A．making | B．requesting | C．changing | D．purchasing |
| A．right | B．proof | C．ambition | D．security |
| A．disturb | B．admire | C．protect | D．restrict |
| A．opening | B．trade | C．cloth | D．living |
| A．free | B．feed | C．tolerate | D．transform |
| A．game | B．meeting | C．rescue | D．surgery |
| A．pessimism | B．emergency | C．relaxation | D．comfort |
| A．broadcast | B．compete | C．check | D．aid |
| A．subjective | B．combined | C．humble | D．divided |
| A．adapt | B．delay | C．succeed | D．increase |
5 . Sara Dykman is on a 10,000-mile bike trip, following the monarch butterfly from Mexico through the United States and Canada and back again. The purpose of her journey is not just to mark the butterfly’s migrating (迁徙) road, but to warn about the threat it faces — and what we can do to help it.
When I reached Dykman by phone, she was biking through Iowa cornfields. She said she feels more upset than usual, because of what she is seeing — or not seeing — on her travels: Fewer butterflies and milkweed. “In the last two decades, the butterfly population has declined by about 90 percent as a result of the loss of milkweed, a native plant that the butterflies need as part of their life cycle,” she said.
Butterflies go through a four-stage life cycle. In February and March, the adult monarch butterflies come out of winter sleep to look for a mate. Then they migrate north and east to lay their eggs on milkweed plants. It takes about four days for the eggs to hatch. Then the baby caterpillars (毛毛虫) spend much of their time eating milkweed in order to grow. About two weeks later, the fully grown caterpillars will attach themselves to plant branches or leaves to change into butterflies.
But Dykman is not in total despair. A solution, she says, exists within the reach of everyone who owns a home; simply planting some milkweed in the yards to help the butterflies on their journey.
Dykman lives a life as simple and rootless as the butterflies she loves. She doesn’t own a house or car or eat out at restaurants. She carries only what she needs; a sleeping bag and clothing. People help along the way by providing a place to stay and a meal.
“I have failed at everything normal, but I’m pretty good at doing the less normal things,” she admits in her new book Cycling With Butterflies.
“But this trip is about solutions, and it’s about helping people see the consequences of their actions,” she said on the phone.
1. What is the main purpose of Sara Dykman’s bike trip?| A．To live-stream the migrating butterflies. | B．To ask people to grow more native plants. |
| C．To warn about the environmental problems. | D．To encourage people to protect the butterflies. |
| A．Baby caterpillars are very harmful to various crops. |
| B．Milkweed plays a vital role in a butterfly’s life cycle. |
| C．Non-native plants are growing too fast in Iowa cornfields. |
| D．Adult butterflies come out of winter sleep later than they did. |
| A．She is a determined conservationist. | B．She is a good bread-earner. |
| C．She is a competent employee. | D．She is a comfort seeker. |
| A．A diary entry. | B．A book review. | C．An interview. | D．A news report. |
6 . Born into a family of motorcyclists, Bridget McCutchen was able to witness firsthand the
McCutchen, whose longest road trip had been from Wisconsin to Washington, says she
After
However, traveling by motorcycle on
Of course, if she is successful in breaking this particular record, the likelihood is that someone even
| A．mystery | B．pleasure | C．variety | D．intelligence |
| A．belonged to | B．turned to | C．occurred to | D．related to |
| A．country | B．backyard | C．school | D．globe |
| A．dismissed | B．forgot | C．liked | D．remembered |
| A．house | B．face | C．office | D．mind |
| A．spending | B．saving | C．losing | D．investing |
| A．checked in | B．broke down | C．set off | D．ran out |
| A．dreams | B．mistakes | C．conversations | D．travels |
| A．understanding | B．changing | C．seeing | D．ruling |
| A．bicycle | B．plane | C．train | D．motorbike |
| A．unfamiliar | B．quiet | C．main | D．safe |
| A．escaped | B．fallen | C．started | D．died |
| A．slimmer | B．happier | C．younger | D．richer |
| A．worried | B．curious | C．careful | D．hopeful |
| A．barely | B．gladly | C．creatively | D．suddenly |
7 . As a saying goes, you’re only as old as you feel, but what if different parts of your body aged at different speeds? It turns out they do. The study about the age of our bodies shows that different tissues inside us are effectively different ages. In 2012, Professor Steve Horvath at the University of California, Los Angeles, looked at something new—DNA methylation (甲基化), a naturally occurring process in which DNA is chemically changed over time.
Horvath analyzed the DNA in 8,000 tissue samples from different parts of the body in different people to study these markers. What he found was striking—the amount of methylation in cells from most parts of the body was a good predictor of the person’s age. But there were inconsistencies. Breast tissue, for instance, ages rapidly, whereas muscle ages slowly. The rates of ageing are also different in men and women. “There are many medical implications, from cancer to premature ageing diseases,” says Horvath. It has already been established that tissue that looks significantly older could be cancerous. Horvath’s study found that cancerous tissue has a biological age on average 36 years older than a subject’s actual age.
Could this knowledge help us live longer? “If the markers relate to a process that causes ageing, then it would be theoretically possible to slow down ageing by carefully targeting DNA methylation,” says Horvath. But before scientists got to work on dealing with methylation, they first needed to establish whether these changes were the cause of ageing or just a byproduct of another process. Now, a 2023 study from the University of Michigan has backed up Professor Horvath’s findings, which means they can safely make further studies of methylation.
“Our main aim was to see whether biological age acceleration measured from DNA methylation was predictive of health outcomes and death,” said research associate professor Jessica Faul. “It turned out that it is largely the case. You can use certain DNA methylation markers to predict age and age-related outcomes quite well.”
1. What is the purpose of the first paragraph?| A．To lead in the topic of the text. | B．To summarize the whole text. |
| C．To offer suggestions to readers. | D．To stimulate readers to imagine. |
| A．It helps people live much longer. | B．It doesn’t always predict one’s age. |
| C．It exists in some parts of one’s body. | D．It causes the different rates of ageing. |
| A．Consulted. | B．Contradicted. | C．Approved. | D．Predicted. |
| A．Avoidable. | B．Unrealistic. | C．Risky. | D．Potential. |
8 . Can you name a famous elephant? Babar, perhaps? Or Dumbo? Though these names may be memorable to humans, they sound nothing like the names elephants give each other. “If you’re an elephant, your name is something more like a low, rumbling sound (隆隆的声音),” scientists say. Researchers have found that African elephants emit sounds in response to individuals in their social group, and the receivers respond accordingly.
Researchers recorded 527 elephant calls in northern Kenya and 98 calls in southern Kenya. They then distinguished which members were separated from the herd at the time of each call, or which members were close to the herd. Researchers correctly identified the receivers of 20.3% of the 625 recorded calls. This marks a step forward in understanding how these highly intelligent animals communicate.
“There’s a contact rumble, an anti-predator rumble and a greeting rumble. If you look at a spectrogram (声谱图) with your eyes, they all look almost exactly the same,” said Caitlin O’Connell-Rodwell, an elephant biologist at Harvard Medical School. “That’s why artificial intelligence(AI)has been exciting. It allows us to really figure out what the elephants are saying.”
As it turned out, the calls were distinct to the receivers. Even calls from different callers to the same receiver were similar. The pattern was less obvious than it was between a single caller and his or her receiver. This may be because rumbles encode multiple messages at the same time, so the AI system in computer model may not have been able to pick out the “name” used in each call. “It just highlights the complexity of what’s going on. And we’re not skilled enough in these measurements to figure out what’s going on,” said Caitlin.
However, the research shows how elephants are navigating through a large landscape and can still keep in touch with specific individuals. It allows them to spread out much further and still have very close tabs on individuals, not just the group.
1. What can we infer from paragraph 1?| A．Elephants seem to have their own names. |
| B．Elephants’ sounds differ from other species. |
| C．Elephants’ names sound exactly like humans’. |
| D．Elephants’ names sound different from each other. |
| A．By grouping the elephants based on intelligence. |
| B．By observing the elephants’ reactions to the calls. |
| C．By analyzing the relationship within the elephants. |
| D．By copying the elephants’ voice to call their names. |
| A．Simplifying the process. | B．Creating a spectrogram. |
| C．Letting out various rumbles. | D．Making out each rumble. |
| A．How do elephants contact each other? | B．Why do elephants make their voice? |
| C．Do elephants name one another? | D．Do elephants like to be called? |
9 . When I was about 10 years old, I was walking down the street with my mother. She
That
At work, I always used to say hello to the
Now I’ve become vice president, but my mother’s advice is still in my heart. I have benefited a lot from opening my mouth and saying, “Hello.”
1.| A．continued | B．stopped | C．pretended | D．happened |
| A．broke | B．threw | C．kicked | D．caught |
| A．still | B．ever | C．never | D．even |
| A．street | B．platform | C．square | D．campus |
| A．proverb | B．phrase | C．regulation | D．announcement |
| A．refuses | B．rejects | C．promise | D．deserves |
| A．anyone | B．everyone | C．somebody | D．everybody |
| A．workmate | B．founder | C．waiter | D．servant |
| A．often | B．long | C．far | D．fast |
| A．time | B．way | C．while | D．method |
10 . Study Abroad Scholarships to Apply for in 2024
Found the perfect study abroad program, but don’t know how to pay for it? Fortunately, here are some study abroad scholarship opportunities for students looking to take their studies overseas!
Trenchard Cox ScholarshipAll you have to do is write two 400-word reasoned descriptions: one on a work of art you love and one that you hate. The scholarship, established in memory of Sir Trenchard Cox, awards the winner an Art History Abroad 2-week summer course in Venice.
Requirement: At least 16 and no older than 18 years of age
Deadline: March 1, 2024
Arcadia Abroad Scholarships & Financial AidDid you know that Arcadia Abroad provides financial aid to around 70% of students who apply for it? It values equity, diversity, and inclusivity when awarding scholarships. Students who apply for scholarships will need to write a 300-word essay.
Requirement: Must be included in an Arcadia Abroad program
Award: $ 500-$ 2,500
Deadline: February 1, 2024
AIFS Study Abroad Scholarships, Grants & Financial SupportWe believe a study abroad experience is an important part of well-rounded university education and we are committed to providing financial help to as many students as possible. AIFS also offers internship (实习期) and study abroad + internship mixed programs to support the development of personal and professional skills.
Award: $ 500- $ 5,000
Deadline: June 1, 2024
American Association of University Women(AAUW) Fellowships & GrantsThe AAUW supports women searching for a variety of graduate academic opportunities. There are no barriers (障碍) to full participation in this organization. Preference is given to those who show great interest in the advancement of girls and women.
Requirement: Women only
Award:$ 2,000- $ 50,000
Deadline: November 15, 2024
1. What is required to apply for Trenchard Cox Scholarship?| A．Being over 18 years of age. | B．Fluency in English and Italian. |
| C．Two 400-word essays on artworks. | D．A member of the Art History Abroad summer course. |
| A．Trenchard Cox Scholarship. |
| B．Arcadia Abroad Scholarships & Financial Aid. |
| C．AIFS Study Abroad Scholarships, Grants & Financial Support. |
| D．American Association of University Women(AAUW)Fellowships & Grants. |
| A．A freshman suffering economically. | B．A graduate needing internship abroad. |
| C．An art student from a developing country. | D．A female student devoted to women education. |
