1 . Bad news sells. If it bleeds, it leads. No news is good news, and good news is no news. Those are the classic rules for the evening broadcasts and the morning papers. But now that information is being spread and monitored in different ways, researchers are discovering new rules. By tracking people’s e-mails and online posts, scientists have found that good news can spread faster and farther than disasters and sob stories.
“The ‘if it bleeds’ rule works for mass media,” says Jonah Berger, a scholar at the University of Pennsylvania. “They want your eyeballs and don’t care how you're feeling. But when you share a story with your friends, you care a lot more how they react. You don’t want them to think of you as a Debbie Downer.”
Researchers analyzing word-of-mouth communication — e-mails, Web posts and reviews, face-to-face conversations — found that it tended to be more positive than negative, but that didn't necessarily mean people preferred positive news. Was positive news shared more often simply because people experienced more good things than bad things? To test for that possibility, Dr. Berger looked at how people spread a particular set of news stories: thousands of articles on The New York Times’ website. He and a Penn colleague analyzed the “most e-mailed” list for six months. One of his first findings was that articles in the science section were much more likely to make the list than non-science articles. He found that science amazed Times’ readers and made them want to share this positive feeling with others.
Readers also tended to share articles that were exciting or funny, or that inspired negative feelings like anger or anxiety, but not articles that left them merely sad. They needed to be aroused one way or the other, and they preferred good to bad. The more positive an article, the more likely it was to be shared, as Dr. Berger explains in his new book, Contagious: Why Things Catch On.
1. How does the author bring out the new rules of media?| A．By giving a definition. | B．By making a comparison. |
| C．By presenting an argument. | D．By introducing the background. |
| A．attentive to their own story making | B．eager for frequent eye contact |
| C．particular about their physical contact | D．careful about others’ response |
| A．A technological breakthrough. | B．A solution to poverty. |
| C．An individual’s life of unemployment. | D．A historical short story. |
| A．Sad Stories Actually Travel Far and Wide | B．Online News Attracts More People |
| C．Good News Beats Bad on Social Networks | D．Reading Habits Change with the Times |
2 . Animals being extinct from the Earth is a serious issue. When this happens in order to use their fur or skin for fashion, it is even worse, since it’s not even for a matter of human survival. That’s why a London zoo decided to make a powerful statement at the Siamese crocodile enclosure (鳄鱼围栏).
When visitors come in expecting to see a crocodile, they’re greeted with the handbag instead, making a very effective and powerful point about illegal wildlife trade and the harm it takes on the species involved.
A sign by the enclosure reads, “This bag used to be found swimming in slow-moving rivers and streams across Southeast Asia and Indonesia. Over the last 75 years, more than 80% of Siamese crocodiles have disappeared. Many, like this one, were hunted for their skins as part of the illegal wildlife trade.”.
Native to parts of Southeast Asia, Siamese crocodiles are critically endangered and have become virtually extinct in the wild. Due to hunting as well as habitat loss, they are now absent from nearly 99% of their original range. A huge part of the decline of population is due to humans using their wetland habitat for rice farming, and things only took a turn for the worse when large-scale hunting for their skin for commercial purposes began in the 1950s.
The particular handbag that is on display at the zoo was confiscated at a UK airport, according to Benjamin Tapley, leader of reptiles and amphibians at ZSL London Zoo.
Tapley told The Huffington Post, “We made this exhibit, within ZSL London Zoo’s Reptile House, to draw visitors’ attention to the destructive impact the Illegal Wildlife Trade (IWT) is having on species around the world. At ZSL, we are working globally with governments and local communities to protect wildlife, support law enforcement (执法) that targets illegal trade networks, empower local communities affected by IWT and reduce demand for threatened wildlife.”
1. Why does the sign say this handbag used to swim?| A．It is made of a crocodile’s skin. |
| B．It is made into a crocodile shape. |
| C．It is light enough to float on water. |
| D．It was kept in flowing river at first. |
| A．Wildly hunting of Siamese crocodiles. |
| B．Destruction of Siamese crocodiles’ habitats. |
| C．Commercial value of Siamese crocodiles. |
| D．Causes to make Siamese crocodiles endangered. |
| A．Seized. | B．Sold. | C．Found. | D．Stolen. |
| A．The importance of wildlife protection. |
| B．The crisis endangered animals are facing. |
| C．The purpose to show the handbag. |
| D．The harm IWT caused. |
3 . What is the place of art in a culture of inattention? Recent visitors to the Louvre report that tourists can now spend only a minute in front of the Mona Lisa before being asked to move on. Much of that time, for some of them, is spent taking photographs not even of the painting but of themselves with the painting in the background.
One view is that we have made tourism and gallery-going so easy that we have made it effectively impossible to appreciate what we’ve travelled to see. In this society, experience becomes goods like any other. There are queues to climb Everest as well as to see famous paintings. Thus, leisure is considered as hard labour rather than relaxation.
In the rapidly developing society, what gets lost is the quality of looking. Consider an extreme example, the late philosopher Richard Wollheim. When he visited the Louvre he could spend as much as four hours sitting before a painting. The first hour, he claimed, was necessary for incorrect impression to be removed. It was only then that the picture would begin to disclose itself. This seems unthinkable today, but it is still possible to organise. Even in the busiest museums there are many rooms and many pictures worth hours of contemplation (沉思) which the crowds largely ignore.
Marcel Proust, another lover of the Louvre, wrote: “It is only through art that we can escape from ourselves and know how another person sees a universe which is not the same as our own and whose landscapes would otherwise have remained as unknown as any there may be on the moon.” If any art remains worth seeing, it must lead us to such escapes. But a minute in front of a painting in a hurried, harried (烦扰) crowd won’t do that.
1. Why does the author mention the example in Louvre in Paragraph 1?| A．To express his concern about Louvre. | B．To report the popularity of Mona Lisa. |
| C．To introduce a good place to take photos. | D．To show a disappointing current situation. |
| A．People need to clear up their misunderstanding of paintings. |
| B．People have to stay at least 4 hours when appreciating paintings. |
| C．It is impossible for modern people to admire paintings attentively. |
| D．The longer one admires the paintings, the more unlikely he loves them. |
| A．Art is of help for us to accept ourselves better. |
| B．Art makes our life more colourful and meaningful. |
| C．Art allows us to know the world in the view of others. |
| D．Art pushes us away from ourselves and explores the moon. |
| A．Into art attentively. | B．Escape from ourselves. |
| C．Beyond art completely. | D．Go to the museums often. |
4 . India’s robotic spacecraft landed on the moon undamagedly on August 23, 2023, a historic achievement for the country’s growing space program.
The Chandrayaan-3 mission is the first ever to touch down at the lunar south pole. Many nations and private companies have set their sights on the region because of its ice, thought to be buried in the polar craters. The natural resources are coveted because they could supply drinking water, air, and rocket fuel for future missions, ushering a new era in spaceflight.
The success also means India has been one of countries who have landed a spacecraft on the moon. The victory comes four years after India’s previous mission, Chandrayaan-2, crashed.
An Indian official, who watched the live stream from Johannesburg, South Africa, said, “On this joyous occasion, I would like to address all the people of the world: India’s successful moon mission is not just India’s alone. This success belongs to all humanity.”
About 60 years have passed since the first unpiloted (无人驾驶的) moon landings, but touching down is still demanding. The moon’s atmosphere is very thin, providing virtually no drag to slow a spacecraft down as it approaches the ground. Furthermore, there are no GPS systems on the moon to help guide a craft to its landing spot. Engineers have to make up for these shortcomings from about 239,000 miles away.
Over the past four years, private companies and other nations have tried and failed. But perhaps now there’s more hope.
The Indian official said, “I’m confident that all countries in the world including those from the global south are capable of achieving such a success. We can all aspire (渴望) to the moon and beyond.”
1. What does the underlined word “coveted” in paragraph 2 mean?| A．Desired. | B．Legal. | C．Tough. | D．Balanced. |
| A．It was connected by Chandrayaan-3. |
| B．It landed on the south surface of the moon. |
| C．It was the first to touch down at the south pole. |
| D．It fell and broke when carrying out space mission. |
| A．The unfamiliar preens for scientists. |
| B．The materials used to make the spaceship. |
| C．The shortage of previous successful cases. |
| D．The limitation of the moon’s atmosphere and technology. |
| A．Indifferent. | B．Positive. | C．Objective. | D．Doubtful. |
5 . My wife Lynn was beginning her third day on an oxygen mask (氧气面罩). “She must
Suddenly, a(n)
The next morning, Lynn awoke. I couldn’t help
| A．sleep | B．suffer | C．focus | D．wake |
| A．sad | B．impolite | C．angry | D．moving |
| A．look back | B．slow down | C．give up | D．show up |
| A．dream | B．idea | C．pain | D．chance |
| A．Otherwise | B．Besides | C．Therefore | D．However |
| A．injury | B．failure | C．trouble | D．improvement |
| A．cleaner | B．doctor | C．nurse | D．patient |
| A．calmly | B．gently | C．coldly | D．rudely |
| A．share | B．leave | C．speak | D．hide |
| A．picture | B．map | C．sign | D．medal |
| A．worry | B．mind | C．care | D．escape |
| A．shouting | B．sweating | C．crying | D．complaining |
| A．reply | B．explain | C．pretend | D．learn |
| A．concerned | B．grateful | C．proud | D．upset |
| A．lose | B．offer | C．bring | D．send |
6 . When you are about to go to a boarding school (寄宿制学校) in England, there are many different questions that may come to mind. But once you look at them with some perspective (视角), you will certainly feel easy. Here is a normal boarding day.
Early Morning:
Usually boarders get up around 7:00 am and have around an hour to take a shower and put on their uniform before breakfast.
Lessons:
Classes start at 9: 00 am and every lesson lusts for 50 minutes. After two lessons, at 10: 40 am, you’ll have a short break. The next period of classics will include two more lessons.
Lunch:
Lunch is usually held around 12:30 pm at the dining hall, where you’ll join your friends to enjoy a hot dish. After an hour of lunch, you’ll have three or four more lessons to attend.
Dinner:
At 5:00 pm you will have finished your school lessons for the day. Most boarding schools in the UK offer their full boarders different kinds of hot meals to choose from.
Activities/ Sports:
All boarding schools in the UK provide many different kinds of activities for their boarders, such as football, swimming, golf or art.
Prep:
An important part of boarding school life is the supervised homework session known as “prop”. Although “prep” might sound stressful, it’s a great way for you to keep up with your studies.
Free time:
Once you have done all your classes and activities, it’s time to relax.
Bedtime:
In most boarding schools, the lights go out around 10:30 pm.
Being nervous just before you go to a boarding school is completely normal and understandable. Hopefully, knowing the usual routine (常规) can help you. Once you are there, you will also see how exciting life in a boarding school in England can be.
1. What can help you keep up with your studies in the boarding school?| A．Doing activitıes. | B．Having lessons. |
| C．Enjoying free time. | D．Supervised homework sessions. |
| A．Classes usually start at 8:30 am. | B．Students can have a short break after four lessons. |
| C．They don’t give students any free time. | D．They turn off the lights around 10:30 pm. |
| A．To help students know about boarders’ life. | B．To attract more students to boarding schools. |
| C．To introduce a new school life. | D．To advertise for boarding schools. |
7 . Earth is far more alive than we previously thought, according to “deep life” studies that reveal a rich underground ecosystem beneath our feet that is almost twice the size of all the world’s oceans. Despite extreme heat, no light and intense pressure, scientists estimate it has between 15 billion and 23 billion tonnes of microorganisms. “It’s like finding a whole new reservoir (储藏) of life on Earth,” said Karen Lloyd an associate professor at the University of Tennessee.
Results suggest 70 percent of Earth’s bacteria and archaea exist in the subsurface. One organism found 2.5 kilometers below the surface has been buried for millions of years and may not rely at all on energy from the sun. Also, the methanogen (产甲烷菌) has found a way to create methane in this environment, which the methanogen may not use to reproduce or divide, but use to replace or repair broken parts. Lengths of their lives were completely different. Some microorganisms have been alive for thousands of years, barely moving except with shifts in earthquakes or eruptions. They’re just active inside, with less energy than people thought possible to support life.
The team consists of 1,200 scientists from 52 countries in disciplines ranging from geology and microbiology to chemistry and physics. A year before the conclusion of their study, they will present the findings before the American Geophysical Union’s annual meeting opens this week, which they say are made possible by technical advances on drills and microscopes.
The scientists have been wondering about the point beyond which life cannot exist, but the deeper they dig, the more life they find. There is a temperature maximum—currently 122℃—but they believe this record will be broken if they keep exploring and developing more advanced instruments.
Questions remain, including how the microbes interact with chemical processes, and what this might reveal about how life and Earth coevolved.
1. What do the scientists find about the underground organisms?| A．They can’t reproduce and divide. | B．They’re the oldest living things. |
| C．Some of them consume no energy. | D．Some of them almost always keep still. |
| A．It last for around one year. | B．It involves efforts from many fields. |
| C．It promotes technical development. | D．It is conducted in 52 countries. |
| A．To break their previous record. |
| B．To find the depth limit of life. |
| C．To discover more ancient microorganisms. |
| D．To measure the highest subsurface temperature. |
| A．Earth Depths Are Full of Life. |
| B．Organisms Live Better Underground. |
| C．Earth Is Fat Beyond Human Exploration. |
| D．Subsurface Life Differs from That on Land. |
8 . My neighbors across the street take pride in one of the most striking trees in the neighborhood — a towering oak that is over 75 years old. This year, after a wet, warm summer, leaves were a bit different in my Massachusetts town. And through some combination of events, that glorious oak seemed to have dropped all of its uncountable leaves on a single windy day. I arrived at home that afternoon to find our front walkway, driveway and sidewalk completely blanketed.
My son and I had a great time making a leaf pile for jumping and enjoying pillowy fun. The whole time, I was fascinated by the speed of this year’s leaf drop. Even though I was aware that it was an accident of wind patterns that left all the leaves in our yard, I kept looking up and feeling a rush of awe at the suddenly bare branches that watched quietly over our neighborhood, starting its restful season before setting spring leaf buds.
And I felt thankful for those fallen leaves as I was reminded of my favorite quote from the author and naturalist Hal Borland. He wrote it referencing October, but this year’s later drop had me change the month: “November is the fallen leaf, but it is also a wider horizon more clearly seen. It is the distant hills once more in sight, and the enduring constellations (星座) above them once again.”
When I lay in that pile of dry, crisp leaves and looked up into the oak tree across the street, I felt a clarity and peace that comes along with the inconveniently early sunsets and chilly temperatures of the transition from fall into winter. I could still admire the tree as I had in spring and summer, but I could also see through it, beyond it, to the big sky that blankets us all.
1. What’s unusual this year?| A．Outdoor activities are limited due to heavy winds. |
| B．A series of special events happened in the neighborhood. |
| C．The weather is especially cold in winter in Massachusetts. |
| D．The neighbors’ big tree almost dropped all its leaves within a day. |
| A．Anxious. | B．Sorrowful. | C．Astonished. | D．Comfortable. |
| A．To express the author’s admiration for the naturalist. |
| B．To emphasize the importance of getting close to nature. |
| C．To stress the beauty of the author’s childhood memories. |
| D．To convey the author’s feelings about the leaf-falling season. |
| A．The Fall of Massachusetts | B．The Beauty of a Newly-bare Tree |
| C．The Sky Far Beyond | D．The Memories of Peace and Beauty |
9 . Chinese traditional painting and dance are two vital parts of the art world. But what about when they meet each other?
This year, a dance drama titled Poetic Dance: The Journey of a Legendary Landscape Painting (《只此青绿》) was staged on CCTV’ Spring Festival Gala and went viral.
According to CCTV, this poetic dance programme was inspired by the about 900-year-old Chinese painting A Panorama of Rivers and Mountains(《千里江山图》). Created by Song Dynasty painter Wang Ximeng at the age of 18, the painting is amazing in its marvellous size, rich coloration and the expressive details, reported CCTV. It shows a Chinese blue-green landscape: mountains and groupings of infinite rise and fall between cloudless sky and rippling water.
When the dancers moved elegantly, audiences seemed to be looking at the moving mountains and rivers. “It brings me a pure experience of beauty. It is not only dance but also an ‘exhibition’. Vast mountains and rivers are coming to life!” An Internet user Mo Weisha wrote in a review, “About a thousand years later, green mountains and rivers still wow people as they did long ago.
Some people even decided to watch the dance again when it was staged in the theaters later. In fact, in recent years, more and more modern shows highlight Chinese traditional culture and have received warm welcome. As for why, it is due to people’s great love for traditional culture.
“The younger generations have grown up with a more open mindset. They embrace Chinese culture and are proud of it. ”Yao Wei, director of Henan TV Station’s Innovation Center, told China Daily.
1. What is the function of Paragraph 1 in the text?| A．To present a common phenomenon. | B．To compare painting with dance. |
| C．To describe the art world. | D．To introduce the topic. |
| A．It was painted in several bright colors. |
| B．It shows natural beauty vividly. |
| C．It was created over thousand years ago. |
| D．It is of small size but includes great details. |
| A．People are more open to traditional culture. |
| B．People are happy to see new forms of art. |
| C．Chinese culture has been spreading around the world. |
| D．People have gained more access to traditional culture. |
| A．Passion for Chinese Traditional Painting |
| B．Art Coming Alive Through Poetic Dance |
| C．Connection Between Painting and Dance |
| D．Highlights in Traditional Chinese Culture |
10 . By the time Joy Ryan, a US grandma, turned 85, she had never seen the ocean or mountains. For Joy, trips to the local fishing area with her husband were about the farthest place she had ever gone, even if she loved watching the Travel Channel.
But one day Joy’s grandson, Brad Ryan, discovered that he and his grandma had a common interest in their love for traveling, when they began to visit the American great outdoors together.
Brad said, “When I learned my grandma had never seen the great wildernesses of America—deserts, mountains and oceans, I thought there was something I needed to do.” It was after taking his grandma out of Ohio on a visit to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park that he came up with the idea of visiting all the 63 US national parks with her to create inspiring memories.
Going to all the 63 US National Parks is a huge achievement even for a much younger adventurer (冒险家). Brad said his grandmother’s physical strength (体力) grew with their trips. For example, his grandma went water rafting (漂流) at 91, with class three rapids and when walking at the New River Gorge National Park in West Virginia, she broke the record by almost a decade!
It wasn’t always like this, however. Joy was so wobbly (不稳的) on her first trip, challenged by her balance. A group of college students clapped their hands when she reached the top of a path they were following.
Joy broke her age limitation (限制) and at the age of 93, she made history as the oldest living person to visit every US National Park. Joy believes it’s the mix of hopefulness, willpower, and the good health that gives her strength.
1. With whom did Joy Ryan visit all the 63 US national parks?| A．Her grandson. | B．Her husband. |
| C．Her daughter. | D．Her student. |
| A．She had a love for traveling. |
| B．Water rafting is dangerous for the old. |
| C．There is no age limitation for water rafting. |
| D．She had developed a strong body from traveling. |
| A．Her memory. | B．Her balance. |
| C．Her physical strength. | D．Her sense of direction. |
| A．Brave and hopeful. | B．Humorous and outgoing. |
| C．Hard-working and helpful. | D．Thoughtful and self-confident. |
