1 . Are you a different person when you speak a foreign language? That’s just one of the questions The New Yorker’s writer and native North Carolinian Lauren Collins explores in her engaging autobiography, about her tough efforts to master French after marrying a Frenchman whose name — Olivier — she couldn’t even pronounce properly. When in French ranges from the humorously personal to a deeper look at various theories of language acquisition and linguistics.
The couple met in London “on more or less neutral ground: his continent, my language.” But the balance shifted when they moved to Geneva for Olivier’s work. The normally voluble Collins found herself at a loss — “nearly speechless.” The language barrier, and her dependence on her husband for simple things like buying the right cut of meat worsened her mixed feelings about “unlovely, but not ridiculous” Geneva. She comments, “Language, as much as land, is a place. To be cut off from it is to be, in a sense, homeless.”
Her sense of alienation (疏离感) leads to an examination of America’s miserable record when it comes to foreign languages: “Linguists call America ‘the graveyard of languages’ because of its singular ability to take in millions of immigrants and make their native languages die out in a few generations,” Collins writes. Educated in Wilmington, N.C., and at Princeton, she could — like the vast majority of Americans — only speak their mother tongue.
Eight months after she moved to Switzerland, Collins gave up on the natural acquisition of language and finally enrolls in a French course. As she struggles with grammar and vocabulary, Collins notes smartly that vert (green), verre (glass), ver (worm), vers (toward), and vair (squirrel) compose a quintuple homonym (同形异义). “Although it’s difficult, French can be tried,” she says.
Yet French is actually considered among the easiest languages for an English speaker to learn, especially compared to Arabic or Mandarin Chinese. Collins, whose notably rich English vocabulary includes glossolalia (nonsense speech) and shibboleth (catchword or slogan), finds plenty of terrific French words to love. She writes, “English is a trust fund, an unearned inheritance, but I've worked for every bit of French I've banked.”
Unlike Jhumpa Lahiri, who became so hooked on Italian and used it to write In Other Words, Collins’ goals for learning French were more modest: “I wanted to speak French and to sound like North Carolina.” She also wanted to be able to deal with chimney sweeps and butchers, communicate with her in-laws, and “to touch Olivier in his own language.” She admits that she feels different speaking French: “Its austerity (朴素) made me feel more confused.”
1. Which of the following has the closest meaning to the underlined word “voluble” in Paragraph 2?| A．Graceful. | B．Dependent. | C．Talkative. | D．Energetic. |
| A．Because other languages are prohibited in America. |
| B．Because only English-speaking people can immigrate into America. |
| C．Because immigrants’ native languages contradict English in America. |
| D．Because American culture swallows up immigrants’ native languages gradually. |
| A．Collins’ English vocabulary knowledge contributes little to her French learning. |
| B．Collins has found out some effective ways of mastering French words. |
| C．Arabic or Mandarin Chinese is easier to learn than French for English speakers. |
| D．It’s terrifying for Collins to have French words in store for practical use. |
2 . How Did Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Die?
On November 20th, 1791, Mozart suddenly came down with fever and was wracked with pain. His arms and legs were severely swollen. In the following days his health significantly deteriorated. He died on December 5 after lapsing into a coma. The death certificate states he died of “severe miliary fever”. Exactly which disease led to Mozart’s death has been a mystery for the last 200 years.
SpeculationsMany myths —some more plausible than others — entwine (缠绕) Mozart’s early demise. One of the most popular myths — that Mozart was poisoned by his rival Antonio Salieri — rose to prominence due to the popularity of the film Amadeus. This theory is supported by the fact that Mozart had been living through a phase of depression before his death, suffering from paranoia and existential fear. Mozart himself suspected that the cause of his deteriorating health was being poisoned over a long time. However, it is highly likely that this was just his subjective view of reality.
Many other speculations circulate. Syphilis and trichinellosis are frequently mentioned. In 1905, a French physician assumed uric acid poisoning due to a never fully healed nephritis. In 1961, lead poisoning was suggested as a possible cause of death.
Scientific attempts to explain Mozart’s deathIn 2000, a group of American scientists proposed rheumatic fever caused by a strep infection after conducting meticulous detective work. The symptoms stated in literature and the reports of Mozart’s contemporaries yielded the clues. Without antibiotics, such an infection would inevitably lead to death. Rheumatic fever causes a weakening of the heart, which could explain Mozart’s swollen limbs.
In 2009, the Dutch scientist Richard Zegers extensively studied surviving documents and concluded that Mozart had been suffering from pharyngitis, a throat infection with symptoms including cramps, fever, rashes and a swollen neck. Mozart’s sister-in-law Sophie Haibel had described these symptoms. The death registry of Vienna for winter 1791 lists several deaths caused by this disease.
Whatever the cause of Mozart’s death, it came far too early. Let us thank him for his manic urge to create art and remember him on December 5th!
1. Which of the following is similar in meaning to the underlined word “deteriorate” (Paragraph 1)?| A．To become worse. | B．To change greatly. |
| C．To recover quickly. | D．To be harmed rapidly. |
| A．It is generally believed that Mozart was poisoned by his friend. |
| B．Mozart’s depression paranoia and existential fear led to his death. |
| C．Mozart had been poisoned sustainably for a long time before he died. |
| D．Mozart once got a nephritis and it was never healed. |
| A．Mozart’s disease was recorded in contemporary literature and reports. |
| B．Antibiotics were not discovered at that time. |
| C．Rheumatic fever can only be caused by strep infection. |
| D．Mozart’s illness cannot be cured even today. |
| A．To back up the Dutchman’s study. |
| B．To prove they were common symptoms causing death in 1791. |
| C．To prove Mozart did have such symptoms before his death. |
| D．To emphasize her special identify as a witness to Mozart’s death. |
3 . Kyra Peralte thought keeping a diary during the pandemic might help her sort out her complicated feeling. In April 2020, the mother of two in Montclair, New Jersey, started writing frankly about the challenges of balancing work, marriage and motherhood during a global crisis.
Peralte wanted to know how other women were doing. “I wanted an interaction that felt human,” so she invited women from near and far to fill the remaining lined pages of her black-and-white marbled composition notebook with their own pandemic tales. She named the project The Traveling Diary. She came up with a system: Each person gets to keep the diary for three days and fills as many pages as she wishes. Then she is responsible for mailing it to the next person, whose address Peralte provides.
So far, more than 2,000 women from 30 countries have participated, some as far away as South Africa and Australia. More than 50 of these notebooks are currently in circulation, and about 20 completed ones are back in Peralte’s possession.
It felt meaningful to pass on something so personal. It felt like these were women that they had known even though they didn’t know them at all. Some did get to meet the women whose stories they read, through a virtual get-together that Peralte organized. Peralte often hosts Zoom events so the women get the chance to get to know one another more, share stories and connect more closely. Some of the women have even become close friends.
Peralte feels a strong bond with the people who filled its pages, none of whom she would have otherwise known. Her spontaneous (自发的) idea has had a profound effect on her and the other women who were part of it. “The Traveling Diary,” she says, “is making sisters out of strangers.”
1. Why did Peralte start The Traveling Diary?| A．To help sort out her feeling. | B．To finish her pages of notebook. |
| C．To have an interaction with other women. | D．To write a book covering pandemic tales. |
| A．It has become popular across the world. |
| B．Each woman keeps the diary at least three days. |
| C．Each person fills pages based on Peralte’s wishes. |
| D．It requires Peralte to post the diary to the next person. |
| A．They are totally strangers before. | B．They often hold parties themselves. |
| C．They have met each other in real life. | D．They have been known to Peralte before. |
| A．Generous and tolerant. | B．Creative and helpful. |
| C．Romantic and imaginative. | D．Demanding and adventurous. |
4 . Since 1960, considerable scientific researches have been done on chimps in their natural habitats. Astonishingly, scientists have found out that the social
In the laboratory, chimps don’t
Human children,
There are several reasons to believe that the urges to help, inform and share are not taught, but naturally
The core (核心) of what children’s minds have and chimps’ don’t is what Tomasello calls shared intentionality. Part of this ability is that they can
| A．structures | B．responsibilities | C．policies | D．behaviors |
| A．conflict | B．offend | C．cooperate | D．discuss |
| A．help | B．contact | C．divide | D．trust |
| A．manage | B．decline | C．attempt | D．force |
| A．curiously | B．unwillingly | C．naturally | D．carelessly |
| A．in turn | B．with care | C．at random | D．in advance |
| A．all in all | B．as a result | C．in no case | D．on the other hand |
| A．cooperativeness | B．availability | C．attack | D．attractiveness |
| A．educated | B．possessed | C．motivated | D．stimulated |
| A．old | B．young | C．middle | D．late |
| A．creatively | B．formally | C．competitively | D．socially |
| A．develops | B．decreases | C．changes | D．disappears |
| A．invisible | B．abstract | C．physical | D．imaginary |
| A．infer | B．adapt | C．absorb | D．balance |
| A．realistic | B．shared | C．specific | D．ambitious |
5 . Sara tried to befriend her old friend Steve’s new wife Betty, but Betty never seemed to have anything to say. While Sara felt Betty didn’t hold up her end of the conversation, Betty complained to Steve that Sara never gave her a chance to talk. The problem had to do with expectations about pacing and pausing.
Conversation is a turn-taking game. When our habits are similar, there’s no problem. But if our habits are different, you may start to talk before I’m finished or fail to take your turn when I’m finished. That’s what was happening with Betty and Sara.
It may not be coincidental that Betty, who expected relatively longer pauses between turns, is British, and Sara, who expected relatively shorter pauses, is American. Betty often felt interrupted by Sara. But Betty herself became an interrupter and found herself doing most of the talking when she met a visitor from Finland. And Sara had a hard time cutting in on some speakers from Latin America or Israel.
The general phenomenon, then, is that the small conversation techniques, like pacing and pausing, lead people to draw conclusions not about conversational style but about personality and abilities. These habitual differences are often the basis for dangerous stereotyping. And these social phenomena can have very personal consequences. For example, a woman from the southwestern part of the US went to live in an eastern city to take up a job in personnel. When the Personnel Department got together for meetings, she kept searching for the right time to break in—and never found it. Although back home she was considered outgoing and confident, in Washington she was viewed as shy and retiring. When she was evaluated at the end of the year, she was told to take a training course because of her inability to speak up.
That’s why slight differences in conversational style—tiny little things like microseconds of pause-can have a great effect on one’s life. The result in this case was a judgment of psychological problems—even in the mind of the woman herself, who really wondered what was wrong with her and registered for assertiveness training.
1. According to the passage, who are likely to expect the shortest pauses between turns?| A．Americans. | B．Israelis. | C．The British. | D．The Finns. |
| A．communication breakdown results from short pauses and fast pacing |
| B．women are unfavorably stereotyped in eastern cities of the US |
| C．one’s inability to speak up is culturally determined sometimes |
| D．one should receive training to build up one’s confidence |
| A．being willing to speak one’s mind |
| B．being able to increase one’s power |
| C．being ready to make one’s own judgment |
| D．being quick to express one’s ideas confidently |
| A．People from Finland tend to pause shorter than those from Britain. |
| B．Conversational techniques such as pacing and pausing may cause people to jump to conclusions about one’s character and capabilities. |
| C．People in a conversation are expected to take turns in speaking. |
| D．Different conversational habits may lead to a breakdown in communication. |
6 . Discoveries in science and technology are thought by “untaught minds” to come in blinding flashes or as the result of dramatic accidents. Sir Alexander Fleming did not, as legend would have it, look at the mold (霉) on a piece of cheese and get the idea for penicillin there and then. He experimented with antibacterial substances for nine years before he made his discovery. Inventions and innovations almost always come out of tough trial and error. Innovation is like soccer; even the best players miss the goal and have their shots blocked much more frequently than they score.
The point is that the players who score most are the ones who take most shots at the goal—and so it goes with innovation in any field of activity. The prime difference between innovation and others is one of approach. Everybody gets ideas, but innovators work consciously on theirs, and they follow them through until they prove practicable or otherwise. What ordinary people see as fanciful abstractions, professional innovators see as solid possibilities.
“Creative thinking may mean simply the realization that there’s no particular goodness in doing things the way they have always been done.” Wrote Rudolph Flesch, a language authority. This accounts for our reaction to seemingly simple innovations like plastic garbage bags and suitcases on wheels that make life more convenient: “How come nobody thought of that before?”
The creative approach begins with the proposal that nothing be as it appears. Innovators will not accept that there is only one way to do anything. Faced with getting from A to B, the average person will automatically set out on the best-known and apparently simplest route. The innovator will search for alternate courses, which may prove easier in the long run and are sure to be more interesting and challenging even if they lead to dead ends. Highly creative individuals really do march to a different drummer.
1. “Untaught mind” in the first paragraph refers to __________.| A．an individual who often comes up with new ideas by accident |
| B．a person who has had no education |
| C．a citizen of a society that restricts personal creativity |
| D．a person ignorant of the hard work involved in experimentation |
| A．The way they present their findings. | B．The intelligence they possess. |
| C．The way they deal with problems. | D．The variety of ideas they have. |
| A．devoted to the progress of science |
| B．diligent in pursuing their goals |
| C．concerned about the advance of society |
| D．unwilling to follow common ways of doing things |
| A．What Are So Special about Creative Individuals |
| B．The Relation Between Creation and Diligence |
| C．Discoveries and Innovation |
| D．To Be a Creative Expert in the Study of Human Creativity |
7 . A growing body of research suggests that the gut microbiome (消化道菌群) could play a major role in a rising chronic disease that makes us physically weaker. The illness, which is commonly called chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), is characterized by intense fatigue, gastrointestinal (胃肠道的) issues, muscle pain, and cognitive challenges such as headaches and difficulty concentrating, among other symptoms. It often follows a viral infection which can lead to a “disruption” in a balanced gut ecosystem. Actually, an increasing number of Americans have been the sufferers since the outbreak of COVID-19.
Two recent studies published in Cell Host &Microbe point to changes in the microbiome as a possible cause of CFS. Research groups at Columbia University and the Jackson Laboratory performed detailed analyses of the microbes in stool (粪便) samples from patients with CFS and compared them to healthy controls.
The two groups found similar bacteria species were less present in CFS patients compared to control patients. They focused on bacteria that produce butyrate, a fatty acid involved in regulating metabolism and the immune system. “Butyrate plays several roles in directing the body’s response to infections, while also protecting the barrier between the intestine (肠) and the circulatory system, regulating genetic changes in cells, and more,” says Brent Williams, lead author on the Columbia study. Williams and his colleagues extensively analyzed the role of butyrate in CFS patients’ guts, even identifying a correlation between low levels of bacteria that produce this acid and more severe symptoms.
Parallel findings from the Jackson Laboratory team suggest the bacteria that produce butyrate could be used to diagnose CFS. Previous research has identified microbiome issues in CFS patients, but the new findings help clarify which microbes could be related to the illness.
More research on butyrate-producing bacteria and other species identified in the studies is necessary to investigate these potential biomarkers of CFS, the authors say. If the findings are replicated, specific gut bacteria could be used to diagnose the illness, which is currently identified based on symptoms alone.
The findings additionally point toward possible treatments, such as probiotics or microbiome-focused diet adjustments—though patients who have been sick for long periods may require drugs that alleviate the damage done to their metabolism or immune system.
1. What do we know about CFS?| A．It is caused by COVID-19 only. | B．It is an illness with systemic symptoms. |
| C．It breaks the balance of the gut ecosystem. | D．The number of the infected is on the decrease. |
| A．By controlling data. | B．By identifying genes. |
| C．By analyzing samples. | D．By comparing symptoms. |
| A．Butyrate’s multiple functions are promoted. |
| B．Targeted gut microbes may be used to diagnose CFS. |
| C．Certain microbes responsible for CFS are narrowed down. |
| D．Probiotics supplement with drugs can be a treatment for CFS. |
| A．Gut microbiome may be the key to CFS. | B．Microbes help digest food and aid absorption. |
| C．Man’s gut is a rich, diverse tropical rainforest. | D．New method for diagnosing CFS are provided. |
8 . A child’s early years of language development are important for the basics of school readiness, such as literacy (读写) skills and social and emotional growth. In a recent study, University of Miami Assistant Professor of Psychology Lynn Perry and a team of fellow researchers who examined child speech communications over the course of a year found that children benefit from conversations with their peers (同龄人) and their teachers. The study examined how language use and development in 2-and 3-year-old children was influenced by what they heard from their teachers and their peers.
“Previous research on language development looked mostly at the role of parent-child communication within a home setting or a lab environment, which means we’re missing a big part of a child’s everyday life — the classroom,” said Perry. “We know that parent language is important for children’s development and their academic achievement, but we don’t have much research on what happens in the kindergarten or preschool setting.”
Using a device (设备) called a Language Environment Analysis (LENA) recorder, Perry collected hundreds of hours of audio recordings. Children wore the LENA recorder once a week. LENA software then assessed whether the recorded audio was speech or not, and whether the speech came from the child wearing the recorder or from an adult or another child talking to them.
After studying the audio data, Perry found that the speech children heard from other children was positively related to their own language use, meaning children who heard the most from their peers learn more new words and vocalize more during the course of the year. Additionally, there was a positive association between a teacher talking and children’s language use and development — but only when that teacher talked to the child in a back-and-forth conversation, rather than just talking to the child with no opportunity for the child to respond.
“One important aspect of the study that stands out to me is how important it was to see those conversational turns with teachers, and that back-and-forth conversation with the child is very beneficial. We talked to the teachers about the results, and they are very excited about this finding and currently brainstorming additional opportunities to have conversations with children,” adds Perry.
1. What does the new study focus on?| A．The basics of school readiness for preschool children. |
| B．The parent-child communication at home or in the lab. |
| C．The influence of conversations in the kindergarten on children. |
| D．The ways to improve preschool children’s healthy growth. |
| A．By observing the children in class . | B．By conducting a survey of teachers. |
| C．By communicating with the children. | D．By recording the children’s speech in class. |
| A．Listen. | B．Speak. | C．Read. | D．Write. |
| A．Have more back -and- forth conversations with children. |
| B．Encourage children to listen more to their own speech. |
| C．Inform parents of the importance of conversational turns. |
| D．Add more brainstorming activities to their daily teaching. |
9 . Will the AI chatbots eat search engines’ lunch? For more than 20 years, search engines have been the Internet’s front door. Google has dominated the field in most of the world. But nothing lasts forever, particularly in technology.
Just ask IBM, which once ruled business computing, or Nokia, once the leader in mobile phones. Both fell behind because they didn’t follow big technological transitions. Now another tech innovation might announce a similar shift—and a similar opportunity. ChatGPT has put itself on centre stage, by letting people chat with an AI directly. ChatGPT can write essays in various styles, explain complex concepts, summarize texts and answer questions. And it can collect, process and combine knowledge from the web: for example, listing holiday spots that match certain criteria, or suggesting menus or schedules. If asked, it can explain its reasoning and provide details. Many things that people use search engines for today, in short, can be done better with chatbots.
Will ChatGPT help students cheat better? Yes, but as with many other technology developments, it’s not a simple black and white situation. Decades ago, students could copy encyclopedia entries, and more recently, they’ve been able to search the Internet and explore into Wikipedia entries. ChatGPT offers new abilities for everything from helping with research to doing their homework for them. Many ChatGPT answers already sound like student essays. Ask the new artificial intelligence tool ChatGPT to write an essay about the cause of the American Civil War and you can watch it produce a persuasive term paper in a matter of seconds.
It can even (narrowly) pass a number of exams. It scored 60% on the United States Medical Licensing Examination, 70% on an exam for lawyers, 78% on New York state’s high school chemistry exam’s multiple choice section, and ranked the 40th on the Law School Admission Test.
A high school teacher concluded ChatGPT already writes better than most students today. He’s torn between admiring ChatGPT’s potential usefulness and fearing its harm to human learning: “Is this moment more like the invention of the calculator, saving me from the boredom of long division, or more like the invention of the player piano, robbing us of what can be communicated only through human emotion?”
1. What is the reason why some tech companies fail to develop?| A．The sharp rising market cost. | B．Their shift to other business fields. |
| C．The negative impact of local economy. | D．Their failure to keep pace with tech changes. |
| A．Play the piano. | B．Write various articles. |
| C．Schedule a holiday trip. | D．Explain complex concepts. |
| A．To explain a rule. | B．To make a prediction. | C．To illustrate a fact. | D．To clarify a concept. |
| A．Objective. | B．Positive. | C．Negative. | D．Ambiguous. |
10 . It’s unusual that you see the words “shyness” and “leader” in the same sentence. After all, the common viewpoint is that those outgoing and sociable guys make great public speakers and excellent networkers and that those shy people are not. A survey conducted by USA Today referred to 65 percent of executives who believed shyness to be a barrier to leadership. Interestingly, the same article stresses that roughly 40 percent of leaders actually are quite shy — they’re just better at adapting themselves to situational demands. Bill Gates, Warren Buffet and Charles Schwab are just a few “innies”.
Unlike their outgoing counterparts who are more sensitive to rewards and risk-taking, shy people take a cautious attitude to chance. Rather than talk loudly, shy people listen attentively to what others say and absorb it before they speak. They’re not thinking about what to say while the other person is still talking, but rather listening so they can learn what to say. Along the same lines, shy people share a common love of learning. They seek content without caring about an outside standard.
Being shy can also bring other benefits. Remember being in school and hearing the same kids discuss, until shy little Johnny, who almost never said a word, cut in? Then what happened? Everyone turned around to look with great respect at little Johnny actually talking. This is how shy people made good use of their power of presence: they “own” the moment by speaking calmly and purposefully, which translate to positive image.
Shyness is often related to modesty. Shy people tend to have an accurate sense of their abilities and achievements. As a result, they are able to acknowledge mistakes, imperfections, knowledge gaps and limitations.
Since shy people have a lower sensitivity to outside rewards than outgoing ones, they’re more comfortable working with little information and sticking to their inner desires. Shy people are also more likely to insist on finding solutions that aren’t obvious. Don’t believe me? Maybe you’ll believe Albert Einstein, who once said, “It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s that I stay with problems longer.” Obviously, finding certainty where uncertainty is typically popular is a huge plus for any successful person.
The myth that shy people are less effective leaders than their outgoing fellows is just a misunderstanding. Make wise use of your personality strengths to lead your business no matter what side of the range you fall on.
1. What can we can learn from Paragraph 2?| A．Shy people are sensitive to rewards. |
| B．Shy people care more about content. |
| C．Outgoing people are more careful about chances |
| D．Outgoing people consider what to learn while listening. |
| A．shy people are likely to be modest |
| B．hardworking students speak title in public |
| C．some students keep silent on purpose at school |
| D．shy people may have an advantage in discussion |
| A．Outside reward leads to insistence. | B．Shyness results in devotion. |
| C．Shyness contributes to popularity. | D．Uncertainty counts more than certainty. |
| A．By making contrasts and giving examples. |
| B．By quoting authorities and making suggestions. |
| C．By explaining problems and providing solutions. |
| D．By giving definitions and presenting numbers. |
