1 . A community canteen at the Zhanongkou Community in Shangcheng, Hangzhou recently launched “happiness blind boxes”, which cost just 6 yuan per box. Sales start at 7 p. m. each evening.
The dishes are packaged in transparent (透明的) containers, but to maintain an element of surprise, stickers are placed over the lid (盖子) of the “main dish” section of each box. The “blind boxes” have become popular since being introduced, and on some nights they sell out by about 8 p. m.
A meal assistance program introduced in Zhanongkou subdistrict ensures the elderly can access meals within a 10-minute walk of their homes or have them delivered within five minutes. The service has also been welcomed by younger people living and working in the area.
Yan Xuyang, a professor at Beijing Union University’s Tourism College, predicts that by 2035, those born from the 1970s to the 2000s will comprise the main group of customers for such canteens. “This generation has a reasonable level of disposable (可自由支配的) income, and many of its members may also lack the willingness to prepare meals for themselves,” Yan said.
The successful operation of community canteens depends on their ability to integrate into the daily lives and culture of local residents. In addition to serving dishes to suit local tastes and fostering a welcoming environment for diners, it is important to widen the functions of these canteens. They have been used for cultural activities and other events, which helps raise awareness and foster a positive perspective on these canteens among local communities.
In the latter part of last year, the Weikang community canteen in Ziyang subdistrict, Hangzhou, experienced a significant transformation from being a canteen for seniors to catering for the whole community. Its services have been broadened beyond regular operations to include services for hospitals and businesses, complete with home delivery options. Some other community canteens have also made efforts to appeal to more residents.
1. What can we know about the “happiness blind boxes” from the passage?| A．They are sold out every night before 8 p. m. |
| B．They are beautifully decorated with stickers. |
| C．They offer a sense of mystery with the unknown main dishes. |
| D．They are only offered to the residents in the Zhanongkou Community. |
| A．Promising. | B．Cautious. | C．Unclear. | D．Objective. |
| A．Reasonable prices. | B．Fast delivery service. | C．Various functions. | D．Unexpected surprises. |
| A．To highlight the popularity of community canteens. |
| B．To emphasize the importance of community canteens. |
| C．To discuss the wide functions of community canteens. |
| D．To show the innovative reform of community canteens. |
2 . The behavior of beavers and other animals has often inspired expressions in English. If someone is very industrious or hard-working in tackling many things at once, we can say the person is “as busy as a beaver.” This phrase hints at one of the characteristics of these wild animals—they are indeed active creatures.
With their large teeth, which are orange due to iron in the tooth enamel (牙齿的珐琅质), beavers can cut down trees and change their environments like no other animals except humans. They use these fallen trees to build dams, creating safe, watery environments. The busy beavers build homes — called lodges — in the ponds created by the dams. The only way to get in and out of lodges is by entering an underwater opening of the structures. This offers beavers protection from predators such as bears, wolves, or coyotes.
It’s also interesting to note that beavers have another reason for cutting down trees aside from building dams. Beavers can digest cellulose, so wood is a significant food source for them, with their diet 15 also consisting of leaves and aquatic plants. Chewing on trees also helps beavers keep their teeth sharp, making it easier for them to keep chopping down trees.
Of course, no discussion about beavers would be complete without mentioning their most noticeable feature their large, flat tails, which have different uses. One is that they act as a rudder, helping them steer in the water. Another is that the animals pound their tails on the water to warn other beavers of danger. Since beavers work so hard building their homes and warning others of potential harm, it’s no surprise that busy as a beaver is a common phrase.
1. Which of the following usages of “as busy as a beaver” correct?| A．My cat is as busy as a beaver since it always lies on the sofa. |
| B．This kind of tree is as busy as a beaver because it takes hundreds of years for it to be used as timber. |
| C．Hanna is having a cup of coffee and listening to music in the living room. She is truly as busy as a beaver. |
| D．Oliver is responsible for two projects and has to train the three new employees, so he has been as busy as a beaver recently. |
| A．What countries beavers are found in. | B．How beavers keep themselves safe. |
| C．The animals that threaten beavers. | D．The food that beavers eat. |
| A．The wood is very strong. |
| B．The water from dams helps beavers digest wood. |
| C．Dams make it harder for other animals to catch. |
| D．Dams provide beavers with lots of water to drink. |
| A．Tail | B．Teeth | C．Paw | D．Head |
3 . The growth mindset is the belief that intellectual abilities can be developed and are not fixed, which have received a great deal of attention in schools and among researchers.
According to a study, a teacher’s growth mindset acts as a “support” that can draw out a student's growth mindset at the very beginning and make it maintainable and actionable in the classroom. These teachers may convey how, in their classes, mistakes are learning opportunities, not signs of low ability, and back up this view with assignments and evaluations that reward continual improvement. This could encourage a student to continue acting on their growth mindset.
The study analyzed data from the National Study of Learning Mindset, which was an intervention experiment conducted with a sample of ninth-grade students’ math grades. The present focus on math grades is motivated by the fact that students tend to find math challenging and anxiety inducing, and therefore, a growth mindset might help students face those challenges productively.
In the study, researchers show that the positive effect of a short growth-mindset intervention on ninth-grade students’ math grades was concentrated among students whose teachers themselves had growth mindset. They also found that baseline students — serve as a benchmark (基准点) for comparing and evaluating the progress of other students — who reported more fixed mindset in classrooms showed a significantly positive effect on math grades.
Successfully teaching a growth mindset to students lifted math grades overall, but this was not enough for all students to reap the benefits of a growth-mindset intervention. Supportive classroom contexts also mattered.Students who were in classrooms with teachers who approved of more of a fixed mindset did not show gains in their math grades over ninth grade, whereas the same kind of students in classrooms with more growth-mind set teachers showed meaningful gains.
In general, they view the testing and understanding of the causal effect of teacher mindset as the next step for mindset science. Such research will be challenging to carry out, however.
1. What is the second paragraph mainly about?| A．How a student's growth-mindset is inspired. |
| B．Why a teacher's growth mindset is important. |
| C．How mistakes turn into learning opportunities. |
| D．Why a student continues acting on growth mindset. |
| A．Students were unable to overcome maths challenge. |
| B．The positive effect was concentrated on all students. |
| C．The sample size of the experiment was insufficient. |
| D．Students at baseline were influenced considerably. |
| A．has an influence on the effectiveness |
| B．is determined by supportive classroom |
| C．always brings meaningful gains to students |
| D．plays a decisive role in students' significant gains |
| A．The Academic Performance: The Influence of Students’ Mindset |
| B．Students’ Learning Motivation: The Impact of Teachers’ Mindset |
| C．Encouraging a Growth Mindset: The Role of Teachers |
| D．Fixed and Growth Mindset: Their Relationship and Impact |
4 . You can get a clear picture about Deep Work by Cal Newport in 5 minutes. Deep Work tells us professional activities performed in a state of distraction-free concentration that push your cognitive(认知的)capabilities to their limit. These efforts create new value and improve your skill. The ability to perform deep work is becoming increasingly rare at exactly the same time it is becoming increasingly valuable in our economy. As a consequence, the few who develop the skill, and then make it the core of their working life, will thrive (蓬勃发展).
The book tells us the core abilities for thriving in the new economy, which are the ability to quickly master hard things, the ability to produce a high level, in terms of both quality and speed. If you can’t learn, you can’t thrive. If you don’t produce, you won’t thrive—no matter how skilled or talented you are. If you haven’t mastered deep work, you’ll struggle to learn hard things. To learn hard things quickly, you must focus intensely without distraction.
The key to developing a deep work habit is to move beyond good intentions and add routines and habits to your working life designed to minimize a state of unbroken concentration. To master the art of deep work, therefore, you must take back control of your time and attention from the many entertainments on the Internet that attempt to steal them. Adopt a tool only if its positive impacts on these factors substantially outweigh its negative impacts. It’s crucial that you figure out in advance what you’ re going to do with your evenings and weekends before they begin.
In the end of Deep Work, we can know that the ability to concentrate is a skill that gets valuable things done. If you’ re struggling to use your mind to its fullest capacity to create things that matter, then you’ll discover, as others have before you, that depth generates a life rich with productivity and meaning.
1. What is the first paragraph mainly about?| A．Background information. | B．Specific examples. |
| C．Positive influence. | D．Theoretical introduction. |
| A．Cooperate with coworkers. | B．Cultivate your skills and talents. |
| C．Keep in the best state at what you do. | D．Learn to deal with challenges. |
| A．Avoiding any distraction. | B．Taking advantage of a tool. |
| C．Planning what to do beforehand. | D．Forming a simple habit. |
| A．A book review. | B．An exam paper. |
| C．A news report. | D．An economic article. |
5 . Recently, I accidentally found a set of Hanfu l only wore once from the bottom of the cupboard. I remember buying them simply to match the ancient-style hair accessories (配饰) a friend gave me. It occurred to me that 1 had been trapped in the “birdcage effect”.
“Birdcage effect” means that when you get an item one day, you will prepare more things to match it. Weeks ago, I was in the company of friends engaged in shopping. One said that she wanted to buy a good writing pen to match the delicate notebook that her sister gave her, so that she would fall in love with taking notes on reading, and thus love reading, not just reading. I joked that she must have fallen for the “birdcage effect”. But the friend said with a smile: “Why not use the ‘birdcage effect’ instead?”
For the first time, I heard that the “birdcage effect” can be used in reverse (逆向). However, this can’t help but remind me of middle school, and I seem to have used the “birdcage effect”. Passing by a bookstore one day, I purchased a magazine and saw the call for contributions published in the magazine, so I started writing with eager hands, and then I fell in love with writing.
After shopping with my friends that time, I began to proceed to use the “birdcage effect”. I bought a small fresh tablecloth to decorate my desk, and a beautiful notebook to record my inspiration. When everything was ready, I started writing again.
But how can we get rid of the “birdcage effect” in many things, and even use the “birdcage effect” in the opposite way? Various “birdcages” unavoidably appear in life, but we can distinguish them. If it is not in line with the actual situation, it is a “negative birdcage”, then we must learn to stop losses in time and maintain a heart of abandonment and separation. If it is a “positive birdcage” that motivates us to develop upward, we can clarify our goals, shop or decorate appropriately, and motivate ourselves to move towards our goals. At this time, you will find that the “birdcage effect” is actually not so terrible!
1. What is paragraph 2 mainly about?| A．The application of the “birdcage effect” in life. |
| B．The necessity of using the “birdcage effect” in life. |
| C．The turning point of the author’s idea on the “birdcage effect”. |
| D．The author’s conflict with her friend over the “birdcage effect”. |
| A．To recall her delightful days at school. |
| B．To explain the reason for her love with writing. |
| C．To confirm the positive of the “birdcage effect”. |
| D．To prove her knowledge of the “birdcage effect”. |
| A．By realizing this effect has two sides. |
| B．By promoting our personal consumption. |
| C．By recognizing this effect is not so terrible. |
| D．By guiding our acts to go with reasonable goals. |
| A．Getting Rid of the Birdcage Effect Confidently |
| B．Motivating Ourselves to Move Towards Our Goals |
| C．The Birdcage Effect: Influence on Consumer Behavior |
| D．The Birdcage Effect: How to Use It to Your Advantage |
6 . Over 7,000 species around the world are considered endangered. That number doesn’t even include the plants, animals, and other lifeforms that are listed by some scientists as vulnerable, critically endangered, or extinct in the wild.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) maintains the most-comprehensive list of endangered species around the world. The Red List of Threatened Species, as it’s called, judges each species on five different standards for an in-depth scientific approach. According to the IUCN, an endangered species is one that meets any one of the following criteria (标准): a 50%-70% population decrease over 10 years, a total geographic area less than 5,000 square kilometers, a population size less than 2,500 adults, a restricted population of 250 adults, or a statistical prediction that it will go extinct within the next 20 years.
Though the IUCN’s Red List covers a wide range of what qualifies as an endangered species, it doesn’t quite say how a species reaches those low points. Prepare to feel guilty: the most common factor when it comes to species decline is human intervention. Loss of habitat, the introduction of a foreign species into the environment, hunting, pollution, disease, and loss of genetic variation (基因变异) are all causes of species decline and most often are a result of human activities. Take the bald eagle for example: the rise in human population and urban development of North America limited the animal’s habitat; an increase in hunting the eagles for sport lowered their population size; and the use of the pesticide DDT on farms harmed the animal’s reproductive capabilities.
But even though humans are the number one cause of species decline, classifying species as endangered encourages action to reverse the effects of human intervention. Conservation efforts by the US Fish and Wildlife Service criminalized (使非法) the hunting of bald eagles and the use of the pesticide DDT in the mid- to late 20th century. The effect was positive, as bald eagles have been on the rise and were taken off the endangered species list in 1995.
1. Which of the following species can be considered endangered?| A．One that will go extinct within the next 50 years. |
| B．One whose population size is less than 5,000 adults. |
| C．One whose habitat is less than 2,500 square kilometers. |
| D．One whose population decreases 20% over twenty years. |
| A．The causes of species decline. |
| B．The disadvantages of the pesticide. |
| C．A list of worldwide endangered species. |
| D．Common features of endangered species. |
| A．To show its rareness. |
| B．To blame humans for its decline. |
| C．To stress its importance in nature. |
| D．To show the meaning of ranking it endangered. |
| A．Entertainment. | B．Health. | C．Science. | D．Education. |
7 . Two hundred years ago the English poet William Wordsworth wrote I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud, a poem that was inspired when he came across a field of daffodils (水仙花). It
What makes this poem a(n)
Wordsworth’s home is now one of the most popular
| A．expresses | B．raises | C．breaks | D．compares |
| A．cause | B．series | C．example | D．proposal |
| A．volunteers | B．chooses | C．refuses | D．hesitates |
| A．identities | B．emotions | C．appearances | D．characters |
| A．balance | B．shape | C．pattern | D．mixture |
| A．violent | B．economic | C．physical | D．living |
| A．masterpieces | B．destinations | C．activities | D．performances |
| A．shakes | B．escapes | C．survives | D．responds |
| A．footprint | B．direction | C．possession | D．charge |
| A．proudly | B．casually | C．sharply | D．regularly |
| A．sight | B．mind | C．memory | D．poem |
| A．floating | B．waiting | C．collecting | D．trembling |
| A．confused | B．delighted | C．persuaded | D．confirmed |
| A．form | B．decorate | C．destroy | D．change |
| A．capability | B．flexibility | C．expectation | D．imagination |
8 . A recent survey found children would rather be online influencers than astronauts. It made headlines and led to plenty of complaints about “kids these days”. Is influencing a promising career path? The lifestyles we see advertised on social media are enticing, but under the shining appearance lie uncertain income, pay inequality, disability and mental health issues.
Successful influencers will be the first to claim that anyone can make it in the industry. However, social media economy experts uncovered a huge income gap between successful influencers and everyone else. For most people trying to become an influencer, their passion projects of content creation often become free work for brands.
Most influencers are self-employed, often experiencing inconsistent income and a lack of protection that comes with long-term employment. The risks of self-employment are increased in the influencer industry by an absence of industry standards and little pay transparency(透明度). Influencers are often forced to assess their own value and determine fees for their work. As a result, content creators often undervalue their own creative labour, and many end up working for free.
Influencers are also often at the mercy of algorithms (运算法则) — the behind-the-scenes computer programs that determine which posts are shown, in which order, to users. Platforms share little detail about their algorithms, yet they finally determine who and what gains visibility and influence on social media, the threat of invisibility is a constant source of insecurity for influencers, who are under constant pressure to feed platforms with content. If they don’t, they may be “punished” by the algorithm-having posts hidden or displayed lower down on search results.
Constant online presence leads to one of the most common issues in the influencer industry: mental health concerns. Influencers can connect to their platform workspaces and audience at any time of day or night, which can lead to them overworking. Coupled with the fear of online criticism, it contributes to mental and physical health issues.
Although becoming an influencer may look appealing to more and more people, the industry’s dark underside needs to be made visible and improved through enhanced employment regulation and industry-led cultural change.
1. What does the underlined word “enticing” in paragraph 1 mean?| A．Imaginative | B．Similar | C．Traditional | D．Attractive |
| A．Their belief in winning through quantity. |
| B．Money paid by the industry is often hidden. |
| C．Their eagerness to make their work visible online. |
| D．There’re few employment opportunities in the industry. |
| A．They are often punished by platforms. |
| B．They have little knowledge of platform algorithm. |
| C．They find it difficult to create new content constantly. |
| D．They have to work out the order of posts to be displayed. |
| A．To describe the life of self-employed content creators. |
| B．To stress the importance of visibility in the online world. |
| C．To reveal relationships between platforms and influencers. |
| D．To show the dark side of working as an online content creator. |
9 . Antibiotics, which can destroy or prevent the growth of bacteria and cure infections, are vital to modern medicine. Their ability to kill bacteria without harming the patient has saved billions of lives and made surgical procedures much safer. But after decades of overuse, their powers are fading. Some bacteria have evolved resistance, creating a growing army of superbugs, against which there is little effective treatment. Antimicrobial (抗菌的) resistance, expected to kill 10 million people a year by 2050 up from around 1 million in 2019, has been seen as a crisis by many.
It would be unwise to rely on new antibiotics to solve the problem. The rate at which resistance emerges is increasing. Some new drugs last only two years before bacteria develop resistance. When new antibiotics do arrive, doctors often store them, using them only reluctantly and for short periods when faced with the most persistent infections. That limits sales, making new antibiotics an unappealing idea for most drug firms.
Governments have been trying to fix the problem by channeling cash into research in drug firms. That has produced only limited improvements. But there is a phenomenon worth a look. Microbiologists have known for decades that disease-causing bacteria can suffer from illnesses of their own. They are supersensitive to attacks by phages, specialized viruses that infect bacteria and often kill them. Phages are considered a promising alternative to antibiotics.
Using one disease-causing virus to fight bacteria has several advantages. Like antibiotics, phages only tend to choose particular targets, leaving human cells alone as they infect and destroy bacterial ones. Unlike antibiotics, phages can evolve just as readily as bacteria can, meaning that even if bacteria do develop resistance, phages may be able to evolve around them in turn.
That, at least, is the theory. The trouble with phages is that comparatively little is known about them. After the discovery of penicillin, the first antibiotic, in 1928, they were largely ignored in the West. Given the severity of the antibiotic-resistance problem, it would be a good idea to find out more about them.
The first step is to run more clinical trials. Interest from Western firms is growing. But it is being held back by the fact that phages are an even less appealing investment than antibiotics. Since they are natural living things, there may be trouble patenting them, making it hard to recover any investment.
Governments can help fun d basic research into phage treatment and clarify the law around exactly what is and is not patentable. In time they can set up phage banks so as to make production cheaper. And they can spread awareness of the risks of overusing antibiotics, and the potential benefits of phages.
1. We can learn from paragraphs 1 and 2 that .| A．doctors tend to use new antibiotics when the patients ask for them |
| B．antimicrobial resistance is developing more rapidly than predicted |
| C．new antibiotics fail to attract drug firms due to limited use of them |
| D．previous antibiotics are effective in solving modern health problems |
| A．They can increase human cells when fighting bacteria. |
| B．They are not particular about which cells to infect and kill. |
| C．They can evolve accordingly when bacteria develop resistance. |
| D．They are too sensitive to be infected by disease-causing bacteria. |
| A．there is little chance of patenting phages in the future |
| B．governments provide financial support for other research |
| C．the emergence of superbugs holds back drug firms’ interest |
| D．over-dependence on antibiotics distracts attention from phages |
| A．Governments fail to stop the use of antibiotics. |
| B．Phages could help prevent an antibiotics crisis. |
| C．Development of antibiotics is limited by phages. |
| D．Antimicrobial resistance calls for new antibiotics. |
10 . Going from being called a “stupid molecule (分子) ”to “the secret of life”, our discovery and understanding of DNA has come a long way. This year marks the 70th anniversary of the discovery of the structure of DNA----the pivotal (关键的) year when the so-called “secret of life” was uncovered by two scientists: James Watson from the US and Francis Crick from the UK.
Inherited characteristics like eye color, nose shape and even intelligence----scientists found the structure of the chemical which transmits these from one generation to another. “Discovering how these ‘chemical’ cards are shuffled (洗牌) and paired will keep the scientists busy for the next 50 years,” journalist Ritchie Calder commented in 1953 on the discovery. And it certainly has. The study of DNA has led to world-changing advances in many fields.
“DNA makes time fluid (流动的),” said The Irish Times. It lets us redefine the future. For example, in medicine, DNA helps us identify “weak points” in the human genome (基因组) that might be prone to disease. Through a technique called gene therapy, a person’s genes can be modified to treat or cure certain diseases. Another example is agriculture, where work on plant DNA has allowed us to change the way we breed (培育) crops, opening the door for genetically modified plants and advances in food security.
DNA can also shed light on the past. In forensic (法医的) science, DNA analysis has come to serve as a vital form of evidence in crime scenes, with “many millions having been proven guilty or innocent” through its usage, said the website AZoLife Sciences. And DNA in specimens (标本) like fossils and artifacts (文物) can give us vital information on humans and other species.
But what's next for DNA research? Improvements in technology are allowing us to utilize DNA in new ways. As the cost of DNA technologies decreases and related machines become more efficient, it becomes more accessible, reported Wired magazine. In medicine, DNA plays a key role in furthering the development of “personalized medicine” —designing treatment plans based on the genomes and other specific factors of individual patients. As “natural supercomputers”, DNA can store large amounts of data. So scientists are busy learning from DNA to make our computers store more data and work even faster.
1. Why does the author quote Ritchie Calder's remark in paragraph2?| A．To help better understand DNA. | B．To highlight scientists’ efforts. |
| C．To stress the discovery's impact. | D．To stress the importance of DNA technology. |
| A．The diverse applications of DNA. | B．The mysterious aspects of DNA. |
| C．Challenges of DNA research. | D．Ways to expand DNA research. |
| A．protect | B．use | C．correct | D．prevent |
| A．The replacement of medicines. | B．The reduction of medical costs. |
| C．The advancement of self-diagnosis. | D．The improvement of computer performance. |
