1 . Ariel Procaccia has thought a lot about how to cut a cake over the last 15 years. As the father of three children, he knows how hard it is to divide a birthday cake to everyone’s satisfaction. But it’s also because Procaccia’s work focuses on exploring the mathematical rules for dividing stuff up fairly. One way to do that is to think abstractly about dessert.

For decades, researchers have been asking the seemingly simple question of how to cut a cake fairly. The answer reaches far beyond birthday parties. A mathematical problem at its heart, cake cutting connects strict reasoning to real-world issues of fairness, and so attracts not only mathematicians, but also social scientists, economists and more. “It’s a very elegant model in which you can distill what fairness really is, and reason about it,” Procaccia says.

The simplest approach is called the “divider-chooser” method, where one person cuts the cake into two equal pieces in his view, and the other person picks first. Each receives a piece that they feel is as valuable as the other’s. But when personal preferences are taken into account, even the easiest rule becomes complicated. Suppose Alice and Bob are to divide a cake, and Alice knows Bob prefers chocolate, she may knowingly divide the cake unequally so the smaller piece contains more chocolate. Then Bob will choose according to his preference, and Alice will get the larger piece. Both of them are satisfied with what they get, but the meaning of fairness changes in this situation.

The cake is a symbol for any divisible good. When cake-cutting principles are employed to settle disagreements, they are potentially helping the world find solutions. Procaccia has used fair division algorithms (算法) to model food distribution. Social scientist Haris Aziz is exploring situations ranging from how to divide up daily tasks to how to best schedule doctors’ shifts in hospitals.

Even after decades of investigation, cake cutting isn’t like a simple jigsaw puzzle (拼图) with a well-defined solution. Instead, over time, it has evolved into a kind of mathematical sandbox, a constructive playground that brings together abstract proofs and easy applications. The more researchers explore it, the more there is to explore.

1. What does the underlined word “distill” in paragraph 2 mean?

A．Get the essence of.	B．Find the opposite of.
C．Keep the focus on.	D．Reduce the impact on.

2. What can we learn about fairness from the example given in paragraph 3?

A．Its standard is stable.	B．It prevents unequal division.
C．Its concept is complex.	D．It dominates personal preferences.

3. What is paragraph 4 mainly about concerning cake cutting?

A．The application of its rules.	B．The details of its process.
C．The problems it produces.	D．The harmony it symbolizes.

4. What is the best title for the text?

A．Who benefits most from fairness?

B．How has fairness changed over time?

C．What method works best in cake-cutting?

D．Why are researchers so interested in cake-cutting?

2 . At Countryside High School in Clearwater, Fla. , 16-year-old Sage Waite is already taking a class in cybersecurity, and she’d welcome one that’s in the works on cyber disinformation.

“For the longest time, I didn’t actually know what disinformation was,” said Waite, who’s in the 11th grade. “There was always the idea that things could be wrong in what you’re hearing and what you’re being told. But the idea of misinformation and disinformation wasn’t in my day-to-day.” This past year, she says, has been an eye-opener. “My friends and I definitely started looking into stuff more and doing more research after that,” she said.

A new program on “digital literacy,” with a focus on topics like disinformation, is in the pipeline, thanks in part to Mike McConnell, who is now working to fight false information aimed at young people. “We need to understand this so we can appreciate what's happening to us, and be able to not only understand it, but also to navigate through it,” McConnell said. “That’s what I call digital literacy.”

McConnell is executive director of Cyber Florida, which is based at the University of South Florida in Tampa. The group works with kids throughout the state at universities, high schools, and even those in younger grades. Cyber Florida helped set up the cybersecurity program now being taught at many Florida schools. The new project, Cyber Citizenship, is even more ambitious. “We think if we can do this for Florida, we can spread it across the nation,” he said.

The expanded program now in the works aims to make digital literacy something all Florida students get, at several grade levels, before they finish high school.

There’s no date yet for the cyber disinformation classes in Florida, but computer teacher Jason Felt says it can’t come soon enough and he is ready to embrace it.

“The Internet is a wonderful tool. It’s connected us in a way that’s never really been seen before. But it’s a blessing and it’s also a curse.”

Teaching students the difference, he says, is a huge challenge.

1. What can we learn about the class that Sage Waite is taking from the first two paragraphs?

A．It receives a cold welcome.	B．It aims to form a bond.
C．It focuses on technologies.	D．It has a positive impact.

2. What is digital literacy according to MeConnell?

A．The specific strategies for protecting privacy.	B．The inborn capacity to track fake information.
C．The general skills of maintaining cybersecurity.	D．The overall ability to handle online information.

3. What is the vision of Cyber Citizenship?

A．To outperform Cybersecuritiy.	B．To take the lead in the world.
C．To reach a wider range of students.	D．To make a substantial profit.

4. What is Jason Felt’s attitude towards the cyber disinformation classes?

A．Welcoming.

B．Unclear.

C．Opposed.

D．Prejudiced.

3 . The feeling of envy (忌妒) strikes at many moments these days: When a friend buys a house, or when a neighbor shares good news about their successful side project while you’re caught by sky-high debts, and when a co-worker gets a new job while your career has no progress.

“It’s normal to feel envious. After all, envy is a universal emotion, and we don't have to feel ashamed by it,” psychologists (心理学家) say. In fact, psychologists suggest trying a powerful method and analyzing our envy to get clues about what we really want out of life. Doing so can help us figure out next steps in our careers and personal lives.

“Two distinct types of envy exist. Malicious (怀有恶意的) envy arrives with anger, annoyance and a sense of wanting to take an advantage away from another person,” says Jan Crusius, psychologist and professor of motivation and emotion at University of Greifswald in Germany. Benign (良性的) envy, on the other hand, is when you wish you were in someone else’s position but don’t feel like tearing them down. That envy can inspire self-reflection and the motivation to set new goals. Research from Crusius has shown that marathon runners who were to experience benign envy also set higher goals for themselves, and tended to run faster in their races.

Rather than bottle up envy when it occurs, start by asking who inspires a mix of admiration and envy in your life. If they’ve achieved a particular milestone, investigate why you’re drawn to that achievement. The answer may point you on a more fulfilling path. Changing your thoughts helps you view someone as a model to catch up rather than an opponent (对手) to defeat, and helps you focus on what you can control.

1. How did the author introduce the topic of the text?

A．By showing a definition.	B．By telling a story.
C．By giving examples.	D．By listing a series of findings.

2. What can benign envy bring us?

A．Improvement.

B．Anger.

C．Happiness.

D．Gratitude.

3. What should we do to deal with envy according to paragraph 4?

A．Set a goal for ourselves.	B．Defeat our opponent.
C．Just let it be.	D．Bottle up our envy.

4. Where can this text be read?

A．In a news report.	B．In a psychological magazine.
C．In a book review.	D．In a novel.

4 . HARDCORE TANO*C is an independent Japanese music label that is known for releasing music compilations and albums focused on various forms of hardcore techno such as UK hardcore, happy hardcore, and gabber. The label was founded in 2003 by Yoshikazu Nagai(who at the time used the Akai Hito alias),originally under the name of Hardcore Tanoshii, but changed to its current name of HARDCORE TANO*C in 2007 after the release of the album HARDCORE SYNDROME. The label features a store which sells the most notable doujin(同人)music releases, and is well known for their frequent live events that are regularly organized throughout the years, including the annual TANO*C TOUR series of events and the S2TBTANO*C events done in collaboration with kors k’s S2TB Recording label.

From 2011 to 2018, HARDCORE TANO*C were very closely linked with BEMANI, most notably in beat mania IIDX and SOUND VOLTEX. Many of HARDCORE TANO*C’s members were frequent contributors to BEMANI,and KONAMI even collaborated with the label for a few of their own album releases. Their presence also expanded to various other music game titles.

Many guest artists have appeared in HARDCORE TANO*C compilations, including Ryu☆, kors k, DJ Shimamura, m1dy, M-Project, JAKAZiD (as Joshka), Hommarju, Camellia, lapix, C-Show, Maozon, Nhato, Dustvoxx, and Akira Complex.

By the end of 2017, HARDCORE TANO*C has started to produce major artist album releases, containing licensed works done for music games by the circle’s artists. From September 2018, a sub-label directed by DJ Myosuke named HARDCORE TANO*C HARD has been established, which focuses on harsher music. HARDCORE TANO*C is also heavily involved in the 2019 rhythm game WACCA, which is published by MARVELOUS!, with nearly its entire staff contributing to the game.

A song composed by various members of HARDCORE TANO*C, BATTLE NO.1, was planned to be in SOUND VOLTEX IV HEAVENLY HAVEN for the The 8th KONAMI Arcade Championship, under the artist name of TANO*C SOUND TEAM. KONAMI rejected the song (likely due to their poking fun (打趣) of the BEMANI Sound Team moniker, which was at its most extreme in the time of that event), and it later appeared instead in the HARDCORE TANO*C-produced game WACCA on August 1st, 2019. It also appeared in lowiro’s Arcaea as part of the Arcaea× HARDCORE TANO*C Collaboration (联动) and SEGA’s maimai でらっくす Splash. It was added to Muse Dash on February 5, 2021.

1. What’s the main idea of the first paragraph?

A．Some basic information about HARDCORE TANO*C.

B．The founder and members of HARDCORE TANO*

C．C. The relationship between Yoshikazu Nagai and HARDCORE TANO*C.

D．The relationship between BEMANI and HARDCORE TANO*C.

2. Among the following members, who has NOT shown up in this music label’s compilations?

A．Camellia.

B．Laur.

C．Maozon.

D．Akira Complex.

3. What can we know about the rhythm game WACCA?

A．It was produced by HARDCORE TANO*C last year.

B．None of MARVELOUS!’s employees is working for it.

C．The song BATTLE NO.1 was included in this game.

D．It had a collaboration with Muse Dash in Feb, 2021.

4. Arcaea has collaborated with both HARDCORE TANO*C and WACCA. As a player of Arcaea, what should you do?

A．Try playing WACCA if possible.

B．Spread bad comments about HARDCORE TANO*

C．Only cheer for the game or the artist you like.

D．Ask the official staff about the song selection petulantly.

5 . On March 16th I left the offices of The Economist to head home. That was the last day when all editorial staff assembled in our London office. And, at the time of writing, no date for a return to the office is in _______

It is remarkable how quickly we have adapted. The newspaper has been written, edited and produced from couches and kitchen tables. January and February seem like an ancient era — the BC (before coronavirus) to the new AD (after _______).

The shift may _______ great workplace transformations in the 19th and 20th centuries, and it has been a much more sudden transition than occurred with factories, enabled by advanced economies that revolve around services instead of manufacturing. Back in the 1970s, when Britain adopted a three-day week (to commit a miners strike), there were power cub and TV stations had to close down early. This pandemic has not turned the lights _______

Not only that, it has made remote work seem both normal and acceptable. In the past employees who stayed home had to overcome the _______ that they were bunking off (偷懒). Now those who insist on being at the office sound self-important.

Things are _______, of course. Video calls Jack the spontaneity of a normal meeting; no off-the-cuff (即兴的) remarks to lighten the mood. Distance makes it difficult to generate camaraderie. Creativity is probably harder to foster. Experts say new ideas come from weak links in networks — i.e., people you meet occasionally. Such “ _______ collisions” have become rarer.

Yet _________ offices will not disappear, it is hard to imagine that working life will return to BC ways. For more than a century workers have stuffed themselves onto crowded trains and buses to get into the office. For the past two months they have not had to commute. _______, for their part, have maintained expensive offices in city centers because they needed to gather staff in one place. The rent is only part of the cost; there are the cleaning, lighting, printers, catering and security ________.

Another aspect of the AD era may be the disappearance of the five-day working week. Even before the pandemic many workers became used to taking phone calls or answering emails at the weekend. In the AD era, the ________ between home and working life, a useful way of relieving stress, will be even harder to sustain.

In future employees may work and take breaks when they please, with the company video call the only ________. The downside, however, is that the rhythm of life has been disrupted and new ________ are needed. Looking further out, the AD era may bring other changes. Some may decide to live in small towns where housing costs are lower, since they have no need to commute. Men will have ________ excuses to skip cleaning or child care if they are not disappearing to the office. In a sense, this is a(n) ________ to normal: until the 19th century most people worked at or close to their homes. But social historians may still regard 2020 as the start of a new age.

1.

A．doubt

B．sight

C．mind

D．hope

2.

A．domestication

B．transition

C．isolation

D．pandemic

3.

A．affect

B．shape

C．arouse

D．rival

4.

A．on

B．off

C．over

D．down

5.

A．suspicion

B．difficulty

C．prejudice

D．disadvantage

6.

A．advancing

B．reversing

C．interfering

D．missing

7.

A．remote

B．intense

C．casual

D．novel

8.

A．now that

B．in case

C．even though

D．as long as

9.

A．Commuters

B．Legislators

C．Executives

D．Employers

10.

A．in demand

B．beyond reach

C．at issue

D．on top

11.

A．balance

B．barrier

C．connection

D．conflict

12.

A．fixture

B．engagement

C．priority

D．interaction

13.

A．perspectives

B．routines

C．regulations

D．equivalents

14.

A．better

B．harder

C．more

D．fewer

15.

A．access

B．progress

C．return

D．contrast

6 . Teachers worried about students turning in essays written by a popular artificial intelligence chatbot now have a new tool of their own.

Edward Tian, a computer science major at Princeton University, has built an App called GPTZero to detect whether a text is written by Chat GPT, which is a popular chatbot that has caused fears over its possibility for immoral uses in American academic circles. His motivation to create the computer program was to fight what he sees as an increase in AI plagiarism (剽窃). Since the release of ChatGPT in 2022, there have been reports of students using the language model to pass off AI-written assignments as their own. Many teachers have reached out to him after he released GPTZero, telling him about the positive results they’ve seen from testing it.

To determine whether an essay is written by a computer program, GPTZero uses two indicators: “confusion” and “burstiness (突发性)”. The first indicator measures the complexity of text; if GPTZero is confused by the text, then it has a high complexity and it’s more likely to be human-written. However, if the text is more familiar to GPTZero — because it’s been trained on such data — then it will have low complexity and therefore is more likely to be AI-generated. Besides, the second indicator compares the variations of sentences. Humans tend to write with greater burstiness, for example, with some longer or complex sentences alongside shorter ones. AI sentences tend to be more uniform.

In a demonstration video, Tian compared the App’s analysis of a story in The New Yorker and a Linked In post written by ChatGPT. It successfully distinguished writing between human and AI. However, GPTZero isn’t foolproof, as some users have reported when putting it to the test. He said he’s still working to improve the model’s accuracy.

Tian is not opposed to the use of AI tools like ChatGPT. GPTZero is “not meant to be a tool to stop these technologies from being used,” he said. “But with any new technologies, we need to be able to adopt it responsibly and we need to have protections.”

1. What have some students done since ChatGPT was released?

A．They have built language models from ChatGPT.

B．They have copied AI-written text from ChatGPT

C．They have accessed their assignments through ChatGPT.

D．They have passed their writing exams through ChatGPT.

2. What can be inferred about the two indicators of GPTZero?

A．The more uniform the text is, the more likely it is to be AI-generated.

B．The less complex the text is, the more likely it is to be human-written.

C．GPTZero sometimes confuses human-written texts with AI-generated texts.

D．GPTZero is more familiar with human-written texts than with AI-generated texts.

3. What does the underlined word “foolproof” mean in the fourth paragraph?

A．User-friendly.	B．Time-efficient.
C．Perfectly legal.	D．Completely reliable.

4. What maybe Tian’s attitude to the use of AI tools?

A．Favorable.

B．Disapproving.

C．Objective.

D．Ambiguous.

7 . As a traveler with a disability, I have always avoided cruises. This expedition-style small-ship cruise changed my mind.

When our expedition leader ________ we would make a Zodiac (卓迪船) ________ at Jan Mayen, a tiny island in the Arctic Ocean, I stepped out onto my balcony aboard our ship, ________ to find clear skies and calm seas. ________, I was met with a gust of wet wind and a view of mist-covered mountains in the distance. Jan Mayen wasn’t on our itinerary (行程), and due to its ________ location and often unpredictable weather, very few people ever ________ the island. I knew the ________ weren’t ideal, but I wasn’t going to let that stop me.

In fact, the possibility of ________ adventures was one of the reasons I chose this small-ship cruise. So I ________ joined my shipmates in the mud room, where we put on waterproof clothes and life jackets before hopping in the Zodiacs for a bumpy ________ to a black-sand beach. Even the fierce wind and rain couldn’t ________ our excitement as we ________ our way to the beach and hiked to a viewpoint, pausing to photograph little purple flowers ________ the volcanic rocks.

Our visit there wasn’t about what we could do or see. It was an opportunity to just be—to exist in a brief ________ on a tiny, often inaccessible, volcanic rock in the Arctic. And that’s something I never thought I’d ________ in my lifetime.

1.

A．knew

B．announced

C．remembered

D．replied

2.

A．living

B．return

C．landing

D．mark

3.

A．failing

B．choosing

C．struggling

D．hoping

4.

A．Instead

B．Finally

C．Thus

D．Otherwise

5.

A．strategic

B．remote

C．favorable

D．central

6.

A．set foot on

B．fell victim to

C．kept track of

D．gained control of

7.

A．constructions

B．conditions

C．descriptions

D．distributions

8.

A．unwanted

B．unsecured

C．unplanned

D．unauthorized

9.

A．mistakenly

B．nervously

C．routinely

D．happily

10.

A．walk

B．flight

C．ride

D．path

11.

A．dampen

B．share

C．convey

D．fuel

12.

A．changed

B．lost

C．fought

D．made

13.

A．in response to

B．in view of

C．in contrast to

D．in defense of

14.

A．moment

B．experiment

C．glance

D．ceremony

15.

A．value

B．need

C．miss

D．experience

8 . Of course, Baoyu had seen this new cousin earlier on and _______ that she was the daughter of his Aunt Lin. He made haste to bow and, having greeted her, took a seat. Looking at Daiyu closely, he found her _______ from other girls. Her dusky arched eyebrows were knitted and yet not frowning; her _______ eyes held both merriment and sorrow; her very weakness had _______. Her eyes sparkled with tears; her _______ was soft and faint. In rest she was like a lovely flower _______ in the water; in motion, a pliant willow swaying in the wind. She looked more sensitive than Bi Gan, more _______ than Xi Shi.

“I’ve met this cousin before,” he _______ at the end of his scrutiny (审视).

“You’re talking nonsense again,” said his grandmother, laughing.

“How could you possibly have met her?”

“Well, even if I haven’t, her face looks _______. I feel we’re old friends meeting again after a long separation.”

“So much the better.” The Lady Dowager laughed. “That shows you’re ________ to be good friends.”

Baoyu went over to sit beside Daiyu and once more ________ fixedly at her…

Then, to the confusion of them all, he asked Daiyu if she had any jade (玉).

________ that he had his own jade in mind, she answered, “No, I haven’t. I suppose it’s too rare for everybody to have.”

This instantly put Baoyu into one of his frenzies (狂暴). ________ the jade, he threw it on the ground.

“What’s rare about it?” he ________. “It can’t even tell good people from bad. What ________ understanding has it got? I don’t want this annoyance either.”

1.

A．decided

B．recognized

C．observed

D．guessed

2.

A．distant

B．free

C．different

D．absent

3.

A．wondering

B．speaking

C．hesitating

D．pleasing

4.

A．love

B．terror

C．charm

D．trick

5.

A．gesture

B．figure

C．movement

D．breath

6.

A．bathed

B．mirrored

C．planted

D．dropped

7.

A．delicate

B．precious

C．aggressive

D．reserved

8.

A．assumed

B．explained

C．declared

D．interpreted

9.

A．common

B．familiar

C．pretty

D．similar

10.

A．matched

B．committed

C．intended

D．meant

11.

A．grasped

B．checked

C．aimed

D．stared

12.

A．Realizing

B．Doubting

C．Imagining

D．Admitting

13.

A．Setting off

B．Tearing off

C．Wearing off

D．Cutting off

14.

A．stormed

B．threatened

C．identified

D．criticized

15.

A．romantic

B．complex

C．spiritual

D．typical

9 . Earlier this month, Bob Dylan released The Philosophy of Modern Song, a collection of 66 songs, detailing their status in music and, sometimes, explaining what a given track might mean or do. The book reminded me of the Harry Smith’s Anthology of American Folk Music, in which Smith intelligently summarizes each song's narrative arc as if it were a newspaper headline. Dylan is less direct and more tends to allegorical (讽喻的) long speeches.

Dylan has always had a slightly tense relationship with the writers and journalists who grammatically analyze his songs for meaning, and, while reading The Philosophy of Modern Song, there were moments when I grew slightly red-faced, worried that the book might be an purposeful joke, making fun of all the drooling (垂涎) critics who have gone thrilled trying to illustrate the greatness and beauty of his work. Yet the pattern and rhythm of his descriptions will be quite familiar to anyone who listened to “Theme Time Radio Hour”, the Sirius XM show that Dylan hosted from 2006 to 2009.

Ultimately, both projects repeat, in a serious way, just how difficult it is to study, investigate, and evaluate something as indescribable and brain-scrambling (烧脑) as popular music.

The Philosophy of Modern Song picked a limited number of songs, for Dylan to define the masterpieces that defined him, and he did so determinedly. Much like Smith’s Anthology, Dylan’s book is deeply personal, despite its sweeping title. It’s obvious that Dylan did not adjust his preferences to suit a cultural narrative or to play down his age. Yet that the book contains only four songs performed by women is both depressing and astonishing. This might lead readers to question Dylan’s character and, more worrying, to wonder about the limits of his musical knowledge.

1. What do the two books, The Philosophy of Modern Song and Anthology of American Folk Music, have in common?

A．The writing style.	B．The writers’ career.
C．The books’ subject.	D．The creation background.

2. Why might the author feel slightly red-faced?

A．Because he was on bad terms with Bob Dylan.

B．Because he failed to listen to Dylan’s radio program.

C．Because he was laughed at for his comments on Dylan’s book.

D．Because he may be among those critics taking advantage of Dylan’s works.

3. What do we know about the book The Philosophy of Modern Song?

A．It presents a whole history of American folk music.

B．It offers a review on Bob Dylan’s personal music albums.

C．It suggests a possible lack of attention to women’s music.

D．It follows the example of Anthology of American Folk Music.

4. What’s the writer’s purpose in writing this passage?

A．To question Dylan’s expertise in folk music.

B．To introduce the newly-published book by Bob Dylan.

C．To blame Dylan for his underestimating female musicians.

D．To compare the two books of Philosophy and Anthology.

10 . Would you make the same decisions in a foreign language as you would in your native tongue? It may be intuitive that people would make the same choices regardless of the language they are using, or that the difficulty of using a foreign language would make decisions less systematic. We discovered, however, that the opposite is true: Using a foreign language reduces decision-making biases (偏差).

Together with his students and collaborators, Professor Keysar has made discoveries about the impact of using a foreign language on choice, the way that language modality affects reasoning, how language affects health decisions and negotiations, and more. In a 2021study, Boaz Keysar, a professor at the University of Chicago in the US, led an experiment concerning how foreign languages relate to human ways of thinking.

Whereas people were risk averse for gains and risk seeking for losses when choices were presented in their native tongue, they were not influenced by this framing manipulation in a foreign language. People were asked to make a choice: Take a guarantee of one pound or take a 50 percent chance of winning 2.50 pounds. When presented with this choice in their native language, most people took the safe option of only getting one pound. But they were more willing to make the riskier choice when asked in a foreign language, leading to more profits overall, according to The Guardian. As Keysar put it, “People just hate the prospect (前景) of losing, but they hate it less in a foreign language. ”

Keysar and his team did another experiment in which participants were given a series of related words like “dream”, “snooze”, “bed” and “rest”. Later, when asked which words they remembered hearing, people were more likely to mistakenly remember “sleep”, which was not on the list, in their native language. But it was much less likely to happen if they did the test in a foreign language.

The evidence is clear: By learning a foreign language, you’re not just learning a language — you’re gaining a new state of mind.

1. What aspect of the Boaz Keysar’s research in 2021 focus on?

A．The impact of using a foreign language on choice.

B．The way that language modality affects reasoning.

C．How language affects health decisions and negotiations.

D．The relationship between foreign languages and people’s way of thinking.

2. What does the underlined word “averse” in Paragraph 3 refer to?

A．willing

B．slow

C．opposed

D．eager

3. Why did Keysar and his team did the second experiment?

A．To change people’s attitude to the game.

B．To prove a foreign language influences the way of thinking.

C．To show the choice is more correct when using a foreign language.

D．To prove using a foreign language leads to memories with greater accuracy.

4. Which of the following shows the development of ideas in the passage?
I: Introduction       P: Point       C: Conclusion

A．

B．

C．

D．