1 . Ms. McIntyre, 38, worked as a publisher. She suffered brain cancer and her health got worse despite some medical treatment. But she realized that in a way, she was luckier than some other people. She had insurance to help pay for her medical care. But Ms. McIntyre and her husband, Mr. Gregory, knew that many people with cancer face tough decisions because of the costs of medical care and wind up owing far more than they can pay.
Though her health was failing, Ms. McIntyre decided to help pay off the medical debts of as many people as she possibly could. The couple began donating money to a group called RIP Medical Debt, which is committed to working to pay off the unpaid medical debts of others. The group can pay off medical bills for about 100 times less money than they cost. In other words, for every 100 donated, the group can pay off 10,000 in unpaid medical bills.
Unfortunately, Ms. McIntyre passed away before long. Mr. Gregory posted a message for Ms. McIntyre on her social media accounts. “If you’re reading this, I have passed away,” the post began. Then the post explained, “To celebrate my life, I’ve arranged to buy up others’ medical debts and then destroy the debts.”
The couple had set up a page on a website to raise money for this purpose. They had hoped to raise about $20,000. Nevertheless, Ms. McIntyre’s last post attracted a lot of attention. The donations on her web page quickly passed the total goal. In less than a week, the site had raised 10 times more than expected and the donations are still coming in. By November 22, 2023, Ms. McIntyre’s web page had raised over $627,000, or enough money to pay off about $60 million in medical debts.
Mr. Gregory planned a special event in December to celebrate Ms. McIntyre’s life and to announce how many millions of dollars of medical debts her efforts had paid for.
1. Why did Ms. McIntyre feel luckier than some other people?| A．The doctors eventually cured her. | B．Her disease didn’t become worse. |
| C．She had a decent job before being ill. | D．She had security about medical care. |
| A．By paying for their daily debts. | B．By giving away money to them. |
| C．By ridding them of debts from treatments. | D．By purchasing medical insurance for them. |
| A．The public involvement. | B．The couple’s commitment. |
| C．The operation of a website. | D．The increase of medical debts. |
| A．Humorous and elegant. | B．Influential and understanding. |
| C．Cautious and promising. | D．Enthusiastic and adaptable. |
2 . While warming up to a cheerleading competition, 17-year-old Keianna Joe experienced a scary medical event. She
Andrea Joe, Keianna’s mother, said her daughter’s cheer coach ran madly,
For about ten
Then, a portable defibrillator (除颤器) arrived on the scene. Thankfully, Andrea had received training on these
“The machine said, ‘Shock required’,” Andrea said. “And I mean, I’ve trained on these AED (自动体外除颤仪) devices before and they’ve never told me, you know, ‘Shock required’.” Nevertheless, Andrea used the defibrillator to
After a 10-day hospital stay, Keianna is out, but with a mini defibrillator in her
“She’s with me, she’s here, she’s right next to me and I’ve got her,” Andrea said. “And it’s the best feeling ever.”
1.| A．cried | B．fell | C．slept | D．escaped |
| A．waited | B．begged | C．screamed | D．answered |
| A．ambulance | B．office | C．company | D．court |
| A．weak | B．pale | C．unhealthy | D．unconscious |
| A．sprang | B．came | C．exploded | D．dashed |
| A．cheered up | B．calmed down | C．lay down | D．took over |
| A．forgive | B．save | C．follow | D．cure |
| A．days | B．hours | C．minutes | D．seconds |
| A．experimented | B．based | C．performed | D．improved |
| A．situations | B．devices | C．patients | D．processes |
| A．encourage | B．support | C．bring | D．shock |
| A．more | B．better | C．faster | D．longer |
| A．heart | B．chest | C．head | D．face |
| A．helped | B．prepared | C．caused | D．decided |
| A．welling | B．growing | C．drying | D．holding |
How is everything going? I have been in Leeds for more than 3 months. I miss you all so much during this time, especially at this turning of the year. I still remember the Christmas and New Year party we had together last year. It is a pity that I cannot celebrate this great festival with you this year, but I hope I can share my happiness with you through this letter.
After I entered in the British University, I realized that the foundation course I have taken is extremely important and helpful. Actually, most of the content of my present module has already been covered by IFY. Therefore, it is not difficult to follow the lectures and tutorials. Compared to the other Chinese students who took the foundation course in Britain, we are in a better stage in terms of both academic English and the knowledge of re levant subjects. More importantly, the IFY course has fully prepared us for the new style of study here. I would like to thank Juliet, Paul, Net, Scott and Chris with all my heart, because without your help, I wouldn’t be able to cope with the study in Britain.
I would also like to thank Cynthia, Sophia, Cathy and all the other staff in Qingdao ACE Programme. Thanks for your help in the last year, and thanks for your advice on my choice of university. It is you who make studying abroad possible for me.
The last one year’s study in IFY course was one of my most pleasant memories. While coping with the challenges of life in Britain, I always think back to the time when I was with you. I cannot forget every lectures and tutorials, and I cannot forget the times that we played together. You are not only my teachers, but also my good friends . I will miss you all. Hope I can see you when I go back to Chin a in summer.
Wish you every success in your life and keep good mood every day!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Love,
Phoebe
1. This letter was written by ________.| A．a Chinese student now in China |
| B．a Chinese student now in Britain |
| C．a Britain student now in China |
| D．a Britain student in Britain |
| A．a course opened in British universities |
| B．a course opened only in summer |
| C．a foundation course taken before going to British universities |
| D．a foundation course taken while in British universities |
| A．start with | B．deal with | C．go on with | D．go with |
| A．happy | B．thankful | C．sorry | D．respectful |
4 . For the first 19 months of her life, Helen Keller was like other pretty happy babies in every way. Then in 1882, a sudden illness destroyed her sight and hearing. Because she could not hear what other people were saying, the child could not learn to speak. For the following 5 years, she lived in a world of darkness, without sounds or words and her parents could do nothing but let her be.
The person who changed Helen’s world was her teacher, Anne Sullivan, who entered her life. Miss Sullivan had accepted a job, which seemed impossible. She had agreed to teach a blind child who had never learned to act like a human being, because no one had ever been able to guide her in any way. No one could control Helen. She acted like a young animal, rushing wildly around, throwing things, and hitting anyone whom she could reach. Who could believe that such a child could be taught?
But Anne Sullivan was a very special kind of teacher. She had been blind during part of her own childhood and had learned to read Braille, a system of writing that uses raised dots which can be felt by the finger of a blind person. She had learned to see again after several operations, but she had never forgotten the experience of being blind.
Miss Sullivan understood Helen. She loved her and believed she could teach her.
Anne Sullivan could not teach Helen Keller to speak until some other important things had been learned. The little girl had to learn to control her actions and feelings. She had to learn that she could not always do what she wished to do. She had always been able to get what she wished by using force. The teacher had to change such habits without breaking the child’s spirit.
Miss Sullivan’s battle began. Sometimes, there was real fighting between the wild child and the strong young teacher. At last, however, the battle was won by Miss Sullivan, who had succeeded in showing Helen that she loved her and wanted to help her. The child and her teacher became friends. They continued to be friends until the teacher’s death, 50 years later.
The day on which Helen finally accepted Miss Sullivan as her friend and teacher was a great day in Helen’s life. After that the teacher could begin to teach the child language.
1. Helen became blind and deaf after ________.| A．an unexpected accident | B．a football match |
| C．a sudden disease | D．fighting with her teacher |
| A．1917 | B．1932 | C．1937 | D．1939 |
| A．to pronounce a few words | B．to control herself properly |
| C．to copy some letters | D．to make different sounds |
| A．Sullivan learned the Braille when she was blind as a child. |
| B．Blind as Sullivan was, he accepted the challenge to teach Helen. |
| C．At first Sullivan and Helen often fought each other. |
| D．Sullivan died when she was fifty years old. |
5 . A curtain-making couple, Liao Peisheng, 41, and Liu Xiaohui, 39, from Linyi, Shandong province recently caught many viewers’ attention. They
Liu likes the works of Su Shi. Liao,
One of the couple’s longtime dreams was taking part in the Chinese Poetry Competition, a(n)
On stage, Liu introduced herself to the
After earning herself a participation medal, they returned to their
| A．entered | B．competed | C．participated | D．presented |
| A．love | B．pursue | C．stimulate | D．seize |
| A．Although | B．When | C．Whether | D．Because |
| A．awareness | B．problem | C．sense | D．interest |
| A．thus | B．otherwise | C．however | D．therefore |
| A．reflection | B．resolution | C．recognition | D．reputation |
| A．weaved | B．absorbed | C．composed | D．revolved |
| A．assignment | B．detail | C．campaign | D．enterprise |
| A．realistic | B．visual | C．influential | D．annual |
| A．turning | B．guaranteeing | C．making | D．sustaining |
| A．continuously | B．frequently | C．particularly | D．precisely |
| A．amateur | B．level | C．contest | D．round |
| A．candidates | B．participants | C．representatives | D．listeners |
| A．careful | B．sad | C．concerned | D．clear |
| A．formal | B．normal | C．primitive | D．real |
6 . A new form of real estate(不动产)is appearing along the beaches of South Africa and on the dry islands off its coast-tiny white beach huts. With good ventilation and a sea view, they are just big enough to fit a family of African penguins. Their unique selling point: a safe and cool place for penguins to breed.
African penguins, unlike their relatives that live in snow and ice, live well in the cold currents of the South Atlantic Ocean. But when they come to land, their thick black coat absorbs the heat, and they desperately look for cover-both for themselves and their fragile eggs.
Historically, the penguins dug burrows in layers of guano-accumulated seabird and bat feces- that lined Africa’s penguin colonies, but in the 19th century, traders started selling guano(鸟粪)as fertilizer, leaving the penguins and their eggs increasingly exposed to predators and the baking sun. This, combined with other threats such as egg poaching, overfishing and climate change, has caused African penguin populations to plummet. In 2019, they were thought to be less than 20,000 breeding pairs, down from an estimated 1.5 to 3 million birds in 1900.For more than a decade, the species has been listed as endangered by the IUCN.
To date, the African Penguin Nest Project has installed more than 1,500 nests across five of South Africa’s penguin colonies, and plans to expand into Namibia next year, the only other country with breeding populations of the species.
“This is still just a drop in the bucket,” says Graham, who anticipates they will need to deploy at least 4,500 more ceramic homes to protect penguins currently nesting in exposed areas. “The goal is that every penguin that needs a nest will get one.”
1. What is the reason for building the beach huts?| A．To beautify the beach. | B．To conduct research. |
| C．To house the penguins. | D．To balance the ecology. |
| A．Four. | B．Five. | C．Six. | D．Seven. |
| A．Innovate. | B．Increase. | C．Swing. | D．Decline. |
| A．Culture. | B．Environment. | C．Technology. | D．Art. |
7 . The summer vacation is drawing near. Here we have prepared a visual feast for our boys and girls. Let’s feast our eyes first.
Jurassic World Dominion
It is the final film in the second trilogy of dino-movies, and it’s the first one which really deserves to be called “Jurassic World” rather than “Jurassic Park”. Yes, prehistoric dinosaurs are out and about in the wild this time, rather than being stuck in a theme park.
Director: Colin Trevorrow
Official Competition
Cruz and Banderas have been two of Spanish cinema’s famous superstars for decades, and yet have only rarely acted on the screen together. Now, once again, that wrong has been righted by Official Competition. Cruz is an art-house director who is adapting a Nobel-Prize-winning novel in the film. Banderas plays a dull Hollywood action hero who is hired to star in it.
Director: Mariano Cohn & Gaston Duprat
Brian and Charles
Not a typical science-fiction movie, Brian and Charles is a low-budget, low-key British comedy starring and co-written by David Earl, a regular in Ricky Gervais’s sitcoms. “Brian and Charles is this year’s sweetest film by a country mile,” says Cory. “It’s like Edgar Wright’s The Mighty Boosh project thrown into a cotton-candy machine, and it is also one of the most surprising films about being a parent, even when your son is a 7-feet-tall robot who loves cabbages.”
Director: Jim Archer
Lightyear
After four Toy Story films, everyone’s favourite space ranger action figure, Buzz Lightyear, gets to leave Woody and friends behind, and go off on an adventure on his own. Or so you might assume so. In fact, the latest Pixar cartoon isn’t about the toy.
Director: Angus MacLane
1. Which of the following is right about Jurassic World Dominion?| A．It is the same with other ones about “Jurassic Park”. |
| B．Dinosaurs in the film live in the nature. |
| C．Dinosaurs are in danger in the film. |
| D．It is the last film of the series films. |
| A．A famous superstar. | B．An action hero. | C．A director. | D．A novelist. |
| A．Jurassic World Dominion. | B．Official Competition. |
| C．Brian and Charles. | D．Lightyear. |
8 . To Their Own Beat
When Los Lobos perform in concert today, audiences in the thousands cheer them on. It’s hard to believe that the group started out as just another garage band playing popular rock-and-roll tunes from the radio, In 1974 four high school friends from East Los Angeles formed Los Lobos ( Spanish for “The Wolves” ) .
Like many garage bands, these friends might have simply gone their separate ways after high school. But the members of Los Lobos wanted to keep making music together. They decided to change their musical style and began focusing on traditional Mexican music that showed their tradition.
“We pulled out all those records we used to beg our parents not to play around our friends and found an incredible wealth of music,” says Perez. “These guys (on the records) were doing amazing things with their instruments, and we started trying to pick up on it. ”
The group put aside its electric guitars for the acoustic ones used in traditional Mexican music. For several years Los Lobos played at weddings or parties—any event that needed live music. They also landed a regular engagement (合同) at a Mexican restaurant.
By 1978 Los Lobos had made enough money to record their first album (唱片) , and they sold copies of it wherever they performed. They also returned to their electric guitars to get closer to a Tex-Mex sound, which is a mixture of traditional Mexican music, rock and roll, country music, and the blues. This new, louder sound produced one unexpected result: the group was fired from the restaurant.
But it didn’t matter that Los Lobos had lost their one steady job, because they had found a position that no other group took up. They had combined electric and acoustic instruments and blended (混合) musical styles in their own way. Steve Berlin joined the band in 1983 as the saxophone and keyboard player, adding to the band’s unusual sound.
“We didn’t so much want to recycle the music we’d grown up with as much as find the common links between it and all the other styles and sounds that were all around us,” Perez explains. “It became a mission ... bringing music together to bring people together. ”
In the 1980s Los Lobos gained the attention of several record companies. They were hired to perform on the soundtrack to the film La Bamba, which earned them a Golden Eagle Award. They have since earned many awards, including two Grammys and an MTV Video Music Award. Their many records have been very successful, and they have toured the world.
Even after 30 years of making music together, Los Lobos continues to experiment with their sound. They never moved far away from their Mexican roots, however. They still include traditional music in their live performances, sharing their history—and their culture—with their fans.
1. Los Lobos recorded their first album after they_______.| A．lost their job at a restaurant |
| B．began playing acoustic guitars |
| C．won an award for a film soundtrack |
| D．added saxophone and keyboards to their sound |
| A．Paragraph 1. | B．Paragraph 4. | C．Paragraph 6. | D．Paragraph 8. |
| A．The way they recorded their first album. |
| B．Their blending of different types of music. |
| C．Their decision to play traditional Mexican music. |
| D．The fact that they performed and toured the world. |
| A．Music is best when played with traditional instruments. |
| B．Music must be recorded to be passed down. |
| C．Music should remain the same over time. |
| D．Music can show many cultures. |
9 . The virtue, responsibility, means a duty to complete a task, which can be either
The sense of responsibility should be
The responsibility of an individual may change with situation and
Now, some of you may be
| A．wrapped | B．assigned | C．evaluated | D．exposed |
| A．reasons | B．plan | C．commitments | D．foundation |
| A．decent | B．guilty | C．discouraged | D．innocent |
| A．fetch | B．unfold | C．occupy | D．bring |
| A．preserved | B．convinced | C．protected | D．instructed |
| A．principles | B．cooperation | C．knowledge | D．culture |
| A．force | B．guide | C．allow | D．cheat |
| A．conditions | B．methods | C．virtue | D．integrity |
| A．time | B．desire | C．forecast | D．leisure |
| A．reduces | B．resigns | C．increases | D．harvests |
| A．kind | B．elegant | C．reliable | D．incredible |
| A．proud | B．unhealthy | C．violent | D．disappointed |
| A．nation | B．hometown | C．school | D．family |
| A．otherwise | B．likewise | C．merely | D．ever |
| A．legal | B．concerned | C．tough | D．tiring |
| A．imagine | B．forgive | C．suspecting | D．wondering |
| A．punishment | B．fault | C．deadline | D．hope |
| A．shocked | B．ashamed | C．scared | D．delighted |
| A．strange | B．casual | C．tough | D．urgent |
| A．conflict | B．entry | C．messages | D．outcomes |
10 . If humans were truly at home under the light of the moon and stars, we would go in darkness happily, the midnight world as visible to us as it is to the vast number of nocturnal (夜间活动) species on this planet. Instead, we are diurnal creatures, with eyes adapted to living in the sun’s light. This is a basic evolutionary fact, even though most of us don’t think of ourselves as diurnal beings. Yet it’s the only way to explain what we’ve done to the night: We’ve engineered it to receive us by filling it with light.
The benefits of this kind of engineering come with consequences — called light pollution — whose effects scientists are only now beginning to study. Light pollution is largely the result of bad lighting design, which allows artificial light to shine outward and upward into the sky. Ill-designed lighting washes out the darkness of night and completely changes the light levels — and light rhythms — to which many forms of life, including ourselves, have adapted. Wherever human light spills into the natural world, some aspect of life is affected.
In most cities the sky looks as though it has been emptied of stars, leaving behind a vacant haze (霾) that mirrors our fear of the dark. We’ve grown so used to this orange haze that the original glory of an unlit night — dark enough for the planet Venus to throw shadows on Earth — is wholly beyond our experience, beyond memory almost.
We’ve lit up the night as if it were an unoccupied country, when nothing could be further from the truth. Among mammals alone, the number of nocturnal species is astonishing. Light is a powerful biological force, and on many species it acts as a magnet. The effect is so powerful that scientists speak of songbirds and seabirds being “captured” by searchlights on land or by the light from gas flares on marine oil platforms. Migrating at night, birds tend to collide with brightly lit tall buildings.
Frogs living near brightly lit highways suffer nocturnal light levels that are as much as a million times brighter than normal, throwing nearly every aspect of their behavior out of joint, including their nighttime breeding choruses. Humans are no less trapped by light pollution than the frogs. Like most other creatures, we do need darkness. Darkness is as essential to our biological welfare, to our internal clockwork, as light itself.
Living in a glare of our own making, we have cut ourselves off from our evolutionary and cultural heritage — the light of the stars and the rhythms of day and night. In a very real sense, light pollution causes us to lose sight of our true place in the universe, to forget the scale of our being, which is best measured against the dimensions of a deep night with the Milky Way — the edge of our galaxy — arching overhead.
1. According to the passage, human beings .| A．prefer to live in the darkness |
| B．are used to living in the day light |
| C．were curious about the midnight world |
| D．had to stay at home with the light of the moon |
| A．The night. | B．The moon. | C．The sky. | D．The planet. |
| A．provide examples of animal protection. |
| B．show how light pollution affects animals. |
| C．compare the living habits of both species. |
| D．explain why the number of certain species has declined. |
| A．The Magic Light. | B．The Orange Haze. |
| C．The Disappearing Night. | D．The Rhythms of Nature. |
