1 . In a study from Washington State University, researchers have uncovered a significant correlation between the closeness of older adults to green and blue spaces and their mental and physical well-being. The study offers convincing evidence that even small increases in access to nature can remarkably improve the health outcomes of older adults.
A mere 10% increase in forest space within a person’s living environment is linked to a noticeable decrease in serious psychological conditions. This type of suffering includes mental health challenges that need treatment and block normal social, occupational, or educational functioning. Similarly, the new study proves that enhancing green spaces, water bodies, or trail lengths by 10% appears to lower the likelihood of older individuals reporting their overall health as poor.
The researchers analyzed health survey data from over 42,000 people aged 65 and above living in urban areas of Washington state, spanning (跨越) the years 2011 to 2019. The experts related the health outcomes of these individuals to various measures quantifying their access to nature within their living areas.
Initially presented at the American Academy of Neurology Annual Meeting in April 2023, the research focused only on the link between psychological depression and closeness to natural spaces. The final study expanded to include additional metrics (指标) such as green space percentage and trail length, also taking into account demographic variables (人口统计变量) like race and education.
“Our findings suggest that abatement of our urban green and blue spaces due to rapid urbanization may not just have an environmental impact but could have a public health impact as well,” said Adithya Vegaraju, first author of the study.
Vegaraju said this research is among the first in the U. S. to specifically investigate the relationship between access to nature and health in the older population.
1. What does the author intend to stress in the second paragraph?| A．Access to nature can improve the elders’ mental health. |
| B．Older individuals are more likely to get close to nature. |
| C．Green space is an ideal place for educational functioning. |
| D．A person’s social interaction is linked to more green space. |
| A．By changing old people’s living habits. | B．By tracking and recording the aged people. |
| C．By comparing various measures in the study. | D．By analyzing the participants’ related data. |
| A．Solution. | B．Impact. | C．Loss. | D．Power. |
| A．It needs further research. | B．It’s a pioneer research work. |
| C．It is beneficial to everyone. | D．It will be used in other fields. |
2 . Dede Gardner was born in Chicago in 1967 and studied English at Columbia University. Seventeen years after her graduation, she worked as President of Plan B Entertainment, a production company started by Brad Grey.
At Plan B, Dede finds stories to make into films. Jeremy Kleiner, who is now co-president of Plan B, says Dede was his mentor (导师) before he joined her as a producing partner. “I’ve had the honor to work with her for almost 20 years,” he says. “She’s just a one-of-a-kind person in so many ways. She is very brave and views storytelling as the focus of her films.”
This year, Dede is the only woman to have won two Best Picture Oscars, for Moonlight and 12 Years a Slave. Before, together with Kleiner, she won seven films to Best Picture nominations (提名) including Selma in 2015, The Big Short in 2016 and Minari in 2021.
“Basically, whatever Dede does, it turns to gold,” says Jessie Buckley, one of the stars of Women Talking. “Dede has also changed the culture of making movies. She is always there to make the set feel comfortable when we are obviously coming across difficult things. She’s a great example to follow. She’s very careful with protecting the workers’ voice.”
Dede is actually exploring a much healthier and kinder way to make movies. She’s a producer who consciously thinks about creating a set where there is care. That includes making sure there are therapists (治疗专家) on set for all the workers in case there are emergencies happening.
1. Who set up the company Plan B Entertainment?| A．Brad Grey. | B．Dede Gardner. |
| C．Jessie Buckley. | D．Jeremy Kleiner. |
| A．Storytelling. | B．Action. | C．History. | D．Adventure. |
| A．Moonlight. | B．Selma. | C．The Big Short. | D．Minari. |
| A．She is strict with her partners. | B．She always avoids difficulties. |
| C．She is successful and thoughtful. | D．She is a medical expert. |
3 . With artificial intelligence (AI) seemingly working its way into every technology out there, one area where it’s considered particularly promising is in helping doctors. And already, AI is entering some doctors’ offices.
Dr. Michael Mansour of Massachusetts General Hospital is an early user who’s helped by a form of AI that could someday change the way doctors get information. When a patient comes in with unknown infection (感染), Mansour turns to a computer program called UpToDate. It’s a common tool, with more than 2 million users at 44,000 health care organizations in over 190 countries. Basically, it’s Google for doctors — searching a huge database (数据库) of articles written by experts in the field, who are all getting information from the latest research.
Wolters Kluwer Health, the company that makes UpToDate, is trying to incorporate (整合) AI so that doctors can have more of a conversation with the database.
Some doctors hope to use AI to comb through a patient’s medical history before an appointment (预约). In some cases, Dr. June-Ho Kim, who directs a program on primary care at Ariadne Labs, says AI technology may also help primary care doctors look after patients without the help of specialists. “It will free up specialists’ time to focus on more difficult cases that they need to really home in on, rather than the ones that could be answered through a few questions,” he says.
Dr. Marc Succi, who was a co-worker of Kim, says, “AI will finally prove to be a trusted medical tool. AI won’t replace doctors, but doctors who use AI will replace doctors who do not. It will become very common just like designing a PPT on a computer. It’s that level of leap.”
1. How does UpToDate help a doctor?| A．It looks after patients. | B．It does a temperature test. |
| C．It offers useful information. | D．It leads patients to doctors. |
| A．Concentrate on. | B．Adapt to. |
| C．Waste time on. | D．Have interest in. |
| A．The difficulty of writing. | B．The user-friendlines s of AI. |
| C．The importance of a doctor. | D．The advantages of office software. |
| A．AI in the Field of Medicine | B．The Challenges of AI |
| C．Changes That AI Has Brought | D．Doctors at Home or in the Office |
4 . The Fire Festival is celebrated in northern Ghana. It’s a holiday we had never heard of before we came to live in a village here as Peace Corps community volunteers. It’s unbelievably great.
On the Fire Festival — Bugim Chug u in the local language — drums beat a quick and regular rhythm that locals dance to in a circle of bodies, men and women, the old and young, holding torches of burning grass above their heads, which stands for the light and getting off negative energies.
At this moment, this festival is being held at the beginning of the lunar year. The locals are all so involved in the celebration that they don’t pay as much attention to us as they normally will. When they find us getting involved as they are, they dance more vigorously and scream with joy.
Danielle, a friend of mine in the Peace Corps, says, “That we join in the celebration is significant because foreigners here are typically seen as the representatives of other organizations, not as people who are willing to join in the Fire Festival rituals (仪式). But in fact, we are dancing and celebrating as one.”
Our two-year Peace Corps service will finish up in mid-November. We can think of no better way to say goodbye than by celebrating the Fire Festival with the villagers we’ve come to know. The festival lets us see a different side of them — and lets them see a different side of us. The neighbors who sell rice are now the women who urge us to run faster and dance harder at the Fire Festival. And rather than view us as low-key (低调的) volunteers, they see us as the ones who have crazy dance steps with wild screams.
1. Why did the author go to northern Ghana?| A．To find a job. | B．To go traveling. |
| C．To study further. | D．To do voluntary work. |
| A．Annoyed. | B．Excited. | C．Confused. | D．Worried. |
| A．The steps to dance well. |
| B．How the locals celebrate the Fire Festival. |
| C．How the author and Danielle help the locals sell rice. |
| D．The reason why the author and Danielle joined in the festival. |
| A．Practice makes perfect. |
| B．Where there is a will, there is a way. |
| C．When in Rome, do as the Romans do. |
| D．The grass is always greener on the other side. |
5 . Welcome to Harbin Ice and Snow World!
The world's largest ice and snow theme park!
Enjoy more than 20 amusement activities including 521-meter-long ice slide, ice kart racing, snowmobile racing and snow yo-yo.
Location: West part of the Sun Island, Songboi District, Harbin
Opening Time and Hours: Dec.18,2023, 11:00 a. m. — 0:30a.m.
Ticket Price: Adult, 328 yuan
Children under 18 or above 1.2 m, 240 yuan
Children under 1.2m, free
Public Transportation:
Bus No.552,551,346, 219, 216, 212, 85 or 54 (get off at Sun Island Road, 6:00 — 21:30)
Subway Line 1 or 2 (get off at Harbin Ice and Snow World, 6:00 — 21:30)
Website: http: //www.hrbicesnow.com/
1. The Harbin ice and snow world is open for ____ hours a day.| A．2.5 | B．10 | C．13.5 | D．18 |
| A．240 yuan. | B．328 yuan. | C．480 yuan. | D．568yuan. |
| A．Ad | B．Story. | C．News. | D．Email. |
| A．Bus552 | B．Bus553 | C．Bus219 | D．Bus54 |
| Name | Koala | Panda | Elephant |
| Country | Australia | China | South Africa |
| Description(描述) | It is cute and small. It eats leaves. It likes sleeping in the trees. | It’s fat and cute. It’s black and white. It eats bamboo. | It’s very quiet and strong. It eats grass and leaves, Its nose is very long. |
| Time | Only weekends 8: 00 a. m. — 4: 00 p. m. | ||
| Tickets | Adults: $ 10. 00 Children: Over 10: $ 5. 00 Under 10: free | ||
1. The elephant is from _______.
| A．China | B．Australia | C．South Africa | D．Japan |
| A．Koala | B．Panda | C．Elephant | D．Tiger |
| A．9: 30 am on Saturday | B．5: 00 pm on Sunday |
| C．8: 50 am on Tuesday | D．7: 00 pm on Monday |
| A．$10 | B．$15 | C．$50 | D．$20 |
7 . Do you know what STEM is? It stands for science, technology (技术), engineering (工程), and maths. STEM classes are popular in the US. But most STEM students are boys.
Alice Hou is a girl from Texas. She is 16 years old now. She first noticed (注意到) the STEM gender gap (性别差异) when she was in the ninth grade. Forty students from her hometown went to the state science fair that year, but only seven of them were girls.
She decided to do something about this. She set up (创建) a club called Girls in STEM. It helps girls learn more about STEM subjects. Girls can try some fun activities that can raise (激发) their interest in STEM. They can also talk to each other about studying these subjects.
The club started with seven girls at Hou’s school. But now it has 45! Other schools have also started their own Girls in STEM clubs.
1. What does the letter “M” mean in the word “STEM”?| A．Music. | B．Money. | C．Maths. | D．Match. |
| A．STEM classes are only for boys. |
| B．Alice Hou found the gender gap at the age of 16. |
| C．At first, more girls went to the state science fair. |
| D．Girls in STEM makes girls interested in STEM. |
| A．Talk about science. | B．Have a birthday party. |
| C．Learn about history. | D．Do some sports. |
| A．There are some robots (机器人). | B．There are more girls. |
| C．There are more teachers. | D．There are more clubs. |
8 . Are you an early person (人) or an evening person? That’s the question. When do you work best? For me, the answer is easy. I work best in the morning. I do all my best work before lunchtime. I get up at about eight, and then have breakfast. I listen to the radio, and read the papers. And then I start to work. Usually I work from nine to twelve, but after that I gets tired easily. On a good day I write fifteen hundred words or more, sometimes two thousand words, in the morning. Then after lunch I go for a walk or do some reading. In the evening, I like to listen to music, go to my favourite club or go out to meet people. Before ten o’clock, I go to bed and in about five minutes I fall asleep (入睡的) very quickly. If you are a writer, you need self-discipline. But when you are tired, it shows that you have to refresh (使……恢复) your mind and body.
1. The writer usually works ________ in the morning.| A．about half an hour | B．about l hours |
| C．about 3 hours | D．about 4 hours |
| A．You are a person who likes getting up early. |
| B．You are a person who likes going to bed late. |
| C．You are a person who works best in the morning or in the evening. |
| D．You are a person who likes working in the morning or in the evening. |
| A．自私的 | B．自律的 | C．自我的 | D．自以为是的 |
| A．the writer’s daily life is busy | B．the writer goes for a walk after supper |
| C．the writer does best work in the morning | D．the writer always need refresh mind and body |
9 . What do you feel passionate? What do you love (besides your family, children, and friends)? Our passion often leads us to our purpose in life. For example, am absolutely passionate about helping people work through blocks or barriers such as hurt, guilt, shame, and self-doubt in order to experience the freedom to be authentically who they are.
I believe when you find your passion, you will experience freedom, happiness and, ultimately, less anxiety and more peace. It sounds so simple. However, many people do not really know what they are passionate about because they have lost a sense of who they are. We have spent so much time trying to please others or creating stories about why we can’t do something. What if you could change this? How would your life be different?
Identify and write down the areas you love. Technology, gardening, helping others, inner design, leadership, finances, health, fitness, writing, photography, art, managing projects, and the list goes on.
Look at your thoughts around placing more emphasis on the area where you pursue either personally or professionally. What are you telling yourself? I’m not good enough. I don’t have the time or money. Whatever it is, work on deleting this from your thoughts and replacing them with the opposite statement.
Create more time in your calendar or research what add it information or resources you might need to integrate this more in your life. Maybe it’s getting a coach or instructor to help keep you on track, reduce your fears and work on your limiting conversations. Set goals and make them happen.
Living out your purpose may mean a different job or it may mean focusing your time differently or making your passion more of a priority in your life. We all matter and have a purpose. It’s never too late to create what you want.
This quote by Bob Proctor summarizes what this all means, “Your purpose explains what you are doing with your life. Your vision explains how you are living your purpose. Your goals enable you to realize your vision.”
1. Why does the author mention the questions in Paragraph 1?| A．To introduce the topic. | B．To express his doubts. |
| C．To present an argument | D．To compare different ideas. |
| A．The benefit of passion. | B．The unknown about passion. |
| C．The disadvantage of passion. | D．The definition of passion. |
| A．To explain the purpose of action. |
| B．To demonstrate the value of Bob Proctor’s book. |
| C．To illustrate the process for achieving the goal. |
| D．To remind the readers of the importance of passion |
| A．Passion is the priority | B．Creation is never too late |
| C．Passion leads to purpose | D．Success lies in anxiety reduction |
10 . Yesterday, Sophie, who gained fame for surviving two horrific accidents in her childhood, announced on the Internet that she is expecting her first child. “The biggest
Friends, family and supporters were quick to
“Oh Sophie, you have been a part of our consciousness since you were little. I have followed your
Sophie and her husband Joseph have
“She has always been the
Now they are eagerly
| A．gift | B．chance | C．luck | D．debate |
| A．cast | B．generate | C．connect | D．shower |
| A．options | B．reactions | C．expressions | D．congratulations |
| A．recovery | B．transformation | C．incident | D．sorrow |
| A．annoyed | B．concerned | C．shocked | D．satisfied |
| A．offered | B．shown | C．detected | D．acknowledged |
| A．operator | B．soldier | C．general | D．superhero |
| A．delighted | B．relieved | C．advanced | D．depressed |
| A．devoted | B．known | C．associated | D．affected |
| A．qualifying | B．graduating | C．attending | D．applying |
| A．occupation | B．appointment | C．relationship | D．cooperation |
| A．happiest | B．kindest | C．brightest | D．strongest |
| A．describe | B．match | C．write | D．read |
| A．react | B．hear | C．see | D．improve |
| A．celebrating | B．welcoming | C．enjoying | D．predicting |
