1 . Winners of the Broadcom MASTERS
Girls took the top prizes at the Broadcom MASTERS, a science competition for middle school students.
Alaina Gassler
Alaina won the $25,000 Samueli Foundation Prize for the project of reducing blind spots in cars. She was inspired to solve this issue by her mother who didn’t like driving her vehicle because its large A-pillar (A柱) design made her feel in danger. “I started to think about how blind spots were a huge problem in all cars,” said Alaina. So she worked on and solved it.
Sidor Clare
Sidor won the $10,000 Marconi/Samueli Award for Innovation, an honor made by Samueli’s generous donation of his 2012 Marconi Society Prize Award. She developed bricks that could one day be made on Mars, so that humans wouldn’t be required to carry building materials with them in order to build there.
Alexis MacAvoy
Alexis won the $10,000 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Award for Health Advancement, which recognized the student whose work and performance showed the most promise in health-related fields and demonstrated an understanding of the many social factors that affect health. She designed a water filter (过滤器) by using carbon to remove heavy metals from water.
Rachel Bergey
Rachel won the $10,000 Lemelson Award for Invention, awarded by The Lemelson Foundation to a young inventor creating promising solutions to real-world problems. She developed a trap made of tinfoil (锡纸) and netting for the spotted lanternfly, an invasive species causing damage to trees.
1. What is the purpose of Alaina Gassler’s invention?| A．To beautify vehicles. | B．To improve the safety of driving. |
| C．To decorate the sidewalk for the blind. | D．To reduce the carbon released from cars. |
| A．Alaina Gassler’s. | B．Sidor Clare’s. |
| C．Rachel Bergey’s. | D．Alexis MacAvoy’s. |
| A．Art. | B．Sport. | C．Technology. | D．Education. |
2 . A lunar crystal (水晶) was found in lunar basalt particles (玄武岩颗粒) collected from the moon in 2020 when the Chinese moon mission landed in Oceanus Procellarum, returning with more than 1.7 kg of lunar samples delivered safely to the Earth.
The crystal found on the near side of the moon is giving scientists hope of providing limitless power for the world forever. It is made of material previously unknown to the scientific community and contains a key ingredient for the nuclear fusion (核聚变) process, a form of power generation that uses the same forces that fuel the sun and other stars. It is transparent and roughly the width of a single human hair, and it formed in a region of the moon where volcanoes were active around 1.2 billion years ago.
One of the primary ingredients found in this crystal is helium-3 (氦-3) , which scientists believe may provide a stable fuel source for nuclear fusion reactors. The element is incredibly rare on the Earth, but it seems to be fairly common on the moon. China’s next moon mission is expected to be carried out by Chang’e 6 in 2024, which will attempt to collect the first samples from the far side of the moon, which never faces the Earth.
Although it is too early for scientists to have made financial estimates on such a fuel source, it will undoubtedly be extremely costly. There is, of course, the matter of bringing the crystals back from the moon, especially in large amounts that are needed to fuel fusion reactors.
Helium-3 produces significantly less radiation and nuclear waste than other elements. The current nuclear fusion process has raised serious safety concerns, and as a result, scientists have been searching for a way to create nuclear power from nuclear fusion. During the fusion process, radioactive waste is not produced, potentially making a securer and more efficient fuel source.
Around 25 tons of helium-3 could power the US for a year. Multiple private companies and countries with space agencies have signaled their intentions to mine the moon for helium-3, and this latest discovery could kick start the race.
1. What can we learn about the crystal?| A．It is 1.7 centimeters wide. |
| B．It is expected to power the Earth. |
| C．It is commonly found on the Earth. |
| D．It is made of previously familiar material. |
| A．Collect up nuclear waste. |
| B．Find out the elements of helium-3. |
| C．Set up lunar nuclear fusion reactors. |
| D．Take back the samples of lunar crystals. |
| A．It is low in cost. | B．It is clean and safe. |
| C．It absorbs radiation. | D．It produces no waste. |
| A．A Struggling Race to Make Crystals |
| B．An Undoubted Discovery Powering the US |
| C．An Efficient Way to Collect Crystals from the Moon |
| D．A Rare Moon Crystal Discovered by Chinese Scientists |
Congratulations! Your application to study Bachelor of Information Technology at Victoria University (VU) has been successful. I’m pleased to offer you the opportunity to study at VU as an international student.
VU has a long history of providing high-quality education, through predecessor (前身) institutions, including the Footscray Technical School which was founded in 1916. In 2016, we proudly celebrated 100 years of history and our 25th anniversary (周年庆) as a university.
Today we have 48,900 students, including over 9,400 students studying a VU course at one of our partner institutions in China, Malaysia, Vietnam and Singapore.
By selecting VU you will study at one of the top 4% of universities in the world. With more than 24,000 alumni (校友) working or residing outside Australia, a qualification from VU will prepare you for an international career.
This document contains important information about your courses including costs and your rights and obligations. If you have any questions about your offer, please email intapps@vu.edu.au.
To accept your offer to study at VU, you must:
1.Read the terms and conditions of this Letter of Offer very carefully,
2.Sign this Letter of Offer in Section 14,
3.Pay the fees in Section 8,
4.Return this whole document to VU.
Please note that if this offer includes one or more conditions for entry into a course, you will not be able to accept it until these conditions have been met. Any conditions are specified in Section 5 of this letter. We look forward to welcoming you to Victoria University.
Yours sincerely,
Dimi Christou
Senior Manager, International Admissions Victoria University
1. What is this text?| A．A university offer. | B．A course advertisement. |
| C．An application for a university. | D．An invitation to an alumni event. |
| A．It has a 100-year history as a university. | B．It is among the world’s top universities. |
| C．It will take in 24,000 international students. | D．It has 48,900 students at its partner institutions. |
| A．By emailing intapps@vu.edu.au. |
| B．By reading the terms and writing a new letter to Dimi. |
| C．By paying the fees and returning the signed document to VU. |
| D．By providing evidence of his meeting all conditions in Section 8. |
4 . When Jack was about to start school, all signs pointed to success. However, things turned out to be quite disappointing. The fourth grade even found him at the bottom of the class. Jack struggled day and night, but it did not work—until one stormy afternoon.
On that afternoon, as the math teacher started to introduce difficult concepts (概念), dark clouds covered the sky, and the storm set in. Though she tried hard to make the kids concentrate, the thunder won the battle for their attention. No one grasped the concepts. Except for Jack. He understood them and answered all the questions correctly. The teacher patted him on the back, and told him to go around to the others and explain how he had managed it. Encouraged by his newfound success, Jack moved quickly throughout the room. Soon math time was followed by the time for art. All children naturally drew dark pictures on such a day. Except for Jack.
Since then, Jack started improving. Though he never made it to the top, his math teacher was always amazed and curious about the change: Why had that stormy day changed Jack?
On the day Jack graduated, he presented the teacher with his most precious possession—the picture of a bright yellow sun. On the picture Jack had written: This is the day I woke up to my brightness.
1. How might be Jack’s feeling before school started?| A．disappointed | B．confident | C．worried | D．calm |
| A．Because they were not clever. |
| B．Because math was too difficult. |
| C．Because the teacher was too strict. |
| D．Because they were attracted by the thunder. |
| A．became aware of | B．come up with |
| C．got close to | D．made up for |
| A．No one can predict one’s future. |
| B．Failure is the mother of success. |
| C．Being positive works in difficulties. |
| D．Though you work hard, you might fail. |
5 . While it might seem like a basic skill to us, self-recognition is an indication that an animal is capable of higher mental processes. It’s most commonly tested using mirrors. Many animals will react to their reflection as though it is another individual, but some are able to recognize that what they’re seeing is themselves.
A few years ago, a team of scientists investigated whether a fish species called cleaner wrasse (清洁隆头鱼) could pass the mirror test. They marked the fish with what looked like a parasite on their throats, and placed a mirror in the tank. Many of the animals saw the mark in their reflections and erased it off their throats, indicating they realized they were looking at themselves.
In a new study, the researchers took it one step further — they wanted to check whether the fish could recognize themselves in a photograph. They presented each cleaner wrasse with four photos: one of themselves, one of an unfamiliar fish, one with their own face on a different fish’s body, and one with an unfamiliar face on their own body.
Cleaner wrasses always attack intruders (侵入者). In this case, they attacked the photos of unfamiliar fish but not the photos of themselves. They also didn’t attack the photos of their face on another body but did attack those of a stranger’s face on their own body, indicating the fish discern facial features more than bodily ones. These photo tests show that the fish aren’t just recognizing themselves by matching movements in a mirror. They can actually build a mental model of their own faces. After all, only fish that had been trained on mirrors could pass the photo tests.
“This study is the first to indicate that fish have an inner sense of self,” said Masanori Kohda. “Since the target animal is a fish, this finding suggests that nearly all social vertebrates (脊椎动物) also have this higher sense of self.”
1. What is the purpose of the new study?| A．To find if all fishes have an inner sense of self. |
| B．To find if the fish species could pass the mirror test. |
| C．To see whether the fish could identify themselves in a picture. |
| D．To see whether all social vertebrates have an internal sense of self. |
| A．Recognize. | B．Attack. | C．Show. | D．Build. |
| A．By analyzing data. | B．By presenting facts. |
| C．By conducting questionnaires. | D．By making comparisons. |
| A．What kind of fish has self-recognition? |
| B．A research on the self-recognition of the fish. |
| C．The fish capable of higher mental processes. |
| D．Does all social vertebrates have self-recognition? |
6 . The world loves a cup of tea. It only takes a few grams to make a cup of tea and millions of tons of tea are consumed every year. Tea can be good for you because it contains some things that help lower cholesterol and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. Tea also contains caffeine(咖啡因), which improves not only mental alertness but can also increase anxiety and cause other problems.
What would be agreeable is a tea plant that provides all the taste and goodness but with little or none of caffeine. Chen Liang and Jin Jiqiang in the Tea Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences think they have found just such a plant, growing wild in a remote area in southern China’s Fujian Province. Known locally as hongyacha, the discovered plant grows only between 700 meters and 1,000 meters above sea level around a handful of Chinese villages. As they report in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, not only is the tea plant naturally caffeine-free but it also contains a number of unique medicinal compounds that, the locals believe, offer considerable health benefits.
The researchers are now exploring methods to protect hongyacha in its natural habitat while further studies are carried out. It can take time—and sometimes it does not work—for new plant varieties to be bred for commercial use. A pair of naturally caffeine-free coffee plants were discovered in 2003, but little progress has been reported. Tea lovers will be watching hongyacha with interest. And others will wonder what else is out there.
1. What’s the disadvantage of drinking tea according to paragraph 1?| A．It can make people hard to sleep. | B．It can make people feel anxious. |
| C．It can get people addicted. | D．It can take people much time. |
| A．It is nothing but just medicine. | B．It can only survive in greenhouses. |
| C．It is a good pick for caffeine lovers. | D．It has a good taste and little caffeine. |
| A．Its future location. | B．Its natural habitats. |
| C．Its future market. | D．Its production process. |
| A．A health magazine. | B．An advertising brochure. |
| C．A travel guidebook. | D．A newspaper. |
7 . My House
My mother moved a lot when she was growing up on account of Grandpa being in the army. She hated having to adjust to new schools and make new friends. That’s why I thought she was joking when she put forward the idea of moving. But she was completely serious. “For just the two of us,” my mother said, “an apartment in the city will suit our needs much better.” Personally, I think she’s lost her mind. I guess I can understand why she would want to move, but what about me and what this house means to me?
I suppose if you looked at my house, you might think it was just another country house. But to me it is anything but standard. I moved into this house with my parents ten years ago. I can still remember that first day like it was yesterday. The first thing I noticed was the big front yard. To me it seemed like an ocean of grass — I couldn’t wait to dive in. The backyard was full of gnarled (扭曲的，粗糙的) and scary trees that talk on windy nights. But I grew to like them and the shadows they cast in my room. My father and I even built a small treehouse, where I often go to remember all the wonderful times we had before my father’s death.
This house is special — maybe only to me — but special nevertheless. It’s the little seemingly insignificant things that make this house so special to me: the ice-cold tile floors that make me tremble on midnight; the smell of my father’s pipe that still exists: the towering bookcases of my mother; the view outside my bedroom window.
This house holds too many memories, memories which would be lost if we gave it up.
1. Why did the author’s mother decide to move?| A．Because she hated the countryside. |
| B．Because Grandpa was on constant move. |
| C．Because Dad’s death made her lose her mind. |
| D．Because she thought a city flat more fit for them. |
| A．The treehouse. | B．The green grass. | C．The big trees. | D．The cold floors. |
| A．By arguing whether the house was standard. |
| B．By explaining why the house suited their needs. |
| C．By describing the small things related to her house. |
| D．By comparing the differences between country and city life. |
8 . We like to spend our Christmas holidays somewhere warm abroad, and that year we chose Uganda. Nature, wildlife, and sunny days were a(n)
However, just within a few days, we had a car accident at a park. I lost
In the duration, we were amazed to find that Masindi is such a(n)
Before our
| A．setting | B．pleasure | C．outcome | D．challenge |
| A．tight | B．prior | C．flexible | D．loose |
| A．recall | B．compare | C．recommend | D．explore |
| A．control | B．sight | C．track | D．contact |
| A．ignoring | B．destroying | C．checking | D．repairing |
| A．Strangely | B．Suddenly | C．Interestingly | D．Fortunately |
| A．limited | B．folded | C．injured | D．conducted |
| A．ankle | B．skin | C．wound | D．delay |
| A．relaxing | B．appealing | C．secure | D．internal |
| A．adjust to | B．go through | C．pick up | D．slow down |
| A．highlights | B．worries | C．proofs | D．chances |
| A．lived | B．shared | C．chatted | D．fought |
| A．engagement | B．exposure | C．action | D．departure |
| A．suspecting | B．appreciating | C．selecting | D．protecting |
| A．suffering | B．thought | C．sightseeing | D．comfort |
9 . A recent study reveals about 68 percent of Gen Z adults and 20 percent of millennials (千禧一代) are choosing to remain with their families. This represents the largest generational shares among all age groups. Furthermore, the study estimates that 51 million individuals are currently living in multi-generational households.
What’s perhaps more surprising is that these young adults don’t anticipate leaving their for at homes. Both millennials (47%) and Gen Zers (41%) expect to continue living with their families for at least another two years. So what are the reasons behind young adults staying at home?
The reasons behind young adults staying at home are diverse but mainly come down to financial or health-related circumstances. The data suggests that the average millennial, living with a family member at the age of 32, shares their home with three or four other people. Many of them work in food services, construction, or education.
Compared to previous generations, millennials are slower to leave the nest, with 18 percent of baby boomers and 17 percent of Gen X having lived with their parents at the same age as today’s millennials. Several other factors could also explain this generational difference. Younger generations may find it financially advantageous to stay with family to economize on expenses such as childcare, electric bills, rent, or future down payments. Additionally, the increasing number of Millennials and Gen Zers choosing to care for family members may contribute to this trend.
When it comes to the areas with the highest percentages of multigenerational households, Los Angeles stands out, with 35 percent of its millennials and 81 percent of Gen Z residents still living with family members. The high living expense of living in this big city, which is 51 percent above the national average, makes it difficult for young adults to struggle on their own. California’s Riverside area with 35 percent of millennials and 85 percent of Gen Zers remaining at home follows closely while New York rank the third place, with 28 percent of millennials in the Big Apple living in multigenerational households.
1. What can we learn about young adults from the study?| A．They need the attention of their families. | B．They seek financial support from families. |
| C．It is hard for them to face the changing world. | D．It is common for them to attend to their parents. |
| A．Save. | B．Count. | C．Insist. | D．Decide. |
| A．Working pressure. | B．Stress from childcare. |
| C．Complex social network. | D．The high cost of living. |
| A．Growing Concerns over Young Adults |
| B．Various Reasons for Millennial Anxiety |
| C．More Young Adults Choose to Live with Families |
| D．Young Adults Struggle to Deal With New Challenges |
10 . Do you edit text messages carefully before sending them? If so, you may be the kind of person who takes pride in crafting even the simplest message.
A new book Writing For Busy Readers makes the argument for being the careful kind of writer, even in informal messages. It lays out the data for sharp, simple writing.
Todd Rogers and Jessica Lasky-Fink are behavioural scientists, both at Harvard. Their “Writing For Busy Readers” is cleverly titled: all readers are busy nowadays. People are filled constantly with messages, from the mailbox to the inbox to the text-message reminder. What to read, what to skim and what to ignore are decisions that nearly everyone has to make dozens, or even hundreds of times a day.
The authors present well-established principles that have long been prized in guide s to writing including The Economist’s style book: cut unnecessary words, choose words everyone knows and keep sentences simple.
Take “less is more”. Most books on writing well suggest cutting off needless words. However, in Writing for Busy People, the authors have tested the principles. For example, in an email to thousands of school-board members asking them to take a survey, cutting the length from 127 to 49 words almost doubled the response rate (from 2.7% to 4.8%).
The researchers found that a longer message makes recipients (收件人) think the task (such as filling out a survey) will take longer, too. Writers must sometimes choose to be informal but effective instead of sympathetic but ignored. From Facebook posts to online-travel reviews, even brief, informal pieces of writing that follow these rules get more likes, shares and so on. From essays to text messages organizing dinner plans, devoting time to the needs of readers has evident benefits. If you are so busy that you write a badly-organized message that readers scan, ignore and delete, then you might as well have not written it at all.
1. What is the purpose of the question in Paragraph 1?| A．To raise people’s interest in simple writing. | B．To correct the old view about text messages. |
| C．To reveal the negative effects of messages. | D．To improve the texting skills of people. |
| A．It emphasizes the importance of timely messages. |
| B．It brings evidence on the well-established principles. |
| C．It was written by a well-known author Todd Rogers. |
| D．It was once published in the magazine The Economist. |
| A．Brief writing gains few popularity. | B．Messages are too short to understand. |
| C．People tend to overlook long messages. | D．Sympathetic messages get many responses. |
| A．How to write effectively. | B．When to text messages. |
| C．The languages used in writing. | D．The methods of sending emails. |
