1 . I ask every student I interview for admission to my institution, Pitzer College, the same question, “What do you look forward to the most in college?” I was stunned and delighted recently when a student sat across from me and replied, “I look forward to the possibility of failure.” Of course, this is not how most students respond to the question when sitting before the person who can make decisions about their academic futures, but this young man took a risk. “You see, my parents have never let me fail,” he said. “When I want to take a chance at something, they remind me it’s not a safe route to take. Taking a more rigorous course or trying an activity I may not succeed in, they tell me, will ruin my chances at college admission. Even the sacrifice of staying up late to do something unrelated to school, they see it as a risk to my academic work and college success.”
Kids all over the world admit they are under tremendous pressure to be perfect. So students are usually in shock when I chuckle and tell them I never expect perfection. How could a dean of admission at one of America’s most selective institutions not want the best and the brightest? The reality is (that) perfection doesn’t exist.
I’ve spent enough time in high schools to know teenagers will never be perfect. They do silly things, mess up, fall down, and lack confidence. The ability to bounce back is a fundamental life skill students have to learn on their own. The lessons of failure can’t be taught in a classroom; they are experienced and reflected upon. During my weekend of interviews, another student told me, “I’m ashamed to admit I failed precalculus, but I decided to take it again and got a B-plus. I’m now taking calculus, and even though I don’t love it, I’m glad I pushed through!” I asked him what he learned from the experience. “I learned to let go of shame,” he said. “I realized that I can’t let a grade define my success. I also learned that if you want anything bad enough, you can achieve it.”
I smiled as I wrote his words down on the application-review form. This kid will thrive on my campus. Not only will the faculty love him, but he has the coping skills he needs to adjust to the rigors of life in a residential college setting. Failure is about growth, learning, overcoming, and moving on. Let’s allow young people to fail. Not only will they learn something, it might even get them into college.
1. What does the underlined word “rigorous” in the first paragraph mean?| A．fun | B．lively | C．strict | D．special |
| A．Teachers can help students to admit failure. |
| B．Parents define their children’s success by grades. |
| C．Teenagers get lessons of failure through experiences. |
| D．Young people spend enough time letting go of shame. |
| A．Because the college teachers would love the student for his perfection. |
| B．Because he succeeded in persuading the student into the college. |
| C．Because the student realized his dream of being a perfect person. |
| D．Because he thought the student would have a promising future. |
| A．Learn to Fail | B．Live to Learn |
| C．Try to Succeed | D．Decide to Experience |
2 . Diebedo Kere is a young architect from Africa. There was no
Opened in 2001, the school now
“Africa is full of very bright and
| A．legal | B．local | C．musical | D．medical |
| A．loss | B．occasion | C．family | D．responsibility |
| A．cheat | B．blame | C．disappoint | D．trouble |
| A．While | B．Whenever | C．Although | D．Since |
| A．sale | B．opening | C．collapse | D．exchange |
| A．Asked | B．Reminded | C．Determining | D．Allowing |
| A．poverty | B．education | C．courage | D．fortune |
| A．set about | B．insisted on | C．picked up | D．looked into |
| A．advises | B．counts | C．monitors | D．abandons |
| A．changes | B．spares | C．finds | D．provides |
| A．tradition | B．wealth | C．knowledge | D．freedom |
| A．ambitious | B．modest | C．patient | D．generous |
| A．devotion | B．access | C．tendency | D．application |
| A．treat | B．failure | C．term | D．success |
| A．fields | B．companies | C．apartments | D．factories |
3 . A few weeks ago, I pulled an old road map out of my glove box and handed it to my kids. They’d never seen the province of Ontario laid out like this before. They stared at it, asking about all the towns, parks and other landmarks we’d visited, and I pointed them out on the map.
Digital maps and GPS are modern wonders that have gotten me out of many confusing places, but paper maps still have a role to play in our lives. Most of us adults learned to read them out of necessity, but it’s up to us to pass on that skill to children whose need may not be so obvious, but who still will benefit from it.
As Trevor Muir wrote in an article on this topic, “When kids learn how to create and use paper maps, they are doing more than just learning how to get around. They are actually developing a fundamental skill that they will use for the rest of their lives. Map reading skill still belongs in today’s classroom.”
As a child, I had National Geographic maps taped to my bedroom walls. This aroused my curiosity and imagination about those places and thus made me eager to remember my geography and history lessons because they were tied to places I’d “seen”. Even now as a mother of four, I’ve also spared time to travel to many of the countries whose maps I studied as a child.
Additionally, in this fast-changing world, unexpected events can rapidly influence one’s usual way of life. When GPS satellites or Internet connections are affected, this old-fashioned skill can get you out of a mess without requiring a smartphone. Last but not least, paper maps arouse big picture thinking, showing kids that there’s a much bigger world out there and helping to direct them within it.
So, now is a good time to pull out those dusty old maps and lay them on the kitchen table.
1. How did the children react when given the paper map?| A．They seemed totally confused. |
| B．They showed great curiosity. |
| C．They found it less convenient than GPS. |
| D．They recognized the landmarks themselves effortlessly. |
| A．They promote reliance on GPS technology. |
| B．They provide instant convenience and accuracy. |
| C．They enhance curiosity and imagination. |
| D．They get rid of the need for smartphones. |
| A．Paper maps are already out of date. |
| B．Internet connections are always reliable. |
| C．GPS will sooner or later replace paper maps. |
| D．Paper maps provide kids with a grand vision. |
| A．How to Teach Kids to Survive in the Wild |
| B．Time to Teach Kids to Read Paper Maps |
| C．How to Teach Kids to Recognize Strange Places |
| D．Time to Encourage Kids to Explore a Real World |
4 . Eight years ago, Nixon decided to begin each day from a bench watching the sunrise at the waterfront. “I call it’life rising’ because it makes me feel
Later a woman said something that changed his on his daily routine. “She said, ‘Every morning when I see you
Instead of staring at the sunrise, Nixon started
“I was happy to listen,” Nixon said. “I wanted them to walk away knowing they didn’t have to feel
So, every morning, Nixon rises at 4: 30. He drives seven miles to the waterfront where he’ll
While most people simply wave or
No matter what problem a person wants to
| A．surprised | B．occupied | C．centered | D．amused |
| A．standing | B．sitting | C．lying | D．jogging |
| A．important | B．familiar | C．grateful | D．unique |
| A．smiling | B．shouting | C．pointing | D．wondering |
| A．friendships | B．conversations | C．action | D．understanding |
| A．getting over | B．going through | C．pouring out | D．putting aside |
| A．public | B．casual | C．special | D．personal |
| A．embarrassed | B．alone | C．shy | D．sorry |
| A．stand | B．exercise | C．observe | D．stay |
| A．alertness | B．openness | C．contribution | D．attention |
| A．drop by | B．drop off | C．drop out | D．drop back |
| A．proud | B．cheerful | C．satisfied | D．anxious |
| A．listen | B．smile | C．appear | D．understand |
| A．solve | B．consult | C．air | D．declare |
| A．arouses | B．deserves | C．focuses | D．enjoys |
5 . A large amount of great scientific discoveries is not actually discovered but borrowed. That was the case when scientists discovered proteins from an unlikely lender: green algae (绿藻), whose cells are modified with proteins that can sense light.
The light-sensing protein promised the power to control neurons (神经元) by providing away to turn them on and off. Such ability, first noticed in 2002, quickly caught the attention of brain scientists: Nerve cells which were genetically engineered to produce such proteins become light-controlled. A flash of light could cause a quiet neuron to send signals or force an active neuron to fall silent. “This is the light sensor that we needed,” says Zhuo-Hua Pan, a scientist searching for a way to control vision cells in mice’s eyes. The method is now called optogenetics (光遗传学).
In Pan’s lab, light-responsive proteins restored vision in mice with damaged eyesight, a finding that has now led to a medical test on people. Optogenetics’ promise wasn’t clear in early days, as scientists were first learning how to use these proteins in neurons. “At that time, no one expected that this optogenetic work would have such a huge impact,” Pan says.
The algae’s light sensors have been adopted for use in countless brain research fields. Talia, another scientist, uses optogenetics to study connections between cells in the mouse brain. The method allows her to comb the relationships between cells that produce and respond to dopamine (多巴胺), which might help uncover details about motivation and learning.
So far, optogenetics research has taken place mostly in mice. But findings into more complex brains like human brain may soon be confirmed. “We are definitely on the tip of uncovering some fascinating principles of the human brain, such as how the brain transforms signals from the eyes into perceptions,” says Yasmine of Columbia University.
No matter what happens next in this swiftly moving field, one thing is certain: Brain scientists will be forever in the algae’s debt.
1. What does Paragraph 2 mainly talk about?| A．The origin of neurons. | B．The varieties of neurons. |
| C．The discovery of green algae. | D．The inspiration from green algae. |
| A．The findings are used to cure brain diseases. |
| B．Impaired eyesight is likely to be restored. |
| C．Relationships between cells have been found. |
| D．The light-sensing protein is the key to the brain. |
| A．Confident. | B．Cautious. | C．Critical. | D．Unclear. |
| A．Health. | B．Botany. | C．Figure. | D．Invention. |
6 . At the 2022-23 China High School Basketball League (CHBL) national Finals on May 14, sportswear giant Nike announced that it would build an environmentally friendly basketball court that uses recycled sneakers as raw materials. The court is scheduled to be completed in Guangzhou by the end of July.
Cooperating with the China School Sports Federation, Nike launched the environmental protection charity project for the CHBL 2022-23 Season. The project encourages the involvement of CHBL players’ coaches, basketball enthusiasts and consumers in the collection and recycling of old sport shoes. Through advanced technology, thrown-away sport shoes will be processed and used in the construction of the first ever CHBL-themed eco-friendly basketball court.
Over the past two months, the old sport shoes collection bins have traveled alongside the CHBL tour making stops at the four major regional tournaments held in the east, west, south and north of China. The bins have gone into schools, including Tsinghua High School in Beijing and Huipu Middle School in Taizhou Zhejiang province, spreading the spirits of CHBL and inspiring its players to become role models not only on the basketball court, but also in their everyday lives.
Famous female basketball player Han Xu has actively contributed to the collection of used shoes and expressed her support for the project through her personal social media channels. Zhang Lei, secretary general of the CSSF, says that CHBL not only assists young players and teenagers in improving their basketball skills but also promotes the development of basketball culture within campuses.
“In addition to expanding the league’s size and influence, we have also added environmental education into the program. Environmental education plays an important role in shaping society’s core values. It guides young individuals toward understanding the importance of environmental issues, forming a proper attitude on the relationship between humans and nature, and raising their environmental awareness and practices. It serves as an endless source of developing environmental consciousness throughout society.”
The construction of the eco-friendly basketball court marks a significant step in Nike’s commitment to supporting young basketball fans while putting environmental sustainability (持续性) at the first place.
1. Which is true about the basketball court mentioned?| A．It is built by Nike without any help | B．It is built out of recycled sport shoes |
| C．It has already been put into use | D．It does harm to the environment |
| A．Doubtful | B．Negative | C．Indifferent | D．Supportive |
| A．CHBL attaches great importance to environment protection. |
| B．Nike builds such a basketball court for making more money. |
| C．Only basketball players benefit from the construction of the court. |
| D．Environmental education has no connection with society’s core values. |
| A．Ways to Recycle Thrown-away Sport Shoes Effectively |
| B．The Importance of Jointly Protecting the Environment |
| C．Eco-friendly Basketball Court to be Completed in Guangzhou |
| D．The Benefits of Living in Harmony with Nature for Humans |
7 . Exhibitions worth visiting in London in 2023
Flowery: Orchids
This annual festival is back in bloom, this time inspired by the beauty and biodiversity of Cameroon. Just like previous years, the orchids are spread throughout the various zones of the Princess of Wales conservatory and accompanied by sculptures that are just as colorful as the flowers on display.
At Kew Gardens. 4 February —5 March, $16.50—entrance to the gardens included.
Architectural: Vanishing Points
While we like to think of architecture existing purely in the real world, emerging designers and architects are using platforms like Instagram to create structures in the virtual world. This collection of works, which range from the practical to the fantastical, are all by architects who have gathered significant social media followings.
In the Digital Universe at ROCA London. 8 February—31 July, free.
Powerful Portraits: Alice Neel
The largest UK exhibition to date of American painter Alice Neel’s work will bring together her figurative pieces from across her 60-year career. Neel went against the popular grain by painting figures when abstract works were most popular, and she painted subjects that other artists ignored —pregnant women, labor leaders, black children, civil rights activists and strange performers. It’s high time we had a major show of her work in London, and the Barbiean has duly provided.
At Barbican Art Gallery. 16 February–21 May,$16.50.
Female Abstraction: Action, Gesture, Paint.
Art history has often shone a light on the men of Abstract Expressionism, such as Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko. Well, now’s the time to let the most important women of the movement take the limelight in an exhibition that includes works by American artists such as Lee Krasner and Helen Frankenthaler, but spreads the net wider to include the female abstract artists from Europe, Asia and the wider world, with whom most of us will be unfamiliar.
At Whitechapel Gallery. 9 February—7 May, $16.50 —concessions available.
1. What might newly-developing designers and architects tend to do?| A．To gather significant social media. |
| B．To create virtual architectural structures. |
| C．To create platforms like Instagram. |
| D．To design purely real architectural structures. |
| A．On March 10. | B．On January 7. |
| C．On February 8. | D．On May 8. |
| A．She is 60 years old now. |
| B．Her artworks don’t intentionally follow the mainstream. |
| C．She often ignored some common subjects. |
| D．She is the most popular American painter in the UK. |
8 . I stood beside the hospital bed where Russ, my husband lay pale and scared. He was diagnosed with leukemia (白血病) and was
A month! We couldn’t afford being in the hospital that long. We were tight
“Go home and rest. Come back tomorrow,” Russ said, giving me a list of items to
The next morning, I
When I
“What is this?” I asked. The
As the adult in the room, I felt
| A．requested | B．lectured | C．challenged | D．rewarded |
| A．confidently | B．mentally | C．physically | D．financially |
| A．show off | B．bring back | C．do up | D．hand over |
| A．rented | B．handled | C．packed | D．parked |
| A．headed | B．cycled | C．paced | D．dived |
| A．swept | B．entered | C．decorated | D．left |
| A．Acting | B．Shouting | C．Stepping | D．Applauding |
| A．essay | B．drawer | C．sheet | D．envelope |
| A．patients | B．customers | C．kids | D．players |
| A．emotion | B．anger | C．help | D．joy |
| A．sad | B．blank | C．upset | D．eager |
| A．doubt | B．pride | C．security | D．scare |
| A．guilty | B．friendly | C．logical | D．exceptional |
| A．envy | B．kindness | C．pain | D．impatience |
| A．survival | B．routine | C．lifetime | D．preference |
9 . A human-like robot has gotten a job working alongside humans at a factory for the first time.
Apollo, the autobot, has two aims, two legs and two eyes and is an average human height of 5 feet and 8 inches or 172 cm. The robot’s job is to fit boxes and containers and move them around the factory, but its designer, Apptronik, says future versions could be used to do housework around the home. While robotic machines are already used to sort grains, help doctors and police officers in training and clean the floor, Apollo is the first human-like robot to be put to work in a human job.
Apptronik said the robot was given human features such as arms and legs to help people feel more comfortable working with it. The robot only does basic tasks at the moment, but it will offer more and more features as the technology is developed.
At the moment, Apollo’s battery only lasts four hours, which means it has to do half day shifts compared to its human co-workers, who tend to work eight hours a day. Cardenas said that his company has built two Apollo robots so far and are now building four more. Apptronik plans to produce less than 100 test versions that companies can try out before it starts producing the final version in 2024.
Economists believe once robots like Apollo are mass-produced and introduced into the market, they could be used to fill jobs in aged care, manufacturing (制造业) and security.
Other companies m the race to build human-like robots include Tesla, Boston Dynamics, Samsung Electronics and Hanson Robotics. Last year, Tesla said it was planning to have thousands of human-like robots within its factories. Last year Tesla introduced its robot, Optimus, which is said to be learning to navigate (导航) on its own, sense the world around it, and pick things up on its own. Boston Dynamics introduced Atlas, considered the world’s most advanced human-like robot which has proved capable of walking, dancing, doing backflips (后空翻), and jumping.
1. What is special about Apollo?| A．It can help doctors. | B．It can sort grams. |
| C．It can do housework in people’s homes. | D．It can be put to work in a human job. |
| A．It cuts down on labor costs. | B．It has had complete changes. |
| C．It will last eight hours in the future. | D．It is the robot s main weakness. |
| A．Tesla. | B．Boston Dynamics. | C．Samsung Electronics. | D． Hanson Robotics. |
| A．Education. | B．Culture. | C．Technology. | D．Entertainment. |
10 . Combining a vertical (竖的，直立的) farm and office space into a single 51-storey idea out of Chinese tales, an Italian architect is completing the Shenzhen skyline with a shocking farmscraper (农场摩天楼).
Jian Mu Tower was designed for a leading Chinese supermarket to be a place where renter can grow, sell, buy, or consume produce in the same place they work.
Lying in the south Chinese city of Shenzhen, the Turin-based Carlo Ratti Associati Company has showed plans to build a 650-foot tower in which 100,000 square feet of the glass outside (外墙) is used to produce food — 590,000 pounds of it per year, which would also contain around a million square feet for office space, a supermarket, gardens, and food court (美食街).
Hydroponic (水栽法的) gardening involves using nutrient-rich water rather than soil, and allows plants to be grown in tubes piled up vertically. Working with ZERO, an Italian-based company that specializes in new approaches to agriculture, Jian Mu’s farm is made full use of to produce everything from salad greens to fruits, while remaining efficient and sustainable. An AI scientist would watch most of the hydroponic systems, water and nutrients, planning planting and harvest cycles, and other matters.
“Small-scale urban farming is happening in cities all over the world — from Paris to New York to Singapore. Jian Mu Tower, however, takes it to the next level,” writes Ratti, who is also a professor at MIT. “Such approach has the potential to play a major role in the design of future cities, as it engages in one of today’s most urgent architectural challenges: How to integrate the natural world into building design.”
1. What is Jian Mu Tower intended for?| A．A supermarket. | B．A farm. | C．A factory. | D．A workplace. |
| A．Grow food. | B．Exhibit clothing. |
| C．Take up gardening. | D．Learn to manage a supermarket. |
| A．Its fruits are well received at home. | B．It has rich experience in agriculture. |
| C．It mainly focuses on agriculture in Italy. | D．It completely applies AI technology. |
| A．Unclear. | B．Doubtful. | C．Critical. | D．Approving. |
