1 . Neuroengineer Silvestro Micera develops advanced technological solutions to help people regain sensory and motor functions that have been lost due to injury events or neurological disorders. Until now, he has never before worked on strengthening the human body and cognition with the help of technology.
Now in a study published in Science Robotics, Micera and his team report on how diaphragm (隔膜) movement can be monitored for successful control of an extra arm, essentially augmenting a healthy individual with a third-robotic-arm.
For further exploration, the researchers first built a virtual environment to test a healthy user’s capacity to control a virtual arm using movement of his or her diaphragm. They found that diaphragm control does not interfere with actions like controlling one’s physiological (生理的) arms, one’s speech or gaze.
In this virtual reality setup, the user is equipped with a belt that measures diaphragm movement. Wearing a virtual reality headset, the user sees three arms: the right arm and hand, the left arm and hand, and a third arm between the two with a symmetric (对称), six-fingered hand.
In the virtual environment, the user is then hinted to reach out with either the left hand, the right hand, or in the middle with the symmetric hand. In the real environment, the user holds onto an exoskeleton (外骨骼) with both arms, which allows for control of the virtual left and right arms. Movement detected by the belt around the diaphragm is used for controlling the virtual middle, symmetric arm. The setup was tested on 61 healthy subjects (受试者) in over 150 sessions.
Previous studies regarding the control of robotic arms have been focused on helping the disabled. The latest Science Robotics study is a step beyond repairing the human body towards augmentation. “Our next step is to explore the use of more complex robotic devices using our various control strategies, to perform real-life tasks, both inside and outside of the laboratory. Only then will we be able to grasp the real potential of this approach,” concludes Micera.
1. What does the author intend to do in Paragraph 2?| A．To introduce the topic. | B．To show an evidence. |
| C．To summarize the general idea. | D．To offer some background. |
| A．A virtual reality game. | B．A new medical device. |
| C．A new treatment method. | D．An experiment on animals. |
| A．By listing some related data. | B．By offering some examples. |
| C．By making some comparisons. | D．By describing research processes. |
| A．How to expand controllable robotic devices. |
| B．Where to find new and exciting opportunities. |
| C．How to further develop the robot market potential. |
| D．Why to balance inside and outside of the laboratory. |
2 . A year ago, my wife and I sold one of our cars and replaced it with an e-bike. I knew that passenger vehicles are responsible for much of our greenhouse-gas emissions. I also knew that electric cars were an imperfect fix. Though they’re responsible for less carbon pollution than gas cars, their supply chain is carbon intensive. But an e-bike’s comparatively tiny battery means less electricity, fewer emissions and fewer resources. E-bikes are clearly better for the planet than cars of any kind.
But I also viewed getting rid of my car as a sacrifice. I live in Colorado; e-biking would mean freezing in winter and sweating in summer. It was the right thing to do, I thought, but it was not going to be fun.
I was very wrong. The first thing I noticed was the savings. Between car payments, insurance, maintenance (保养), and gas, a car-centered lifestyle is expensive. I predict that we’ll save about $50,000 over the next five years by selling our car.
The actual experience of riding to work each day over the past year has been equally surprising. In winter, I wear gloves, warm socks, a thick cap, and a ski jacket when I ride, and I am almost never too cold. In summer, I didn’t break a sweat. I just used the throttle (油门), sat back, and enjoyed my ride.
I arrived to work a little more lighthearted for having spent the morning in fresh air rather than traffic. I jumped on my bike after a stressful day at work and rode home down a street edged with changing fall leaves. I felt more connected to the physical environment around me than I had when I’d traveled the same route surrounded by metal and glass.
1. Why did the author change a car for an e-bike?| A．He wanted to do something good for environment. |
| B．He thought that e-bikes would replace gas vehicles. |
| C．He couldn’t afford the expensive transportation costs. |
| D．He believed e-bike’s supply chain was environment-friendly. |
| A．The traffic safety. | B．The traffic comfort. |
| C．The traffic economy. | D．The traffic convenience. |
| A．Tolerant. | B．Unexpected. | C．Conservative. | D．Compromising. |
| A．Changes Brought by an E-bike | B．My Green Life for the Last Year |
| C．The Replacement for Gas Vehicles | D．Comparation Between Cars and E-bikes |
3 . The true test of an effective team is one where the members operate as a self-managing team. The
I followed up with one of our customers to see first-hand what a very successful team looked and felt like. Here is their story on what they do to
This team
The reason why I know this information is that when you have the opportunity to see how a team really works, you want to
As I stayed and communicated with the team members to find out how they worked together, they described to me their requirements for team development.
They said, “Each member has a good time, and we are in tune (协调) with each other, and we have a great
Their hard work and effort paid off as they became known as “the stars” of the company. They were described as “
It is clear that this team developed to compete for the goal instead of against each other. This team has stayed
| A．leader | B．learner | C．waiter | D．customer |
| A．defend against | B．look into | C．leave out | D．serve as |
| A．set out | B．stand out | C．work out | D．run out |
| A．accounts for | B．concentrates on | C．consists of | D．cares about |
| A．conditions | B．habits | C．states | D．attitudes |
| A．bothered | B．reminded | C．trained | D．observed |
| A．far from | B．in return for | C．apart from | D．in case of |
| A．pay | B．mood | C．diet | D．rent |
| A．delivery | B．smell | C．quality | D．shape |
| A．compare | B．uncover | C．adjust | D．keep |
| A．taste | B．bite | C．review | D．sense |
| A．limitation | B．prejudice | C．purpose | D．complaint |
| A．special | B．normal | C．hesitant | D．ridiculous |
| A．pity | B．security | C．pride | D．tense |
| A．self-centered | B．self-employed | C．self-funded | D．self-driven |
4 . In 2016, Mark Raymond learned the hard way that life can change in a split second(一瞬间). One day, Raymond went boating with his friends. He jumped off the back of the boat and hit a sandbank, leading to a severe injury to his neck. He became paralyzed(瘫痪的)and spent months in the hospital receiving treatment. When he was allowed to leave the hospital, he realized that the hard part was just beginning. He still needed to exercise to recover his strength after finishing the outpatient(门诊病人)treatment.
However, when Raymond returned home, he realized there was a serious lack of accessible gyms or facilities that could help people with different abilities work out and improve their health in his community. The lack of them caused Raymond to take action. In 2018, he established the Split Second Foundation, a non-profit organization that provides treatment that takes up from where outpatient treatment left off.
“The Split Second Foundation has equipment for people who have different disabling conditions,” Raymond explained.“Our specially trained staff will evaluate(评估)disabled customers’ physical needs and limitations and then provide recovery, education, and ongoing fitness classes suitable for them. We’re able to push them in a recovery driven fitness environment to be their best selves.”
Raymond’s goal is to open more accessible gyms, not just in New Orleans where he lives. He hopes the Split Second Foundation can help even more people get their lives back after disastrous accidents. “People with disabilities should also be thought of as productive members of society,” said Raymond. “Anybody’s life can change in an instant due to some kind of injury or disabling condition, and we are providing what’s next.”
When Raymond couldn’t find the services he needed, he made some for himself and others. This is the sort of cleverness we love to see in the world.
1. What does the underlined part “the hard part” in Paragraph 1 refer to?| A．The mental problem. | B．The process of recovery. |
| C．The high pressure of work. | D．The treatment in the hospital. |
| A．His love for a variety of sports. |
| B．His dream of becoming a businessman. |
| C．A boating accident that happened to his friend. |
| D．A lack of accessible exercise resources in his community. |
| A．It provides treatment by cooperating with hospitals. |
| B．It focuses on holding basic classes for poor children. |
| C．It offers fitness and recovery services to the disabled. |
| D．It creates plenty of job opportunities for disabled people. |
| A．Mark Raymond’s Journey from Paralysis to Recovery |
| B．Mark Raymond: Help the Disabled Rebuild Their Lives |
| C．The Importance of Accessible Gyms for Disabled People |
| D．Split Second Foundation: Offer Patients Postoperative Treatment |
5 . As a writer, I miss rejection slips. Not that I enjoyed receiving those pre-printed slips of paper, but at least when I got one, I was pretty sure that a flesh-and-blood
Nowadays, rejection slips seem to have disappeared with the use of online submissions. Most editors don’t feel it a must to
For me, there are three
Learning to
| A．writer | B．reader | C．mailman | D．editor |
| A．demanding | B．indicating | C．suspecting | D．arguing |
| A．boring | B．novel | C．lengthy | D．particular |
| A．thrilling | B．upsetting | C．embarrassing | D．amusing |
| A．buy | B．reject | C．check | D．substitute |
| A．prove | B．determine | C．explain | D．acknowledge |
| A．proposals | B．drafts | C．contributions | D．instructions |
| A．meanings | B．stages | C．wonders | D．rewards |
| A．relief | B．frustration | C．anger | D．hesitation |
| A．valueless | B．expensive | C．characterless | D．shiny |
| A．make up | B．put away | C．turn down | D．insist on |
| A．easier | B．better | C．shorter | D．longer |
| A．print | B．revise | C．download | D．submit |
| A．accept | B．criticize | C．judge | D．evaluate |
| A．thinner | B．fatter | C．older | D．newer |
6 . What if “looking your age” refers not to your face, but to your chest? Osaka Metropolitan University scientists have developed an advanced artificial intelligence (AI) model that uses chest radiographs (光片) to assess a person’s biological age. More importantly, when it is different from the chronological age (实足年龄), it can signal a link with chronic (慢性的) diseases. These findings mark a breakthrough in medical imaging, paving the way for improved early disease detection and intervention.
The research team, led by graduate student Yasuhito Mitsuyama and Dr. Daiju Ueda from the Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology at the Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka Metropolitan University, first constructed a deep learning-based AI model to estimate age from chest radiographs of healthy individuals. They then applied the model to radiographs of patients with known diseases to analyze the relationship between AI-estimated age and each disease. Given that AI trained on a single dataset tends to over fit, the researchers collected data from multiple institutions.
For the development, training, internal and external testing of the AI model for age estimation, a total of 67,099 chest radiographs were obtained between 2008 and 2021 from 36,051 healthy individuals who underwent health check-ups at three facilities.
To confirm the usefulness of AI-estimated age using chest radiographs as a biomarker, an additional 34,197 chest radiographs were collected from 34,197 patients with known diseases from two other institutions. The results showed that the difference between AI-estimated age and the patient’s chronological age was positively correlated with a variety of chronic diseases. In other words, the higher the AI-estimated age compared to the chronological age, the more likely individuals were to have these diseases.
“Chronological age is one of the most critical factors in medicine,” stated Mr. Mitsuyama. “Our results suggest that chest radiography-based apparent age may accurately reflect health conditions beyond chronological age. We aim to further develop this research and apply it to estimate the severity of chronic diseases, to predict life expectancy and to forecast possible surgical complications.”
1. What is the AI model used to do?| A．Tell a patient’s chronological age. | B．Estimate an individual’s biological age. |
| C．Develop advanced chest radiographs. | D．Analyze individuals’ workout habits. |
| A．They followed patients for over two decades. |
| B．They obtained data from the same institution. |
| C．They collected a large number of chest radiographs. |
| D．They had face-to-face talks with healthy individuals. |
| A．By making comparisons. | B．By interviewing their doctors. |
| C．By observing them in their lab. | D．By analyzing causes and effects. |
| A．The research is too complex to be carried out widely. |
| B．The AI model is expected to have a promising future. |
| C．Chronological age matters more than AI-estimated age. |
| D．The research findings have been well received in medicine. |
7 . The very unusual series of events finished as Sondrup was heading home from an extended work shift. She had just completed her fourth continuous night shift, and
While driving home, Sondrup
“It’s
Under what she described as a turn of fate (命运), Sondrup
Sondrup courageously
“I really feel that my guiding
The man Sondrup rescued recently reached out to express his
| A．tiredness | B．happiness | C．stress | D．anger |
| A．description | B．memory | C．opinion | D．request |
| A．believed | B．summarized | C．tracked | D．noticed |
| A．preserved | B．introduced | C．trapped | D．exchanged |
| A．possible | B．different | C．strange | D．interesting |
| A．Obviously | B．Normally | C．Formally | D．Likely |
| A．pulled over | B．turned on | C．looked around | D．worked out |
| A．progress | B．accident | C．reference | D．survival |
| A．watched | B．explored | C．climbed | D．contacted |
| A．struggle | B．contribution | C．experiment | D．wisdom |
| A．recognized | B．encouraged | C．concentrated | D．promoted |
| A．proposal | B．focus | C．goal | D．force |
| A．key | B．awkward | C．spare | D．public |
| A．demand | B．appreciation | C．desire | D．view |
| A．solution | B．title | C．health | D．personality |
8 . The Mona Lisa is the famous Leonardo da Vinci painting of a woman with a mysterious smile. This week, the painting gave up a secret.
Scientists used X-rays to examine the chemical organization of an extremely small part of the more than 500-year-old painting. The researchers discovered a technique Leonardo used in the work. A team in France and Britain discovered an oil paint used for the Mona Lisa was a special, new chemical mixture. It suggests that the Italian artist may have been in an experimental mood when he set to work on the painting early in the 16th century.
“He was someone who loved to experiment, and each of his paintings is completely different technically,” said Victor Gonzalez. He is the study’s lead writer. “In this case, it’s interesting to see that indeed there is a specific technique for the ground layer of the Mona Lisa,” he said in an interview with The Associated Press. Specifically, the researchers found a rare compound, plumbonacrite (水蛭石), in Leonardo’s first layer of paint. The discovery, Gonzalez said, proved that da Vinci most likely used lead oxide to thicken and help dry his paint.
The scientists looked into its atomic structure using X-rays in a synchrotron (同步加速器). The machine moves particles at close to the speed of light, permitting researchers to look deeper into the paint structure. “Plumbonacrite is really a fingerprint of his recipe,” Gonzalez said. “It’s the first time we can actually chemically prove it.”
Dutch artist Rembrandt may have used a similar mixture when he was painting in the 17th century. Gonzalez and other researchers have found plumbonacrite in his work, too. “It also tells us that those recipes were passed on for centuries,” Gonzalez said. “It was a very good recipe.”
But the Mona Lisa and additional works by Leonardo still have other secrets to tell. “There are plenty, plenty more things to discover,” Gonzalez said. “What we are saying is just a little brick more in the knowledge.”
1. What is the secret of the painting of the Mona Lisa?| A．The use of plumbonacrite. | B．Leonardo’s love for experiment. |
| C．The way to dry the painting. | D．The oil in the first layer. |
| A．Unclear. | B．Positive. | C．Doubtful. | D．Disappointed. |
| A．By making comparisons. | B．By listing related examples. |
| C．By describing the study process. | D．By quoting experts’ opinions. |
| A．A Creative Painter | B．A Smiling Mona Lisa |
| C．A New Discovery in the Mona Lisa | D．A Pioneering Painting |
9 . When it comes to travel, sometimes wandering is one of the most exciting things you can do. In a time when travellers are both more adventurous and eco-conscious than ever, it’s no surprise that there’s a wealth of new vocabulary to describe how we travel, when we travel and how the experience makes us feel. Here are eight of our favourite travel words that you may not have heard before.
We’ve kicked off a blog with the staycation, “a holiday in one’s own country”. The term first became popular in the mid-2000s, when the global financial crisis meant people had less income to spend on flash holidays and instead searched for cheaper local choices. Since 2020, the staycation is experiencing a revival (复兴). Benefits of staycations include cheaper travel costs, no spending hours in the airport and, of course, no need to worry about whether your passport expired (过期) last year.
Once upon a time, if you wanted to meet new people on your travels, you could stay at a hostel or with a host on Airbnb. Now, you can couch surf. And not just in “the staying at various friends’ houses until you find a new place to rent” sense: couch surfing is quickly becoming a hot new travel trend. Travellers can now choose to couch surf all across the world via a website which treats travel as a cultural exchange, allowing people to connect with willing hosts and crash on their sofas.
Given that single-use and climate strike were selected as the Collins 2018 and 2019 Words of the Year respectively, it’s clear that the climate crisis is very much on everybody’s mind. This desire to make more sustainable choices is also affecting the way we spend our vacation days. Ecotourism is another popular travel trend, defined as tourism that is designed to contribute to the protection of the environment. Examples of ecotourism include ditching short-haul flights, staying at eco-friendly resorts, or booking a staycation.
1. When did the staycation become popular firstly?| A．About in 2018. | B．About in 2019. | C．About in 2005. | D．About in 2010. |
| A．Two. | B．Three. | C．Four. | D．Six. |
| A．The eco-friendly travel ways. | B．The cheap ways to get around. |
| C．The changing words of travel. | D．The spread of history and culture. |
| A．The other new travel words. | B．Ways to protect environment. |
| C．Other examples of ecotourism. | D．Experiences of reaching culture. |
10 . In a heartwarming tale from Georgia, a 72-year-old senior recently celebrated his college graduation in cinema studies, an achievement made even more special by the presence of his proud 99-year-old mother.
Sam Kaplan of Lawrenceville decided to start on his educational journey at Georgia Gwinnett College in 2019, half a century after he had firstly chosen not to get higher education following his high school graduation in 1969. The catalyst for his return to academia came when he heard a radio announcement about a degree programme in cinema studies.
Recalling that moment, Kaplan said, “I was driving down the highway when I heard about the degree programme. The next exit led to Collinsville, so I immediately exited, and within five minutes, I was enrolling in classes. I’ve always had a passion for writing and storytelling. I longed to transform my narratives into screenplays, but I realized I needed the basic knowledge to do so,”
Kaplan admitted that the journey was a mix of anxiety and excitement, but it proved to be greatly rewarding. He graduated with a 3.975 grade point average and perfect grade honours, majoring in cinema and media arts, and had desires to continue creating screenplays in the future.
“It was an exciting and nerve-wracking (神经紧张的) challenge. Re-recognizing myself with the art of studying and communicating with fellow students was a lot of fun,” he told FOX5 Atlanta.
The most heartwarming thing of Kaplan’s graduation day was the presence of his mother, 99-year-old Virginia Kaplan, during the ceremony. Virginia expressed her huge pride, saying, “I am so proud of him. He faced numerous challenges but insisted, and I am delighted, pleased, and extremely proud,” the mother also added. “With his new degree, he’s going to stand out in whatever he does. Who knows, I might even make an appearance in the movies.”
1. What’s the purpose of the first paragraph?| A．To provide some background. | B．To tell the main idea. |
| C．To serve as a comment. | D．To offer an example. |
| A．Reason. | B．Vehicle. | C．Task. | D．Fact. |
| A．The mother desires to star in a film. |
| B．Kaplan takes much pride in himself. |
| C．Kaplan is excellent at whatever he does. |
| D．The mother offers the unshakeable support. |
| A．Failure is the mother of success. |
| B．It’s never too late to follow a dream. |
| C．The good seaman is known in bad weather. |
| D．All things in their being are good for something. |
