1 . Rehan Staton was close to giving up on his dreams. His father, who was his family’s mere provider, struggled to make _________ meet. There were times when Rehan was_______ meals and went to school on an empty stomach, as his dad was always at work.

His education suffered because of all the _______ his family was going through. By the 7th grade, Rehan’s grades rapidly_________. Instead of bringing him down, this hardship_________ him to turn to sports. It was at this point that Rehan became _______ about athletics and boxing. At the time, his father met an engineer, who offered to _______ the boy for free. This chance seemed like the light at the end of the tunnel(隧道). Unfortunately, just when things were starting to ___________, Rehan’s dreams of becoming a boxer were _______by a severe injury.

The young boy was________ by every college he applied to. He was forced to get a ________to help his family keep the________over their heads. His job as a garbage collector at the trash company________to offer him more opportunities than he could ever imagine.

At the company, he finally found people that saw his great________. Most of his colleagues encouraged the bright boy to continue with his________. A higher-up from Rehan’s work heard about his story and helped him register at Bowie State University.________, he was admitted into Harvard Law School.

The 24-year-old’s success story now ________   many young people to never stop following their dreams. Rehan himself started ________ youngsters facing adversity(困境), in a________to help them use their full potential________the difficulties they’re going through.

1.

A．harvest

B．ends

C．share

D．drops

2.

A．preparing

B．purchasing

C．begging

D．missing

3.

A．progress

B．changes

C．struggles

D．reforms

4.

A．worsened

B．developed

C．advanced

D．escaped

5.

A．taught

B．scheduled

C．encouraged

D．permitted

6.

A．enthusiastic

B．curious

C．concerned

D．particular

7.

A．serve

B．tutor

C．measure

D．record

8.

A．turn down

B．hold back

C．pay off

D．line up

9.

A．destroyed

B．refreshed

C．followed

D．postponed

10.

A．distinguished

B．celebrated

C．rejected

D．selected

11.

A．scholarship

B．job

C．deal

D．rise

12.

A．ceiling

B．curtain

C．roof

D．balcony

13.

A．turned out

B．kept away

C．showed off

D．broke out

14.

A．relief

B．fortune

C．privilege

D．potential.

15.

A．introduction

B．education

C．organization

D．invention

16.

A．Consequently

B．Obviously

C．Eventually

D．Hopefully

17.

A．promises

B．predicts

C．trains

D．inspires

18.

A．guiding

B．interviewing

C．targeting

D．understanding

19.

A．load

B．bid

C．range

D．kick

20.

A．on account of

B．instead of

C．in case of

D．regardless of

2 . The Savitzs who move to Newton had found themselves welcomed into the neighborhood with truly open arms. Glenda was pregnant before the move and within three months, they gave birth to Samantha. About a week after Glenda and RaphiSavitz welcomed their daughter Samantha to the world, they learned that she was deaf. “We knew right away that we had to get involved in the deaf community, learn about the culture, and start getting fully lost in American Sign Language,” Glenda says. What the new parents didn’t know was that their neighbors in Newton, Mass., would decide they needed to start learning sign language, too.

“We really wanted to communicate with her and play with her,” says McNeil, who lives across the street from the Savitzs. “And since she couldn’t learn our language, we thought we wanted to learn hers.” McNeil and three other neighbors quietly signed up for local adult education classes in American Sign Language. “We met a teacher there that we really loved, and we asked him if he would come here and teach more neighbors,” McNeil explains. “So that’s how it started.” About 20 neighbors immediately signed up for the class. With the help of their instructor, Rhys McGovern, the neighbors are able to help Samantha feel like she belongs.

“We know how to say, ‘Are you riding your bike?’ or ‘You have pretty new pink sneakers.’ There’s a dog across the street that she loves to play with. So we all know the sign for ‘dog.’” McNeil adds, “Her parents translate for us because her fingers are very small right now and she signs very fast, so we’re trying and we’re getting better. ... Her first sign to all of us is ‘friend,’ which feels very good.”

The classes have been such a hit that there are now two offerings, on two different weeknights, bringing the number of neighbors learning the language to about 40. As a result of that neighborly effort, Samantha moves with ease where her family lives. She’ll stop in at neighbors’ homes just to draw pictures and chat.

1. When did Glenda and RaphiSavitz find Samantha deaf?

A．Within three months of her pregnancy.

B．About a week after their learning ASL.

C．When Samantha was about one week old.

D．Three months before their move to Newton.

2. Who is Rhys McGovern?

A．A teacher who instructs Savitz’s neighbors to learn ASL.

B．A neighbor who helps Savitzinteract with her neighbors.

C．A neighbor hired an instructor for Savitz’s neighbors.

D．An organizer who calls on Savitz’s neighbors to help her.

3. What did little Savitz say to her neighbors firstly with ALS according to McNeil?

A．Bike.

B．Sneakers.

C．Dog.

D．Friend.

4. What can we learn from the story?

A．Good neighbors, a piece of treasure.

B．Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.

C．Better to be friendly with a neighbor than to wear a fur jacket.

D．Communication is one of the most efficient ways to understand.

3 . When my experiments didn’t produce the exciting results they were supposed to, I thought I just needed to work more, for the idea that I would be ______ if I worked hard enough was deeply rooted in me. It was late in the evening. A postdoc (博士后) ______my suffering and gently asked how I was doing. I told him about my ______ with the experiment. He said, “I think it’s time to go home and get some sleep. Taking a break is also hard work, you know?”

Those comments planted the seed of a new ______. Previously, when my friends questioned whether the “always working” view that is _______among academics was normal or healthy, I had __their concerns. Now, I ____ that they were on to something. I started to go __ on myself, trying to make being in the lab from early morning to late evening the exception rather than the ______. Pushing back against the______that long working hours are the ______of a good researcher was hard, and I ______ back into my old routine more than once. In the back of my head I still felt __ for not working “enough”. I hadn’t_______ understood what the postdoc was trying to ______ to me.

During my Ph.D., the penny _____ the rest of the way. One day, my adviser said, “We need to work smarter, not harder.” The conversation helped me ____ it —that novel ideas do not come from a mind constantly under _______. My best ideas almost always come after I allow my mind to_______—whether that’s playing video games with my brother or cooking a nice dinner. Part of working smarter, I realized, can be taking a _____.

1.

A．rewarded

B．served

C．abandoned

D．misunderstood

2.

A．respected

B．noticed

C．accepted

D．declined

3.

A．faith

B．thoughts

C．intelligence

D．struggles

4.

A．experiment

B．invitation

C．approach

D．assistance

5.

A．abstract

B．consistent

C．common

D．cautious

6.

A．brushed off

B．took on

C．turned down

D．made up

7.

A．realized

B．checked

C．assessed

D．stressed

8.

A．stricter

B．purer

C．hotter

D．easier

9.

A．accident

B．dilemma

C．normal

D．procedure

10.

A．attempt

B．growth

C．request

D．belief

11.

A．quality

B．project

C．burden

D．prejudice

12.

A．risked

B．slipped

C．prayed

D．exited

13.

A．refreshed

B．lonely

C．guilty

D．dizzy

14.

A．hopefully

B．fully

C．carefully

D．silently

15.

A．promise

B．contribute

C．write

D．convey

16.

A．cost

B．dropped

C．benefited

D．ended

17.

A．take no notice of

B．show interest in

C．make sense of

D．find fault with

18.

A．control

B．darkness

C．guard

D．pressure

19.

A．wander

B．relax

C．forget

D．recover

20.

A．break

B．turn

C．walk

D．test

4 . A recent discovery shows that our dance style is almost always the same, regardless of the type of music, and a computer can identify the dancer with astounding accuracy. Over the last few years, researchers at the Centre for Interdisciplinary Music Research at the University of Jyväskylä in Finland have used motion capture (动作捕捉) technology — the same kind used in Hollywood — to learn that your dance moves say a lot about you, such as how active or anxious you are, what mood you happen to be in, and even how much you empathize (共情) with other people. Recently, however, they discovered something that surprised them. “We actually weren’t looking for this result, as we set out to study something completely different,” explains Dr. Emily Carlson, the first author of the study.

The 73 participants in the study were motion captured dancing to seven different genres: Blues, Country, Dance/Electronica, Jazz, Metal, Pop and Rap. The only instruction they received was to listen to the music and move any way that felt natural. “We think it’s important to study phenomena as they occur in the real world, which is why we employ a naturalistic research example,” says Professor Petri Toiviainen, the senior author of the study.

The researchers analysed participants’ movements using machine learning, trying to distinguish between the musical styles. Unfortunately, their computer was able to identify the correct style less than 30% of the time. They were shocked to discover, however, that the computer could correctly identify which of the 73 individuals was dancing 94% of the time. “It seems as though a person’s dance movements are a kind of finger print,” says Dr. PasiSaari, co-author of the study and data analyst. “Each person has a unique movement signature that stays the same no matter what kind of music is playing.”Does this mean that face-recognition software will soon be joined by dance-recognition software? “We’re less interested in applications like surveillance(监视) than in what these results tell us about human musicality,” Carlson explains. “We have a lot of new questions to ask, like whether our movement signatures stay the same across our lifespan.”

1. What is the original purpose of the study?

A．To test the dancers’ flexibility.

B．To select more excellent dancers.

C．To check the accuracy of motion capture technology.

D．To analyze people’s personality with their dance moves.

2. What were the participants asked to do when listening to the music?

A．Move as they like.	B．Determine the style of music.
C．Imagine they’re employers.	D．Recognize this tune that is playing.

3. What did the researchers think of the result of their experiment?

A．It’s an accidental discovery.	B．It’s an unbelievable example.
C．It’s a misunderstood fingerprint.	D．It’s a unique method for computers.

4. What use will be made of the finding according to Carlson?

A．Developing a face-recognition software.

B．Promoting it in the application market.

C．Learning further about human response to music.

D．Finding out the relationship between movements and lifespan.

5 . It’s breathtaking to watch the delicate spring wildflowers come out from their blanket of leaves, bloom, develop and disperse (传播) fruit, all in a matter of a few short days or weeks.

Although they look fragile, these are tough little plants, each focusing its efforts on spreading its species. They have evolved to have a wide range of flower structures and colors, some with fragrances, attracting many different insect species to assist them in pollination (授粉).

There is one strategy (策略) that a surprising number of spring blooming native plants have evolved in common: seed dispersal by ants. As many as thirty percent of the spring flowering plant species in the forests of eastern North America have evolved to take advantage of this situation to benefit themselves. These species have evolved to provide food attached to their seeds to encourage ants to disperse those seeds. This food, called an elaiosome, is a specialized fat body whose chemical composition more closely matches that of the insects that ants prefer than it does that of a seed.

When a fruit opens to disperse its seeds, the elaiosomes are an instant attraction for ants. They take the seed with its attached elaiosome back to their nests for consumption there, but they just eat the elaiosome, their preferred food, and dispose of the seed on their trash pile. This tends to be an environment that is rich in nutrients, and will benefit the growth of the new plant. Just to make sure the ants don’t eat the seeds in addition to the elaiosome, some plant species have hard seed coatings that ants can’t really bite through.

This evolutionary adaptation is somewhat similar to the strategy of plants that have evolved to surround their seeds with fleshy fruits to attract birds to assist them with seed dispersal. Given the fact that there are fewer birds available in early spring to help with seed dispersal, it makes sense that the early blooming plants evolved to partner instead with the ants for this service.

Did you ever wonder how your Spring Beauty managed to pop up in new locations in your lawn or garden? Thank an ant!

1. How many methods do wildflowers have to attract animals according to the text?

A．Two.

B．Three.

C．Four.

D．Five.

2. What can be inferred about elaiosome?

A．It’s hard to digest.	B．It’s impossible for ants to resist.
C．It makes the earth rich in nutrients.	D．It’s often thrown into the trash pile.

3. Why do the early wildflowers prefer ants to birds to disperse according to the text?

A．Ants are creative and hardworking.

B．Ants are better at dispersing than birds.

C．The birds in the early year are not enough.

D．The birds are not interested in their fleshy fruits.

4. What can the best title of the text?

A．Thank Ants for Wildflowers

B．Wildflowers Discover Their Treasures

C．New Species of Wildflowers are Found

D．Ants Are Superheroes Protecting Environment

6 . DerlinNewey, an 89-year-old man from Weber County, Utah, has already reached an impressive age, but his Social Security checks aren’t covering his expenses. He works for a local Papa John’s as a delivery man, and despite being forced to work at his advanced age, he hasn’t let that affect his attitude — something the Valdez family recognized and honored.

Fans of pizza, the Valdezes order Papa John’s quite often. And when they do, they specifically request Newey, who always shows up with his signature greeting: “Hello, are you looking for some pizza?” The Valdezes, who have over 60,000 followers on TikTok, have featured Newey in the past, and their viewers have fallen in love with the elderly gentleman. “Everybody loves him,” Dad Carlos Valdez said.

The family has grown so fond of him that they decided to do something wonderful for the man. After they started a fundraiser for Newey, it wasn’t long before generous donors had given to the tune of $12,000 — a sizable amount by any standard, but especially so for someone in Newey’s shoes. “Collectively as a community, we all came together, and we were able to raise $12,000 for this amazing person,” CarlosValdez explained. “Somebody at that age should not be working that much.”

All that was left was to surprise Newey in his own home, making a special delivery to their special delivery man. “Good morning, dude! How are you doing?” CarlosValdez greeted Newey. The “TikTok famous” delivery man thought he was going to bring him a shirt with his signature saying (which he did), but he got far more than he had expected when CarlosValdez handed him a fat envelope stuffed with cash.

Newey didn’t even know what TikTok was, asking “Is that an online group you communicate with each other through the telephone?” “This couldn’t have gone any better,” CarlosValdez said. “He needed this. I’m just glad we could help him. We just need to treat people with kindness and respect the way he does. He stole our hearts.”

1. Why does Newey still work in his later years?

A．At his fans’ request.	B．For his love for the job.
C．Out of financial necessity.	D．For experiencing a new lifestyle.

2. What does the underlined word “featured” in Paragraph2 mean?

A．Starred.

B．Surprised.

C．Sponsored.

D．Employed.

3. What did Newey think CarlosValdez would do to come to his home?

A．Ask him for his signature.	B．Bring him a special shirt.
C．Deliver him a large fortune.	D．Offer him a pizza for free.

4. What can we learn about the Valdezes according to the text?

A．They’re ambitious and selfless.	B．They’re determined and creative.
C．They’re serious and intelligent.	D．They’re friendly and considerate.

7 . Day tour from Edinburgh

Start our journey in Edinburgh at 8:30am and travel north to South Queensferry Forth Bridges Viewpoint to get a great view of one of Scotland’s greatest man-made landmarks, the Forth Rail Bridge.

You then travel the short distance to Blackness Castle. It’s an impressive castle that’s known as the ‘ship that never sailed’ because it resembles a giant stone boat. Stand in awe of the formidable fortress — this was not only a noble residence but also a stronghold built for war. Climb the towers and curtain wall for sweeping views of the Firth of Forth and its rail and road bridges. Your next stop is Stirling Castle, one of Scotland’s greatest stone castles. The castle peaked in importance in the 1500s, but its volcanic crag has been fortified since ancient times. You then travel the short distance to the National Wallace Monument. It is one of Scotland’s most celebrated landmarks. The stunning 67 metre tower is instantly recognisable, and attracts more than 100,000 visitors every year. The NationalWallace Monument is a tower standing on the shoulder of the Abbey Craig, a hilltop overlooking Stirling in Scotland. It commemorates Sir William Wallace, a 13th-century Scottish hero.Your final stop of the day is Linlithgow Palace. Here you have time to walk by the loch for about an hour. Explore the magnificent ruins of the birthplace of Mary Queen of Scots. Linlithgow Palace was built and added to over two centuries by the Stewart kings, resulting in a superb Renaissance residence.

From here, it’s a short drive back to Edinburgh at about 6:30 pm.       

Kids friendly (0+ age)

You have more free time for sightseeing compared to similar bus tours.

Small group tour with a maximum of 4 passengers.

Enjoy privileged, personalized attention from your driver/guide on this small group tour.

1. Which is the third stop of the travel?

A．The Forth Rail Bridge.	B．Blackness Castle.
C．Stirling Castle.	D．Linlithgow Palace.

2. How long does the travel last?

A．4 hours.

B．7 hours.

C．10 hours.

D．12 hours.

3. What does the day route focus on?

A．Art & music.	B．Architecture.
C．Galleries & museums.	D．Bike & mountain bike.

8 . The world’s coral reefs do more for the planet than provide underwater beauty. They protect shorelines from the effects of hurricanes. An estimated 500 million people earn their livelihood from the fishing stocks and tourism opportunities reefs provide. The tiny animals that give rise to reefs are even offering hope for new drugs to treat cancer and other diseases.

Despite their importance, warming waters, pollution, ocean acidification, overfishing, and physical destruction are killing coral reefs around the world. So now scientists around the world are looking for all kinds of ways to protect and maybe even revive(复苏) corals. In the Bahamas, Ross Cunning, a research biologist at Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium, is focusing on corals with genes that could make them natural candidates for restoration projects. He recently published a study of two Bahamian reefs, one that seemed to survive an intense 2015 heat wave, and one that didn’t.“It sets the stage to find out which genes are responsible for thermal tolerance,” says Cunning, adding that he hopes discovering those genes will help scientists one day breed more heat-tolerant coral.

In Massachusetts, Cohen’s research has found two key elements that seem to protect corals. The first: internal(内部的) waves beneath the ocean’s surface that bring cooler currents to heat-struck corals, essentially air-conditioning them as temperatures rise. The second: adaptation, a quality that corals found in Palau’s warm lagoons(环礁湖) seem to display.On average, these lagoons submerge(淹没) coral in water that is two degrees Celsius warmer than the water outside the lagoons. “We think the fact that they can deal with these higher temperatures is built into their genetics and allows them to deal with the heat waves.”

She’s also found evidence of corals evolving more quickly in the past two decades to withstand rapidly warming temperatures. The big question scientists are now enquiring into, says Cohen, is whether there’s a cap on how much more heat corals can adapt to. Cohen calls these regions with heat-adapted corals as “super reefs,” and like Friendlander, advocates for using marine reserves to protect them.

1. What is the first paragraph mainly about?

A．The protection for coral reefs

B．The great value of coral reefs.

C．The benefits for tourism from coral reefs.

D．The relationship between animals and coral reefs.

2. What can be inferred from Cunning’s coral research?

A．Cooling down the waters is the key to their success.

B．Some corals have been genetically improved successfully.

C．He expects to identify the genes of the heat-tolerant corals.

D．Some corals that survived 2015 heat wave surprised people.

3. What is the focus of the study to save corals according to Cohen?

A．How corals survive in the warm lagoons.

B．What are the key elements to protect corals.

C．How they can use natural reserves to protect corals.

D．What is the high temperature limit of the surviving corals.

4. Which section is the text probably taken from?

A．Science.

B．Environment.

C．Animal.

D．Climate.

9 . Even if we’ve never laid eyes on a certain person, the sound of their voice can relay a lot of information: whether they are male or female, old or young, or perhaps an accent indicating which nation they might come from. While it is possible for us to randomly deduce someone’s facial features, it’s likely that we won’t be able to clearly piece together what someone’s face looks like based on the sound of their voice alone. However, it’s a different matter when machines are put to the task, as researchers from MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) have discovered in developing an AI that can vividly reconstruct people’s faces with relatively impressive detail, using only short audio clips(音频片段) of their voices as reference.

Named Speech2Face, the neural(神经的) network — a computer that “thinks” in a manner similar to the human brain — was trained by scientists on millions of educational videos from the Internet that showed over 100,000 different people talking. From this dataset, Speech2Face learned associations between vocal cues(声带) and certain physical features in a human face, researchers wrote in a new study. The AI then used an audio clip to model a photorealistic face matching the voice.

However, the tool was far from perfect. Speech2Face turned out “mixed performance” when confronted with language variations. For example, when the AI listened to an audio clip of an Asian man speaking Chinese, the program produced an image of an Asian face. However, when the same man spoke in English in a different audio clip, the AI generated the face of a white man, the scientists reported.

Thankfully, AI doesn’t know exactly what a specific individual looks like based on their voice alone. Voice privacy otherwise would be a concern like face recognition for us. The neural network recognized certain markers in speech that pointed to gender(性别), age and ethnicity(种族), features that are shared by many people, the study authors reported.“As such, the model will only produce average-looking faces,” the scientists wrote. “It will not produce images of specific individuals.”

1. What can best replace the underlined word “deduce” in Paragraph1?

A．Mistake.

B．Guess.

C．Record.

D．Search.

2. What can we learn about Speech2Face?

A．It produces the results with great accuracy.

B．It allows thousands of people to talk at the same time.

C．It has learnt the connection between speech and appearance.

D．It can tell the differences between the Chinese and the Europeans.

3. What’s the author’s attitude to the AI tool according to Paragraph4?

A．Skeptical.

B．Confused.

C．Favorable.

D．Worried.

4. What can be the best title of the text?

A．MIT’s New Discovery Give a Surprise to People.

B．AI Generated Your Faces by Listening to Your Voices.

C．Your Voice Could Give Away Your Nationality with the AI Tool.

D．Speech2Face: Neural Network Recognized You Behind a Picture.

10 . Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden

Hidden amongst the shops and cafes of colorful Chinatown at 578 Carrall Street, the walled Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden is a little oasis(乐土) in the city of Vancouver, BC. Popular with locals looking for a quiet walk, tourists looking for an interesting attraction, and film crews searching for locations that look like China, the Chinese Garden is top of most people’s lists for a shot of nature in the heart of the city. Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Park is a public garden that features a lily pond, pagoda(佛塔) and winding pathways — it’s open to the public during daylight hours and has no admission fee. The museum part of the park has an admission fee of $12 from October to April ($14 from May to September) and is open daily, apart from Mondays and Fridays from November 1 to April 30. Explore independently or take one of the 45-minute guided tours that are included in your admission fee to find out more about symbolism in the garden.

Entrance to the garden is at 578 Carrall Street — the public entrance is via the gate in the courtyard and the museum entrance is through the door next to it. Chinatown is within walking distance of most downtown hotels and is served by TransLink buses and the SkyTrain system, which stops at the nearby Chinatown-Stadium station.

Educational events run throughout the year and the garden hosts musical events, art exhibits and author talks, as well as festivals, Halloween celebrations and special one-off concerts. Traditional tea service, and calligraphy(书法) workshops take place all year round, but the garden’s biggest celebration comes during the Chinese Lunar New Year in February. Lanterns light up the garden for three weekends of fun, when the garden is magically transformed for this traditional Chinese festival.

1. How much should a visitor pay for visiting Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Park in Vancouver in October?

A．$26.

B．$14.

C．$12.

D．$0.

2. When can you visit the museum part?

A．Mondays in December.

B．Fridays in February.

C．Mondays in September.

D．Fridays in March.

3. Which events are held all the year around?

A．Educational events and author talks.

B．Calligraphy workshops and art exhibits

C．Traditional tea service and the lit lanterns.

D．Traditional tea service and calligraphy workshops.