1 . Can you stand on one leg for 10 seconds?
| Just 15 minutes a day of practice can be beneficial, but do more if you have time. Starting earlier helps: try the exercises below on a hard, level surface. |
| Easy Level: Standing on one leg—with your hands resting on a work surface if you’re feeling unsteady—see how long you can maintain your balance. Do this one while you’re brushing your teeth. |
| Medium Level: For this movement, start from standing and take a big step forwards, bending your front leg until your trailing knee just brushes the floor. Then push off your front leg and return to a standing position. |
| Hard Level: Try step-ups on to a step or box: put one foot on to a box and push through that heel to step up so both feet end up together. To ensure you aren’t using your trailing leg to help, keep your toes off the ground on that foot. |
Balance could be a matter of life and death. The World Health Organization estimates that 684,000 fatal falls occur each year, making falling the second leading cause of unintentional injury death. Some of these falls are caused by more serious conditions – but many aren’t. According to George Locker, a long-term practitioner of tai chi, a loss of balance is a medical problem that can’t be treated with drugs or surgery, despite its effects.
Increasingly, efforts are being made to remedy (补救) the balance problem among the groups already most affected by it. Tai chi, practiced by an estimated 50 million people in China, is an option. Studies have shown that as little as eight weeks of practice can improve older adults’ scores on the Tinetti test—a commonly used measure of competence in basic tasks such as rising from a chair and walking—as well as reducing fear of falling. Longer periods of study show further benefits.
Whatever activity you choose, the lesson is to work on your balance before you need to, not after it becomes an issue. As Locker puts it: everyone’s told to save money for their retirement, and nobody’s taught to save their balance. But both are difficult to get back once they’re gone.
1. What does George Locker think of a lack of balance?| A．It is costly to get treated with drugs and surgery. |
| B．It is a minor issue that doesn’t affect one’s overall health. |
| C．It is a problem without any medical solution. |
| D．It is a problem that can be easily fixed by exercising. |
A． | B． |
C． | D． |
| A．Balance is the top leading cause of sudden death from injuries. |
| B．It is essential for those affected by balance issues to seek help. |
| C．Tai chi is the most effective way to improve one’s balance. |
| D．It is wiser to work on balance as early as possible. |
2 . As Dr. Pedro Jose grows older, he keeps setting his goals higher. He believes people in every walk of life need to constantly stretch for new challenges. His daily juggling act is extremely demanding. He’s a doctor, professor, and volunteer medical director of Saint John Clinic for undocumented immigrants. He still pushes on continuing to publicize his agenda in the media and serving on numerous boards and foundations.
In 2002, Jose was named chairman of the board of the Hispanic Heritage Awards Foundation. The awards recognize Hispanics who make important contributions to life in America.
Jose believes the stories of Hispanic accomplishments can inspire all Americans. He adds, most important, the scholarships are offered by the foundation. Only two-thirds of Hispanics graduate from high school. To help others, you must be able to help yourself, and that begins with education.
Jose has received no shortage of honors of his own, including the prestigious MacArthur Fellowship and the Presidential Service Award. In 1994, Time magazine named him one of the nation’s 50 top leaders under the age of 40. And Hispanic magazine named him Hispanic of the Year in 2002. Jose’s autobiography, Waking Up in America, is now being made into a TV movie, starring Andy Garcia.
Jose’s fervent hope is that the movie will help change people’s attitudes about the homeless. He hopes it will show that beyond the hard label are human beings---people who did not choose to be poor. Homeless people have needs and feelings that are no different from anyone else’s. They need help, not judgment.
Most of all, though, Jose hopes that people will begin to realize the power they have to change things. There should never be another man in Bed 9, who died without anyone even knowing his name. There should never be another Giles Woodson, the man who was burned to death on the streets of Miami.
“As a nation, what makes us great is our individuality. But what makes us truly powerful is when we work together,” says Jose. “If people put their minds to it, this kind of suffering can be solved.”
1. How did Jose help the homeless?| A．appeal to the public to pay attention to this issue. | B．Provided good education for them. |
| C．Set higher goals to face the coming challenges. | D．Conducted medical research on them. |
| A．His success in the medical field inspired Americans. |
| B．He contributed a lot to helping people in need. |
| C．He developed good relationships with Hispanics. |
| D．He found few Hispanics graduated from high school. |
| A．his foundation provided scholarships for Hispanics |
| B．he changed his attitude towards the homeless |
| C．his accomplishments were widely acknowledged |
| D．he had a significant influence on the homeless |
| A．Be united and we will make the world a better place to live. |
| B．Governments are responsible for the problem of the homeless. |
| C．Do bear in mind that the homeless have suffered quite a lot. |
| D．With rights and power, the homeless can solve their problems. |
3 . 
No, it’s not their shoe size.
They read. At least two books a month. They’re also among the top 10 richest people in the world. And they’re not alone in their love for books, with 1, 200 other millionaires, who quote reading as a core part of their self-education.
You knew that reading books makes your life better. It’s not even all about money, fame and success. It’s about becoming a more knowledgeable and valuable person. Additionally, reading helps you prevent stress and keep depression at bay, while enhancing your confidence, improving your decision-making, increasing your empathy and overall satisfaction with life.
You know all the benefits of reading, so what’s stopping you from reading more books?
Time!
“I don’t have time to read.”
Have you said those words before?
You say it because...
you have an incredibly demanding college degree to study for…
your loved ones are sitting at home, counting on you to put food on the table…
you are too occupied with work to open a book…
But let’s imagine another reality for a second. What would your life look like if you read just two books every month?
Would you finally…
have what it takes to start that business?
be a better parent?
feel more fulfilled?
Hold on to that vision for a second. If you want to make it a reality, this email course, Time 2 Read, will be your guide for the next 10 days. It’s free of charge and specifically designed to help you take time back, start building a daily reading habit and turn wanting to read into actual reading.
Enter your email below to make time to read, start learning daily and become more valuable to the world.
You’ll be sent 7 lessons via email over the next 10 days, starting right after you sign up here. Each email contains a story, a principle, and an experiment. Get started, and your reading life will never be the same!
1. Where does this passage probably come from?| A．A leaflet publicizing a reading activity. |
| B．A website promoting a reading course. |
| C．A TV program advertising reading skills. |
| D．A handbook providing reading materials. |
| A．To express his admiration for them. |
| B．To indicate the importance of reading. |
| C．To highlight their time management skills. |
| D．To illustrate the success of the course. |
| A．Those who are willing to read more but struggle with time. |
| B．Those who are sick of making excuses to delay their life plans. |
| C．Those who are eager to become a millionaire like the four guys. |
| D．Those who are determined to be more and more self-disciplined. |
To: Anson Wong <mransonwong@email.com>
Re: Questions about online math contest
Date: June 18, 2023
Dear Mr.Wong,
Thank you for your email. We’re so glad your children are signed up to participate in our math contest. I hope it will be a rewarding and enriching experience for them.
You can access the training session and practice tests by logging into our website at www.mathcontest.com. Once you’re signed in, you will see several tabs on the left-hand side.
One of them will say “Enrolled.” If you click on the drop-down menu there, you’ll find the names of the children you registered. If you click on each name, you’ll be given the option of joining a training session or doing practice tests.
I hope that answers your question!
Please let me know if you need any further help.
Sincerely,
Bridget Pecolini
1. What can Gary do at the beginning of August?
| A．He can take a class to learn how to succeed. |
| B．He can do the contests from two years ago. |
| C．He can contact the contest organizers. |
| D．He can try the most recent practice contest. |
| A．She was checking in on him. |
| B．She was responding to his email. |
| C．She was looking for information. |
| D．She was asking him to pay. |
| A．It takes place on June 18. | B．It takes place on August 7. |
| C．It takes place on August 12. | D．It takes place on August 14. |
5 . Global surface temperatures last month were 2.25 degrees warmer than the 20th century average of 60.1 degrees, breaking previous records, from August 2016, by more than half a degree, according to NOAA researchers. “That to me is a really huge
The report
It wasn’t just the land that
“We’ve seen unheard-of warmth in the global ocean, and that’s definitely alarming because its effects
In fact, the report comes after a series of severe natural
“The scientific evidence is
| A．distance | B．jump | C．travel | D．flight |
| A．confirms | B．emerges | C．quotes | D．argues |
| A．holds | B．touches | C．surrounds | D．includes |
| A．boiled | B．cooled | C．stricken | D．disappeared |
| A．contributed to | B．suffered from | C．resulted from | D．devoted to |
| A．slowest | B．lowest | C．highest | D．fastest |
| A．enlarge | B．discharge | C．extend | D．undertake |
| A．creating | B．saving | C．remaining | D．disturbing |
| A．issues | B．debates | C．events | D．proposals |
| A．floods | B．disasters | C．storms | D．earthquakes |
| A．Though | B．Because | C．Unless | D．When |
| A．damage | B．destroy | C．decrease | D．increase |
| A．irresistible | B．unchangeable | C．inaccessible | D．unbearable |
| A．conveying | B．releasing | C．relieving | D．dismissing |
| A．predicted | B．expected | C．doubted | D．determined |
6 . As Frans de Waal, a primatologist (灵长动物学家), recognizes, a better way to think about other creatures would be to ask ourselves how different species have developed different kinds of minds to solve different adaptive problems. Surely the important question is not whether animals can do the same things humans can, but how those animals solve the cognitive (认知的) problems they face, like how to imitate the sea floor. Children and some animals are so interesting not because they are smart like us, but because they are smart in ways we haven’t even considered.
Sometimes studying children’s ways of knowing can cast light on adult-human cognition. Children’s pretend play may help us understand our adult taste for fiction. De Waal’s research provides another interesting example. We human beings tend to think that our social relationships are rooted in our perceptions, beliefs, and desires, and our understanding of the perceptions, beliefs, and desires of others — what psychologists call our “theory of mind.” In the 80s and 90s, developmental psychologists showed that pre-schoolers and even infants understand minds apart from their own. But it was hard to show that other animals did the same. “Theory of mind” became a candidate for the special, uniquely human trick.
Yet de Waal’s studies show that chimps (黑猩猩) possess a remarkably developed political intelligence — they are much interested in figuring out social relationships. It turns out, as de Waal describes, that chimps do infer something about what other chimps see. But experimental studies also suggest that this happens only in a competitive political context. The evolutionary anthropologist (人类学家) Brain Hare and his colleagues gave a junior chimp a choice between pieces of food that a dominant chimp had seen hidden and other pieces it had not seen hidden. The junior chimp, who watched all the hiding, stayed away from the food the dominant chimp had seen, but took the food it hadn’t seen.
Anyone who has gone to an academic conference will recognize that we may be in the same situation. We may say that we sign up because we’re eager to find out what other human beings think, but we’re just as interested in who’s on top. Many of the political judgments we make there don’t have much to do with our theory of mind. We may show our respect to a famous professor even if we have no respect for his ideas.
Until recently, however, there wasn’t much research into how humans develop and employ this kind of political knowledge. It may be that we understand the social world in terms of dominance, like chimps, but we’re just not usually as politically motivated as they are. Instead of asking whether we have a better everyday theory of mind, we might wonder whether they have a better everyday theory of politics.
1. According to the first paragraph, which of the following shows that an animal is smart?| A．It can behave like a human kid. |
| B．It can imitate what human beings do. |
| C．It can find a solution to its own problem. |
| D．It can figure out those adaptive problems. |
| A．We talk with infants in a way that they can fully understand. |
| B．We make guesses at what others think while interacting with them. |
| C．We hide our emotions when we try establishing contact with a stranger. |
| D．We try to understand how kids’ pretend play affects our taste for fiction. |
| A．Neither human nor animals display their preference for dominance. |
| B．Animals living in a competitive political context are smarter. |
| C．Both humans and some animals have political intelligence. |
| D．Humans are more interested in who’s on top than animals. |
| A．we know little about how chimps are politically motivated |
| B．our political knowledge doesn’t always determine how we behave |
| C．our theory of mind might enable us to understand our theory of politics |
| D．more research should be conducted to understand animals’ social world |
7 . I’m a student in my fourth year of a biomedical science degree at Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen, but I also work 38 hours a week at Sainsbury’s to make ends meet. I do three night shifts a week, plus overtime if I can get it. Monday is the most occupied day for me — I work from 10 pm until 8 am on Saturday and Sunday nights, earning just over £100 a night, and then I have to be at my first lecture at 9 am on Monday. By the time I finish lectures, at 2 pm, I’m exhausted, but I know I have to be back at work by 10 pm.
I constantly have to force myself to stay awake, and to be alert whatever it takes. A packet of Skittles and a Red Bull usually helps. The work I do at Sainsbury’s is very physical like stacking shelves. I’m lucky because I’m an active person and the amount I lift at work is nothing compared with the weights I lift in the gym. I know I have the strength to bear it.
I’m originally from Nigeria. I came here when I was seven, growing up in Croydon, south London. Money was tight. My parents gave me everything I needed, but there was no money to spend on luxuries. I worked hard at school though and, with the help of GT Scholars, I got some of the best A-level grades in my class.
Unfortunately, though I had applied for “settled” British residential status when very young, the Home Office waited until I was in sixth form to approve my application. That meant I wasn’t eligible for a student loan. The only way I could afford to go to university was that if I got a job that would pay for all my living costs and my parents, who work in market research, paid for my tuition fees. In Scotland, that’s about £7,000 a year.
I don’t have much time to socialize because of my job. Ideally, I would also like to have more time to study so I can excel at my course. Yes, I have a lot on my plate, but working hard isn’t new to me. Growing up, my parents and my mentors in the church and at GT Scholars cultivated in me the importance of working hard for what I want in life.
My dream is to do an MA in physiotherapy next year and then get a job working for the NHS. But right now, I’m just focused on trying to get the best grades I can. Whenever I find life hard, I tell myself this is about my future. I don’t need much, but I would like to worry less about money and have more free time. That is what I look forward to the most.
1. Why does the author work long hours and sometimes overtime every week?| A．To help his parents pay off the debts. |
| B．To pay for his tuition fees. |
| C．To prove his ability to earn money. |
| D．To pay for his own living expenses. |
| A．To stress his awkward situation. | B．To excuse himself of being sleepy. |
| C．To highlight his intense schedule. | D．To showcase his tough will. |
| A．responsible | B．initial | C．qualified | D．overwhelming |
| A．Ambitious | B．Diligent. | C．Sociable | D．Persistent. |
| A．Actions speak louder than words. |
| B．God helps those who help themselves. |
| C．A penny saved is a penny earned. |
| D．Where there is life, there is hope. |
8 . While more and more scientists are working on nonfiction science books for the general reader, I think we also need a change.
The typical expert-voiced monologues (独白) that scientists write are a wonderful component of the engagement effort, but the form is limited. Such books are largely ready people already willing to pick up a science book, or who are open to the authoritative academic’s voice telling them how to think. There are plenty of people who can engage with science but who find those kinds of books a sometimes unwelcome reminder of the classroom.
Following from my belief that science is for everyone, I suggest that publishers need to work with scientists to expand the kinds of books on offer, assured that there is an audience for them. Progress is possible. Many years ago, I realized it is hard to find books on the nonfiction science shelf that let readers see themselves as part of the conversation about science. So I thought about an entire book of conversations about science taking place between ordinary people. While “overhearing” those conversations, readers learn some science ideas. It’s a resurrection of the dialogue form, known to the ancient Greeks, and to Galileo, as a device for exchanging ideas, but with contemporary settings: cafes, restaurants, trains and so on.
I decided it would be engaging for the reader to actually see who’s having those conversations, and where, instead of describing them in words. This led me to realize that I was thinking about a powerful form of visual storytelling: Graphic novels for adults have matured and exploded in popularity in recent years. Spiegelman’s “Maus: A Survivor’s Tale” and Bechdel’s “Fun Home” are just two well-known examples.
But the storytelling tools of the graphic book have been little used to convey nonfiction science ideas to a general adult audience. The vast majority of contemporary graphic books with a science focus are presented instead as “explainer/adventure comics” for younger audiences. This is an important genre, but graphic books about science should not be limited to that.
And while there are several excellent graphic books for adults that include science, they typically focus instead on the lives of famous scientists, with discussion of the science itself as a secondary goal. Some excellent recent examples that balance the two aspects well include Ottaviani arid Myrick’s “Feyrunan” and Doxiadis and Papadimitriou’s “Logicomix”. The scarcity of science-focused non-biographical (非自传体的) graphic books for adults is especially true in my field of physics. So I decided that here was an opportunity to broaden the kinds of nonfiction science book available to engage the public.
1. It can be inferred from Para.2 that the expert-voiced monologues don’t appeal to _________.| A．those who are interested in scientific ideas |
| B．those who have no talents for scientific research |
| C．those who would like to know how scientists think |
| D．those who think science classes in school are uninteresting |
| A．announcement | B．comeback | C．explanation | D．representation |
| A．A collection of scientists’ life stories. | B．A book written by a Nobel Prize winner. |
| C．An adventure novel focusing on science. | D．A comic book conveying scientific ideas. |
| A．A well-known writer who writes to promote science among the public. |
| B．A possible way to get nonfiction science books to appeal to the public. |
| C．A new approach to have the public get interested in new scientific ideas. |
| D．An easy access for the public to have a general idea of what science is. |
9 . Of Special Interest to Freshman
| Freshman Seminars are small classes just for freshmen, with some of York’s most distinguished faculty members. Some seminars provide an introduction to a particular field of study; others take an interdisciplinary (跨学科的) approach to a variety of topics. All seminars provided a friendly environment for developing relationships with faculty members and peers. | STARS (Science, Technology, and Research Scholars) provides undergraduates of every year with an opportunity to combine research, course-based study, and development of mentorship skills. The program offers research opportunities and support to students historically underrepresented in the fields of natural science and quantitative reasoning, such as racial and ethnic minorities, women, and the physically challenged. More than 100 students each year participate in STARS, during the academic year or over the summer months. |
| Directed Studies is a selective freshman interdisciplinary program focusing on Western civilization that includes three yearlong courses —literature, philosophy, and historical and political thought — in which students read the foundational works of the Western tradition. | Perspectives on Science and Engineering is a lecture and discussion course for about 75 selected freshmen who have exceptionally strong backgrounds in science or mathematics. The yearlong course explores a broad range of topics, exposes students to questions at the frontiers of science, and connects the first-year students to York’s Scientific community. |
| Academic Advising is a collective effort by the residential colleges, academic departments and various offices connected to York University Dean’s office. Students’ primary academic advisors are their residential college deans, to whom they may always turn for academic and personal advice. The deans live in residential colleges and supervise the advising networks in the college. Students also have a freshman advisor who is a York faculty member or administrator affiliated with their advisees’ residential college. Each academic department has a director of undergraduate studies (DUS) who can discuss with students the department’s course offerings and requirements for majors. | Science and Engineering Undergraduate Research York is one of the world’s foremost research universities. Independent engineering research and design projects and scientific research are an essential part of undergraduate science education at York. Science students can begin conducting original research as early as the freshman year. Ninety-five percent of undergraduate science majors engaged in research with faculty mentors. |
| A．Freshman Seminars | B．Directed Studies |
| C．STARS | D．Perspectives on Science and Engineering |
| A．Academic Advising. | B．Directed Studies. |
| C．STARS. | D．Freshman Seminars. |
| A．The one who has already got a novel published. |
| B．A medalist of the International Mathematical Olympiad. |
| C．The one who has designed an original engineering project. |
| D．An applicant for York’s Scientific Community. |
10 . What’s so bad about processed foods?
Processed foods like chips, soda and frozen pizzas are full of salt, sugar and fat. Now scientists are trying to understand if there is something else about such foods that may be bad for humans. Already, the spread of cheap,
The researchers came up with a system that groups foods into four categories. The system says highly processed foods are made
Researchers at the National Institutes of Health conducted a four-week study involving 20 people. They found that people eat about 500 more calories a day when
In another study, researchers in France found people who ate more processed foods were more likely to have heart disease. A similar study in Spain linked eating more processed foods to a higher risk of death
When given less processed foods, people in the study
Kevin Hall is one of the researchers who led the study. He told the AP that processed foods
Limiting processed foods can be hard, especially for people with limited time and energy. “What
Another challenge is the broad range of processed foods, and
| A．organic | B．delicious | C．packaged | D．fast |
| A．examples | B．clues | C．contributors | D．signals |
| A．provide | B．suggest | C．mean | D．infer |
| A．specially | B．mostly | C．naturally | D．technically |
| A．remain | B．taste | C．become | D．seem |
| A．consumed | B．forced | C．deprived | D．fed |
| A．minimally | B．moderately | C．maximally | D．adequately |
| A．explained | B．monitored | C．cured | D．guaranteed |
| A．in general | B．in particular | C．in nature | D．in advance |
| A．preferred | B．produced | C．compared | D．processed |
| A．hunger | B．procedure | C．reaction | D．psychology |
| A．attempt to | B．intend to | C．tend to | D．mean to |
| A．strike a balance | B．run a risk | C．pose a threat | D．make a difference |
| A．frustrates | B．entertains | C．puzzles | D．inspires |
| A．predicting | B．imagining | C．assuming | D．distinguishing |
