1 . Mental health is something individuals should be taking care of, and here we recommend the following apps for you.
Meru Health
The app offers coaching and therapy programmes, which consist of 8-12 weeks of one-on-one consultations, ongoing chats with a personal coach or licensed doctor, and daily activities including mindfulness and emotional intelligence practices. The chat feature in the app offers users a mixture model where they can engage in texting, phone calls, coaching or clinical support. The app is free, but a referral (推荐) from a healthcare professional is a must to register for the programme.
Insight Timer
This meditation (冥想) app features a wide range of free meditation libraries, and offers guided meditations, music tracks and talks by leading researchers, psychologists and mindfulness experts. It also has live events like yoga, mood tracking, private mentoring, and workshops available. The advanced version, Member Plus, is $60 per year with a 30-day free trial if you sign up on their website.
Headspace
The app offers guided meditations, sleep meditations and breathing exercises that help users deal with stress and anxiety. It includes user-friendly content and appealing animations that help attract users from all meditation expertise levels. Headspace features a free ten-day introductory programme, but it also has two subscription choices: 12. 99 per month or $69. 99 per year.
Calm
The app offers “Sleep Stories” narrated by famous speakers, ten-minute Daily Calm sessions as well as a music library, short videos and mindful movement activities. Calm also provides a range of guided meditations with lengths of 3-25 minutes to fit the user’s schedule. The platform offers a seven-day trial programme at no cost and then has the choice of an annual subscription costing $ 69. 99 or a one-time purchase of $ 399. 99.
1. Which app can be used only through an expert’s recommendation?| A．Meru Health. | B．Insight Timer. | C．Headspace. | D．Calm. |
| A．It can receive users’ texts. | B．It can help users to feel relaxed. |
| C．It makes users enjoy music tracks. | D．It provides users with stories. |
| A．They are totally free for users. | B．They provide outdoor activities. |
| C．They focus on our mental health. | D．They teach people how to use apps. |
2 . Thousands of workers in the UK have a shortened week ahead of them as a large-scale four-day workweek pilot gets underway. Beginning this week, more than 3. 000 workers at 70 companies across diverse industries will get an extra day off every week. The six-month trial organized by 4 Day Week Global, is considered the largest experiment of its kind in the world.
“What is most exciting about the pilot is that we have a wide range of fields of economy participating.” said Joe Ryle, campaign director for the UK arm of 4 Day Week. “We’re hoping it will show that the four-day workweek is possible across the economy in the longer term. ”
Participating employers range from firms in the education sector to banking. IT. marketing, retail and hospitality businesses. The schedule is based on the 100-80-100 rule, which allows workers to earn 100%of their pay for 80%of their time for delivering 100% of output.
Employers have been eager to test programmes that offer workers more flexibility and a better work-life balance after workers quit their jobs at record rates. It has forced companies to find new ways to employ and retain(留住)talent, including bumping up pay and allowing more remote work. Cutting a full day off the workweek is yet another option companies can use to induce job seekers to work for them.
“We’ve seen a growing appetite for reduced work time,” said Joe O’Connor, CEO of 4 Day Week Global. “Employers are drawn to this idea as they see it providing them with a competitive advantage. Because of the pandemic(大流行病)，managers are more open-minded.”
For the workers’ part, expectations have also shifted dramatically since the start of the pandemic. “People’s expectations about what forms a reasonable life-work balance have changed,” O’Connor said.
“The four-day week is generally considered to be a triple-dividend policy-helping employees, companies, and the climate,” said Juliet Schor, a sociology professor at Boston College.
1. What is the purpose of the pilot according to Joe Ryle?| A．To test the effectiveness of the four-day workweek. |
| B．To help develop the economy during COVID-19. |
| C．To improve cooperation between different industries. |
| D．To increase employees'productivity within four days. |
| A．Work hard to get a pay raise. | B．Improve their productivity. |
| C．Keep a record of what they do. | D．Spend more time with their family. |
| A．Expect. | B．Force. | C．Allow. | D．Persuade. |
| A．Negative. | B．Unclear. | C．Favourable. | D．Doubtful. |
3 . Construction of Project Nexus is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2023. The 5-megawatt project will consist of three sites along canals in central California with widths ranging from 20 feet to 100 feet.
If the pilot project proves solar canopies(檐篷) are a cost-effective way to produce clean energy and save water, scores of similar installations could be built atop California’s canal network-one of the world’s largest water distribution systems.
“This is a really exciting project,” California Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot said last month. “It connects our efforts in California to improve water conservation and build drought resilience(抗旱能力) with the clean energy transition we're driving across California.”
Project Nexus was inspired by a 2021 study by University of California researchers that was published in the journal Nature Sustainability. Typically, 1%to 2% of the water that circulates through California's canals evaporates(蒸发), a number that is expected to increase due to the climate crisis.
Using data from satellites, climate models, and automated weather stations, the peer-reviewed study estimated that covering all of the approximately 4, 000 miles of California’s canals could extremely reduce evaporation, saving 63 billion gallons of water annually —comparable to the amount of water required to irrigate 50, 000 acres of farmland or meet the water needs of more than 2 million people.
Governor Gavin Newson has allocated additional funds to help local communities cope with water scarcity and encourage Californians to use less water. “Research and common sense tell us that in an age of intensifying drought, it's time to put a lid on evaporation,” said Jordan Harris, CEO of Solar AquaGrid, the company that is building the solar canopies.
The study found solar canals would be able to generate 13 gigawatts of clean power, equal to approximately one-sixth of the state's current installed solar capacity. This additional generation could help California achieve its goal of supplying at least 60% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030 and 100% by 2045.
1. What is the purpose of Project Nexus?| A．To enlarge the canal network throughout California. |
| B．To improve the quality of water used by local people. |
| C．To produce as much power as possible for California. |
| D．To help preserve California's declining water resources. |
| A．A study published in a magazine. | B．A clean water distribution system. |
| C．A peer-reviewed study evaluation. | D．A sudden thought of the researchers. |
| A．By making a comparison. | B．By listing scientific data. |
| C．By clarifying the process. | D．By explaining the reasons. |
| A．Climate change has a great effect on the water conservation. |
| B．Large amounts of clean water were produced by Project Nexus. |
| C．Project Nexus is the first-ever solar panel development in the world. |
| D．California's “solar canals” will save water and produce clean energy. |
4 . “Sorry, that’s incorrect.” Never had I thought that, with the simple word “substitute”, I would meet my Waterloo in a
The spelling competition is
Eventually, the day arrived. Seated onstage, holding my pen and paper
Watching the other contestants (选手) spelling out their words, I waited for my
I wrote down the first four letters on my
Making such a
| A．spelling | B．shooting | C．sports | D．beauty |
| A．impossibly | B．frequently | C．undoubtedly | D．initially |
| A．poetry | B．pronunciation | C．vocabulary | D．grammar |
| A．managed | B．performed | C．functioned | D．worked |
| A．planned | B．promised | C．ordered | D．requested |
| A．coin | B．memorize | C．use | D．write |
| A．casually | B．loosely | C．patiently | D．tightly |
| A．beating | B．aching | C．wondering | D．sinking |
| A．call | B．signal | C．turn | D．count |
| A．attractive | B．interesting | C．complex | D．easy |
| A．paper | B．book | C．screen | D．desk |
| A．Congratulations | B．Sorry | C．Yes | D．No |
| A．fortune | B．decision | C．mess | D．mistake |
| A．song | B．saying | C．lecture | D．speech |
| A．point out | B．insist on | C．subscribe to | D．lead to |
5 . My husband Robert and I had volunteered to help build an irrigation (灌溉) system for bananas in Zambia. The Heart of Africa Mission is run by local Zambians, with a focus on community development. We were there to share our agricultural (农业的) experience and knowledge with the African farmers.
We left snow-covered Alberta, Canada in January. We spent the next four weeks working side by side with the local Zambians in a banana plantation (种植园). The banana plantation would help make the Heart of Africa Mission self-supporting. It would also teach banana farming to the students there. Students would go on to teach others. It has done that and more. Through the jobs created, several families now have food, education for their children, and enough housing. The plantation is producing well and is a source of great pride for all who work there.
My husband worked hard at building the irrigation system. But the story he tells most often is of the young man who stopped us on one of our walks somewhere. He pointed to his bike, and laughing widely, told Robert, “Look, look, it still works.” Robert had repaired it for him. A bike in Zambia is like a truck in North America—necessary transportation for people and produce. Robert’s small effort made a big difference in this man’s life.
“We sure appreciate (感激) your sacrifice (牺牲),” our organizer often says. For us it was never a sacrifice, only an honor to have the chance to work in a place so far from our own, to be able to exchange ideas and thoughts. All this happened while living in a beautiful sunny country in the green of the rainy season, while at home in Alberta, the snow would cover the landscape (风景) for months. No, the volunteer work was never a sacrifice. It was only an honor.
1. What can we learn about the author from the first paragraph?| A．She likes to take adventures. | B．She is probably an expert in agriculture. |
| C．She started the Heart of Africa Mission. | D．She used to live in Africa for a long time. |
| A．Costly. | B．Tiring. | C．Challenging. | D．Fruitful. |
| A．To ask for help. | B．To express his thanks. |
| C．To show his cycling skills. | D．To tell them about his work. |
| A．It enabled her to work harder. | B．It brought her public recognition. |
| C．It made her appreciate her life more. | D．It allowed her to experience different things. |
6 . A group of researchers has developed a new material which is as soft as cotton but as strong as Kevlar and as conductive as many metals. It can be worn and washed like normal clothing and could eventually turn athletic clothes into smart “wearables”.
The so-called “carbon nanotube(纳米管)threads” work similarly to the wires in an EKG (心电图)monitoring device, which measures heart rhythms to detect heart conditions. But instead of having to be patched(贴上)onto the skin, they can be sewn into a T-shirt and worn like normal athletic clothes, according to a new study from researches at a Rice University Brown School of Engineering lab. And unlike wires. they say the threads can comfortably move with the wearer. and be washed, stretched and worn repeatedly without breaking down.
The Rice University lab first developed carbon nanotube fiber in 2013, and has studied its use in medical operations, such as in cochlear(耳蜗的) implants for hearing loss and to repair damaged hearts. But at the time, the original filaments (细丝) were too thin to be used by a standard sewing machine.
For this latest one, researchers worked with a rope-maker to weave the filaments together into a material similar to regular sewing thread that could be sewn into athletic clothes. The resulting “smart” shirt provides “soft, wearable, dry sensors for continuous” EKG monitoring, the study states.
Though likely a long way off from going into production for consumers. the material could eventually help replace heavy EKG monitors in medical settings and heart rate monitoring watches. With some changes, clothes with these fibers could eventually be able to track other vital signs, according to the researchers.
“You just don’t find soft, flexible, thread-like materials that are comfortable to the touch, that you can work with, that you can build a bridge or you can build a power line out of , but you can also run it through a sewing machine. ” said Oliver Dewy, a member of the research team. “Nothing else behaves like this. ”
1. What’s the feature of the new material?| A．It’s soft but not strong enough. |
| B．It’s flexible but not comfortable. |
| C．It can conduct electricity easily. |
| D．It’s too thin to be used by a standard sewing machine. |
| A．Measuring heart rhythms. |
| B．Being sewn into athletic clothes. |
| C．Helping patients with hearing loss. |
| D．Improving exercise capacity of athletes. |
| A．Favorable. | B．Doubtful. | C．Unclear. | D．Critical. |
| A．The Future of Sports Clothes |
| B．Portable Accurate EKG Monitoring Device |
| C．The Study of Carbon Nanotube Fiber |
| D．Measuring Heart Rate Through a Smart Shirt |
7 . A student who was preparing to graduate from school sent out invitations to her family in the hope they would be able to attend on the day.
It wasn’t until a
The card politely informed her that her
It
The image of the card has
| A．newspaper | B．book | C．letter | D．card |
| A．hoped | B．imagined | C．realized | D．reported |
| A．order | B．health | C．faith | D．fame |
| A．teachers | B．relatives | C．friends | D．classmates |
| A．congratulate | B．praise | C．forgive | D．respect |
| A．rule | B．reward | C．gift | D．result |
| A．quickly | B．naturally | C．suddenly | D．accidentally |
| A．in danger | B．in trouble | C．in return | D．in need |
| A．reads | B．tells | C．shows | D．spreads |
| A．moved | B．bought | C．designed | D．built |
| A．annoyed | B．satisfied | C．mixed | D．acquainted |
| A．addressed | B．attached | C．limited | D．exposed |
| A．invitation | B．ticket | C．envelope | D．stamp |
| A．understand | B．know | C．love | D．influence |
| A．tired | B．ashamed | C．scared | D．proud |
| A．made | B．won | C．gained | D．passed |
| A．relieved | B．surprised | C．terrified | D．confused |
| A．picture | B．flower | C．tear | D．smile |
| A．stranger | B．engineer | C．professor | D．student |
| A．mean | B．wonderful | C．selfish | D．brave |
8 . When I was a teenager, I knew nothing about mental health and I didn’t care about mental health. Why would I? Like my dad always used to say, “If it isn’t broke, don’t fix it!”
But, unfortunately my mental health did “break”. Aged 17 I developed anorexia(神经厌食症). I didn’t realise at the time. When I was 23, I was found severely clinically anorexic. I had fast-tracked treatment at The Maudsley Hospital and went through 2.5 years of treatment. People are always interested to know what helped me recover. Actually, it was simple: comedy.
I’m a professional talk show actor. Comedy, for me, began as a hobby and has unbelievably progressed into a job. One of the things that initially held my attention about talk show is how it plays with pain. Humour became a way of understanding things, then a way of explaining them. Now it’s become a way of helping other people.
The combination of being told to speak out about mental health and writing comedies to play jokes on myself, actually turned into the best type of treatment I could ever have had. Nothing has ever really helped normalise a thought or feeling quite like a joke that makes people openly say, “Me too!”
That’s why I’ve come up with a six-week comedy course aimed at people with mental health difficulties. It builds lasting friendships, fights against loneliness and normalises conversations around mental health; when audiences are laughing, they have to be listening, and when they’re listening, they can learn. This unique opportunity enables comedy to reach people in a completely different way to all the sob stories, shocking statistics and dry documentaries (纪录片) about mental illness, inspiring with positivity rather than turning to negativity.
Talk show was a must to my recovery. So, I want to pay that forward and show other people that your mental health doesn’t have to be “broke” before you can “fix it”.
1. Why is “anorexia” experience mentioned in the passage?| A．To provide exact examples about mental health. |
| B．To introduce a kind of treatment for mental health. |
| C．To stress the importance of caring about mental health. |
| D．To make a comparison between these two times of feelings. |
| A．It helps others. | B．It spreads humour. |
| C．It deals with pain. | D．It serves as a hobby. |
| A．The author is an active and ambitious person. |
| B．Comedy plays an important part in people’s life. |
| C．The author will pass on comedy to help others. |
| D．A six-week course is open to help the disabled. |
| A．My Life Is Full of Talk Show |
| B．Mental Health Should Be Fixed Earlier |
| C．Humorous Lifestyle — a Key to Curing Ourselves |
| D．Talk Show — an Efficient Way to Fix Mental Health |
9 . Imagine you’re moving to a new country on the other side of the world. Besides the geographical and cultural changes, you will find a key difference will be the language. But will your pets notice the difference? It was a question that nagged at Laura Cuaya,a brain researcher at the Neuroethology of Communication Lab at Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest.
Cuaya set out to find the answer. She and her colleagues designed an experiment with 18 volunteer dogs—including her two Border Collies, Kun Kun and Odin—to see if they could differentiate(区分) between two languages. Kun Kun and Odín were used to hearing Spanish;the other dogs Hungarian. The dogs sat still within an MRI machine, while listening to an adaptation from the story The Little Prince. They heard one version in Spanish,and another in Hungarian.
Then the scientists analyzed the dogs’ brain activity and they found a different activity pattern for one language versus(与……相比)the other. Andics, who leads the lab where the study took place, said, “The finding suggests that dogs’ brain can differentiate between these two languages. In terms of brain imaging studies, this study is the very first one which showed that a non-human species brain can discriminate between languages. ” They also found that older dogs brains’ showed bigger differences in brain activity between the two languages,perhaps because older dogs have more experience listening to human language.
Amritha Mallikarjun, who wasn’t involved in this study but has been working on similar research about dogs and language, said, “It is a very exciting study because it shows that the ability to grasp the sounds and rhythms of a familiar language is something accessible to non-humans.”“And while this work relied on brain imaging,” Mallikarjun said, “it would be worth investigating whether dogs could differentiate between languages in behavioural studies, too.”
1. What does the underlined phrase “nagged at” probably mean in paragraph 1?| A．Astonished. | B．Troubled. | C．Benefited. | D．Dominated. |
| A．tell different languages apart | B．adapt to a new environment |
| C．understand the Little Prince | D．make sense of Spanish and Hungarian |
| A．Researchers tested the dogs in random order. |
| B．It is a breakthrough on non-human brain imaging. |
| C．Diverse methods were adopted during the study. |
| D．The dogs must keep moving during the study. |
| A．Previous work has met many kinds of limitations. |
| B．Brain imaging studies are likely to be very successful. |
| C．Non-humans are less likely to understand a familiar language. |
| D．Behavioural studies on dogs will be a new research in the future. |
10 . Top Four Tourist Attractions in Denmark
Kronborg Castle
Kronborg has for quite some time been viewed as á significant illustration(例证) of a Renaissance(文艺复兴)palace. Development started in 1574 on an especially éssential strètch(延伸) of land on the Sound, the waterway that shapes a boundary between Denmark and Sweden. For quite a long time it safeguarded the Danish public and improved the terrific causes of state leaders.
Lair Gamle By
Anybody who gave to history won’t have any desire to miss this outdoor gallery in the city of Aarhus. Laid out in 1909, the gallery includes almost 100 authentic designs gathered from all edges of Denmark. A large part of the exhibition hall is built to look like what a town could have looked like during the lifetime of Hans Christian Andersen. Grown-ups and youngsters thoroughly enjoy the toy gallery, and few can oppose the charm of costumed re-enactors(重演者)exhibiting the way of life of a past period.
Legoland Billund
Open to the public in 1968, this attraction is particularly for children. The miniland show is especially attractive with its small presentation of numerous widely popular structures and places. It develops more than 50 million LEGO blocks. LEGOREDO Town provides visitors with a wild west feeling of experience while Knights’ Kingdom lays everything out for fantasy investigation.
Little Mermaid
The sculpture of The Little Mermaid sits on a stone in the Copenhagen harbor at Langelinie in Denmark. Sightseers visiting interestingly are much of the time amazed by the moderately little size of the sculpture. The Little Mermaid sculpture is just 1.25 metres highand weighs around 175 kg. Planned by Edvard Eriksen, the sculpture was raised in 1913 to celebrate a play of The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen.
1. What can a visitor do in Lair Gamle By?| A．Build Lego blocks freely. |
| B．Admire the Renaissance palace. |
| C．Get a wild west feeling of experience. |
| D．Experience the way of life of a past period. |
| A．Kronborg Castle. | B．Lair Gamle By. | C．Legoland Billund. | D．Little Mermaid. |
| A．In 1913. | B．In 1909. | C．In 1574. | D．In 1968. |
