1 . What’s your first memory? Whatever it is, you’re bound to treasure it. But can we actually trust them? Nothing about memory is simple. Memory is malleable. What we remember is not necessarily what happened. A memory is not a recording. It’s more like a dramatic reconstruction and one that we can keep changing without realizing it.

For any experience to be remembered, it has to be encoded (编码). This encoding is not any kind of direct translation, though. It’s a rich and complex process that creates associations and meanings. We might be remembering something very similar, but slightly changed and colored by our own sets of associations.

Psychologist Elizabeth Loftus produced groundbreaking research on eyewitness testimony (证据). Her work showed that memories can easily be influenced, even after they’ve been created. For example, if two eyewitnesses talk with each other, their memories of events often change, absorbing what they’ve heard from the other one — but they won’t realize this has happened. Similarly, witnesses who are shown an image of an innocent person, can sometimes stick it onto their memory of the actual event — a process known as unconscious transference (无意识的转移). It is estimated that around 70% of wrongful convictions (定罪), later overturned by DNA evidence, are due to mistaken eyewitness testimony.

In some cases, memories can even be deliberately created and implanted. The Lost in the Mall experiment took a test group of subjects and talked to them in depth about key childhood memories while also adding an invented one — the experience of having been lost in a shopping center. It was found that between a quarter and a third of subjects not only accepted this new memory as genuine but enriched it with specific details.

Most of us have certain key memories of being a very young child. But research suggests that they’re highly unlikely to be actual memories due to the way memory is stored in the baby brain. Your precious first memory may well not be a real memory, and we’re all perhaps living in our imaginations more than we realize.

1. What does the underlined word “malleable” in paragraph 1 mean?

A．Trustworthy.

B．False.

C．Easily changed.

D．Deeply impressive.

2. Which will influence the memory of eyewitnesses?

A．Powerful DNA evidence.	B．Pictures stuck in their memory.
C．Reduced accuracy of convictions.	D．Exchanged information between them.

3. What can we learn about “The Lost in the Mall” experiment?

A．It was designed to investigate mistaken eyewitness testimony.

B．Its subjects could recall specific details of a shopping center.

C．Its subjects made believe that they had been lost in a shopping center.

D．It demonstrated that invented experiences could be fixed in one’s memory.

4. What can be a suitable title for the text?

A．The Unreliable Nature of Memory.	B．Revised Eyewitness Testimony.
C．Reflection on Sweet Childhood.	D．An Exploration of Truth and Fiction.

2 . Wall Street bankers, investors and economists have for months argued over whether a US recession (衰退) is coming. But for some Americans, the unforgiving economic pain typical during recession has already set in.

Al Brown and his wife faced a tough call in May when reviewing their weekly budget: what’s a higher priority, more food or dish soap? Based in Concord, North Carolina, Brown was the main breadwinner for his wife and their two children. Then in April, he was let go from his job as a global director of business development at software company Cascade. He’s since quit his gym membership and sold various items around his home, including a computer and yard furniture. His 13-year-old son quit the basketball team.

Brown, 37, now spends his days searching the internet for jobs or reaching out to potential connections. After filing over 600 applications, only a handful have produced interviews. That’s a far cry from the labor-market strength described in government figures.

Investors and economists have been expecting a recession since last year as the Fed raised interest rates to control inflation (通货膨胀). That caused companies to focus on profitability over growth, which meant cutting spending and reducing their workforces.

“I think it’s unlikely that I will get another good paying job with great benefits like the one I had,” McCollum, who lives in Cleveland, Ohio, said. More Americans are likely to encounter similar cases, some experts predict.

“As we go through this year, and into next year, there is still going to be this focus on trying to reduce costs, and it is going to result in more unemployment,” said Thomas Simons, a senior economist at Jefferies. “The impact of layoffs, currently concentrated among white-collar workers, will last throughout the economy through a ‘big pullback in overall spending’,” Simons said. “Consumer spending accounts for about two-thirds of economic output, so if more Americans are forced to cut back because they were laid off, that might throw the US economy into a recession.”

1. What are some Americans currently going through?

A．They can’t afford necessities of life.	B．They’ve lost interest in high-end gyms.
C．They are badly treated by their bosses.	D．They have difficulty making ends meet.

2. What does the author want to demonstrate through Brown’s job hunting?

A．One should try various ways to find a job.

B．American labor market is not that friendly to job-seekers.

C．Few companies are interested in middle-aged job-hunters.

D．The government provides accurate figures of the job market.

3. How do companies deal with the economic struggles?

A．By employing more workers.	B．By changing interest rates.
C．By giving priority to profits.	D．By cutting employees’ allowances.

4. Which statement will Thomas Simons probably agree with?

A．Laid-off workers tend to go into debt.

B．Lower consumption may worsen the current situation.

C．Americans will spend more to increase economic output.

D．Companies are to blame for the unemployment of white-collar workers.

3 . Medical Examination Instructions

These medical instructions are being issued as your immigration (移民) application has reached the stage where medical examination results are required.

When, who and how to complete your Immigration Medical Examination

You are required to have the medical examination within 30 days of the date of this letter; your medical examination must be performed by a doctor from the IRCC list of Panel Physicians; book an appointment with a Panel Physician in your area as soon as possible.

Once your medical examination has been completed, the Panel Physician will submit medical results to IRCC for assessment. To obtain a copy of your Immigration Medical Examination, please ask the Panel Physician at the time of your appointment.

Paying for your Immigration Medical Examination

Any costs related to the medical examination are your responsibility and are payable to the Panel Physician at the time of examination. This payment is for the Panel Physician's services and cannot be returned even if your immigration application is refused or the validity period (有效期) of your immigration medical examination ends.

Note: If you are qualified for coverage under the Interim Federal Health Program, the costs related to your immigration medical examination may be covered by the IFHP. Please confirm with the Panel Physician in your area that they are registered with the IFHP.

What must I bring to my appointment?

★ The attached Medical Report form

★Identification, including your passport if one is available (Proof of identity must include at least one government-issued document with photograph and signature, such as a passport.)

★Eye glasses or contact lenses (隐形眼镜), if worn

★Four recent photographs

★For individuals qualified for Migration Medical Examination coverage under the Interim Federal Health Program, please bring one of the following documents:

●Refugee Protection Claimant Document

●The Interim Federal Health Certificate

●Acknowledgement of Claim and Notice to Return for Interview

If available, you may be offered vaccinations (接种疫苗) by the Panel Physician.

1. After your medical examination, _________.

A．the previous health reports ought to be consulted

B．you will submit the results to IRCC for assessment

C．the Panel Physician will present the results to IRCC

D．you will surely obtain a copy of examination results by the physician

2. If your immigration application is refused, which statement is right about the costs?

A．The IFHP will cover them.	B．They cannot be returned.
C．The Panel Physician will pay in cash.	D．They will be returned if you apply.

3. Which of the following must be brought to the appointment?

A．Proof of identity.	B．The Federal Health Certificate.
C．The application form.	D．Medical examination instructions.

6 . In Belgium, a company called HydroVolta is improving ways to take salt water and turn it into fresh water under the Horizon-funded SonixED project.

The vast majority of the earth’s water is salt water. Only 3% is fresh water and less than one third of that is accessible, the rest being locked away in glaciers and groundwater. “We will need to treat salt water so people can drink it and industry can use it,” said George Brik, chief executive officer of Hydro Volta. “But with current technologies, desalination (脱盐) requires high operational costs. On top of that, existing technologies use high amounts of energy and chemicals.”

The basic technique now to turn salt water into fresh water is electrodialysis (电渗析), where a kind of membrane (隔膜) is used to separate salt from water. But the method has a weak point: the membrane gets dirty easily and requires chemicals and high pressure to clean. That in turn involves large amounts of energy. Under SonixED, HydroVolta has developed ultrasound technology that keeps the membrane clean in a much more efficient way.

Energy use in this field depends on pressure, which is measured in a metric unit known as bar. Existing technologies to desalinate seawater take around 50 to 80 bar, while the new desalination technology uses just one to three bar. What’s even better is that a greater amount of fresh water can now be generated. “Existing technologies waste around 60% to 65% of the seawater that’s taken in,” said Brik. “Our new technology improves the situation. If we take in 100 litres of seawater, we can produce 65 litres of drinkable water.”

HydroVolta thinks this technology will be beneficial to larger companies that generate drinkable water as well as to industrial businesses that need water to fuel their operations. Meanwhile, Brik says the new desalination technology may need a push from governments to encourage a bigger demand. “They can be the first customers,” he added.

1. What do George Brik’s words in Paragraph 2 imply?

A．Treating salt water is of great importance.

B．The world is facing a serious water shortage.

C．Better desalination technologies are needed.

D．Current desalination technologies are no longer useful.

2. What is the problem with electrodialysis?

A．It consumes too much energy.

B．The membrane is rare to find.

C．The water it produces is a little salty.

D．It requires complex ultrasound technology.

3. What do we know about the new desalination technology?

A．It takes more energy than existing technologies.

B．It produces clean water more efficiently.

C．It gives up the use of membrane to function.

D．It needs more seawater to produce fresh water.

4. Which statement will Brik probably agree with?

A．HydroVolta can solve the water crisis worldwide.

B．The new desalination technology needs official support.

C．HydroVolta has great difficulty in finding its first customers.

D．The new desalination technology is unsuited to small companies.

7 . The power of human language comes not only from the precision of its signals and the complexity of its grammar but also from its links to cognition (认知). Babies as young as 3 months have begun to link language and core cognitive capacities.

Previous work in the lab had found that for babies aged 3 to 4 months, listening to both human vocalizations (发声) (their native language) and non-human primate vocalizations (calls of monkeys) boosted cognition. It remained unknown whether all human languages would have this advantageous effect.

In a new study, the researchers considered English-acquiring 3-to 4-month-old babies’ responses to two non-native languages (German or Cantonese) — in the context of the classic object categorization task. In this cognitive task, babies first viewed a series of “familiarization” images from one object category (e.g., dinosaurs). Then they viewed two new “test” images at the same time: a new example from the familiarized category (e.g., another dinosaur; “a familiar object”) and a new model from a novel category (e.g., a fish; “a novel object”). Babies’ ability to distinguish between the familiar and novel test images, measured by their looking times, indicates whether they have formed the object category.

Crucially, babies’ success in the task depends upon the sound information that accompanies the visual images presented during familiarization. “We found that German, which is phonologically (音系地) ‘near’ to English, facilitated object categorization. But Cantonese, which is phonologically ‘distant’, did not,” said Danielle Perszyk, lead author of the study.

“Babies’ responses to the two non-native languages tested, considered in combination with their responses to English and to the sounds of monkeys，are consistent with the possibility that babies’ earliest links to cognition originate from two distinct mechanisms. Only one of them is used specifically for human speech,” she added.

When babies are 3 to 4 months old, vocalizations of non-human primates may boost their cognition by engaging another system, one not specialized for speech. However, the cognitive advantage is short-lived: only lasts for 2 to 3months. The study also provides the first evidence that babies’ increasingly precise cognitive tuning to the sounds of their native language sets restrictions on the range of human languages they will link to cognition.

1. What can we know about babies aged 3 to 4 months according to previous work?

A．They get a cognitive bonus after exposure to animal sounds.

B．They can tell human languages from those of animals.

C．They have a gift for mastering diverse languages.

D．They show no interest in non-native languages.

2. What does Paragraph 3 mainly talk about?

A．An evaluation of babies’ learning ability.

B．A story regarding babies’ ability to distinguish images.

C．An experiment on babies’ ways of native language learning.

D．An object categorization experiment on babies’ cognitive link.

3. Which of the following may Danielle Perszyk agree with?

A．People may prefer certain languages at a young age.

B．Babies may adopt different systems to build cognitive links.

C．Babies’ cognitive links are dependent on their learning habits.

D．People can develop early cognitive links through familiar languages.

4. What may babies’ precise cognitive tuning to sounds of their native language bring about?

A．Improving their speech processing system.

B．Enhancing their desire to pick up new languages.

C．Limiting their cognitive associations with other languages.

D．Affecting their ability to distinguish between different languages.

8 . Whales are known for their majestic (雄伟的) songs that travel through the ocean depths, but the reasons behind this behavior have long puzzled scientists. Recent research reveals this mystery, suggesting that whales possess a unique voice box that enables their powerful voice, a feature not found in other animals.

In a study published in the journal Nature, Coen Elemans and his team from the University of Southern Denmark examined the voice boxes. By conducting experiments, the researchers identified the tissues responsible for producing sound.

Whales, whose ancestors were land-dwellers around 50 million years ago, have developed their voice boxes over millions of years to adapt to underwater communication. Unlike humans and many other mammals (哺乳动物) , whales lack vocal cords and instead have a unique U-shaped tissue in their voice boxes. This specialized structure allows them to intake large volumes of air and generate sounds by pushing this tissue against a cushion of fat and muscle, a mechanism essential for their deep-sea sound.

The significance of this research is highlighted by Jeremy Goldbogen, an associate professor at Stanford University, who describes it as the most comprehensive study to date on how whales vocalize. He emphasizes the need for further exploration to these marine giants. For instance, humpback whales are known for their sound that can travel vast distances across oceans, serving as a form of communication within whales.

Joy Reidenberg, a whale expert, says, “More experiments are needed to confirm the study’s conclusions and understand how these creatures use their voice boxes to communicate in the ocean.”

1. What does the research find?

A．Whales may make sound underwater.

B．Whales communicate in a special way.

C．What brings about whales’ strange behavior.

D．What makes whales’ loud sound possible in the ocean.

2. In which paragraph can we know how whales sing?

A．Paragraph 3.

B．Paragraph 4.

C．Paragraph 5.

D．Paragraph 2.

3. What does Jeremy Goldbogen think of the study?

A．Mysterious.

B．Ineffective.

C．Inadequate.

D．Creative.

4. What may be the suitable title for the text?

A．Evolution Of Whale Communication Skills	B．Research On How Whales Make Sounds
C．How Whales Communicate Underwater	D．How Scientists Research Whales’ Sound

9 . Early one morning, servers at an Egyptian restaurant began their usual preparations for the day. They laid out rows of desserts. But the offerings weren’t for customers. Instead, within an hour, staff from an organization called Tekeya had arrived to take away 135 portions of perfectly eatable dishes. The desserts — made a day earlier — weren’t considered fresh enough to eat.

Throughout Egypt, which boasts a rich culinary (烹饪的) history, such views aren’t uncommon. Now, though, with a global reflection on the food chain and its role in the climate crisis, attitudes in Egypt are slowly changing.

The restaurant is one of around a dozen across the Egyptian capital that Tekey’s staff visits each day in a quest to stop fit-for-consumption food from being dumped. Restaurants pay a small annual fee that allows them to alert Tekeya’s staff whenever they have unsold food. Personal users of Tekeya’s app can then buy that food at half price, or either the restaurants or the users can request Tekeya to deliver the food to a food bank or charity of their choosing. In total, up to 40 plates are saved from going to the trash each day.

“I’ve seen several platforms helping fight food waste across Europe. It’s uplifting to find one that does the same here in Egypt, ” says the manager, who has been using the app for three years.

In 2019, Menna Shahin had an idea particularly inspired by a festival, which brings about both celebration and waste. “I would put so much thought into how to deal with food responsibly without harming the environment, and how to minimize my excess (过度的) usage,” Ms. Shahin says. “I thought to myself, why not assist everyone to deal with their excess food wisely?”

Ms. Shahin ended up co-founding Tekeya along with her husband, Max Hartzen. By Tekeya’s second year, some 10, 000 discounted meals were ordered during one month, with users choosing to donate roughly a quarter of those to charities.

1. Why were the desserts in paragraph 1 not for customers?

A．They were sold out.	B．They were not eatable.
C．They had gone sour.	D．They were not fresh enough.

2. What does the underlined word “dumped” in paragraph 3 mean?

A．Thrown away.

B．Kept up.

C．Squeezed out.

D．Tracked down.

3. What does paragraph 5 mainly talk about?

A．How a festival is celebrated.	B．How waste comes about.
C．How Tekeya is originated.	D．How food is dealt with.

4. Which best describes Tekeya?

A．It takes ages to see its effect.	B．It has produced good results.
C．It needs to be widely applied.	D．It has received sharp criticism.

10 . You may have read that to stay fit and healthy, you need about 30 minutes of exercise each day, at least five days a week. New research suggests that the time we need to spend on daily workouts could be less than that.

Edvard Sagelv, a researcher at UiT The Arctic University of Norway, was part of a team that found being sedentary (久坐的) more than 12 hours a day was associated with a 38 percent higher death risk. This was only the case for individuals who managed less than 22 minutes of medium to high intensive physical activity a day, however, and it is relatively easy to achieve that minimum by taking a brisk (轻快的) walk.

“In research on physical activity, fast walking is estimated to be four kilometres an hour,” he said. Although it may not seem like a lot, it depends on a person’s fitness level. “It is interesting that 4 km/h — a pace achievable for the vast majority of the population — is what it takes to really invest in your physical health,” he added.

For a walk to positively affect your heart, which will then impact your brain and your circulation, you need to “feel it”. To feel the work your body is doing, you need to walk at 4 to 6 kilometres an hour. If you wear a fitness tracker, aim for more than 100 steps a minute.

A recent study published by researchers at the Cambridge University found that just 11 minutes a day of moderate-intensity physical activities — a brisk walk — was enough to lower the risk of diseases such as heart disease, stroke and a number of cancers.

Lead author Soren Brage was not surprised by the findings. “Doing some physical activities is better than doing none. This is also a good starting position — if you find that 75 minutes a week is manageable, then you could try stepping it up gradually to the full recommended amount,” he said. The point is that a relatively short period of high-intensity exercise isn’t just better than nothing; it has a measurable and positive impact on health.

1. What is the recommended pace for fast walking?

A．7 kilometres per hour.	B．8 kilometres per hour
C．9 kilometres per hour.	D．4 kilometres per hour.

2. How can people “feel it” when working out?

A．By putting into more effort.	B．By wearing less clothing
C．By walking at a quick pace.	D．By joining a group.

3. What point does the last paragraph try to make?

A．People should exercise 75 minutes a week.

B．It pays to increase the intensity of workouts.

C．People should stop being sedentary immediately.

D．It's important to measure the impact of exercise.

4. What does the text intend to do?

A．Reflect the influence of a new study.	B．Share the findings of a new research.
C．Assess a research process.	D．Clarify a research method.