1 . If you’ve scrolled through your Facebook feed recently, you may have noticed something surprising: lots and lots of short videos.
What makes this “Reels” feature strange is that it is hugely addictive, which I know quite well from my own personal experience. Last Friday, I took a break and hit on one short clip of someone making dinner and, well, the next time I looked up it was 20 minutes later and the blank document on my computer monitor was confirming to me that my work was still not done.
However, as silly as it seems, Reels-is actually super important, and is at the centre of a major battle between the world’s largest tech firms. The format (格式) was first pioneered by TikTok-the Chinese-owned video app that has taken the world by storm since it launched in 2016. Today, TikTok has around 23 million UK users every month-including basically every person you know under the age of 25. And that fact has made Facebook and its parent company, Meta, very nervous indeed. As TikTok has continued to boom, Facebook has actually fallen in popularity among “Gen Z”. The reason Tik Tok has proven such a powerful challenger to Facebook’s social media dominance is almost entirely down to these sorts of short-form videos.
The format is almost perfectly optimised to be as addictive as possible: Tik Tok’s app shows you a short-form video, and if you don’t like it, you can simply swipe it away and another one will start playing instantly. And because it is portrait, not landscape, videos look “right” when viewed on your phone. What’s also smart is that TikTok’s algorithm (算法) picks videos for you based on what you actually watch, and not what you say you want.
Facebook isn’t the only app trying to do what TikTok does so well. Instagram, which is owned by Facebook’s parent company Meta, has integrated Reels even more aggressively into its app. And even Google is nervous, launching its own TikTok-style video section of YouTube(which it owns)a couple of years ago. As things stand, though TikTok currently maintains a healthy lead in the category, both YouTube and Facebook have deep pockets-so expect to see even more Reels and Shorts popping up in your feed as this intense battle continues to rage. You won’t be able to take your eyes off them.
1. Why did the author mention his own experience in paragraph 2?| A．To illustrate the feature of short videos. |
| B．To stress the importance of short videos. |
| C．To prove his preference to short videos. |
| D．To introduce the functions of short videos. |
| A．It has shown the trend of the fall in popularity among “Gen Z”. |
| B．It is perceived as a potential threat to Facebook’s social media dominance. |
| C．Its number of registered UK users has reached 23 million since it launched in 2016. |
| D．It underestimates the essential role of short videos in competition with large tech firms. |
| A．The beautiful visual effects. |
| B．The high video quality. |
| C．The random recommendation. |
| D．The quick switch between videos. |
| A．The short videos have a profound impact on our daily life. |
| B．TikTok seems to be losing its advantage over short videos in the short run. |
| C．YouTube and Facebook may encounter financial difficulties in developing Shorts. |
| D．A growing number of tech firms have engaged in fierce competition for the short video market. |
2 . My wife always wanted a Vizsla, so when we got the house, the garden and everything sorted, we did some research and found a lovely breeder (饲养员) based in Scotland. He was in charge of everything, so a few months go by and the next thing I know, we’ve got a puppy!
I’ve grown up with animals all my life, and I’m so glad I have. I love the fact that I was never afraid of any animals. Although you do obviously have to be careful when introducing children to a dog they don’t know, because you don’t know how it’s going to behave, it always saddens me when I see children scared when they walk past Pedro. I think it’s great for kids to learn how to look after an animal.
And obviously for us, as a family, it’s brilliant because we take Pedro for so many walks. It’s a bit of a family bonding experience getting out in the fresh air; taking Pedro for a walk multiple times a day is just really lovely. Meanwhile, the most rewarding, I think, is just seeing how amazing he is with the kids. He is so calm, so protective, so loving, and we are his world.
I think the most challenging aspects with Pedro were when he was a puppy (小狗). He was pretty hard work. He was never aggressive, but he was quite bitey as puppies are, constantly pulling out your clothes and putting holes in them, which is very annoying. He chewed the furniture-my sofas are barely standing up; their wooden legs are almost in pieces. Obviously, the dog training in the house was quite stressful and his jumping at strangers in the park and running off was always quite scary.
As a new puppy owner, you’re overloaded with advice from social media, magazines, other dog owners and friends, so finding a source of information you trust is so important and can be a real turning point. I know what it’s like to be bombarded with conflicting information, so I would have really welcomed Royal Canin’s “One in a Billion” platform as a new puppy owner. It’s a one-stop shop for new dog owners: a single source of credible information that is so helpful in navigating the early stages of your puppy’s life.
1. What do we know about the author?| A．He is inexperienced in raising pets. |
| B．He is unsupportive of his wife’s desire. |
| C．He feels it a pity that children shy away from pets. |
| D．He thinks one should be cautious about raising pets. |
| A．Dangerous but loyal. | B．Playful and gentle. |
| C．Adorable but troublesome. | D．Annoying and fierce. |
| A．Dogs are man’s best friends. |
| B．It is worthless to have a dog. |
| C．Puppies are unfriendly to humans. |
| D．It is challenging to train a puppy. |
| A．To recommend a reliable platform. |
| B．To share a fun experience. |
| C．To offer evidence for an argument. |
| D．To advertise a practical product. |
3 . An experimental pill (药丸) looks set to cause more weight loss than existing treatments such as Ozempic, based on early trial results reported on 7 March.
The pill, called amycretin, led people to lose 13 per cent of their weight over three months, more than twice the amount seen with Ozempic.
Ozempic is a product name for the compound semaglutide. They work by copying a gut hormone (胃肠激素) called GLP-1 that is normally released after eating. This makes people feel full and reduces their appetite (胃口).
Amycretin, however, copies GLP-1 and a different hormone called amylin, which seems to make it more effective still—at least over the first three months of treatment. People taking amycretin lost 13 per cent of their weight in this period, Novo Nordisk announced on 7 March. This is more than the same amount for Ozempic of 6 per cent.
“However, we can only know for sure how the drugs measure up long term when they are compared under exactly the same condition in a single study,” says Drucker. “We need head-to-head trials.”
Another warning is that medicines that work by copying GLP-1 have been used for more than a decade and so their safety profile is well understood, which isn’t the case for copying amylin. Novo Nordiskhas also said that amycretin’s side effects were similar to those of Wegovy, which tend to be vomiting and diarrhoea (呕吐和腹泻).
“Being available in tablet form would be a great advantage for people who don’t like injections,” says Daniel Chancellor at global pharmaceutical business analyst Citeline. “An oral Pill is very attractive.”
1. How does Ozempic work to cause weight loss?| A．It takes the place of daily exercise. | B．It turns the blood sugar into hormones. |
| C．It produces a GLP-1-like hormone. | D．It copies a hormone called amycretin. |
| A．By doing head-to-head trials on the drugs. | B．By finding proper conditions for the drug. |
| C．By measuring the amount of the drug. | D．By conducting series of clinic trials |
| A．Warnings from failed cases. | B．Concerns for medicines copying amylin. |
| C．Positive effects of amycretin. | D．Composition of amycretin and its uses. |
| A．Positive. | B．Concerned. | C．Doubtful. | D．Objective. |
4 . Is forgiveness against our human nature? To answer our question, we need to ask a further question: What is the essence of our humanity? For the sake of simplicity, people consider two distinctly different views of humanity.
The first view involves dominance and power. In an early paper on the psychology of forgiveness, Droll (1984) made the interesting claim that humans’ essential nature is more aggressive than forgiving allows. Those who forgive are against their basic nature, much to their harm. In his opinion, forgivers are compromising their well-being as they offer mercy to others, who might then take advantage of them.
The second view involves the theme of cooperation, mutual respect, and even love as the basis of who we are as humans. Researchers find that to fully grow as human beings, we need both to receive love from and offer love to others. Without love, our connections with a wide range of individuals in our lives can fall apart. Even common sense strongly suggests that the will to power over others does not make for harmonious interactions. For example, how well has slavery worked as a mode of social harmony?
From this second viewpoint of who we are as humans, forgiveness plays a key role in the biological and psychological integrity of both individuals and communities because one of the outcomes of forgiveness, shown through scientific studies, is the decreasing of hate and the restoration of harmony. Forgiveness can break the cycle of anger. At least to the extent the people from whom you are estranged (不和的) accept your love and forgiveness and are prepared to make the required adjustments. Forgiveness can heal relationships and reconnect people.
As an important note, when we take a classical philosophical perspective, we see the distinction between potentiality and actuality. We are not necessarily born with the capacity to forgive, but instead with the potential to learn about it and to grow in our ability to forgive. The actuality of forgiving, in real situations, develops with practice.
1. What is Droll’s idea about forgiveness?| A．People should offer mercy to others. |
| B．Aggressive people should learn to forgive. |
| C．Forgiveness depends on the nature of humanity. |
| D．People who forgive can have their own welfare affected. |
| A．To fight is to grow. | B．To give is to receive. |
| C．To forgive is to abuse. | D．To dominate is to harm. |
| A．Favorable. | B．Reserved. | C．Objective. | D．Skeptical. |
| A．Forgiveness is in our nature. | B．Forgiveness grows with time. |
| C．It takes practice to forgive. | D．Actuality is based on potentiality. |
5 . Long believed to have little social structure, giraffes actually are socially complex, University of Bristol scientists suggest. Their social organization is comparable to that of elephants, dolphins and whales.
Lead author Zoe Miller started research work on giraffes in 2005. “I had noticed that giraffe population numbers were decreasing, and I realized that the tallest of all land animals had hardly had any scientific work done on them, which I just found unbelievable. I decided to devote my career to understanding this species better,” said Muller.
Muller and her team looked at research work done in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. Researchers then considered giraffes very unsociable and that they formed no long-lasting relationships. “However, this was not what I saw in Africa, and I started to question why they were described as having ‘little or no social structure’ when I could clearly observe them always together,” Muller said.
Muller was based in Kenya for five years, conducting research on giraffes and their social organization. She and her team found that giraffes are actually a highly complex social species that may live in matriarchal (母系的) social systems and include shared care of their young.
“Giraffes may take part in shared parenting of the young, and remain in groups of related females. These types of social organization are well-known in other species, for example elephants and whales, but nobody has ever before suggested that the same could be true for giraffes,” Muller said.
The grandmother giraffes stay in their family groups, passing on survival benefits in tough times to the younger members of the group. For example, they may know where there is water or where they can find food. “This is important information, as this means we should focus on protecting the older adult females, since they are important members to aid the survival of younger generations,” explained Muller.
1. What did Zoe Muller think of researchers’ work done in the 1950s-1970s?| A．Questionable. | B．Inspiring. | C．Reliable. | D．Creative. |
| A．Their population numbers are dropping. |
| B．They remain in groups of related males. |
| C．They have been well protected in the wild. |
| D．They take part in shared raising of the young. |
| A．They can help keep the balance of nature. |
| B．They can help researchers learn about giraffes. |
| C．They can pass on life skills to the younger generations. |
| D．They can help younger giraffes get on well with each other. |
| A．Secrets of Giraffes: The Older, The Smarter |
| B．Social Structure: A Gap in Animal Research |
| C．Giraffes: More Socially Complex than Imagined |
| D．Survival of Giraffes: The Role of Older Members |
6 . In November, National Geographic published its “The Cool List for 2024”, a collection of the most exciting destinations worldwide to visit next year.
Europe topped the list, with 13 locations, including traveling the entire continent by train. Six places in North America were named on the list, with three in the United States.
EuropeA standout location in Europe is Tartu, Estonia. According to Nat Geo, Estonians consider the city to be the “country’s cultural and intellectual heart”. Tartu is home to the country’s oldest university, a designated UNESCO City of Literature, and was selected as one of the European Capitals of Culture for 2024.
The AmericasThree places in the U. S. ranked as the most exciting destinations in 2024. Texas stands out among the list because, in 2024, people in central Texas will be able to see the total solar eclipse set for April 8.
AsiaSikkim, India, is one of the smallest states in the country. The area offers visitors the opportunity to go climbing. Over a quarter of Sikkim, India, is covered by Khangchendzonga National Park — a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
AfricaAccording to Nat Geo, Sierra Leone is a country to watch in 2024. The international airport in Freetown got a major renovation in 2023 and many roads are also being upgraded. The report mentions that tourism is blossoming in West Africa. Sierra Leone’s first Hilton is set to open its doors next year.
1. Which continent has the highest number of the listed destinations?| A．Europe. | B．The Americas. | C．Asia. | D．Africa. |
| A．Tartu. | B．Texas. | C．Sikkim. | D．Sierra Leone. |
| A．An art magazine. | B．A travel website. | C．A food menu. | D．A book review. |
7 . If your partner gets down on one knee to propose, or you get a call with the job offer, your reaction might be to shout it from the rooftops. But new research suggests that keeping good news a secret before telling someone else could make people feel more energized.
“Decades of research on secrecy suggest it is bad for our well-being. However, this work has only examined keeping secrets that have negative effects for our lives. Is secrecy inherently bad for our well-being or do the negative effects of secrecy tend to originate from keeping negative secrets?” asked lead researcher of the latest research Michael Slepian, PhD, a professor of business at Columbia University.
In the experiment, some participants were asked to reflect on the good news they kept secret, while others reflected on good news that was not secret, and then rated how energized the news made them feel and whether they intended to share the news with someone else. The researchers found that the participants who reflected on their positive secrets reported feeling more energized than the participants who thought about their good news that was not secret.
The research nuances our understanding of the science of secrets. Negative secrets tend to deplete us and have also been linked to anxiety and depression. Positive secrets, however, seem to have an energizing effect and make people alive. One factor could be that people often have different motivations for keeping good news to themselves. Those with positive secrets were much more likely to keep quiet for internal reasons, not because they felt any outside pressures.
“People sometimes go to great lengths to plan revealing a positive secret to make it all the more exciting. This kind of surprise can be intensely enjoyable, but surprise is the most fleeting of our emotions, ” Slepian said. “Having extra time days, weeks or even longer-to imagine the joyful surprise on another person’s face allows us more time with this exciting moment, even if only in our own minds.”
1. What did Michael Slepian think of the previous research on secrecy?| A．One-sided. | B．Pointless. | C．Convincing. | D．Pioneering. |
| A．they were optimistic and cheerful. |
| B．they were free from secrets. |
| C．they had undisclosed positive secrets. |
| D．they had shared good news with others. |
| A．Spoil. | B．Exhaust. | C．Confuse. | D．Panic. |
| A．Never reveal a secret casually. |
| B．Let your imagination run wild. |
| C．Be creative when surprising others. |
| D．Delay sharing a positive secret. |
8 . Whether you are planning a trip to London or simply have an interest in museums, these are some must-visit destinations.
The British Museum: Located in London, the British Museum is one of the oldest and most renowned museums in the world. It houses a vast collection of artifacts from different cultures and civilizations, including the Rosetta Stone, the Parthenon Sculptures, and the Portland Vase.
The National Gallery: Also located in London, the National Gallery is home to an impressive collection of Western European paintings, ranging from the 13th to the 19th centuries. Some of the highlights include works by Vincent van Gogh, Leonardo da Vinci, and Michelangelo.
The Natural History Museum: Another London-based museum, the Natural History Museum is known for its extensive collection of natural history specimens, including dinosaurs, minerals, and rare plants. It is a great place for visitors of all ages to learn about the natural world.
The Victoria and Albert Museum: Also known as the V&A, this museum is located in London and is dedicated to art and design. It houses a vast collection of objects, ranging from ancient Chinese ceramics to contemporary fashion.
The Tate Modern: Located in London as well, the Tate Modern is a modern art museum that houses a diverse collection of contemporary art, including paintings, sculptures, and installations. It is a must-visit destination for fans of modern and contemporary art.
These are just a few of the many museums in London that are worth visiting, each museum offering a unique and enriching experience. Bring your passport and go!
1. Where can visitors find an extensive collection of natural history specimens?| A．The British Museum. | B．The National Gallery. |
| C．The Tate Modern. | D．The Natural History Museum. |
| A．The Victoria and Albert Museum. | B．The Tate Modern. |
| C．The Natural History Museum. | D．The National Gallery. |
| A．Tourists planning to visit London. | B．Students studying art history. |
| C．Lovers collecting ancient artifacts. | D．Citizens interested in museums. |
9 . For the first time in its 100-year history, Walt Disney Animation has cooperated with an outside animation studio on a project. The result is lwájú, an interesting and original six-part series set in a futuristic version of Lagos, Africa. It was created with the Pan-African entertainment company Kugali and premieres (首映) on Disney+ on February 28.
lwájú is a story about Tola, a young girl from a wealthy family, and her best friend, Kole, a self-taught tech expert, and their discovery of the secrets and dangers hidden in their different worlds. The show explores inequality and the idea of challenging society’s standards. Like the Disney+ series Kizazi Moto: Generation Fire, Marvel’s Black Panther films, and the Netflix animated series My Dad the Bounty Hunter, lwájú is part of a genre (体裁) called Afrofuturism. It combines elements of science fiction, the culture and history of Africa and Africans, fantasy, and a vision of a better future.
The series was directed by Adeola, “lwájú was born from my personal inspiration to tell a story about Lagos because one of the unique things I noticed is how the geography actually supports the societal divide in a way that is very obvious,” Adeola told in the interview, “In Lagos, the wealthy people live on the island, and the working class and poor people live on the mainland. So you literally see a body of water separating rich and poor. And so I thought that was a really interesting foundation upon which to build a science-fiction story.”
Adeola called lwájú “a love letter to Lagos” and said every frame praises the city’s diversity and spirit. The characters, he explained, represent typical types of Nigerian people and they wear clothing inspired by traditional African textiles (纺织品).
While the series of films questions the divisions in society, Adeola said it also highlights the bravery required to disrupt them. He added that he hopes lwájú inspires audiences to find strength in unity and the courage to dream of change.
1. What’s the similarity between lwájú and other Disney+ series according to the text?| A．They are adventurous stories. |
| B．They explore inequality and challenge society’s standards. |
| C．They combine African traditional culture and futurism. |
| D．They are produced by Walt Disney Animation independently. |
| A．The society is rarely divided by geography. |
| B．Generally, upper class live on the mainland. |
| C．Adeola’s friend inspired him to film lwájú. |
| D．The poor and rich are separated quite clearly. |
| A．Break. | B．Obtain. | C．Estimate. | D．Distinguish. |
| A．Imaginary and humorous. | B．Innovative and realistic. |
| C．Attractive and inspiring. | D．Critical and multicultural. |
10 . An ancient, interdependent relationship that contributes to food systems and ecosystem stability across the globe could be changing.
Many flowering plants can self-pollinate (自花传粉), or transfer pollen between their own blossoms for seed generation and reproduction, but most of these plants have relied on pollinators such as butterflies and bees to reproduce. Now — during declines reported in many pollinator populations — a new study on the evolution of one flower species’ mating system has revealed a remarkable change that could worsen the challenges faced by the plants’ insect partners.
The flowers reproductive evolution may be linked to environmental changes such as habitat destruction and rapid ongoing decreases in pollinator biodiversity, according to Samson Acoca-Pidolle, who led the study published December 19 in the journal New Phytologist.
Comparing seeds of wild field pansies (三色堇) collected decades ago in France with the plants’ modern descendants. Acoca-Pidolle and his colleagues discovered that today’s flowers are smaller and produce less nectar (花蜜) as a result of increased self-pollination, which has direct impacts on pollinator behavior.The pansies of the past self-fertilized less and attracted far more pollinators than those of the present, according to the study.
“It seems that it’s only traits (特性) that are involved in plant-pollinator interaction that are evolving, ” said Acoca-Pidolle. The changes could restrict the plants’ ability to adapt to future environmental changes and have implications for “all of floral biodiversity” — potentially decreasing flowering plants’ genetic, species and ecosystem variation.
“This may increase the pollinator decline and cause a negative feedback cycle,” study coauthor Pierre-Olivier Cheptou told CNN.” If plants produce less nectar, there will be less food available to pollinators, which will in turn accelerate the rate at which the animals’ numbers decrease“, he explained.
“The major message is that we are currently seeing the evolutionary breakdown of plant pollinators in the wild,” said Cheptou, an evolutionary ecologist at the French National Centre for Scientific Research and professor at the University of Montpellier.
1. Which of the following may contribute to the flowers’ reproductive evolution?| A．Changed behaviour of pollinators. | B．Severe pollution to the habitats. |
| C．Continuing decline in pollinator biodiversity. | D．Increased plant-pollinator interaction. |
| A．They self-pollinated less. | B．They had a better mating system. |
| C．They attracted less pollinators. | D．They were fertilized by themselves. |
| A．The flowering plants may have more variations. |
| B．The evolution of wild plant pollinators is collapsing. |
| C．The numbers of the animals will increase more rapidly. |
| D．The plants will adapt to the environmental changes better. |
| A．Pollinator Populations: Declining. | B．Flowering Plants: Selfing. |
| C．Interdependent Relationship: Maintaining. | D．Floral Diversity: Increasing. |
