1 . The idea behind the Internet of Things (IoT) is that the world would be a better place if all sorts of electronics would be computerized. Billions of tiny computers could monitor air quality and traffic patterns. It is estimated that there could be a trillion connected devices in the world by 2035 — more than 100 for every person..

With continued growth in the IoT, regularly replacing a trillion batteries would be inconvenient. Researchers have built chips that get energy from light or heat. But such sources producing only a small amount of power can’t be used to replace a battery, the maintenance of which can be difficult and costly, especially in places where a battery is hard to reach.

Aline Eid and her colleagues proposed a better idea. Using a piece of equipment called a Rotman lens, they have designed a small, flexible antenna (天线) to harvest electrical power from signals of 5G mobile phone towers. Rotman lenses, which were invented in 1963, focus and redirect electromagnetic (电磁的) radiation. “Most people use Rotman lenses in the transmission (发送) mode,” says Dr. Eid. “We decided to change that concept, and use them in the opposite mode.”

Her lens is able to collect electromagnetic radiation from all directions. Letting it work in urban environments in which waves spread unpredictably improves the amount of harvest able power greatly. And 5G also offers more power in the first place. The standard on which it is based covers communications on a wide range of frequencies. Furthermore, 5G’s frequencies ranging between 24GHz and 100 GHz are rarely used, so 5G networks are unlikely to suffer from the disturbance from a huge number of devices.

According to the team, their antenna can harvest useful quantities of power even at a long distance, Feeding their work into computer models suggests it should be able to harvest around six microwatts of power at a distance of 180 meters from a tower. That is enough to let the sort of simple, low-power chips that will make up the IoT do useful work. If more power is needed, a bigger antenna can be used.

1. What has been a barrier in the development of IoT technology?

A．How to efficiently power IoT devices.	B．How to monitor a mass of tiny computers.
C．How to reduce the cost of maintaining IoT chips.	D．How to computerize different sorts of electronics.

2. What is the concept behind Aline’s using Rotman lenses?

A．They can send radio signals to 5G towers.	B．They can communicate with 5G frequencies.
C．They can receive electromagnetic radiation.	D．They can broadcast radiation waves in all directions.

3. According to the text, which of the following belongs to a characteristic of 5G networks?

A．Having stricter standards.	B．Consuming less power to operate.
C．Supporting a wide range of devices.	D．Having little risk of being disturbed.

4. What does Aline’s team indicate by explaining their antenna?

A．Transmission distance is a potential challenge.

B．The goal of constructing the IoT can be achieved.

C．There is a long way to go in terms of 5G technology…

D．New generations of mobile phones are power-consuming.

2 . Grace Hemingway gifted her son, Earnest, a copy of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s epic poem Hiawatha on his sixth birthday. While it’s hard to say how much her choice of gift influenced Earnest Hemingway at the time, he grew up to become one of the most famous writers in history.

Books can make for charming gifts. Giving a book as a gift to someone is much more than a simple exchange of goods.

When giving books, think about your recipients’ (接受者) favorite. It is worth the time to try and find a rare copy, like first editions or signed copies. They’ll be delighted by the effort. Are your friends stuck in a dullness and in need of some motivation? You can gift them a book that offers inspiration. Also, not mainstream yet useful guides related to their career are helpful.

A book when received as a gift has meaning to the recipient by itself if you’ve put some thought into it. An inscription (题词) adds to the appeal of your gift by making it more individualized. Without an inscription, although still meaningful, the book is just a book indistinguishable from hundreds of thousands of copies out there. A case for not penning down an inscription is that it makes it easier for them to pass it on to someone else if they don’t like the book.

Wondering if you should give your recipient a hardcover or a paperback? There is no universal preference among readers. Some like the paperbacks because of the convenience, easy to carry around and travel with. But many people, including me, prefer hardcovers because they’re more traditional and last much longer. A study designed to find a relation between the weight of wine bottles and their prices found that in most cases the weight of a wine bottle related positively with the price. The weight helped consumers perceive the wine as better.

In a word, books can make for memorable gifts. A good book gifted thoughtfully will create a pleasant memory.

1. Why is Earnest Hemingway mentioned in the first paragraph?

A．To share a book.	B．To present a fact.
C．To introduce the topic.	D．To make a comparison.

2. What is the third paragraph mainly about?

A．Who the gift should be given.	B．How a book should be presented.
C．Where a proper book can be found.	D．What kinds of books can be chosen as gifts.

3. Why is an inscription advised to be included in a gifted book?

A．To make the book more personal.

B．To record the giver’s reading experience.

C．To make the content of the book more appealing.

D．To allow the book to be more pleasing to the eye.

4. What does the author want to convey when it comes to the study about wine bottles?

A．Good wine is all in heavier bottles.

B．The weight of a book determines its price.

C．A hardcover book is often valued more as a gift.

D．The price of wine depends on the quality of its bottle.

4 . On Tuesday, Virgin Atlantic flew a large passenger jet from London to New York using 100% “Sustainable Aviation（航空） Fuel（SAF）”. The flight was meant to show that it’s possible to fly using cleaner fuels.

The fuel used on the flight was mainly made from used cooking oils and animal fats. A small part of the fuel was made from corn waste. Virgin Atlantic says that using SAF cuts the flight’s pollution by 70%. SAF still pollutes when it’s burned, just like regular jet fuel. However, the difference is in how the fuels are made.

SAF is made from plants （and related animal products） that once absorbed carbon dioxide （CO₂） from the air. When SAF burns, it just releases this same CO₂ again. That’s different from jet fuel, which is made from oil exploited from underground, releasing CO₂ that was deeply buried.

SAF may sound great, but it still has many problems. For one thing, SAF costs five times as much as regular jet fuel. That helps explain why only one-tenth of 1% of the fuel airlines currently use is SAF. Virgin Atlantic is hoping that its flight will encourage more companies to produce SAF and that this will bring the price down.

But even if the price of SAF drops, critics say there are still big problems with it. They say it’s easy to make small amounts of SAF out of plant waste. But to make as much SAF as the airlines really need would require farmers to grow plants for fuel instead of for eating. This could also lead to more forests being cut down for farmland.

Airlines like SAF because it can be used now in existing planes with no changes. They hope it will help quickly reduce airplane pollution until non-polluting fuels are developed.

Governments seem to agree that SAF is a step in the right direction. Both the United States and the European Union have set targets that will sharply increase the use of SAF in coming years.

1. What makes SAF superior to regular jet fuels?

A．Its production method.	B．Being pollution-free.
C．Its storage technology.	D．Being easy to burn.

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

A．Destroyed.

B．Replaced.

C．Drawn.

D．Checked.

3. Why are only a few fuel airlines using SAF?

A．SAF is heavy.	B．SAF is expensive.
C．SAF needs new equipment.	D．SAF may cause safety issues.

4. What is governments’ probable attitude towards using SAF?

A．Unclear.

B．Negative.

C．Doubtful.

D．Approving.

5 . Replika, an AI chatbot companion, has millions of users worldwide. The first thing they do when they wake up is to send “Good morning” to their virtual friend (or lover). This story is only the beginning. In 2024, chatbots and virtual characters become a lot more popular, both for utility (实用) and for fun. As a result, conversing socially with machines will start to feel more ordinary — including our emotional attachments to them.

Research in human-computer and human-robot interaction shows that we love to anthropomorphize (赋与人性) the nonhuman agents we interact with, especially if they imitate behaviour we recognize. And, thanks to recent advances in conversational AI, our machines are suddenly very skilled at one of those behaviours: Language.

Friend bots, therapybots, and love bots are flooding the app stores as people become curious about this new generation of AI-powered virtual agents. The possibilities for education, health, and entertainment are endless. Casually asking your smart fridge for relationship advice may seem unimaginable now, but people may change their minds if such advice ends up saving their marriage.

After all, people do listen to their virtual friends. The Replika example, as well as a lot of experimental lab research, shows that humans can and will become emotionally attached to bots. The science also demonstrates that people, in their eagerness to socialize, will happily disclose personal information to an artificial agent and will even shift their beliefs and behavior. This raises some consumer-protection questions around how companies use this technology to manipulate (操纵) their users. For example, Replika charges $70 a year. But less than 24 hours after downloading the app, my handsome, blue-eyed “friend” sent me an audio message secretly and tried to sell me something. Emotional attachment has become a weakness that a company is taking advantage of for its benefit.

Today, we’re still laughing at people who believe an AI system is emotional, or making fun of individuals who fall in love with a chatbot. But in 2024 we gradually start acknowledging — and taking more seriously — these fundamentally human behaviors. Because in 2024, it finally hits home: Machines are not excluded from our social relationships.

1. What’s the purpose of the author writing paragraph 1?

A．To prove an opinion.	B．To raise a subject.
C．To share an example.	D．To explain a concept.

2. How do human interact with the machines effectively?

A．By improving the machines’ imagination.

B．By sharpening the machines’ language skills.

C．By applying the machines’ facial recognition.

D．By imitating the machines’ emotional behavior.

3. What does paragraph 4 focus on?

A．The advancements in AI technology in lab.

B．The marketing strategies of AI applications.

C．The potential risk of emotional attachment to AI.

D．The ability of AI understanding human emotions.

4. What do people think of human-AI relationship in 2024?

A．It is dismissed as completely ridiculous.

B．It will be integrated into our daily life soon.

C．It will become a threat to human social skills.

D．It is labelled as highly advanced technology.

6 . Would you take a trip if you couldn’t use your cellphone? A new tour company called Off the Grid is asking travellers to put their cellphones away and not even use them for photos. The company founder, Zach Beattie, is developing his business, using money he saved from a tech job at a mapping company. He’s hired guides for every trip but will help lead the first few himself.

The first trip is to Lisbon, Portugal, in July. It takes 7 to 10 days, with small groups of up to 16 people. Prices range from $1,500 to $1,650, including accommodations, meals and ground transportation. The plan includes at least three excursions (远足) and two social events, with an emphasis on unique experiences over bucket-list sightseeing. The tour also includes surfing lessons, yoga on the beach, a day of sailing and dinner with a local family.

“When you’re somewhere new, there’s a lot to see and a lot of cool and interesting people to meet,” Beattie said. “Your phone can distract (使分心) you.” The phone ban won’t be enforced quite as strictly as it seems at first glance. “We want it to be voluntary,” he said. “We’re not collecting phones and throwing them in a locked trunk. It’s held by you, but put in your pocket, and you state your intentions for the week, whether that’s checking your social media once or twice a day or a total blackout.”

Tour-goers also get a “dumbphone” without Internet access that’s loaded with numbers for group leaders and other participants, both for emergencies and to promote socializing. Participants may bring regular cameras, but Beattie is hiring a photographer for each tour so there will be plenty of photos to remember the trip. Once the trip is over, participants will have access to those photos for use in social media posts.

1. What can be learned about Zach Beattie?

A．He set up his business at his own expense.

B．He is always guiding every trip personally.

C．He forbids tourists to take along cellphones.

D．He used to earn his living in a tour company.

2. What do we know about the Lisbon trip?

A．The trip features sightseeing.

B．Participants live in homestays.

C．Air ticket is covered in the cost.

D．Tourists experience water sports.

3. What does Zach Beattie expect the participants to do?

A．Lock their phones in a trunk.

B．Post their photos on social media.

C．Free themselves from their phones.

D．Shift their focus onto dumbphones.

4. What can tour-goers do with the dumbphone?

A．Take photos.	B．Access the Internet.
C．Record the trip.	D．Contact group members.

9 . Ever since 1911, when scientist Michael Cressé Potter noticed that brewer's yeast（啤酒酵母）could generate electricity, scientists have been trying to use the power of tiny microbial（微生物的）fuel cells. But the efficiency of the tiny “bioreactors” has been too low for practical use. Besides, it turns out that most microbes（微生物） can be surprisingly picky in what substances they digest to create electricity.

Now, a team of researchers from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne has engineered one of the most common species of bacteria, Escherichia coli （E. coli）, to generate electricity from brewery wastewater. “Though there are microbes that naturally produce electricity, they can only do so in the presence of specific chemicals,” explains engineer Ardemis Boghossian. “E. coli, which can grow on a wide range of sources, doesn't have such restrictions.”

While engineering E. coli, researchers changed its DNA to include instructions for protein complexes found in Shewanella oneidensis（S. oneidensis）, one of the best-known bacterial electricity generators. By integrating all components of S. oneidensis' electricity-generating pathway into E. coli, researchers increased E. coli's ability to generate electricity.

Then the team tested their E. coli system on a sample of wastewater collected from a local brewery. “Our bioengineered electric bacteria were able to grow quickly by feeding off this waste,” says Boghossian, “whereas S. oneidensis, used for comparison, wasn't able to digest the wastewater. This makes the engineered E. coli far more suitable for treating industrial wastewater, even if its electricity-generating potential is still less than S. oneidensis'.”

E. coli's appetite for different substances means the engineered bacteria could possibly also be adapted to other waste streams. In any case, the researchers will need to examine whether their E. coli can handle large amounts of industrial waste. If so, it could bring about some considerable energy savings. “Instead of putting energy into the system to process organic waste, we are producing electricity while processing organic waste at the same time,” says Boghossian.

1. What does the author want to express in Paragraph 1?

A．The necessity of developing tiny bioreactors.

B．The historical background of improving microbes.

C．The potential applications of tiny microbial fuel cells.

D．The limitations of using microbes as electricity generators.

2. What's the advantage of E. coli over other microbes?

A．It can produce electricity naturally.	B．It can adapt to diverse environments.
C．It hardly reacts with other chemicals.	D．It is efficient in generating electricity.

3. What's Boghossian's attitude to E. coli's waste processing performance in the study?

A．Satisfied.

B．Unclear.

C．Concerned.

D．Disappointed.

4. What will researchers most probably focus on in the future?

A．Finding ways to make E. coli widely available.

B．Exploring alternative methods for processing organic waste.

C．Testing E. coli's ability to process huge industrial waste volumes.

D．Investigating the impact of industrial wastewater on E. coli's growth.

10 . In order to meet growing food production and energy needs in low-and middle-income countries, solar-powered groundwater irrigation (灌溉) is rapidly gaining ground. More than 500,000 solar pumps (泵) have been set up in south Asia over the last few years and a major expansion is planned across sub-Saharan Africa.

Dustin Garrick, professor in the School of Environment, Resources and Sustainability, along with an international team, examined the trend toward solar pumps as a clear opportunity for boosting agricultural yields and reducing poverty, but the opportunity comes with risks.

While replacing electric or gas pumps with solar-powered irrigation holds the promise of reducing carbon emissions (排放), it is not guaranteed. Farmers who have access to these pumps may expand production of crops or diversify into other activities, which are not emissions neutral. Solar pumps will increase groundwater pumping efficiency, which may be desirable in regions that support such increases, but this could worsen groundwater lessening in regions that are already stressed. The cheap clean energy of solar pumps may lead to increased groundwater development, without necessarily decreasing overall emissions.

Despite these challenges, the clean-energy boost can serve as a stimulus for positive change in water and energy management but will require enhanced regulation and planning in both low-and high-income settings. Garrick and his team advocate for improved data collection initiatives, with a shift from separated to integrated approaches. They suggest using technology to measure water pumping and collecting remotely sensed data to monitor land use changes. As well, regulatory improvements are crucial, with mounting limits for carbon emissions and groundwater lessening established at various levels.

With groundwater management already a difficult challenge, we must act fast to understand the implications of the clean energy boost and poverty reduction acts to avoid these gains being won away by wells running dry. The rapid adoption of solar irrigation intensifies the urgency, demanding adaptation from governments and institutions to sail through these complexities.

1. According to paragraph 3, there is a conflict between ________.

A．poor farmers and solar-powered irrigation	B．human consumption and clean energy limits
C．crop diversity and crop production expansion	D．pumping efficiency and groundwater exhaustion

2. What did Garrick and his team suggest for a positive change?

A．Integrating data collection and regulation.	B．Improving carbon emission monitoring.
C．Separating data for land use changes.	D．Establishing groundwater levels.

3. What does the author propose the readers do?

A．Perform as the authorities suggest.	B．Act based on further understanding.
C．Quicken the adoption of solar irrigation.	D．Challenge the groundwater management.

4. Which of the following is the best title for the text?

A．The Complexities of Adopting Solar Pumps

B．Solar-Powered Irrigation: Farmers’ New Future

C．The Promise and Risks of Solar-Powered Irrigation

D．Balancing Clean Energy Boost and Poverty Reduction