1 . Las Vegas can offer a lot more than you expect. Here are the best guided tours to help visitors make the most of their Sin City getaway.
Big Bus Las Vegas — Open Top Night TourAdmire the glittering lights downtown on this evening double-decker bus tour. Along the drive, you’ll pass well-known buildings before hopping off to enjoy the free light shows on Fremont Street. Tour-takers praise the guides for their informative, friendly account.
Passengers can board the buses at the LINQ Promenade starting at 7 p.m. each evening.
Cowboy Trail Rides — Red Rock Canyon Sunset Horseback RideWhen you need a break from the city life, put on a cowboy hat and boots for a sunset trail ride through Red Rock Canyon. On the ride, you’ll follow a guide through the picturesque desert landscape, watching for wildlife. Travelers warn that it can get chilly on the ride, so they advise wearing warm layers.
Trail Rides are offered Tuesday through Sunday.
Papillon Grand Canyon Helicopters — Grand Celebration TourPapillon Grand Canyon Helicopters’ Grand Celebration tour offers bird’s-eye views of sought-after sights, like Eagle Point and Lake Mead. The tour also includes a Champagne picnic. The pilots and staff earn praise for their friendliness and professionalism.
There are several daily departure options.
Secret Food Tours — Las Vegas StripEvery day Secret Food Tours take groups of 10 participants to five-star restaurants on the Strip to sample a variety of cooking delights, including pizza, chocolates and lobster. During the walking tour, highly praised guides teach tourgoers about the city’s food and culture. Travelers say the food on the tour is plentiful and tasty, but they warn that you’ll be doing a lot of walking.
Tickets include all food tastings.
1. What can visitors do during the Open Top Night Tour?| A．Admire charged light shows. | B．Explore well-known buildings. |
| C．Board buses on Fremont Street. | D．Enjoy an evening double decker bus tour. |
| A．Visitors can try a horseback ride. |
| B．Visitors can have some food to taste. |
| C．Visitors can enjoy views from high in the air. |
| D．Visitors can learn about the history of Las Vegas. |
| A．Secret Food Tours — Las Vegas Strip |
| B．Big Bus Las Vegas — Open Top Night Tour |
| C．Papillon Grand Canyon Helicopters — Grand Celebration Tour |
| D．Cowboy Trail Rides — Red Rock Canyon Sunset Horseback Ride |
2 . Want to explore new cultures, meet new people and engage in meaningful pursuits? You can do all the three with Global Development Association (GDA). No matter what life stage you’re at, wherever you go, and whatever project you undertake with us, you’ll create positive changes in a poor and remote community.
We welcome volunteers from all walks of life and backgrounds. While the majority of our volunteers are between the ages of 17 and 24, we’re currently in need of volunteer managers aged 25 to 75, who play a very important role in the safe and effective operation of our programs. Our positions include project managers, mountain leaders, and communication officers.
Your chosen role could vary from enhancing a community’s access to clean drinking water to preserving valuable local cultures. Or perhaps you might design adventure challenges to train our young volunteers.
Not only will you be aiding the personal growth of our young volunteers, but you’ll also be picking up new skills and expanding your cultural insights. You’ll likely meet individuals who could become lifelong friends.
This summer we have both 4-week and 7-week programmes:
Country | Schedule | |
4-week programmes | 7-week programmes | |
Algeria | 5 Jul. — 1 Aug. | 20 Jun. — 7 Aug. |
Egypt | 24 Jul. — 20 Aug. | 19 Jun. — 6 Aug. |
Kenya | 20 Jul. — 16 Aug. | 18 Jun. — 5 Aug. |
South Africa | 2 Aug. — 29 Aug. | 15 Jun. — 2 Aug. |
GDA ensures that volunteers work with community members and local project partners where our help is needed. All our projects aim to promote the development of poor and remote communities.
There is no other chance like a GDA programme. Join us as a volunteer manager to develop your own skills while bringing benefits to the communities.
Find out more about joining a GDA programme:
Website: www.glodeve.org
Email: humanresources@glodeve.org
1. What age group does GDA primarily target for volunteer managers?| A．17—24. | B．25—40. | C．25—75. | D．17—75. |
| A．Egypt | B．South Africa | C．Kenya | D．Algeria |
| A．explore new cultures | B．protect the environment |
| C．gain corporate benefit | D．help communities in need |
3 . The Himalayan mountains are increasingly filled with mounting waste left by mountaineering activities over the years. There is no official data, but Nepal’s Department of Tourism estimates（估计）that on Qomolangma alone, there is nearly 140,000 tons of waste.
Now some of that material is finding its way to local craftswomen（女工艺师）, thanks to a new plan led by Shilshila Acharya. Acharya owns Avni Center for Sustainability, a waste processing business in Kathmandu. She has been working with the cleaning activity since 2019, targeting mountains such as Qomolangma, Makalu, Dhaulagiri, Ama Dablam and Annapurna.
“Metals go through the recycling（回收利用）process, but we were not able to find a way to recycle these ropes and small cooking gas cans,” she says. It occurred to her that the non-recyclable waste could be reused, but it wasn’t until she met Maya Rai at an event that a solution was born. Rai, helped connect Acharya with Sunita Chaudhary and her team of Tharu craftswomen in the hope of turning the mountain waste into economic opportunity.
“People like me, who are far from the mountains but belong to the local Tharu community, are using our traditional skills to change this waste into something entirely new,” Chaudhary says.
Finished crafts are sold at craft exhibitions. The craftswomen are paid according to how many items they make and sell, earning an average of 400 Nepali Rupees per half-day’s work. With flexible hours, the project gives women an opportunity to earn money even as they keep their household responsibilities.
1. What is the trouble for the Himalayan mountains according to paragraph 1?| A．No true data about waste. | B．Tons of mounting waste. |
| C．Mountaineering activities. | D．Lack of funds for environment. |
| A．The recycling process. | B．Meeting Rai at an event. |
| C．A cleaning activity in 2019． | D．A visit to Chaudhary’s house. |
| A．They learn new skills. | B．They receive fixed pay. |
| C．They sell crafts at exhibitions. | D．They explore the Himalayan mountains. |
| A．Mountaineering Adventures in the Himalayas |
| B．Exploring Traditional Skills of Local Craftswomen |
| C．Crafting Economic Opportunities from Mountain Waste |
| D．Promoting Tourism in Kathmandu |
4 . Established in 1986, the James Beard Foundation assists culinary (烹饪的) professionals who plan to further their education at a culinary school having official permission. International students may qualify for many, but not all, of our programs, and are encouraged to apply. As of 2024, we will be offering the following programs.
The Jean-Louis Palladin Professional Work/Study Grant (补助金)Chef (厨师) Jean-Louis Palladin is considered one of the culinary talented people of the 20th century. The James Beard Foundation is proud to offer the Jean-Louis Palladin Professional Work/Study Grant. Created to keep up the mission and programs of the Jean-Louis Palladin Foundation, the project will provide two yearly grants up to $4,000 to working chefs.
The Chef Mashama Bailey Tuition Waiver (学费减免)Chef Mashama Bailey is a graduate of ICE’s Culinary Arts program in 2001. She is the executive chef/co-owner of The Grey, in Savannah, Georgia and Austin, Texas. This tuition grant, for $20,000, was established to honor her achievement. Preference will be given to applicants who can communicate a clear personal interest and appreciation for regional food, particularly southern regional food in America.
The FCI Legacy of Excellence Tuition WaiverThe French Culinary Institute(FCI)was established in 1984 in New York City, with a focus on French technique as the foundation for teaching professional cooking. This tuition grant, for $15,000, was established to honor the legacy of FCI. Preference will be given to applicants who have a desire to one day be the head chef of a restaurant.
Johnson & Wales University Tuition WaiverUp to one waiver of $3,000 will be offered toward tuition at Johnson & Wales University campus in Providence or Charlotte, North Carolina. The award is renewable up to four additional years (for a total of $12,000). To remain qualified for the award, the student must keep satisfactory academic performance.
1. To get the highest award, which of the following can one apply for?| A．The Jean-Louis Palladin Professional Work/Study Grant. |
| B．The Chef Mashama Bailey Tuition Waiver. |
| C．The FCI Legacy of Excellence Tuition Waiver.. |
| D．Johnson & Wales University Tuition Waiver. |
| A．An applicant who wants to be a head chef. |
| B．An applicant who must be a working chef. |
| C．An applicant who is interested in southern American food. |
| D．An applicant who graduated from Johnson & Wales University. |
| A．In a novel. | B．In a history book. |
| C．In an education magazine. | D．In a travel brochure. |
5 . Dr. Janet S. Choi, a doctor at Keck Medicine of USC, wanted to know whether recovering hearing with hearing aids (辅助设备) may increase the chances of living longer.
“The group of patients who are using hearing aids regularly have a 24% lower risk of death compared to the group who never use hearing aids,” says Choi. The findings do not prove that it’s the hearing aids that lead to longer life. It could be that people who use hearing aids regularly are also more likely to put off isolation (孤独), remain more active in socializing with other people or have reduced risk of falls, which could explain why people who never use hearing aids likely die more prematurely than those who use them regularly. The effect holds up even when the researchers consider differences such as age, ethnicity, education and medical history.
Choi knows from personal experience the difference hearing aids can make. She was born with hearing loss in one ear. And for years she says she resisted the idea of wearing hearing aids, given that her hearing was very good in one ear. But when she became a surgeon, she realized she was missing out. Now she uses hearing aids regularly.
There can be several limits to recovering from hearing, including the cost of examining and the cost of hearing aids. But the technologies have improved and there are more affordable choices compared to several years ago. Still, some people avoid wearing them due to shame or the annoyance of getting used to them.
So, if you have hearing aids sitting in the back of a drawer, not being used, Choi says, try them again. She recommends new users wear their hearing aids every day for 30 ongoing days to get used to them.
1. What did the study find about patients often wearing hearing aids?| A．They are at risk of more falls. |
| B．They more possibly hate isolation. |
| C．They usually have good medical history. |
| D．They are more likely to communicate with others. |
| A．Early. | B．Unexpectedly. | C．Unhappily. | D．Suddenly. |
| A．To list an unusual example. |
| B．To state some pleasant scenes. |
| C．To pity people with hearing loss. |
| D．To prove the benefit of using hearing aids. |
| A．The high cost of hearing aids. |
| B．The process of examining hearing. |
| C．The rules of protecting hearing aids. |
| D．The troubles of recovering from hearing. |
6 . Five years ago, French navy officer Jérôme Chardon was listening to a radio program about the journey of the bar-tailed godwit, a bird that migrates 14,000 kilometers between New Zealand and Alaska. Chardon understood how treacherous the journey would be, as heavy storms frequently hit Pacific island communities. Yet, somehow, bar-tailed godwits routinely pass through the area uninjured. Chardon wondered whether learning how birds traveled could help coastal communities avoid natural disasters.
This past January, a team from France’s National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) began experiments designed to test Chardon’s idea. Researchers with a project led by Frédéric Jiguet from NMNH equipped 56 birds of five species with cutting-edge animal tracking technology. The team members were ferried to remote islands in French Polynesia, where they attached tags (标签) using tracking technology. These tags sent the birds’ locations to the International Space Station, which bounced the data back to scientists on Earth who could then follow the birds — waiting to see how the birds responded to natural disasters.
The project is focusing on birds’ ability to hear infrasound, the low-frequency sound humans cannot hear but that the researchers believe is the most likely signal birds would use to sense storms and tsunamis (海啸). In a 2014 study, scientists tracking a kind of golden-winged birds in the central and southeastern America found that the birds flew up to 1,500 kilometers to escape from an outbreak of tornadoes (龙卷风) that killed 35 people. The birds fled at least 24 hours before any extreme weather hit, leaving the scientists to believe that they had heard the storm system from more than 400 kilometers away.
The team plans on tagging hundreds more birds across the Pacific to prepare for a potential tsunami. “I think if there’s one wave that spreads across islands, we can get data from different species at different locations,” says Jiguet. “That will say it’s worth continuing to tag and to develop local systems to better analyze this. There are chances that we will develop a bird-based tsunami early warning system.”
1. Which of the following best explains the word “treacherous” underlined in paragraph 1?| A．Strange. | B．Amazing. | C．Dangerous. | D．Frequent. |
| A．Tracking natural disasters. | B．Distinguishing bird species. |
| C．Reporting the birds’ situations. | D．Guiding researchers to islands. |
| A．To prove an assumption. | B．To clarify a concept. |
| C．To present a new topic. | D．To make comparisons. |
| A．How Can Birds Avoid Natural Disasters? |
| B．Can Birds Warn Us of Natural Disasters? |
| C．How Does a Warning System Function? |
| D．Can Birds Play a Role in Human Research? |
7 . Do you think cookies can tell stories? Jasmine Cho, 35, does.
A baker, artist, entrepreneur and activist, Cho tries to spread knowledge about social justice issues and diversity through the delicious medium of cookies.
It was in high school that she discovered her love of baking. At a sleepover a friend taught her how to make a dessert, “sort of demystifying baking and that whole process”.
Later, Cho realized her second passion: learning more about her Asian, American culture. An elective in college that taught Asian-American immigrant experiences brought an emotional moment for her. “So many emotions came up that I just couldn’t articulate. It was like this mix of anger, of relief, empowerment, sadness…” Cho said.
Cho realized she could combine these two passions to educate others about influential Asian American people and showcase matters that were important to her. With her online bakery, she designed cookie portraits about people she admired and posted the images on Instagram. “I don’t think I ever really knew how to communicate these stories until I found cookies,” Cho said. “Cookies are just so disarming. Who doesn’t like cookies?”
One cookie that Cho has identified with deeply is one she made of George Helm, a Hawaiian activist in the 1970s.
“It’s insane the amount of injustice that the native Hawaiian population has faced as well through the whole annexation (吞并) of the kingdom. There were so many horrific stories that I heard about nuclear testing and the fallout (核爆炸后的沉降物) impacting native Hawaiian populations in all of this,” Cho said, “George Helm was one of those activists who really represented the spirituality of the native Hawaiians and the connection to their land, to nature.”
Among her amazing cookie art are other political figures such as Larry Itliong, a Filipino-American labor organizer, and pop culture figures such as Keanu Reeves, a Canadian actor.
Cho hopes her cookie art continues to inspire people to be creative and think positively.
“Instead of trying to think of something new and original, just look inward and see, maybe there’s already a passion or a love that you have,” Cho said. “Use that for something that will serve the world in a better way.”
1. What inspired Cho to take an interest in Asian-American culture?| A．One of her sleepover experiences. |
| B．One elective course she took at college. |
| C．The process of learning baking from her friend. |
| D．A book she read about Asian-American immigrant experiences. |
| A．Cookies don’t cost much. | B．Cookies are easier to make. |
| C．Cookies have different images. | D．Cookies are favored by many people. |
| A．To show what Cho focuses on with her cookies. |
| B．To introduce the spirituality of native Hawaiians. |
| C．To explain why Cho is interested in political activists. |
| D．To inform the reader of Helm’s contributions to Hawaii. |
| A．Hold your horses for a better self. |
| B．Think outside the box to break new ground. |
| C．Spread something original to one’s heart content. |
| D．Throw yourself into your inner world for a better one. |
8 . All the hard work that you’ve spent making strong passwords, combining pet names with numbers, symbols and birthdates could all soon be for nothing as a new artificial intelligence (AI) model achieves a 95% accuracy of understanding keystrokes (按键).
At least that’s the extreme view of a team of British researchers. Using a deep learning model, they were able to steal data from a laptop’s keyboard using a microphone to understand what is being typed. This, in theory, would allow hackers who were able to gain access to your laptop to obtain what is being typed including messages and passwords.
The first step for this attack to work is by recording the keystrokes on someone’s keyboard. This is needed to train the algorithm (计算程序). While this could be done from the laptop’s microphone, it could equally be achieved by placing a smartphone near the computer. By pressing 36 keys on a modern MacBook Pro 25 times each and recording the sounds produced, the researchers gained a full set of training data. This information is turned into waveforms to show identifiable differences between each key. With this information in hand, they could then build a machine-learning model to understand which of these waveforms lines up with which key.
“If you get enough data, a model can be built pretty easily,” Oli Buckley, a professor of Internet security. “If it works on one keyboard, it will likely work on the next. The MacBook has a nice, quiet keyboard, so the idea is that if it works on something quiet, it will have a wide-reaching ability on louder keyboards”.
While this all sounds pretty scary, not to mention a new form of hacking (侵入) to look out for, it isn’t quite as worrying as it sounds.
“A good sample of data is needed for it to work, so this changes if you’re using a Dell, a MacBook or an external keyboard. Also, factors change. Some people type louder and harder, or my keyboards full of cat hair so that impacts things slightly”, says Buckley.
1. What is paragraph 3 mainly about?| A．Why protective steps are needed. |
| B．Why a set of training data is vital. |
| C．How you document secret information. |
| D．How hackers gain data from targeted computers. |
| A．The keyboard. | B．The model. | C．The data. | D．The computer. |
| A．Concerned. | B．Agreeable. | C．Negative. | D．Objective. |
| A．AI understands exactly what you’re typing. |
| B．Purchasing expensive computer is necessary. |
| C．Cats play an important role in privacy protection. |
| D．Building an accurate dataset through keystrokes is not easy. |
9 . The Wild Atlantic Way has a certain romantic attraction, bringing to mind images of violent storms, terrible winds and driving rain. The Irish Republic inaugurated (为……举行仪式) this, “the longest defined coastal touring route in the world”, in 2014, an excellent marketing idea. The Wild Atlantic Way follows the west coast of Ireland, from the Inishowen Peninsula in the north down to the picturesque town of Kinsale, County Cork, in the south.
Having recently retired, and also having a very supportive wife, I decided to cycle the 2,600 kilometres of this highway, and to seek some sponsorship while doing so for the benefit of a small, but hugely effective charity supporting Children of the Dump in Manila in the Philippines.
Another reason to start this cycle tour was the polite refusal of my youngest son to my request to accompany him, and his friend, on their journey in 2016 from Lima in Peru to Ushuaiain Patagonia by bike. He was probably quite right to have done so. The Donegal hills were enough to tire me out in the first week of my own adventure; the Andes might have finished me off a longtime before I had the opportunity to wheel my bike from the Holyhead to Dublin ferry (渡口) at the beginning of May this year.
Having begun the journey in suitably cold and wet conditions in Donegal, my luck and that of the rest of Ireland changed quite suddenly, and to the amazement of the whole country, they and I enjoyed some of the finest May and June weather on record. The “Wild Atlantic Way” became the “Kind Atlantic Way”, and I got sunburnt! It was a remarkable and unforgettable journey for me. Generous friends have helped me raise £2,600, one pound for each kilometer I rode.
Try it yourselves, but do it the green way and leave the car at home. Pump up (给……打气) your bike tyres and give it, or at least some of the route, a go. You won’t regret it.
1. What do we know about the Wild Atlantic Way from paragraph 1?| A．It starts at Kinsale in County Cork. | B．It is a famous cross-Europe touring route. |
| C．It used to be extremely popular with sea divers. | D．It was promoted by the Irish Republic government. |
| A．To join his wife. | B．To raise money for a charity. |
| C．To work out for his health. | D．To find sponsorship for his company. |
| A．Lucky. | B．Angry. | C．Excited. | D．Disappointed. |
| A．He stopped halfway. | B．He was badly injured. |
| C．He got many flat tyres. | D．He had quite a few sunny days. |
10 . Passenger ships, trade ships, and fishing boats are a normal part of life on the open sea. However, all their activity creates a great deal of noise underwater. Scientists who have studied the recordings of sound recorded with equipment placed underwater recently reported their observations that the ocean is getting noisier.
Another report on the effect of noise from ships on the behavior of whales shows it is likely that whales must call out more loudly to be heard over this noise. The whales find fish by producing clicking sounds and other noises, loud engine noise could be interfering with (妨碍) their efforts.
Michael Jasny, a policy expert for the Natural Resources Defense Council, says the rise of underwriter noise is influencing the ability of whales to communicate. “Shipping noise falls across the sea frequencies (频率) that these animals use for their important behaviors.”
Mr. Jasny says sound travels very effectively underwater. And it is not just whales that he is worried about. “The entire web of life in the ocean depends on sound. And as more and more research has been done, it’s been very clear that what we have on our hands is really a significant serious and global problem.
The main source of noise pollution is the propeller (螺旋桨). Better shaped propellers and ship designs can help cut down on noise pollution. Michael Bahtiarian, who works for Noise Control Engineering — a company which helped design the boats — said, “The technology to make quieter ships does exist and has been used in the military for some time. NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) has four new ships that have such costly engines, which produce less noise. These NOAA ships show that you can get quiet — I think they’re quiet enough — because they are able to go up quietly and count a fish and not startle the fish so that they can actually count them.”
The shipping industry in the United States wants to be part of the solution to the noise problem, Kathy Metcalf, who works for the Chamber of Shipping of America, says it will be much less costly for the industry if it chooses to build quieter ships instead of being forced to do so.
1. What kind of effect do you think the noise made by ships has according to the passage?| A．It is sure to get stronger in the future. |
| B．It influences the normal life of whales. |
| C．It makes underwater equipment unable to work normally. |
| D．It makes it hard for scientists to track the activities of deep sea creatures. |
| A．Whales’ skill in finding food gets hurt most. |
| B．There is no better way of solving the problem. |
| C．The problem is far more serious than we thought. |
| D．The frequencies of shipping noise should be increased. |
| A．Frighten. | B．Catch. | C．Dive. | D．Feed. |
| A．Quieter ships have been designed to save money. |
| B．The shipping industry should make quieter ships actively. |
| C．The shipping designers are ordered to build quieter ships. |
| D．The four new ships are the most advanced ships in the ocean. |
