1 . You may study English for years and still not understand a native speaker of English when you meet one. Many language learners know that native speakers say a lot of things that you can’t find in a dictionary. Well, here’s a secret for you: A lot of British people can’t understand each other either!
Across the UK, a number of regions have different dialects. There are many different accents (口音) in London, because it is not just where a person is born in the UK that decides their accent. Language and accents also change across social class and level of education. Therefore, “Multicultural London English” was created at the end of the 20th century.
Other factors are also important in the invention of new accents and ways of speaking. These include the influence of people from different countries and different age groups, too.
“Yoof culture” is an example. The word “yoof” is a slang (俚语) spelling of “youth”. Young people are creating their own language, ideas and identity. By using words that their parents don’t understand, children can talk about things that their parents might not agree with. For example, instead of saying something like “That’s good!” or “I understand”, yoof will use a single adjective like “Safe!”, or “Sorted!” Yoof would use “kind-a-thing” or “sort-a-thing” to replace “if you understand what I’m saying”. In this way, they are starting to find freedom, independence and self-expression.
As learners of English, we may wonder how well we can talk to a native speaker, but perhaps we should worry less about this. Research by the British Council shows that 94 percent of the English spoken in the world today is spoken between non-native speakers of the language. In fact, when we think about “international English”, there is no such thing as a native or non-native speaker. The UK no longer owns the English language.
1. What do we know about “Multicultural London English”?| A．It was invented by Londoners in the 1900s. |
| B．It is now spoken by people around the world. |
| C．It’s a dialect specific to a particular social class. |
| D．It’s a modern accent that crosses educational levels. |
| A．A mix of many different cultures. | B．The way to simplify English spelling. |
| C．Young people’s desire to express themselves. | D．Young people’s longing for more attention. |
| A．Got it! | B．No way! | C．With pleasure! | D．No worries! |
| A．Mastering English is next to impossible. |
| B．The English language is always changing. |
| C．Don’t worry if you cannot understand native speakers. |
| D．It helps for a non-native speaker to talk to a native speaker. |
2 . In times of sadness, a friend would always suggest going for a walk. “Are you overwhelmed (压垮) by your work? Take a walk around the neighborhood.” Comments like this are often said with nothing but the best of intentions, but they used to make me angry as much as being told to drink more water. I did not understand how these things were going to help.
Three years ago, I hit a low point. Once I saw a pair of empty eyes looking at me through the mirror, I knew I was at my breaking point. So, I took the advice I fought so hard to ignore. I went for a walk—with the hope that it would somehow change my life.
I embraced (拥抱) the fresh air everyone seemed to be talking about. But it did nothing. I was just as sad as I was before. I went on a walk every single day for more than a month. Some days I could hardly make it outside, but I managed to push through. I took a picture every time I went. I think I wanted to document myself trying to make an effort. One day, the unthinkable happened. I found myself smiling. I realized I had patiently waited all morning to go on this walk. What I once hated had become the best part of my day. I found myself longing to be outside. I never had a destination in mind. I just danced along the trails (小路) , stopped to look at the beautiful blue skies and listened to music.
I’m glad I took pictures because there was a noticeable difference in my face. I slowly started to look less tired and defeated. I don’t know why I refused to go on that walk for so long. I guess I didn’t want to believe that something small and seemingly meaningless could actually make an impact on my physical and mental well-being.
If you’re having a bad day, a bad month, a bad year or even a bad life, you should try going for a walk. Sometimes, all we need to do is try.
1. How did the author use to feel when people suggested she go for a walk?| A．Delighted. | B．Annoyed. | C．Relieved. | D．Confused. |
| A．Her friend encouraged her. |
| B．She wanted to challenge herself. |
| C．Her hopelessness drove her to try. |
| D．She was eager to get close to nature. |
| A．She felt cheered up after the first week. |
| B．She always set off with a destination in mind. |
| C．She stopped for a while due to lack of progress. |
| D．She was inspired by the pictures she took of herself. |
| A．Go for a walk when feeling down. |
| B．Care about our mental well-being. |
| C．Stay positive when bad things happen. |
| D．Take other people’s suggestions seriously. |
3 . OpenAI’s automated AI-powered chatbot ChatGPT has taken the internet by storm, but not without creating a few issues on the way. With writers, marketers, and seemingly everyone else in between using ChatGPT to generate content, companies worldwide are staring down a tsunami of AI-generated content, With issues of safety and stolen contents constantly swirling around ChatGPT and its output, OpenAI has now released GPT-Classifier, a tool designed to detect whether the text you’re reading was generated by ChatGPT or one of its other GPT tools.
GPT-Classifier attempts to figure out if a given piece of text was human-written or the work of an Al-generator. While ChatGPT and other GPT models are trained extensively on all manners of text input, the GPT-Classifier tool is fine-tuned on a dataset of pairs of human-written text and AI-written text on the same topic. In other words, the GPT-Classifier attempts to compare similarities between known human text and known AI text to find inconsistency that reveal the source writer.
While the idea of easily spotting AI-generated text will be music to the ears of editors and educators, OpenAI has warned that its classifier is not fully reliable.
A test of the GPT-Classifier spotted a human-generated example and marked it very unlikely to be AI-generated, and also correctly indicated that a ChatGPT-generated piece on USB issues was possibly AI generated. Currently, GPT-Classifier correctly identifies 26%of AI-written text while labeling 9%of human text as AI-written. OpenAI also notes that the tool’s accuracy typically improves as the length of the input text increases. For now, although GPT-Classifier is up and running and available for testing, it’s best to take its labeling with a pinch of salt
Even with the GPT-Classifier’s limitations, the demand for reliable ChatGPT detection is likely to see many people turn to this tool. OpenAI’s commitment to building and releasing a free GPT detection tool is important because as more students, Writers, programmers, and others use AI-text generation tools, understanding and detecting this input will become vital.
1. What is paragraph 2 mainly about?| A．GPT-Classifier’s components. | B．GPT-Classifier’s vast datasets. |
| C．GPT-Classifier’s high productivity. | D．GPT-Classifier’s working principle |
| A．Accept with certain doubt. | B．Reform with sufficient testing. |
| C．Judge with reasonable grounds. | D．Classify with multiple attempts. |
| A．GPT-Classifier wipes out users’ belief in AI. |
| B．GPT-Classifier demands more students’ trust. |
| C．GPT-Classifier meets diverse growing needs. |
| D．GPT-Classifier has a limited range of services. |
| A．Critical. | B．Opposing. | C．Tolerant. | D．Approving. |
4 . Biomedical breakthroughs sometimes happen in the most unlikely places. Take the deep sea for an illustration. Under extreme conditions, at times of no oxygen, microbes (微生物) not only survive there, but they thrive. This incredible adaptation offers insight into how life evolved billions of years ago and how modern humans may be able to fight infections and diseases — tests used to diagnose (诊断) some viruses were developed with the help of enzyme (酶) separated from microbes found in ocean.
“We’ve found marine microbes that produce antimicrobials — basically chemical weapons that help them fight off other organisms and resist viruses,” says Virginia Bdgcomb, a microbiologist investigating deep-sea bacteria. These microbes feed on tough substances and produce antimicrobial chemicals.
The deep sea has already given us chemicals to treat certain cancer or nerve damage. Breakthroughs have also come from the ocean depths in the form of diagnostic tools.
The pathway to developing tests started back in 1969 when some heat-loving microbes were found in the depth of 5000 meters beneath the sea. By mid-1980s, the humble microbes
had enabled a major advance in the emerging field of genetics, Scientists found that their enzymes remained stable enough to make millions of copies of a single DNA sequence (序列) in just a few hours, essentially upgrading geneticists’ tools.
“A lot of people think of the deep sea as a desert,” Virginia says. “To our naked eye, it looks like there’s nothing there but there’s huge potential. What I can do as a science researcher is record the remarkable diversity of microbes and make their gene sequence available, which may help lead to treatment or diagnostic tool in the future.”
“We need to have people constantly exploring the fascinating habitats in order to continue uncovering a new page of medically-relevant enzymes,” Virginia says. “This is tough, but I do hope people realize that the more we can learn about microbes, the better off we are.”
1. What does paragraph 1 aim to tell us ?| A．The need to deal with infections and diseases. |
| B．Incredible conditions for microbes to survive. |
| C．Biomedical inspirations from undersea microbes. |
| D．Significant breakthroughs of human development. |
| A．develop adaptability even in tough conditions |
| B．merely enhance our understanding of diseases |
| C．lead to progress in tools to test stable enzymes |
| D．present us with treatment for common cancers |
| A．More awareness of microbes will benefit humans. |
| B．The deep sea microbes may help us with desert issues. |
| C．Researchers’ future task is to record medical treatment. |
| D．We should explore more habitats to free us from microbes. |
| A．Chemical weapons against viruses |
| B．Finding answers in the deep ocean |
| C．A look back at research in microbes |
| D．Future ways to upgrade human DNA |
5 . To help you plan a memorable 2024 winter vacation trip with the best travel experiences, we specifically designed Featured China Winter Tours including winter-featured destinations suitable for in-depth exploration. Travel with us!
Xishuamgbanna
Nicknamed “Litle Thailand”, Xishuangbanna owns awe-inspiring scenery, unique Dai minority culture and an all-year-round pleasant climate.
What to do:
●Enjoy tropical botanical landscape, and experience an exciting walk on the “air corridor” hanging 100 meters above the original rainforest.
●Visit local markets and step into some best-preserved Dai villages and royal gardens.
Chengdu
Whether you want to enjoy a short break in Chengdu, or extend to the impressive sites in its west, you are spoiled with many choices.
What to do:
●Get to Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda to see over 100 giant pandas.
●Travel a little further to Huanglong National Park. During the winter season, it’s less visited and full of poetic atmosphere with all previous colors turning into silver. To relieve altitude (海拔) sickness, you need sleep well and keep a calm mood.
Harbin
Having the most bitterly cold winters among major Chinese cities with average daytime temperatures as low as —13°C, Harbin is referred to as “Ice City”.
What to do:
●Visit Ice and Snow World to appreciate ice snow sculptures, enjoy the featured architecture capped with snow, or take part in some activities on the ice.
●Add two days to China Snow Town, where you can immerse (沉浸) yourselves in the fairytale world and enjoy various snow activities. Since the shuttle bus to Snow Town is subject to change in winter, please check out the link for real-time schedules.
1. What can you do in Xishuangbanna?| A．Get inspiration from scenery. | B．Admire the beauty of local plants. |
| C．Walk in the rainforest directly. | D．Volunteer to preserve Dai culture. |
| A．High altitude landscape. | B．Mild winter temperature. |
| C．Plentiful historical sites. | D．Multiple selected attractions. |
| A．A website. | B．A fairytale. | C．A yearbook. | D．A newspaper. |
6 . For a period of time in the early 80s, I watched I Dream of Jeannie reruns every afternoon in the empty time between school and supper. But I always felt a little deflated when the closing theme came on, since it meant that I had to wait an entire day for the next episode.
Decades later, thanks to the modern technology, on-demand viewing and an endless supply of content now allow us to find exactly the entertainment we want, when we want it. My own kids happily binge-watch Fresh Off the Boat, just as I dreamed of doing with Jeannie.
Lately, I’ve been thinking about a disadvantage of our just-for-you world. My kids miss out on all the things that are not just for them. Looking back, some of my more memorable discoveries as a child came about only because I didn’t have access to entertainment that I would have preferred.
When we would visit our aunts, my sisters and brothers and I didn’t have tablets to keep ourselves occupied while the adults chatted. So we would read whatever we could find. I looked forward to Sunday afternoons at Aunt Rose’s so that I could catch up on aliens and Hollywood stars in Weekly World News. These things—none of which were aimed at my tastes—were all that was on offer. However, they brought me so much enjoyment.
Electronic searching now takes us directly to what we seek. We are less likely to come across things that have nothing to do with what we are looking for. But finding something by accident is powerful in its purposelessness. It’s nature throwing things up against a wall to see what sticks. It’s the force that drives evolution.
Getting exactly what you want all the time sounds great. But as anyone who is familiar with fantasy stories knows, there’s always a catch.
1. What does the underlined word “deflated” in paragraph 1 mean?| A．Depressed. | B．Thrilled. |
| C．Convinced. | D．Ashamed. |
| A．Latest tablets. | B．Brothers and sisters. |
| C．different reading materials. | D．Pleasant conversations. |
| A．It contributes to the evolution. |
| B．It’s absolutely beneficial to adults. |
| C．It’s a blessing of this modern world. |
| D．It takes unexpected joy away from people. |
| A．What was on offer in the early 80s |
| B．What our kids miss out in a just-for-you world |
| C．How adults had fun with inaccessible entertainment |
| D．How anxious-to-please Internet changed the future of kids |
7 . Hummingbirds (蜂鸟) are a very important part of Mexico’s ecosystem, but because of the ever-spreading city landscape, they face all sorts of serious dangers. That’s where 73-year-old Catia Lattouf de Arida comes in. As a self-taught hummingbird care-taker, she devotes most of her free time and resources to nursing the tiny birds back to health. Her home in Mexico City has become known as a hummingbird hospital
Catia’s story as a hummingbird nurse began in 2011, at a very dificult moment in her life. At that time, she focused on her battle with cancer and fell into a depression (抑郁) . She was walking on the strect one day when she noticed a hummingbird that had suffered a serious eye injury. The kindhearted woman took it home and named it Gucci. She managed to nurse Gucci back to health, but she said it was Gucci that saved her. Why? Because the hummingbird managed to pull her out of the sadness and loneliness that had taken over her life.
Word of her success spread among Catia’s friends, and before long some of them began bringing her injured hummingbirds. She didn’t repulse them at all. She began to study the bird and their habits in order to better take care of them, and after 11 years of experience, the 73-year-old woman is considered an expert on hummingbirds.
In order to raise awareness of the difficult situation of hummingbirds in Mexico, Catia Lattouf de Arida started posting videos of the patients in her Mexico City apartment on social media, and many of them became popular. That’s when the need for her nursing services really blew up. She has cared for hundreds of hummingbirds in her 11-year career, when she has had as many as 50 of them in her apartment at any one time. She spends pretty much all her time looking after the tiny birds.
1. Which saying can best show the main idea of the first two paragraphs?| A．It is better to give than to take. |
| B．Actions speak louder than words. |
| C．Helping others is helping ourselves. |
| D．A bird in hand is worth two in the bush. |
| A．Expect. | B．Refuse. | C．Accept. | D．Recognize |
| A．When her friends heard about her success. |
| B．When she was considered as a bird expert. |
| C．After she shared the birds’ videos on the media. |
| D．After she looked after a large number of the birds. |
| A．honest and kind | B．generous and creative |
| C．devoted and strict | D．caring and responsible |
8 . The halo effect is a cognitive bias (认知偏见) that affects our opinions of quality in products, brands, businesses or people. It describes our tendency to judge a wider concept on our experience of a single moment or interaction. That is, your experience of using a product may colour your impression of an entire brand.
This is a very surface-level, quick-fire response that’s deep in our mind. If we see a good or bad quality, we really can’t help thinking this “thing” must flow through to the rest of the person, business or brand. Marketers understand this and have been using it against you for years.
Advertisers want to back winners, especially those on big stages. The Olympics, the World Cup and the Super Bowl all attract huge amounts of advertising spend. Why? Because when sports stars win big, they create huge amounts of feel-good factors and a brand can use the halo effect to project some of those feel-good factors onto themselves.
Studies have shown that when a product has a label that it is either fair trade, sustainably sourced or organic in nature, it will receive higher ratings in customer satisfaction and people will pay more for it. In a blind taste test though, that’s not necessarily the case. The product could be considered poor in taste or quality, but the act of adding a certain label to the packaging increases people’s liking for it.
The halo effect is a bias we cannot escape. It is in action everywhere in the modern world. Every high-end product you experience leaves a lasting impression and every advertisement that catches your eye is looking to direct your attention towards something you may not have otherwise been interested in. As a consumer, be careful. There are businesses that will go to any extent to influence your behaviour. Next time you find yourself really wanting something, stop and ask yourself why.
1. How does the halo effect influence our opinions?| A．It helps us see things in a better way. | B．It deepens our understanding of things. |
| C．It stops us from jumping to conclusions. | D．It works on us through former experience. |
| A．To use halo effect to attract more audience. |
| B．To contribute to the development of sports. |
| C．To connect their brands with positive emotions. |
| D．To drive sports stars to create feel-good factors. |
| A．It leads to false advertisements. | B．It results in incorrect judgments. |
| C．It ensures the quality of products. | D．It improves environmental protection. |
| A．To warn of unplanned buying. | B．To summarize the halo effect. |
| C．To expose the influence of advertising. | D．To show modern marketing strategies. |
9 . The middle class in Uganda is on the increase. So is the country’s tourism industry. The growth of restaurants and high-end hotels is evidence that both foreigners and Ugandans are spending money. But the owners of these businesses have often had to turn to other countries to find executive chefs (行政总厨) . The reason: a lack of well-trained chefs and other assistants at Ugandan restaurants. Slowly but surely, this is changing.
Uganda has a problem not normally found in a low-income country. It has a shortage of local chefs. In recent years, the number of restaurants and tourism-related businesses has risen. As a result, the demand for well-trained cooks and other assistants has grown. But experienced chefs are difficult to find. Jean Byamugisha is in the Uganda Hotel Owners Association. “The biggest challenge is capacity building. People really need a lot of training, especially now that we are competing to reach East African level.”
To meet the need, many restaurants have turned to neighboring countries for help. Enock Alumasi is from Kenya. He saw that Uganda had a lack of top chefs. So he helped set up the Impact Chefs Academy in 2013. The academy is the only school in Uganda that offers a full training program for chefs. It offers a number of program-starting with one-week courses for those who already have a career in the restaurant industry, to a year-long training program.
One recent day, several students were learning the different ways to fry an egg. This may sound like something that comes naturally to a chef. But some workers have never cooked an egg before. Brian Kazibe has worked as a chef. He says that some trainees have learned about five different areas of restaurant operations over three months. “By the time they get to the kitchen,” he says, “they only remain for two or three weeks, which is not really enough for them.”
The Impact Chef’s Academy has trained more than 3, 000 people in the past two years. Jean Byaugisha says that the need is still growing. “The impact is not yet felt. One week’s training for a chef is too short. We need somebody who can come for two months, six months, nine months and train the chefs and release somebody who can actually come to the restaurant or a hotel and prepare a meal that everybody will fall over themselves to pay for.” However, the academy has gotten a taste of success; it looks forward to expanding.
1. What can be inferred from the first two paragraphs?| A．Uganda is a high-income country now. |
| B．Tourism is Uganda’s main source of GDP. |
| C．Visitors go to Uganda mainly for its foods. |
| D．Uganda’s economy develops at a high speed. |
| A．It mainly trains students to fry eggs. |
| B．It provides courses different in length. |
| C．It employs teachers from neighboring countries. |
| D．It was set up by Enock Alumasi in Kenya in 2013. |
| A．has gained success to some extent |
| B．has trained enough experienced chefs |
| C．has set up a series of chain training schools |
| D．has only opened short-term classes for 3 months |
| A．How to solve the difficulties in Uganda. |
| B．Handling lack of excellent chefs in Uganda. |
| C．The setting up of the Impact Chef’s Academy. |
| D．The expanding of the middle class in Uganda. |
10 . Remember the woman in Port Hood, N. S. whose recipe for meat rolls spread all over the internet? The dog from Quebec that attracted hundreds of thousands of followers for its advice on surviving social isolation? The pilot whose path over Nova Scotia formed the shape of a heart?
All of their stories, and dozens more, are collected in a new book by two Canadian authors. It took Heather Down and Catherine Kenwell just a little more than seven weeks to collect the stories behind the 49 uplifting moments they recorded during the pandemic.
The book includes everything from the tale of Robbie Griffiths, the father from Paradise, N. L. who dressed up as Spider-Man so kids could have something positive in their day, to Carter Mann, the Grade 5 student from Sudbury, Ont, who wrote a poem to encourage front-line heroes including his own father, who is a health carer.
“Not Canceled: Canadian Caremongering in the Face of COVID-19” is a reminder that a lot of positive things happened during lockdown. The book’s title is a nod to the Canadian attitude and reaction to the pandemic, as the word “caremongering” has Canadian roots. Even the number of stories is no accident: it’s a reference to the 49th parallel, along which runs the Canada-U. S. border between Manitoba and B. C.
One of the stories in “Not Canceled” centers on the marriage of a couple in B. C. They may have had to shift their celebrations to a living room, but the ceremony was far from lonely. Friends showed up in their cars outside, with everyone tuned into the same radio station, so the bride and groom could have their first dance in the middle of the street.
Down wanted to document how the nation navigated such dark times with kindness. She told CTV News that “the response has been amazing. I’m so pleased.”
The stories included in the book are just the tip of the iceberg. Down says that there are so many stories left over that she and Kenwell might just have to do a second book.
1. What does the underlined word “uplifting” in Paragraph 2 mean?| A．Inspiring. | B．Embarrassing. | C．Mysterious. | D．Humorous. |
| A．He trained hard to become a health carer. |
| B．He wrote poems with the help of his father. |
| C．He used words to cheer up essential workers. |
| D．He dressed up as Spider-Man to please other kids. |
| A．It shows Canadian attitude and response. |
| B．It shows the total number of the stories. |
| C．It has the new-made word “caremongering”. |
| D．It contains Canada’s geographical information. |
| A．It was canceled halfway. | B．It was held completely indoor. |
| C．It was witnessed by a group of friends. | D．It was broadcast live by a radio station. |
