1 . It’s not great when a person breathes in all the oxygen out of a room. When a battery does it to a tumor (肿瘤), though, it could be a good thing.

Scientists have developed a new type of battery that can be implanted (植入) directly into tumors to deliver a steady stream of electricity. The battery is made from salt water and can be recharged by the body’s own heat. It works by splitting (使分离) salt water into hydrogen and oxygen gas. The hydrogen gas is then used to generate electricity, which can be used to kill cancer cells. The oxygen gas is released harmlessly into the body.

The new battery has several advantages over traditional cancer treatment. First, it is more targeted, meaning that it can deliver the electricity directly to the tumor cells, while sparing healthy cells. This can reduce the side effects of treatment. Second, the battery is self-charging, which means that it does not require surgery to remove or replace. This can make treatment more convenient and less expensive for patients. Third, the battery is small and lightweight, and it can be implanted directly into tumors. This means that patients will not have to need surgery to remove the battery, which can reduce the risk of complications.

The battery has been tested in animal studies, and it has been shown to be effective in killing cancer cells. The scientists who developed the battery are now planning to begin clinical trials in humans. They are thinking about how the battery might have to be made more flexible and more powerful to work on human-sized tumors. If the trials are successful, the battery could become a new standard of cancer treatment. It is a more targeted, convenient, and affordable way to deliver electricity to tumors. This could lead to more effective ways to treat cancer in humans.

1. What does paragraph 3 mainly tell us about the new battery?

A．Its benefits.

B．Its side effects.

C．Its weight.

D．Its working process.

2. What will the scientists do in the following study?

A．Test the treatment in humans.	B．Reduce the cost of surgery.
C．Implant the battery into animals.	D．Make the battery affordable.

3. What is the author’s attitude toward the new treatment?

A．Negative.

B．Uncaring.

C．Optimistic.

D．Unclear.

4. In which section of a newspaper may this text appear?

A．Business.

B．Science.

C．Education.

D．Sports.

2 . Lena Mars and her parents had taken a trip to Costa Rica. While enjoying one of the country’s many beautiful beaches, the girl’s parents gave her a snack. But it turned out that she wasn’t the only one who was hungry: A wild iguana (鬣蜥) appeared unexpectedly as the girl at e her cake by the water. The iguana ran up to the girl and bit her on the back of her left middle finger, causing her to drop the cake. The animal then ran off with the snack, but it did leave something else behind.

The Mars immediately took the girl to a local clinic, where a doctor disinfected the wound with alcohol and gave her some antibiotics (抗生素). The wound appeared to have cleared up in about two weeks. It was five months later, when Lena’s parents noticed a coin-sized bump (肿块) on her hand in the same spot causing mild pain, that they thought they should take her to another doctor.

The doctor removed the 2-centimeter mass and took a closer look at the growth in the lab and discovered that the child had a rare infection that more commonly causes a tuberculosis-like illness in fish. It’s ubiquitous in fresh and salt water but rarely infects humans. Typically, when humans are infected, it’s after a wound has been exposed to the bacteria in water.

Most antibiotics alone don’t work on these kinds of infections, so the doctor gave the girl a different medical treatment often used for skin infections. She responded well to the treatment.

“Generally, iguanas will go about their day. But like any wildlife, if they start associating people with food, they’re going to risk coming closer.” said Anna Meyer, operations manager at a zoo in Florida. “The lesson here is that no one should feed wildlife, because they will most likely give you a bite.”

1. What can we learn about Lena Mars?

A．She tried to feed an animal.	B．She was bitten by an iguana.
C．She left the cake on the beach.	D．She found a rare wild animal.

2. Why did Lena’s parents take her to another doctor?

A．The antibiotics were harmful.	B．They distrusted the first doctor.
C．Her wound became infected.	D．She took the medicine wrongly.

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

A．Common.

B．Dangerous.

C．Lively.

D．Useful.

4. What did Anna Meyer want to say about feeding wildlife?

A．It is good for wildlife.	B．It puts animals in danger.
C．It is a risky behavior.	D．It gets us close to nature.

4 . Retired Army Col. Farrell Patrick taught computer science at West Point during the 1970s and then at two private universities through the 1990s, so he isn’t surprised by the progress technology has made over the decades. But when the 91-year-old got his first virtual reality (VR) experience recently, he was amazed.

Sitting in a conference room at John Knox Village, Patrick sat up straight as his eyes and ears experienced what it would be like to be in a Navy fighter jet flying off the Florida coast. John Knox Village was one of 17 senior communities around the country that participated in a recently published Stanford University study.

During the study, the seniors were picked from seven-minute virtual experiences such as riding in a tank, watching stage performances, playing with dogs and cats or visiting places like Paris or Egypt. The participants wore headsets that gave them 360-degree views and sounds, making it seem like they had been all but dropped into the actual experience.

The study, working with the company Mynd Immersive, found that almost 80% of the seniors reported having a more positive attitude after their VR session and almost 60% said they felt less isolated socially. The enjoyment lessened somewhat for older respondents whose sight and hearing had deteriorated (恶化). Those who found VR less enjoyable were also more likely to dislike technology in general.

The company has worked on the biggest complaints the seniors in the study had about VR—the headsets were too heavy and the heat they generated made the seniors’ foreheads sweat. The new headsets weigh about six ounces (189 grams) instead of a pound (454 grams). Besides, they have a built-in fan for cooling, and the videos aren’t as jumpy.

Patrick says he hopes to live to 100 because he believes the next five years will see momentous changes in VR. Still a technology enthusiast, he believes the cost of systems will drop dramatically and become part of everyday living, even for seniors.

1. What is the function of the first paragraph?

A．To lead in the topic.	B．To reach a conclusion.
C．To present an argument.	D．To make a definition.

2. Why does the author mention “Paris or Egypt” in paragraph 3?

A．To illustrate the two cities’ support for VR.

B．To explain why seniors are crazy about traveling.

C．To compare the differences between the two cities.

D．To show the VR experiences the seniors can choose from.

3. What did the study find?

A．Most seniors enjoyed VR.	B．Old people preferred socializing.
C．Seniors’ sight and hearing became worse.	D．Most retired people disliked high-tech products.

4. What do the figures in paragraph 5 indicate about Mynd Immersive?

A．Its products hardly appeal to seniors.	B．Its goal is to produce high-quality videos.
C．It has made improvements on the headsets.	D．It has got a lot of complaints from teenagers.

6 . A man with advanced Parkinson’s disease (帕金森氏症) is now able to walk almost normally again thanks to electrodes implanted (电极植入) in his spinal cord (脊椎), researchers said on Monday. The medical first was achieved by Swiss researchers who had previously pioneered similar breakthroughs to help disabled people walk again.

“This could be a game-changing technology to help bring back movement in people with advanced Parkinson’s,” said David Dexter, research director at Parkinson’s UK.

Marc Gauthier, the 62-year-old patient who lives in France, has suffered from the brain disorder for about 30 years. Like more than 90 percent of people with advanced Parkinson’s, Mar c has had great difficulty walking. What are known as “freezing” experiences — during which patients are unable to move for a limited time, putting them at risk of falling — are particularly awful, Marc told AFP.

Much remains unknown about Parkinson’s disease, making treatment difficult. But the disease can seriously affect the lives of patients, sometimes keeping them to bed or a wheelchair. So when the opportunity came to go through an operation in Switzerland, Marc gladly accepted the chance.

“Now I can do whatever I want,” Marc says. “I can go for a walk and go out shopping by myself.” He adds that he can now walk much more easily — he is even planning a trip to Brazil — but it still requires concentration, particularly when climbing upstairs.

The Swiss team, led by surgeon Jocelyne Bloch and neuroscientist Gregoire Courtine , implanted a complex system of electrodes called a “neuroprosthesis (神经假体)” at important points along Marc’s spinal cord. The neuroprosthesis was first tested on animals, and then implanted in Marc, who has used it for roughly eight hours a day over nearly two years.

The Swiss team has expanded their experiment to a group of six Parkinson’s patients, aiming to know how it could help others, given the disease affects people in different ways. However, treatment using the implant could be quite expensive, potentially limiting how many patients would have access.

1. What is David Dexter’s attitude to the Swiss breakthrough?

A．Unconcerned.

B．Doubtful.

C．Positive.

D．Unclear.

2. What can Marc do after the surgery?

A．Volunteer as a tour guide in Brazil.	B．Run to his heart’s content.
C．Go to the supermarket alone.	D．Make a phone call while climbing the stairs.

3. What do we know about the surgery?

A．It was first tested on Marc Gauthier.	B．It is hardly affordable for ordinary people.
C．It has been performed on many patients.	D．It was done by researchers in the UK.

4. What is the best title for the text?

A．A Spinal Implant Allows a Parkinson’s Patient to Walk Again

B．Parkinson’s Patients Have to Deal With Difficulties in Life

C．Swiss Experts Have Created a Drug to Treat Parkinson’s

D．New Technology Prevents People From Developing Parkinson’s

7 . As vast fields surrounding Beijing and Shanghai transformed into towering skyscrapers, and old bicycles gave way to motor vehicles, the essence of music communication remained unchanged over these shifts.

“I’ll never forget that I’ve never seen so many bicycles in my life,” Philadelphia Orchestra violinist Davyd Booth said, recalling his first tour in China 50 years ago. “Everyone rode a bicycle. There were literally hundreds, thousands.”   

This month, 14 musicians from the Philadelphia Orchestra, including Booth, are returning to China, with performances scheduled in Beijing, Tianjin, Suzhou and Shanghai. The tour marks the 50th anniversary(周年纪念日) of their first visit in the 1970s, celebrating the unique friendship between China and the United States. Over the years, the orchestra(管弦乐团) has strengthened connections across China, with concerts and residencies that facilitate meaningful people-to-people interactions.

Booth said the 1973 tour was his first international trip with the orchestra. He considered himself lucky to have been part of the tour. He had just auditioned(试演) and got accepted into the orchestra that year. His official start date was scheduled after the orchestra’s return from China, but Booth received a call from the personnel manager informing him that someone had fallen ill. He then took the place and went to China.

“I was incredibly thrilled! Then, after I hung up, I realized I didn’t even have a passport,” Booth said. However, he got his passport and visa in just three days, thanks to the strong support from both countries. With his violin in tow, Booth joined the team on the 15-hour flight to China.

In addition to some regular compositions, the Philadelphia Orchestra also played the Yellow River Concerto, one of the most popular piano concertos in China even today. The Philadelphia Orchestra cooperated on this ensemble (合奏) with a Chinese pianist, marking the earliest ties between the US and China in music.

After the concert, the team was hanging around on the streets, Booth said. It was a fun experience even though people did not know how to talk to locals because of language barriers, he said. “You can communicate a lot by smiling, and it worked out very, very well,” he added.

1. What is the passage generally about?

A．US artists will give live performances.	B．Booth recalled his first visit to China.
C．Great changes have occurred in China.	D．China and the US are living in peace.

2. What do you know from paragraph 3?

A．The orchestra is popular in America.	B．Music performances happen a lot in China.
C．Music communication remains active.	D．Booth has come to China for the 50th time.

3. Booth meant that his getting the chance to come to China in 1973 was just a(an)______.

A．magic

B．mistake

C．luxury

D．accident

4. What is the role music plays based on the passage?

A．It serves to build bridge.	B．It stimulates people’s interest.
C．It contributes to equality.	D．It removes barriers to harmony.

8 . A fully automated process, including a brand-new artificial intelligence(Al)tool, has successfully detected, identified(确认)and categorized its first supernova(超新星). Developed by an international organization led by Northwestern University, the new system automates the entire search for new supernovae across the night sky—effectively removing humans from the process. Not only does this rapidly speed up the process of analyzing and categorizing new supernova candidates(候选), but it also bypasses human errors.

The team reported to the astronomical community the launch and success of the new tool．called the Bright Transient Survey Bot(BTSbot), this week. In the past six years, humans have spent an estimated total of 2,200 hours checking and categorizing supernova candidates. With the new tool now officially online, researchers can redirect this precious time toward other responsibilities in order to speed up the discovery.

To detect and analyze supernovae, humans currently work hand in hand with robotic systems. First, robotic telescopes repeatedly image the same sections of the night sky, searching for new sources that were not present in previous images. Then, when these telescopes detect something new, humans take over. The researchers developed the BTSbot to cut out these human middlemen.

To test the BTSbot, the researchers looked to a newly discovered supernova candidate called SN2023tyk. The ZTF, a robotic observatory that images the night sky in a search for supernovae, first detected the source on Oct. 3. Examining ZTF’s data in real time, BTSbot found SN2023tyk on Oct.5. After determining that the candidate was a Type la supernova, the automated system publicly shared the discovery with the astronomical community on Oet.7.       

In the first days of running BTSbot, Northwestern’s Nabeel Rehemtulla, who co-led the technology development, felt a mix of nervousness and excitement. “The beauty of it is that, once everything is turned on and working properly, we don’t actually do anything. We go to sleep at night, and, in the morning, we see that BTSbot and these other AIs firmly do their jobs,” he said.

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

A．Causes.

B．Avoids.

C．Reduces.

D．Contains.

2. What can we say about the research on supernovae in the past six years?

A．It is simple.	B．It is automatic.
C．It is meaningless.	D．It is time-consuming.

3. What is the final step for the BTSbot to complete the test?

A．Detecting the supernova.	B．Sharing the supernova.
C．Identifying the supernova.	D．Categorizing the supernova.

4. What can we infer from Rehemtulla’s words?

A．He hasn’t had a good sleep for a long time.

B．Running BTSbot requires a lot of manpower.

C．Researchers benefit greatly from the BTSbot.

D．He has no confidence in the success of the test.

9 . Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo has long worked to make her city less dependent on cars. She wanted to see more people using bicycles to get around. Over a number of years, the city government set limits on cars and increased the amount of bike paths from 200 kilometers to over 1,000 kilometers.

This year, Parisians are not complaining about too much automobile traffic. Instead, they say there are too many bikes. “Now, it’s really like a bike traffic jam(阻塞),” Thibault Quere, a spokesperson for France’s Federation of Bicycle Users, said. ”It’s kind of a good difficulty to have, especially when we think about what Paris used to be.”

Some famous roads along the River Seine are completely closed to cars. Now you see people riding bikes, running and walking with their families along the river. In another part of Paris, a bike path on Sebastopol Boulevard is one of the busiest in Europe, after opening in 2019. In one week in early September, it reached a record high of 124,000 riders.

The city will host the Summer Olympics in 2024 and plans to add more bike paths by then. Paris wants to reduce its pollution by half during the games, even as visitors from around the world will be in the city for the event. Organizers say all of the competition sites will be reachable by bike through a 60-kilometer network of bike paths.

The change to Paris, however, has not been easy. With more people using bikes, more people are making mistakes. Some of them are new to cycling and disobey traffic rules. But the environment may be improving. Cycling is good exercise and helps reduce pollution, which is still a problem for the large city. The French government blames atmospheric pollution for 48,000 early deaths in the country each year.

Hidalgo was re-elected in 2020 and plans to keep making what she calls a “Paris that breathes”. Her newest five-year bike plan includes over $250 million for more bike paths and bike parking. The new budget is an increase of over $100 million from her first five-year plan.

1. What can be learned from the second paragraph?

A．Hidalgo’s effort has paid off.	B．Parisians prefer to travel by car.
C．Parisians find it difficult to ride bikes.	D．Quere disagrees with Hidalgo.

2. Why does the author mention the data in paragraph 3?

A．To compare the famous roads in France.

B．To praise people enjoying riding bicycles.

C．To stress the importance of France in Europe.

D．To show how busy a cycle path is in Paris.

3. What do the organizers probably wish visitors to do during the Summer Olympics in 2024?

A．Tour local bike shops.	B．Ride to competition sites.
C．Promote the sights in France.	D．Support the athletes around the world.

4. Which word can best describe Anne Hidalgo?

A．Friendly.

B．Helpful.

C．Determined.

D．Honest.

10 . Four Unmissable Cultural Attractions in Cambridge

Set on the east bank of the River Cam, Cambridge is surely one of England’s most traditional and famous cities, where there is a world-famous university and great writers, thinkers and scholars. It comes as no surprise that this age-old centre of learning is home to a variety of splendid museums.

Fitzwilliam Museum

The Fitzwilliam, a museum at the University of Cambridge, houses about half a million artworks worldwide. Highlights include masterpieces by Titian and Canaletto, Anglo-Saxon jewelry (珠宝), and a wide range of priceless china, to name just a few. The museum is closed on Mondays.

Polar Museum

This small museum is based in the university’s Scott Polar Research Institute, set up by a surviving member of Robert Falcon Scott’s Terra Nova Expedition (探险) to Antarctica. It’s packed with all manner of objects relating to polar exploration; sleeping bags, Inuit artworks and expedition diaries. The museum is open from Wednesdays to Saturdays; check the latest times before visiting.

Museum of Zoology

Celebrate the diversity of animal life at this university museum, which has some of the best natural history collections in the world. It’s home to a variety of impressive exhibits, from an almost-70-foot fin whale to an African elephant. The specimens (标本) on display cover the whole animal kingdom. It is open from Tuesdays to Sundays.

Centre for Computing History

With a focus on the social and cultural impact of technology, this museum explores the incredible advances made in computing over the past few decades, as well as during the earlier days of the Information Age. It’s a great day out with children, with mobile phones, calculators, game players and old-fashioned computers all on show. The museum is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.

1. What will you enjoy in Fitzwilliam Museum?

A．Valuable artworks.	B．Expedition diaries.
C．Animal specimens.	D．Old-fashioned computers.

2. When can you visit Polar Museum?

A．On Monday.

B．On Tuesday.

C．On Friday.

D．On Sunday.

3. Which museum should you go to if you are interested in mobile phones?

A．Polar Museum.	B．Museum of Zoology.
C．Fitzwilliam Museum.	D．Centre for Computing History.