1 . Sometimes we only appreciate something when we realize we may lose it. That is the story of the Everglades. A shallow slow-moving river, the Everglades once covered about 18,000 square miles of southern Florida. Until the 1900s, few people lived in the grassy wetlands. Not much was understood about the unique balance of nature that existed there. Plants, creatures, and water had formed a remarkable ecosystem.
By the early 1900s, Florida’s pleasant winters attracted more people. Visitors became new permanent residents. They built homes and roads. The conditions looked good for farming, so the newcomers planted large agricultural crops. But South Florida’s cycle of flooding was a problem. To address that, developers attempted to drain (排水) the land. They also built structures to control water levels and flow.
Those changes made it easier for more people to live year-round in South Florida. However, they also disturbed life in the Everglades, which depends on freshwater regularly refilling the land. The area’s growing human population needed freshwater. And large farms consumed large quantities of freshwater. By the mid-1900s, water levels in southern Florida began to go down. Lack of freshwater wasn’t the only problem. As more and more land was developed for people and farms, the Everglades’ historic boundaries contracted. Loss of habitat and hunting threatened the survival of native species in the Everglades.
Some people hoped that the government’s recognition might save the Everglades. They fought for it. Everglades National Park was established in 1947. It became the first park in the United States created for its biodiversity.
Now, Everglades National Park protects 1.5 million acres along the southern tip of Florida. An amazing variety of creatures live there. About 360 different species of birds have been sighted in the park. Nearly 300 different species of fish have been identified. About 40 species of mammals and 50 species of reptiles inhabit the park. Nature still rules in the Everglades, a place worth understanding, appreciating, and protecting.
1. What was the Everglades like before the 1900s?| A．Naturally wild. | B．Partly explored. |
| C．Completely lifeless. | D．Thickly populated. |
| A．A cycle of flooding. |
| B．Pollution of freshwater. |
| C．Possible extinction of native species. |
| D．The extension of historic boundaries. |
| A．To attract visitors to the park. |
| B．To stress the great power of nature. |
| C．To call for more efforts to protect nature. |
| D．To show the successful conservation of the park. |
| A．How people adapted to life in the Everglades. |
| B．How Everglades National Park was established. |
| C．How humans harmed and saved the Everglades. |
| D．How the ecosystem of the Everglades was formed. |
2 . There are positive effects of having deep conversations with strangers, published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
“Connecting with others in meaningful ways tends to make people happier, and yet people also seem unwilling to engage in deeper conversation,” said Nicholas Epley, a professor of behavioral science at the University of Chicago. “This struck us as an interesting social paradox: If connecting with others in deep and meaningful ways increases well-being, then why aren’t people doing it more often in daily life?”
To answer that question, Epley and his colleagues designed several experiments, where pairs of people—mainly strangers—were asked to discuss either relatively deep or shallow topics. Before the conversations, participants predicted how awkward they thought the conversations would be, how connected they thought they would feel to their conversation partner and how much they would enjoy the conversation. Afterward, they rated their predictions on actual basis. Generally, the researchers found that both deep conversations felt less awkward and led to greater feelings of connectedness and enjoyment than the participants had expected.
If deep connection is better, then why aren’t people actually having more of them? The researchers suspected it might be because people underestimate how interested strangers are in learning about their deeper thoughts and feelings. In some of the experiments, the researchers asked participants to predict how interested their conversation partner would be in the discussion, and then afterward to indicate how interested their partner actually was in the discussion. On average, people consistently underestimated how interested their partners would be in learning about them.
“People seemed to imagine that revealing something meaningful about themselves in conversation would be met with blank stares and silence, only to find this wasn’t true in the actual conversation,” Epley said. “Human beings are deeply social and tend to respond in conversation. If you share something important, you are likely to get something important exchanged in return, leading to a considerably better conversation.”
1. What does the underlined word “paradox” in paragraph 2 mean?| A．Complexity. | B．Coherence. | C．Transformation. | D．Contradiction. |
| A．All the topics discussed were not deep ones. |
| B．The experiments were carried out on a regular basis. |
| C．Most of the participants are familiar with each other. |
| D．The participants made predictions while in conversation. |
| A．Depth of the topic. | B．People’s expectations. |
| C．Participants’ interest. | D．Consistency of the talk. |
| A．Giving active responses in talking. |
| B．Making safe predictions in communication. |
| C．Engaging in more conversations to be sociable. |
| D．Striking up in-depth conversations with strangers. |
3 . The Ministry of Public Security has exposed a video that sparked a nationwide search after it was universally viewed on social media.
The video, describing homework booklets supposedly lost by a Chinese first grader in Paris, was revealed to be a carefully crafted play for online attention. The local ministry also presented details of 10 relevant highly-concerned cases, highlighting the Paris homework incident as a typical example.
The video was uploaded in February by a blogger surnamed Xu, from Zhejiang province. It showed a Parisian restaurant worker supposedly returning homework found in a restroom. The video said the homework belonged to Qin Lang from Class Eight, without specifying the school. That sparked a social media craze, with many netizens attempting to locate the child.
However, the narrative quickly unfolded. A user claiming to be Qin Lang’s uncle appeared in the comments section. Following investigations revealed the person making the comment, a person surnamed Yang from Jiangsu province, was another participant in the play to gain online attention and was not related to Xu.
Further investigation by authorities exposed the entire act. Police discovered that Xu, along with her company director scripted the video, purchased a homework booklet online and staged the entire scene.
Facing administrative punishments and demands for public apologies, Xu admitted her initial lack of “legal awareness” but expressed regret for the widespread attention and disturbance caused by the video. Her social media accounts, with millions of followers across many platforms, have been canceled.
In December, the ministry launched a nationwide campaign against online rumors, targeting individuals who spread rumors, fake news or utilize trending topics for personal gain. Law enforcement authorities will increasingly monitor major social media, live-streaming and short video platforms to identify and address malicious(恶意的) online activity.
1. What do we learn about the video?| A．It received fairly limited views. |
| B．It recorded a genuine incident happened in Paris. |
| C．It was a rare case that showed little relevance to others. |
| D．It was uploaded mainly for widespread online attention. |
| A．They showed no interest in it. |
| B．They paid enthusiastic attention to it. |
| C．They accused the blogger of her inappropriate behavior. |
| D．They made fun of Qin Lang and located him immediately. |
| A．She canceled all her social media accounts actively. |
| B．She admitted her mistake and expressed sincere regret. |
| C．She apologized to Qin Lang and sent his homework back. |
| D．She cooperated with another member to comment on the video. |
| A．Many activities will be launched to resist online rumors. |
| B．Spreading rumors online emerges as a universal phenomenon recently. |
| C．Many people follow the trend blindly for entertainment and personal gain. |
| D．Relevant administrations will strengthen their efforts to control the spread of online rumors. |
4 . Robert van Gulik was born on August 9, 1910 in the Netherlands. His mother came from a family of musicians and piano makers, a fact that greatly influenced Robert’s life. His father was a physician in army, a position which required frequent foreign postings (派驻). The family lived in various areas of the East Indies for most of Robert’s youth. This experience contributed to his appreciation for cultures and mastery of several languages.
He was an eager academic, collector of art and manuscripts (手稿), and translator of ancient writings. He studied and trained to become a master musician on the Chinese guqin and eventually wrote two books on the instrument. Similarly, his skills as an artist in the traditional Chinese style and knowledge of calligraphy were extraordinary. He wrote and published a number of non-fiction, scholarly articles and books on Chinese music, art, and literature, as well as Chinese culture and traditions.
Although he also wrote essays and short stories, Robert remained best known for his Chinese mysteries. In 1940, Robert came across an 18th-century Chinese novel that would take his career down an unplanned pathway and result in the public fame he never expected. The novel, titled Four GreatStrange Cases of Empress Wu’s Reign, was a fictional account of the deeds of Judge Dee, one of the heroes of traditional Chinese detective fiction, and was set during the 7th-century Tang Dynasty. Interested, Robert not only translated the novel into English, but he explored the history of Chinese Penal Code (刑法) and other legal literature of the period. It was not until 1949 that Robert was able to publish his translation Dee Goong An (狄公案): Three Murder Cases Solved by Judge Dee. Robert’s Chinese mysteries include over 10 novels and short-story volumes, recording the career of Chinese detective called Di Renjie. Interestingly, the tales first found fame in oriental (东方的) editions, before being translated into English in 1957.
1. What helped Robert develop the ability in several languages?| A．His eagerness for art and ancient writing. |
| B．His mother’s good family background. |
| C．His appreciation for cultures and languages. |
| D．His living in different parts of the East Indies. |
| A．His hobbies. | B．His skills. | C．His books. | D．His achievements. |
| A．To recommend a Chinese mystery fiction to us. |
| B．To show the factor leading to Robert’s great fame. |
| C．To help us learn about the 7th-century Tang Dynasty. |
| D．To value the development of Chinese detective fictions. |
| A．Better late than never. | B．Attitude is everything. |
| C．Practice makes perfect. | D．Rome was not built in a day. |
5 . When did the voice inside your head start talking? I became aware of mine at about the age of 15. At night, I sometimes found it difficult to get to sleep because there was so much “mind chatter” inside my head.
In fact, mind chatter is quite common for human beings. Usually, whenever our attention isn’t focused, a stream of mental activities flows through our minds--thoughts about the future or the past, daydreams about various realities, or friends or other people. We often call this mental activity “thinking”, but this isn’t really so.
Real thinking suggests something active over which we have conscious (有意识的) control. It happens when we consciously use powers of reason and logic to evaluate different choices, make decisions and plans, organize our lives, solve problems and so on. But mind chatter isn’t like this. It’s purposeless, running through our heads no matter what our desires are and disturbing us.
For example, imagine you’re thinking about what courses to take for the next school year. As you are considering them, thoughts about your favorite subjects flood in, reminding you of a project that you really like. This makes you remember chatting with friends about a fascinating article on climate change. Suddenly, you remember the upcoming science fair and you worry about managing your time. All these thoughts leave you struggling to focus, and you end up seeking advice from classmates.
However, it’s unrealistic to expect to silence our mind chatter altogether. It’s such a natural part of our minds that it’s unlikely to disappear. We should accept it and treat it as a kind of physiological (生理的) process that takes place inside us but is not part of our identity. We should treat it in the same way that we treat the process like eating and the flow of our blood. We don’t get our sense of identity from them, so why should we identify with the voice inside our head?
1. How is real thinking different from mind chatter?| A．It is illogical. | B．It is related to active reasoning. |
| C．It lacks a clear purpose. | D．It is driven by desires. |
| A．Its inability to give advice. | B．Its connection to our memories. |
| C．Its impact on our concentration. | D．Its common presence in our mind. |
| A．It’s normal. | B．It’s unusual. | C．It’s beneficial. | D．It’s harmful. |
| A．To stress the importance of mind chatter. |
| B．To show mind chatter cannot define who we are. |
| C．To explain the link between mental and physical health. |
| D．To prove the human body’s physiological effect. |
6 . Waking up at the crack of dawn and going for a run might feel intimidating when you start trying to make it a habit. Weaving a significant new activity such as this into your regular routine obviously takes determination and time — but how much time is really needed to make that habit stick?
One popular idea suggests that it takes 21 days to solidify a habit. The “three-week theory” originated from the 1960 self-help book Psycho-Cybernetics, in which plastic surgeon Maxwell Maltz observed that it took his patients about 21 days to get used to their new appearance after surgery. Even without much solid research, the 21-day myth became widely accepted. It likely persisted because it seems like such a reasonable amount of time, Colin Camerer, a behavioral economist at the California Institute of Technology who has conducted research on habit formation, explains.
Almost a half century later, researchers finally gathered strong evidence that countered this idea. A significant 2009 study on habit creation found that habits developed in a range of 18 to 254 days; participants reported taking an average of about 66 days to reliably incorporate one of three new daily activities — eating a piece of fruit with lunch, drinking a bottle of water with lunch or running for 15 minutes before dinner. Consistent daily repetition was the biggest factor influencing whether a behavior would become part of an automatic daily routine, says Lally, who was the first author on the study.
The type of activity is also a factor. Last year a study conducted by Camerer and his colleagues showed that creating a handwashing habit took a few weeks, compared with the half year it took for people to develop an exercise habit. Handwashing, the study noted, is less complex than exercising and offers more opportunities to practice. The researchers also suggested that habit formation depends on the effort that a person puts into practicing an activity and on the presence of environmental cues that would remind them to carry out the behavior.
1. Why is waking up early for a run mentioned in the first paragraph?| A．To advocate taking exercise regularly. |
| B．To express the difficulty of an early rise. |
| C．To stress the significance of getting up early. |
| D．To introduce how long it takes to develop a new habit. |
| A．Because the theory persisted for a long time. |
| B．Because a noted surgeon put forward this theory. |
| C．Because 21 days may be seen as realistic and achievable. |
| D．Because the theory was originated from a popular self-help book. |
| A．Repeated practice. | B．Time. | C．Determination. | D．Individualized ways. |
| A．The ways of changing a habit. | B．The time frame of developing a habit. |
| C．The activities to create a habit. | D．The influence of having a habit. |
7 . In 2009, when Qatar (卡塔尔) bid to host the 2022 Football World Cup, it promised a carbon-neutral (碳中和) event. Even back then, the prospect of neutralizing the carbon-dioxide emissions (排放) generated by hosting hundreds of thousands of fans in newly constructed stadiums, in a desert state, seemed fanciful. So it is proving. In their greenhouse-gas accounting report, published last year, FIFA (国际足联) and the Qatari organizers estimated that the World Cup would generate 3.6 million tons of CO2 emissions. Estimating emissions for big sporting events is a relatively new practice and methods can vary, but that figure is higher than any recent World Cup or Olympics.
It is also likely to be a significant underestimate. A report in May 2022 by Carbon Market Watch (CMW), a climate watchdog (监督者), found that the official forecast failed to account accurately for the emissions generated from stadiums. FIFA, which insists its method is “best in practice”, reckons that the majority of the emissions (52%) will come from fans and players travelling to Qatar, while less than 25% are from stadium construction. That is because organizers expect these stadiums to be used for years after the World Cup, spreading their carbon footprint way into the future.
CMW believes such an excuse is far from reasonable. Before the World Cup, Qataris were able to get by with only one stadium, it points out. Consequently, it estimates that the emissions from stadium construction for the World Cup are undercounted by a factor of eight. It puts the real figure at 5 million tons. Though it amounts to less than 0.02% of the world’s annual emissions, sports teams and organizations should have set a positive example in this.
To remove the doubt from outside, Qatar has established the Global Carbon Council (GCC), a dedicated environmental agency. Beyond adjusting for World Cup emissions, the GCC will promote a path to “a low-carbon future”, a great step for a country with the world’s highest emissions per person. Yet the agency is still at its early stage. Only six projects, saving less than 600,000 tons, have been approved so far.
1. What is the main problem Qatar and FIFA are faced with at present?| A．The 2022 World Cup isn’t as successful as it should be. |
| B．They may fail to keep the promise to hold a green event. |
| C．The figure they published is higher than that of other events |
| D．They are unfamiliar with the new practice of the World Cup. |
| A．By insisting on its way of environmental protection. |
| B．By promising to use the new stadiums for more years. |
| C．By blaming the greenhouse-gas emissions on travelers. |
| D．By cooperating with Carbon Market Watch for instructions. |
| A．5 million tons accounts for a little of the annual emissions. |
| B．The stadium construction for the World Cup sets a bad example. |
| C．The method they employed in estimating the emissions is unscientific. |
| D．There will be more stadiums than Qatar actually needs after the World Cup. |
| A．The GCC is an agency specially established for the World Cup |
| B．The Qataris attach great importance to environmental protection. |
| C．The Qataris need to make more efforts to hold a carbon-neutral event. |
| D．The GCC has achieved a lot in cutting down greenhouse-gas emissions. |
8 . Things to do this weekend in NYC: April 12-14 2024
Here are some noteworthy events to check out this week in New York City
Josh Wolf
Gramercy Theatre — 127 E. 23rd St., New York, N.Y. 10010
Sat. April 13 at 7:00 p.m.
Josh Wolf of “Chelsea Lately” will bring his brand of humor to Gramercy’s historic music venue. Josh Wolf’s comedy material is heavily inspired by his family. Wolf, 54, is also known to incorporate (融合) music into his performance, as he does when hosting his own comedy show “The Fantastical Jamboree” at Jimmy Kimmel’s Comedy Club in Las Vegas.
Tickets start at $27.50
“Selena Brunch”
Alamo Drafthouse Staten Island — 2636 Hylan Blvd., Suite 230, Staten Island, N.Y. 10306
Sat. April 13 and Sun. April 14 at 11:30 a.m.
The 1997 Gregory Nava film that made Jennifer Lopez a Hollywood star is getting a nice revisit at Alamo Drafthouse with a “Selena Brunch” this weekend. While enjoying a special menu created for the occasion, see Jenny from the Block in her breakthrough role as the late Tejano star who was tragically murdered at 23. Dishes include a breakfast club sandwich, blueberry donut French toast bake and breakfast tacos, in addition to the regular refreshments on offer.
Though the downtown Brooklyn showings are already sold out, there are still tickets at the Staten Island location.
$12 admission. Prices range from $11.95 to $15.95 for food item
I’m Possible
New Victory Theater — 209 W 42nd St., New York, N.Y. 10036
The Brooklyn-based Omnium Circus company, which prides itself in inclusivity and accessibility for both audience and performers, kicks off a two-week run of its latest show this weekend in Times Square.
“I’m Possible” lives up to its goal to make the Big Top experience accessible to audiences of all abilities with a 90-minute show featuring a gymnast who uses a wheelchair, an tennis player born without legs, and a deaf storyteller.
All performances will incorporate audio description, captioning (字幕), sensory-friendly lighting and sound, and a calm environment where movement and vocalization from audience members are welcome.
Tickets start at $28
1. Where does Josh Wolf get his inspiration for his comedy show?| A．From his favourite music. |
| B．From his own working experience. |
| C．From Jimmy Kimmel’s Comedy Club. |
| D．From his experience with family members. |
| A．$ 15.95. | B．$23.95. | C．$27.95. | D．$ 39.9. |
| A．Entertaining. | B．Encouraging. | C．Terrifying. | D．Puzzling. |
9 . For want of a chip, the factory was lost. On May 18th Toyota became the latest carmaker forced to cut production in a global shortage of microchips, announcing it would stop work at two of its plants in Japan. Other car makers have also had to send workers home.
The pain is not limited to the car industry, for the shortage spans all sorts of chips, from the expensive, high-tech devices that power smartphones and data-centers to the simple sensors and micro-controllers that have become a vital commodity (商品). This chip drought is the result of the covid-19 pandemic interacting with an industry that is subject to cycles of boom and bust.
“The most important thing”, says Malcolm Penn, who runs a chip-industry consultancy, “is that shortages are a natural part of the industry.” Chipmaking is a good example of a “pork-cycle” business, named for the regular swings between under- and over-supply in pork markets. As with pigs, the supply of chips cannot quickly react to changes in demand. Capacity was tight even before the pandemic, says Mr Penn, pointing out that investment by chipmakers in factory equipment has been below its long-term average for many years.
The pandemic arrived at the worst possible time. After an early crash, demand in several fields boomed. Locked-down consumers bought laptops and other devices. Cloud-computing operators added servers to deal with the wave of home-workers. The car industry was particularly badly hit by a decision to cut orders early in the pandemic-demand for cars has since recovered. But the complexities of the production process mean it takes time to recover. “I can cancel my orders in an afternoon,” says Mr. Penn. “If I want to start them up again, that takes months--and that capacity is now busy serving other customers.”
But the pork cycle is turning once again. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, the world’s biggest chipmaker, plans to spend $30bn on new capacity this year. Two other giants, have also decided on further investment. That will bring relief to the wider economy, but not immediately. The boss of IBM said he thought the shortages might last for two years. And, says Mr Penn, when the drought eventually ends, chipmakers may find they face a familiar problem on a bigger scale: a capacity investment in response to serious shortages today could well mean a sizeable surplus (过剩) tomorrow.
1. How does the author illustrate the cyclical nature of chipmaking in paragraph 3?| A．By referring to a quotation. | B．By making a comparison. |
| C．By drawing a conclusion. | D．By presenting an argument. |
| A．Improved supply chain stability. | B．Timely assistance to the business. |
| C．Economic growth in related sectors. | D．Possible future oversupply of chips. |
| A．Production capacity would recover soon. |
| B．A combination of reasons led to chip shortage. |
| C．An investment of S30bn was enough for the problem. |
| D．Toyota was the first carmaker to suspend production. |
| A．Loading, please wait | B．Dying, please act |
| C．Calling, please respond | D．Over-supplying, please stop |
10 . I’m in a coffee shop in Manhattan and I’m about to become the most disliked person in the room. First, I’m going to interrupt the man reading quietly near the window and ask for a drink of his latte. Next, I’m going to ask the line of people waiting to pay if I can cut to the front of the queue. This is how I chose to spend my last vacation. Here’s why.
Growing up, all I ever heard about was “EQ.” It was the mid-1990s, and psychologist Daniel Goleman had just popularized the concept of emotional intelligence. Unlike IQ, which tracked conventional measures of intelligence like reasoning and recall, EQ measured the ability to understand other people — to listen, to empathize (共情), and to appreciate.
My mother, an elementary school principal, prized brains and hard work, but she placed a special emphasis on Goleman’s new idea. To her, EQ was the elixir (万能药) that separated the good students from the great after they left school. She was determined to send me into the adult world with as much of this elixir as possible.
But when I finally began my first job, I noticed a second elixir in the pockets of some of my colleagues. It gave their opinions extra weight and their decisions added impact. Strangest of all, it seemed like the anti-EQ: Instead of knowing how to make others feel good, this elixir gave people the courage to do the opposite — to say things others didn’t want to hear.
This was assertiveness (魄力). It boiled down to the command of a single skill: the ability to have uncomfortable conversations. Assertive people — those with high “AQ”— ask for things they want, decline things they don’t, provide constructive feedback, and engage in direct confrontation (对峙) and debate.
A lifetime improving my EQ helped me empathize with others, but it also left me overly sensitive to situations where I had to say or do things that might make others unhappy. While I didn’t avoid conflict, I was always frustrated by my powerlessness when I had to say or do something that could upset someone. This is my problem and I’m working on it.
1. Why did the author act that way in the coffee shop?| A．To improve a skill. | B．To test a concept. |
| C．To advocate a new idea. | D．To have a unique vacation. |
| A．She thought little of IQ. |
| B．She popularized Goleman’s idea. |
| C．She was a strict mother and principal. |
| D．She valued EQ as the key to greatness. |
| A．EQ. | B．AQ. | C．Empathy. | D．Courage. |
| A．successful leaders | B．people pleasers |
| C．terrible complainers | D．pleasure seekers |
