1 . 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 |
2 . 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. |
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 . 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. |
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 . At the end of 2019,I learned that Here After AI, whose goal is to let the living communicate with the dead, was looking for applicants of its new AI project. Interested in what it was promising, I applied to experiment the software on my very-much-alive parents.
At first, I thought it would be just a fun project to see what was technologically possible. Then their health condition added some urgency to the experiment. I was frightened that my parents might die since my father had been diagnosed with cancer and my mother was recently developing symptoms of early Alzheimer’s disease, and that with the distance between us, I might never have the chance to say goodbye.
The first step was an interview. My parents were asked questions by a techician for hours-about everything from their earliest memories to what they believe will happen after they die. Whether through illness-generated concerns or a willingness to humor their daughter, my parents put up zero resistance. The company then took their responses and started to create the voice assistants. A few months later, my virtual parents arrived via email attachment.
When I communicated with them through the app on my phone, my hands were shaking. I hadn’t seen my actual, real parents for six months. They told me personal stories I’d never heard. They gave me life advice and told me things about their childhoods, as well as my own. It was mesmerizing.
Personally, I have mixed feelings about my experiment. I’m glad to have my virtual parents. They’ve enabled me to learn new things about my parents, and it’s comforting to think that those softwares will be there even when my parents aren’t. On the other hand, I can’t help but find it sad that it took a stranger interviewing my parents for me to properly appreciate the complex people they are. But I feel lucky to have had the chance to grasp that-and to still have the precious opportunity to spend more time with them and learn more about them, face to face, no technology involved.
1. Why did the author initially join the AI project?| A．To test out the new technology. |
| B．To preserve her parents’ voice. |
| C．To learn more about her parents’ life. |
| D．To remove the worry about her parents’ health. |
| A．They liked talking a lot. |
| B．They died from the illnesses. |
| C．They opposed joining the project at first. |
| D．They provided data for the project. |
| A．Alarming. | B．Fascinating. | C．Inspiring. | D．Disgusting. |
| A．AI means never saying goodbye to our parents. |
| B．The advances in AI technology have pros and cons. |
| C．The real connection with our parents matters most. |
| D．AI allows us to learn more about our virtual parents. |
9 . English businessman Richard Branson made history on July 11, 2021 as he and three other crewmates became the world’s first space tourists. The flight was made by a spacecraft named VSS Unity that was built by Branson’s company, Virgin Galactic. The flight lasted slightly more than an hour, and took Branson and crew to an altitude (海拔) of 53.5miles above the Earth, just a little above the boundary (边界) of space which lies 50 miles above the Earth.
At that height, the atmosphere turns into the black of outer space and the Earth becomes a bent ball of blue. Travelers also exhibit weightlessness as there is no gravity, the force that keeps our bodies walking on the Earth’s surface. Therefore, Branson and his fellows were able to float around in VSS Unity while enjoying the views. They were able to do that for three minutes before the spacecraft began its downward journey. It landed back at Virgin Galactic’s space port in New Mexico, United States, which is the same place from where it had taken off 90 minutes before.
On landing back, Branson said, “I have dreamt of this moment since I was a kid but honestly, nothing could prepare you for the view of the Earth from space. It was just magical. I’m just taking it all in, and it’s unreal.”
July 11’s flight is the start of space tourism for one and all. In early 2022, customers who can afford a ticket for a quarter of a million dollars can line up for a seat on a trip to space. And guess what — they will have a choice of spacecraft. Jeff Bezos, who owns a famous company, is all set to launch himself into space on July 20 on board a spacecraft built by his new branch company Blue Origin. Blue Origin will also carry tourists to space.
1. What is Richard Branson famous for?| A．His success in tourism. |
| B．His company of Virgin Galactic. |
| C．His spaceship named VSS Unity. |
| D．His first commercial space travel in history. |
| A．Unbelievable. | B．Adventurous. | C．Regrettable. | D．Worthless. |
| A．Take a spacecraft of Virgin Galactic. |
| B．Pay $250,000 for the rocket tour. |
| C．Pass the fitness test for astronauts. |
| D．Line up for a position in Blue Origin. |
| A．Humans will move to other livable planets. |
| B．Ordinary people will soon land on the moon. |
| C．Private rocket space travel is growing gradually. |
| D．Some companies abandon their proper business. |
10 . Nature’s beauty is all around you. Wild flowers shine in bright blues, yellows, and reds. Trees, with unique shaped branches, and leaves, decorate the horizon. Under your feet, pine needles, leaves, and grass give their natural beauty on the earth’s surface. But how many of you take the time to notice all of nature’s wonders?
Hannah Bullen-Ryner is an artist who not only takes the time to “smell the roses”, but she uses them as a medium to craft stunning portraits of birds. Bullen-Ryner, a photographer by trade, began her artistic hobby shortly after her twin daughters were born. The young mother suffered from depression and anxiety. To seek a solution, she turned to nature.
Bullen-Ryner started spending time alone in the woods, foraging for materials: flowers, branches, leaves, and grass. On an impulse (冲动), she started forming a portrait of a bird with the items she had gathered. When her picture was finished, Bullen-Ryner realized that she felt calmand hopeful. The process had been healing and therapeutic (有疗效的).
Bullen-Ryner tells My Modern Met, “Finding the medium of land art has allowed my art and soul to connect to the earth. As a full-time Mama of nearly three-year-old twin girls, and someone who suffers from anxiety, my art is my quiet time, my peace.”
When Bullen-Ryner creates her artwork on the forest floor, she never uses glues or any other material to bond the foraged items. This means that a single breeze is able to carry away or scatter her portrait.
“People often ask me why I don’t make something more permanent or they say it’s such a shame that it’s temporary,” Bullen-Ryner explains. “But for me,” she continues, “it is the short-lived nature of what I do that has become therapy for my soul. I get to put down all my anxieties, my fears, and all the chaos from my brain and turn it into something beautiful to honor Mother Nature. I take some photos and then walk or cycle away, leaving it all behind and feeling calmer, more connected, and truly lighter.”
1. Why did Bullen-Ryner take up her artistic hobby?| A．To kill time. | B．To make more profits. |
| C．To serve as a treatment. | D．To entertain her daughters. |
| A．Making. | B．Answering. |
| C．Providing. | D．Seeking. |
| A．It is well received with customers. |
| B．It cannot be preserved for a long time. |
| C．It stimulated the local tourism industry. |
| D．It won her widespread praise domestically. |
| A．Bullen-Ryner is grateful to nature. |
| B．Bullen-Ryner regrets what she has done. |
| C．Bullen-Ryner is into going to work by bicycle. |
| D．Bullen-Ryner persuades more people to participate. |
