1 . When colds and flu hit, many people automatically turn to over-the-counter (OTC) medicines to push through and treat their symptoms. Although these medicines are easily accessible and widely used, it might come as a surprise to many people to learn that they are not risk-free. A study estimated that every year, 26,735 people went to the emergency room for adverse (不利的) events related to OTC cold and cough medicines.
When two or more drugs are used together, their interactions can sometimes produce unexpected harmful effects. Physicians are typically knowledgeable about potential drug interactions, so it is very important for patients to ask their healthcare providers which OTC medicines are safe for them to use.
It is important to read the package ingredients of OTC medicines closely to avoid duplication of doses (剂量重复). Cold medicines are typically made up of multiple ingredients. A person who takes a single-ingredient medicine paired with one of these multi-ingredient medicines can receive an unsafe dose of that ingredient.
While everyone could potentially experience adverse effects from cold and flu medicines, some groups — including older adults, children and pregnant women — may be at greater risk. Older people who are using prescribed drugs to treat multiple health conditions may have a higher risk of drug interactions because of the higher number of medicines being used at the same time to treat different conditions. The aging body is not as expert at absorbing, distributing and clearing medicines as younger bodies are. This can put older adults at higher risk for an overdose and drug-to-drug interactions with some medicines.
The Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention do not recommend giving cold medicines to children under age 4. Because of a variety of factors, young children have a higher risk of an accidental overdose and adverse events that could lead to death.
1. What does the author advise patients to do in Paragraph 2?| A．To ask for suggestions from doctors. | B．To buy medicines from hospitals. |
| C．To read the package ingredients of drugs. | D．To take drugs as early as possible. |
| A．To provide a medical choice for people who catch a cold. |
| B．To show cold medicines are more likely to cause bad effects. |
| C．To explain OTC medicines often have more than one ingredient. |
| D．To stress the importance of learning about medicines’ ingredients. |
| A．They can’t cope with aging positively. | B．Their body can’t handle medicines easily. |
| C．They are more easily affected by diseases. | D．Their desire for health makes them unwise. |
| A．Say No to OTC Drugs | B．Tips on Taking OTC Drugs |
| C．OTC Medicines May Not Be Safe | D．How to Deal with an OTC Drug Overdose |
2 . On today’s blog post, I’ll talk about my favorite magazines. I love reading books and magazines, and I’m learning so many useful tips about health y living, daily life, etc.
Women’s Health
Women’s Health has a unique content. You can find various interesting information about healthy living or exercises you can do at home. I also love their writers because they explain every topic so simply that you can even understand biological articles.
Healthy Food Guide
I totally recommend it to everyone because it has lots of useful information about being healthy during your daily life. In this magazine, you can find articles about foods you often eat but don’t have much idea what they contain or if they’re healthy. If you are searching for new diets, this magazine gives you all the information.
Time Out
Time Out is a well-known magazine and it’s free in my city. Every time I see a Time Out magazine, I get it because it has lots of useful tips. I got Time Out London when I was in London, and I discovered new restaurants, galleries, museums and events. This magazine has various information about the city life. For example, it gives you the events that are happening near you. It gives you tips for the railway stations and other transportation choices.
La Cucina Italiana
If you love cooking Italian food, this magazine is for you! It has lots of recipes and also restaurant reviews. You can also find popular restaurants near you in this magazine. I’ve also read articles by famous chefs from my city.
1. What do Women’s Health and Healthy Food Guide have in common?| A．They have a unique content. | B．They have information about health. |
| C．They explain every topic simply. | D．They teach people how to cook. |
| A．La Cucina Italiana. | B．Time Out. |
| C．Women’s Health. | D．Healthy Food Guide. |
| A．He lives in London. | B．He often goes travelling. |
| C．He loves and enjoys life. | D．He likes collecting recipes. |
3 . The village super league, or “Cun Chao” in Chinese, is a soccer game among different villages in Rongjiang County, Southwest China’s Guizhou Province, and it is so down-to-earth but popular that it has attracted not only the attention of football legend Michael Owen, but also millions of Chinese netizens (网民), who are paying attention to this non-professional football league.
The players come from a variety of backgrounds. They are vendors, drivers, students, carpenters, tilers, former butchers and brick factory workers. Their ages range from 15 to over 40 years old. At the game site, representatives wearing various traditional national costumes play national musical. instruments and enter the arena (竞技场) with the players, and perform songs and dances.
“This kind of football game is natural and with ‘pureness’ and it is driven by the enthusiasm of the ordinary people not the economic benefits. The game is providing not only values of sports, but also a way of socialising with low costs,” an expert noted. “This kind of atmosphere is very rarely seen and is treasured, especially for people in urban areas who are getting increasingly busy and under great work pressure, and when they look at the fun, relaxing and down-to-earth way of life in the countryside, they will naturally be interested,” experts said. There is at least one good impact brought by “Cun Chao” to Chinese soccer—to make more people see the pureness of joy brought by the sport and encourage them to play soccer.
Today, more and more grassroots sports events are held in the mountains and are using sports as a medium to showcase the unique charm of the local area, reflecting a vibrant lifestyle filled with agricultural activities and rural fun.
1. Why does the author mention Michael Owen in Paragraph 1?| A．To show he is famous in China. |
| B．To tell about his love for China. |
| C．To suggest he has taken part in “Cun Chao”. |
| D．To prove the great popularity of “Cun Chao”. |
| A．They are from all walks of life. |
| B．Seniors are welcome to join the team. |
| C．Most of them are capable of playing national musical instruments. |
| D．They wear traditional costumes on the soccer field when competing. |
| A．To build more arena s in the countryside. |
| B．To help people know more about soccer. |
| C．To encourage more people to play soccer. |
| D．To make Chinese soccer known around the world. |
| A．Doubtful. | B．Favourable. | C．Ashamed. | D．Negative. |
4 . In an increasingly globalized business world, companies demand Human Resources (HR) leaders who can overcome cultural barriers to achieve key goals. This year, students in the Master of Human Resources and Industrial Relations (MHRIR) Program will get hands-on experience leading multicultural teams as they work together with peers (同辈) from all corners of the globe.
“Our students get firsthand experience on global teams, which helps them understand the challenges and the opportunities they will face in the business world,” said MHRIR Program Director Stacy Hove.
Elishka Correa joined the program to explore how HR leaders can help businesses grow quickly in the global marketplace. “Companies appreciate diversity — not only in terms of products and markets, but the people they hire — so that they can expand their business and reach customers in different parts of the world,” she said. “When I go into an organization, I’m not only going to work with Indians or Americans, it’s going to be a mix of people. That trend is beginning to grow, so I think it’s very important to appreciate people from different backgrounds.”
As they progress through the program, the students are discovering unexpected challenges as they work on projects in diverse teams. Each contributor brings a different approach to solving problems, communicating, and challenging one another’s opinions.
Devin Roll, a student from North Dakota, appreciating the unique views his classmates share, said, “The benefits of having cross-cultural experiences go far beyond the classroom. Diverse teams and companies outperform their competitors, and HR leaders act as a vital partner in acquiring and maintaining diversity in the workforce.”
Many of the international students in the program said they would return to their home countries after graduation and bring along connections to their classmates, who would build careers (职业) in countries around the world. They hope to stay in touch, and share their expert knowledge.
1. What is the aim of the program?| A．To help students to set clear goals. |
| B．To provide jobs for foreign students. |
| C．To teach students to run their own business. |
| D．To train students to build multicultural teams. |
| A．It prevents social advance. | B．It makes it easy to hire people. |
| C．It can help business growth. | D．It can put an end to the conflict. |
| A．It is predictable. | B．It is short-lived. | C．It is unidentifiable. | D．It is far-reaching. |
| A．Work for the university. | B．Keep closely connected. |
| C．Stay in their home countries. | D．Reform teaching methods. |
5 . 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. |
| A．It is simple. | B．It is automatic. |
| C．It is meaningless. | D．It is time-consuming. |
| A．Detecting the supernova. | B．Sharing the supernova. |
| C．Identifying the supernova. | D．Categorizing the supernova. |
| 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. |
6 . 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. |
| A．Test the treatment in humans. | B．Reduce the cost of surgery. |
| C．Implant the battery into animals. | D．Make the battery affordable. |
| A．Negative. | B．Uncaring. | C．Optimistic. | D．Unclear. |
| A．Business. | B．Science. | C．Education. | D．Sports. |
7 . 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. |
| A．The antibiotics were harmful. | B．They distrusted the first doctor. |
| C．Her wound became infected. | D．She took the medicine wrongly. |
| A．Common. | B．Dangerous. | C．Lively. | D．Useful. |
| 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. |
8 . Yue-Sai Kan was born in China. In 1972, she moved to New York. When Kan was a child, she was told by her father that she should always aim to (力争) be the first because no one remembered the second. What her father said has been a driving inspiration over the years for her to become a bestselling author and a successful businesswoman.
Her new book Be a Pioneer, which is the tenth she has written and her first Chinese-language autobiography (自传), was produced after three years, inspired by her father’s words.
When writing an autobiography, the biggest challenge is not how to present one’s life, but to remember it. To help with reconstructing her story, Kan asked many friends and colleagues she made over the years to write down their memories of her from earlier times. So besides featuring Kan’s own words, the new book is also filled with those of her friends’s, which gives Kan a new understanding of herself — a woman who works hard, studies hard. and the most important thing is that she is a woman filled with a sense of responsibility.
“My helper Stephanie mentioned that I was worried because we were running out of money for the company. My housekeeper reminded me that before the start of one of my events she found that I had fainted (晕倒) in the bathroom. I was so tired that I was getting sick. They know more about me than myself,” Kan says.
“Writing a book is a good business to be in, not so much to make money but to grow the brain. I believe what I do will benefit the world. All the things I have done in Be a Pioneer — my successes and my failures — can be a good example to young people in particular. That’s the main reason why I wrote the book,” adds Kan.
1. What can we know about Kan’s book Be a Pioneer?| A．It took her 10 years to finish. |
| B．It is full of her father’s words. |
| C．It was completed with her friends’ help. |
| D．It tops the tenth on the bestseller list. |
| A．Being short of money. | B．Having no supporters. |
| C．Having to write it in Chinese. | D．Remembering her past. |
| A．To tell Kan is weak in health. |
| B．To show Kan is a worried woman. |
| C．To report the path of writing is difficult. |
| D．To state how Kan’s story was reconstructed. |
| A．Setting an example. | B．Earning money. |
| C．Making herself popular. | D．Proving herself to her father. |
9 . How can a creature weighing over 5 tons and normally taking 150 kilograms of food and 120 liters of water per day survive in a desert environment?
In the southwest African country of Namibia, and the Sahara lands of Mali further north, the desert elephant does just that.
Although not regarded as a separate species from the African elephant, the desert cousin differs in many ways. Their bodies are smaller, to absorb less heat, and their feet are larger for easier walking across sandy surfaces. They are taller, to reach higher branches. They have shorter tusks (象牙), and most importantly, longer trunks to dig for water in riverbeds.
Desert elephants can travel over 70 kilometers in search for feeding grounds and waterholes, and have a larger group of families, They drink only every 3-4 days, and can store water in a “bag” at the back of their throat, which is only used when badly needed. Desert elephants are careful feeders — they seldom root up trees and break fewer branches, and thus keep what little food sources are available. Yong elephants may even eat the dung (粪便)of the female leader of a group when facing food shortage.
During drought (干旱) they are unlikely to give birth to their young but with good rains the birthrate will increase greatly. Desert elephants have sand baths, sometimes adding their own urine (尿液) to make them muddy!
As we continue to overheat our weak planet, it can only be hoped that other animal species will adapt (适应) as extraordinarily well to change as the desert elephant.
1. The underlined part in Paragraph 2 means “_______”.| A．remains in the African countries |
| B．drinks 120 liters of water a day |
| C．manages to live in desert areas |
| D．eats 150 kilograms of food daily |
| A．rarely ruin trees |
| B．drink only every 3-4 days |
| C．search for food in large groups |
| D．protect food sources for their young |
| A．Overheating the earth can be stopped. |
| B．Not all animal species are so adaptable. |
| C．The planet will become hotter and hotter. |
| D．Not all animals are as smart as desert elephants. |
10 . A mother of nine started medical school, graduated with her degree and plans to be a neurosurgeon (神经外科医生).
Sarah Merrill, now 41, said her journey to medical school began at age 17. She then met her husband and got married. But she decided to follow her dream of attending medical school. Certainly, it was a challenge. She owed her success to her husband’s approval. “When I was accepted by the Medicine School, we moved from Pennsylvania to Arizona to start my internship (实习). In fact, they volunteered these movements. I know it was tough for all of us.” said Merrill.
Merrill and her children often have “homework parties” where they study their own courses. Merrill’s choice has given a stimulus to her children. Merrill felt touched when knowing her daughter and son want to become a doctor.
Merrill’s next step will come into a male-dominated field where women doctors only take up 5%. Dr. Halyard at the Medicine School said Merrill was known as a focused student and added, “If you have the ability to deal with nine children, the internship should be a piece of cake because no amount of stress will make you fail.”
Merrill had considered choosing a more family-friendly major, but, again, chose to dream big and follow her original pursuit. It’s the same advice she would give to all. “Set the goal that is what you’re really enthusiastic about, and it helps to think small. If you know what your priorities are, focus on the next step. Then you’ll get where you want to go.”
1. Why does Merrill speak of their movements?| A．To show the support of her family. |
| B．To stress her determination to be a doctor. |
| C．To reflect difficulties in attending college. |
| D．To describe the process of pursuing her dream. |
| A．Commitment. | B．Inspiration. |
| C．Entertainment. | D．Confusion. |
| A．Merrill will have more stress to handle. |
| B．Being Mom makes Merrill a better doctor. |
| C．Staying focused and sensible is key to success. |
| D．She is confident of Merrill’s being a neurosurgeon. |
| A．Starting with important things. |
| B．Getting your priorities right. |
| C．Being true to your passion. |
| D．Having the courage to dream big. |
