1 . Whether you want to broaden your horizons, entertain the family or are simply looking for something to do on a rainy day, a trip to a free museum might be just the ticket.
Science Museum
At the Science Museum, you can enjoy award-winning exhibitions and collections spanning the sciences. From Helen Sharman’s iconic space suit to Amy Johnson’s Gipsy Moth airplane, explore the extraordinary stories of human achievements and the challenges we have overcome. You can book your free admission ticket on its website.
Natural History Museum
London’s world-famous museum is home to over 80 million objects and specimens including plants, creatures, dinosaur fossils, rare bugs and more. Billions of years of natural history is all open to visitors, completely free of charge. You can even get up close to collections made by Charles Darwin.
Discovery Museum
The Discovery Museum offers a great selection of exhibits to the whole family. Here you can stand in awe at the world’s first steam turbine-powered ship Turbinia which stands proud in the central hall. It also offers educational workshops and also provides a wealth of online content for virtual learning opportunities. The museum is free of charge.
Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A)
For art and design lovers, the Victoria and Albert Museum is the perfect free-to-visit attraction in Britain’s capital. Named after Prince Albert and Queen Victoria, who laid the building’s foundation stone in 1899, the V&A has an impressive collection of original masterpieces, contemporary art, architectural marvels and even a fantastic fashion gallery.
As well as dozens of free permanent exhibitions available in-house and online, the V&A also hosts temporary collections and events throughout the year, many of which are also completely free!
1. What can visitors do at the Science Museum?| A．Explore the world’s first ship. |
| B．Enjoy some contemporary art. |
| C．Admire Charles Darwin’s collections. |
| D．Learn about the great people and their achievements. |
| A．Science Museum. | B．Natural History Museum. |
| C．Discovery Museum. | D．Victoria and Albert Museum. |
| A．They offer free visits. | B．They are world-famous. |
| C．They show diverse ships. | D．They are in the same city. |
2 . There is some truth to the old belief that achy joints are a sign that bad weather is on the way. Research shows a relationship between pain levels and changes in weather, particularly for people who suffer from chronic conditions such as arthritis (关节炎).
A2019 UK study analyzed the daily pain logs of 13,000 residents with arthritis. Using GPS data from participants’ smartphones, the researchers found connections between pain and humidity (湿度), air pressure and wind speed. Participants were more likely to experience pains on stormy, windy days and least likely to do so when conditions were dry and calm.
It’s unclear why changes in weather may influence pain severity for some people and not for others. “Everyone experiences pain differently,” says Sin Bevan, chief science officer at Arthritis Society Canada. “There are a lot of factors that could impact pain tolerance, including sleep, stress and depression.”
“It’s a good idea to track your symptoms and how certain weather conditions may affect your pain levels,” says Bevan. “From there you can manage expectations for what can be done on days when symptoms are worse.”
Not surprisingly, there’s evidence that the weather may also impact your mood. There are multiple reasons for this connection, according to Dr Max Pemberton, a UK-based psychiatrist. “Less sunlight affects your levels of melatonin, a hormone (激素) directly involved in mood regulation.”
Besides, bad weather may contribute to social isolation and loneliness because we can’t go outside and do things we enjoy with friends and family, explains Pemberton.
Once you understand how the weather impacts you physically or mentally, there are strategies you can try. For example, if you’re sensitive to cold and damp weather, a hot bath could provide relief for achy joints. Regular exercise — even if it has to be indoors — is also known to improve mood and is an important part of pain control.
1. What kind of weather is more likely to cause pain?| A．Windy and cloudy weather. |
| B．Rainy and windy weather. |
| C．Rainy and calm weather. |
| D．Calm and dry weather. |
| A．There is little to do when pain is severe. |
| B．Everyone is affected by weather changes. |
| C．A lack of sleep may affect people ‘s mood. |
| D．People differ in their ability to suffer pain. |
| A．Have a hot bath. | B．Stay in bed. |
| C．Hang out with friends. | D．Take some pills. |
| A．A biology textbook. | B．A news report |
| C．A health magazine. | D．A weather report. |
3 . One of China’s greatest resources is no doubt its diverse food. One of the most popular foods to be found is no doubt the street snacks that make up a large part of everyday life. “Compared with A Bite of China, which show eases chefs’ cooking processes and delicious food on air, Chinese Barbecue (烧烤) is more down-to-earth in describing the people,” commented a viewer.
A new documentary series, called Chinese Barbecue, tells the story of this popular food option that sizzles over hot coals on just about every street corner in cities and towns across the country. Barbecued meat shining over hot coal containers, while not as elegant as some of the fine dining options in China, are an essential part of people’s night life. The pleasant smell and atmosphere surrounding the grilled (烤的) street food are “something that could entice a girl to fly downstairs at night wearing her pajamas,” the documentary claims.
In many Chinese’s eyes, barbecue, regarded as the most ordinary and common night street snack, is different from homemade food by mothers as that is a symbol of kinship (亲情). Barbecue is where you go to become connected to people in society. And unlike official business lunches, during which people are rather reserved and polite, barbecue lets people cut loose and relax with old friends and newly made friends, leaving a lasting impression (friendship).
On the other side of the world, in the United States, BBQ, well received by all ages, demonstrates the even more enthusiastic personality of Americans, who grill large steaks on their outdoor stoves at home and enjoy competing to see who has the better cooking skills. It’s safe to say that the world, as a whole, holds deep-rooted good feelings toward barbecue, either for the taste or the warmth generated by fire.
1. What is probably A Bite of China?| A．A popular documentary. | B．A commercial programme. |
| C．A cuisine radio programme. | D．A soap opera of chefs. |
| A．Force. | B．Inform. | C．Remind. | D．Attract. |
| A．Close family bonds. | B．Quality food. |
| C．Unique atmosphere. | D．Beautiful cooking style. |
| A．To indicate the popularity of BBQ. | B．To present special American culture. |
| C．To show friendship between countries. | D．To make a comparison with Chinese BBQ. |
4 . I often find myself running late on the edge of missing appointments. It’s not that I enjoy being late, but somehow, it keeps happening. A delayed train, a miscalculation in time, a wrong turn, the reasons for my lateness are many. I dislike being late, and yet, I frequently find myself in a rush or arriving behind schedule.
Michaela Thomas, a Swedish psychologist, calls people like me “time optimists” or “tidsoptimists”. We underestimate how long tasks will take and overestimate the time we have. As a result, we often find ourselves rushing, causing stress for both ourselves and those around us. It creates a domino effect of chaos, annoyance, and inconvenience for everyone involved. It can even have severe consequences.
The causes of standing lateness are complex. People, according to Jung, fall into two categories: “timekeepers” and “time enders”. Timekeepers work methodically, stay organized, and usually finish tasks ahead of schedule. In contrast, time enders, like me, push things to the last minute, feeling most energized and creative when under pressure.
Many see procrastination (拖延) as a key reason for lateness, but it’s not simply a time management issue. Fuschia Sirois, a professor of social and health psychology, believes procrastination often arises from mood management. People put off tasks to avoid dealing with emotions like anxiety, fear, or frustration. It can also be a form of rebellion when faced with boring or uncontrollable tasks.
Is there a solution for latecomers? Researchers suggest creating pre-event deadlines for important occasions like a wedding or catching a flight, so that the extra time can help you avoid being late when unforeseen circumstances arise. You can inform friends, family, and colleagues about your commitment to punctuality and ask for their support in helping you stay on time. For everyday improvement, setting alerts on phones for getting ready instead of departure time, breaking tasks into smaller, manageable parts and prioritizing time-flexible tasks can be helpful.
1. The underlined words “time optimists” in paragraph 2 refer to people who .| A．work in an organized manner | B．always be punctual |
| C．leave things until the last minute | D．have a casual personality |
| A．It is driven by the desire for perfectionism. |
| B．It is a charming and creative quality in individuals. |
| C．It is always due to a lack of time management skills. |
| D．It may arise from a desire to avoid uncomfortable emotions. |
| A．Allowing enough time for important events. |
| B．Setting departure time alerts on the phone. |
| C．Relying on friends to make plans in advance. |
| D．Prioritizing time-sensitive tasks over flexible ones. |
| A．Ways of strict time management. | B．The impact of procrastination on punctuality. |
| C．Benefits of punctuality in daily life. | D．Reasons for lateness and strategies to solve it. |
5 . I recently had a conversation with a friend who was feeling very upset about work. Why? He thought his manager didn’t like him. He rarely heard much from his manager, and when his manager said something, it was about correcting some aspects of his work or giving him some constructive advice.
Not surprisingly, given my friend’s understandably anxious view of these workplace dynamics (动态), he was afraid of his annual performance evaluation. He was worried that his boss might even tell him that he wasn’t needed anymore. Accordingly, he considered looking around for another job — not because he really wanted to, as he liked the kind of work he was doing, but because he suffered from the kind of management.
The evaluation day came, and to his great surprise, rather than being harshly critical, his manager told him that he was doing a fine job and gave him a promotion.
The sad truth is, this kind of phenomenon is by no means unusual in the workplace. One recent survey showed that nearly half of the employees have considered leaving a job “due to lack of recognition”. Another similar study found 46 percent of the employees left a job “because they felt unappreciated”.
The good news is that, in this case, the damage was repaired before it was too late — before my friend was out the door and his company began the expensive and time-consuming process of hiring a new employee. But as the research noted above shows, workplace problems related to recognition and appreciation are as common as the office air we breathe.
This conforms with my personal experience; during my decades of corporate management, I saw similar appreciation issues all the time. When a job isn’t done well, nobody deserves anything, of course. But when a job is done well, if you’re an employee, it’s entirely natural to expect at least a bit of appreciation. So if you’re a manager, it’s a good idea to show some. It’s that simple.
1. What phenomenon does the author want to describe through his friend’s case?| A．Unclear rewards and punishments. | B．Employee-management misunderstanding. |
| C．Unfair promotion in the workplace. | D．Fierce competition among new employees. |
| A．His company hired a new employee. |
| B．He continued to work for the company. |
| C．His company simplified the evaluation process. |
| D．He repaired the relationship with his colleagues. |
| A．Results from. | B．Separates from. |
| C．Agrees with. | D．Contrasts with. |
| A．Defend employees’ rights. | B．A friend’s unforgettable experience. |
| C．Acknowledge employees’ work. | D．Misunderstanding between employees. |
6 . In 2013, Alie Ward’s life was falling apart. In quick succession, her relationship with her partner ended; her dad was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer; and she was feeling increasingly unhappy in her job.
Ward lived in Los Angeles at the time. To distract herself from her sadness, she liked to find and take pictures of her unconventional obsession (痴迷) : bugs. Sometimes, if she found a beetle or a bee that she particularly liked, she’d post it to social media. Those posts attracted the attention of a woman named Lil a Higgins, who worked as an entomologist at the local natural history museum. After seeing Ward’s pictures, Higgins reached out to her to see if she would want a tour of the museum’s insectary (昆虫饲养研究室).
“For most people in the middle of a really terrible year, question like ‘Do you want to come to see 40 cockroaches (蟑螂) in a fish tank’ is not what most people would say ‘absolutely’ to,” Ward said. “But this is my jam. There was nothing I wanted more than to see some scorpions (蝎子).”
When Higgins led her through the different exhibits in the museum, for the first time in ages, Ward felt herself light up. Higgins noticed her enthusiasm and suggested Ward volunteer at the museum for a few hours every week.
Despite her doubts, Ward decided to sign up. “It gave me this sense of purpose. It helped me reconnect with my love of science and nature that I really put on the back burner to chase those careers that were not really what I like,” said Ward.
Soon, Ward quit her job and started working in science media. She now is the host of a podcast called Ologies. Ward had Higgins on the show as her first guest. “She has caused such an increasing effect in my life. It was really because of her that I was able to reconnect with that part of myself, and do something that I really love,” said Ward.
1. Why did Ward like to take pictures of bugs?| A．To help her get rid of her sadness. | B．To show her interest in bugs. |
| C．To draw inspiration from bugs. | D．To show how beautiful the bugs were. |
| A．Confused. | B．Excited. | C．Curious. | D．Worried. |
| A．Ward wanted to chase her career as a host. |
| B．Ward was unwilling to accept the job as a volunteer. |
| C．Ward didn’t show much interest in her previous job. |
| D．Ward accepted the volunteer work without hesitation. |
| A．A Special Passion for Bugs | B．An Unexpected Invitation |
| C．An Appreciation to a Stranger | D．A Positive Attitude Towards Life |
7 . Glass Health is a San Francisco-based company co-founded by Dereck Paul and Graham Ramsey. It began by offering an electronic system for keeping medical notes and is now among several companies hoping to use artificial intelligence chatbots (聊天机器人) to make a difference in medicine. These firms believe that their programs could significantly reduce the paperwork pressure physicians face daily, and improve the patient-doctor relationship. “We need these folks not in burnt-out states, trying to complete documentation,” Paul says.
Some independent researchers have expressed their fears of the rush to include the latest AI technology in medicine. “I think it’s very exciting, but anything that involves decision-making about a patient’s health should be treated with extreme care,” says Pearse Keane, a professor of artificial medical intelligence at University College London in the United Kingdom.
Paul says he is well aware of the problems and that doctors who use his company’s AI system need to check it. “You have to supervise (监督) it in the way you supervise medical students, which means that you can’t be lazy about it,” he says.
His company is now working to reduce the risk of errors. He believes the underlying technology can be turned into a powerful engine for medicine. Paul and his coworkers have created. a program called “Glass AI” based on ChatGPT. A doctor tells the Glass AI chatbot about a patient, and it can suggest a list of possible diagnoses (诊断) and a treatment plan. Rather than working from the raw ChatGPT information base, the Glass AI system uses a virtual medical textbook written by human doctors as its main source of facts-something Paul says makes the system safer and more reliable.
Last December, his company had around 500 users. But after they introduced their chatbot, the numbers jumped. “We finished January with 2, 000 monthly active users, and in February we had 4800,” Paul says. Thousands more signed up in March, as overworked doctors lined up to give AI a try.
1. What could Glass Health’s present program do?| A．Boost patients’ mental health. |
| B．Update hospitals’ medical records. |
| C．Help reduce errors in doctors’ treatment. |
| D．Relieve doctors pressure of handling paperwork. |
| A．Objective. | B．Supportive. | C．Worried. | D．Opposed. |
| A．By operating the system based on doctors’ advice. |
| B．By employing medical students to use the system. |
| C．By training chatbots to select correct raw ChatGPT information. |
| D．By drawing on human wisdom as the basis for medical practices. |
| A．Glass Health has vast market potential. |
| B．Doctors will be free from paperwork soon. |
| C．Glass Health has an unstable number of users. |
| D．Doctors need a balance between life and work. |
8 . Middle school. For teens and their parents. the two words can arouse anxiety, fear and even horror. Kids are, all of a sudden, really growing up. Their bodies are changing: they’re dropping some of their childhood interests and trying on new ones. Friendships form and are torn apart. Academic expectations grow bigger.
But some books-like the novel Curlfriends: New in Town, written and drawn by Sharee Miller-remind us of the many possibilities and excitements that present themselves within those challenging years.
The book follows 12-year-old Charlie Harper, beginning her first day of middle school. This is no small change, and in order ta cope. Charlie promises to “completely reinvent” herself. She is tired of letting other people label her and is ready to take control of her own story. What follows is a series of meetings, first with Nola. She introduces Charlie to her lunchtime crew. The girls come together around shared particulars of their lives-homework. girlhood and fashion -even if their differences in tastes and personalities create cracks of uncertainty from time to time.
Curlfriends is a delightful book packed with sunny illustrations. It also cuts into the heart of the challenging tensions that are part of this intermediate stage of life. Young teens want to be known and seen by others, but they are also coming to terms with who they are. It can be tricky, for example, to distinguish between the passions and pastimes that your parents picked for you and those you actively care to pursue. It can be difficult to figure out what you like and what you are like.
Curlfriends is also a book about finding one’s passions, responsibilities and independence despite changing situations. It is as much about expressions of self-respect as it is about showing care for others. The one constant in Charlie’s life is her love of drawing. and it’s through art that she figures out how to mark her place in middle school. It’s not all under her control, but, as with good art, sometimes mistakes along the way end up making for the most amazing details.
1. What is the central theme explored in Curlfriends: New in Town?| A．The challenges of studies during the teenage years. |
| B．The difficulty of making new friends in middle school. |
| C．The transformations and opportunities in growing up. |
| D．The impact of parental expectations on teenagers. |
| A．Listen to others more carefully. | B．Follow her heart and passions. |
| C．Live up to her parents’ expectations. | D．Be more confident and outgoing. |
| A．Serious and formal. | B．Light-hearted and inspiring. |
| C．Humorous and carefree. | D．Cold and indifferent. |
| A．Finding Her Place | B．Maintaining Friendships. |
| C．Changing with Times. | D．Seeking the Passions. |
9 . For his entire life, Sergio Peralta from the US dreamed about playing catch. When he was born, his right hand didn’t fully develop, with only tiny fingers at the end of his arm. So he learned to write, eat and carry books with only one hand. Over the years, the 15-year-old lost hope that anything would change.
Peralta said on his first day of high school he honestly felt like hiding his hand in his sleeve, so nobody would ever find out. But his classmates, to his surprise, supported him in a way he never expected. The school’s engineering teacher, Jeff Wilkins, came and told him that his fellow students might be able to help.
“They ended up offering, ‘We could build your prosthetic (假体的) hand,’ and I never expected it,” he told CBS News. “Like, never in a million years.” Three students used their access to online models of prostheses and a 3D printer to make a plan. After four weeks, their project came to fruition. They used polylactic acid (聚乳酸), a common material in 3D printing that’s also used to make electronic devices, as the hand’s main fabric. They applied another plastic material commonly found in phone shells to make the fingers spread and squeeze objects. And they added a fishing line, so Peralta could fix the hand to his forearm.
Bob Cotter, the principal of Hendersonville High School, told the BBC that his students are encouraged to turn concepts “into reality”, adding that Peralta’s new prosthesis is “a proof to the students who care about each other”.
Peralta-who grew up learning to do everything with his left hand-was even able to catch a baseball with the prosthetic hand created by his classmates. “When I caught it for the first time, everyone started freaking out.” Peralta said with a smile. “It was the first time I caught a ball with my right hand in my IS years.”
1. How did Sergio feel about his hand when he started high school?| A．He felt at a loss for it. | B．He felt unaffected by it |
| C．He was optimistic about it. | D．He was open to accepting it |
| A．It was finished in four months. | B．It could be controlled by a phone. |
| C．Its main material is polylactic acid. | D．Its fingers were not flexible enough. |
| A．The students’ critical thinking. | B．The students’ imagination. |
| C．The students’ determination. | D．The students’ mutual support. |
| A．Feeling panicked. | B．Becoming overjoyed. |
| C．Calming down. | D．Showing concern. |
10 . The Children’s Museum of Manhattan Exhibitions Beginning in 2024
Adventures with Dora and Diego (Ages: 3-6 years)
Join Diego on a series of animal rescue missions. Learn facts about animals and their habitats by helping Diego rescue animals in trouble. Explore a cave, a beach and the rainforest or rub animal footprints, even build a Bear’s nest! By helping Dora and her friends. kids will learn problem-solving skills, and gain a greater appreciator and awareness of Latin American culture.
Inside Art (Ages: 4-10 years)
The exhibition continues our tradition of providing families with access to beautiful, complex, and challenging art, as well as access to working artists and opportunities for art making. Come to celebrate art as a vehicle for building healthy communities and explore ideas of home and identity.
PlayWorks (Ages: birth years)
We’ve designed every aspect of PlayWorksTM to help families prepare children to enter school. By combining hands-on games and learning, PlayWorksTM creates a fun and rewarding experience for children.
For adults, PlayWorksnTM provides an opportunity to observe each child’s unique learning style and appreciate how play creates a strong foundation for later learning. This innovative environment includes Alphie -a giant talking dragon who “cats” letters! Come lo get more resources to support your child’s language development.
Superpowered Metropolis: Early Learning City (Ages: 2-6 years)
The exhibit invites children and their grown-ups to feel like heroes, building their learning brain skills together. These skills, known as executive functions, include self-control. working memory, and mental flexibility. Children practice these learning “superpowers” with Zip, Zap, and Zoom, who guide families on a series of city adventures exploring the subways, parks, music, travel, tree houses, and more.
1. Which exhibition is suitable for a boy aged 3 who is learning spelling?| A．Adventures with Dora and Diego | B．Inside Art |
| C．Superpowered Metropolis: Early Learning City | D．PlayWorks |
| A．Learn more about nature and culture. | B．Draw a map of city subways and parks. |
| C．Graduate with a specific qualification. | D．Get resources for language learning. |
| A．They are free of charge for kids. | B．They are only designed for kids. |
| C．They improve kids’ academic performance. | D．They provide kids with hands-on experience. |
