1 . Gabon, on the west coast of Africa, has numerous rainforests, open grasslands, white sand beaches and rushing rivers. Here are four adventures that can let you have unforgettable experiences.
The Wild Species Adventure
The site of this adventure is close to a national park, which has elephants, monkeys, leopards, red river hogs and so on. Visitors can go on a journey by jeep and have a chance to see the country’s natural beauty and different birds in a nearby reserve.
The Fishing Adventure
Gabon has some really big fish and miles of untouched coastlines, and the fishing spots are not packed, because they are wide apart. When fishing, visitors can find themselves in pleasant places, surrounded by palm trees during the adventure. Gabon’s unique lagoon (环礁湖) system provides visitors with a range of fish, all ready for you to join in the fishing contest.
The Private Island Adventure
It is difficult for visitors to find this private island on the sea on booking or a trip advisor, but it is known by locals. It offers small but comfortable rooms to rest. Visitors can try fun activities like wakeboarding and boating. During the whale season, visitors can also rent boats to take a close look at whales by following responsible viewing guidelines.
The Whale Watching Adventure
There is a great diversity of marine mammals to see in this adventure, especially whales. Some of the whales can be found at all time, while others, for example, the humpback whales, only spend a few months from July to September. In this trip, visitors can take splendid pictures of these whales playing around and jumping above the surface of the sea under safety guidance.
1. Which adventure attracts a lover of land animals most?| A．The wild species adventure. | B．The fishing adventure. |
| C．The private island adventure. | D．The whale watching adventure. |
| A．Noisy. | B．Narrow. |
| C．Uncrowded. | D．Unpleasant. |
| A．Whale watching. | B．Private trip advisors. |
| C．Cost-free water sports. | D．A photo-taking service. |
2 . “Practice makes perfect” is a very popular expression. However, can we take this saying literally?
One popular theory (理论) is that if a person practises for at least 10,000 hours, they will reach “perfection”—or, in other words, become an expert in their field. This theory was made famous by Malcolm Gladwell in his 2008 best-selling book, Outliers: The Story of Success. He gave the examples of the music group The Beatles and Microsoft co-creator Bill Gates, who clearly put in over 10,000 hours of practice before they became successful.
However, Gladwell’s book has been said by many to be too simplistic and generalising. Although Gladwell’s work was largely based on research done by Anders Ericsson, Ericsson argued that 10,000 hours was just an average figure. Some people, for example, needed far fewer than 10,000 hours, and others many more. More importantly, Ericsson said that just practising a lot was not enough; the type and quality of practice were also significant. He went on to explain the importance of “deliberate practice”, which is when a person practises a specific part of a skill in depth rather than practising a skill as a whole. Deliberate practice is said to be much more effective, though more tiring.
Many other studies argue that practice alone is far from enough. In fact, a more recent study from Princeton University stated that practice only accounted for up to 26% of reaching an expert level. Many other factors contribute to people becoming experts. Natural talent is an important factor, which is especially evident in sports. For instance, many baseball players in America have amazing vision that allows them to see the ball much sooner than others do. Besides, IQ, personality, attitude, and starting age are decisive factors, too. It is also important to note that becoming an expert doesn’t equal instant success. Success also relies on social factors, environmental factors, and even just being in the right place at the right time!
In conclusion, practice may not make perfect, but deliberate practice has been shown to lead to significant improvement.
1. Why does the author ask a question in the first paragraph?| A．To make a comparison. | B．To highlight his opinion. |
| C．To inspire a reflection. | D．To give a definition. |
| A．Gladwell’s theory is easy to understand. |
| B．Gladwell misinterprets Ericsson’s research. |
| C．Ericsson objects to deliberate practice. |
| D．Ericsson believes quality outweighs number. |
| A．Their personality. | B．Their physical talent. |
| C．Their identity. | D．Their deliberate practice. |
| A．Attitude is everything. | B．Patience determines success. |
| C．Talent counts most. | D．Practice makes a difference. |
3 . When you think of a new place for growing food, you might think of Mars. But one Italian family believes one possible place is right here on the Earth: the ocean.
Nemo’s Garden is the world’s first underwater system of land plants. Located off the coast of Noli, Italy, it consists of several greenhouses called biospheres, each of which is attached to the seafloor. “The aim of it is to change agriculture, and add a possibility for growing produce in the ocean,” says co-founder Luca Gamberini.
His father Sergio Gamberini came up with the idea by combining his two passions — diving and gardening. In 2012, the project began with planting basil (罗勒) underwater. Now Nemo’s Garden is growing strong.
“Our limited number of resources can not promise sustainable (可持续的) development,” Luca says, “and we believe that underwater gives us some advantages over traditional agriculture.”
Floating six to ten meters underwater, plants in Nemo’s Garden are separated from any outside pathogens (病原体). Also, the temperature of the ocean water is an ideal environment for plant life. Besides, Nemo’s Garden uses a technique that uses water-based nutrients (养分) instead of soil. “Also, there is little interaction with the underwater environment and related ecosystems, which means no harm is caused to sea creatures,” adds Luca.
Everything is monitored on land through cameras and sensors, and settings can be adjusted. When it’s time to harvest, a diver will cut the vegetation, place it in bags and float them to the surface.
The team at Nemo’s Garden has plans for even bigger biospheres in the future, as well as other locations. Luca believes the future of Nemo’s Garden will be mostly along the coastlines where communities could benefit from the added space it offers.
1. What does the underlined word “it” in paragraph 2 refer to?| A．The greenhouse. | B．The seafloor. | C．Underwater system. | D．Nemo’s Garden. |
| A．To combine his two hobbies. | B．To feed the growing population. |
| C．To seek sustainable farming. | D．To develop healthy ways of life. |
| A．The advantages of Nemo’s Garden. | B．The construction of Nemo’s Garden. |
| C．The structure of Nemo’s Garden. | D．The techniques used in Nemo’s Garden. |
| A．A research paper. | B．A science magazine. | C．A journal entry. | D．A science fiction. |
4 . Escape to a New Life— Everyone’s Dream?
A TV series in Wales has become a heated issue by becoming the number one choice for teenagers to watch.
The main character is a young farmer and the series is about country life, making the popularity of the series all the more surprising. The series is calm and relaxing and really the opposite to city life. Escape to a New Life describes the Welsh countryside as a beautiful and peaceful place and its people as very caring and happy.
The series director believes that this is what young people want today. She says the success of the series is because teenagers want a happier and healthier life away from the pressures of deadlines and exams. She figures this series offers a form of escape from their fast and stressful lives.
Despite this, many parents and teachers are worried about the effect this is having on young people. Parents report that their children are just watching this series and neglecting everything else, using Escape to a New Life as an excuse for not completing homework, or refusing to revise for exams, citing a need for a happier and less stressful life.
One father, Paul McGregor, said his daughter Charlotte had changed a lot. He said, “She used to be in the school athletics team and loved the javelin, but now she only wants to watch the TV series and has been dropped from the team. She no longer completes her homework saying it doesn’t matter as she just wants to ‘escape to a new life’”.
Paediatrician, Dr. Elisa Carhart who specialises in child mental health, says that TV can influence young people’s decisions in life, but believes that if a young person reacts as strongly as Charlotte, it’s likely there are other reasons for the change in her behaviour.
1. What is the TV series Escape to a New Life mainly about?| A．How people escape from city life. | B．How a Welsh farmer lives his life. |
| C．How teenagers balance work with life. | D．How the young live a relaxing life. |
| A．Paying no attention to. | B．Making the most of. |
| C．Feeling at home with. | D．Complaining about. |
| A．Unfavorable. | B．Supportive. | C．Unclear. | D．Forgiving. |
| A．One should not jump in with both feet. |
| B．One man’s meat is another man’s poison. |
| C．We’d better be a rainbow in somebody else’s cloud. |
| D．We should not throw the baby out with the bathwater. |
5 . On paper, Joyxee Island sounds like an attractive vacation accommodation. Located in Isla Mujeres Bay, a short distance from the Mexican Caribbean hot spot of Cancun, this private island features swimming ponds, Internet access, a fully functioning bathroom, a rainwater collection system, private beach space, solar power, a three-story home and a total area of 750 square meters.
The island, owned by British artist Richart Sowa, isn’t an island at all, at least not in the typical sense. Joyxee is floating (漂浮) on a man-made base of about 150,000 air-filled bottles held inside large nets. This floating bottom layer is covered with sand and soil. The roots from the island’s mangrove (红树林植物) forest have grown through these nets, providing natural structural strength. Creating this island has been a long process. Joyxee began as a small raft, but has grown into a space that’s large enough to allow Sowa to live a mostly self-sufficient lifestyle.
Joyxee is not Sowa’s first try at a plastic-bottle island. Sowa built Spiral Island on Mexico’s Caribbean coast in the late 1990s. Spiral did not survive Hurricane Emily, though, which struck the Caribbean in 2005. Fortunately, some of the bottle-filled nets were preserved. Sowa used these re-recycled bottles to start Joyxee with the help of local environmentalists who wanted to support his eco-island idea. He decided to place it inside a lagoon (濒海湖) in Isla Mujeres Bay to protect Joyxee from suffering the same misfortune as Spiral Island.
While the media have covered the island as a novelty, Sowa’s statements on his website show that he thinks that his island constructions could be the start of something bigger. “Environmentally, the island is an example of a wind-, solar- and wave-powered living space. Furthermore, the mangroves can clean the air by absorbing CO2. And because such islands are floating, they would not be affected by rising sea levels, flooding or other disasters.” Sowa welcomes guests to Joyxee and also offers tours. For tours, including a return trip to the shore, he requests a “donation of S5 or more.”
1. What do we know about Joyxee?| A．It offers good living facilities. | B．It was designed by volunteers. |
| C．It was built within a short period. | D．It borders the Mexican city of Cancun. |
| A．Adjust the temperatures of the island. |
| B．Serve as the islanders’ food sources. |
| C．Provide structural support for the island. |
| D．Act as the island’s rainwater collection system. |
| A．Being destroyed by a hurricane. | B．Being short of bottle-filled nets. |
| C．Being criticized by environmentalists. | D．Being separated from land by a lagoon. |
| A．To attract more artists. | B．To show off his island. |
| C．To promote the eco-island idea. | D．To draw the media’s attention. |
The vast majority of young people want to own a business someday. The good news is your teen can start a small business at any age. Here are a few businesses that almost any teen could start with little or no cost.
Graphic Designing (平面设计)
The Internet has opened up possibilities for any aged artist to create and sell drawings. Teens can use various software programs to create images and there are many websites where teens can introduce their creations and offer their services.
Babysitting
Babysitting is a common part-time job for young workers. Teens should learn basic first aid skills and possess skills working with children. Teens who receive high recommendations from parents are likely to be in high demand, which can allow them to increase their pay.
Blogging
Blogging isn’t an easy way to make money, but many people have created highly successful blogs that allow them to earn money with advertising space. However, your teen should understand that it isn’t an easy way to get rich, and it can take a lot of work to get a blog started.
Reselling
A teen who is good at bargain shopping may find success by buying and reselling items. Plenty of people earn a living by shopping at their local second-hand shop and then selling the items on auction (拍卖) sites, like eBay. Clearly, your teen will need a little start-up money. And as with any business, there’s some risk involved because the items may not sell for more money. However, it can be a wonderful learning opportunity for a teen.
1. What is required of teen babysitters?| A．Related working experience. | B．Basic first aid knowledge. |
| C．Advanced training. | D．Recommendations from their teachers. |
| A．Graphic Designing. | B．Blogging. | C．Reselling. | D．Babysitting. |
| A．They may break laws. | B．They may miss a learning opportunity. |
| C．They may be refused by auction sites. | D．They may sell the item at a loss. |
7 . A new international organization, ReShark, including partners from 15 countries and 44 aquariums, is challenging the shark statistics. According to National Geographic, ReShark’s goal is to release 500 endangered zebra sharks in Indonesian waters to increase a wild population that is on the edge of extinction. This is the first-ever attempt to reintroduce captive sharks into the wild.
Marine reintroductions present significant challenges due to the complexity and shortage of ocean life, as well as the difficulty in managing threats, according to National Geographic. Team ReShark understands that the reintroduction may go up in smoke. Unlike land animals that have been successfully reintroduced in the past, such as giant pandas in China, young sharks are more likely to suffer from diseases and be killed by other animals, and they struggle to find food on their own.
Sharks have a remarkable history as one of the oldest vertebrate species, surviving five mass extinctions over a period of 420 million years. They play an important role in marine ecosystems by influencing the ocean’s food chains. However, they are now facing the second-highest rate of disappearance. Research shows that more than 37 percent of the shark species are at risk of extinction due to overfishing, both legal and illegal. Sharks are hunted for their meat. Nearly 100 million sharks are killed by human hands each year, according to the organization Sentient Media.
Despite the alarming decline in shark populations globally, top shark scientists are hopeful that ReShark’s efforts will succeed. Given these challenges, Simon Fraser University ecologist Dulvy initially had some doubts about ReShark’s plans. However, after asking some questions, he was surprised by what the initiative could produce. “This initiative is different,” Dulvy explained. Similarly, Rima Jabado, Dulvy’s successor, recognized ReShark as a unique project that could provide a lifeline for endangered shark species. “It may provide an opportunity for species not to go extinct,” she said.
1. What’s the ReShark’s intention of releasing sharks?| A．To conduct shark data collection. |
| B．To study the living habits of sharks. |
| C．To save the endangered shark species. |
| D．To test new ways of keeping sharks. |
| A．Disappear. | B．Fail. | C．Work. | D．Influence. |
| A．By giving examples. | B．By giving descriptions. |
| C．By making comparison. | D．By making classifications. |
| A．Special and promising. | B．Hopeful and effortless. |
| C．Risky and costly. | D．Doubtful and immature. |
8 . As the electric vehicle (EV) increases, drivers may start to find queues adding to their more time at charging stations. One potential solution to this is to swap out the run-down battery pack for a new one, and a company has just revealed that it’s managed to do so in just five minutes.
Since the company launched its first-generation battery swap station back in 2021, the company reports that stations have been built across the San Francisco Bay Area to support fleet (车队) partners in testing the quick-swap solution. The company has also been in consultation with a delivery services to get a better understanding of their needs.
“When working with these fleets, we continuously heard that despite efforts to electrify fleets, drivers could spend up to 10-12 hours at a charging station.” said the company in a blog post. “There is a lack of reliable EV charging for city residents who don’t have access to garages and the option of overnight charging, and our new solution seeks to fix that.”
The latest station is designed to support EVs of all sizes—from small passenger cars to mid-sized delivery vans. EVs fitted with modular batteries could roll onto the platform and have its spent modules automatically removed and replaced with fully charged ones within 10 minutes. The removed battery units are then recharged, ready for the next customer.
The shoebox-sized battery modules have been developed to improve their safety, and can be fit for any modern EV. The new stations have been redesigned for easier building at a site in just three days, and have also been made more durable to suit different local conditions as the company expands. They can also be remotely monitored 24 hours for enhanced safety and customer support.
The company is now calling for more EV manufacturers, fleet operators and municipalities to join them in the quest to electrify.
1. What is the problem that EV drivers are worried about?| A．Driving EVs takes up their too much time. |
| B．They have to wait long to charge their EVs. |
| C．They have to buy new batteries to replace the old ones. |
| D．EVs are in bad quality despite increasing development. |
| A．To build charging stations. |
| B．To deliver the last-mile goods. |
| C．To obtain some related information. |
| D．To give a helping hand in fixing vehicles. |
| A．Time-saving and safe. | B．Universal and pricey. |
| C．Heavy and complicated. | D．Convenient and durable. |
| A．A Company Is Developing a New and Safe EV |
| B．A Company Strengthens the Cooperation with Its Partners |
| C．A Company Has Expanded Its Charging Stations Across the World |
| D．A Company Makes the Replacement of EV Batteries Safe and Fast |
9 . A standard school day for the average American youth takes place indoors. But for some young students who attend forest school, most of their preschool or kindergarten education occurs outdoors in forests, parks, or other wild sites. At these schools, educators allow their students’ curiosity to guide the curriculum (全部课程) and rely on nature to instill environmental values.
Forest schools vary in the amount of time children spend outdoors, what they study, and how they’re assessed, but all forest schools put nature first. They have the same standards for child development as traditional schools do, but their methods are rooted in exploring and conserving the natural world.
Khavin Debbs, Executive Director at Tiny Trees Preschool in Seattle. Washington, says one of the benefits of a forest school is how it can adapt to students’ unique needs. High-energy students can run and climb. Shy students can sit alone to observe an earthworm with a magnifying glass. At Tiny Trees, in addition to learning with art materials, books, and toys, students engage in a wide range of play-based learning, including going on hikes, observing wildlife, and identifying plants and animal tracks. They might cook over a camp stove, or harvest berries to make jam. The students’ hands-on activities help them grasp scientific concepts that might otherwise seem abstract. “They’ve seen a tree’s leaves turn different colors in fall, and then seen that same tree bloom again in spring. All those things really do help them understand.” said Debbs.
The notion of children spending time outdoors to learn and play is nothing new. The modern-day forest school concept originated in Denmark in the 1950s, and then spread through Europe and abroad. In the United States, forest schools are currently on the rise. A national survey done in 2017 found 250 forest schools operating in 43 states—100 more than the year before, with 80 percent of them maintaining waiting lists.
But even though they’re increasing in popularity, forest schools aren’t yet reflective of the cultural, linguistic, or cognitive diversity of American youth. Thus, schools that want to be more inclusive must be purposeful in increasing their influence and making their programs more accessible.
1. What does the underlined word “instill” in paragraph 1 mean?| A．Represent. | B．Design. | C．Maintain. | D．Develop. |
| A．The free optional curriculum. | B．The nature-centred philosophy. |
| C．The novel standard for students. | D．The evaluation of teachers’ values. |
| A．To highlight advantages of forest schools. |
| B．To show what teachers had for students. |
| C．To compare the differences in students’ grades. |
| D．To draw a conclusion from the teachers’ skills. |
| A．A limitation period of forest schools. |
| B．A solution to increasing popularity. |
| C．A wish to participate in a forest school. |
| D．A suggestion for the further development of forest schools. |
10 . Professor Kuniyoshi L. Sakai from the University of Tokyo is an enthusiastic musician, as are many of his colleagues. Inspired by a mode of musical training known as the Suzuki method, which is based on ideas of natural language acquisition (获得), Sakai and his team decided to explore common neurological (神经系统的) aspects of learning music and language.
“In the field of neuroscience, it is well established that there are areas of the brain that deal specifically with language, and even specialized regions that correspond to different aspects of language processing, such as grammar,” said Sakai. “We wondered if training using the Suzuki method might lead to activity in such areas, not when using language, but when engaging with music.”
For their study, the team classified 98 Japanese secondary school students into three groups: Groups S and E were both musically trained from a young age, with Group S using the Suzuki method while Group E not, and Group L was either musically trained at a later age or not trained at all. All the students had their brains scanned and were requested to identify errors in some pieces of music played to them, which had errors in one of four musical conditions: pitch (音高)，tempo (节奏), stress, and articulation (发音)。
During the exercises, Groups S and E showed more overall brain activity than Group L, especially under the pitch and articulation conditions. Furthermore, Groups S and E showed activity in very specific regions depending on the kind of error being tested for.
Interestingly, Group S showed some unique patterns of activation (激活) in areas of the right brain, associated with emotion and melody, under the tempo condition, supporting the ideas behind the Suzuki method.
“The striking observation was that regardless of musical experiences, the highly specific grammar center in the left brain was activated under the articulation condition. This might explain why everyone can enjoy music even if they aren’t musical themselves,” said Sakai. “Other researchers, perhaps those studying neurological characteristics of artistic experts, may be able to build on what we’ve found here. As for ourselves, we wish to dig deeper into the connection between music and language by designing novel experiments to find out more subtle details,” he added.
1. What does the first paragraph mainly tell us?| A．The research background. | B．The significance of the research. |
| C．Sakai’s comments on the Suzuki method. | D．Sakai’s previous scientific achievements. |
| A．Whether the Suzuki method can bring out the best in students. |
| B．Whether advanced language training can enhance musical skills |
| C．Whether music training promotes activity in certain brain areas. |
| D．Whether brain regions specialize in handling different aspects of language. |
| A．Their performances under the tempo condition were alike. |
| B．Their active brain regions changed with the errors in music. |
| C．They received the same musical training before the research. |
| D．They were better at handling stress and articulation than Group L. |
| A．They were uncertain about their findings. |
| B．They were unsatisfied with their experiments. |
| C．They’ll begin to study the neurological features of artistic experts. |
| D．They’ll further explore the link between music and language. |
