1 . “Children, tomorrow I shall expect all of you to write compositions,” said a teacher of Love Lane School. “Then, on Friday those who have done the best may stand up and read their compositions to the school.” Some of the children were pleased, and some were not. “What shall we write about?” they asked.
Some of them thought that “Home” was a good subject. Others liked “School”. One little boy chose “The Horse”. A little girl said she would write about “Summer”. The next day, every pupil except Henry Longfellow had written a composition.
“Well, then,” said the teacher, “you may take your notebook and go out behind the schoolhouse for half an hour. Think of something to write about, and write the word on your notebook. Then try to tell what it is, what it is like, what it is good for, and what is done with it. That is the way to write a composition.”
Henry took his notebook and went out. Just behind the schoolhouse was Mr. Finney’s barn. Quite close to the barn was a garden. And in the garden, Henry saw a turnip (萝卜).
“Well, I know what that is,” he said to himself and he wrote the word turnip on his notebook. Then he tried to tell what it was like, what it was good for, and what was done with it.
Within half an hour, he had written a very neat composition on his notebook. He then went into the house, and waited while the teacher read it.
The teacher was surprised and pleased. He said, “Henry Longfellow, you have done very well. Today you may stand up before the school and read what you have written about the turnip.”
Many years after that, some funny little poems about Mr. Finney’s turnip were printed in a newspaper. Some people said that they were what Henry Longfellow wrote on his notebook that day at school.
1. Some students were not pleased probably because________.| A．the teacher would not read their compositions | B．they did worse than other students at school |
| C．they didn’t know what to write about the composition | D．they would have no time to enjoy themselves at all |
| A．Henry was a lazy boy | B．students wrote compositions on different topics |
| C．other students was cleverer than Henry | D．Henry would like to stand outside alone |
| A．To write a composition. | B．To punish him seriously. |
| C．To have a good time. | D．To help Mr. Finney. |
| A．No one liked it. | B．Its topic was very strange to people. |
| C．Henry wrote it especially for a newspaper. | D．It was better than other students’ compositions. |
| A．actions speak louder than words | B．good works come from discovery of life |
| C．all things are difficult before they are easy | D．a friend without mistakes is never found |
2 . While I was jumping rope, my smartphone took a fall to the floor which created cracks (裂缝) on my screen. However, the music kept playing. 30 minutes later, I could see only one-tenth of my screen while the rest was black. The next morning, I decided not to use it for 24 hours. I felt a sense of calm that day, which led to my not using it for one week. One week ended up becoming 60 days in total without my smartphone.
Here are some advantages I noticed in this challenge.
-You'll become “bored”
Without my phone, I became bored, but my mind went through all kinds of topics, Boredom (无聊) is a perfect way to create new ideas on a business or project. When you are bored, you allow your mind to relax to reach all possibilities.
-You'll be able to reduce your “work” hours
A survey found that adults checked their smartphones 85 times a day, or once every 10 minutes. As I learned in my challenge, by not having my smartphone, I fell into deep work more easily, so I completed my tasks in a shorter time.
-You’ll improve your mental health
Without my phone, I avoided reading negative news and comments. While that helped make a big improvement in my mental health, the biggest reason for it was truly communicating with people. It brought me more connections with humans in the real world. I went to more dinners with friends and asked more questions to strangers.
1. What happened to the writer’s smartphone?| A．It was lost. | B．It had no sound. |
| C．Its music stopped playing. | D．Its screen was mostly black. |
| A．For 24 hours. | B．For one week. | C．For one month. | D．For sixty days. |
| A．to create new ideas | B．to start a business |
| C．to set up a project | D．to relax the body |
| A．more terribly | B．more quickly | C．more carelessly | D．more comfortably |
| A．Chatting on the phone. | B．Reading negative news. |
| C．Communicating in the real world. | D．Avoiding meeting friends and strangers. |
3 . Sitting in the garden for my friend’s birthday. I felt a buzz (振动) in my pocket. My heart raced when I saw the email sender’s name. The email started off: “Dear Mr Green, thank you for your interest” and “the review process took longer than expected.” It ended with “We are sorry to inform you…” and my vision blurred (模糊). The position—measuring soil quality in the Sahara Desert as part of an undergraduate research programme — had felt like the answer I had spent years looking for.
I had put so much time and emotional energy into applying, and I thought the rejection meant the end of the road for my science career.
So I was shocked when, not long after the email, Professor Mary Devon, who was running the programme, invited me to observe the work being done in her lab. I jumped at the chance, and a few weeks later I was equally shocked—and overjoyed—when she invited me to talk with her about potential projects I could pursue in her lab. What she proposed didn’t seem as exciting as the original project I had applied to, but I was going to give it my all.
I found myself working with a robotics professor on techniques for collecting data from the desert remotely. That project, which I could complete from my sofa instead of in the burning heat of the desert, not only survived the lockdown but worked where traditional methods didn’t. In the end, I had a new scientific interest to pursue.
When I applied to graduate school, I found three programmes promising to allow me to follow my desired research direction. And I applied with the same anxious excitement as before. When I was rejected from one that had seemed like a perfect fit, it was undoubtedly difficult. But this time I had the perspective (视角) to keep it from sending me into panic. It helped that in the end I was accepted into one of the other programmes I was also excited about.
Rather than setting plans in stone, I’ve learned that sometimes I need to take the opportunities that are offered, even if they don’t sound perfect at the time, and make the most of them.
1. How did the author feel upon seeing the email sender’s name?| A．Anxious. | B．Angry. | C．Surprised. | D．Settled. |
| A．criticise the review process | B．stay longer in the Sahara Desert |
| C．apply to the original project again | D．put his heart and soul into the lab work |
| A．demanding | B．inspiring | C．misleading | D．amusing |
| A．An invitation is a reputation. | B．An innovation is a resolution. |
| C．A rejection can be a redirection. | D．A reflection can be a restriction. |
4 . Researchers found that those with strong, close bonds(关系)with their friends at age 15 were more likely to be healthy and happy later. Importantly, popularity—defined as lots of people liking you generally, but without bonding with each other closely—wasn’t found to have the same benefit as close friends. “Close friendship strength in mid-adolescence predicted relative increases in self-worth and decreases in anxiety and depressive symptoms by early adulthood,” according to the authors of the study. Popularity actually had the opposite—negative—effect.
The University of Virginia researchers who carried out the study followed the 169 subjects every year for a decade, which means that their data are pretty strong. The scientists weren’t relying on their recall of the types of relationships people had years later; they got data in real time from their subjects as they grew and matured(成熟的).
Each year, the subjects spoke to the researchers about their friends—who their best friends were and what their relationships were like with other friends. Through interviews and assessments, they were asked about “anxiety, social acceptance, self-worth and symptoms of depression; teens’ close friends also reported on their friendships and were interviewed,” according to the release.
Then the researchers analyzed the 10 years of data to understand how people handled stress over time. Those who were merely popular did worse on several measures of mental health compared to people with strong high school friendships.
The study shows that being well-liked by a large group of people cannot take the place of forming deep, supportive friendships. Because these experiences stay with us in addition to what happens later. As technology makes it increasingly easy to build a social network of ordinary friends, focusing time and attention on cultivating close connections with a few individuals should be a priority(优先考虑).
1. What is the potential of close friendship in mid-adolescence compared with popularity?| A．People will have more confidence. | B．People will have less self-worth. |
| C．People will be more depressed. | D．People will be more anxious. |
| A．They gathered the date when the subjects were quite young. |
| B．They collected the data when the subjects were mature. |
| C．They got the date from the subjects’ memory. |
| D．They obtained the data in real time. |
| A．Their diet. | B．Their intelligence. |
| C．Their social acceptance. | D．Their body shape. |
| A．To oppose other people’s theories. | B．To draw a conclusion and give advice. |
| C．To present the methods of the research. | D．To point out the limitations of the research. |
5 . Fire Prevention Information
The University of Adelaide employs a full-time staff of fire prevention professionals. They inspect all campus buildings and test and maintain all sprinkler (喷水灭火装置) systems, fire alarms and fire extinguishers (灭火器). They also provide educational programs or fire safety in the residence hall. Whenever you move to a new area, you should locate the fire alarm pull stations and the two exits that are the nearest to your room.
Fire Alarms
The floors of all campus buildings are equipped with manual (手动的) fire alarm systems which include fire alarm pull stations and pipes. Most are also equipped with automatic fire alarm systems consisting of heat detectors, smoke detectors and sprinklers. For your safety, never tamper with (胡乱摆弄) these systems. False fire alarms are illegal and may lead to imprisonment.
Fire Drills
A fire drill will be conducted in your residence hall every semester. During a fire drill, please do the following:
* Take your room key and ID, close and lock the door to your room.
* Exit immediately from the nearest emergency exit. Do not use a lift.
* Meet outside of your residence hall and wait for further instructions.
Fire Extinguishers
Fire extinguishers are located on each floor and in each apartment. Use a fire extinguisher only if you have been trained to do so. Irresponsible use of a fire extinguisher can create a dangerous situation for other residents and could result in damage to personal property.
Misuse of a fire extinguisher will result in fines.
Smoke Detector
A smoke detector is on the ceiling in your room. Some buildings also have heat detectors on the ceilings. Do the following to ensure the safe operation of your smoke detector:
* If your smoke detector is working properly, the red light should be on. If the red light is not blinking, contact residence hall staff immediately.
* Do not cover or block your smoke detector in any way.
* If a smoke detector sets off an alarm and there is no fire or smoke, inform your hall staff.
1. What should you do if you move to a new area?| A．Help equip fire alarm systems. | B．Know where the fire alarm pull stations are. |
| C．Provide educational programs or fire safety. | D．Test and maintain all sprinkler systems. |
| A．Take a lift down to go outside. | B．Let the door to your room open. |
| C．Bring the most valuable things with you. | D．Leave from the nearest emergency passage. |
| A．When the red light is on. |
| B．When the red light is not flashing. |
| C．When your smoke detector is not blocked. |
| D．When the heat detector on the ceiling is not covered. |
6 . Scientists at Purdue University created the world’s whitest paint — a discovery that not only adds yet another choice to the “which white should we paint this wall” dilemma, but also might help the climate crisis.
The paint was developed by Purdue mechanical engineering professor Xiulin Ruan and his team. It works through a passive cooling technology that offers great promises to reduce space cooling cost and global warming. “When we started this project seven years ago, we had saving energy and fighting climate change in mind,” Ruan said in a podcast (播客) episode of This Is Purdue. They wanted to create a paint that would reflect sunlight away from a building, dramatically decreasing the need for air conditioning.
Heating, cooling, and lighting account for 28 percent of the world’s total greenhouse gas emissions. And overusing air conditioning can overwhelm a city’s power grid and cause blackouts (停电). In a Queens blackout in 2006, 175,000 people were left without power, which lead to 40 deaths. This paint could effectively be an alternative to air conditioners in some places.
The paint reflects 98.1%of solar radiation while also giving out infrared (红外线的) heat. Because the paint takes in less heat from the sun than it gives out, a surface coated with this paint is cooled below the surrounding temperature without using power. Covering a roof area of 1,000 square feet with the paint could create 10 kilowatts ofcooling power, the researchers found.“That’s more powerful than the air conditioners used by most houses,”Ruan told This Is Purdue.
You can’t buy the paint just yet, but researchers are partnering with a company to put the paint on the market. While individual action to fight elimate change can help save our planet, it’s important to note that the vast majority of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions can be traced back to 100companies. Maybe we can douse(浇) those companies with this white paint, too — it could be worth a shot.
1. What is known about the paint?| A．It has different colors. | B．It doesn’t cost much. |
| C．It uses heating technology. | D．It is climate-friendly. |
| A．The poor management of power. | B．The significance of the paint. |
| C．The importance of air conditioning. | D．The result of global warming. |
| A．Its application. | B．Its function. |
| C．Its composition. | D．Its disadvantage. |
| A．The quality of the paint needs improving. |
| B．The paint will bring profits to the 100 companies. |
| C．Researchers want to see the paint in commercial use. |
| D．Individual efforts matter in creating the whitest paint. |
7 . Kenya’s tree planting plan turns out to be of great benefit to both the environment and the Kenyans. Launched in 2016 by Elizabeth Wathuti when she was twenty-one years old, the Green Generation Initiative is a Kenyan charity that has been planting trees to deal with deforestation (滥伐森林) and climate change in the East African nation.
The initiative’s primary focus is on addressing food insecurity in the region through planting fruit trees, as well as developing young climate activists through environmental education in schools. Since its foundation, over 30,000 trees have been planted in Kenya, while thousands of school children have not just planted trees but also adopted them to ensure that young people learn the importance of acting as a guardian over the health of the environment. The trees have recorded a survival rate of over 98 percent, as they remain tended to from young trees to maturity.
Speaking to world leaders at the recent United Nations Climate Conference in Glasgow (COP26), Elizabeth issued a serious warning on the threat of climate change. Over two million of Kenyans are facing climate related hunger now. In 2025, half of the world’s population will be facing water shortage. The climate crisis will displace 80 million people in sub-Saharan Africa alone.
Elizabeth said, “Environment is the foundation of development, and it can no longer continue being taken for granted. I have been doing what I can. Inspired by the great Wangari Maathai, I founded a tree growing initiative that enhances food security for young Kenyans.” So far, they have grown 30,000 fruit trees to maturity, providing desperately needed nutrition for thousands of children. “Every day we see that when we look after the trees, they look after us. We are the adults on this Earth right now, and it is our responsibility to ensure that the children have food and water,” she added.
1. What is the Green Generation Initiative intended for?| A．Raising money. | B．Making policies. |
| C．Educating the adults. | D．Fighting climate change. |
| A．Green awareness has been raised. | B．3,000 trees have been planted. |
| C．80 million people have been saved. | D．School education has been guaranteed. |
| A．Sickness. | B．Water shortage. | C．Starvation. | D．Economic crisis. |
| A．Honest and determined. | B．Considerate and responsible. |
| C．Friendly and optimistic. | D．Cooperative and humorous. |
8 . A Dutch collector who says he bought the Zhang Gong Patriarch—an ancient Buddha statue(佛像)containing the mummified(木乃伊化的)remains of a famous monk—has been ordered to return the stolen relic to its original owners, two villages in Fujian province. The Fujian Provincial High People’s Court announced the order on Wednesday, upholding the original ruling(裁决)made by a lower court about two years ago.
In a ruling in late 2020, the Sanming Intermediate People’s Court demanded that Oscar van Overeem, the Dutch architect and collector who bought the statue, return it to Yangchun and Dongpu villages. For local villagers, the statue is a significant cultural relic that had been at the Puzhao Temple in Sanming, Fujian province, where they could honor and worship it before it was stolen in December 1995, according to the high court. The lawyer for Van Overeem did not comment or give a statement over the ruling.
After further investigation and trial, the high court said on Wednesday that although Van Overeem has said he bought the statue in Amsterdam in 1996, he could not provide a receipt. In March 2015, he allowed the statue to be exhibited at the Hungarian Natural HIistory Museum in Budapest, the high court said.
The high court upheld the lower court’s ruling that the statue was stolen and is an illegally exported cultural relic. The high court added the statue reflects the traditional customs of southern Fujian and has a special meaning for the villagers, and, therefore, should be returned. Lawyers from both sides were present when the ruling was announced on Tuesday. A number of legislators(立法者), political advisers and journalists were also on hand for the ruling.
Lin Kaian, a villager from Yangchun who was present at the court when the ruling was announced on Tuesday, said,“I’m glad to hear the high court ruled in favor of us demanding the return of the statue. We respect the ruling, and we hope the statue will be back with us as soon as possible.”
1. What does the underlined word“upholding”in paragraph 1 mean?| A．Doubting. | B．Supporting. | C．Reviewing. | D．Changing. |
| A．He paid for it in Amsterdam. |
| B．He asked someone else to steal it. |
| C．He got it from a villager in Sanming. |
| D．He took it from the Puzhao Temple. |
| A．The statue is a significant cultural relic that had been at the villager’s house. |
| B．The lawyer for Van Overeem expressed his disagreement with the ruling in 2020. |
| C．In March 2015, Van Overeem allowed the statue to be exhibited in Amsterdam. |
| D．The lower court announced it is an illegally exported cultural relic. |
| A．Buddha statue reflects traditional customs of southern Fujian |
| B．Villagers look for Buddha statue ever since its disappearance |
| C．Dutch collector warned to provide receipt for Buddha statue |
| D．Dutch collector ordered to return Buddha statue |
9 . An artificial intelligence can decode (解码) words and sentences from brain activity with surprising—though still limited—accuracy. Using only a few seconds of brain activity data, the AI guesses what a person has heard. It lists the correct answer in its top 10 possibilities up to 73 percent of the time, researchers found in a study.
Developed at the parent company of Facebook, Meta, the AI could eventually be used to help thousands of people around the world unable to communicate through speech, typing or gestures, researchers report on August 25 at arXiv.org.
Most existing technologies to help such patients communicate require risky brain surgeries to implant electrodes. This new approach “could provide a practical path to help patients without the use of invasive methods,” says neuroscientist Jean-Rémi King, a Meta AI researcher in Paris.
King and his colleagues trained a computational tool to detect words and sentences on 56,000 hours of speech recordings from 53 languages. The tool, also known as a language model, learned how to recognize specific features of language. With the help of a computational method, the team tried to decode what participants had heard using just three seconds of brain activity data from each person. The team instructed the AI to match the speech sounds from the story recordings to patterns of brain activity that the AI computed as corresponding to what people were hearing. It then made predictions about what the person might have been hearing during that short time, given more than 1,000 possibilities. The correct answer was in the AI’s top 10 guesses up to 73 percent of the time, the researchers found.
The new study is “decoding of speech perception, not production,” King notes. Though speech production is the ultimate goal, for now, “we’re quite a long way away.”
1. What is the main idea of paragraph 1?| A．The principle of human brain activity. |
| B．The limitation of human brain activity. |
| C．The definition of the artificial intelligence. |
| D．The new function of the artificial intelligence. |
| A．People unable to hear. | B．People who can’t move around. |
| C．People who are unconscious. | D．People unable to communicate normally. |
| A．To analyze the features of the study. | B．To state the significance of the study. |
| C．To introduce the process of the study. | D．To present the achievement of the study. |
| A．It performs well in the speech production. |
| B．Its accuracy is far from the researchs’ satisfaction. |
| C．It will help patients avoid dangerous brain surgeries. |
| D．Its language learning ability is beyond expectation. |
10 . Tetraplegic paticnts (those who can’t move their upper or lower body) are prisoners of their own bodies. Now a robot arm is to help them interact with their world. This research was completed by researchers at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL). Professor Aude Billard and Jose del R. Millan worked together to create a computer program that can control a robot using electrical signals from a patient’s brain.
First, the user wears an EEG cap to have their electrical signals inside their brain scanned(扫 描)effectively, which are then interpreted by the machine-learning algorithm (算法).The computer then sends signals to the robot arm to determine how it moves. As the robot arm performs a motion,the algorithm is looking to get feedback from the user when it makes a mistake: perhaps it moved too fast, or too violently. The end goal is that the robot can learn the right movements for a task in a given context. For example, you might want the arm to use a bit of force to throw a paper ball, but you might want it to be gentler when putting glass bottles.
In the team’s research, they trained the robot arm to pick up a glass. The arm would move towards the glass and the user’s brain would decide if they felt it was too close or too far away. The process is repeated until the robot understands the optimal route for the individual’s preference - not too close to be a risk but not so far away to waste movement.
“Training an algorithm to read brain waves in a consistent fashion was the most challenging part, because the brain is not only focused on the hand but also processing many other things,” said Millan. “This means our algorithm will never be 100 % accurate.”
The researchers hope to eventually use their algorithm to control wheelchairs, which would allow people in wheelchairs to have greater control over their movements, speeds and general safety. However, this does require consistency over time to the algorithm.
1. Which paragraph mentions the working process?| A．Paragraph 1. | B．Paragraph 2. | C．Paragraph 3. | D．Paragraph 4. |
| A．Indirect. | B．Best. | C．Regular. | D．Alternative. |
| A．By controlling people’s brain. | B．By ensuring general safety. |
| C．By processing other information. | D．By gaining data continuously. |
| A．This robot arm can read your mind. |
| B．Robot arms control your movement. |
| C．Algorithm finds cure for the disabled. |
| D．Machine-learning algorithm can train robots. |
