1 . A five-month-old bar tailed godwit recently broke the record for long-distance migration after flying 13,560 kilometers non-stop over a period of 11 days.
Every autumn, millions of migratory birds take to the
Last month, the young bar-tailed godwit
Scientists were able to
Dr. Woehler estimates that the bird lost “half or more of its body
Interestingly, scientists haven’t yet understood
| A．ground | B．forest | C．sky | D．mountain |
| A．challenge | B．bear | C．escape | D．enjoy |
| A．add | B．cover | C．measure | D．calculate |
| A．within | B．under | C．for | D．beyond |
| A．costed | B．saved | C．offered | D．changed |
| A．recognition | B．flight | C．defense | D．management |
| A．put off | B．turned off | C．showed off | D．took off |
| A．tiring | B．exciting | C．smooth | D．short |
| A．gesture | B．route | C．sight | D．dream |
| A．thoughts | B．strengths | C．consequences | D．diseases |
| A．track | B．create | C．break | D．bring |
| A．decorating | B．endangering | C．protecting | D．preserving |
| A．water | B．muscle | C．weight | D．size |
| A．made | B．managed | C．took | D．appreciated |
| A．when | B．where | C．whether | D．how |
2 . Water pollution caused by the coal industry is a critical issue that requires urgent attention. According to a report by environmental and clean water groups, coal plants are the primary source of toxic (有毒的) water pollution in the United States. Nearly 70% of 274 coal plants have no limits on toxic materials, such as As2O3 and Pb, and they were dumped directly into waterways. Over one-third of these plants have no requirements to monitor or report discharges of these toxic materials to government agencies or the public.
Furthermore, the report reveals that 71 coal plants discharge toxic water pollution into waterways that have already been declared damaged due to poor water quality. Almost half of the 386 coal plants surveyed operate without Clean Water Act permits, and 53 of them have permits that went out of date five or more years ago. These results are due to the lack of any strict standards limiting toxic pollution from coal plants.
Coal-fired power plants are the main source of toxic water pollution in the United States, accounting for more than half of all toxic water pollution. The human health impacts from this pollution are serious. The EPA estimates that nearly 140,000 people per year experience increased cancer risk due to As2O3 in fish from coal plants. The report indicates that almost 13,000 children under the age of seven each year have reduced IQs because of Pb in fish they eat, and almost 2,000 children are born with lower IQs because of toxic fish their mothers have eaten.
Fortunately, the EPA proposed the first ever national standards to limit toxics dumped into waterways from coal plants in April 2013. According to the EPA, these standards should reduce pollution by more than 5 billion pounds a year. The report suggests that the EPA’s new coal plant water pollution standards will not only clean up our water but will also save lives.
Affordable wastewater treatment technologies exist to prevent toxic discharges and are already in use at some plants. It is time for the coal industry to be responsible for the damage it is causing, and for the government to set stricter standards to protect the environment and public health. With the proposed EPA standards, there is hope for a cleaner future. By holding the coal industry responsible, we can make significant steps in protecting our waterways and ensuring that future generations have access to clean and safe water.
1. What can we learn from the first two paragraphs?| A．Over 100 coal plants have limits on toxic materials. |
| B．Most coal plants operate with Clean Water Act permits. |
| C．About half of 274 coal plants monitor the toxic materials. |
| D．Strict standards limiting toxic pollution are urgently required. |
| A．Outdated Clean Water Act permits. |
| B．Consumption of polluted fish by humans. |
| C．Air pollution caused by Coal-fired power plants. |
| D．Not advanced wastewater treatment technologies. |
| A．Significant. | B．Ineffective. |
| C．Alternative. | D．Meaningless. |
| A．Lack of strict standards to limit toxic pollution. |
| B．Serious health problems affected by coal plants. |
| C．Urgent joint efforts to deal with water pollution caused by coal plants. |
| D．Importance of affordable wastewater treatment technologies in the United States. |
3 . AI is everywhere these days, and the humble baby stroller (推车) industry is no exception. Canadian stroller maker Glüxkind is set to unveil the world’s most advanced AI-powered baby stroller.
The Glüxkind Ella is a technological wonder compared to most other baby strollers. Calling it a stroller sounds a bit unfair, considering that it’s more of a high-tech product that can independently rock your baby to sleep, assist the user on uphill and downhill slopes, and constantly monitor surroundings via a series of sensors and cameras, among many other impressive functions. It may look like a regular stroller at first sight, but Ella is actually a small battery- powered vehicle with artificial intelligence.
The Glüxkind Ella offers adaptive push and brake assistance, which tackles uphill and downhill slopes easily, even when the stroller’s bottom drawer is full of groceries. The stroller’s self-driving capabilities allow it to travel without being driven, while the parent or caretaker interacts with the baby. It uses a suite of onboard 360-degree sensors to detect and follow the sidewalk and avoid obstacles while remaining within arm’s reach of the user by detecting the proximity of his smartphone.
A three-hour battery charge is reportedly enough for about six hours of use. The Glüxkind Ella can be paired with Android and Apple smartphones and can be monitored via GPS, so you can keep track of its whereabouts at all times. If the most advanced AI powered stroller sounds like a dream to come true, you’ll only have to wait a few more months to own one.
“With Glüxkind’s Ella, we aim to make parenting easier, starting with the key piece of parenting equipment, the baby stroller. At Glüxkind, we believe in empowering our families with safe, convenient, and seamless products,” Glüxkind CEO Kevin Huang said.
1. What does the underlined word “unveil” mean in paragraph 1?| A．Reserve | B．Reflect | C．Release | D．Recommend |
| A．It is a regular stroller. | B．It is powered by batteries. |
| C．It can go uphill and downhill by itself. | D．It monitors the surroundings by smartphones. |
| A．Objective | B．Positive | C．Disapproving | D．Indifferent |
| A．Safe and convenient | B．Gentle and quiet |
| C．Advanced and intelligent | D．Impressive and humble |
4 . Early each morning, Liu Huangping carefully places beehives around his house, preparing to welcome his tiny guests with spaces to nest. “It’s about the time honeybees usually arrive, and we’ll harvest their honey in August,” said the 50-year-old from Gangbei village in Jiangxi province, who has been keeping bees for nearly 20 years. “Only about five households used to keep bees, but the sizable and stable income from beekeeping has drawn more villagers into the business,” he said.
In 2015, a group was set up to train villagers in beekeeping and help them sell honey. “We teach them modern beekeeping techniques to increase production and provide them with regular sales channels. Villagers have almost no trouble selling,” said Wu Zhulin, Party branch secretary of Gangbei. The sweet business of beekeeping has made villagers wealthy, and in 2017, Gangbei was officially lifted out of poverty.
In 2021, Liu was invited to join a local company specializing in cultural tourism. He was put in charge of promoting agricultural produce through tourism. With a keen understanding of their honey, Liu emphasizes branding and packaging, even creating a promotional video.
A State Council Executive meeting in March made efforts to advance rural vitalization (乡村振兴) across the board, foster rural industries with local characteristics, and create more channels for increasing rural incomes. To broaden the marketability of wild honey produced in this remote village, the government of Jing’an county invited e-commerce companies to Gangbei to promote honey products through online broadcasting.
The county’s Agriculture and Rural Affairs Bureau has also played an important role by providing training sessions and encouraging villagers to participate in local industries. The harmonious coexistence between human and nature is evident in the sweet transformation of Gangbei, where the hum of busy bees signifies a prosperous future.
1. When did Liu Huangping start keeping bees?| A．In his 20s. | B．In his 30s. | C．In his 40s. | D．In his 50s. |
| A．Modern beekeeping techniques. | B．High-quality wild honey production. |
| C．Availability of regular sales channels. | D．Sizable and stable income from beekeeping. |
| A．A chief beekeeper. | B．A tourism director. |
| C．A honey branding expert. | D．An agricultural produce promoter. |
| A．By providing training sessions for villagers. |
| B．By expanding the marketability of wild honey. |
| C．By promoting cultural tourism in Gangbei village. |
| D．By encouraging villagers to engage in beekeeping. |
5 . The traditional Chinese solar calendar divides a year into 24 solar terms. The Spring Equinox (春分), as the fourth term of the year, starts on March 21 and ends on April 4 this year. The Spring Equinox signals the equal length of the day and night time. After the equinox, the sun moves northwards, resulting in gradually longer day time in the Northern part and longer night in the Southern part.
Here are things you may not know about the Spring Equinox.
Swallows flying north
The ancient Chinese people divided the fifteen days of the Spring Equinox into three “hou’s” or five-day parts. As the old saying goes, swallows fly back to the North in the first hou. It is said that during this period, thunder and lightning frequently occur.
Egg-standing games
Standing an egg upright is a popular game across the country during the Spring Equinox. It is an old custom that dates back to 4,000 years ago. People practice this tradition to celebrate the coming of spring. It is believed that if someone can make an egg stand, he will have good luck in the future.
Flying kites
Spring Equinox is a good time to fly kites. In ancient times, people did not have good medical resources. So, to pray for health, they wrote their medical issues on paper kite. When the kite was in the air, people would cut off the string to let the paper kite float away, symbolizing the flying away of diseases.
Eating spring vegetables
Eating spring vegetables during the Spring Equinox is a commonly practiced custom in many regions of China. The ancient teachings in the Chinese classic, Huangdi Neijing, suggest that people eat seasonal foods to help preserve health and bring good luck.
The Spring Equinox is a time of celebration and reflection, where people recognize the changing of the seasons and embrace new beginnings.
1. What is the main characteristic of the Spring Equinox?| A．Flying kites. | B．Eating spring vegetables. |
| C．The sun moving northwards. | D．Equal length of day and night. |
| A．To keep fit. | B．To make friends. |
| C．To celebrate a solar term. | D．To gain medical treatment. |
| A．To teach us how to play some games. | B．To tell us how to keep a balanced diet. |
| C．To introduce a traditional Chinese culture. | D．To recommend some activities to prevent diseases. |
6 . Fan Jinshi, known as the “Daughter of Dunhuang”, has made protecting and researching Mogao Grottoes her lifelong passion.
In July 1963, shortly after graduating from Peking University, Fan made her way to Dunhuang without
To protect the treasure, Fan and her colleagues put doors on the caves, planted trees and started monitoring temperature in the caves. Mogao Grottoes took on a new look
In 1979, Mogao Grottoes were
In December 2018, Fan was awarded the
| A．idea | B．plan | C．hesitation | D．schedule |
| A．unhealthy | B．tough | C．pessimistic | D．negative |
| A．delayed | B．disturbed | C．defeated | D．disconnected |
| A．glanced | B．flashed | C．hit | D．happened |
| A．peaceful | B．interesting | C．breathtaking | D．flexible |
| A．in spite of | B．in terms of | C．on behalf of | D．on account of |
| A．officially | B．exactly | C．eventually | D．especially |
| A．rocketed | B．aroused | C．raised | D．inspired |
| A．over | B．to | C．upon | D．with |
| A．research | B．rescue | C．tourism | D．improvement |
| A．looked out for | B．came up with | C．took charge of | D．made up for |
| A．updated | B．loaded | C．referred | D．launched |
| A．Meantime | B．However | C．Therefore | D．Altogether |
| A．title | B．image | C．feature | D．outcome |
| A．never | B．then | C．ever | D．still |
7 . The Chat GPT AI, developed by the company Open AI, attracted 100 million users less than two months after first going public on 30 November 2022. Schools in the US and elsewhere are soon announcing bans on the recently released AI-powered chatbot out of fear that students could use the technology to complete their assignments. However, bans may be practically impossible given how difficult it is to detect when text is composed by Chat GPT. Is it instead time to rethink how students are taught and evaluated?
“Educators are starting to question what it means to assess student learning if an AI can write an essay or paper similar to or even better than a student would — and the teacher can’t tell the difference”, says Torrey Trust at the University of Massachusetts.
Removing technology from the classroom can mean undesirable consequences, such as creating more obstacles for students with disabilities, says Trust. Additionally, restricting access to Chat GPT on school networks and devices can’t stop students from using it at home and in libraries.
Instead of worrying about how Chat GPT could enable cheating, educators should ask what motivates students to cheat in the first place and work on developing relationships of trust, says Jesse Stommel at the University of Denver.
Aakash Chowkase at the University of California has explored using the AI to help with time-consuming tasks, such as creating lesson plans, writing letters of recommendation and developing and grading assignments. “Our ultimate goal is to help learners,” says Chowkase. Similarly, Trust has publicly shared slides intended to help teachers understand some of the promises and pitfalls of using Chat GPT in education. “I just wish educators could see that AI writing tools are going to be part of our future — and a big part of students’ future careers,” says Trust.
1. What can be learned about Chat GPT from paragraph 1?| A．The use of Chat GPT has been widely banned worldwide. |
| B．The current teaching method is outdated because of Chat GPT. |
| C．Students benefit a lot from the assistance of Chat GPT. |
| D．The popularity of Chat GPT is beyond expectation. |
| A．The improper use of the technology. |
| B．The difficulty of applying AI to school teaching. |
| C．The lack of support of the company Open AI. |
| D．The excellent writing ability of Chat GPT. |
| A．It may bring about difficulties to some students. |
| B．It is hard for the school networks to get access to Chat GPT. |
| C．It will increase the chance of students cheating in their study. |
| D．It can reduce the students’ use of Chat GPT both at home and school. |
| A．Chat GPT should be applied to save time. |
| B．Chat GPT might be unavoidable in students’ future. |
| C．Educators should emphasize developing relationships of trust. |
| D．Educators need to question the meaning of academic assessment. |
8 . As the name suggests, alpine football, a variation of the world’s most popular competitive sport, is played on mountain slopes (斜坡) in order to make it more difficult.
Most competitive sports usually take place on level playing fields, but in the case of alpine football, one of the main conditions is that the field must be steep (陡峭的). It sounds totally impossible, but a group of football fans in the Austrian Alps claim that it’s the best way to play their favorite sport. They got the idea for alpine football during the 2014 World Cup, while watching a boring game and brainstorming for ways to make it more challenging.
“We were watching the games and found them very boring,” alpine football co-inventor Franz Mair said. “Then, Peppi Knunz, the other inventor of the sport, said to me, ‘The way they play isn’t hard enough and they should try running up and down our mountains. They’d soon be out of breath.’ And then we thought they might not even be able to play, but we would manage it!”
Flat ground is very hard to find in the Alps, so it’s most often used for more important things than playing football. Therefore, fans of the sport in such mountainous areas decided to turn lemons into lemonade and use the mountain slope to invent a new game. Now, locals take pride in only playing alpine football.
“Anyone can play on flat ground,” says Alois Gantner, trainer of the Supa BUrschis team. “In Montafon, we only play on the steepest slopes we can find.”
The rules of alpine football are the same as for the regular football, with the only difference being the need for strong legs and great energy to fight against gravity on the uneven field.
1. What inspired the group of football fans to invent alpine football?| A．The mountainous area in the Alps. | B．Their great passion for football. |
| C．A boring game they watched. | D．A desire to compete in the World Cup. |
| A．Finding a suitable field. | B．Fighting against gravity. |
| C．Deciding on the game rules. | D．Keeping normal breath. |
| A．proud. | B．desperate. | C．helpless. | D．considerate. |
| A．Alpine football shares most of the rules of regular football. |
| B．All the football matches don’t take place on level fields. |
| C．Both alpine football and regular football are popular in Montafon. |
| D．Flat ground in Alps is often used for important things like playing football. |
9 . As Torri’ell Norwood drove through St. Petersburg, Florida, last February, the laughter and chatter from the four teenage girls quickly gave way to screams. As they approached a crossroads, another car crashed into their car, sending it to hit a tree.
Smoke and fire surged from the car and a bystander shouted, “It’s about to blast! Get out!” Norwood crawled out through the window. Along with two of her friends, she ran for her life.
But halfway down the street, she realized that her best friend, A’zarria Simmons, wasn’t with them. Norwood ran back and found Simmons sank in the back seat. She opened the back door and pulled her out. She dragged Simmons a few feet to safety and laid her on the ground. “I checked her pulse.” Norwood said to Inside Edition. Nothing. “I put my head against her chest.” No sign of life. “That’s when I started CPR.”
Had the accident happened a few weeks earlier, she might not have known what to do. But Norwood, who wants to pursue a career in medicine, had earned her CPR certificate just the day before. Looking down at her dying friend, Norwood started pumping Simmons’s chest with her interlocked fingers and breathing into her friend’s mouth in hope of filling her lungs with the kiss of life. No response. And then, after the 30th compression, Simmons began coughing and gasping for air. The CPR had worked.
Soon, medics arrived and rushed Simmons to the hospital, where she heard how her best friend had saved her life. “I wasn’t shocked,” Simmons told CNN. “She is always helping anyhow she can.”
1. What do we know about the car accident?| A．Norwood was disturbed by her friends while driving. |
| B．The car crashed into the tree due to the driver’s carelessness. |
| C．The accident happened not far from a crossroads. |
| D．Norwood helped two of her friends escape at first. |
| A．spring up. | B．blow up. |
| C．roll over. | D．pull over. |
| A．She realized she forgot something important. |
| B．She heard a noise coming from the car. |
| C．She wanted to apply CPR to her friend. |
| D．She failed to find her best friend. |
| A．A Lesson in a Crash. | B．The Breath of Life. |
| C．Trust Between Friends. | D．The Power of Determination |
10 . A great family day out doesn’t have to be expensive. Sometimes just going for a walk can be fun, educational, and a chance to make special memories together and share some quality time. Here are a few of our family-friendly favorites.
Blickling Estate, Norfolk
This four-mile multi-use path has a surface that’s great for pushchairs. If you’re out for a family walk and the kids won’t leave the house without their pushchairs, then this is perfect for them. Please bear in mind that you’ll need to book a ticket before visiting.
Coughton Court family walk, Warwickshire
Get your boots on and go for a gentle walk at Coughton Court. This walk will take you across a field with grass and flowers. You’ll need to book a ticket before visiting, though.
Corfe Common history walk
A gentle walk exploring historic Corfe Castle. The kids will love checking out the castle ruins. Don’t forget to book a ticket before visiting.
Crom wildlife walk
This walk through the nature reserve at Crom, Northern Ireland is filled with wildlife. You could also come across one of the oldest yew trees in Ireland. This easy walk is great for all the family to get some fresh air. Booking a ticket before visiting is a must.
Sutton Hoo, Suffolk
This is a great walk for little legs. This beautiful area is home to one of the greatest archaeological (考古学的) discoveries of all time. Even though no tours or guides are currently offered, you can still walk around the ancient places. Tickets are required before visiting.
1. What is special about Blicking Estate?| A．It’s the longest one of all the five paths mentioned. |
| B．It’s an entertaining and educational family experience. |
| C．It’s friendly to kids who prefer to stay in the pushchairs. |
| D．It’s wonderful for the whole family to breathe in the fresh air. |
| A．Sutton Hoo, Suffolk. | B．Crom wildlife walk. |
| C．Coughton Court family walk. | D．Corfe Common history walk. |
| A．They are unfit for the elderly. |
| B．They are intended to protect wildlife. |
| C．They are demanding but worthwhile. |
| D．They need to be booked ahead of time. |
