1 . In a small village there lived a lazy Brahmin Ramdas. He would do nothing but daydream all day. One sunny afternoon, Ramdas was very
“It is this pot of milk that is going to make me
“How
Deep in his
Laziness is the biggest
| A．hungry | B．angry | C．sick | D．curious |
| A．sell | B．beat | C．beg | D．entertain |
| A．money | B．soup | C．water | D．milk |
| A．wealthy | B．happy | C．famous | D．strange |
| A．lucky | B．capable | C．interested | D．particular |
| A．road | B．hotel | C．market | D．shop |
| A．changed | B．continued | C．paused | D．stopped |
| A．kids | B．huts | C．arguments | D．wounds |
| A．generous | B．handsome | C．brave | D．smart |
| A．bathe | B．exercise | C．sweep | D．surf |
| A．ideas | B．opinions | C．thoughts | D．expressions |
| A．heart | B．pot | C．ghee | D．goal |
| A．sadness | B．laziness | C．carelessness | D．anxiety |
| A．success | B．aim | C．partner | D．enemy |
| A．robber | B．thief | C．murderer | D．visitor |
2 . Congratulations on having been offered, and accepting, a place to study at Cambridge! This page offers some tips that will hopefully make your arrival at Cambridge as stress-free as possible.
◆Before you arrive
Your college or department will send you all the information you need to prepare yourself for your time in Cambridge, including college information, for example, accommodation, course information, and similar related details. You will be sent an email asking you to complete the University’s Student Registration exercise. It will only take a few minutes.
◆Prearrival Freshers’ Events this summer
Around the world in August and September, Cambridge Alumni (毕业生) Groups will be hosting prearrival Freshers’ Events for new students coming to Cambridge this autumn. These events are a great opportunity to prepare for university and make some friends before you arrive. There will be the chance to meet current students and alumni from whom you can get tips and advice for living and studying in Cambridge.
◆Matriculation
Matriculation marks the formal admission of a student to membership of the university, and a college may not normally allow an unmatriculated student to be a resident member of the college. Every freshman for matriculation must agree with the following belief by signing the Matriculation Registration Form: I promise to observe the statutes and ordinances of the university as far as they concern me, and to pay due respect and obedience to the chancellor and other officers of the university.
1. Who will be interested in this text?| A．Senior high students. |
| B．Junior high students. |
| C．Primary school students. |
| D．New university students. |
| A．Registration and ceremony activities. |
| B．Suggestions for the coming college life. |
| C．Accommodation and similar related details. |
| D．Current students and alumni’s agreements. |
| A．To make their arrival at Cambridge as free as possible. |
| B．To complete the University’s Registration exercise. |
| C．To have the students obey the school rules. |
| D．To mark the formal admission of a student. |
3 . The best time to view the wonderful dancing lights is in the evening but winter in the North brings long nights. In fact, in some places, the sun doesn’t rise at all. Here are four places to view this wonderful night show.
Fairbanks, Alaska
The city lies directly below the activity, so it is a perfect place to view the lights. The shining lights are most commonly seen between 11 pm and 2 am, so don’t forget to set your alarm clock. You can enjoy a stay in a comfortable hotel, which is famous for its hot spring pools and enjoy the show while relaxing in the hot water.
Reykjavík, Iceland
If you visit Iceland, you can expect to experience the northern lights shining above. There is little light pollution in Iceland, so you can view the lights in Reykjavík, but it is recommended that you take a special tour outside of the city. A winter vacation in Iceland has so much to offer.
Yukon Territory, Canada
This distant area of Canada has many spots to view the northern lights shining in the night sky. One of the best places to view the lights and learn about the science as well as the tradition about this gift from Mother Nature, is the Northern Lights Space and Science Center in Watson Lake.
Swedish & Finnish Lapland
Located north of the Arctic (北极的) circle in Northern Finland and Sweden, Lapland has good views of the lights. There are rich daytime activities including sledding (乘雪橇), ice fishing, and learning about the culture of the area. Rukajarvi in Sweden has an ice hotel that is a perfect place for viewing the lights.
1. What can visitors do in Fairbanks, Alaska?| A．Enjoy tasty food. | B．Go ice fishing. |
| C．Learn about the local tradition. | D．Take a bath in a spring pool. |
| A．It has almost no light pollution. |
| B．It offers a variety of ice activities. |
| C．It gets little sunlight all year round. |
| D．It invites visitors to a special tour outside the city. |
| A．Fairbanks, Alaska. | B．Reykjavík, Iceland. |
| C．Yukon Territory, Canada. | D．Swedish & Finnish Lapland. |
4 . A young child was last seen at about 3:00 pm, sitting beside her mother, but was found missing later in the day. Then the police
Around 6:00 pm, the situation took a
Newberry County 911 operators used mapping technology to
With the right message in hand, a search team was quickly sent to the
The child was then carefully
The Newberry County Sheriff’s Office expressed their great
| A．changed | B．agreed | C．acted | D．wondered |
| A．terrible | B．hopeful | C．familiar | D．necessary |
| A．explained | B．compared | C．introduced | D．reported |
| A．age | B．location | C．height | D．weight |
| A．fix | B．protect | C．control | D．include |
| A．technology | B．information | C．standard | D．order |
| A．rescuers | B．drivers | C．rulers | D．teachers |
| A．farm | B．river | C．mountain | D．forest |
| A．wished for | B．took in | C．led to | D．focused on |
| A．safe | B．lonely | C．cold | D．polite |
| A．questioned | B．woken | C．trained | D．examined |
| A．similar | B．impossible | C．understandable | D．awkward |
| A．surprises | B．hopes | C．thanks | D．regrets |
| A．search | B．experiment | C．treatment | D．competition |
| A．unexpectedly | B．equally | C．secretly | D．undoubtedly |
5 . Lucy was saved in New South Wales, Australia, two years ago. She was suffering from chlamydia, a disease widespread among koalas. Today, she is one of the lucky animals living in tree corridors (走廊) that have been created to protect koalas and other animals by saving their quickly reducing habitats, or natural environment.
The corridors, planted by the local protection group Bangalow Koalas, are made up of large systems of plants. They are a lifeline for koalas and other animals. All of them are at risk of becoming extinct. The corridors provide a safe path across the koala’s increasingly broken home. This permits increased genetic mixing and protection from human threats (威胁).
“Our corridors are actually trying to get them away from humans, from cars, from dogs,” said Linda Sparrow, president of Bangalow Koalas. “They can safely move across the landscape and do not have to put up with us humans.”
The koala is thought to be extinct in the wild in New South Wales by 2050. Some of the biggest threats include wildfires and habitat loss through land clearing for development. Koalas have already been announced endangered in several Australian states.
Founded in 2019, Bangalow Koalas has planted over 336,000 trees, helping with koala protection and improving the local ecosystem. The group, whose members depend on community volunteers, aims to plant 500,000 trees by 2025.
“One neighbor would want to join and then another neighbor will want to join,” Sparrow said, describing the increase in the number of people taking part in the group.
Volunteer Lindy Stacker, who has been planting trees for over five years, said the activity is good for mental health and has brought the community together.
A recent report by the Australian Koala Foundation said the animal was worth about $3.2billion per year to the tourism industry. However, the World Wildlife Fund-Australia reported about drops in koala populations in Australian states, with a 50 percent drop in Queensland and a 62 percent drop in New South Wales since 2001.
1. What does the underlined word “them” in paragraph 3 refer to?| A．Animals. | B．Threats. | C．Wildfires. | D．Plants. |
| A．Its members are volunteers from the community. | B．It helps animals live together with humans. |
| C．It faces difficulty getting enough supporters. | D．It has achieved its final goal. |
| A．The bright future of koalas. | B．The challenge of protecting koalas. |
| C．The tourism value of koalas. | D．The mental benefit of planting trees. |
| A．The Population of Australia’s Koalas Is Rising | B．Koalas’ Seriously Damaged Habitats |
| C．Wildfires and Development Threaten Koalas | D．Growing Plants to Save Australia’s Koalas |
6 . “I’m excited for our women to show their hard work and efforts,” said Lisa Bluder. “Women’s sports should own this stage, and we’re happy to be leading the way.” Bluder is head coach of the women’s basketball team at the University of Iowa.
The exhibition game took place on October 15 at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City. Iowa went on to defeat DePaul, 94 — 72. The event set a new NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) record for women’s basketball attendance — A total of 55,646 fans watched the game at the historic stadium.
Called “Crossover at Kinnick”, the game benefited the University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital. The hospital received a check in the amount of $250,000 from ticket sales.
During the game, fans took in “The Wave”, which is known among Iowa Hawkeyes as the best tradition in college sports: Coaches, players, and fans turn to the Children’s Hospital behind the stands to wave to patients and families watching the game.
Iowa superstar Caitlin Clark put on a wonderful performance. She had 34 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists. She was also recognized as the Collegiate Women’s Athlete of the Year, an award she won last June.
“Events like the ‘Crossover at Kinnick’ are meaningful for several reasons,” Patrick Kenny said. “They create excitement to start a season and show the fans’ interest in women’s sports.” Kenny is communications manager at the Big Ten Network, which broadcasts college games.
In the 2022 — 2023 season, Louisiana State University defeated Iowa in the national finals. The championship game was the most-watched women’s college basketball game ever.
The growing popularity of women’s basketball makes a big difference, according to Bluder. “This is so important,” she said, “for boys, girls, women, and men, to see the positive impact women’s sports can have on our country as a whole.”
1. What is Bluder’s attitude towards women’s sports?| A．Impatient. | B．Doubtful. | C．Uncaring. | D．Supportive. |
| A．The ages of its players. | B．The size of its audience. |
| C．The huge difference in the final score. | D．The places its players come from. |
| A．To cheer up basketball players. | B．To excite the audience in the stadium. |
| C．To greet patients and their families. | D．To let others pay attention to the hospital. |
| A．How tough women’s sports are. |
| B．Why “Crossover at Kinnick” is important. |
| C．Why women’s sports should create excitement. |
| D．How to draw audience’s interest to women’s sports. |
7 . A new electric car from Sweden comes in a flatpack (散装组件) box and it needs putting together.
Stockholm-based Luvly, founded in 2015, designed the microcar to be small and very light so that it could reduce the emissions (排放) that regular shipping entails.
There are countless tiny cars and electric tiny cars that are too small to be considered passenger vehicles. They are becoming very popular in Europe because of convenience, affordability, and a smaller carbon footprint.
To fill this niche (空缺), Luvly will introduce its first model, the Luvly O, later in 2024. The car will roll out in Stockholm, Paris, and Madrid.
The modern two-seater has a top speed of 55 mph (90 kph) with a 62-mile (100 km) distance per charge. It comes with two portable (便携的) batteries that do not use car chargers. In fact, you can recharge from your workplace or home. This is enough for the majority of travels and trips in the city surroundings.
The cars are not a DIY project. In order to be road safe, the flatpacks will be delivered to licensed car factories to put them together.
Tiny cars are not new and they have actually been around since the 1950s. These small lightweight vehicles have developed a name of being unsafe. That’s due to the light designs and limited crumple areas (防撞缓冲区).
Microcars also are not required to be crash tested because they are not subject to the same safety rules but the Luvly O is safe. For light vehicles to compete with cars, and hopefully win cars, they must be safe. People will not accept that you change from driving an SUV to driving what is really a motorbike with a shell. The Luvly O was actually inspired by Formula One cars that are light but have a strong base plate.
Luvly plans to license its flat-pack design to other carmakers, allowing them to build their own models. This is the best way to develop this city mini car.
1. Which can replace the underlined word “entails” in paragraph 2?| A．Matches. | B．Brings. | C．Requires. | D．Suffers. |
| A．To meet the new needs. | B．To reduce car-making costs. |
| C．To make electric vehicles popular. | D．To compete with other carmakers. |
| A．They are inconvenient to carry. | B．They are expensive to change. |
| C．They are suitable for big cars. | D．They are almost enough for city drivers. |
| A．It is light. | B．It is actually a race car. |
| C．It is safe to drive. | D．It is similar to an SUV. |
8 . Artificial intelligence (AI) is showing promise in earthquake prediction, challenging the long-held belief that it is impossible. Researchers at the University of Texas, Austin, have developed an AI algorithm (算法) that correctly predicted 70% of earthquakes a week in advance during a trial in China and provided accurate strength calculations for the predicted earthquakes.
The research team believes their method succeeded because they stuck with a relatively simple machine learning approach. The AI was provided with a set of statistical features based on the team’s knowledge of earthquake physics, and then instructed to train itself using a five-year database of earthquake recordings. Once trained, the AI provided its prediction by listening for signs of incoming earthquakes within the background rumblings (隆隆声) in the Earth.
This work is clearly a milestone in research for AI-driven earthquake prediction. “You don’t see earth-quakes coming,” explains Alexandros Savvaidis, a senior research scientist who leads the Texas Seismological Network Program (TexNet). “It’s a matter of milliseconds, and the only thing you can control is how prepared you are. Even with the 70% accuracy, that’s a huge result and could help minimize economic and human losses and has the potential to remarkably improve earthquake preparation worldwide.”
While it is unknown whether the same approach will work at other locations, the researchers are confident that their AI algorithm could produce more accurate predictions if used in areas with reliable earthquake tracking networks. The next step is to test artificial intelligence in Texas, since UT’s Bureau TexNet has 300 earth-quake stations and over six years worth of continuous records, making it an ideal location for these purposes.
Eventually, the authors hope to combine the system with physics-based models. This strategy could prove especially important where data is poor or lacking. “That may be a long way off, but many advances such as this one, taken together, are what moves science forward,” concludes Scott Tinker, the bureau’s director.
1. How does the AI forecast earthquakes?| A．By identifying data from the satellites. |
| B．By analyzing background sounds in the Earth. |
| C．By modeling data based on earthquake recordings. |
| D．By monitoring changes in the Earth’s magnetic field. |
| A．The ways to reduce losses in earthquakes. |
| B．The importance of preparing for earthquakes. |
| C．The significance of developing the AI prediction. |
| D．The limitation of AI algorithms in earthquake prediction. |
| A．Conducting tests in different locations. |
| B．Applying the AI approach to other fields. |
| C．Building more earthquake stations in Texas. |
| D．Enlarging the database to train the calculation accuracy. |
| A．Stable but outdated. | B．Effective but costly. |
| C．Potential and economical. | D．Pioneering and promising. |
9 . Mother Teresa was born in Skopje on August 27, 1901. Her father worked in a store. Her family was not rich, but it was a happy family. She went to school when she was seven years old. She said that she had wanted to be a Missionary (传教士) when she was only 12. She took part in a nun (修女) organization when she was 18 years old. In 1928, she was sent to a church school to teach. But she left the school and went out to help the people who suffered from hunger and cold in 1946. Then she left the nun organization and set up a school in the open to accept the children who had no home.
She set up a nun organization in 1950. Now the organization is an international organization with 3500 nuns to accept the refugees (难民). She got the Noble Peace Prize in 1979. But she contributed all of the money to the poor people and the patients who suffered from illnesses. Also she sold the medal to help the people who needed help. We won’t forget the great woman, who looks like a sunshine and is the hero of the world!
1. In which year did Mother Teresa say that she wanted to be a Missionary?| A．1908. | B．1913. | C．1928. | D．1946. |
| A．Sick children. | B．Small children. | C．Homeless children. | D．Rich children. |
| A．Mother Teresa used to be a teacher in a church school. |
| B．Mother Teresa was born into a rich and happy family. |
| C．Mother Teresa set up a church for homeless children. |
| D．Mother Teresa worked hard to support her own family. |
| A．She sold it to buy a new house. | B．She kept it in a museum. |
| C．She contributed it to an organization. | D．She sold it to help people in need. |
10 . Cats are often considered to be colder especially when compared with dogs. But if you find your cat friend is a little hard to get close to, maybe you’re just not speaking their language.
Research shows that it’s actually not so difficult. You just need to smile at them more. Not smile in the human’s way, by showing your teeth, but the cat’s way: by narrowing your eyes and blinking (眨眼睛) slowly. It’s similar to how human eyes narrow when they are smiling, and usually occurs when cats are relaxed and content. The expression is explained as a kind of cat smile.
Jackson Galaxy, a cat behavior expert, says there are some pretty strong feelings behind the cat’s slow blink. He calls it “I Love You Blink”. Galaxy says the cat will blink slowly when cats and people are completely opening up to one another in sharing affection.
Researchers carried out two experiments. In the first experiment, owners slow-blinked at 21 cats from 14 different families. Once the cat was settled and comfortable in one spot in their home environment, the owners were asked to sit about a meter away and slow-blink when the cat was looking at them. The second experiment included 24 cats from 8 different families. This time, it wasn’t the owners doing the blinking but the researchers, who’d had no earlier contact with the cats. They found that not only were the cats more likely to blink back, but that they were more likely to reach the human’s hand after the human had blinked.
Dr Tasmin Humphrey, the first author of the study from the University of Sussex, said: “Understanding positive ways in which cats and humans interact can increase public understanding of cats, improve its welfare, and tell us more about the socio-cognitive (社会认知) abilities of this species.”
1. What is “a kind of cat smile”?| A．Showing teeth. | B．Narrowing eyes. |
| C．Narrowing eyes and blinking slowly. | D．Smiling like a human. |
| A．45 | B．24 | C．21 | D．14 |
| A．To help cats live well. | B．To explain cats are clever. |
| C．To provide a way in which humans can touch cats. | D．To show how humans can communicate with cats. |
| A．Cats and their “I Love You Blink” | B．Love your cats more |
| C．Ways to get close to your cats | D．Cats and their owners |
