1 . The 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded to Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman for their work on mRNA vaccines (疫苗), a crucial tool in holding back the spread of COVID-19.

Karikó,68, is from Hungary. In the 1970s, she began studying a new area of research: messenger RNA (mRNA). mRNA is a special molecule (分子) which carries instructions that tell cells what proteins to make. Proteins are one of the building blocks of life. They’re involved in almost every process in living things, from fighting diseases to building muscles to helping our bodies work. Karikó was excited about the idea that mRNA could be used to help the body fight many different diseases.

In 1985, Karikó moved to America to continue her research. In 1989, she joined the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) in Philadelphia as a scientist. But as time went on, the initial excitement surrounding mRNA research started to disappear, and other scientists thought it was too financially risky to fund. Karikó had trouble getting money for her research. She even got a pay cut from the school. What’s worse, at this time, she suffered from cancer. But she stuck at it.

Karikó got to know another UPenn scientist, Drew Weissman in the late 1990s while photocopying research papers. He was hoping to find a way to create a vaccine for a disease known as HIV. The two began talking and soon decided to work together.

One of the biggest problems in using mRNA as a medicine was that the human body saw mRNA as an enemy and fought it off. Together, they came up with an approach to treating mRNA．In 2005, they published their key discovery: mRNA could be changed and delivered effectively into the body to activate (激活) the body’s protective immune system. Thanks to their work, companies were able to develop mRNA vaccines far more quickly than ever before, which have saved millions of lives around the world.

1. What does paragraph 2 mainly talk about regarding mRNA?

A．Its reflections on health.	B．Its main components.
C．Its threats to proteins.	D．Its research values.

2. What can we learn about Weissman according to the text?

A．He met Karikó by accident.	B．He applied mRNA to HIV.
C．He invited Karikó to UPenn.	D．He helped discover mRNA.

3. What is Karikó and Weissman’s scientific breakthrough?

A．Their idea on how to recognize COVID-19 fast.

B．Their method of testing the mRNA vaccines’ effect.

C．Their way to make the human body accept mRNA.

D．Their experiment of activating the immune system.

4. What can we learn from Karikó’s story?

A．We should pursue excellence in our careers.

B．Creativity results from challenging authority.

C．Scientists’ work follows technological trends.

D．Success comes from a lasting desire to explore.

3 . As the summer heat builds,we couldn’t help but wonder. Is there anybody in the world who doesn’t love ice cream? Ice cream may be universally appealing, but many countries have their own version.

Frozen custard, United States

Different from frozen yogurt, which is made with cultured yogurt and sugar, frozen custard is a combination of milk, cream, sugar and eggs. When it comes to its flavors, Americans typically have a choice between vanilla or chocolate. Dairy Queen, the Midwest fast food restaurant chain, and Culver’s and Carvel are all popular go-to spots in the US.

Raspado, Mexico

While snow cones(雪糕筒)are made using massively sweet syrup(糖浆), raspados have real fruits or fresh fruit juices.The sweet and cold treat is common throughout Mexico and sold at street carts.You won’t find Mexicans eating their raspados in cones.They’re only served in cups.

Gelato, Italy

Italian gelato is lower in fat than traditional ice cream and mixed with whole milk, eggs, sugar and flavoring. In Italy，gelato is served using a spatula(小铲)that presses the cool treat into a cup or cone. Finardi’s go-to in Milanis probably the best shop in Italy which specializes in chocolate flavors.

Dondurma, Turkey

Dondurma is made with milk and sugar.The sellers usually offer flavors such as vanilla and melon. Buying dondurma is like watching a performance.The men who sell it wear traditional Turkish costume and hat, twist and turn the ice cream until it lands into a cone. Kids and adults get a kick out of the show. If you want to taste it, you can buy their dondurma from a street cart or at a fair.

1. Which ice creams may attract chocolate lovers?

A．Frozen custard and Gelato!

B．Raspado and Gelato.

C．Frozen custard and Dondurma.

D．Gelato and Dondurma.

2. What is special about Dondurma?

A．Its flavors.

B．Its ingredients.

C．Its producing process.

D．Its selling way.

3. Where is this text probably taken from?

A．A travel brochure.

B．A health blog.

C．A cuisine magazine.

D．An advertisement.

4 . Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman, who together identified a slight chemical change to messenger RNA,were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine this year.

Dr. Karikó, the 13th woman to win the prize, had come to the United States from Hungary two decades earlier when her research program there ran out of money. She was preoccupied by mRNA, which provides instructions to cells to make proteins. Defying the decades old belief that mRNA was clinically unusable, she hold the view that it would stimulate medical innovations.

She and Dr. Weissman had their first chance meeting over a copy machine at the University of Pennsylvania in 1998. At the time, Dr. Weissman was desperate for new approaches to a vaccine (疫苗) against HLV, which bad long proved impossible to defend against. A physician who had tried and failed for years to develop a treatment for AIDS, he wondered if he and Dr. Karikó could team up to make an HIV. vaccine.

For years, they were at a loss. Mice vaccinated with mRNA became inactive. Countless experiments failed. They wandered down one dead end after another, But eventually, the scientists discovered that cells protect their own mRNA with a specific chemical modification (修饰). So they tried making the same change to mRNA manufactured in the lab before vaccinating it into cells It worked.

At first, other scientists were largely uninterested in taking up that new approach to vaccination. But two biotech companies soon took notice: Moderna, in the United States, and BioNTech, in Germany. Then the coronavirus emerged. Almost instantly, Drs. Karikó and Weissman’s work came together with several factors of different research to put vaccine makers ahead of the game in developing shot.

Brian Ferguson, an immunologist at the University of Cambridge, said. “The work of Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman in the years prior to 2020 prevented tens of millions of deaths and helped the world recover from the worst pandemic in a century. They richly deserve this recognition.”

1. The underlined word “defying” (paragraph 2) is closest in meaning to “        ”.

A．challenging

B．confirming

C．re-emphasizing

D．stating

2. Which of the following statements is TRUE about Dr. Karikó and Dr. Weissman’s research?

A．They teamed up for the treatment for AIDS in Hungary.

B．They protected their mRNA with a chemical modification.

C．They persevered until they made a change to lab-made mRNA.

D．They manufactured mRNA in mice despite their countless failures.

3. According to Brian Ferguson, Dr. Karikó and Dr. Weissman deserve the recognition because        .

A．they took no notice of others’ ignorance

B．they caught attention of two biotech companies

C．their work helped avoid the loss of countless lives

D．their work prevented the outbreak of the pandemic

4. Which of the following is the best title for the passage?

A．Chemical Changes Identified in the Pandemic

B．Approaches Adopted to Defend Against HLV

C．Nobel Prize Awarded to Covid Vaccine Pioneers

D．mRNA Manufactured in a University Lab in USA

5 . A new study shows homing pigeons (鸽子) combine precise internal compasses and memorized landmarks to retrace a path back to their home—even four years after the previous time when they made the trip.

Testing nonhuman memory keeping is challenging in research studies. “It’s rare that there is a gap of several years between when an animal stores the information and when it is next required to get it back,” says Dora Biro, a zoologist at the University of Oxford. In a recent study, Biro and her colleagues compared domestic homing pigeons’ paths three or four years after the birds established routes back to their home from a farm 8.6 kilometers away. The study built on data from a 2016 experiment in which pigeons learned routes in different social contexts during several flights-on their own or with peers that did or did not know the way.

Using data from GPS devices temporarily attached to the birds’ backs, the researchers compared the flight paths a group of pigeons took in 2016 with many of the same birds’ routes in 2019 or 2020, without the birds visiting the release site in between. Some birds missed a handful of landmarks along the way, but many others took “strikingly similar” routes to those they used in 2016, “It was as if the last time they flew there was just the day before, not four years ago,” says Oxford zoologist and study co-author Julien Collet.

The team found that the pigeons remembered a route just as well if they first flew it alone or with others and performed much better than those that had not made the journey in 2016. “The result is not surprising, but it provides new confirmation of homing pigeons’ remarkable memory. It closes the distance a little bit between our overconfident human cognitive (认知的) abilities and what animals can do,” says Verner Bingman, who studies animal navigation at Bowling Green State University and was not involved in the study.

1. What does paragraph 1 mention about homing pigeons?

A．The time of leaving home.	B．The location of their birth.
C．The ways they navigate home.	D．The reasons for their taking trips.

2. How did Biro and her colleagues conduct the study?

A．Through questionnaires.	B．Through information assumptions.
C．Through lab experiments on animals.	D．Through comparative analysis of data.

3. What did the researchers use to get the pigeons’ flight routes according to paragraph 3?

A．Prediction method.	B．Tracking method.
C．Expert consultation.	D．Literature consultation.

4. What can we learn about animal cognitive abilities from Verner Bingman’s words?

A．They are underestimated.	B．They have been declining.
C．They are much lower than humans’.	D．They have never been confirmed.

6 . The Mona Lisa is the famous Leonardo da Vinci painting of a woman with a mysterious smile. This week, the painting gave up a secret.

Scientists using X-rays to examine the chemical structure of a small part of the painting discovered a technique Leonardo used in the work. An oil paint used for it was a special, new chemical mixture, which suggests that the Italian artist was in an experimental mood when he worked on the painting in the 16th century.

“He loved to experiment, and each of his paintings is completely different technically,”said Victor Gonzalez, a chemist who has studied the chemical element (成分) of several works by Leonardo and other artists. The researchers found a rare lead compound (铅化合物) — plumbonacrite, in Leonardo’s first layer of paint. The discovery proved that da Vinci most likely used lead oxide to thicken and help dry his paint. The paint in the study is about the thickness of a human hair, lying in the top right area of the painting.

The scientists looked into its atomic structure using X-rays, moving particles at the speed of light, permitting researchers to look deeper into the paint structure. “ Plumbonacrite is really a fingerprint of his recipe, as it’s the first time we can chemically confirm it,” Gonzalez said.

Dutch artist Rembrandt may have used a similar mixture when he was painting in the 17th century. Gonzalez and other researchers have found plumbonacrite in his work, too. Leonardo is thought to have put lead oxide powder, which has an orange color, in the oil to make it thicker and dry faster. “What you will get is an oil that has a very nice golden color,” Gonzalez said. “It flows more like honey.”

But the Mona Lisa — said by the Louvre to be a portrait (肖像) of Lisa Gherardini, the wife of a Florentine silk businessman — and additional works by Leonardo still have other secrets to tell. “What we are saying is just a little brick in the knowledge,” Gonzalez said.

1. What’s the new discovery about the Mona Lisa?

A．A new explanation of the secret smile.

B．A new chemical element used in the painting.

C．The secret of the woman in the painting.

D．The structure of the paint da Vinci used.

2. Which best explains the underlined word “fingerprint” in paragraph 4?

A．Open secret.

B．Widespread use.

C．Hidden element.

D．Long-term dream.

3. How does Gonzalez view the use of lead oxide powder in paintings?

A．It helps to make many things into paints.

B．It helps to make paints easy to deal with.

C．It helps to keep the paintings last long.

D．It helps to make paintings rich in color.

4. What can we learn about the Mona Lisa from the last paragraph?

A．It has more secrets to tell the world.

B．It’s the portrait of a silk businessman.

C．It’s well kept in bricks in the Louvre.

D．It has a mixture of different art styles.

10 . In 1970s, a psychologist named J. P. Guilford conducted a famous study of creativity known as the nine-dot puzzle (九点谜题). He challenged research subjects to connect all nine dots using just four straight lines without lifting their pencils from the page. All the participants limited the possible solutions to those within the imaginary square. Only 20 percent managed to break out of the confinement (束缚) and continue their lines in the white space surrounding the dots.

The fact that 80 percent of the participants were effectively blinded by the boundaries of the square led Guilford to jump to the sweeping conclusion that creativity requires you to go outside the box. The idea went viral. Overnight, it seemed that creativity experts everywhere were teaching managers how to think outside the box. The concept enjoyed such strong popularity that no one bothered to check the facts. No one, that is, before two different research teams-Clarke Burnham with Kenneth Davis, and Joseph Alba with Robert Weisberg-ran another experiment.

Both teams followed the same way of dividing participants into two groups. The first group was given the same instructions as the participants in Guilford’s experiment. The second group was told that the solution required the lines to be drawn outside the imaginary box. Guess what? Only 25 percent solved the puzzle. In statistical terms, this 5 percent improvement is insignificant as this could be called sampling error.

Let’s look a little more closely at the surprising result. Solving this problem requires people to literally think outside the box. Yet participants’ performance was not improved even when they were given specific instructions to do so. That is, direct and clear instructions to think outside the box did not help. That this advice is useless should effectively have killed off the much widely spread — and therefore, much more dangerous — metaphor (比喻) that out-of-the-box thinking boosts creativity. After all, with one simple yet brilliant experiment, researchers had proven that the conceptual link between thinking outside the box and creativity was a misunderstanding.

1. What did the nine-dot puzzle study focus on?

A．Visual perception.

B．Thinking patterns.

C．Practical experience.

D．Theoretical knowledge.

2. Why did the two research teams run the follow-up experiment?

A．To test the catchy concept.

B．To contradict the initial idea.

C．To collect supporting evidence

D．To identify the underlying logic.

3. Which of the following best describes the follow-up experiment?

A．Groundless.

B．Inspiring.

C．Fruitless.

D．Revealing.

4. Which is the best title for the passage?

A．Puzzle Solving: A Key To Creativity

B．Thinking Outside the Box: A Misguided Idea

C．Nine-Dot Puzzle: A Magic Test

D．Creative Thinking: We Fell For The Trap