1 . Alone But Not Lonely
I walked into Panera and placed my order. After I paid and filled my plastic cup with water, I walked to find a
As this fact settled in, a feeling of sadness began to
For some reason, eating with other people is the
For me, it’s easy to feel pressured to be alone
But that’s not true. We can enjoy being alone and we shouldn’t be
| A．spot | B．mat | C．seat | D．man |
| A．suspected | B．noticed | C．assessed | D．predicted |
| A．finding | B．booking | C．taking | D．saving |
| A．call for | B．turn down | C．wash over | D．appeal to |
| A．Therefore | B．However | C．Anyhow | D．Nevertheless |
| A．appreciate | B．insist | C．advocate | D．assume |
| A．norm | B．sacrifice | C．bonus | D．dilemma |
| A．extended | B．evolved | C．fallen | D．compared |
| A．sound | B．turn | C．appear | D．prove |
| A．when | B．although | C．unless | D．until |
| A．disturbed | B．accompanied | C．tracked | D．envied |
| A．lonelier | B．worse | C．calmer | D．better |
| A．thrilled | B．afraid | C．inspired | D．pleased |
| A．wonder | B．promise | C．favor | D．break |
| A．announce | B．stress | C．mean | D．reveal |
2 . The first mouthful of “cultivated” meat is both remarkable and dull. In a homely kitchen at the California headquarters of Eat Just, a startup, a-card-sized slice of meat, served with a sweet-potato puree, mushrooms and some pickled peppers, has been grilled. The meal is remarkable because the meat was grown in a lab. It is ordinary because the texture, taste, look and smell of the meat is almost identical to that of chicken.
Broadly speaking, there are two ways to make cultivated meat. One option is to put the cells in a stainless-steel tank, called a “bioreactor,” which is filled with a nutrient-rich liquid that is often from cow embryos (胚胎). The cells multiply, and after a month or so a meaty slurry can be harvested and turned into minced-meat products such as chicken nuggets (鸡块).The alternative is to place the cells on a frame. That encourages them to grow into a certain shape, and is used to create more fibrous meat, such as steaks.
The cultivated-meat business hopes that this experience will become more common. In June, Eat Just and Upside Foods, became the first two companies to win regulatory approval to sell cultivated meat in America. A handful of firms already do so in Singapore. In total, around 160 firms are trying to bring cultivated meats to market.
But doing so will be challenging. In America, diners without the benefit of a press card can find cultivated meat in just two restaurants. Years ago the industry was bullish. McKinsey guessed it might grow to $25 billion worldwide by the end of the decade. But that hope is fading. Most companies are now more focused on producing hybrid meats, which combine cultivated animal protein with protein from plants such as soya or wheat because of stubbornly high costs and troubles with mass production.
In some rich countries, plenty of people say they want to reduce their consumption, ether for ethical reasons or environmental ones. Lab-grown meat may, for some consumers, be less ethically worrisome than eating animals. And the early success of plant-based meat alternatives gave investors hope. Earlier this year, Vow Food, an Australian start-up, created a “mammoth meatball”, mixing ancient DNA recovered from frozen mammoth remains with that of modern-day elephants.
1. Which kind of lab-grown meat does Eat Just serve?| A．Beef steak. | B．Chicken nuggets. | C．Mammoth meatball. | D．A chicken-like meat dish. |
| A．Gloomy. | B．Pessimistic. | C．Promising. | D．Depressing. |
| A．Because of the much easier way to cook hybrid meats. |
| B．Because of the remarkably enhanced flavor and texture. |
| C．Because of the fierce competition with traditional meat companies. |
| D．Because of high costs and production challenges of cultivated meat. |
| A．A new cuisine will take the place of traditional dishes， |
| B．A debate about moral issues is aroused by lab-grown meat. |
| C．Will lab-grown meat ever make it on to supermarket shelves? |
| D．How is the lab-grown meat made to cater for people’s demand? |
3 . What motivates you to work or study harder? Is it the thought of success and all the amazing things that you can achieve, or is it the fear of failure and worry about all the things that can go wrong for you? Leaders, managers, and teachers have often used one of these ideas to inspire people to work harder and achieve more. But is one better than the other?
A recent study looked at the effect of fear-based strategies on British secondary school students. As is so often the case, it’s complicated. They found that if a test is seen as important，and students are optimistic that they can succeed, then the fear of failure can be used successfully by teachers to motivate these learners. However, if students are not confident, then fear-based approaches could trigger feelings of anxiety, which can in turn lead them to do worse on the test than they would have done otherwise. The study also found that if students are disengaged and don’t care about the test in the first place, then, unsurprisingly, the fear of failure is not likely to motivate them.
Entrepreneurs often run the risk of failure. It’s a fact that most new companies will fail. But does this motivate or inhibit (阻碍) business people? Again, it’s not straightforward. The personal consequences of failure can be significant, and so founders maybe motivated to work harder to avoid them.
A study carried out on British and Canadian entrepreneurs found that fear of failure can improve problem solving, as people are motivated to anticipate and resolve potential issues. They may also be inspired to learn new things that will help their business or find mentors who can support them. However, the study also showed that it can lead to increased procrastination as people focus too much on what they personally fear, rather than what would be best for the business. If someone is less confident about their business idea, then they may find their decision-making negatively affected by their fears.
Taken together, these studies show that fear-based motivation is complicated. It can drive confident people to do better, but it can also amplify our doubts and turn them into barriers.
1. How is the topic introduced in paragraph 1?| A．By triggering possible discussions. | B．By giving specific examples. |
| C．By presenting the research results. | D．By introducing some findings. |
| A．When students are optimistic. |
| B．When students are confident. |
| C．When students care more about the test results. |
| D．When students are in negative mood and less active. |
| A．Fear of failure motivation is a complex being. |
| B．Founders are likely to be the most motivated. |
| C．Businessmen can’t avoid some personal failures. |
| D．Fear of failure produces more negative outcomes. |
| A．To introduce an extremely important approach to success. |
| B．To clarify the bond between motivation and the fear of failure. |
| C．To cast the doubt whether motivation will truly lead to success. |
| D．To encourage readers to be more confident and not to be feared. |
4 . Jack, a clinical nurse specialist, retied on his 65th birthday. He told his wife, Sally, he would “start out as an adventure cyclist.”
Four months later, he set off on a 13, 000 km cycle ride from Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia to Edinburgh, much of it roughly shadowing Marco Polo’s Silk Road. No sooner had he started out than a snowstorm hit. He hid in his tent, wearing every item of clothing he had packed. At -18℃ it was too cold to go outside to cook. He survived the next 48 hours by eating a massive bag of chocolates. So it is a surprise to hear Jack say that he has never feared for his life. “Never. There’s always something to be curious about,” he says.
In 2018, hero de from Edinburgh to Istanbul to earn a place in Guinness World Records. “There are very few records a man over 60 can break,” he says. During the trip, he got a dozen punctures (轮胎上刺破的小孔). But he fixed each one. “I’ve always been serious about purpose. If something is to be done, it is to be done properly. People go forwards and people go backwards. The difficult bit is managing the times when people go backwards,” he says. “Don’t let the moment ruin the whole thing.”
He turns 71 this year. He is about to begin the 1, 407 km trip to John O’Groats. It sounds tough but he insists “it just a matter of spinning the wheels.” Still, they don’t spin on their own. His daughter, a yoga teacher, has suggested weights to maintain muscle mass. His son, a cyclist, keeps him up to speed on the latest technology.
Jack is planning new rides in France next year, and beyond that hopes “to spread my wings further. There is peace on a bicycle,” he says. “The joy is the actual doing of the activity. Going further means you’re just doing more of something you enjoy.”
1. What is paragraph 2 mainly about?| A．The scenery Jack saw along the way. |
| B．The challenges Jack faced in the journey. |
| C．The lessons Jack learned from the journey. |
| D．The preparations Jack made for the journey. |
| A．It’s never too old to learn. | B．It’s never too late tom end. |
| C．Never do things by halves. | D．Time and tide wait no man. |
| A．A cyclist and a specialist. | B．His yoga teacher and Sally. |
| C．His daughter and son. | D．The doctors and nurses. |
| A．Generous and creative. | B．Ambitious and persistent. |
| C．Confident and considerate. | D．Imaginative and sympathetic. |
5 . People don’t usually become homeless suddenly. It’s a chutes-and-ladders (阶梯状) process. A large new statewide study takes a closer look at the period just before homelessness, by asking a representative sample of almost 3,200 homeless people from all over the state about the dilemma they fell into, and what would have helped.
Some of the findings were unsurprising: in the state with the nation’s largest homeless population, people are unhoused because they don’t have enough money, or have experienced trauma (创伤). A quarter of all survey participants had experienced family violence, and their lives and health get much worse once homelessness strikes. But some of the report’s data run counter to popular perception: for example, most homeless people are not from out of state, contrary to the common belief that homeless people move to California for the weather and policies.
The study’s lead author, Dr. Margot Kushel, says there’s a “doom loop” of homelessness, where people have jobs that don’t cover living expenses, so they lose their homes, and the resulting instability makes it harder to keep their jobs.
Kushel points to really exciting models of homelessness prevention, where in low-income communities, they’ll have subway and bus posters saying, “Are you at risk of becoming homeless? Call us.” These programs might offer anything from cash to finding landlords or roommates. “What was really striking to us was how little money people thought it would have taken,” says Kushel. Most participants suggested that less than $500 a month, or a onetime payment of $10,000, would have kept them housed. Kushel cautions that the vast majority of mental health issues among the study participants are anxiety and depression. It’s likely that the lack of resources results in those conditions, rather than the illness causing the homelessness. “The driving issue is clearly the deep poverty,” Kushel says.
1. What does the study focus on?| A．The homeless’ nationalities. | B．The current situation of the homeless. |
| C．Homeless people’s previous experiences. | D．The solution to wiping out homelessness. |
| A．Deep poverty gives rise to homelessness. |
| B．Most participants have experienced domestic violence. |
| C．The majority of homeless people are native Californian. |
| D．Homeless people move to California for the weather and policies. |
| A．A terrible circle. | B．A different situation. |
| C．An improved condition. | D．An unpredictable future. |
| A．Anxiety and depression caused homelessness. | B．People expected a very low charge of housing. |
| C．Homeless prevention exists in all communities. | D．The program offers accommodation free of charge. |
6 . Investors are attracted to municipal bonds (市政债券) for three reasons: safety of the original money, regular predictable income and the tax-free benefits. Together, these three elements can make municipal bonds a convincing case in your investment.
Safety of the original moneyWhen investing in municipal bonds, investors are paid back the full face value of their investment when the due date comes or earlier if called. This is why many investors, particularly those nearing retirement or in retirement are fond of investing municipal bonds, who are concerned about protecting their money. It could be the smartest retirement investment you make.
Regular Predictable IncomeMunicipal bonds typically pay interest every six months unless they get called. That means that you can count on a regular, predictable income stream. Because most bonds have call options, which means you get your money back before the due date, then the next municipal bonds you purchase can earn more or less interest than the called bond.
Tax-Free BenefitsIncome from municipal bonds is not subject to federal income tax and, depending on where you live, may also be free from state and local taxes. Tax-free can be a big attraction for many investors.
We’re sure you’ll want to know more about the benefits of Municipal Bonds. So our specialists have written a helpful Bond Guide for investors.
In the Bond Guide, you’ll learn:
·The benefits and risks of municipal bonds
·Strategies for smart bond investing
·Municipal bond facts every investor should know
Call (800)316-1846 or visit www. MunicipalBonds.com to get one for free.
1. Why do people in retirement like to invest municipal bonds?| A．They have faith in the government. | B．They may pay the least tax. |
| C．They won’t lose their initial investment funds. | D．They can gain the most interest than others. |
| A．Half a year later. | B．On the due date. |
| C．When they retire from work. | D．When purchasing the next bonds. |
| A．Make an application for it. | B．Make an call at (800)316-1846. |
| C．Request our specialists in person. | D．Visit www. MunicipalBond.com to purchase one. |
7 . I have been one of those men who set the same goals every year but rarely
At the end of 2016, I reached my
I said “enough”, and started at the beginning of 2017 in a place that
One of my biggest realizations was the
Self-prioritization (自我优先) has helped me create goals I can go hard on all year. Self-prioritized goals have led to a better me for everyone else in my life. Life is more
| A．tried | B．ignored | C．replaced | D．achieved |
| A．productive | B．joyful | C．colorful | D．novel |
| A．picked up | B．messed up | C．turned away | D．faded away |
| A．confused | B．defeated | C．frightened | D．unsatisfied |
| A．turning | B．starting | C．breaking | D．meeting |
| A．intending | B．promising | C．longing | D．struggling |
| A．boring | B．unhealthy | C．dangerous | D．direct |
| A．example | B．pride | C．disappointment | D．annoyance |
| A．impressed | B．tested | C．attracted | D．changed |
| A．enjoyed | B．connected | C．righted | D．dreamed |
| A．discussing | B．studying | C．choosing | D．judging |
| A．journey | B．approach | C．answer | D．solution |
| A．ability | B．definitions | C．importance | D．intention |
| A．rewarding | B．precious | C．beautiful | D．mysterious |
| A．imply | B．improve | C．contain | D．control |
8 . The Best Brand Awards
The Best Brand Awards is an international competition that recognizes the concept and design of brands from around the globe. Designers, agencies and companies compete every year to present their best work. It has a total of four categories: Logo New, Logo Redesign, Brand Identity and Brand Identity Redesign.
Participation is easy, as one registers and uploads the work via the website. Brands created between January 2023 and March 2024 are welcome to participate.
General Piece RequirementsFormats: jpeg, jpg, png or. Tiff (not bigger than 2MB).
Coloured areas in the background are not allowed.
Only digital submissions are allowed, no printouts.
Logo New: A single logo centred on a white background.
Logo Redesign: The old logo is on the left, and the new one on the right on a white area. Brand Identity and Brand Identity Redesign：Four examples of the application of the logo on a white area are shown.
Entry Fees
| Logo categories | Identity categories |
| Early bird submission ( 1 January—29 February, 2024) | £50 per piece | £100 per piece |
| Regular submission ( 1 March—31 March, 2024) | £75 per piece | £150 per piece |
| Late submission (1Apil—15May, 2024) | £100 per piece | £200 per piece |
Each winner will receive a certificate in PDF format. This certificate is free of charge. You can print it out on your own. You will also receive a set of award logos free of charge.
The awards a represented in Gold, Silver, Bronze, Award of Excellence and Runner Up. A trophy (奖杯) can be ordered for a fee of 110 euros. Each trophy is individually produced and the text is agreed with the respective prizewinner.
The order can be placed simply by email: hello@bestbrandawards.com.
1. What do we know about the Best Brand Awards?| A．It is held annually. | B．It includes three categories. |
| C．It is held nationally. | D．It requires printout submissions. |
| A．£75. | B．£100. | C．£150. | D．£200. |
| A．A digital certificate. | B．A customized trophy. |
| C．A set of award logos. | D．A printout of a certificate. |
9 . Generally, most people feel delighted when birthday comes, especially children. They count the days and can’t wait to send
This may be common in those who are in their 50’s or older. For some people in this age, life becomes a
Some people do not like to come to the notice of others due to any possible reason on this earth. They just don’t want to be the
There is also another part of the population that thinks it is a
| A．blessings | B．greetings | C．invitation | D．gratitude |
| A．Anyway | B．Besides | C．Therefore | D．Nevertheless |
| A．long | B．refuse | C．remember | D．manage |
| A．normal | B．active | C．exciting | D．busy |
| A．leisure | B．celebration | C．sympathy | D．admiration |
| A．reality | B．dream | C．story | D．journey |
| A．consistent | B．slower | C．faster | D．steadier |
| A．cuts up | B．builds up | C．takes up | D．breaks up |
| A．help | B．get | C．make | D．put |
| A．wonderful | B．awful | C．unexpected | D．rare |
| A．pride | B．example | C．focus | D．burden |
| A．familiar | B．fundamental | C．similar | D．contrary |
| A．shelter | B．attention | C．sign | D．appearance |
| A．budget | B．collection | C．waste | D．lack |
| A．reputation | B．rest | C．time | D．salary |
10 . Legend has it that centuries ago, manatees (海牛) used to be mistaken for mermaids, so a sight last week at one Florida state park would have put ancient sailors in shock.
Blue Spring State Park is home to one of the largest winter gathering sites for manatees in Florida, and recently, the park reached a new record when the number of manatees spotted in one group was nearly 1,000.
Manatees typically flock to the park during the winter months. According to a Facebook post from the non-profit Save the Manatee Club, January 21 was one of the coldest mornings of the Florida winter season so far. The temperature of the St. Johns River, which Blue Spring sits on, was recorded at 14.9 ℃.
To survive the cold winter weather, manatees will seek out water that is typically warmer than 20 ℃. This is because despite their thick-looking bodies, the blubbery animal affectionately known as the sea cow only has “about an inch of fat and a very slow metabolism (新陈代谢), meaning they cannot easily stay warm,” says the state park.
Since their spring water remains at a constant 22.2 ℃, and is protected from human recreational activity, Blue Spring makes the perfect manatee shelter during the colder months. “What’s more, many manatees rely on artificial warm water sources from power plants, and these might be going off line in the near future. So having some of these manatees come to these natural warm water sites and finding them is really encouraging,” says Cora Berchem, a research associate and the director of multimedia at Save the Manatee Club.
According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, there are anywhere between about 7,000 to 11,000 manatees in Florida, which represents a large increase over the past 25 years.
1. What does the underlined phrase “flock to” in Paragraph 3 mean?| A．Escape from. | B．Drop into. | C．Depart from. | D．Flood into. |
| A．It serves as a recreation center. | B．The temperature remains at 22.2 ℃. |
| C．It is a well-preserved state park. | D．Power plants heat the shelter there. |
| A．Importance of protecting manatees. | B．Why manatees’ population grows. |
| C．Unique living habits of manatees. | D．How manatees fight against cold. |
| A．A Club Taking Measures to Rescue Manatees |
| B．A Record Number of Manatees Spotted in Florida |
| C．Florida: the Largest Winter Shelter for Manatees |
| D．Manatees: an Animal Resistant to Cold Weather |
