1 . “A moth (飞蛾) to a flame” is often used to indicate an inescapable attraction, yet it is a strange example of animal behavior that continues to confuse people today. Scientists have raised a number of theories over the years to explain why. One holds that insects flying at night are following their nature to fly toward the brightest spot in their field of vision, which they mistake for the sky. Another suggests that insects are trying to warm themselves with the heat produced by the light. The most popular theory, though, is that insects are confusing lights with the moon or other celestial bodies (天体) that they normally use to navigate (导航).
To find out the real reason, the team carried out a first set of experiments in an insect flight area. The researchers used eight high-speed infrared (红外线) cameras equipped with motion-capture technologies to track 30 insects from three moth and two dragonfly species. They also flew lab-raised insects from six different insect orders that were too small for motion-capture technology, including fruit flies and honeybees, to make sure different insects all showed similar responses to light. Working with co-author Pablo Allen of the Council on International Educational Exchange in Monteverde, Costa Rica, the researchers put heavy cameras, lights and tripods in two field sites to gather behavioral data from insects in the wild.
The team was able to confirm that insects were not beelining to the light but rather circling it as they tilted (倾斜) in an attempt to turn their backs toward it. This behavior, known as a “dorsal light response”, normally helps insects to remain in an unchanging path of flight that is properly lined to the horizon (地平线). Artificial light that arrives from a point source causes them to fly in unpredictable patterns as they try to turn their backs to what they are mistaking for the sky.
Now research might have finally solved the mystery mentioned first: artificial light confuses insects’ ability to turn themselves to the horizon, confusing their sense of what is up and down and causing them to fly in circles.
1. Which theory about a moth to a flame is accepted by most people?| A．They follow their nature to fly. | B．They are blind to artificial light. |
| C．They mistake artificial light for celestial bodies. | D．They are attracted by the warmth of artificial light. |
| A．To show the study is comprehensive. | B．To introduce the purpose of the study. |
| C．To estimate the cost of the research. | D．To stress the challenge faced by the researchers. |
| A．Flying slowly. | B．Sticking. | C．Responding. | D．Going straight. |
| A．They can fly beyond the horizon. | B．They can follow a steady flight path. |
| C．They can turn their backs toward lights. | D．They can circle the light source upside down. |
2 . 14-year-old Leanne Fan from San Diego, California, was named the grand prize winner of the 2022 3M Young Scientist Challenge, the nation’s top middle school science competition.
Leanne Fan developed the Finsen Headphones, a low-cost headphone device that uses machine learning and blue light therapy (疗法) to detect and treat mid-ear infections (感染) in children — potentially preventing up to 60% of hearing loss in children. The world sees 700 million cases of mid-ear infections every year. Fan hopes that this can be an effective and low-cost treatment option for the thousands who are affected.
Fan was inspired to create the headphones three years ago while learning about Niels Finsen, who won the Nobel Prize in 1903 after inventing light therapy to treat bacterial (细菌的) infections. “I thought, ‘This is an amazing idea, and I can apply it to something else in my daily life,’” Fan said.
Fan took home the top prize, earning the title of “America’s Top Young Scientist” and $25,000. She is planning to use some of the prize money to start the patent process for the headphones. Fan is optimistic that the Finsen Headphones will be able to help people in the near future.
“Being part of the 3M Young Scientist Challenge was absolutely the best part of my year,” Fan said. “I could meet scientists that are my age and going for their dreams too, and made some friends.” She hopes to inspire other girls who want to become inventors. “Even a small idea can go far,” she said. “I had an idea to use blue light to kill bacteria and three years later, I’m here.”
1. What is the second paragraph mainly about?| A．The cost of the headphone device. | B．The process of blue light therapy. |
| C．The description of the headphones. | D．The cases of mid-ear infections. |
| A．Her own daily life. |
| B．Her desire for the Nobel Prize. |
| C．The facts of bacterial infections. |
| D．Niels Finsen’s invention of light therapy. |
| A．Outgoing. | B．Patient. | C．Creative. | D．Hardworking. |
| A．Even a small idea can go far. | B．Many hands make light work. |
| C．Roses given, fragrance in hand. | D．Actions speak louder than words. |
3 . Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras have been working on a fascinating new way to identify people: using the ways of their breath. This idea could change how we unlock our phones and access secure places.
The key to this technology lies in the way we breathe out. Every person has a unique way of breathing air, which creates specific turbulence (涡流) patterns. The IIT Madras team, led by Prof. Mahesh Panchagnula, has developed a method of catching these unique patterns and using them as a biometric (生物特征识别的) signature, similar to how fingerprints are used today.
They conducted tests with breath samples from 94 people and found that their system could correctly confirm the person’s identity with an impressive accuracy of 97%. However, when it came to identifying someone without knowing who they were beforehand, the accuracy was around 50%. This means the technology is great at confirming if someone is who they claim to be, but it still needs improvement in recognizing people without any prior information. What makes this research exciting is its potential beyond just unlocking phones. It could play a significant role in personalized medicine. Since the way we breathe can give insights into our health, this technology could help doctors tailor treatments to individual patients more effectively.
In a similar study at Kyushu University in Japan, researchers developed an artificial system that identifies people based on how their breath smells. This system showed a high accuracy rate of 97.8% in identifying individuals. However, this method currently requires people to fast (禁食) for six hours before testing, indicating that it still needs to be improved to be more practical for everyday use.
These advancements in using human breath for identification are not just about adding another cool feature to our smartphones. They represent a significant step forward in biometric technology, which could have far-reaching implications in security, medicine, and personal technology. This research at IIT Madras and Kyushu University is pioneering a new way of using the unique patterns of our breath for identification purposes, potentially revolutionizing (变革) how we interact with technology and receive medical care.
1. What makes the new technology possible according to paragraph 2?| A．The distinctive breath smells. | B．The unique patterns of breath. |
| C．The different patterns of fingerprints. | D．The speed of taking in air. |
| A．To eat no food for 6 hours is practical in everyday life. |
| B．To eat fast is a basic requirement for a higher accuracy rate. |
| C．The system is workable and will soon appear on the market. |
| D．Breath smells affected by food can decrease the accuracy rate. |
| A．It helps raise people’s awareness of health. | B．It will let people better understand their breath. |
| C．It makes unlocking our phones more easily. | D．It will introduce new ways to develop medicine. |
| A．Should We Still Use Fingerprints to Unlock Our Phone? |
| B．Fingerprint Patterns Can Identify Breath Types Easily |
| C．A Breath “Fingerprint” Could Be Used to Unlock Your Phone |
| D．Which Unlocking Method Is More Secure, Breath or Fingerprint? |
4 . A 100-year-old woman whose name is Margaret Griffiths is taking IT classes in an effort to catch up on modern technology. Margaret Griffiths said she
Born in 1921, Ms Griffiths began a 40-year
But her
“I don’t know what future is
| A．joined | B．organized | C．attended | D．paid |
| A．well | B．much | C．soon | D．long |
| A．career | B．ambition | C．adventure | D．assessment |
| A．fortunately | B．eventually | C．potentially | D．naturally |
| A．new | B．necessary | C．essential | D．amusing |
| A．spent | B．employed | C．committed | D．occupied |
| A．tried | B．grasped | C．failed | D．stopped |
| A．regret | B．retirement | C．frustration | D．embarrassment |
| A．out of date | B．out of order | C．out of shape | D．out of practice |
| A．seized | B．looked | C．jumped | D．arrived |
| A．in | B．on | C．at | D．by |
| A．in turn | B．in favor | C．in store | D．in place |
| A．being educated | B．being suspected | C．being qualified | D．being helped |
| A．comfort | B．performance | C．company | D．reward |
| A．combination | B．demonstration | C．emphasis | D．analysis |
5 . One bus driver for the North Elementary School can now add lifesaver to her experiences after a student started choking (窒息) on her bus last month.
On Sept.29, bus driver Raquel Baker began her work just like any other drivers and was about to drop off students at the school gate when something went wrong. Video from the school bus showed 7-year-old Preston putting something in his
It was hard for the boy to
Preston hardly
Preston was blue in the face. Baker saw a parent and asked her to call 911. “All I could think of was I had to
Preston’s mum was
Until today Bake r still doesn’t know how she got the
| A．bag | B．bottle | C．mouth | D．pocket |
| A．danger | B．peace | C．surprise | D．silence |
| A．write | B．say | C．spell | D．hear |
| A．luckily | B．formally | C．quietly | D．quickly |
| A．bus | B．room | C．yard | D．school |
| A．slept | B．breathed | C．saw | D．listened |
| A．find | B．feed | C．save | D．meet |
| A．habit | B．training | C．belief | D．income |
| A．nervous | B．glad | C．disappointed | D．curious |
| A．eraser | B．chalk | C．key | D．coin |
| A．sorry | B．sad | C．anxious | D．thankful |
| A．corrected | B．changed | C．honored | D．cured |
| A．future | B．impact | C．dream | D．mistake |
| A．permit | B．right | C．method | D．courage |
| A．or | B．so | C．but | D．for |
6 . ChatGPT has quickly become popular around the world because of its advanced conversational abilities. It can answer questions, do translations, give the main idea of articles and even write codes (代码) for a computer program. It is as good as a human inside a computer.
ChatGPT is making life very convenient. A time might come when people hand it some articles and it makes a well-made report. That could, however, mean job losses. After all, if a computer program can write codes, then it would make a programmer lose his job.
That may be a worry, but it is still too early to worry about that. ChatGPT has more advanced learning features, but it still follows the same technological way. Its biggest advantage lies in the ability to turn words into a language from an ocean of data, but it's still not that creative. AI can quickly draw a picture, but that picture will be based on pictures that it has seen. It can also write books about the future, but the books will be based on articles about the future that it has read.
In comparison, a human brain imagines the future and then tries hard to realize it. AI can imagine a future with faster spaceships, but it can't imagine a world of space as humans can.
So there is no need to worry too much. By being creative there will be plenty of chances for humans to win over AI.
1. What does the underlined word “It” in Paragraph 1 refer to?| A．The world. | B．ChatGPT. | C．A computer. | D．A program. |
| A．By telling stories. | B．By giving examples. |
| C．By listing numbers. | D．By making comparisons. |
| A．It has its own creativity. |
| B．It has conversational abilities. |
| C．It has more advanced learning features. |
| D．It has the ability to turn words into a language. |
| A．Sports. | B．Science. | C．Education. | D．Business. |
7 . In late June, two companies were given permits to sell chicken meat that has been grown in a lab. The companies say they will be serving the meat in restaurants this summer.
Unlike normal chicken meat, lab-grown meat isn’t created by raising and killing chickens. Instead, it’s a meat product developed from animal cells that are grow n in a lab. The process is called “cell-based” or “cultured” meat.
The process of creating lab-grown meat is completely different from the normal meat raising process. Scientists have known for a long time how to keep living cells alive and grow them in a lab. In this case, experts choose cells that can grow quickly and will have good flavour. The first cells come from live animals. Then the cells are grown inside large steel tanks, where they’re fed with everything they need to grow. In a few weeks, the cells grow into sheets of meat. The companies then form this meat into more familiar shapes that can be cooked and sold.
The companies say that their meat is better for the environment than meat from animals. Raising animals for food uses huge amounts of land and water. It also creates a lot of pollution. Raising animals for food create s about 15% of the world’s greenhouse gases. That’s why cutting back on eating meat is one of the easiest ways to fight climate change.
There are many companies these days that focus on making plant-based meat substitutes (替代物). But since lab-grown meat is made from animal cells, it is very hard to tell it apart from actual meat. It looks, smells, and tastes like chicken.
Polls (民意调查) have shown that many people aren’t too interested in lab-grown meat. Lots of people believe that “it just sounds strange”. But Russel Phillips, a biologist, suggests people give it a try. He says that once people try the meat, they will be amazed. The common response must be, “Oh, it tastes like chicken.”
But right now, the meat is far more expensive than meat from animals. Now that the companies have been approved, they have the huge challenge of figuring out how to make much more meat far more cheaply. It will probably be a long time before you’re able to buy lab-grown chicken in stores.
1. To produce lab-grown meat, the companies should________.| A．study how to feed live animals. | B．decide where to store meat products. |
| C．add different flavours to sheets of meat. | D．select cells suitable for producing meat. |
| A．future. | B．advantage. | C．techniques. | D．process. |
| A．Doubtful. | B．Worried. | C．Supportive. | D．Uninterested. |
| A．quality. | B．safety. | C．price. | D．taste. |
8 . “Leftover roast potatoes? There’s no such thing!” shouted people on social media when I shared a suggestion for using up remaining potatoes. This response is common whenever I propose ideas for ingredients (食材) considered “delicious” or a treat: wine, Easter eggs and cream. One person’s trash is another person’s treasure, and all that — but the way we handle leftovers has to change. Because of my work creating recipes, I am constantly dealing with leftover food. I live alone, work from home and enjoy the challenge of transforming leftovers into new culinary delights.
During lockdown, I witnessed in people a growing understanding of having to make do with what was already in the cupboards, fridge and freezer. This led to an increasing confidence around making substitutions and understanding food-safety issues (such as the difference between “best before” and “use by”). I learned everything I know about food safety during my professional life.
While sharing food with neighbors, friends and the wider community is one way to deal with remaining ingredients, managing random bits and open packets requires a different approach. So in May 2022, I started a series on social media called Rollover Leftovers, showcasing daily short videos of my home cooking. Simple concepts such as refreshing rock-hard bread, freezing leftover chips or creating a “clear out the fridge” tray bake gained millions of views — a much bigger audience than I would expect for anything using tricky methods or fancy ingredients.
Use your imagination and trust yourself, and you’ll discover that leftovers can be a joy, not a chore. And if you find you have the leftovers of a great big turkey but are fed up with the sight of it, or you have more cranberry sauce than you could possibly eat alone, why not try joining forces with neighbors or friends? Not so much bring a bottle as bring a loaf, because a post-Christmas leftovers sandwich is truly the best bite of the year. Isn’t it?
1. What do people think of the author’s suggestion for leftovers?| A．It is impractical. | B．It is typical. | C．It is valuable. | D．It is irresponsible. |
| A．The new trend in cooking. | B．The concern about food safety. |
| C．The importance of professional life. | D．The change of household appliances. |
| A．It teaches cooking principles. | B．It is a community programme. |
| C．It focuses on fresh ingredients. | D．It has gained great popularity. |
| A．Reserve it in a bottle. | B．Share it with neighbors or friends. |
| C．Put it in the fridge for the next meal. | D．Use it to make sandwiches for charity. |
9 . Tian Wangui and his wife Lu Min are villagers in Qiantian Village, Liaoning Province. They began planting trees over forty years ago. With their hard work, the two barren (贫瘠的) mountains are covered by trees now.
After leaving the army in the 1980s, Tian got back home and began planting fruit trees on the hills. In 1982, the couple got the contract rights (承包经营权) of two mountains. At first, they planted some young fruit trees on part of the land. In order to water them, they had to carry water up to the top of the mountains many times a day by themselves.
Now, the two mountains are covered by more than 50,000 trees of over 20 kinds. More than 2,000 birds live in the trees in the mountains.
“We cared for the mountains and trees as we cared for our children,” said Lu. “Even as we grow old, our children will protect the woods, watch over the birds and keep our dream alive.”
1. What did Tian Wangui do before he began planting trees?| A．He served in the army. |
| B．He watched over the birds. |
| C．He cared for the children. |
| D．He carried water up to the mountains. |
| A．Determined. | B．Friendly. | C．Curious. | D．Brave. |
| A．A couple got the contract rights by planting trees. |
| B．A couple taught their children to plant trees for over forty years. |
| C．A couple kept planting trees on the mountains for over forty years. |
| D．A couple helped the villagers plant trees on the mountains for over forty years. |
10 . Four best day trips from Amsterdam: the ultimate travel guide
Broek in Waterland: a village fit for sea captains
If you’re looking for a getaway from the big city, Broek in Waterland is the definition of a peaceful Dutch town. With a small population of about 2,500, this village has quiet streets and picturesque nature. Its standout feature is its traditional wooden houses, with more than 80 of them considered National Heritage Sites.
Travel time by car from Amsterdam: 14 minutes
Giethoorn: Venice of the Netherlands
A picture-perfect landscape, Giethoorn is an almost entirely car-free village, replaced with boats and, of course, bicycles. You don’t want to miss a boat tour around this scenic town or a pleasant hike around the area.
Travel time by car from Amsterdam: 1 hour and 26 minutes
Marken: a former island in the Zuiderzee
Marken was separated from the Dutch mainland in the 13th century by a storm, turning it into an island in the Markermeer lake. Residents of the town built wooden houses on artificial hills to prevent more flooding damage. To this day, these picturesque homes remain a popular cultural attraction. On your walk, you can visit the comfortable town harbour or enjoy the scenic route of fields, forests and the lakeshore.
Travel time by car from Amsterdam: 27 minutes
Gouda: the birthplace of iconic Dutch cheese
Which came first, the cheese or the city? For Gouda, the city is the namesake for this world-famous cheese. The city is quaint(古色古香), but the centre is full of shops, restaurants, bars and cafés. Check out the weekly Markt (market) on Thursdays and Saturdays to see thousands of flowers of every color and buy some to take home, and the first Fairtrade Street in the Netherlands at weekends, where all street food is sustainably produced and sold!
Travel time by car from Amsterdam: 1 hour
1. Which city takes visitors the longest time to reach from Amsterdam by car?| A．Broek in Waterland. | B．Giethoorn. | C．Marken. | D．Gouda. |
| A．On Sundays. | B．On Tuesdays. | C．On Thursdays. | D．On Mondays. |
| A．They feature traditional wooden houses. | B．They’re surrounded with an artificial lake. |
| C．They’re listed as National Heritage Sites. | D．They have a small population in the country. |
