1 . Glass marble playing, dating psychology, Harry Potter and genetics, life and death ... Chinese universities have started setting up innovative new courses. In these classes, students are able to learn knowledge through vivid examples and group work, making learning fun.
For example, at Tianjin University, the most popular elective course is dating psychology, which is in high demand all the time. Jin Yangbo, 18, enrolled in the course this school year. “This course is very scientific,” said Jin. “It doesn’t straight away start with techniques on how to date, but instead guide s us to learn more about ourselves, our family and our attachment styles.”
What made Jin impressive was the group discussion on the differences between how men and women think. “I hadn’t realized that there were that many differences between men and women in emotional expression,” Jin said.
Wang Xiaoling, the professor of the course, applied to make dating psychology an elective course in 2019. “I do psychological counseling on campus and have noticed a rising need among students to have professional relationship guidance,” said Wang. “I think theoretical knowledge and practice are both essential in relationships,” Wang said. “Many university students haven’t developed a healthy view toward relationships. When they encounter problems, many of them don’t have a good system for handling consequences.”
In the course, Wang has covered topics like “why some people tend to please others in relationships”, “how to handle conflicts” and “how to get over a person after breaking up”. “I also asked them to do group presentations and papers on these topics, so that they can explore themselves in an active way.”
In the future, Wang and the university want to start a video channel on social media so they can help more young people all over China. “We will design the course based on current situations so that the knowledge is more up-to-date,” Wang said.
1. Which of the following best describes the elective courses?A.Easy and fun. | B.Creative and hands-on. |
C.Serious and complicated. | D.Scientific and interesting. |
A.Techniques on how to date. | B.Its emphasis on self-awareness. |
C.The lesson on attachment. | D.A discussion on gender differences. |
A.Wang’s views on relationships. |
B.The origin of the dating psychology course. |
C.The purpose of the dating psychology course. |
D.Problems with how students deal with relationships. |
A.Make the course more accessible. | B.Do counseling on social media. |
C.Include difficult topics in the course. | D.Adapt content for different age groups. |
2 . I had always looked forward to the day when I would finally apply as a delegate at a Model United Nations (MUN) conference. Therefore, you can imagine my excitement when I finally traveled to Belgium to participate in the 2023 MUN conference this March.
The conference was held on March 7-11. Despite the horrible weather throughout our stay, I still found the city extremely attractive due to its cobblestone streets, Gothic monuments and amazing lighting in the evenings. Meanwhile, the delegate’s fee covered lunches for four days, welcoming and closing receptions, a traditional Belgian dinner, a theme party and a gala night.
I was designated to represent Poland in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which turned out to be an unexpectedly unified and efficient committee. We managed to pass the communique to combat hybrid warfare and improve cooperation between NATO allies (盟友).
In the beginning, I felt intimidated by how passionate my fellow delegates were. As a first-timer, I was really confused and felt hesitant to speak up. I only started to enjoy acting my part as a diplomat on the second day. From there, things just got better and better. I got a bit ill at the end of the conference, however, so I couldn’t enjoy the conference to its fullest potential.
Even so, it is without a doubt that those days in Belgium definitely opened a new chapter in my MUN journey! It made me realize how fruitful MUN simulations are. Through the MUN conference, you will surely improve your public speaking skills massively and gain so many good friends, many of whom you will likely stay in touch with for the rest of your life. It is for these reasons that I have fallen in love with Leuven, that magical city.
1. What did the author like about Leuven?A.The streetscape. | B.Delicious food. |
C.Its rich history. | D.The friendly locals. |
A.She helped pass several resolutions. | B.She spent most of her time socializing. |
C.She found the committee productive. | D.She struggled to get her ideas across. |
A.Inspired. | B.Frightened. | C.Touched. | D.Excited. |
A.It is too challenging for first-timers. |
B.It is a good way to improve negotiation skills. |
C.It is a valuable experience for personal growth. |
D.It offers a great chance to learn about other cultures. |
3 . Follow these tips to start a book drive in your neighborhood or school.
Before your book drive
Identify your volunteers. Recruit a committee of volunteers to assist you with planning and pick-ups on collection day.
Determine where to hold the book drive. Good locations include: small retail businesses or local schools. You don’t have to choose just one. You can ask businesses all over your area to collect books for the drive.
Choose an appropriate time to hold the book drive. Join forces with an already-scheduled community event, or take advantage of a national celebration.
Determine what type of books you want to collect and what age group you are targeting. Your range can be as wide or narrow as you like.
Plan a kick-off event. Host a party, and ask each attendee to bring a book.
During your book drive
Motivate. Organize a competition to encourage friends, neighbors, other parents, club members to donate. Keep track of which location and which individual contributes the most books. Recognize the donors with certificates or awards.
Spread the word. The most successful way to gather books is to ask your personal network to contribute. Make these requests in person or by phone. To reach a larger audience: Hang flyers in grocery stores and schools (with permission).
After your book drive
Sort your books. Count the number of books you collected, and sort them by age range or where they will be donated.
Review. Get your committee together to consider what worked and what didn’t. Document changes to make your next book drive even better.
1. When is the best time to hold a book drive in your neighborhood?A.During the weekends. | B.When stores are holding sales. |
C.During the National Day holiday. | D.At the beginning of a new semester. |
A.Hold reading activities. | B.Put on shows during the event. |
C.Reward donors with prizes. | D.Place collection boxes everywhere. |
A.Promote the drive online. | B.Sum up the experience and lessons. |
C.Choose receivers of the books. | D.Set a goal for the next book drive. |
4 . The Best Mini Freezers in 2024
There are hundreds of mini freezers on the market right now, so we’ve made the decision easier with a list of the best mini freezers, including various sizes and options in every price range.
Hotpoint Manual Defrost FreezerFor anyone who truly doesn’t know where to start, you can’t go wrong with the Hotpoint’s chest freezer. It offers 4.9 cubic feet of space. A removable organization basket is ideal for storing items you use the most to ensure they’re always on top and easily accessible. Plus, you can adjust the temperature as needed to ensure everything is completely frozen through.
Arctic King Upright FreezerIf you’re looking for a unit that’s relatively affordable, then this 1.1-cubic-foot upright mini freezer might be for you. It’s a quality mini freezer for dorms, bedrooms or anyone wanting extra storage for snacks and beverages. You might not be able to fit a lot inside, but it takes up minimal space and is ideal for a single person.
Mide a Mini FreezerWith 3. 5 cubic feet of space, this model from Midea is the best mini freezer on Amazon with thousands of five-star ratings. Unlike many chest freezers, it has a door that opens at various angles, making it easy to grab items quickly. It comes with a storage basket and temperature knob that gives you full control over how cold you keep your food.
Summit Mini FreezerThis mini freezer from Summit is available in stainless steel or wood-panel finishes. The freezer has 4. 7 cubic feet of space and an ice maker. Plus, it has a temperature memory function and a frost-free system that automatically adjusts the temperature to prevent excess frost from building up.
1. Which freezer offers the largest space?A.Hotpoint Manual Defrost Freezer. | B.Arctic King Upright Freezer. |
C.Mide a Mini Freezer. | D.Summit Mini Freezer. |
A.It enables you to adjust temperature. |
B.It is the best mini freezer in the world. |
C.Its door remains open at different angles. |
D.Its price is accepted by most customers. |
A.Remove the basket. | B.Make ice. |
C.Fit a lot inside. | D.Save money. |
5 . On January 7, David Bennett went into the operating room at the University of Maryland Medical Center for a surgical procedure never performed before on a human. The 57-year-old Maryland resident had been hospitalized for months due to a life threatening disease. His heart was failing him and he needed a new one.
Bennett’s condition left him unresponsive to treatment and ineligible (不合格) for the transplant (移植) list or an artificial heart pump. The physician-scientists at the center, however, had another-also risky- option: transplant a heart from a genetically-modified pig.
“It was either die or do this transplant,” Bennett had told surgeons a day before the operation. “I want to live. I know it’s a shot in the dark, but it’s also my last choice.”
It took the medical team eight hours to finish the operation, and their efforts have not been in vain. “It’s working and it looks normal. We are thrilled, but we don’t know what tomorrow will bring us. This has never been done before,” Barkley Griffith, who led the transplant team, told the New York Times.
While it’s only been five days since the operation, the surgeons say that Bennett’s new pig heart was, so far,functioning as expected and his body wasn’t rejecting (排斥) the organ. They are still monitoring his condition closely.
“I think it’s extremely exciting,” says Robert Montgomery. The result of the procedure was also personally meaningful for Montgomery, who received a heart transplant in 2018 due to a genetic disease that may also affect members of his family in the future. “It’s still in the early days, but still the heart seems to be functioning. And that in and of itself is an extraordinary thing. Up to now most experimental heart transplant procedures have been done between pigs and other animals. This is the first time that surgeons have taken it into a living human.”
1. What do the words “a shot in the dark” underlined in Paragraph 3 mean?A.Something that costs a fortune. |
B.Something impossible to succeed. |
C.Something drawing public attention. |
D.Something with an uncertain outcome. |
A.Bennett can’t afford an artificial heart pump. |
B.At first, Bennett would rather die than do this transplant. |
C.Bennett was the first human to successfully receive a pig’s heart. |
D.Montgomery was the first person who received a heart transplant in the world. |
A.The heated debate over the pig heart transplant. |
B.David Bennett’s contribution to medical research. |
C.The first experimental pig heart transplant in the world. |
D.The first successful pig heart transplant into a living human. |
A.illegal | B.unclear. | C.optimistic. | D.pessimistic |
6 . Bryan was driving home one evening. It was starting to get dark and cold. Ever since the factory closed, he’d been unemployed. Suddenly, he saw an old lady
All she had was a
A few miles down the road, the lady saw a small cafe and went in. She
That night when she got home from work, she was thinking about the lady. With the baby due next month, it was going to be hard. She knew how
A.confusedly | B.anxiously | C.frightenedly | D.crazily |
A.pulled up | B.broke down | C.dressed up | D.calmed down |
A.crowded | B.spacious | C.warm | D.cold |
A.flat | B.spare | C.new | D.swollen |
A.charged | B.admired | C.appreciated | D.owed |
A.price | B.money | C.cost | D.salary |
A.assistance | B.guidance | C.opportunity | D.reward |
A.discovered | B.recalled | C.hoped | D.noticed |
A.menu | B.lunch | C.change | D.tip |
A.Unwillingly | B.Unexpectedly | C.Unfortunately | D.Unlikely |
A.sorrows | B.joys | C.regrets | D.tears |
A.wrote | B.said | C.printed | D.showed |
A.continue | B.begin | C.end | D.develop |
A.terrified | B.relieved | C.excited | D.worried |
A.whispered | B.screamed | C.laughed | D.shouted |
7 . The suburb I live in backs on to a large nature reserve. One morning I saw a koala (考拉) sitting in a palm tree in my front yard. I phoned around to ask what I could
I’ve always been befriending animals. As a young kid I used to pick up lizard eggs and
Once I had accreditation (合格证 ), I volunteered with the RSPCA in 2019, rehabilitating (使康复) wildlife. I was an ambulance driver,
I cut the leaves of the eucalyptus trees for the koalas to eat and look after the
As a kid I would never have imagined doing this. I feel like I’m the
After Japan discharged nuclear wastewater, people are terribly worried about more animals, especially marine animals. Any animal has the right to survive and the Earth is our common home. Please care for our animal friends.
1.A.learn from | B.do about | C.require of | D.save for |
A.kicking | B.shooting | C.coaching | D.blowing |
A.together | B.illegally | C.angrily | D.guiltily |
A.roll | B.sell | C.break | D.hatch |
A.rescue | B.admire | C.purchase | D.identify |
A.courses | B.races | C.fairs | D.shows |
A.watching | B.recording | C.attending | D.assessing |
A.made out | B.ran across | C.gave up | D.cared for |
A.leave | B.start | C.dismiss | D.advertise |
A.house | B.hunt | C.train | D.amuse |
A.confuse | B.direct | C.feed | D.test |
A.aggressive | B.hungry | C.deserted | D.injured |
A.sold | B.released | C.thrown | D.dragged |
A.quietest | B.greediest | C.noisiest | D.luckiest |
A.guess | B.calling | C.treat | D.fault |
8 . When continent splits occur, they usually leave traces in ancient rocks, fossils, and mountain ranges. However, around 155 million years ago, when a 5,000-kilometer land broke away from Western Australia and began its drift, it only left behind a basin deep below the ocean known as the Argo Abyssal Plain and scientists have been unable to find where this lost continent, Argoland, disappeared to until now.
The seabed structure suggests that the continent drifted northwestward, potentially towards present-day Southeast Asia. But surprisingly, there is no large continent hidden beneath those islands, only small continental fragments. Using this theory, geologists discovered that Argoland hadn’t really disappeared but survived as a “very extended and fragmented collection” under the islands to the east of Indonesia. Unlike other continents like Africa and South America, which broke neatly into two pieces, Argoland split into many smaller fragments that were dispersed (分散的). With advanced technology and the discovery, scientists can now piece them together.
Tracing the continents is vital for understanding processes like the evolution of biodiversity. It could help explain something known as the mysterious Wallace Line, which is an imaginary boundary that separates mammals, birds, and even early human species in Southeast Asian islands. The boundary has puzzled scientists for long because it clearly separates the island’s wildlife. To the west of the line are mammals like apes and elephants. But these are almost completely absent to the east, where you can find marsupials and cockatoos — animals typically associated with Australia. Researchers have theorized that this may be because Argoland carried its own wildlife away from Australia before it crashed into Southeast Asia, which helps explain why different species are found on one land.
The story of Argoland is not one of complete disappearance but of transformation. As the world continues to evolve, this lost continent serves as a powerful symbol of the fragility (脆弱性) of life on this planet, and a reminder of the importance of respecting and protecting the world that we live in.
1. What is Argoland?A.It is a basin deep below the ocean in Western Australia. |
B.It is a large continent hidden beneath the islands of Southeast Asia. |
C.It is a new land emerging from under the islands to the east of Indonesia. |
D.It is a fragmented continent drifting from Western Australia to Southeast Asia. |
A.To introduce an imaginary boundary. |
B.To support the assumed theory of the lost continent. |
C.To show different species in Southeast Asian islands. |
D.To explain the reason why scientists are puzzled about the boundary. |
A.it warns us to protect our planet. |
B.it shows the creatures on earth are fragile. |
C.it reminds us of the power of human activities. |
D.it explains the biodiversity in Southeast Asian islands. |
A.The mystery of a lost continent has been unfolded. |
B.The fragments of Indonesia have been pieced together. |
C.The formation of the Argo Abyssal Plain has been discovered. |
D.The evolution of species in Southeast Asian islands has been traced. |
9 . Moutai, China’s largest baijiu maker, and domestic coffee brand Luckin Coffee on Monday launched in China a latte advertised as containing the fiery Chinese spirit baijiu, as the Chinese luxury liquor maker aims to pull in younger consumers. And the truth is, once released, the drink quickly sold out.
The latte, decorated with the iconic Moutai logo, contains less than 0.5 percent (alcohol by volume) of 53 degree Moutai, and soon became one of the most discussed topics on Chinese social media with people curious about how traditional Chinese liquor would taste with coffee.
In Beijing, the Moutai-flavored latte sold out in some Luckin Coffee locations before midday. And many had to shut down their online ordering system as orders surged. “It seems that people prefer iced latte, so we quickly used up the ice in the branch. The number of orders is scary, ” said a barista (咖啡师) surnamed Zhang. She said she had no choice but to temporarily stop the online ordering system at around 1:30 pm because there were more than 200 orders still to be completed and almost all of them were for the Moutai-flavored latte.
People have been sharing their reactions after trying the latte on social media, with most agreeing that the aroma of the baijiu is very strong. Some people said they even felt dizzy after drinking the coffee due to its alcohol content.
Some also wondered whether they would be allowed to drive after drinking the latte. In response, Luckin Coffee stated that underage people, pregnant women, drivers and those who are allergic to alcohol are advised not to order the drink. On Monday, an officer from the Beijing Traffic Administration Bureau also asked people not to drive, no matter how much alcohol is actually in the latte.
1. What is the netizens reaction to the combination of liquor and coffee?A.They are indifferent to the new latte. | B.They strongly support its update. |
C.They have a strong desire to taste. | D.They think it is too tradition to try. |
A.Declined suddenly. | B.Moved quickly. |
C.Emerged orderly. | D.Increased greatly. |
A.Students who are in primary school. | B.Elders who are healthy enough. |
C.Women who have given birth for years. | D.Passengers who are taking a bus. |
A.To advertise. | B.To introduce. | C.To persuade. | D.To entertain. |
10 . Gift Yourself Free Classes Today
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1. What is Goldster mainly intended to do?A.To enrich the lifestyle of the elderly. |
B.To provide solutions to ageing challenges. |
C.To promote healthy ageing in a scientific way. |
D.To create a positive community for ageing people. |
A.They can all be accessed free of charge via Zoom. |
B.They are scientifically designed for people of all ages. |
C.They range from fitness classes to brain-training classes. |
D.They can be registered online with payment details needed. |
A.Art and literature. | B.Health and lifestyle. |
C.Sports and fitness. | D.School and education. |