1 . Jia Juntingxian was blind in both eyes due to her born eye disease. She showed athletic talent since childhood and was selected as a track and field athlete by Jiangxi Disabled Persons’ Federation.
Although she can’t see the world, Jia breaks through the “immediate” obstacles again and again while running, letting the world see her. In her sports career, Jia has won 43 national and world-class sports medals. Among them, in 2016, she broke the world record at the Rio Paralympics.
In 2017, Jia retired and chose to become a teacher at a special education school. Just a year ago, she found out that two young brothers, with visual impairments (视觉障碍), wanted to be an athlete. But Jia could only help them attend a local special education school. The experience made her realize that these children in remote areas may have little knowledge of special education. Even she herself didn’t know about such schools until late into her education. As a result, she decided to become more involved with special education.
Changing from a Paralympic competitor to a special education teacher, Jia said that there is no discomfort, “Because I understand the students as well as myself and know their inconveniences and difficulties. I hope that every child here is like a different seed. Through hard study, they can bravely realize their own life.”
Jia also has paid close attention to the rights and interests of disabled people. In 2021, Jia proposed the construction of audible traffic signals for blind people.
Jia always believes that the world is a circle. As long as the love of others is constantly passed on, the whole society will be full of love!
1. What’s the function of the first paragraph in the text?| A．To present a fact. | B．To state a viewpoint. |
| C．To introduce the topic. | D．To offer an explanation. |
| A．Because she felt every child was like a different seed. |
| B．Because she wanted to enrich her life after retirement. |
| C．Because she felt no discomfort as a special education teacher. |
| D．Because she wanted to help the disabled students realize their dreams. |
| A．Unclear. | B．Doubtful. | C．Positive. | D．Negative. |
| A．Full of Love, Full of Dream | B．A Blind Athlete, A Special Teacher |
| C．No Obstacle, No Harvest | D．A Born Athlete, A Freedom Fighter |
2 . The Pathway and River Cleanup is a yearly event involving thousands of volunteers who generously donate their time to help clean up Calgary.
The 2023 Pathway and River Cleanup will take place from Sept. 9 to Sept. 11, 2023.
Volunteer Registration
To volunteer for the Pathway and River Cleanup, you must be:
*12 years or older
*Accompanied by a parent or guardian (if you’re between 12 and 17 years old)
*Able to commit to three hours of cleanup on one of the three event days You are encouraged to register as a group (minimum 10 people) with a designated(指定的)leader. If you do not have a group, you can join a team led by Calgary Parks staff.
Volunteers may request a specific cleanup location at the time of registration. We will do our best to satisfy specific location requests. If you do not have a preferred cleanup location, one will be given to you.
Remember to register online. Registration in person is not accepted.
Group leaders
Each group must have a designated leader. New group leaders are required to attend a one-hour, online orientation session(入职培训). Returning group leaders must attend the orientation session every three years, but must complete yearly online training.
Group leaders will be responsible for:
*Conducting a group member orientation session before event day to provide safety training.
*Ensuring the safe and effective cleanup of the designated cleanup area. Risks will be minimized as much as possible. However, volunteers may come in contact with rocky shorelines, sharp items and illegal campsites.
If you have any questions about volunteering for the Pathway and River Cleanup, please contact 311.
1. What can we know about the Pathway and River Cleanup?
| A．It falls every other year. |
| B．It’s a project to clean up Calgary. |
| C．It’s a project without any risk of safety. |
| D．All the volunteers join a team led by Calgary Parks staff. |
| A．They must register online. |
| B．They must be older than 12 years old. |
| C．They must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. |
| D．They must be able to volunteer three hours in the three event days. |
| A．They should have online training every three years. |
| B．They should attend a one-hour online orientation session. |
| C．They should conduct a group member orientation session. |
| D．They should request a specific cleanup location for the group. |
3 . It was a story about broccoli soup that really brought home to Shirley Zhu the value of the work she was doing. She and her twin sister Annie, who are 18, were
Shirley and Annie were 15 years old when they began
After failing to build something from the ground up, they decided to
“We were used to seeing other adults being the
| A．folding | B．delivering | C．packing | D．locking |
| A．delicious | B．traditional | C．unique | D．affordable |
| A．excited | B．embarrassed | C．scared | D．annoyed |
| A．suitable | B．previous | C．tasty | D．adequate |
| A．offering | B．cooking | C．collecting | D．exchanging |
| A．offices | B．hotels | C．bakeries | D．classrooms |
| A．specialists | B．residents | C．clients | D．salesmen |
| A．access | B．barrier | C．admission | D．right |
| A．set down | B．set up | C．set aside | D．set off |
| A．approach | B．dominate | C．disturb | D．alert |
| A．join | B．catch | C．send | D．support |
| A．passion | B．interest | C．expertise | D．expectation |
| A．events | B．patents | C．beliefs | D．responsibilities |
| A．designers | B．operators | C．heroes | D．assistants |
| A．according to | B．apart from | C．because of | D．regardless of |
4 . People who work with octopuses(章鱼)or who spend a lot of time in their company describe the sense that when you look at an octopus, there is something looking back. Given this feeling as a starting point, how do you begin to explore the consciousness(意识)of an animal so unlike ourselves?
Imagining an octopus’s inner life is a hard thing to do from our human standpoint. When you picture the tips of your suckered limbs moving, what do you imagine it feels like? “The octopus’s arms are, in some ways, more like lips or tongues than hands,” says Godfrey-Smith, a professor of history and philosophy of science. “There’s a great deal of sensory information that’s coming in every time the animal does anything. That’s very different from our situation.”
Take a closer look at the octopus’s nervous system, and things get even stranger. The octopus’s arms have more autonomy than our human arms and legs do. Each has its own minibrain, giving it a degree of independence from the animal’s central brain. Our own nervous system, however, is highly centralized, with the brain the center of sensory integration, emotion, movement, behavior and other actions.
The closer you look at the octopus’s body and nervous system, the harder it becomes to grasp—or believe you are grasping—what it might be like to be an octopus. However hard it might be to do, it’s worth trying to understand whether octopuses have consciousness, and what it’s like if they do, says Godfrey-Smith. This is why the octopus is such an interesting case. Octopuses are different enough from us that a lot of our assumptions about them have to be questioned—and even our assumptions about ourselves. “By asking whether octopuses are conscious like us, we might be asking a question that doesn’t make a lot of sense because we don’t fully know what it’s like to be conscious,” says Godfrey-Smith.
1. What does the author try to do in paragraph 1?| A．Introduce his special feeling about studying octopuses. |
| B．Share his unique experience of working with octopuses. |
| C．Inspire the readers’ interest in learning about octopuses. |
| D．Show the meaning of studying consciousness of animals. |
| A．Their structure. | B．Their function. |
| C．Their movement. | D．Their number. |
| A．By listing statistics. | B．By analyzing causes. |
| C．By giving examples. | D．By making comparisons. |
| A．Octopuses are really similar to humans in some way. |
| B．More work is needed to study octopuses’ consciousness. |
| C．Most assumptions about octopuses are completely wrong. |
| D．It makes no sense to research if octopuses are conscious. |
5 . The “script murder” game is not only popular in China, but the genre is loved by many people around the world. A cast of actors plays the suspects, and the participants solve the case. In fact, murder-inspired board games, card games, interactive books and party games have been around at least since the so-called golden age of British crime fiction in the 1920s and 1930s, which saw the rise of legendary authors like Agatha Christie.
Sam Emmerson, creative director of Moonstone Murder Mysteries in London, a company that creates and runs immersive mysteries, says people like the puzzle aspect of it, and the improvised exchanges with the actors: “It’s the reputation that murder mysteries have built up these days, as being a fun thing to go to.” After all, real-life violent crime is every person’s worst nightmare. “If it was a real-life situation, and someone’s been murdered, that’s not a fun subject. You’re in this sort of alternate reality where we’re very casually solving the death of a human being.”
The enduring popularity of these games presents a mystery of its own: What motivates ordinary, law-abiding people to spend an evening investigating fake bloodshed, and hunting pretend murderers? One simple explanation might be curiosity. But that is not the full story. Instead, murder games follow a surprisingly complex set of psychological rules. They allow us to learn and practice important mental and emotional skills, and can even teach us not to overlook important evidence.
“The basic idea is that we are using them as a way to simulate threatening plots, and then play around with how we would respond to that,” Coltan Scrivner, a behavioral scientist says. The response could be behavioral, or even just emotional, in terms of handling the fear. He calls such games “scary play”, and compares them to play-fighting among animals, which prepares them for real-life fighting, but also hunting or tracking down the target.
1. According to the passage, what do we know about Agatha Christie?| A．She is an excellent writer who writes out of passion. |
| B．She is an outstanding writer who is known for her detective novels. |
| C．She is a legendary writer who has invented the “script murder” game. |
| D．She is a famous writer who makes international headlines with her science fiction. |
| A．experience immersive mysteries in a fictional world |
| B．change real-life violent crime into a fun thing to go to |
| C．create and solve immersive mysteries in a virtual reality |
| D．defend the reputation that murder mysteries have built up these days |
| A．Following complicated psychological rules. |
| B．Experiencing dramatically threatening plots. |
| C．Accumulating major information in real-life fighting and hunting. |
| D．Gaining important mental and emotional skills as well as wisdom. |
| A．Negative. | B．Cautious. |
| C．Positive. | D．Objective. |
6 . Christmas was approaching, but I lost my job. My paycheck was survival. I did everything I could to give my daughter, Kristil, a good life, but there were some things a single mom’s love couldn’t fix. Monday morning, I dropped Kristil at school and set off on my moneymaking pursuits. Looking for where to pawn stuff, I headed to a pawnshop with a garnet ring set in 14-karat gold that my mother had given me a decade earlier. “Best I can do is $70,” the owner said “The stones are worthless.” I was defeated, feeling as if the world was closing in on me.
Back at home, I glanced out the window. It had been snowing all morning. I noticed a petite woman struggling to open her car door against the wind. As she got out, I realized it was my old professor, Sister Esther Heffernan. I hadn’t seen her since we met for lunch three months ago. I’d first met Sister Esther 10 years earlier when I was her student at Edgewood College. Kristil was 2 at the time, and I sometimes took her to class. Sister Esther was understanding and would bring coloring books to occupy Kristil. After I graduated, Sister Esther kept in touch, meeting me for lunch every few months. I had grown to love her like family.
I rushed to the front of my building. Just being in Sister Esther’s presence gave me hope that things would be all right. She handed me a Christmas card. When I opened her card, I gasped in shock. There was money inside. Tears of gratitude puddled in my eyes. Sister Esther had given me $1,000.
On Christmas morning, Kristil and I gathered around our tree, and I joyfully watched as she opened her Christmas gifts. I silently thanked Sister Esther in my heart.
It has been 14 years since that Christmas, but I’ve never forgotten what Sister Esther did for us. That year Santa’s suit went from signature red to true blue. In 2020, at age 91, Sister Esther died, but the love she gave during her life lives on in the hearts of many. I am lucky to be one of them.
1. Which of the following statements is true?| A．The writer was a single mom when she was unemployed. |
| B．Sister Esther was 77 years old when the writer first met her. |
| C．The writer didn’t recognize Sister Esther when she got out of her car. |
| D．Sister Esther would teach Kristil when Kristil was taken to the school. |
| A．Fix. | B．Sell. | C．Deposit. | D．Purchase. |
| A．To tell the legend of Santa. |
| B．To illustrate the origin of Christmas. |
| C．To show the devotion of Sister Esther. |
| D．To demonstrate the change of Santa’s suit. |
| A．An Everlasting Love | B．An Unexpected Visit |
| C．An Unusual Christmas Tree | D．An Exciting Christmas Reunion |
7 . Click to see figure captions of the best UK hotels and hideaways in landscaped gardens.
Allt-y-Bela, Usk, Wales
Home of renowned garden designer Arne Maynard offers the chance to immerse yourself in the beauty and peace of the Welsh countryside. There are just two bedrooms with breakfasts served in the farmhouse kitchen, in the company of Arne’s two dogs, cat and chickens (guests are welcome to bring their own pets). The real joy is the garden with everything from native meadow planting to clipped classic English blooms.
Doubles from £200, B&B(Bed and Breakfast); arnemaynard.com
Goldstone Hall Hotel, Shropshire
Goldstone Hall boasts five acres of lovingly designed gardens. Rooms are quiet and comfortable rather than luxurious, but many have wonderful views across the gardens, and the restaurant serves up flavoursome dishes made with the best of garden produce. This is a classic English escape.
Doubles from £170, B&B; goldstonehallhotel.co.uk
Hotel Endsleigh, Devon
A peaceful getaway near the beautiful bay of Findhorn, a stay at the Endsleigh doesn’t come cheap, but the chance to explore the stunning 100-acre gardens is one of England’s greatest horticultural treats. Rooms are the epitome of rustic luxury, with statement wallpapers and vibrant prints, while the restaurant offers everything from hearty breakfasts to luxurious afternoon teas.
Doubles from £240, Room-only; thepolizzicollection.com
Hever Castle, Kent
Originally laid out between 1904 and 1908, Hever’s 125 acres of gardens combine ponds with 5,000 rose bushes, a rhododendron walk and an Italianate garden that boasts a collection of Italian sculptures. The best way to beat the crowds and see the gardens is to stay in one of the 27 bedrooms, housed in two wings of the castle: all individually designed, with a plush, contemporary country house feel.
Doubles from £185, B&B; hevercastle.co.uk
1. Which hotel best suits people who enjoy pets company?| A．Hever Castle, Kent | B．Hotel Endsleigh, Devon |
| C．Allt-y-Bela, Usk, Wales | D．Goldstone Hall Hotel, Shropshire |
| A．It gets noisy at night. | B．The facility is outdated. |
| C．It is inconveniently located. | D．It charges for breakfast. |
| A．Price. | B．Peace. | C．Location. | D．Security. |
8 . On Monday morning around 9:30 a. m, 28-year-old Ben Delahunty’s hiking partner put in a call to report that his friend was
He said his friend’s wrist was stuck by the stone and it was also
The rescue proved
The State Emergency Management requested a helicopter to help. Additionally, local fire departments were also
However, due to challenging
| A．trapped | B．discovered | C．hurt | D．murdered |
| A．underneath | B．beyond | C．across | D．behind |
| A．completely | B．approximately | C．exactly | D．merely |
| A．natural | B．stable | C．dangerous | D．comfortable |
| A．disappear | B．float | C．crash | D．slide |
| A．stubborn | B．regular | C．tough | D．impossible |
| A．wind | B．rope | C．partner | D．equipment |
| A．in total | B．in time | C．in order | D．in public |
| A．contacted | B．refused | C．awarded | D．rewarded |
| A．record | B．access | C．observe | D．check |
| A．dealing with | B．leaving behind | C．packing up | D．blowing away |
| A．land | B．living | C．health | D．weather |
| A．meaningful | B．remarkable | C．unsuccessful | D．promising |
| A．break | B．hit | C．sign | D．delay |
| A．Usually | B．Instantly | C．Finally | D．Surprisingly |
9 . Whether we are sitting down or standing up, still or moving, body posture influences our mood. Several studies have shown this link between physical posture and mood. Others have shown a relationship between our mood and our cognitive (认知的) performance, including memory, reasoning, learning, and the speed of reaction and processing of information.
So a logical question arises. Can body posture influence our cognitive performance?
Previously, a New Zealand team (University of Auckland) carried out an experiment on posture when we walk, especially in the street. The team had found a very clear influence of our posture on our mood and confidence. It appears that walking with a hunched back, bowed head and motionless arms have a negative influence on our mental state.
Indeed, the researchers found that the simple act of straightening up, standing up straight, with your head held high, and gazing forward gives us a serious boost of confidence. Not only does our spontaneous posture have a psychological effect, but by correcting it, it is possible to bring about improvement in the long term.
In this other study, this time carried out by an Austrian team (Friedrich Alexander University in Erlangen-Nuremberg), researchers observed the same phenomenon, this time in a sitting position. Young adults were invited to participate in tests presented as intended to assess their ability to concentrate. In fact, the researchers had them sit in different postures — from upright to very slumped (消沉) — in order to note their influences on mood and cognition.
A first observation indicates that “sitting upright” is associated with a better overall mood. It is also found to have a positive influence on the speed of processing information and completing tasks, although the test pass rate does not vary significantly with posture.
Finally, and surprisingly enough, blood pressure is a little more favorable in an upright position. To further complete the list of benefits of sitting upright, we will add that it is widely recommended for protecting the back in case of work that requires sitting for a long time.
1. Why does the writer mention the studies at the beginning?| A．To introduce what cognitive performance is. |
| B．To emphasize the importance of body posture. |
| C．To prove the results of those studies are wrong. |
| D．To raise a new question to be studied and solved. |
| A．Straightened. | B．Bent. | C．Loose. | D．Solid. |
| A．Posture influences our mental state. | B．Straightening up has a negative effect. |
| C．Gazing upward builds up confidence. | D．Walking posture is especially important. |
| A．It has mental and physical benefits. | B．It helps improve the test pass rate. |
| C．It requires sitting for a long time. | D．It increases the blood pressure. |
10 . A giant sunfish, about nine feet long, was caught on camera by kayakers off the coast of California. Ocean sunfish and southern sunfish are the world’s biggest bony fish, and they are both found in the Pacific Ocean. Adult ocean sunfish may reach more than 4,000 pounds, which is the same weight as an adult male rhinoceros (犀牛).
During a trip off the coast of Laguna Shore on December 2, Rich German and his friend Matthew Wheaton came across the massive sunfish just a few hundred yards from the beach. They then dialed 911. According to German, who talked to the media, this was the biggest sunfish that any of them had ever encountered.
Sunfish are a genuinely global species that can be found all over the world, but they spend their whole lives in the open ocean. Therefore, encounters like these are few and far between.
German captured images and footage of the sunfish. An underwater close-up shot of a sunfish as it wanders past the camera is included in one of the short films. “It was a one-of-a-kind and really interesting event,” German said of the most recent encounter, which he described as “another indication of why we need to conserve the ocean and the incredible creatures that call it home.”
Beyond its particular shape without the caudal fin (尾鳍), the species also surprises us with its impressive size, up to 3.10 meters long, which allows it to have few natural enemies. However, as a great lover of jellyfish (水母), its greed for food often leads it to confuse plastic bags with its favorite dish, making seawater pollution one of its main threats alongside overfishing.
Behind its impressive size, the sunfish is a harmless swimmer who today faces many threats. The sharp decline observed among its populations is due not to other sea animals of which it would be the food but to human activities which participate in destroying its habitat.
1. Why is the chance to encounter sunfish off the coast small?| A．It has impressive size. | B．Its habitat has been destroyed. |
| C．It usually lives far from the coast. | D．An adult ocean sunfish is too heavy. |
| A．Encouraging and pitiful. | B．Interesting and dangerous. |
| C．Anticipated and incredible. | D．Impressive and meaningful. |
| A．It’s greedy for food to support. | B．It’s threatened by other sea animals. |
| C．It suffers from seawater pollution. | D．It mistakes jellyfish for plastic bags. |
| A．The Biggest Sunfish in the World Was Encountered |
| B．Why We Need to Conserve the Ocean as the Habitat |
| C．Sharp Decline Observed Among Sunfish’s Populations |
| D．Giant Ocean Sunfish Filmed off the Coast of California |
