1 . Americans spend billions on vitamins, multivitamins for their health, but a review of numerous studies concluded there is little to no evidence that some of those vitamins prevent heart disease, cancer or death.
The report, released by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force last week, concluded that “recent evidence is not enough” to determine whether vitamins actually help or hurt your health, based on 84 studies, 52 of which were done since 2014. Vitamins examined included vitamins A, B, C, D and E, as well as other multivitamins.
“Our suggestion is neither for nor against taking vitamins, or combinations of those nutrients (营养物质). We just don’t have enough evidence,” said Dr. John Wong, a doctor in the Department of Medicine at Tufts Medical Center who was involved in the report.
While the finding is that vitamins don’t have any benefits to “healthy, non-pregnant (未怀孕) adults”, it doesn’t apply to “children, people who are pregnant or may become pregnant, or people who are hospitalized.”
The Task Force admitted it makes sense that people would take vitamins in hopes of health benefits, as some shortage may lead to illness. But experts agreed the best way to get good health and prevent cancer is a balanced diet and regular physical activity.
“The suggestion across all organizations about vitamins is to eat a balanced diet, and then the key tends to be on plenty of fruit and vegetables and less junk foods,” Wong said.
Wong added people should refer to their health doctors to determine if any vitamins are worth taking. He said this suggestion should also serve as a need to further research into proving the official benefits and risks for each vitamin.
1. Why can’t we say whether vitamins really benefit or harm health?| A．Because they really have no benefit. |
| B．Because many studies have proved it. |
| C．Because evidence is not enough at present. |
| D．Because Dr. John Wong wasn’t involved in the research. |
| A．Vitamins are of no benefit to anyone. |
| B．Vitamins are beneficial to healthy adults. |
| C．Children can’t take vitamins though they are in hospital. |
| D．People could take vitamins if lack of vitamin may tend to illness. |
| A．Taking enough vitamins. |
| B．Eating more packaged foods. |
| C．Following their health doctor’s advice. |
| D．Having a balanced diet and doing exercise. |
| A．Taking Vitamins: No Benefit to People |
| B．Doctor’s Advice on Buying Vitamins |
| C．Taking Vitamins: Likely to Waste Money |
| D．Americans Spending More Money on Vitamins |
2 . In looking through your social media, there’s a good chance you’ve noticed pictures accompanied by texts. The pictures are likely made possible by a text-to-image program called DALL-E. For example, Twitter user posted a tweet with the text, “To be or not to be, rabbi holding avocado, marble sculpture.” Then a matching picture appears below.
The AI models come from Google’s Imagen software as well as OpenAI. a start-up backed by Microsoft. On its website, OpenAI calls DALL-E “a new Al system that can create realistic images and art from a description in natural language.” But most of what’s happening in this area is coming from a relatively small group of people sharing their pictures. That’s because Google and OpenAI have not made the technology broadly available to the public.
The text-to-picture services identify the most important parts of a user’s text and then guess the best way to picture those terms. There’s generally a text box, a button to start the generation process and an area below to display images. To indicate the source. Google and OpenAI add watermarks in the bottom right comer of images from DALL-E and Imagen.
Engineers trained the models on various collections of words and pictures from the web. OpenAI recognizes the potential for harm that could come from a model. To avoid the risk, employees removed violent content from training data, and there are filters（筛选）stopping DALL-E from producing images if users submit（提交）violent or illegal content.
Boris Dayma, a developer from Texas spelled out the problems in an explanation of their software. Despite the risks, Dhariwal, a research scientist at OpenAI, said it could open up creative opportunities for individuals and could help with commercial applications for dressing up websites. Results should continue to improve over time.
| A．Beautifying pictures at users’ request. |
| B．Producing pictures from human words. |
| C．Changing pictures into vivid descriptions. |
| D．Providing pictures for users to choose from. |
| A．Its users’ rights. | B．Its operating conditions |
| C．Its working process. | D．Its company’s prospect. |
| A．All images come from a unified model. |
| B．The training data is selected beforehand. |
| C．Improper requests can’t be submitted. |
| D．Filters remove the unhealthy description. |
| A．Positive. | B．Objective. | C．Uncertain. | D．Worried. |
3 . Picture the scene: you’ve spent years working towards a very specific goal. You’ve put in countless hours of work and made many efforts along the way, but now that you’ve got there it doesn’t feel quite like you imagined. Instead of celebration, you feel emptiness, confusion and doubt.
Welcome to the anti-climax. The often-experienced but seldom-discussed downside of achieving life’s biggest milestones. Many of us work tirelessly towards our goals. We may spend our lives dreaming of the day we get married, publish our first hook or buy our first home. However, oftentimes, when we achieve these things it doesn’t feel quite as expected. In fact, the achievement of these goals feels a bit of a letdown.
So why do we often experience an anti-climax with big goals, even though we’re happy to achieve them? “An anti-climax can be an unexpected by-product of a milestone achievement. Usually, the more significant the milestone, the greater the anti-climax may be. The intensity（强度）of an anti-climax often relies on what we expect of this achievement.” says Rachel Vora. a psychotherapist（心理治疗师）.“The journey to achieving a milestone can he exciting and tiring in addition to giving us a sense of purpose and focus. Therefore, when this disappears overnight. we can often feel lost and confused, in spite of feeling proud of our achievement.
When this happens it can contribute to a mixture of emotions. We often falsely believe that we’ll feel completely different afterwards or that our feelings of low self-worth will disappear, but this is rarely the case. “Clients（客户）often present to me with an extremely great sense of ‘is this it?’ and ‘what now?’.” says Vora. “These feelings of confusion and disappointment, if let ignored, have the potential to cause clients to be in low spirits, or even worse.”
1. Why does the author mention the examples in paragraph 2?| A．To present a fact. | B．To prove a rule. |
| C．To explain a term. | D．To make a prediction. |
| A．Low self-worth. | B．High expectations. |
| C．Sense of purpose. | D．Unexpected achievements. |
| A．Amy felt empty before giving a speech. |
| B．Jack felt lost after his first novel came out. |
| C．Mary felt proud when she joined a ballet club. |
| D．Tom felt doubtful about taking further education. |
| A．How to hold back feelings. |
| B．How to improve self-worth. |
| C．Hon to identify the anti-climax. |
| D．How to deal with the anti-climax. |
4 . Banff National Park is home to an amazing wildlife population. But the busy Trans Canada Highway that cuts through the park is a hazard to the lovely animals. To address the problem, Banff first put-up wildlife fencing on either side of the highway to discourage animals from entering the busy road. Then, since 1996, they’ve opened six wildlife overpasses and 38 underpasses to help the animals cross the highway in safety. I was fortunate to visit Banff’s Red Earth Overpass with Trevor Kinley, the project manager with Parks Canada. He told me that so far, they have documented 10, 000 safe animal crossings on this overpass alone. “ Some animals have learned how to use the crossings much more quickly than others. Black bears are the fastest learners, followed by deer. Wolves and lions take the longest to work out how to use them, ” Kinley said, laughing. “ But those animals that are slower to adapt are usually more capable and determined at figuring out the safest way to cross those overpasses and underpasses. ”
There is some criticism (批评) that channeling so much wildlife into a few bridges and tunnels is like making a trap for the animals, offering big animals an easy meal on either side. “ But research has shown that this is not the case, ” Kinley assured me. “ There are no more killings around the crossings than there are anywhere else in the park. ”
Walking over the Trans Canada and then walking underneath through one of the tunnels, I was amazed to see the fresh tracks of black bears, wolves, deer and many kinds of smaller animals. Somehow, all these animal footprints made me so happy, knowing that all this wildlife was passing safely under and over the longest road in Canada.
Hopefully, the success of the wildlife crossings in Banff will continue to inspire similar solutions around the world, where human pressure on wildlife continues to grow.
1. Which of the following best explains “ hazard ” underlined in paragraph 1?| A．Shelter. | B．Message. | C．Answer. | D．Danger. |
| A．They are stupid animals. | B．They are cautious learners. |
| C．They are very dangerous. | D．They are good at adapting. |
| A．There are too many bridges and tunnels. | B．Many animals will not use the crossings. |
| C．More killings might happen at the crossings. | D．Illegal hunting might be encouraged in the park. |
| A．Concerned. | B．Disappointed. | C．Shocked. | D．Delighted. |
5 . The Korean culture wave has swept through the editorial offices of the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), which has added more than 20 new words of Korean origin to its latest edition.
The new words include hallyu, the Korean original for the wave of pop culture that has made BTS one of the world’s most popular bands and Squid Game the Netflix sensation of 2021. The dictionary defines it as the increase in international interest in South Korea and its popular culture, esp. as represented by the global success of South Korean music, film, television, fashion, and food.
But as the dictionary’s new additions make clear, there is much more to Korean cuisine than its spicy staple kimchi, which appeared in the OED as long ago as 1976. New food-related entries include bulgogi, thin slices of beef or pork, and chimaek, Korean-style fried chicken and beer.
Traditional culture is represented by hanbok, formal costumes worn by both men and women, and Hangul, the Korean alphabet (字母表) created by King Sejong in 1443.
Aegyo, a certain kind of cuteness or charm considered characteristically Korean, and similar to the Japanese word kawaii, has been included as both a noun and adjective. There is room, too, for mukbang, or livestreams of people eating extraordinary amounts of food while talking to the online audience.
The inclusion of “skinship” is more surprising. Commonly used in South Korea, where it is translated as seukinsip, and in Japan (sukinshippu), it captures the emotional bond that comes from close physical contact between a parent and child, lovers and friends, the dictionary said.
“The adoption and development of these Korean words in English demonstrate how lexical (词汇的) innovation is no longer restricted to the traditional centres of English in the United Kingdom and the United States,” the OED said.“They show how Asians in different parts of the continent invent and exchange words within their own local contexts, then introduce these words to the rest of the English-speaking world, thus allowing the Korean wave to continue to ripple on the sea of English words.”
1. Why does the OED’s latest edition include new Korean words?| A．The Korean culture is gaining global influence. |
| B．The previous edition of the OED is out of fashion. |
| C．The OED wants to advertise Korean pop products. |
| D．The old additions have given way to the new ones. |
| A．Aegyo. | B．Hanbok. |
| C．Bulgogi. | D．Mukbang. |
| A．Transforms. | B．Ruins. |
| C．Establishes. | D．Represents. |
| A．Korean dominates the Asian cultures. |
| B．Innovative words are limited to English. |
| C．The Korean wave will impact more on English. |
| D．Korean and English words are interchangeable. |
6 . The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) was invented by Katharine Cook Briggs and her daughter Isabel Briggs Myers. It is a self-report questionnaire indicating differing psychological preferences in how people perceive the world and make decisions. The MBTI personality inventory (量表) sorts people into 16 type categories, each of which is represented by four-letter codes such as INFP and ESTJ. Every year, about 1.5 million people have enjoyed discovering their personality type by completing the MBTI. Many companies, as well as hundreds of universities, use it in hiring and training.
Nevertheless, the MBTI has received a noticeable criticism from the academic community. Some research suggests the MBTI is unreliable because the same person can get different results when retaking the test. Other studies have questioned the validity of the MBTI, which is the ability of the test to accurately link the “types” to outcomes in the real world -for example, how well people classified as a certain type will perform in a given job.
Merve Emre, a professor a Oxford University, points out that it would be more scientifically advisable to score the MBTI scales continuously to show people the degree to which they resemble the types. Even when the MBTI’s results don’t quite match your intuition (直觉) about yourself or are just wrong, they can still provide self-insight and insight into differences and similarities between people.
Scoring and interpreting the MBTI the way other personality inventories are scored and interpreted might be less fun than finding. All of the folklore (民间看法) about INFPs, ESTJs, etc. would have to be dismissed. But, in the end the MBTI is sufficiently reliable and valid enough to be useful in a number of real-world contexts.
1. What do we know about the MBTI from the first paragraph?| A．It is a personality-testing tool. | B．It is divided into 16 categories. |
| C．It is a study of personal preference. | D．It is a questionnaire on four-letter codes. |
| A．It performs badly in job interviews | B．Its reliability has been questioned. |
| C．It requires people to retake the test | D．Its advantages are not fully shown. |
| A．It is beyond criticism. | B．It is a more scientific test. |
| C．It is less fun than other tests. | D．It is useful for self-exploration. |
| A．How Can We Use the MBTI? | B．Why do We Criticise the MBTI? |
| C．Is the MBTI Totally Meaningless? | D．Is Scoring the MBTI Really Necessary? |
7 . Sites for a family getaway
A selection of campsites perfect for a family break to enjoy time with the children.
Monkton Wyld Holiday Park
Monkton Wyld is the perfect campsite for children, yet maintaining a quiet atmosphere for adults to relax. here are walking routes from Monkton Wyld Holiday Park to Lyme Regis where little ones can enjoy the beaches and hunting for fossils (化石). Adults might wander selection of shops and restaurants.
High Moor Farm Park
High Moor Farm Park is situated four miles from Harrogate at High Moor Farm there is plenty to occupy all ages, including an indoor pool, nine-hole golf course, play area, pool tables and fishing lake. A 20-minute drive from the park is Knaresborough where there are many zoos including Yorkshire Dales National Park, Dartmoor Zoological Park and Paignton Zoo.
Polmanter Touring Park
This award-winning touring site is ideal for families looking for on-site entertainment and the convenience of the fishing town of St lves within waking distance.
For younger guests, there are two playgrounds indoor soft play and a games room. Practicalities are taken care of with an on-site shop, bar and restaurant, and four-legged family members have a devoted exercise field and shower.
Elie Holiday Park
Elie Holiday Park occupies a location behind a wide expanse of dunes (沙丘) that lead to a vast beach on Scotland’s west coast. Appealing to those travelling with children, the coastal location is ideal for anyone who loves to be beside the sea.
Aldult guests can walk the coastal path, go rock-pooling, and look out for wildlife. Youngsters can go wild at the Robinson Crusoe Adventure Park and enjoy the arcades in the games room.
1. Where can you go if you are interested in animals?| A．High Moor Farm Park. | B．Dartmoor Zoological Park. |
| C．Monkton Wyld Holiday Park. | D．Robinson Crusoe Adventure Park |
| A．It is far from the fishing town. | B．It wins awards for entertainment. |
| C．It is an ideal place for running a bar. | D．It provides essential services for pets |
| A．Play adventure games | B．Hunt for wild animals |
| C．Make a study of dunes. | D．Search for the fossils |
8 . The public must be able to understand the basics of science to make informed decisions. Perhaps the most dramatic example of the negative consequences of poor communication between scientists and the public is the issue of climate change, where a variety of factors has contributed to widespread mistrust and misunderstanding of scientists and their research. The issue of climate change also illustrates how the public acceptance and understanding of science (or the lack of it) can influence governmental decision-making with regard to regulation, science policy and research funding.
However, the importance of effective communication with a general audience is not limited to hot issues like climate change. It is also critical for issues such as the genetic basis for a particular behavior or the use of animal models because in these areas, the public understanding of science can also influence policy and funding decisions. Furthermore, with continuing scientific advances, more non-scientists will need to be able to analyze complex scientific information to make decisions that directly affect their quality of life.
Science journalism is the main channel for the popularization of scientific information among the public. Much has been written about how the relationship between scientists and the media can shape the efficient communication of scientific advances to the public. Good science journalists are specialists in making complex topics accessible to a general audience, while sticking to scientific accuracy. Unfortunately, pieces of science journalism can also oversimplify and generalize their subject material. As a result, the basic information conveyed is difficult to understand or obviously wrong.
Even though scientists play a part in conveying information to journalists and ultimately the public, too often the blame for ineffective communication is placed on the side of the journalists. I believe that, at least in part, the problem lies in places other than the interaction between scientists and members of the media. It exists because we underestimate how difficult it is for scientists to communicate effectively with a diversity of audiences, and most scientists do not receive formal training in science communication.
1. What does the example of climate change mainly serve to show?| A．Adequate government funding is vital to scientific research. |
| B．Government regulation helps the public understand science. |
| C．The public’s scientific knowledge can influence policy making. |
| D．There is widespread public mistrust and misunderstanding of scientific work. |
| A．It helps scientists to build a better public image. |
| B．It helps them to effectively popularize scientific information. |
| C．It enables scientists to better apply their findings to public health. |
| D．It enables the public to develop a positive attitude toward science. |
| A．They give inaccurate or complicated information. |
| B．They oversimplify people’s health problems. |
| C．They fail to mention the scientific advances. |
| D．They lack detailed information about scientific research. |
| A．Interact more with the media. |
| B．Give training to science journalists. |
| C．Improve their communication skills. |
| D．Arouse the public’s interest in science. |
9 . Parks around the world
Hyde Park, London, England
There are many parks in London. Hyde Park is one of the largest parks in central London, which covers over 350 acres. There are paths for people on bicycles and there are often open - air concerts held in the park.
Park Güell, Barcelona, Spain
In this park, designed by Antony Gaudi, there are different houses in different colours. There are also things like a colourful dragon. At the top of the park is a terraced area where you can get a wonderful view of the city of Barcelona and the sea.
Stanley Park, Vancouver, Canada
Vancouver is a city near the sea and mountains. There is beautiful Stanley Park in the city centre, covering an area of one thousand acres. It is the largest park in North America. There are First Nations totem poles (图腾柱) in the park.
Ueno Park, Tokyo, Japan
Ueno Park is an old park in the city of Tokyo and there are hundreds of beautiful cherry trees. In April and May every year, the trees are pink or white.
Chapultepec Park, Mexico City, Mexico
This is the largest urban park in Latin America. It's a very important green space in this big city. Containing nine museums, a zoo, an amusement park, and a variety of green recreational spaces, Chapultepec Park is an invaluable place for the city residents and its visitors.
1. What can visitors do in Park Güell ?| A．Enjoy cherry trees. | B．Feed animals. | C．See the sea. | D．Ride bicycles. |
| A．London. | B．Barcelona. | C．Vancouver. | D．Mexico. |
| A．Chapultepec Park. | B．Ueno Park. | C．Stanley Park. | D．Hyde Park. |
10 . Terrie Mitchell, 34, from Sheffield, received an unexpected present when she was finally reunited with her beloved cat — 11 years after she first went missing. Chloe, who only has one eye, was discovered living in an overturned wheelie bin just a few streets away from where she was last seen.
Chloe was first brought into her family home as a kitten, when Ms. Mitchell was aged 21 and still living at home with her mum, Jean. When she moved out with her partner, she let the longhaired black cat stay in the house she was used to. But when Ms. Mitchell’s mother died unexpectedly at the age of 60, Chloe disappeared and could not be found anywhere.
Despite searching for her, she all but gave up hope of ever seeing her cat again until she spotted a Facebook post featuring the longhaired cat. Postwoman Andrea Hurst had been delivering a parcel to an elderly lady, when she spotted the cat living in the wheelie bin. On her next round, she asked about the cat and was told she had been staying there for more than six years as the woman had been feeding her. The kindly woman asked a local cat shelter to collect Chloe, before using the social media site to locate the original owners. She wrote, “This is probably a long shot,but does anyone recognize this beautiful cat?”
Ms. Mitchell noticed the post by chance and commented, “Omg, this is my cat!!!!! I can’t stop shaking!!!!! Her name is Chloe!!! Please whoever knows contact me...”
The vet, who confirmed Chloe was more than 10 years old, told her owner it was nothing short of a miracle. Today Chloe is settling in well at her new home and even responds to her original name. Her delighted owner added, “Now I feel guilty that I didn’t search for her better, because she was obviously around. It could give hope to people who haven’t seen their pets for years.”
1. What do we know about Chloe from the first two paragraphs?| A．She is a shorthaired cat with only one eye. |
| B．She disappeared before Mitchell’s mother died. |
| C．She stayed in Jean’s house before she disappeared. |
| D．She was discovered in a wheelie bin far from Mitchell's house. |
| A．Jean. | B．An unknown person. | C．The vet. | D．Andrea Hurst. |
| A．Amazed. | B．Worried. | C．Hopeless. | D．Guilty. |
| A．The Best Gift | B．A Kind Woman |
| C．An Unexpected Reunion | D．A Missing Cat |
