1 . I grew up on a dairy farm. The particular life location to which I got assigned-“stuck” is a better word if you’ve ever been there — was a small family-owned-and-operated outfit.
I remember the Christmas when our main hired hand dropped out of the work rotation. Sixteen and the oldest of the kids left at home, I was called on to fill in. Halfway through the first day, I realized I had never noticed exactly how much that worker did. For five days I either milked or slept, fed calves (牛犊) or slept. I have to admit this gave me a deep appreciation of how hard my parents worked day in and day out for 30 years, and that understanding solidified my determination to do whatever it took to not stay on that dairy farm my whole life.
Eventually, my determination paid off. I got into college. Now, I no longer have to worry about my father’s voice yelling, “Stace, come out here! We need help!” To be honest, I’m grateful. But at the same time, I also don’t have a compelling reason to be up in time to see the beauty of a sunrise. Nor do I have the opportunity to dance with my sister in the dairy barn, work side-by-side with my dad and hear the old stories.
Now, there are whole stretches of days when I don’t feel any pressing need to even go outside. And I can go months without petting an animal or watching in amazement at their keen sense of the environment around them. Instead, I have neighbors within shouting distance but who feel like they live a planet away.
Eighteen years I lived my life on that dairy, not really knowing there were people who didn’t get up and go out and work together to get the same overwhelming tasks done day after day. Sometimes I wish I had never found out there were.
1. What did the author come to understand on her first day working on the farm?| A．She couldn’t manage so much work. |
| B．Her parents sacrificed a lot for her family. |
| C．The tasks were dull and challenging. |
| D．The work was more demanding than expected. |
| A．Lack of opportunities on the farm. |
| B．A passion for academic study. |
| C．Her dissatisfaction with farm life. |
| D．Encouragement from her parents. |
| A．Mixed. | B．Regretful. |
| C．Content. | D．Relieved. |
| A．She has become tired of her daily routine. |
| B．She misses the connections she had before. |
| C．She regrets leaving her family behind. |
| D．She has lost interest in the beauty of nature. |
2 . When she was 61, Sian Davies decided to row across the Atlantic Ocean. In March 2021, she was one of the 12 crew members who set out on the 3,000-mile journey from Tenerife to battle sun, salt and fierce currents. “We would row in three-hour shifts and only sleep for an hour or so every six hours,” she says. “For the first 15 days, I was seasick, so I hardly ate anything. I was just rowing and collapsing. I went through some pretty dark times.”
But after 42 days on the water, Davies reached Antigua to become one of the only six women in the world over the age of 60 to have rowed across an ocean. “I was exhausted and I was also so proud of myself,” she says.
Davies began rowing when she was 53, after spotting a six-oar (桨) rowing boat in Bristol harbor. Attracted by its size and appearance, she spoke to the crew and was encouraged to do a trial run. “As soon as I got on the water, I fell in love with it,” she says. “Feeling your whole body working and the fresh air on your skin is amazing.”
It wasn’t until 2017, though, that her Atlantic plans were born. Suffering from a herniated disc (椎间盘突出), she was only able to crawl out of bed. “I began thinking of things I could look forward to after I had surgery,” she says. “One day I was reading about women adventurers when it hit me that once better, I would row across an ocean.”
After successful surgery, Davies began driving to meet other women who had undertaken rows. Hearing the experiences and advice of them gave Davies the confidence. Soon after, she heard that a new boat producer was organizing a team for a voyage across the Atlantic and she joined it immediately.
“In June, I’m planning to break a few world records by rowing around the UK when I’m 64, and I want to motorcycle through the Himalayas later in the year. After all, we need things to look back on.” she says.
1. What do we know about Davies’ journey across the Atlantic?| A．She fell apart and abandoned the task. |
| B．She suffered a lot during the process. |
| C．She was the oldest woman to finish it. |
| D．She rowed along with six other women. |
| A．Painful. | B．Frightened. |
| C．Confident. | D．Impressed. |
| A．A trial row on a six-oar rowing boat. |
| B．Support from a boat company. |
| C．Stories of some women adventurers. |
| D．Sufferings from her back pain. |
| A．Caring and open-minded. | B．Humble and self-motivated. |
| C．Determined and easy-going. | D．Strong-willed and ambitious. |
3 . It took an ill screech owl (鸣角鸮) to teach a scientist the value of up-close-and-personal study.
In his Harvad talk, Carl Safina, an ecologist and author of Alfie and Me: What Owls Know, What Humans Believe, recalled that the chick was found dying in his backyard. Safina took it in and planned to nurse it back to health and then perform release. But the owlet's flight feathers didn't grow properly. Safina delayed the release. Over those extended months, Safina got to know Alfie in ways that moved and changed him.
“An owl found me and then I was watching ‘an owl’,” he said. “It was no longer an owl after a while, it was ‘she’ because she had a history with me. This little owl, who was with me much longer than I thought she would be, became an individual to me by that history and all those interactions.”
The bond with Alfie strengthened to the point that, when she was finally released, she created a territory with Safina's home at its center. Safina was able to spend hours each day observing her in the woods as she learned to take care of herself in the wild, met two mates, and raised chicks of her own.
When he heard Alfie calling, Safina said, he'd call back and she'd land nearby. Their closeness allowed him to learn more things about screech owls. Field guides, for example, describe two known calls but he identified six, some of which you have to be quite close to hear. The relationship also opened a window for Safina onto personality differences between Alfie and her mates.
When pointed out that his approach to Alfie—including the act of naming her—ran counter to widespread scientific practice, Safina said he wasn't concerned about violating (违反) convention, particularly if something interesting like individual personality differences among owls could be learned.
The experience caused Safina to think more deeply about humankind's relationship with nature and the kind of personal connection he was able to feel with a wild individual. “What I learned from Alfie is that all sentient (有情感的) beings seek a feeling of well-being and freedom of movement,” Safina said. “That's a guide to what's right and what's wrong to me.”
1. What do we know about Alfie?| A．She developed a close bond with Safina. |
| B．She was a fictional character in Safina's book. |
| C．She intentionally landed in Safina's backyard. |
| D．She was dying because of the broken flight feathers. |
| A．Alfie chose to stay with Safina at his home. |
| B．They maintained a continous communication. |
| C．Alfie met mates and raised chicks by herself. |
| D．Safina kept his distance from her to prevent attachment. |
| A．Recording six different calls of the screech owl. |
| B．Identifying different types of owls by their calls. |
| C．Learning how to release owls back into the wild. |
| D．Understanding personality differences among owls. |
| A．He became more focused on exploring nature. |
| B．He initiated his commitment to wildlife conservation. |
| C．He developed a deep appreciation for the welfare of living creatures. |
| D．He decided to guide readers to distinguish between right and wrong. |
4 . We adopted Franny, our crazy and lovable Boston puppy, from a local rescue at the start summer in 2022. However, two weeks later she was nowhere to be found.
We often leave our yard doors open to allow Franny and our another dog, Olive, to visit enclosed backyard and lie on the deck (甲板). My heart sank severely when I failed to find any. No sooner had I sensed that than my wife and I charged to our car to comb for this missing dog swiftly. I was scanning the yards a few blocks over when my phone rang all of a sudden: A woman and her daughter had our dog. Franny had been jogging down the alley (小巷) behind their lawn when they grabbed her and called the number on her tag (标牌).
I located and blocked off the gap in the fence that Franny had squeezed through in case she went out secretly and got lost again. However, she was on the run again one month later.
This time she made it much farther — all the way to a high school, where a man found it eating lunch in the sun with some students. Franny was returned to us, her big brown eyes looking ashamed as the man handed her over to me.
These days, our backyard is secured like a maximum-security prison. We love this crazy dog more than ever, and Franny finally seems content to stay put now.
Mostly, I’m thankful for the kind folks who took the time to grab our adorable runaway and return her to us. All of them refused any recompense, regardless of how much I pushed. These minded our family that the world is filled with those who will go out of their way to lend others a hand.
1. Where did the woman first find the dog?| A．In the alley. | B．In the gap of the fence. |
| C．On her lawn. | D．On the deck of her backyard. |
| A．He tied a tag to her. | B．He kept track of her. |
| C．He bridged the fence’s crack. | D．He rebuilt a firm new fence. |
| A．Criticism. | B．Request. | C．Proposal. | D．Payment. |
| A．To show off his puppy. |
| B．To extend his gratitude. |
| C．To call on us to care for the homeless animals. |
| D．To demonstrate the solutions to adopting dogs. |
5 . I guess most of you have had an experience like it: it’s the weekend, but instead of having a good rest, you have to bury yourself in the endless homework you have left over from the week. This was my routine too. But it came to an end during my school’s “No Homework Weekend”.
The activity was announced two weeks in advance so we could get prepared. Students in my class did not have any homework on the special weekend, but students in other classes were not so lucky. There were also some teachers who told their students: “You don’t have homework this weekend, but you do have a test next Monday.” This meant: “You don’t have to prepare for the test during the weekend, but good luck if you don’t!” Well, teachers will be teachers, I suppose.
I really made the most of those two days without homework. On Friday night, I stayed up chatting with my friends online because we didn’t need to worry about homework. On Saturday, I watched a band concert, and on Sunday I had a god sleep and organized my notes. Normally I have so much regular homework that I do not have time to review and organize class notes. But on that weekend, I finally had time to do it.
No Homework Weekend was really a great time to release stress and take a look at what we had learned so far. I loved it and I hope my school holds more weekends like it in the future!
1. The writer often _________on weekends.| A．has a good rest | B．watches movies | C．prepares for tests | D．does lots of homework |
| A．will not have any homework | B．will have a special test |
| C．will have to prepare for the exam | D．will have lots of books to read |
A．watch a film | B．sleep very well | C．organize the notes | D．review the lessons |
| A．is worried | B．seems happy | C．doesn’t care | D．is surprised |
6 . Writer Andrew Leland started losing his sight 20 years ago, when he was in high school, as a result of a progressive eye disease called retinitis pigmentosa (色素性视网膜炎). His first experience of loss of sight happened temporarily at night, in which he was confused that everyone else seemed to see in the dark so much better than he did. Over the years, his disease has progressed gradually. He’s now legally blind, although he still has a narrow field of vision, which allows him to see about 6% of what a fully sighted person sees.
Leland analogized his vision to the view you might get by looking through a toilet paper tube or a keyhole. He said, “Imagine having that toilet paper tube tied to your head and trying to walk down the street; there’s a whole bunch of things you don’t see but that you really ought to, like dogs.”
In his new book, The Country of the Blind, Leland writes about losing his vision and preparing for blindness, how his condition impacts his identity, how the world sees him and his marriage, and something valuable he has learned.
He said he was not going to try to tell people that having vision was not an unbelievably useful thing for a human being for many reasons. When talking about the experience of being alive and being conscious, he referred to James Joyce — Joyce believed that he was only losing one world among many, and that vision was only a tiny part of experiences when he was going blind.
He thought if you looked at the things that blind people were capable of imagining, like John Milton writing Paradise Lost as a blind person, there was this unbelievable richness in humans’ consciousness that vision had nothing to do with. Other realms (领域) such as the mental and emotional realms were all so rich that they could also help unfold things on earth before you.
1. What do we know about Leland?| A．He went totally blind in high school. |
| B．He experienced night blindness at first. |
| C．He was born with a narrow field of vision. |
| D．He was aware of his condition throughout. |
| A．Connected. | B．Reduced. | C．Compared. | D．Exposed. |
| A．To help explain an opinion. |
| B．To stress the value of good vision. |
| C．To state his considerable influence. |
| D．To show the inconvenience of blindness. |
| A．Practice is the best teacher. |
| B．The blind have more vivid imagination. |
| C．Things are not set in concrete. |
| D．Vision is not the only window in the world. |
7 . Richard Feynman was arguably the second best known physicist after Einstein. But she is not the only distinguished scientist in the Feynman family.
Born in 1927, Joan Feynman grew up in Queens, New York, alongside her older brother Richard. He would become Joan’s first teacher and someone who helped develop her curious nature, believing her capable of learning all the math and science he could teach her. She would try to solve math problems for the unique reward of getting to pull her brother’s hair and serving as his “lab assistant” at the age of five. For her fourteenth birthday, Richard gave Feynman a copy of Astronomy by Rebecca Horace Baker, a college-level physics text, which both taught her about physics and what was possible. Feynman credited it for proving to her that women could indeed have a career doing science.
Feynman would go on to receive a bachelor’s degree from Oberlin College, before she attended Syracuse University, studying condensed matter theory and earning a PhD in 1958. By 1960, Feynman was married with two children and she decided to take a break from physics to take on the role of homemaker.
The break was short-lived, as Feynman grew depressed from keeping a home and caring for two small children. In 1962, at the advice of a psychologist, she went in search of employment, securing three job offers at multiple institutes. At Lamont, where she worked part-time, Feynman began her research into Earth’s magnetosphere, identifying its shape.
Over the course of her career, Feynman made many breakthroughs in furthering the understanding of solar wind and its interaction with the Earth’s magnetosphere. As author or co-author of more than 185 papers, Feynman’s research accomplishments range from discovering the shape of the Earth’s magnetosphere to identifying the origin of auroras. In 1974, she would become the first woman ever elected as an officer of the American Geophysical Union, and in 2000 she was awarded NASA’s Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal.
“Joan Feynman leaves a wealth of scientific accomplishments, having made important contributions,” said APS CEO Kate Kirby. “Despite being discouraged to pursue science by social expectations, she persevered, and her accomplishments serve as an inspiration to women who wish to pursue a career in science.”
1. How did Richard influence Joan?| A．By preparing her for subjects in college. |
| B．By introducing her to the world of science. |
| C．By teaching her the importance of astronomy. |
| D．By offering her a job serving as his lab assistant. |
| A．All women scientists have benefited from Joan’s inspiration. |
| B．In Joan’s time women were encouraged to become scientists. |
| C．Pursuing scientific goals contributed to Joan’s psychological well-being. |
| D．As her first teacher, Richard designed Joan’s career path as an astronomer. |
| A．Successful and wealthy. | B．Optimistic and hardworking. |
| C．Popular and ambitious. | D．Productive and acknowledged. |
| A．Joan Feynman: Survivor of Depression |
| B．Joan Feynman: Sister of Richard Feynman |
| C．Joan Feynman: The Lesser-known Feynman |
| D．Joan Feynman: The Most Successful Woman Scientist |
8 . It wasn’t until after I graduated from college, and realized that there’s no such thing as all-encompassing (包罗万象) knowledge, that I was able to read for pleasure. A sense of curiosity directed me and I started to see dictionaries as field guides to the life of language. Looking up words felt less like a failing than an admission that there are lots of things I don’t know and an opportunity to discover just how many.
I prize my 1954 copy of Webster’s New International Dictionary, Second Edition. I often consult it, during evening games of Scrabble or midday magazine reading. When I come across unfamiliar words while reading novels, I look them up. When I start encountering these words elsewhere, the linguistic (语言的) universe seems to shrink to the size of a small town.
Dictionaries heighten my senses: They direct my attention into a conversation with language. They make me wonder what other things I’m blind to because I haven’t taught myself to notice them yet. Recently spotted examples include orrery, “a mechanical model, usually clockwork, devised to represent the motions of the moon and Earth (and sometimes also other planets) around the sun.” The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) also tells me that the word comes from the fourth Earl of Orrery, for whom a copy of the first machine was made, around 1700. Useful? Obviously not. Satisfying? Deeply.
Wikipedia and Google answer questions with more questions, opening up pages you never asked for. But a dictionary builds on common knowledge, using simple words to explain complex ones. Using one feels as if I’m prying open an oyster (蚝) rather than falling down a rabbit hole. Why leave solvable mysteries up to guesswork?
For me, dictionaries are a door into that kind of uncalculated knowledge-seeking. They remind me that following your curiosity instead of brushing it aside is one of the best ways I know to feel connected to more than what’s right in front of you.
1. What can we know about the author?| A．He merely read for fun before graduation. |
| B．He longed to learn about all knowledge. |
| C．He considered dictionaries chances of enrichment. |
| D．He admitted being a failure when learning languages. |
| A．To introduce a word. | B．To indicate a finding. |
| C．To clarify a concept. | D．To support a statement. |
| A．Encountering new problems. | B．Entering a different world. |
| C．Acquiring essential common sense. | D．Simplifying tough questions. |
| A．Jaw-dropping. | B．Eye-opening. | C．Mind-numbing. | D．Labour-saving. |
9 . I have been a healthcare assistant with Marie Curie for four years. What led me to join this remarkable organization was a deeply personal experience.
Seven years ago, my father was in the hospital, and I was informed that he was in the end-of-life stage. He had wanted to be at home during his final moments, so I arranged for him to return home. He spent only one more night there, but he wasn’t alone. A Marie Curie nurse was by our side. Facing the emotions that come with knowing a loved one is at the end of their life can be heartbreaking. Having a nurse with us made it easier to deal with these feelings. That’s when I made the decision to join Marie Curie.
Working for the charity, I find myself on duty during most Christmases. We operate every single day, including holidays. You might assume that being with families during their last Christmas, knowing it’s a difficult time for the person they’re caring for, would be a sad experience. But what may surprise you is that it’s not. The families, in my experience, are not sad. They make the most of the time they have left and they remain positive for everyone knows what’s coming. They understand that their loved one is dying, but it’s not a time for sorrow, it’s a time of togetherness and warmth. I remember one particular family — three sisters — and the fourth was in the end-of-life stage. When I arrived, she was in a critical condition, and I knew she might not make it through the night. But sitting with the sisters, talking about their childhood, recalling what happened in the past was a special time. They mentioned that their sister had asked for peaches and cream earlier that day, and they made sure she got what she wanted. She went to sleep, and we lost her that night.
We can’t change what happens to us, but we can make a difference. We provide support through the stages of sadness and struggles. And, surprisingly, people may not suffer that much.
1. What can we learn about Marie Curie from the passage?| A．It is a remarkable healthcare organization for benefit. |
| B．It is one of the most volunteer organizations in the world. |
| C．It won’t offer the service during some important festivals. |
| D．It can be a big comfort to those facing their beloved ones’ death. |
| A．Because of the special relationship between them. |
| B．Because of their unusual and abnormal behaviour. |
| C．Because of the countless hardship the family has suffered. |
| D．Because of the family’s courage and calmness facing misfortune. |
| A．Actions speak louder than words. | B．Misfortune might be an actual blessing. |
| C．Where there is action, there is difference. | D．All things are difficult before they are easy. |
| A．Devoted and caring. | B．Gifted and generous. |
| C．Hardworking and honest. | D．Sensitive and determined. |
10 . In August 2022, Don Powell from Orchard Lake Village, Michigan, found a wooden doll (玩具娃娃) couple, Mary and Shelley, inside his custom-designed mailbox. Initially assuming it was a mistake, he left them there out of curiosity. Over time, the dolls’ living space expanded with the addition of furniture like a bed, a painting and a stove. Don responded humorously, requesting a refrigerator. A year later, the dolls still reside there, amusing neighbors who follow updates on the local Nextdoor page.
The Powells had paid a local craftsman (工匠) $250 to create a mailbox that looked like their house, which included windows and solar-powered ceiling lights. This mailbox provided a large and bright space for the growing collection of doll furnishings.
Despite potential fines for non-postage items in mailboxes, Don didn’t consider removing the dolls, as the mail carrier found it amusing and it didn’t stop mail delivery. The Powells regularly discovered new items for the dolls, especially during holidays. For example, Halloween saw the dolls temporarily disappearing and replaced by skeletons (骨骼), and Christmas brought festive decorations.
The doll family grew, with the addition of a cousin, Shirley, and a service dog named Maggie. A note mentioned their gratitude for a one-story house compared to their previous multi-story dollhouse.
Don even contributed to the setup by adding a small letterbox to avoid confusion with their mail. He enjoys the mystery-and community enjoyment, resisting the idea of an outdoor camera to uncover the responsible party. The story continues to attract neighbors, who often stop by with questions and enjoy the lighthearted community spirit it brings.
1. What can we learn about the doll family from the first two paragraphs?| A．Don and Nancy Powell were expecting to find the dolls in their mailbox. |
| B．The local community was unaware of the dolls living in Don’s mailbox. |
| C．The doll family shared the big and bright house with the Powell couple. |
| D．Someone may have left the doll family and additional items on purpose. |
| A．To emphasize the legality of the dolls’ placement. |
| B．To illustrate the mail carrier’s disapproval of the dolls. |
| C．To show the mail carrier’s amusement and acceptance. |
| D．To discuss changes in delivery due to the dolls’ presence. |
| A．Community-minded and humorous. | B．Conventional and disciplined. |
| C．Disinterested and approachable | D．Indifferent and responsible. |
| A．How to Construct a Creative Custom Mailbox |
| B．The Legal Issues with Dolls in Custom Mailbox |
| C．The Disappearance and Return of Dolls in Michigan |
| D．A Unique Mailbox Brings Joy to a Michigan community |
