1 . ChatGPT, a new chatbot model developed by US-based AI research laboratory OpenAI, has quickly become a hit globally due to its advanced conversational capabilities,
It can write emails, computer codes, even academic papers and poems, and has passed a number of tests within seconds. Academicians worldwide are discussing whether AI should be used in education. Some universities have banned it. The New York City’s Department of Education, for example, banned the chatbot from its public school devices and networks, with some people warning that it could encourage more students to cheat, especially in exams.
Many more welcome this app, claiming that, like most technological advances and groundbreaking innovations in history, ChatGPT is a powerful tool for the development of higher education.
Embracing AI as early as possible is advisable. Higher education institutions should make preparations for including AI in their syllabus (教学大纲). They can start by offering related courses, because by understanding how it works, they can make better use of it. Besides, students with good knowledge of AI are more competitive when it comes to getting a good job, as an increasing number of jobs are being done by computer programmes-some in cooperation with humans, AI-powered education technologies can be adopted to make the learning experience more suitable for each student based on his or her strengths and weaknesses. As for professors, AI can free them from doing some dull tasks so they can concentrate on teaching and interacting with students.
Since we cannot avoid ChatGPT and other AI-powered applications from entering the field of higher education, we should make collective efforts to ensure they have a positive impact on society and the future of education Despite AI helping make learning much more interesting and enjoyable, humans need to work very hard to win the race with technology.
1. Why do some higher education institutions forbid ChatGPT?| A．ChatGPT can write emails and computer codes quickly. |
| B．Some professors might not perform their duties properly. |
| C．Students would have conversations with each other via it. |
| D．Students might seek help from it in completing the exams. |
| A．Fearful. | B．Disapproving. | C．Supportive. | D．Uncertain. |
| A．It offers students an increasing number of jobs. |
| B．It personalizes students’ learning experience. |
| C．It equips students with competitive skills to cooperate with humans. |
| D．It handles uninteresting tasks so students can better focus on learning. |
| A．We should guard against AI apps. |
| B．AI will be more widely used in education. |
| C．The future of education relies on AI apps. |
| D．Humans will be left behind by technology. |
2 . Time and time again, you hear someone ask why anyone would want to keep an “ugly” building or a building that is dirty and clearly in need of work or such a simple, uninteresting building. I guess you could say we preservationists look at buildings through a different lens that can see the swan in the ugly duckling. Looking back on the years of dirt and neglect, we’ll realize that it’s our job as preservationists to teach people about the lessons learned from our historic resources. This is no doubt something we can always work harder on.
Take the Queen Emma Building for example. While people may remember that building being named as one of the ugliest buildings in town, the angle from which a preservationist will view the building is that it is uniquely constructed with an artistical brise-soleil to block the sun. The designer used standard concrete bricks to form a decorative wall. Unfortunately, the brise-soleil was removed in 2011, making the building look like many of the contemporary buildings in town.
Sometimes people remember a beautiful site that was replaced by a “horrid” piece of architecture and can’t get over their anger, even when that building becomes an important part of our story. This is particularly true in San Francisco, where many preservationists themselves dislike anything newer than the Victorian1 era. Yes, it was a tragedy (悲剧) that many failed to appreciate the Victorian buildings and let many get torn down several decades ago, but those losses also tell another important story. It tells the story of the 1950s and 1960s when there was hope for a more equal society with inexpensive housing for the working class. Should that history be wiped from our memories?
Preservation is not just about keeping pretty, well-kept buildings, but is meant to convey parts of our history. Our history, our collective history. Not just the history of huge events of World War Il or Statehood, but the story of how everyone used to go to a certain corner market or how the people lived in the segregated (隔离的) plantation town and ultimately enjoyed a more egalitarian (平等主义的) living. Our history cannot be told only in buildings that meet someone’s criteria of beauty; sometimes our history is painful, but no less important.
1. What can we learn about preservationists from Paragraph 1?| A．They prefer ugly buildings to beautiful ones. |
| B．They pay great attention to modern buildings. |
| C．They are devoted to repairing famous buildings. |
| D．They focus on the value rather than the appearance. |
| A．It’s confusing. |
| B．It’s pleasing. |
| C．It’s regrettable. |
| D．It’s unbelievable. |
| A．To wipe the history of the Victorian era. |
| B．To make land available for cheap housing. |
| C．To work off the deep anger of the working class. |
| D．To restore the architecture before the Victorian era. |
| A．Are ugly buildings worth preserving? |
| B．Is preservationists’ work meaningless? |
| C．Why do architects make ugly buildings? |
| D．What buildings are of historical value? |
3 . When my two boys have free time, they want to go to the mall. No, they aren’t shop-a-holics (购物狂). They want to go to gaze at sneakers.
These aren’t the sneakers you find in Foot Locker. They are limited editions—usually Nikes—that range in price from $250-$900 or more. There’s the Chunky Dunkys, a collaboration between Nike and ice cream maker Ben and Jerry’s. And the Space Jam Jordans. And dozens of other pairs of shoes, all of which they know by name and all of which are very, very expensive.
That made me wonder: How did this sneaker culture develop? After all, when I was a kid, I wanted Jordan brand shoes too. But they cost $100 and I would wear them until they fell apart. Now, my boys long for shoes that cost ten times that and if they got them, they would never even think of scuffing them up by wearing them.
It all started during the Industrial Revolution, when the very wealthy began to find they had leisure time on their hands, Elizabeth Semmelhack, who runs the Bata Shoe Museum in Toronto, told me.
“These’ nouveau riche (暴发户)’ industrialists wanted to show that they had arrived. And so, the ancient game of tennis was revived.” explained Semmelhack, “But the problem with lawn tennis—one, the lawns of lawn tennis are extremely expensive, so they didn’t want people to run around in leather shoes. And two, when you play on lawn, you can get your feet wet. So rubber soled shoes, the sneaker, was invented as something that the wealthy could wear as they pursued these wealthy pleasures. Besides, rubber was, at the time, quite expensive, so having shoes with rubber soles was seen as a status symbol.”
But for most of us, sneakers were something you wore—not something you collected. With the development of internet, older versions of shoes could be purchased and collected. And sneaker companies, Nike especially, leaned into the trend.
1. What is the Chunky Dunkys?| A．It’s a company’s name. |
| B．It’s a kind of ice cream. |
| C．It’s a kind of limited edition sneaker. |
| D．It’s one of the author’s kids’ name. |
| A．To show he was poor when he was a kid. |
| B．To encourage his children to wear cheap shoes. |
| C．To give an example about the development of sneaker culture. |
| D．To show Jordan brand shoes have been popular for a long time. |
| A．Rubber soled shoes could prevent feet from wetting. |
| B．These ‘nouveau riche’ industrialists created lawn tennis. |
| C．Leather shoes were more expensive than rubber soled shoes. |
| D．The very wealthy were busy with their work during Industrial Revolution. |
| A．Objective. | B．Critical. |
| C．Favourable. | D．Unconcerned. |
4 . Would you BET on the future of this man? He is 53 years old. Most of his adult life has been a losing struggle against debt and misfortune. A war injury has made his left hand stop functioning, and he has often been in prison. Driven by heaven-knows-what motives, he determines to write a book.
The book turns out to be one that has appealed to the world for more than 350 years. That former prisoner was Cervantes, and the book was Don Quixote (《堂吉诃德》). And the story poses an interesting question: why do some people discover new vitality and creativity to the end of their days, while others go to seed long before?
We’ve all known people who run out of steam before they reach life’s halfway mark. I’m not talking about those who fail to get to the top. We can’t all get there. I’m talking about people who have stopped learning on growing because they have adopted the fixed attitudes and opinions that all too often come with passing years.
Most of us, in fact, progressively narrow the variety of our lives. We succeed in our field of specialization and then become trapped in it. Nothing surprises us. We lose our sense of wonder. But, if we are willing to learn, the opportunities are everywhere.
The things we learn in maturity seldom involve information and skills. We learn to bear with the things we can’t change. We learn to avoid self-pity. We learn that however much we try to please, some people are never going to love us — an idea that troubles at first but is eventually relaxing.
With high motivation and enthusiasm, we can keep on learning. Then we will know how important it is to have meaning in our life. However, we can achieve meaning only if we have made a commitment to something larger than our own little egos (自我), whether to loved ones, to fellow humans, to work, or to some moral concept.
Many of us equate (视……等同于) “commitment” with such “caring” occupations as teaching and nursing. But doing any ordinary job as well as one can is in itself an admirable commitment. People who work toward such excellence — whether they are driving a truck, or running a store — make the world better just by being the kind of people they are. They’ve learned life’s most valuable lesson.
1. The passage starts with the story of Cervantes to show that ________.| A．loss of freedom stimulates one’s creativity |
| B．age is not a barrier to achieving one’s goal |
| C．misery inspires a man to fight against his fate |
| D．disability cannot stop a man’s pursuit of success |
| A．End one’s struggle for liberty. |
| B．Waste one’s energy taking risks. |
| C．Miss the opportunity to succeed. |
| D．Lose the interest to continue learning. |
| A．A tough man can tolerate suffering. |
| B．A wise man can live without self-pity. |
| C．A man should try to satisfy people around him. |
| D．A man should learn suitable ways to deal with life. |
| A．To provide guidance on leading a meaningful adult life. |
| B．To stress the need of shouldering responsibilities at work. |
| C．To state the importance of generating motivation for learning. |
| D．To suggest a way of pursuing excellence in our lifelong career. |
5 . After years of observing human nature, I have decided that two qualities make the difference between men of great achievement and men of average performance curiosity and discontent. I have never known an outstanding man who lacked either. And I have never known an average man who had both. The two belong together.
Together, these deep human urges (驱策力) count for much more that ambition. Galileo was not merely ambitious when he dropped objects of varying weights from the Leaning Tower at Pisa and timed their fall to the ground. Like Galileo, all the great names in history were curious and asked in discontent, “Why? Why? Why?”
Fortunately, curiosity and discontent don’t have to be learned. We are born with them and need only recapture them.
“The great man” said Mencius (孟子), “is he who does not lose his child’s heart.” Yet most of us do lose it. We stop asking questions. We stop challenging custom. We just follow the crowd. And the crowd desires restful average. It encourages us to occupy our own little corner, to avoid foolish leaps into the dark, to be satisfied.
Most of us meet new people, and new ideas, with hesitation. But once having met and liked them, we think how terrible it would have been, had we missed the chance. We will probably have to force ourselves to waken our curiosity and discontent and keep them awake.
How should you start? Modestly, so as not to become discouraged. I think of one friend who couldn’t arrange flowers to satisfy herself. She was curious about how the experts did it. How she is one of the experts, writing books on flower arrangement.
One way to begin is to answer your own excuses. You haven’t any special ability? Most people don’t; there are only a few geniuses. You haven’t any time? That’s good, because it’s always the people with no time who get things done. Harriet Stowe, mother of six, wrote parts of Uncle Tom’s Cabin while cooking. You’re too old? Remember that Thomas Costain was 57 when he published his first novel, and that Grandma Moses showed her first pictures when she was 78.
However you start, remember there is no better time to start than right now, for you’ll never be more alive than you are at this moment.
1. In writing Paragraph 1, the author aims to________.| A．propose a definition | B．make a comparison |
| C．reach a conclusion | D．present an argument |
| A．Trial and error leads to the finding of truth. |
| B．Scientists tend to be curious and ambitious. |
| C．Creativity results from challenging authority. |
| D．Greatness comes from a lasting desire to explore. |
| A．Gaining success helps you become an expert. |
| B．The genius tends to get things done creatively. |
| C．Lack of talent and time is no reason for taking no action. |
| D．You should remain modest when approaching perfection. |
6 . There seems to be a lot of talk these days about what is fair, and what is not. Most people tend to believe life should be fair. Some of the 99% seem to believe life has somehow treated them unfairly, and some of the 1% feel life hasn’t treated them fairly enough. My questions are these: What is fairness? Is life fair? Should life be fair?
We clearly have no choice about how we come into this world. We have little choice early in life. But as we grow older, choices abound. I have long believed that while we have no control over the beginning of our life, the majority of us have the ability to influence the outcomes we attain. Fairness is a state of mind, and most often, an unhealthy state of mind. Our state in life cannot, or at least should not, be blamed on our parents, our teachers, or our society—it’s largely based on the choices we make, and the attitudes we adopt.
Life is full of examples of the uneducated, the mentally and physically challenged people born into war-torn areas, who could have complained about life being unfair, but who instead chose a different path. Regardless of the challenges they faced, they had the character to choose contribution over complaint.
I agree that challenges exist. I agree that many have an uphill battle due to the severity of the challenges they face. What I disagree with is the attempt to use fairness to solve all problems in the world. Rules and orders don’t create fairness, but people’s desire and determination can work around most life challenges.
It doesn’t matter whether you are born with a silver spoon, plastic spoon, or no spoon at all. A friend of mine came to this country from Africa in his late teens, barely spoke the language, drove a cab while working his way through college, and is now the president of a technology services firm. Stories such as this are all around us-they are not miracles, nor are they the rare exception. They do, however, demonstrate blindness to the mindset of the fairness.
1. What does the underlined word “abound” in Paragraph 2 mean?| A．Change fully. | B．Remain the same. |
| C．Exist in numbers. | D．Disappear completely. |
| A．Most of us can influence the results we achieve. |
| B．Our background determines our choices. |
| C．People’s desire and determination create unfairness. |
| D．We should depend on fairness to solve all problems. |
| A．To promote efforts over complaint. |
| B．To stress the importance of fairness. |
| C．To share an inspiring story of a friend. |
| D．To prove that fairness is a state of mind. |
| A．Fairness Is Justice | B．Life Is Not Fair—Deal With It |
| C．Fairness Comes First | D．Fairness Creates Chances |
7 . The Joy of Absence
How some companies fight the curse of presenteeism (出勤主义)?
RONALD REAGAN famously joked that “it’s true hard work never killed anybody, but I figure, why take the chance?” Beyond a certain level, extra e ffort seems to be self-defeating. Studies suggest that, after around 50 hours a week, employees’ productivity declines sharply.
But that doesn’t stop some managers from demanding that workers stay chained to their desk for long periods. Jack Ma, the founder of Alibaba, the Chinese e-commerce group, recently praised the 996 model, where employees work from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., six days a week, as a “great opportunity”. Yet presenteeism is the curse of the modern office worker.
There will be days when you do not have much to do; perhaps because you are waiting for someone else in a different department, or a different company, to respond to a request. As the clock ticks past 5 p.m., there may be no purpose in staying at your desk. But you can see your boss hard at work and, more importantly, they can see you. So you make an effort to look busy.
The consequence is often wasted effort. Rather than work hard, you slave to make bosses think that you are. But presenteeism has more serious consequences. As well as reduced productivity, this can mean greater medical expenses for the employer. According to a study in The Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, these costs can be six times higher for employers than the costs of absenteeism among workers.
None of this is to say that employers are not called to expect workers to be in the office for a proper period of time. Surely there will be a need for some (preferably short) meetings. Dealing with colleagues face-to-face creates a feeling of togetherness, allows for a useful exchange of ideas and enables workers to have a better sense of their mutual needs.
Turning an office into a prison, with inmates (囚犯) allowed home for the evenings, does nothing for creativity that is increasingly demanded of office workers as routine tasks are automated. To be productive you need presence of mind, not being present in the flesh.
1. Why does the author mention Ronald Reagan’s joke in Paragraph 1?| A．To encourage people to work hard. |
| B．To show that hard work is harmless. |
| C．To introduce the topic of the passage. |
| D．To praise Ronald Reagan’s joking skills. |
| A．Extra effort causes problems or difficulties. |
| B．With extra effort, we can defeat anybody. |
| C．We should say no to extra effort. |
| D．Extra effort isn’t necessarily helpful. |
| A．All workers follow the 996 model praised by Jack Ma. |
| B．Employees don’t go home until their boss does. |
| C．Workers have a brief meeting to discuss an urgency. |
| D．Workers keep working when they are sick. |
| A．Some managers have workers tied to their desks with a chain. |
| B．Reduced productivity means greater medical expenses for employers. |
| C．A prison-like office doesn’t inspire creativity. |
| D．Presence of mind guarantees your productivity. |
8 . It seems no longer the privilege (特权) of young people to get access to new technologies. As a matter of fact, senior citizens have taken advantage of the Internet to enrich their life and have benefited greatly from it—including looking through news, using mobile payments, and even enjoying online car-hailing (约车) services.
Most of the information read by older netizens is focused on national politics and economy. They also like reading encouraging materials and jokes online. Anyway, what brings them the greatest convenience is that they turn to the web for health advice, especially online hospital appointments. Increasingly, old people’s needs can be satisfied by online services, which are more convenient than those in traditional ways.
On the other hand, the Internet is not always safe. There exists the risk of being cheated. Some older users easily misunderstand or are cheated by incorrect information on the Internet. Of those cheated online, 60.3 percent fall for offers to collect free “red packet” money. And some health-related information they read is misleading. So they should be careful to make out the information.
It is the responsibility for the government, families and companies to help the old netizens to be away from the danger on line. This way, they will be more willing to use the Interact and the experience on the Interact will be more satisfying.
1. What does the first paragraph tell us?| A．The Internet is only preferred by young people. |
| B．Online news readers are mainly senior citizens. |
| C．Old people make better use of the Internet than the young. |
| D．Using mobile phones has become common in old people’s life. |
| A．Positive materials. | B．Health guide. |
| C．Mobile payments. | D．Traffic service. |
| A．Warning them not to open red packets. |
| B．Telling them not to read too much information. |
| C．Reminding them to be careful about the risks online. |
| D．Advising them to keep away from the smart phones. |
9 . Criticism is judgment. A critic is a judge. A judge must study and think about the material presented to him, accept it, correct it or reject it after thinking over what he has read, watched or heard.
Another word for criticism is appreciation. When I criticize or appreciate some object or another, I look for its good points and bad points. In reading any printed or written matter, I always have a pencil in hand and put any comments in the book or on a separate paper. In other words, I always talk back to the writer.
That sort of critical reading might well be called creative reading because I am thinking along with the author, asking him questions, seeing whether he answers the questions and how well he answers them. I mark the good passages to store them in my memory and ask myself about every other part and about the complete piece of writing; where, how and why could or should I improve upon it?
You might think that doing what I suggested is work. Yes, it is, but the work is a pleasure because I can feel my brain expanding, my emotion reacting and my way of living change.
Reading exercises is a great influence on a person. If pictures, still or moving, accompany the reading, the memory will retain the material for a long time.
Just as evil books can corrupt, so also can good books gradually work a change on a corrupt person.
Let's get back to the beneficial effects of thinking while reading. It helps us to enlarge our minds. We understand more about the universe, its people and many of its wonders. We learn to think and observe in new ways. We certainly do get a feeling for the language we are reading. All good writers in any language have been readers who read critically and continuously.
1. According to the writer, creative reading is ________.| A．raising questions and answering them for the author |
| B．reading and giving comments on the materials one has read |
| C．thinking in the same line with the author |
| D．storing up facts in one's memory |
| A．asks what he does not understand |
| B．talks back to the author |
| C．understand the background on which the works are based |
| D．looks for the good and bad points of the material he has read |
| A．following one's thought closely | B．accepting |
| C．considering | D．agreeing |
| A．understand more about their surrounding than others. |
| B．have a thorough insight to the problem in life. |
| C．have the feeling of the language they read. |
| D．have read extensively(广泛地) and critically |
10 . Nowadays, media and information coming so quickly on the Internet, kids are used to getting things in quick ways, but refuse to read a book.
I remember the wonderful
As an educator and writer, this is
“Don’t worry too much,” educational consultant Waldinger
“Kids do lots of incidental (伴随的)
She said, “You just can’t expect kids to sit down and
| A．schedule | B．combination | C．moment | D．comment |
| A．sounded | B．spelt | C．exchanged | D．spread |
| A．sorry | B．delighted | C．fortunate | D．upset |
| A．because | B．while | C．if | D．until |
| A．operate | B．program | C．remove | D．negate |
| A．pleasant | B．beneficial | C．distant | D．painful |
| A．routine | B．property | C．vitality | D．disagreement |
| A．comforted | B．favored | C．blamed | D．depressed |
| A．tolerant | B．different | C．ideal | D．precise |
| A．era | B．region | C．mass | D．volume |
| A．cooking | B．setting | C．calling | D．reading |
| A．electricity | B．onion | C．recipe | D．pan |
| A．looked up | B．dug up | C．built up | D．picked |
| A．getting | B．fighting | C．taking | D．falling |
| A．encouragement | B．expectation | C．arrangement | D．version |
