1 . There is a big difference between offering to help and helping. Almost all of us are guilty (内疚的) about the following
Once I was in the situation where I
After that
| A．rule | B．problem | C．situation | D．excuse |
| A．confusing | B．sincere | C．honest | D．careful |
| A．understood | B．performed | C．missed | D．received |
| A．think | B．learn from | C．complain about | D．suggest |
| A．valuable | B．painful | C．exciting | D．fresh |
| A．Luckily | B．Disappointedly | C．Basically | D．Gradually |
| A．doubts | B．worries | C．anger | D．sadness |
| A．attended | B．earned | C．joined | D．prepared |
| A．after | B．when | C．until | D．once |
| A．experience | B．education | C．experiment | D．adventure |
| A．change | B．appreciate | C．ignore | D．follow |
| A．cheated | B．accepted | C．refused | D．respected |
| A．stop | B．finish | C．keep | D．try |
| A．small | B．specific | C．unusual | D．right |
| A．patience | B．courage | C．confidence | D．kindness |
2 . Recently, after I gave a virtual presentation on my book Indistractable, a listener wrote something in the Zoom chat that drove me crazy, “This is great but wouldn’t work for me. I’m a Gemini (双子星座的人).”
Ironically, the Zoom listener is right. If she thinks she’s incapable, she’ll prove it correct — whether it has anything to do with the stars and moon or not. Her inflexible self-identification denies her the chance to improve her life. It’s incredibly self-limiting.
That’s why we should stop defining ourselves as fixed identities and nouns, and instead start describing ourselves using verbs.
Words are powerful. Linguistic research shows that language shapes people and culture; it can also give us insight into ourselves and our behavior. In a well-known study, researchers Robert Rosenthal and Lenore Jacobsen had all students in the same elementary school take a standard IQ test. Then they randomly selected a group of students, regardless of their test results, and told teachers the group would show “dramatic intellectual growth”. Eight months later, those students scored significantly higher on an IQ test. The study concluded that teachers’ positive perception of students correlated to those students’ high performance on intellectual and academic tests. The labels the children received became a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy (预言).
That’s because language shapes expectations, which shape our reality. If we have experiences that lead us to label ourselves with specific nouns during our life, then we are likely to stick with those labels and the behaviors that go with them.
Using verbs to identify ourselves is an effective method for releasing “trapped priors”—a term in psychology for a perception of reality that’s affected or trapped by past experiences. Verbs are action words well suited to describing short-lived behaviors that can and do change. They don’t lay claim to our entire identity, but they acknowledge that we are people first and foremost, not whatever a singular noun may say we are. So, instead of saying, “I am a procrastinator (拖拉者)”, you should say, “I am a person who often procrastinates.”
By focusing on our behaviors, not fixed characteristics, we can release harmful perceptions of ourselves that hold us back from trying methods that might improve our lives — like those that can help us achieve the critical skill of being indistractable.
1. What does the author want to show through the example of the Zoom listener?| A．The concept of flexible self-identification. |
| B．His confusion about the way to self-identify. |
| C．His understanding of proper self-identification. |
| D．The negative effects of using nouns to define oneself. |
| A．Self-fulfilling prophecies change over time. |
| B．Encouragement promotes students’ improvement. |
| C．Language usage will have an impact on teaching. |
| D．IQ has little to do with students’ academic performance. |
| A．By highlighting their behaviors. |
| B．By focusing on their advantages. |
| C．By analyzing their typical characteristics. |
| D．By assessing their academic performance. |
| A．Nouns are more powerful than verbs |
| B．Your words can determine your future |
| C．How we define ourselves really counts |
| D．Our option of words reflects our identity |
3 . Science is increasingly central to our lives — from its role in creating day-to-day objects such as the smartphones in our pockets, to the big challenges of tackling disease, addressing climate change and focusing on biodiversity loss.
Many of the changes that the discipline brings are hugely beneficial, but they often come with potential downsides that demand public debate. Will artificial intelligence take people’s jobs or destroy elections with false news? How fast can we practically achieve a net zero economy?
For the crucial public debate that is needed on all this to take place, we must have a scientifically literate population. But there is a divide between the scientifically minded and those who choose not to engage with science.
It saddens me that our culture now views science as difficult, which discourages many from taking an interest in it. A British Science Association (BSA) survey recently suggested that only around a third of 14- to 18-year-olds find scientists inspirational or consider the subject to be relevant to their lives.
In fact, science is interlinked with every aspect of our existence and people from all walks of life and of all ages should be able to access it easily. The invention of the printing press was crucial to the Enlightenment because it democratised (普及) knowledge. So, in this increasingly science-centred world, the same attention should be given to popular science writing as is given to other forms of literature.
The Royal Society Science Book Prize is the only one in the world to promote popular science writing. Stephen Hawking’s A Brief History of Time, which was shortlisted (把……列入入围名单) for the prize in 1989, was written for readers who had no prior knowledge of physics and has since become a universally recognised text on the universe.
Democratising science has never been more important. There are so many scientific stories to be told that can help us better understand ourselves. A society equipped with a solid understanding of the issues of the day is a society more able to respond to them in a better way.
1. What does the underlined part “all this” in paragraph 3 refer to?| A．Beneficial scientific advancements. |
| B．Challenges facing human beings. |
| C．Potential downsides of science. |
| D．Disagreements between scientists and the public. |
| A．They have great respect for scientists. |
| B．They feel disconnected from science. |
| C．They know little about the Enlightenment. |
| D．They wish to land a career in the scientific field. |
| A．It won an international book prize. |
| B．It focused on important life issues. |
| C．It was written by a highly-honoured author. |
| D．It democratised knowledge about the universe. |
| A．The crisis of science in our modern life |
| B．We must rely on science to tackle our problems |
| C．Popular science books have never been more important |
| D．Public debate about science could never be more necessary |
4 . ChatGPT is a new artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot that can write essays, solve complex problems, compose song lyrics, and more. It has caused a new moral panic as many teachers, parents, and even some teens are convinced that students will use this tool to cheat. In response, a number of school districts have moved to ban ChatGPT.
Moral panics generally reveal underlying beliefs in technological determinism, so before jumping on the trend of banning ChatGPT, remember that technology will continue to be a big part of our kids’ lives. There is no putting that horse back in the barn, so it’s a good idea to figure out how to prepare kids to navigate a world with AI.
Preparing kids for AI means teaching them the skills and knowledge they need to work with AI technologies. Foremost among these are critical thinking and ethical (合乎道德的) decision-making. This includes learning how to check information sources to develop data literacy and understanding key ethical concepts such as copyright and privacy. It also means age-appropriate exposure to the benefits, challenges, and dangers of AI tools as they emerge.
As parents, you’d better not dismiss a tool like ChatGPT until you explore it for yourself. Think about how you would use ChatGPT. I asked it to write a recipe for Sole Meuniere (香煎鳎目鱼). It was very fast and accurate and included serving suggestions.
Ask your kids to brainstorm how they might use ChatGPT. Ask ChatGPT some questions together with your kids. All questions can lead you to a discussion about when it’s a helpful tool and what uses would be unethical or inappropriate.
AI is driving a lot of our interactions with technology. But it will never replace human cognition and will not go away. The only way to make use of its potential is to learn how to use it well.
1. What is the main purpose of paragraph 1?| A．To raise a question to be discussed. |
| B．To list some interesting phenomena. |
| C．To express the main idea of the text. |
| D．To introduce a new trend in technology. |
| A．Tolerant. | B．Opposed. | C．Neutral. | D．Unclear. |
| A．To show that ChatGPT is easy to use. |
| B．To encourage readers to use ChatGPT in their daily life. |
| C．To prove that ChatGPT is commonly used in many aspects of life. |
| D．To inspire readers to consider whether ChatGPT would be useful for them. |
| A．Kids should be allowed to explore AI freely. |
| B．Parents should instruct kids to use AI properly. |
| C．AI will replace human cognition in some fields. |
| D．AI needs to be improved to answer all questions. |
5 . We cannot argue with reality. We cannot argue with science. Therefore, we simply cannot argue with the fact that there are no straight lines in the universe.
Let’s start with science. The science of a straight line falls under the subject of physics. It might seem like a complicated topic, but the theory behind it is pretty simple. If you start rowing in a boat from one place and keep sailing, the concept of the curved (弯曲的) Earth will take you in a circle and you will end up where you started. The brain forms the concept of a straight line to simplify what you see in nature. Consider it a tool for the mind to recognize reality.
The concept of straight lines was controversial and heavily influenced the politics and society of Europe from the 15th century to the 17th century. Greek thinkers and scholars like Aristotle in the 5th century already proved that the Earth was a globe, but many Europeans at that time did not believe in this idea! However, some Europeans during the Age of Exploration denied this belief. Just as the famous Italian scientist Galileo Galilei was persecuted (迫害) for advocating a heliocentric (日心的) model of the solar system, many thinkers like Giordano Bruno were shamed for believing that the Earth was round.
Well, my friends, let’s move on to life. The concept of nothing going in a straight line can be associated with life as much as it relates to science and architecture. Whenever you do something, it never turns out to play out exactly as planned. I especially know that as a thirteen-year-old! Life is a rough road—every time you go forward, it is followed by two steps back or to the side. Just like how science explains it, life is a curvy path full of unexpected twists, turns, and adventures that nobody can ever predict.
1. What does paragraph 1 function as?| A．An introduction to the topic. | B．A means to attract readers. |
| C．An explanation of a common sense. | D．A proof of the author’s opinion. |
| A．The mind could not recognize realities. | B．Things in nature might look complicated. |
| C．What you see in nature could seem simple. | D．People in the 16th century might find the Earth flat. |
| A．Plain and smooth. | B．Easy but fruitless. | C．Long and tough. | D．Bothersome but safe. |
| A．A Straight Line: Everything Simple | B．A Straight Line: People’s Good Wish |
| C．A Straight Line: Difficult To Prove | D．A Straight Line: Simply Nonexistent |
6 . What do you feel passionate? What do you love (besides your family, children, and friends)? Our passion often leads us to our purpose in life. For example, am absolutely passionate about helping people work through blocks or barriers such as hurt, guilt, shame, and self-doubt in order to experience the freedom to be authentically who they are.
I believe when you find your passion, you will experience freedom, happiness and, ultimately, less anxiety and more peace. It sounds so simple. However, many people do not really know what they are passionate about because they have lost a sense of who they are. We have spent so much time trying to please others or creating stories about why we can’t do something. What if you could change this? How would your life be different?
Identify and write down the areas you love. Technology, gardening, helping others, inner design, leadership, finances, health, fitness, writing, photography, art, managing projects, and the list goes on.
Look at your thoughts around placing more emphasis on the area where you pursue either personally or professionally. What are you telling yourself? I’m not good enough. I don’t have the time or money. Whatever it is, work on deleting this from your thoughts and replacing them with the opposite statement.
Create more time in your calendar or research what add it information or resources you might need to integrate this more in your life. Maybe it’s getting a coach or instructor to help keep you on track, reduce your fears and work on your limiting conversations. Set goals and make them happen.
Living out your purpose may mean a different job or it may mean focusing your time differently or making your passion more of a priority in your life. We all matter and have a purpose. It’s never too late to create what you want.
This quote by Bob Proctor summarizes what this all means, “Your purpose explains what you are doing with your life. Your vision explains how you are living your purpose. Your goals enable you to realize your vision.”
1. Why does the author mention the questions in Paragraph 1?| A．To introduce the topic. | B．To express his doubts. |
| C．To present an argument | D．To compare different ideas. |
| A．The benefit of passion. | B．The unknown about passion. |
| C．The disadvantage of passion. | D．The definition of passion. |
| A．To explain the purpose of action. |
| B．To demonstrate the value of Bob Proctor’s book. |
| C．To illustrate the process for achieving the goal. |
| D．To remind the readers of the importance of passion |
| A．Passion is the priority | B．Creation is never too late |
| C．Passion leads to purpose | D．Success lies in anxiety reduction |
7 . Imagine reading a story titled “The Constant Pursuit of Alcohol”. You would likely expect a depressing story about a person abusing alcohol. Now imagine reading a story titled “The Constant Pursuit of Success”. That would be an inspiring story, wouldn’t it?
Though it isn’t a conventional medical addiction, for many people, success has addictive properties. To a certain extent, praise stimulates the neurotransmitter dopamine (神经递质多巴胺) , which is shown in all addictive behaviors. Therefore, success is also similar to alcohol addiction in its effects on human.
“Unhappy is he who depends on success to be happy,” wrote Arex DiasRibeiro, a former Formula l race-car driver. “For such a person, the end of a successful career is the end of the line. His destiny (命运) is to die of bitterness or to search for more success in other careers and to go on living from success to success until he falls dead. In this case, there will not be life after success.”
There is plenty you can do to retrain yourself to pursue happiness instead of success. The first step is an admission that successful as you are, were, or hope to be in your life and work, you are not going to find true happiness in your professional life. You’ll find it in things that are deeply ordinary: enjoying a walk or a conversation with a loved one. The second step is to make up for any relationships you’ve compromised (妥协) in the name of success. The last step is to find the right measurement of success. If you measure yourself only by the rewards of money and power, you’ll spend your life running on these and comparing yourself to others. I suggest the better measurements be faith, family, and friendship.
Success in and of itself is not a bad thing. It can bring fun and sweetness to life. But it becomes tyrannical (专横的) when it is a replacement for the relationships and love that should be at the center of our lives.
1. What can we learn from Paragraph 2?| A．Success is determined by many factors. |
| B．People can be greatly addictive to success. |
| C．Success can be really attractive to humans. |
| D．It’s difficult to achieve great success in life. |
| A．It is not wise to end a successful career. |
| B．Happiness is more important than success. |
| C．Successful people usually live a boring life. |
| D．Success may not be the source of happiness. |
| A．To take on a highly-paid job. | B．To hold a high social position. |
| C．To focus on the true meaning of life. | D．To find the right approach to success. |
| A．To show us the importance of success. |
| B．To suggest love is at the center of our life. |
| C．To remind us not to overly pursue success. |
| D．To share his experience in finding happiness. |
8 . For more than 60 years bringing the cost of food down had been one of the greatest challenge of the 21 century. That cost, however, is not in immediate cash, for most food is now far cheaper in relative terms than in 1960.
The cost is in the unintended damage of the very methods of food production that have made the food cheaper: in the pollution of water, the weakness of soil, the destruction of wildlife, the harm to animal welfare and the threat to human health caused by modern industrial agriculture.
First mechanisation, then mass use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides, and now genetic engineering — modern industrial farming has seemed unstoppable, as the yields of produce have soared. But it comes with extensive loss of wildlife and habitat, soil degradation and fertilizer run-off.
Put it together and it’s like a battleground, but consumers rarely make the connection at the dinner table. The problems are called “externalities” by economists because they’re not part of the main transaction, like growing and selling wheat. These costs aren’t directly paid by the producers or consumers.
But the costs to society can amount to shocking sums. According to a research by Professor Jules Pretty at the University of Essex, repairing the damage caused by intensive farming in one particular year costs £2, 343m in the UK alone, almost as much as the total UK and EU spend on British farming in that year.
Can the true cost of food be brought down? In some countries, moving away from industrial agriculture to address hunger is difficult. However, in developed countries, it’s more possible. Governments should support sustainable farming that benefits the environment, economy, health, and animal welfare. Instead of immediately switching to organic farming, Professor Pretty suggests adopting a “Greener Food Standard” which would push the market towards more sustainable environmental practices than the current norm, while not requiring the full commitment to organic production. This standard would guide farmers on better practices in farming, promoting a shift towards a more sustainable agricultural system for both producers and consumers.
1. What is the cost associated with food production?| A．Immediate cash loss. | B．Increased agriculture yields. |
| C．Promotion of organic farming. | D．Impairment to human welfare. |
| A．The costs are included in the price. | B．The costs lie in food growing and selling. |
| C．The costs aren’t directly visible to people. | D．People aren’t affected by modern farming. |
| A．Giving up clean-up efforts. | B．Overlooking global hunger. |
| C．Making flexible farming policies. | D．Adopting full organic approaches. |
| A．Critical. | B．Supportive. | C．Unconcerned. | D．Mindless. |
9 . Read a few news headlines and you’ll see some common themes: the rising number of languages dying worldwide, the isolation of individual last speakers, and the wider cultural loss for humanity. These stories often mention how people try to protect such languages. However, they tend to focus less on how such efforts actually help speakers of endangered languages. Such efforts sometimes help, sometimes harm, and sometimes do both.
Encouraging someone to keep speaking a declining minority language could certainly boost his or her sense of identity. But when a bigger language is adopted somewhere, it doesn’t remove everything that came before. Often, intense contact between big and small languages leads to a new mixture - for example, Sheng in Kenya and Tsotsitaal in South Africa. In other cases, such language contact results in a new localized dialect. As linguist Peter Trudgill argues, this can also hold a highly local identity.
Sure enough, enabling a people to use their traditional language can make them feel better about themselves. But is it really helping them? Simply adding your ancestral language as a new school subject isn’t very helpful if your school is falling down, or you’re not eating well. To think anything much can be solved just by performing CPR (心肺复苏) in a minority language is to ignore how complicated human society is and how many different simultaneous (同时的) needs we have.
In Québec, Canada, just under 75% of residents have French as their native language, but the percentage has fallen over the past five years. In 2022, the Québec Legislature passed Bill 96, which requires people to only use French for official speech and writing. This is an example of the prioritization of language, yet it’s unclear whether the law will actually improve Québec residents’ lives, or even help preserve French in Québec.
So promoting endangered languages can be a positive force, but we shouldn’t assume that’s universally true. It is especially difficult for a language expert to say so. Perhaps we should focus less on languages themselves, and pay more attention to the lives of the people who speak them.
1. What do the news stories about languages usually focus on?| A．The efforts to save endangered languages. |
| B．The future development of our languages. |
| C．The cultural functions of languages worldwide. |
| D．The problem with promoting language uniformity. |
| A．The separation from the past. | B．The enrichment of local cultures. |
| C．The loss of social interaction. | D．The preservation of people’s identity. |
| A．It will take ages to see its effect. |
| B．It requires more attention to native speakers. |
| C．It will guarantee a win-win result. |
| D．It needs more focus on languages themselves. |
| A．How to Improve Minority Language Speakers’ Life |
| B．How to Boost Minority Language speakers’ Identity |
| C．Promotion of French in Canada: Fruitful or Fruitless |
| D．Endangered Language Protection: Helpful or Harmful |
10 . Museums have been around for centuries, with the first known museum founded in the 3rd century BC. For a long time, they were used to showcase traditional artworks like paintings, sculptures and drawings.
In recent times, however, digital art has started to gain popularity as an art form. This has raised the question of whether or not museums should accept digital art into their collections.
Digital art can be defined as an artwork created using digital technology and tools like computers, tablets and smartphones. It includes a variety of mediums such as animation, 3D modelling, virtual reality and video game design. Digital art is increasingly being used by artists to create unique pieces that are unlike anything else seen before.
The debate over whether museums should accept digital art into their collections has been ongoing for some time. On one hand, many believe that digital art is not “real” art and does not deserve to be given the same recognition as traditional artworks. On the other hand, supporters of digital art hold the view that museums should endorse this new form of expression and give it the same respect as any other type of artworks.
The truth is that many museums have already begun to accept digital art into their collections. In fact, some museums have even devoted entire exhibitions to showcasing digital artworks from around the world. This shows that there is a growing appreciation for this type of expression and that it is slowly becoming more accepted by mainstream audiences.
In general, while there may still be some debate over whether or not digital art deserves to be accepted into museum collections, it is clear that many museums are beginning to welcome this new form of expression. As more people realize the digital art and its potential as an artistic medium, it will likely become even more popular in years to come.
1. What do we know about the digital art from the first three paragraphs?| A．It is warmly welcomed by all museums. |
| B．Its uniqueness leads to its high market value. |
| C．Its creation cannot be separated from digital technology. |
| D．It should be placed in museums according to most people. |
| A．increase | B．refuse | C．describe | D．accept |
| A．It is getting more and more recognition. |
| B．It has been accepted by the mainstream audiences. |
| C．Most museums have accepted it as their collection. |
| D．This kind of exhibition can be seen all over the world. |
| A．Latest digital art, hottest debate | B．Should museums accept digital art? |
| C．Digital art: the most popular art form | D．How does digital art enter museums? |
