1 .

A．Teaching English is the biggest business throughout the world.

B．Language schools are being established everywhere.

C．Many Canadians are fond of teaching English in Canada.

D．Language schools are more than other types of schools.

2 .

A．Her watch is stolen all of sudden.

B．She is able to fix her watch.

C．Her watch is a few minutes fast.

D．Her watch needs checking.

3 .

A．She avoids most of her neighbours.

B．She likes to make friends with everyone.

C．Most of the neighbours are unfriendly.

D．Some neighbours are hard to deal with.

4 .

A．Check the man's eyes.	B．Adjust the new glasses.
C．Change the old glasses.	D．Put on the special spectacles.

5 .

A．Work at the store.

B．Sell books.

C．Go to the beach.

D．Go over lessons.

6 . Charles Robert Darwin was born on 12 February 1809 in Shropshire, England. Darwin’s childhood passion was science, and his interest in chemistry, however, was clear; he was even nicknamed ‘Gas’ by his classmates.

In 1825, his father sent him to study medicine at Edinburgh University, where he learned how to classify plants. Darwin became passionate about natural history and this became his focus while he studied at Cambridge. Darwin went on a voyage together with Robert Fitzroy, the captain of HMS Beagle, to South America to facilitate British trade in Patagonia. The journey was life-changing. Darwin spent much of the trip on land collecting samples of plants, animals and rocks, which helped him to develop an understanding of the processes that shape the Earth’s surface. Darwin’s analysis of the plants and animals that he gathered led him to express doubts on former explanations about how species formed and evolved over time.

Darwin’s work convinced him that natural selection was key to understanding the development of the natural world. The theory of natural selection says that individuals of a species are more likely to survive when they inherit(经遗传获得) characteristics best suited for that specific environment. These features then become more widespread and can lead eventually to the development of a new species. With natural selection, Darwin argued how a wide variety of life forms developed over time from a single common ancestor.

Darwin married his cousin, Emma Wedgwood, in 1839. When Darwin’s eldest daughter, Annie, died from a sudden illness in 1851, he lost his belief in God. His tenth and final child, Charles Waring Darwin, was born in 1856. Significantly for Darwin, this baby was disabled, altering how Darwin thought about the human species. Darwin had previously thought that species remained adapted until the environment changed; he now believed that every new variation was imperfect and that a struggle to survive was what drove species to adapt.

Though rejected at the beginning, Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection is nowadays well accepted by the scientific community as the best evidence-based explanation for the diversity and complexity of life on Earth. The Natural History Museum’s library alone has 478 editions of his On the Origin of Species in 38 languages.

1. What made Darwin reconsider the origin and development of species?

A．Examining plants and animals collected.

B．His desire for a voyage to different continents.

C．Classifying samples in a journey to South America.

D．His passion for natural history at Edinburgh University.

2. We can learn from paragraphs 1 to 3 that Darwin ________.

A．used natural selection to develop new species

B．enjoyed being called nicknames related to science

C．learned some knowledge about plants when studying medicine

D．argued with others over the diversity of life forms for a long period

3. Which of the following changed Darwin’s view on the human species?

A．That he had ten children in all.	B．His youngest son’s being disabled.
C．That he lost his eldest daughter.	D．His marriage with Emma Wedgwood.

4. This passage is mainly about ________.

A．Darwin’s passion for medical science	B．Darwin’s theory and experiments
C．Charles Darwin’s changing interest	D．Charles Darwin’s life and work

7 . Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in each blank with a proper word chosen from the box. Each word can be used only once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. accompanied       B. allowed       C. feasibly       D. fueled E. intensity       F. option       G. prompting       H. routine I. surgically       J. underlying       K. varied

Brain Signals for Lasting Pain

Brain signals that reveal how much pain a person is in have been discovered by scientists who say the work is a step towards new treatments for people living with lasting pain.

It is the first time researchers have decoded the brain activity     1     patients’ lasting pain. That has raised the hope that brain stimulation treatment already used for Parkinson’s and major depression can help those running out of any other     2    . “We’ve learned that lasting pain can be tracked and predicted in the real world,” said Prasad Shirvalkar, lead researcher on the project at the University of California.

Lasting pain affects nearly 28 million adults in the UK alone, and the causes are     3    . ranging from cancer to back problems. That being the case, lasting pain has     4     a rise in taking powerful painkillers. But no medical treatments work well for the condition,     5     experts to call for a complete rethink in how health services handle patients with lasting pain.

For the latest study, Shirvalkar and his colleagues     6     implanted electrodes(电极) into four patients with lasting pain hard to deal with after the loss of legs. The devices     7     the patients to record activity and collect data in two brain regions— the ACC and the OFC—at the press of one button on a remote handset. Several times a day, the volunteers were asked to complete short surveys on the     8     of pain, meaning how strong the pain was, and then record their brain activity. These scientists, armed with the survey responses and brain recordings, found they could use computers to predict a person’s pain based on the electrical signals in their OFC. “We found very different brain activity     9     severe pain and have developed an objective biomarker for that kind of pain,” said Shirvalkar. The finding may explain, at least in part, why     10     painkillers are less effective for lasting pain. “The hope is that we can use the information to develop personalized brain stimulation treatment for the most severe forms of pain.”

8 . For a long time, psychologists agreed with the findings of Roy Baumeister, whose research showed that willpower was a limited resource that could easily be exhausted through use. His book, Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength, has long been seen as the typical handbook on this subject. Plus, hundreds of experiments showed that when people had to complete two back-to-back tasks which both required willpower, they would demonstrate less willpower on the second task.

From this research, willpower came to be understood as a “brain muscle” that would grow more tired the longer you used it. With adequate rest and recovery, the muscle’s energy would be restored, and willpower levels would return to normal. This made sense and even opened the door for an optimistic long-term approach to willpower: You could improve your willpower by using it regularly, just as you can strengthen a muscle through exercise.

However, just because an idea sounds good doesn’t mean it’s true. Later research failed to find Baumeister’s willpower exhaustion effect. And other research even showed that willpower exhaustion can be reversed if you have a positive belief about what hard work does for you. If you believe using willpower is draining, you’ll experience it as draining, but if you believe it energizes you, you’ll be energized. In other words, what you believe about willpower might be a self-fulfilling prophecy.

The trouble is that studying a psychological quality like willpower in the lab is very difficult. Willpower experiments greatly oversimplify the human experience and don’t reflect how willpower is used in the real world. Sample sizes are usually small because of limited funding, and it’s difficult to find diverse subjects. It almost certainly matters how meaningful the willpower-requiring task is to the person doing it, and laboratory experiments generally don’t ask participants to perform meaningful tasks.

Furthermore, there are a great many factors that can affect how much willpower an individual has. Willpower levels change from moment to moment and day to day. Someone who has excellent willpower in one situation might have terrible willpower in another. You might have high self-control one day and low self-control another.

So we just don’t know how willpower really works, and we might never know. People may or may not have a limited amount of willpower. Believing you have unlimited willpower might help you work harder than you otherwise would, or it might lead to overconfidence.

1. Roy Baumeister’s book, Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength, is mentioned at the beginning of the passage in order to show that _____.

A．willpower as a limited resource has been widely accepted

B．his book is very popular among people in various fields

C．willpower is essential in completing back-to-back tasks

D．a great many experiments has been done on willpower

2. By “a self-fulfilling prophecy” in paragraph 3, the author means that _____.

A．with enough rest, willpower can recover itself

B．with the right attitude, we can own our willpower

C．we can fulfil our dream as long as we have willpower

D．there is a fixed amount of willpower if we think positively

3. The author implies in the passage that we should _____.

A．view willpower as unlimited to fully cultivate our potential

B．try doing different tasks when our willpower levels change

C．stop doing research on willpower since it is too changeable

D．treat willpower critically as it’s hard to get a full picture of it

4. Which of the following is the best title for the passage?

A．The Definition of Willpower	B．The Great Willpower Debate
C．The Importance of Willpower	D．Strategies to Increase Willpower

9 .

The best white noise machines for a good night’s sleep Sleep is crucial to health. But disruptive (扰乱的) noises can prevent you from falling asleep. White noise machines could help, according to one study.
LectroFan Classic	MASKS NOISE: LectroFan Classic helps block out disruptive environmental noises. It can help improve sleep, focus, privacy, and relaxation. 20 NON-REPEATING SOUNDS: A total of 20 unique non-repeating, digitally created sounds. 10 fan sounds & 10 white noise variations, including pink & brown noise. SAFE: Safe, solid-state design is powered by AC (交流电) or USB and dynamically creates unique, non-repeating sounds. VOLUME CONTROL: Precise volume control allows you to set the perfect level for your unique environment.
Yogasleep Rohm+	EFFECTIVELY MASKS NOISE: The Rohm effectively cancels out noises that may disturb or distract you for improved sleep and concentration. GENTLE SOUNDS: 20 different sounds including music, nature, white, pink, and brown noise, as well as Bluetooth speaker features to allow you to play your own music or sounds and to make a conference call on the road when you need. CRUSH (压坏) RESISTANT: Stylish, crush-resistant travel case fits perfectly with Yogasleep Rohm white noise machines. BATTERY OPERATED: Rechargeable through USB.
Hatch Rest+	BEST FOR BABIES: Sound machine — keep your little one dreaming with sounds like white noise, wind, and rain. Night light — make midnight feedings comforting and the dark less scary with a calming light. Time-to-Rise — set up this light and sound combination to let your early riser know when it’s time to rise. Built-in two-way sound monitor. POWERED BY: AC and rechargeable.
Loftie Clock	FAVORITE CLOCK: Loftie Clock uses sound and lights to help ease you into and out of sleep. GENTLY UNWIND: Enjoy over 100 free tracks, from breathwork and sound baths to all kinds of white noise and nature sounds. AI-GENERATED PERSONAL STORIES: Loftie’s Magic Story Maker AI has an upgraded feature that lets you create sleep stories with Typeform. It then uses ChatGPT and ElevenLabs AI to craft your story. Unlocking the Magic Story Maker AI requires an upgrade to a Loftie+ account in the app ($5 per month). POWERED BY: AC power

1. _____ is the most suitable for Joana, whose baby sleeps in her room.

A．LectroFan Classic	B．Yogasleep Rohm+
C．Hatch Rest+	D．Loftie Clock

2. If you want to buy a white noise machine for your friend Tim, who often travels on business, you need to pay _____.

A．$34.95.

B．$40.03.

C．$159.99.

D．$149.00.

3. What can be learned about the four white noise machines?

A．The four of them can all produce white noise and nature sounds.

B．One of them can help you create your own sleep stories for free.

C．Two of them can be powered by both AC and rechargeable batteries.

D．Two of them can not only help you fall asleep but also wake you up.

10 . On a rainy afternoon in Aspinwall, Pennsylvania, a group of amateur musicians gathered to lay down a few tracks. This wasn’t the first time the band had performed together, but it was their first time in a recording studio.

The band, which calls itself Infinity, first performed its work at the 2022 Pittsburgh Schizophrenia Conference in November. All four band members are diagnosed with schizophrenia, a mental disorder that can cause people to interpret reality in abnormal ways, which can cause many kinds of disordered thinking.

Infinity formed five years ago when Flavio Chamis, a Brazilian composer and conductor, began working with the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) on how to use music to treat mental illness.

“Having a mental health diagnosis is not a reason to not have a creative life,” Chamis said. Schizophrenia can be disabling, but therapy, medication and even playing music can help, according to a growing body of research.

Chamis and K.N. Roy Chengappa, a professor of psychiatry (精神病学) at UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital and the director of Pittsburgh’s schizophrenia conference, are continuing their efforts with the four musicians and to further investigate musical interventions in mental health outcomes.

As imaging techniques advance, scientists are working to answer precisely why music affects the brain in the ways that it does. Playing music seems to have an impact on timing systems in the brain, which are affected by major depression, schizophrenia and other illnesses. There is research indicating that training patients to play in rhythm can in fact help retrain the brain in other, less obvious ways. Interventions tend to have positive effects, but the research is still in early stages.

The band doesn’t have much formal music training, but they played and sang with touching sincerity. “It’s not supposed to be professional or perfect,” Chengappa said. “One of them has been my patient for 20 years. ... They’ve really blossomed.”

Chamis led the Infinity recording from the piano, with each musician in a separate sound-proof room listening to one another on headphones. The conductor and composer encouraged the musicians and gave advice after each take.

“It’s been great working on this with Flavio,” said guitarist David Baird. “I loved feeling like a professional. ... I want more.”

1. What is special about the band Infinity?

A．All the members were professional.	B．It performed for people with schizophrenia.
C．All the members have mental disorders.	D．It formed and gave its first performance in 2022.

2. Flavio Chamis helped form the band Infinity in order to ____.

A．investigate the causes of schizophrenia	B．study the effect of music on mental illness
C．stimulate the members’ creativity in music	D．obtain the opportunity to cooperate with UPMC

3. Music affects the brain by _____.

A．intervening its timing systems	B．employing imaging approaches
C．changing its reaction time	D．making its rhythm less obvious

4. According to Chengappa, the band members are becoming more _____.

A．sincere

B．professional

C．depressed

D．confident