1 . Directions: Complete the following passage by using the words in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. replace       B. trustworthy               C. apparently                    D. pick E. owe             AB. expressing        AC. land                    AD. ironically AE. version       BC. position               BD. challenging

What Is 2023’s Word of the Year, According to Dictionaries?

What word defined the past year for you? Find out if your answer matches the actual word of the year from four famous dictionaries.

Cambridge Dictionary’s     1     for 2023 is hallucinate. The common definition of hallucinate is “to see or hear things that are not really there because of illness or drugs.” In 2023, however, to hallucinate can mean something different, thanks to AI. According to Cambridge’s alternate definition of hallucinating, “when an artificial intelligence hallucinates, it produces false information.” Sure, using AI can be fun for creating dog selfies or could even help you     2     a job, but it’s likely to produce misleading or made-up facts — or “hallucinating.”

Those dictionary people are     3     all on the same page. Similar to Cambridge, Collins Dictionary’s word of the year is the broader term AI. ChatGPT was released in late 2022, with companies attempting to use it to cut costs, worrying employees that it would     4     their jobs. AI pioneers and creators began     5     concerns that AI could be “dangerous” and operated by “bad actors.” President Biden even issued an executive order on “safe, secure and     6     artificial intelligence.”

With Merriam-Webster’s word authentic, we have an AI trifecta (三连胜)! While its core meaning is the same — “not false or imitation” — it should     7     its popularity in 2023 to AI, with the rise in deepfake videos and the potential use of AI in entertainment. However, being authentic is also about being “true to one’s own personality, spirit or character.” Are the public figures you look up to being true to themselves? As people search for authenticity, Merriam-Webster notes, “    8    , with ‘authentic content creators’... authenticity has become a performance.”

Oxford slides in at the last minute with a totally different word of the year for 2023: rizz. This noun means “style, charm or attractiveness”. It’s believed to be a shortened     9     of the word charisma, a special magnetic charm or appeal. It also hints at a changing attitude in 2023. “It’s interesting to see a contrasting word like rizz come to the forefront, perhaps showing that this year more of us are opening ourselves after a few     10     years and finding confidence in who we are,” notes Casper Grathwohl, president of Oxford Languages.

2 . Directions: Complete the following passage by using the words in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. defined             B. popularized             C. wordlessly             D. alarming            E. proposing F. nonexistent          G. withdrawn             H. springing               I. assumed             J. seriously K. seeking

A growing number of Japanese have become recluses（隐居者）. Pressure from work and society is causing some to escape.

About a year ago, Mika Shibata's youngest son returned to the family home and went     1    upstairs. He has yet to emerge from his bedroom. At the age of 26, he sleeps during the day and stays awake at night. His mother feeds and shelters him, hoping he will recover from this state.

The Shibata family's pain is shared by many others in Japan. The government says there are more than 1 million hikikomori, or recluses,       2    as people who have played no part in society for at least six months. Many have barely stepped outside their homes for decades.

A handful of     3    crimes have pushed them back into public view. In Maya recluse, aged 51, killed two people, including a child, in the city of Kawasaki before committing suicide.

When the phenomenon became widely noticed over a generation ago, few understood it. Recluses were considered lazy or odd. Mental-health care was scarce and official support     4    

Parents felt responsible and were too embarrassed to look for help. But even now, occasional crimes involved recluses cause concerns that they are dangerous, says Morito Ishizaki, a recovered hikikomori who runs a magazine for sufferers.

In fact, he explains, they are rarely criminals. Many have just collapsed under pressure at school or work and have     5    to their childhood sanctuaries（避难所）.

Support groups are     6    up around the country. Tokyo is among several cities with helplines and websites that try to reach shut-ins, who range from teenage school dropouts to salarymen who have lost their jobs.

Ageing parents often come     7    help, says Ichiro of Tokyo's metropolitan government. He says they worry that after they die, their hikikomori children will not be able to survive.

More than half of Japan's recluses are now aged over 40, according to a Cabinet Office survey this year. That shocked the government, which had     8    the condition mainly affected the young.

Tamaki Saito, a psychiatrist who     9    the term hikikomori, says the government is partly to blame for turning a blind eye. Now the problem has grown. If it is not taken     10    , many more might become recluses, he says.

3 . Directions: Complete the following passage by using the words in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. referring             B. refresh             C. pin                    D. occurred             E. acknowledging F. identify             G. drain                    H. discouraged       I. specific             J. negative K. specifically

Make a Wish List

Most of us know of New Year’s Resolutions, where one sets intentions for the year ahead. But too often, people make their resolutions     1     — “I will no longer eat biscuits left at my desk”— and then feel unhappy. In the cold month of January, the last thing you need is to     2     your energy further by setting up a series of battles with yourself. And if you break a resolution, you feel     3    , which is a rubbish way to start the year. What you need instead are things to look forward to.

So instead, try a wish list. This involves writing down 100 things you would like to do in the year ahead. The items can be enormous or tiny, ranging from “Climb Everest” to “buy a new pencil sharper”. The main thing is that at some point it has     4     to you as something that you would like to do.

The key here is — write it down.

Do you feel any resistance to the ideas? If so, ask yourself why. What is wrong with     5     what you would like to do? Try not to say to yourself: “I can’t I don’t have the money/time/energy/skills.” Just write it down.

It helps to be     6    , so rather than “Get outdoors”,     7     a place you would like to visit. And take your time when creating it — a wish list is not built in a day. Think about it, polish it and     8     it.

Finally, you have your list. And what a work of beauty it is. Here are all the things that you would like to do. Remember to     9     them up where you can see them; let yourself consider how they can be accomplished. You’ll be amazed that so many of your dreams can be realized though the simple trick of writing them down and     10     to them.

4 . Directions：Complete the following passage by using the words in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A.simple   B.heard   C.difficult   D.faster   E.personal   F.shapes   G.goal   H.receive   I.shared   J.come   K.happiness

Everybody has different ways achieving happiness and the reasons for feeling happy may change from year to year, or even from day to day. For example, happiness may     1     from getting a good grade on school assignment or from a very     2     thing like having full stomach. This kind of happiness is inside of you — it is     3     happiness. Happiness is also something you can communicate to other people. The good grade you     4     on your paper will probably make your parents happy and proud. Another way of communicating happiness is to help other people over     5     experiences in their own lives. In this situation, you give off your own happiness to make others happy.

The most important things to remember in your pursuit (追求) of     6     are:

1. Happiness should not be your only     7    — a real goal, like better grades, a better job, or closer friends, is sure to give more happiness than chasing after a feeling.

2. Happiness may come in all sizes and     8    . If you keep your sense of humor and see things in a balanced way, happiness will come to you     9     than to the person who is always worrying about what tomorrow will bring.

3. Happiness is meant to be     10    . “Laugh and the world laughs with you, cry and you cry alone.”

5 . Directions：Complete the following passage by using the words in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. addition       B. glance        C. confused       D. fit       E. interview F. admitted       G. fascinated     H. guarantee       I. contact     J. nervous     K. prefer

In recent years, many well-known colleges abroad allow you to interview with an admissions representative(招生代表), either on campus or in your hometown.

In university application process, the     1     is of great importance. A     2     at interview tips will tell you to smile, make eye     3    , and shake the interviewer’s hand firmly. Unfortunately, few tell you what it is that the interviewer is really looking for.

Remember that most interviews are won or lost before you ever go into them. I am frequently     4     by that fact that many really smart, diligent students do little research before they go into their interview. So when asked questions, they often feel     5    . You should, for example, be able to find out where your interview—all with just a few minutes of googling.

More importantly, you should do a lot of research on the university in question in     6     to knowing the school’s ranking in The US News and Word Reports. You won’t be     7     when you reply to the question “Why do you want to attend this university?” with the answer “Well, you know that it is a very famous school.” Think of it from the school’s point of view, after all, you want this school to     8     you to just another excellent Chinese student.

Tell them why you would choose them rather than another excellent American university. If you are interested in biology, be sure to know the biology professors’ names. If you are     9     with camping, be sure to know the name of the outdoors club at the school. Find ways to     10     your interests and goals to what that school has to offer in particular.

6 . Directions: Complete the following passage by using the words in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. remains        B. effective       C. ensure     D. including       E. access     F. last      G. preserved       H. authority       I. damage     J. considered     K. regularly

It is said that museums play an important part in education. Those youngsters who visit museums     1     are likely to get their mind broadened. The list of the reasons might be long. The main factor is that, by attending different exhibitions in the museum, children have     2     to the trace of history and the     3     human civilization. The exhibited items in museums carry rich information,     4     evolution, habitats, industry, art, religion and so on. Educators in     5     sincerely advise that children should be guided to take advantage of museums. They insist that a visit should     6       hours because it takes children some time to watch the items, collect the related information and imagine the site or picture they reflect. Meanwhile, the staff are required to prepare the exhibition carefully to     7     that most visitors are able to enjoy a satisfactory travel there, and the collections and the     8     are under full protection to avoid any possible     9    . Parents and school are to take museums as a/an     10     way to make children taste or study the development of history.

7 . Directions: Complete the following passage by using the words in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. unwritten   B. respectively   C. staged   D. expressions   E. appreciation F. instances   G. responded   H. unlike   I. constructed   J. initially     K. frequency

Say Thank-You

To better understand how people express gratitude in normal life, anthropologist Simeon Floyd, at the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics in the Netherlands and his colleagues     1     a large, cross-cultural study covering five continents and eight languages. They included English, Italian, Polish, Russian and Lao, as well as     2     languages such as Cha’ palaa, spoken in Ecuador, Murrinh-Patha, spoken in northern Australia, and Siwu, spoken in Ghana. Both verbal and non-verbal expressions of gratitude, such as a smile or a nod, were regarded as interactions.

Floyd’s team left cameras in household and community settings and captured more than 1,500     3     of social interactions in which one person asked for something and another     4    .

They found that in every culture, people fulfilled requests, but expressions of gratitude, such as saying “thanks” or nodding in     5    , were remarkably rare, occurring just 5.5 percent of the time.

English and Italian speakers had slightly higher rates of gratitude expression—14.5 percent and 13.5 percent of the time,     6    , but still surprisingly low considering how polite Western people think they are, says Floyd. “English speakers are not so     7     other people, and often prefer not to express gratitude in informal contexts,” he says.

Cha’ palaa speakers had the lowest     8     of expressed gratitude, with zero examples in 96 recorded interactions. But this starts to make sense when you learn that the language has no easy way to say “thank you”.

Also surprised by the findings was David Peterson, a linguist (语言学家) who developed the     9     language Dothraki for the TV show Game of Thrones. It too, has no word for thank you, something Peterson     10     considered to be unlikely. “I thought that you had to have a word to express gratitude,” he says.

8 . Directions: Fill in each blank with a proper word given in the box. Each word can be used only once. Note that there is one word that you do not need.

A. efficiently       B. still       C. equally       D. balance       E. drag F. angle       G. definitely       H. make       I. approach       J. position       K. allow

We need more men in our hospital, not as doctors, but as nurses. Over the last few years, I have found that having male nurses is a real bonus, and they     1     have a place in our hospital. There are several reasons for wanting male nurses here, not only because half the population in our country is male. Men are excellent carers and are     2     good at taking care of others. In fact, many men take good care of their children, wives, parents, sisters, brothers, and even their nieces and nephews.

Another reason that men can     3     great nurses is that in general, men are physically stronger than women. Male nurses can help     4     heavy objects, or if, for example, a patient cannot move from the waist down, male nurses can help move the patient into a comfortable     5    . Also, male nurses can be a great help in keeping patients     6     while they receive painful treatment, such as when bandages covering wounds are changed. Another advantage to having male nurses is that they see things from a different     7     from women and bring a male way of thinking to problem-solving. This allows the hospital to work more effectively than if we only     8     problems one way. Having a mix of male and female nurses also helps create a fun atmosphere, which helps patients recover faster.

Currently, only 7% of our nursing staff are men; this number is far too low, and the problem requires correction. Having more male nurses will help create a positive     9     between male and female staff, and it will     10     patients the choice of a male or female carer. I am determined to take on more male nurses here at Central Hospital. I will be organizing an open day soon to allow interested young men to visit our hospital and find out more about nursing. Hopefully, we will have more male nurses in our hospital soon!

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

A. progress   B. definitely   C. collective   D. maintain   E. concentration F. minimum   G. showcasing   H. ignore   I. internally   J. priority K. earned

Should We Cut Our Ties to School Uniforms?

After a strict headteacher in the UK sent 80 pupils home for uniform violations (违例), the Guardian asked parents, pupils and professionals if uniforms really make a difference.

My school uniform is very important. It does improve my    1    , because it reminds me that I’m at school to learn. School uniforms are also a great tool to prevent bullying. If everyone is wearing the same clothes, it’s impossible to mock each other’s clothing. I don’t think this should    2     children’s need to express themselves, though. Uniform rules can be taken too far: I was once told I would get a detention (留堂) for I went to school with my grey bag instead of a black one.

David Hershman, a student at Stafford Grammar School

A uniform has to be seen as something that is    3    . Students should start school with no uniform. As they    4     through school, they get to start wearing it. I always think children need to be proud of their school, and a uniform is important for that. If they let the school down, they shouldn’t be allowed to wear it. In my experience, a uniform helps schools    5     authority.

Tim Francis, a former teacher

I have had the experience of teaching in both uniform and non-uniform schools. I can    6     see the benefits of students wearing a uniform. A uniform can be important for creating a sense of school identity and community. It is often a source of    7     pride for students. However, teaching students how to express themselves with confidence, rather than the length of their tie, should be the    8    .

Enayah Byramjee, an educational development director

In a perfect world, children would be    9     their individualities through their clothes at school, just as they do at home. Schools would not impress on pupils the need to wear skirts to a certain length, or to do a    10     number of buttons up on shirts. But we don’t live in a perfect world and learning to fit in is one of the things our children should be taught.

Joanna Moorhead, a mother of four

10 . Directions: Complete the following passage by using the words in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. constantly             B. concern             C. impact             D. emphasis             E weight F. trendy                  G. generation          H. pattern             I. alternative             J. surrounded K. elegantly

The Rise of Retro Fashion

Do you care about what you wear? Some people are very fashion-conscious, carefully selecting the clothes they buy and how they dress. Fashionistas (时尚达人) always want to be seen in the latest designer gear. But that trend is changing as retro or vintage clothing is becoming a popular and often cheaper     1    .

Of course, “vintage” clothing is really second-hand clothing, worn before but given a second life. The fashion industry has rebranded this stuff to make it look     2     and possibly give it a higher price tag. Whereas we may have seen an old faded pair of jeans or a dress with a flower     3     sold at a jumble sale (旧货拍卖会), now we are     4     with boutique and pop-up shops dedicated to the stuff. And in the UK, one supermarket chain has started selling second-hand clothes in some of its stores. According to managing director Steve Lynam, the more people invest in the circular economy and shop vintage, the bigger     5     we will have on climate change.

Certainly, buying vintage puts     6     on extending the life of clothing. It cuts down on waste and helps to reduce the environmental damage caused by manufacturing new clothes. It’s also led to the rise of retro-fashion-items that your mum or dad wore decades ago that now look     7     cool again! It’s a big thing with younger people and has been helped by the rise of platforms like Depop and Vinted, which sell “worn” clothes online. As lanina Lucca, Senior Vice President at Depop explained: “The new     8     is looking to make choices that reduce their impact on the environment, with 77% of Gen Z saying that their biggest environmental     9     being that they want their choices to reduce waste.”

Another popular way of buying old clothes is in a vintage kilo sale. People pick what they want and then pay according to     10     rather than per item. Some items are upcycled — re-modelled or re-worked by adding embroidery, patches and other additions. However, these second-hand clothes are worn or re-designed, the sustainability of vintage fashion means it’s here to stay for some time to come.