1 . The study by University of Arizona researchers, published in the Creativity Research Journal, finds that creative people are more likely to fruitfully use idle (空闲的) time by letting one idea lead to another.
“In psychology and neuroscience, most studies on human thoughts either prompt (提示) participants to think in a certain way or ask them to report on thoughts they experienced, but less is known about how thoughts naturally arise and unfold over time in unprompted contexts,” said Jessica Andrews-Hanna, an associate professor in the Department of Psychology and senior author of the paper. “This is where our study comes in.”
The researchers divided the study into two parts. For the first experiment, the researchers asked each participant to sit alone in a room for 10 minutes without any access to digital devices. In the absence of any particular prompt, the participants were asked to voice their thoughts aloud in real time. The recorded files from 81 participants were then transcribed (转录) and analyzed.
The first experiment found that creative people were more engaged in their thoughts when they were left alone without distractions, such as cell phones and the Internet. “Creative people rated themselves as being less bored, even over those 10 minutes. They also spoke more words overall, which indicated that their thoughts were more likely to move freely,” said Andrews-Hanna.
For the second experiment, over 2,600 adults answered questions through a smartphone app called Mind Window, developed by Andrews-Hanna and her graduate student Eric Andrews. Participants who self-identified as being creative reported being less bored during the idle time.
The researchers are continuing this line of work using their Mind Window app. They encourage people to download and use the app to help scientists understand how people across the world think in their everyday lives. “Understanding why different people think the way they do may lead to promising interventions to improve health and well-being,” said Andrews-Hanna.
1. What do Andrews-Hanna’s words in paragraph 2 focus on?| A．The necessity of the study. | B．The value of former studies. |
| C．The participants of the study. | D．The process of former studies. |
| A．They spoke out what they thought. | B．They recorded their own voices. |
| C．They remembered some prompts. | D．They finished a number of reports. |
| A．They made better use of digital devices. |
| B．They enjoyed idle time more than others. |
| C．They were more likely to understand others. |
| D．They were more willing to share their thoughts. |
| A．Educational. | B．Fashionable. | C．Expensive. | D．Beneficial. |
2 . Four Best Books for Teens
The How-To Cookbook for Teens
Price: $19
Cooking is a useful life skill and tons of fun for teens. This beginner-friendly book written by Julee Morrison is packed with 100 simple recipes in an easy-to-follow format that uses everyday, affordable ingredients. Parents love this book because it motivates teens to cook and is well-suited for them to cook all by themselves.
The Outsiders
Price: $13
The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton is about two weeks in the life of a 14-year-old boy. The novel tells the story of Ponyboy Curtis and his struggles with right and wrong in a society in which he believes that he is an outsider.
52 Modern Manners for Today’s Teens
Price: $23
52 Modern Manners for Today’s Teens is more than a book—it’s a 52-week calendar that provides teens (and their parents and caregivers) with crucial tips on living in today’s society. Author Brooke Romney tackles topics like Internet privacy, friendship, respecting people’s homes, helping others, and knowing yourself.
Hey, Kiddo
Price: $15
Fans of author Jarrett J. Krosoczka will know him for his Lunch Lady and Jedi Academy books. This graphic (漫画的) novel goes into the author’s childhood as he struggles with a family facing addiction and finds art to help him survive. New and long-time fans of graphic novels will appreciate the depth of this impactful story.
1. Which book will you buy if you are interested in cooking?| A．Hey, Kiddo. | B．The Outsiders. |
| C．The How-To Cookbook for Teens. | D．52 Modern Manners for Today’s Teens. |
| A．S. E. Hinton. | B．Julee Morrison. |
| C．Brooke Romney. | D．Jarrett J. Krosoczka. |
| A．$39. | B．$45. | C．$57. | D．$69. |
3 . A new study reveals that pigeons (鸽子) can tackle some problems just like artificial intelligence, enabling them to solve difficult tasks that might challenge humans. Previous research has theorized that pigeons employ a problem-solving strategy, involving a trial-and- error approach, which is similar to the approach used in AI models but differs from humans’ reliance on selective attention and rule use. To examine it, Brandon Turner, a psychology professor at the Ohio State University, and his colleagues conducted the new study.
In the study, the pigeons were presented with various visual images, including lines of different widths and angles, and different types of rings. The pigeons had to peck (啄) a button on the right or left to indicate the category to which the image belonged. If they got it correct, they received food; if they were wrong, they received nothing. Results showed that, through trial and error, the pigeons improved their accuracy in categorization tasks, increasing their correct choices from about 55% to 95%.
Researchers believed pigeons used associative learning, which is linking two phenomena with each other. For example, it is easy to understand the link. between “water” and “wet”. “Associative learning is frequently assumed to be far too primitive to. explain complex visual categorization like what we saw the pigeons do,” Turner said. But that’s exactly what the researchers found.
The researchers’ AI model tackled the same tasks using just the two simple mechanisms that pigeons were assumed to use: associative learning and error correction. And, like the pigeons, the AI model learned to make the right predictions to significantly increase the number of correct answers. For humans, the challenge when given tasks like those given to pigeons is that they would try to come up with rules that could make the task easier. But in this case, there were no rules, which upsets humans.
What’s interesting, though, is that pigeons use this method of learning that is very similar to AI designed by humans, Turner said. “We celebrate how smart we are that we designed artificial intelligence: at the same time, we regard pigeons as not clever animals,” he said.
1. What is the purpose of the new study?| A．To test a theory. | B．To evaluate a model. |
| C．To employ a strategy. | D．To involve an approach. |
| A．Draw circles. | B．Correct errors. | C．Copy gestures. | D．Identify images. |
| A．They are of equal intelligence. |
| B．They are good at making rules. |
| C．They respond rapidly to orders from humans. |
| D．They employ simple ways to get things done. |
| A．Pigeons’ trial-and-error method is revealed |
| B．Pigeons outperform humans in tough tasks |
| C．“Not smart” pigeons may be as smart as AI |
| D．AI models after pigeons’ learning approach |
I recently went SKYDIVING! It’s something I’ve been talking about doing since last year, but to be honest, it was planned super last minute… like within a matter of a few weeks.
It all started when I ran into a friend of mine walking home from a local festival earlier this summer. We started chatting about what we’d both been up to this summer and somehow got on the subject of both being interested in going skydiving someday. My friend, Denny, said he’d be onboard if I really wanted to schedule a jump and I was so excited to finally have someone to go with!
Later that night, we texted back and forth and decided on our jump date a few weeks in the future. When the very Sunday came, we were both FULL of excitement for our first skydiving experience. He had been bungee jumping before and I’d done my fair share of zip-lining, but neither of us figured that either of those of experiences would prepare us for what we had in store.
The drive there didn’t happen without a slight delay. As soon as we got off the through-way on to the exit towards the small town where the skydiving facility was, Denny’s car started to make a strange noise, forcing us to pull over on a busy interstate (州际公路).
Only 20 minutes away from WNY Skydiving (the place where we were going), we discovered we had a flat tyre (轮胎). At that point, I felt pretty defeated. Our scheduled time was 4 pm — the last appointment time of the day — so I figured they wouldn’t be able to wait for or delay the operations for us since we were racing against the light.
注意：1. 续写词数应为150个左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
We called American Automobile Association (AAA) and hoped for the best.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________We were informed we were the final jump of the night… the “sunset jump”.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________5 . Emma Stone was seven years old when she experienced her first panic attack: She was just sitting at a friend’s house, and all of a sudden the house was on fire. Stone remembers her chest started to tighten. She phoned her mother, who didn’t understand what was happening, but came to pick her up anyway. Stone says her fear eventually disappeared that day, but the anxiety still existed.
Stone had massive separation anxiety from her mother. That was a large part, she thinks, of what was setting off her anxiety. But going to school meant that she would have to be away from her mother for hours in the day. “I started to receive treatment around age eight, because it was getting really hard for me to leave the house to go to school,” she says.
Despite her anxiety—or maybe because of it—Stone began acting when she was 11; by age 15, she had convinced her parents to move from Arizona to Los Angeles so she could go on auditions (试镜). Stone found that acting was a way to remain in the present moment, without worrying about the past or the future. Plus, she adds, “As an actor, all of my big feelings are productive.”
Stone won the Academy Award in 2017 for her performance in the movie musical La La Land, and was nominated (提名) for Oscars for her performances in Birdman and The Favourite. She has been nominated again this year for her starring role in Poor Things.
In Poor Things, which Stone both starred in and produced, she plays Bella, a woman who has nearly died by killing herself and then is brought back to life by a strange surgeon. After that, Bella has the brain of a baby and the body of a grown woman. When her brain develops into a young adult brain, Bella leaves the surgeon to go on an adventure with a man who has become crazy about her.
Stone says, “Anxiety is like rocket fuel because I can’t help but get out of bed and do things. That’s really a gift.”
1. What happened to Emma Stone when she was seven?| A．She witnessed a fire accident. | B．She had a fight with her friend. |
| C．She experienced her second panic attack. | D．She couldn’t reach her mother on the phone. |
| A．Her illness. | B．Her education. | C．Her adventures. | D．Her achievements. |
| A．Stone. | B．Bella. | C．The surgeon. | D．The baby. |
| A．She often felt anxious when acting. |
| B．She tried to kill herself but was rescued. |
| C．She turned her anxiety into an advantage. |
| D．She didn’t get along well with her family. |
Chinese movie Pegasus 2 is a 2024 sports comedy-drama
7 . People are flying more than ever. From short trips to traveling around the globe, many are on the move. But finding the way at the airports has never been easy in the US, due to crowding and a lot of tasks like checking in, taking care of baggage, screening and finding your gate. It is often difficult to get to where you are going. If you are in a wheelchair or visually (视觉地) challenged, it’s even harder.
The new terminal (航站楼) at the Kansas City International Airport is designed to fix many of these shortcomings. The new facility features indoor play areas, changing rooms, and a quiet room for people who cannot handle the noise or activity of a busy airport. There is even a pet relief area for people traveling with their fury family members. One innovation (创新) is the glass-walled jet bridge for people who are worried about getting on and off planes. And for people who are uncomfortable with the whole airport and flying process, there are simulators (模拟器) that allow travelers to go from boarding to taking off virtually.
Justin Meyer, with the Kansas City Aviation Department, said the new terminal sets a level of inclusivity that passengers will expect in other airports. “The goal isn’t that we’re forever at the head of the line,” Meyer said. “My goal was just to raise the bar, so if someone else wants to build the most accessible airport in the world, they’re going to have to start from where Kansas City stopped. In the end, passengers win.”
While making airports more accessible to people with different abilities may seem to be expensive or difficult, the benefits certainly outweigh the costs. Accessible airports mean that more people and their families will be able to travel and then the skies will be friendly to all.
1. What is the function of paragraph 1?| A．To call on airports to improve their services. |
| B．To explain the background to the new terminal. |
| C．To stress the annoyance of frequent air travelers. |
| D．To show the complexity of boarding procedures. |
| A．People who take a pet. | B．People who use a wheelchair. |
| C．People who travel with their families. | D．People who have flight anxiety. |
| A．It needs further improvement. | B．It has the best passenger services. |
| C．It sets a higher standard for airport services. | D．It aims to lead the world in accessibility. |
| A．Supportive. | B．Conservative. | C．Unprejudiced. | D．Doubtful. |
1. How long did Zara Rutherford spend in flying around the world?
| A．Around three months. | B．Around four months. | C．Around five months. |
| A．Become pilots. | B．Enter art field. | C．Support Girls Who Code. |
| A．Her visa difficulty. | B．A natural disaster. | C．Her health condition. |
| A．32. | B．41. | C．52. |
9 . About 20 years ago, I was attending a law school while still doing my part-time job to provide my tuition. Despite that, my grades were still among the top ten percent of the class.
After several weeks, I completed the legal research and began writing my paper. Two weeks later, I ended my paper draft.
Later, I wrote a letter to the local newspaper detailing this story and explaining how paper grades were subjective. The letter was then published. Knowing this, the professor was awkward. Luckily, I didn’t mention his name. He emailed me and explained he’d made a mistake and confused my paper with another student’s.
| A．So I had nothing to complain about. |
| B．It was published and I got the check. |
| C．In fact, my paper should have been given an A. |
| D．Though annoyed, I could do nothing but accept it. |
| E．During the graduation season, I had to write an essay. |
| F．In order to win the competition, I prepared my essay very hard. |
| G．I showed it to some of my classmates, who gave me some constructive suggestions. |
10 . We learn about the world through the knowledge accumulated over thousands of years. standing on the shoulders of great men, we don’t have to experience endless trial and error, just as the wheels do not have to be reinvented each time to run a car. But where does our ability to learn from others come from?
A study led by Markus Paulus, professor at Loyola Marymount University, shows that the ability has its roots in earliest childhood. “It’s generally assumed that children’s ability to imitate (模仿) is inborn, but according to our observation, children imitate because they themselves are imitated by caregivers. This interaction enables a cultural transfer of knowledge, which, through generations’ efforts, consequently leads to the development of human beings,” says Markus Paulus.
In this research, Paulus recorded the interaction between mother and child over several months. The babies came into the lab for the first time at the age of6 months , while their final visit was when they were18 months old. As they engaged in various play situations , the interactions and imitations of mother and child were analyzed. The long-term study showed that the more sensitive a mother was in her interactions with her six- month-old child and the more often she imitated the baby, the greater the child’s overall ability was at the age of18 months.
Paulus’ research shows that mutual imitation is the keystone of knowledge transfer , through which children successfully learn various skills, such as how to use objects , waving and acquisition of language. “This interaction is the nucleus of learning and, finally, gives rise to evolutionary success of human,” says Paulus.
“Cultural learning is an essential part of human evolution, and it is rooted in the imitation of others, particularly our caregivers during our earliest childhood,” says Paulus. “Through this, we learn from each other and pass on knowledge to the next generation, so certain actions or techniques do not have to be constantly invented again. ”
1. Why does the author mention the example of wheels?| A．To praise the invention of car wheels. | B．To describe the process of trial and error. |
| C．To emphasize the necessity of new tools. | D．To show the importance of prior knowledge. |
| A．Children’s imitation was recorded by mothers. |
| B．Sensitive mothers encouraged children’s imitation. |
| C．Children’s ability was analyzed through interaction. |
| D．Effective interaction promoted children’s development. |
| A．Core. | B．Result. | C．Aim. | D．Content. |
| A．Why does Evolution Matter? | B．How to Interact with Children? |
| C．Imitation: The Engine of Evolution | D．Cultural Learning: The Root of Imitation |
