1 . Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in the blanks to make the passage coherent and grammatically correct. For the blanks with a given word, fill in each blank with the proper form of the given word; for the other blanks, use one word that best fits each blank.

What If You’re Not Good at English?

Researchers whose first language is not English can spend around twice as long reading an English scientific journal article as native speakers. For a PhD student, that can mean     1     (spend) up to 19 additional working days per year just reading papers.

These statistics,     2     (publish) today in PLOS Biology, might not be shocking, researchers say, but it’s important to measure the effects of language barriers on the careers of academics       3     are not fluent in English. “It is the first step for the scientific community       4     (make) more efforts to solve this problem”, says Tatsuya Amano, a biodiversity researcher at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia, and a co-author of the study.

The team found that among scientists who had published only one paper in English, scientists from countries       5     English is generally poor spent 29.8 percent more time writing papers than native English speakers;     6     from countries with moderate English proficiency (能力) spent 50.6% more time. Similarly, the researchers found that people from countries with low English proficiency spent an average of 90.8 percent more time reading scientific articles       7     native English speakers.

At conferences, even those who overcome obstacles face difficulties in presenting their work in English. Germana Barata, a researcher who     8     (specialize) in science communication at the State University of Campinas in Brazil, says that despite being fluent in English, she still feels uncomfortable at times. “We       9     (give) the same amount of time to present, but all that we can say in 10 minutes is different from       10     a native speaker can say,” she points out.

2 . 听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。1.

A．At a travel agency.	B．At a local restaurant.
C．At a hotel reception.	D．At an Australian airport.

2.

A．Free wine is offered.	B．The price is reasonable.
C．She carries a lot of luggage.	D．She travels with her family.

3.

A．One week.	B．Two weeks.
C．Four nights.	D．Five nights.

4.

A．She can come back for Christmas.

B．She can drink the best wine of Australia.

C．She can choose the activities she likes.

D．She can book a holiday anywhere.

3 . 听下面一段独白，回答以下小题。1.

A．The film is made up of world classics.

B．Mamma Mia has moved from the stage to the screen.

C．Mamma Mia tells Sufi’s search for her mother.

D．The story of Mamma Mia has a lot to do with the band.

2.

A．In Sweden.	B．In Shanghai.
C．In London.	D．In America.

3.

A．The mature cast.

B．The story with ABBA music.

C．The European Song Contest 1984 champion.

D．The Chinese version of Mamma of 2011.

4 .

A．He saw the big tower on TV.	B．He has visited the TV tower once.
C．He has visited the TV tower twice.	D．He will visit the TV tower in June.

5 . Directions: Read the following passage. Summarize the main idea and the main point(s) of the passage in no more than 60 words. Use your own words as far as possible.

England Prohibits Phones in Schools, But Will It Help?

Recently, England’s Department of Education has confirmed plans to ban the use of mobile phones in English schools during the school day, including break times. The guidance offers schools a variety of ways to implement (实施) the ban, ranging from an order to leave all phones at home, to handing them in on arrival or keeping them in inaccessible lockers.

England’s response to the growing frustration with students’ cellphone use during school time is not unfounded. The United Nations this past summer published a report issuing a strong warning regarding technology use in schools around the globe. Some countries had already implemented strict “no-cellphone” policies. For example, France prohibited students in elementary and middle schools from using cellphones while on campus. Meanwhile, it is reported that most teens use their phones for an average of 43 minutes during school hours, with some students reaching six hours on the high end. These addictive devices often lead to distraction and social anxiety. Worse still, almost one-third of secondary school teachers said that their lessons were interrupted by students’ mobile phones.

However, some people don’t believe that banning mobile phones in England’s schools will fundamentally address the harm that mobile phones do to children. “We work with children daily. We understand that a phone is a device to pay for a bus, contact your mum, and find information,” Kidron, a secondary school teacher, said. “So the device is not the issue; it is the persistent irresponsible content provided by online tech platforms that is to blame. Companies that engage with children, therefore, should offer content that is suitable for their age and development capacity.” Ghey, a concerned mother, also raised her voice on this matter, but with a different perspective. She argued for the phone manufacturers to make specific products for under-18s that prevent them from accessing harmful content.

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6 . Directions: Read the following passage. Summarize the main idea and the main point(s) of the passage in no more than 60 words. Use your own words as far as possible.

Complaining: The Happiness Killer

In 15th-century Germany, there was an expression: Greiner, Zanner, which can be translated as “a chronic (长期的) complainer.” Are you a bit of a Greiner, Zanner? If so, you’re not alone. Survey data show that customers today are more than twice as likely to complain about a product or service as they were in 1976. A U. K.-based survey also observed a rise in job dissatisfaction over a two-year period before autumn 2022.

Complaints can be grouped into different categories. As is reported, 45 percent of complaints concern the behavior of others. For instance, parents repeatedly criticize their children for small issues like messy bedrooms or dirty clothes. Another 29 percent focus on personal discomfort. A common complaint in this category might be about feeling too hot in a room without air conditioner. The remaining 26 percent involve unpleasant obligations like unnecessary work meetings people are forced to attend.

The problem with all of these complaints is that it can feel helpful — but it typically isn’t . Although complaining might offer temporary relief, it’s bad for your happiness in the long run. Researchers who measured people’s mood before and after they complained found that those complainers’ mood was significantly worsening. Besides, complaining can also lower the happiness of the people around you. In some relationships, the negative effect can pass like a virus to those exposed. In other words, when people see others’ complaints expressing anger, disgust and sadness, they can, in turn, feel similar emotions.

As the 20th-century Bulgarian philosopher Archimandrite Seraphim Aleksiev observed, “Complaining is like the winter frost which, when it falls, destroys all the labors of the gardeners.”

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7 . Directions: 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. flooded   B. leaps   C. increasingly   D. combines   E. reflects   F. emphasizing G. pioneering   H. crafted   I. technical   J. unexpectedly   K. classic

Chinese animations (动画) are booming

The “Black Cat Delective”, released 40 years ago, was a childhood favorite for many Chinese. Since then, Chinese cartoons have come a long way. While “Black Cat Detective” was simply drawn, current cartoons feature     1     advances and fascinating plots. One example is “Boonie Bears: Time Twist”, a family-friendly adventure released in February, with smooth animation reminding us of Pixar, a     2     animation studio now owned by Disney.

These recent     3     in quality have enabled Chinese cartoons to succeed at the domestic box office. “Ne Zha: Birth of the Demon Child” was the most well-received film in China in 2019,    4     beating out “Avengers: Endgame ”, a superhero movie by Marvel Studios.

In the 1960s, China’s animation industry saw a big downturn as American and Japanese films     5     into the Chinese market, dominating both domestic television and cinema screens. As a result, Chinese animators     6     began to work for western studios. However, things changed in 2015 with the release of “Monkey King: Hero is Back”, a breakthrough for Chinese animation. This film, based on the timeless     7     “Journey to the Wes/”, signaled a new era of creativity and success in the industry. The main character, the Monkey King, is depicted(刻画) as going through a mid-life crisis, which     8     the director’s view that cartoons are not just for children.

Light Chaser Animation, a Beijing-based studio, has contributed to the popularity of cartoons in China. Its production “30,000 Miles from Chang’ an”     9     elements of Chinese culture, history, and legends with aesthetic(美学的) feeling of Tang dynasty poetry. Indeed, traditional themes are widespread among successful Chinese animations,    10     the importance of traditional culture as a foundation for Chinese animation. Like other industries, cartoons in China are inspired by Western innovations but with added “Chinese characteristics”.

8 . Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in the blanks to make the passage coherent and grammatically correct. For the blanks with a given word, fill in each blank with the proper form of the given word; for the other blanks, use one word that best fits each blank.

Are You Ready to Hug a Robot?

Getting hugged tends to be a powerful positive emotional experience. Hugs have been shown to enhance social bonding and emotional well-being. However, not everyone can get a hug     1     they need one. Some people are lonely and do not have anyone to hug them. Others may be in long-distance relationships     2     it is not easy to get physical affection from their partner. In this case, they     3     receive fewer hugs than they like.

How can this problem be solved?     4     scientists have proposed is to develop hug robots. This could offer lonely people the positive effects of getting hugged without the need     5    (seek) a person who could hug them. Nevertheless, designing a hug robot is not an easy task. For example, if the robot is very large and made mostly of metal, people might be frightened of it,     6     happily hugging it. Therefore, psychological research is needed.

A new study, which     7    (publish) in International Journal recently, focuses on the development of Moffuly-II, a newly developed hug robot, which can move its arms to perform different small gestures during the hug. When two people hug, they often do specific things with their hands, such as clapping the     8    (hug)person on the back to signal sympathy. It is important that a hug robot can perform similar gestures, too. In the study, the scientists wanted to know whether these gestures would make a robot hug     9    (appealing). Volunteers who Moffully-Il hugged generally preferred hugs with gestures to gesture-less hugs. They felt that the robot was more friendly when    10    (perform) gestures.

The findings of the study indicate that it is possible to design a robot that people enjoy to hug. Details matter here, as the intra-hug gestures played a significant role in determining how much the human volunteers enjoyed the hug.

9 . Directions:   Read the following passage. Summarize the main idea and the main point(s) of the passage in no more than 60 words. Use your own words as far as possible.

Less Snowy Winters

Winter might mean snowball fights in many places. But this might not be the case for much longer. While many people around the world are currently experiencing heavy snowfall, Earth is getting less snowy — a trend that isn’t temporary. That’s because the planet is heating up and winter is warming faster than any other season in America. The water falling to earth in winter is more commonly falling as raindrops than snow.

With water falling as rain instead of snow, and then freezing, some animals may struggle to feed on grass on frozen ground. Species with white coats could be at higher risk of being eaten as food, while polar bears may have fewer options to build their snowy habitations. Not every species can adapt or move to snowier climates, which may cause the extinction of some animals.

As air temperatures warm, trees release water into the atmosphere through a process called evapotranspiration, loss of water from the soil. When there hasn’t been much snow, the soil can’t replace lost moisture, and forests experience more heat stress, making severe wildfires more likely. “When a fire does spark, it runs away as fast as possible and burns as much area as it can,” says Andrew Schwartz, lead scientist at UC Berkeley’s Central Sierra Snow Laboratory.

For humans, less snowfall is “problematic because snow supplies so much of our water,” says Schwartz. About 1.9 billion people rely on snowpacks and big mass of ice for drinking water. Snow on the mountains acts like a natural lake used to store water. As it slowly melts into streams, snow supplies water through spring and summer, while rain flows immediately downstream and can be wasted. “It becomes more difficult to manage our water when we have these wild swings from year to year,” says Schwartz.

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10 . Why Are You Still Coughing?

Have you caught a cold recently — but can’t get rid of the cough? You’re not alone. The symptom can stick around for weeks after our bodies have cleared a virus. Michael Shiloh, a physician specializing in infectious disease research at UT Southwestern Medical Center, says coughing patients often report that they were sick as many as eight weeks prior to seeing him. He says, “    1    ”

The United States saw a sharp rise in cases of influenza in late 2023 that’s dragged on into 2024. And though positive tests for the illness have leveled off or decreased countrywide over the past weeks, the number of people seeking healthcare for respiratory (呼吸的) diseases is still elevated across much of the U.S.     2     But research on how infections affect nerves in the airway is revealing new clues.

Coughing is an important reaction that protects the airway from dangers like water or bits of mis-swallowed food, says doctor and researcher Lorcan McGarvey of Queen’s University Belfast.     3     These nerves are decorated with receptor (受体) proteins that react to everything from cold air to hot pepper. When a stimulus causes those receptors, nerves send signals to the brain that we experience as the urge to cough.

While it may seem obvious that coughing is meant to clear our throats, it’s also possible that viruses cause the reaction to help themselves spread.     4     And if we do ultimately cough to clear out our airway during an infection, that still wouldn’t explain what exactly our nerves sense during an infection that causes a cough.

“We don’t know,” says electrophysiologist Thomas Taylor-Clark of the University of South Florida. “But what we can say is that we do know some things, one being that viruses cause infection.”

A．The reaction is caused by nerves that reach into the airway.

B．Scientists know about many different stimuli that can cause cough.

C．Many infections involve dry coughs that don’t produce phlegm (痰) at all.

D．We can’t really detect virus any more in these individuals, and yet they’re still coughing.

E．But at least temporarily, they can send us into coughing even when we’re no longer sick.

F．Scientists still aren’t sure exactly why otherwise healthy people experience this kind of persistent cough.