1 .

I offer to pay you $200 in one year if you give me $190 today. Good deal or bad deal? It’s the kind of math problem you might encounter in real life, _________, say, whether the cosecant (余割) of a 30-degree angle is 1 or 2. You can imagine students _________ their spirits and paying attention when they realize that they need to know algebra (代数) to avoid being cheated on a loan. Math and personal finance make a _________ fit. Students grasp concepts in math much better when they see how those subjects _________ their daily financial lives.

A survey in 2022 funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation found that 61 percent of parents of students said math education should be “relevant to the real world” _________ that only 21 percent said it was. The drive for relevance goes beyond K-12 education. Some of America’s top universities are _________ personal finance into their curriculums.

Harvard has a personal finance course in the _________ department that’s taught by John Campbell, a past president of the American Finance Association. “_________, personal finance was regarded as a very sort of hands-on skill that you might teach to people who were going to a technical high school,” he told me. “There is, I would say, a modern movement to _________ of personal finance as a subject with actually a lot more intellectual content.”

In most high schools, personal finance classes are light on math, and math classes are __________ in personal finance. The FiCycle curriculum has plenty of each. “The personal finance component is incredibly __________ for our high school students,” Philip Dituri, the director of education at Financial Life Cycle Education, who has a doctorate in math education, told me. He believed that quite a lot of students would be stimulated by the __________.

There is a __________ standard for personal finance education that was put together by the Council for Economic Education and the JumpStart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy. It emphasizes how to __________ one’s finances. FiCycle focuses more on the underlying concepts. It’s about “how and why individuals and households transfer consumption over time,” Financial Life Cycle Education says.

In conclusion, the integration of math and personal finance in education is not just an academic pursuit, but a __________ necessity for students to guide their real life. It is time for educational institutions to take note and adapt their curricula to better prepare students for the financial challenges of adulthood.

1.

A．similar to

B．as opposed to

C．compared with

D．coupled with

2.

A．lifting

B．lowering

C．forgetting

D．struggling

3.

A．awful

B．forced

C．perfect

D．temporary

4.

A．apply to

B．pass down

C．identify with

D．kick off

5.

A．for

B．but

C．and

D．so

6.

A．breathing

B．rolling

C．quoting

D．introducing

7.

A．politics

B．economics

C．mathematics

D．physics

8.

A．Traditionally

B．Constantly

C．Frequently

D．Thankfully

9.

A．restore

B．recover

C．reconsider

D．retell

10.

A．lacking

B．sufficient

C．absent

D．present

11.

A．depressing

B．amazing

C．challenging

D．motivating

12.

A．combination

B．separation

C．application

D．publication

13.

A．regional

B．local

C．national

D．individual

14.

A．learn

B．increase

C．examine

D．manage

15.

A．practical

B．regrettable

C．miserable

D．relaxing

2 . 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. competing     B. incredibly     C. issued     D. influential     E. barely F. hosting     G. highlight       H. stage     I. diagnosis     J. related K. commitment

Shanghai Is Full Speed Ahead

After decades of experience in the field, Shanghai is strengthening its reputation as a global leader in     1     top-level, professional sports events.

Last month’s Shanghai Sailing Open, held from March 26—31 on Dishui Lake, was a typical example of the city’s world-famous excellence, attracting over 300 competitors, including a six—time world champion of Poland, a gold medalist at the Hangzhou Asian Games, and China’s former Olympic champion Xu Lijia;     2     in sailboats and yachts, sailors sang praise on the competition environment and overall atmosphere of the event.

Shanghai’s     3     to developing its sports scene has been key to this success. In 2015, the Shanghai government     4     a plan to speed up the development of its sports industry, including a proposal to develop the city into a world-renowned sports hub within 10 years.

According to the “2023 Shanghai sports event influence     5     report”, Shanghai held 118 major sports events last year, with 36 of those international-level events, including the ATP 1000 Shanghai Masters, the Shanghai Marathon, and the Shanghai Half Marathon, which were rated as the city’s most     6     sports events last year.

This year, besides the recent Shanghai Sailing Open and various district-organized half marathon events, the city will continue to     7     sports competitions such as the Shanghai Half Marathon, the Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix, the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, and the Olympic Qualifier Series.

The success of sports development in Shanghai is closely     8     to a policy of top-level construction. In addition to top—level international competitions, top—tier home teams, and professional leagues, brand events are staged year-round to     9     the city’s characteristics. Linking sports with culture, commerce, tourism, and exhibitions is another feature of the city’s sports environment, helping to     10     maximize the economic benefits. Spectators can expect to be treated to the very best in urban sports and that organizers will strive to provide a warm atmosphere of sports, art, music, and culture.

3 . 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.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4 . 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.

5 . 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. emerge          B. absorbing            C. subject          D. defining          E. movement F. originally       G. course            H. universally        I. happens        J. constant       K. corresponds

How Long Is a Second?

The length of a second depends on how you’re measuring it. There are 24 hours in a day, 60 minutes in an hour, and 60 seconds in a minute — so surely a second is 1/86400, of a day, right? Well, it turns out that     1     time isn’t that simple.

“The second was     2     based on the length of the day,” Peter Whibberley, a senior scientist at the National Physical Laboratory in the U.K., told Live Science. “People observed the sun passing overhead and started measuring its     3     using sundials (日晷). However, sundials have a few disadvantages. Aside from the obvious problem of not being able to read a sundial when the sun isn’t visible, relying on Earth’s daily turning is surprisingly inaccurate. “The turning is not precisely     4    ,” Whibberley said. “The Earth speeds up and slows down over time.” So how can we precisely measure time if using the length of a day is so unreliable?

In the 16^th century, people turned to technological solutions to this problem, and the first recognizable mechanical clocks began to     5    . The earliest mechanical clocks, which were designed to click at a specific frequency, averaged over the     6     of a year.

By around 1940, quartz crystal clocks (石英钟) had become the new gold standard. However, problems arose, and this was where atomic clocks came in. “Atoms exist only in particular energy states and can only change from one state to another by     7     or giving out a fixed amount of energy,” Whibberley explained. “That energy     8     to a precise frequency, so you can use that frequency as a reference for time keeping.” The astronomical second continued to vary. Every few years, scientists must add a second to allow Earth’s slowing turning to keep up with atomic time.

In fact, scientists are discussing whether it’s time to redefine the second again. But while several important questions still need to be answered before this     9    , it’s clear that the strictly correct definition of a second is     10     to change.

6 . 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.

Number of Steps a Day It Takes to Cut Risk of Early Death

New research suggests exactly how many steps you need to take each day to reduce the risk of heart disease and early death. If you     1     (fail) in your pursuit of walking 10,000 steps a day — researchers have some good news for you.

They found walking up to 10,000 steps a day reduces these risks. The lowest risk of early death was     2     people who took 9,000 to 10,500 steps a day. When it came to avoiding heart attack, people     3     (manage) around 9,700 steps a day had the lowest risks.

Experts have previously found people who spend a lot of time sitting while awake are more likely     4     (suffer) an early death and develop heart disease. It has been unclear     5     walking can balance out the effects of sitting down for most of the day — until now.

A study, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, analysed data from 72,174 people     6     (age) around 61 from UK. Participants wore a device for seven days to measure their exercise levels. After a seven-year follow-up, 1,633 deaths and 6,190 cardiovascular (心脏血管的) events, such as heart attack, were recorded. The results showed any amount of daily steps above 2,200 a day were linked to lower death and heart disease —    7     the rest of the day was spent being inactive.

Julie Ward, a senior nurse in the U.K., said, “We encourage people to stay active for     8     heart and circulatory health by doing 150 minutes of moderate exercise a week. “This can be any activity     9     fits into your lifestyle, such as taking regular walking breaks away from your computer screen, going to the gym, enjoying exercise classes, or even getting off the bus one stop     10     (early) to get more steps in.”

7 .

A．It is faster to go to Miami by train.

B．It is not always cheaper to go by bus.

C．It is worth the money to take a train to Miami.

D．It is more comfortable and convenient to take a bus.

8 . Recent years have seen a small increase in unemployment rates due to slowing of the economy. The fact that many college graduates are finding it difficult to land a job has sparked online discussions on the cost of education and the returns on it, with many agreeing with the notion that “education is useless”.

Stories like a person with a doctorate’s degree from Zhejiang University is delivering food, and overseas-returned graduates are selling hot-pot ingredients have caused many to question the value of education. Moreover, the fact that about 36,000 fewer candidates have applied to take the postgraduate exam in 2024, the first decline in numbers in years, has also fueled the “education is useless theory.

Is education truly worthless? This question has resurfaced due to several factors.

The wide spread of higher education has significantly increased the number of college graduates, reducing the value of college degrees. As the job market becomes over-crowded with graduates, the scarcity of high-level talents has become apparent, particularly in fields such as the humanities. For example, more than 900 institutions in China offer English major, making it the most common degree program, yet there’s a shortage of top talents who are proficient in English and have a good knowledge about the differences in Chinese and foreign approach to fields such as international relations and journalism.

The declining returns on the investment in education have given rise to the “education is useless” theory. Given the challenging job market, many believe college education does not guarantee any sort of employment, let alone a suitable job. And with various economic opportunities available, the notion that one can become financially successful even without formal education is becoming increasingly acceptable.

In light of these developments, combined efforts need to be made to change the situation. For instance, universities must take measures to integrate education, research and industry, while enhancing cooperation with enterprises through tailored talent training programs. Additionally, the authorities need to pay greater attention to vocational education, an important part of China’s educational system. Students, parents and society, on their part, should abandon their bias against vocational training, because it integrates education with career prospects throughout the learning process, offering targeted, technical and practical training which allows students to master their skills which can get them well-paying jobs in the future.

Developing a correct view of employment and career choice is key to abandoning the notion of “education being useless”. People, especially students, must understand the current employment landscape, their positioning, and strengths and weaknesses. While realizing that a college degree is no longer a ticket to employment, college students should leverage education resources to enrich their professional knowledge and competitiveness. And youths should approach vocational education with an open mind in order to make the most of what the job market has to offer.

Education is not synonymous with earning money, nor does a college degree guarantee financial success. The value of education is knowledge, which we need to make informed decisions not only in our professional life but also in our social and other fields of life.

1. What are the main reasons for the recent rise in the belief that ”education is useless”?

A．Economic slowdown and job scarcity.

B．Sad stories about educated individuals.

C．Decline in postgraduate exam applicants.

D．Emphasis on practical skills over qualifications.

2. How can universities contribute to improving the current situation?

A．By focusing solely on academic research.

B．By integrating education, research, and industry.

C．By ignoring cooperation with enterprises.

D．By eliminating vocational education courses.

3. The underlined word leverage in paragraph 7 can be best replaced by___________.

A．limit

B．abandon

C．balance

D．maximize

4. What is the author’s attitude towards the development of vocational education?

A．Negative and pessimistic	B．Positive and supportive
C．Balanced and objective	D．Unclear and ambiguous

9 . 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. houses   B. approaching   C. appear   D. talent   E. exclusively F. lowered   G. hiding   H. limits   I. dramatically   J. natural   K. sensitive

Dolphin Senses

New research involving trained dolphins seems to further prove that these animals can sense electricity. The     1     may allow them to better lock onto hidden fish hunted and direct the path.

The ability to sense electric fields is known as electroreception(电感受). All animals produce a weak electric field, but electroreception has almost     2     been found in water creatures. About a decade ago, scientists published research suggesting that some dolphins have passive electroreception. And in 2021, researchers in Germany released their own study finding that dolphins likely have it, too.

This new research is a follow-up to that latter study by the same team—one intended to better describe the     3     of electroreception in bottlenose dolphins. The researchers teamed up with scientists from the Nuremberg Zoo, which currently     4     six dolphins. They specifically worked with two bottlenose dolphins named Donna and Dolly. They first trained them to rest their jaws on a metal bar in the water, and then to respond to an electric field     5     them by swimming away within five seconds. They then gradually     6     the strength of this field to test the dolphins’ sensitivity.

The findings further prove that bottlenose dolphins can indeed sense electricity, but suggest that some dolphins are better at it than others. Donna, for instance, was a bit more     7     and able to respond correctly to a weaker field than Dolly.

The electroreception found in dolphins doesn’t     8     to be as strong as it is in the typical shark, but it’s probably still useful enough for them to find fish     9     underneath sand, stones or mud within a few centimeters away. Other studies have suggested that dolphins also possess a sense that acts as a sort of     10     GPS for them. So these dolphins’ electroreception might provide an explanation for that ability as well, Huttner said.

10 .

A．He’s going to play football with Jim.

B．He will take Jim to see a football match.

C．He’s going to watch the World Cup on TV.

D．He will catch the opportunity to win the World Cup.