1 . New Yorker writer Kyle Chayka came of age alongside the internet. As a teen, he published his own blog and joined forum (论坛) for pop music. He discovered one of his favorite Jazz songs --- John Coltrane’s full version of “My Favorite Things” – driving around at night, listening to the local radio station.

Chayka misses the time ---and the ways, then, that personal discoveries like these were made. In his new book, Filterworld: How Algorithms (算法) Shaped Culture, Chayka says he never would have fallen in love with Coltrane’s songs if he’d heard it on Spodify. He says he doubts Spodify’s algorithm would even suggest it, because the song is so long. And that, even if it did, he wouldn’t have learned anything about Coltrane as an artist, because the Spodify interface doesn’t provide the same context that a radio DJ does, sharing details between songs. The person behind the song choice, he argues, made his emerging interest in Coltrane possible in a way modern recommendation system cannot.

This is one of many “back in my day” stories Chayka uses to illustrate his argument that algorithms have “shaped culture”. Thanks to recommendation generators like Tiktok’s top picks and Spodify’s autoplay suggestions, “the least troublesome and perhaps least meaningful pieces of culture are promoted,” Chayka argued. He admits that quality is subjective when judging these things, and instead argues that recommendation systems undermine personal taste. Taste, he writes, was once a combination of personal choices and popular influence --- but now algorithms rely more on choices of the masses. Developing taste requires effort and active engagement, but what we see now are algorithms turning taste into consumerism.

A central point of the book, in fact, is that people today are not only well aware of the power of algorithms, they can’t escape them. He interviews a young woman who wonders if “what I like is what I actually like,” worried that her taste is so shaped by algorithms that she can’t trust herself. The book may be most useful in these sections, where Chayka and his interviewees attempt to make sense of how internet algorithms have shaped their own lives and work.

1. What causes Chayka to be interested in John Coltrane’s music?

A．The details provided by algorithm.	B．Listening to the local radio station.
C．Recommendation of Spodify.	D．The charm of John Coltrane.

2. What is the book Filterworld mainly about?

A．How early internet shapes our culture.

B．How technology impacts our personal taste.

C．How social media changes our view of reality.

D．How digital platform redefine mass consumption.

3. What does “undermine” in paragraph probably mean?

A．underestimate.	B．enhance.
C．transform.	D．disturb.

4. What does the author intend to do in the last paragraph?

A．Show the highlights of the book.	B．Comment on the structure of the book.
C．Encourage the use of internet.	D．Praise Chayka’s writing styles.

2 . Youth Week WA 2024

Youth Week WA (YWWA) 2024 will n from 5 to 12 April and aims to:

·provide young people aged 12-25 years with opportunities o express ideas and exhibit their talents and contributions;

·give the community the opportunity to listen to young people and celebrate the positive contributions they have made to the community;

·raise community awareness on issues of concern to young people.

YWWA 2024 Ambassadors (大使)

The Ambassadors are volunteers who participate on the YWWA 2024 team by:

·being a part of, and providing support and guidance to the members of the Young People’s Planning Committee;

·helping develop creative ways to involve more young people in YWWA;

·having input into events and strategies for YWWA;

·attending events during YWWA;

·being a public spokesperson for YWWA.

Meet your 2024 Youth Ambassadors!

☆ Fatima Merchant aged 19 is a member of the Amnesty International Australia Youth Advisory Group, UN Youth Australia and is a facilitator at the WA Debating League.

☆ Nathida Chalermsuk aged 22 is studying at Curtin University where she launched a new initiative Youth United, a program which facilitates cross-cultural understanding amongst young people in Australia and calls for more wildlife protection.

☆ Samuel Thomas aged 19 established Sam’s Spares, a nonprofit that saves unwanted e-waste from landfill.

☆ Izabella Brandis aged 18 held workshops for young people in the community where they were invited to come along and create artworks that advocate the ecological sustainability.

1. What is one of the goals of YWWA 2024?

A．To give financial assistance to young people.

B．To promote academic achievements among young people.

C．To raise community awareness about young people’s contributions.

D．To provide opportunities for teenagers to show their special talents.

2. What should the Ambassadors do during YWWA 2024?

A．Organize more events and activities.

B．Get more young people engaged in YWWA..

C．Provide guidance to people in the community.

D．Assess the Young People’s Planning Committee.

3. Who shared the program for environmental protection?

A．Samuel Thomas and Nathida Chalermsuk.	B．Fatima Merchant and Izabella Brandis.
C．Fatima Merchant and Nathida Chalermsuck.	D．Samuel Thomas and Izabella Brandis.

3 . The saying “You need to walk a mile in their shoes” couldn’t be truer. It goes for a person in a wheelchair to attend an event. You can’t fully grasp what it would be like for your attendees who use a wheelchair to experience your event until you’ve sat in their seat.

With that in mind, Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA) offered participants an opportunity to attend the “Event Mobility & Accessible Design — An Immersive Tour” in a wheelchair. The event was led by accessibility advocate Rosemarie Rossetti, who has been in a wheelchair since an accident paralyzed (使瘫痪) her from the waist down 25 years ago. Rossetti took us for a test run of the wheelchair tour, which opened our eyes to the challenges those in a wheelchair face when attending events and gave us a better understanding of how to make those events more welcoming for them.

After we started pushing ourselves around, I was immediately reminded of a recent article on how San Diego Comic-Con attendees were disappointed except for those in a wheelchair. The exhibit hall of the event was not carpeted. The first thing you realize when pushing yourself in a wheelchair is that it’s far less physically taxing on cement (水泥) than on carpeting. You should know the truth that it takes more energy and time to navigate in a wheelchair.

I hope that my temporary experience in a wheelchair won’t fade from memory and that I will look at every event with fresh eyes. In the registration form, it’s not enough to ask whether the attendees need wheelchair access but what convenience they need.

What can be especially helpful to those in wheelchairs, Rossetti shared, was to feature an accessible navigation map in the app to highlight a wheelchair-only access route. Rossetti accompanied planners on their site visits to make sure the attendees would be fully accessible, but she also suggested proactive use of a wheelchair on the next site visit.

1. Why were the wheelchairs offered to the attendees at the event led by Rossetti?

A．To make disabled people know the event’s challenges.

B．To help them get used to disabled persons’ daily life.

C．To make the event understood better by the organizers.

D．To help them experience the event from disabled persons’ view.

2. What does the underlined word “taxing” in paragraph 3 mean?

A．Demanding.

B．Attractive.

C．Ignorant.

D．Rewarding.

3. What does the experience inspire the author to do?

A．Organize more events.

B．Care for many attendees.

C．Make events more accessible.

D．Design advanced wheelchairs.

4. What is the last paragraph mainly about?

A．The achievements Rossetti made in the past.

B．The feelings Rossetti had during the previous events.

C．Rossetti’s suggestions on helping disabled attendees.

D．Rossetti’s opinions on setting up accesses for disabled people.

4 . I was 3 years into my Ph.D. Yet I still felt in the ______ because I did not know how or when I would graduate. To be ______, I couldn’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. Worse still, Erika was ______, the only other woman in the lab. This added to my ______. As she cleared out her lab space, she offered a ______: her old but big computer monitor (显示器). This kind, seemingly minute ______ turned out to be exactly the lifeline (救命稻草) I ______.

To me, this monitor was a ______ that my community supports me even when they aren’t ______ with me. After years of using only a small laptop, I was ______ by how much my work benefited from having an additional screen. With this ______ perspective, I started to like writing. I handed in my graduation paper, and the light at the end of the tunnel shined brightly.

Then I graduated. My ______ with the monitor came to an end, and I wanted to ______ the chain of care and sisterhood. So, I offered it to another woman engineer, who told me the monitor allowed her to have focused writing time. It also helped solidify her ______ that she is in community with people who support her — just as it did for me.

And just like that, a ripple (涟漪) effect from an ______ monitor.

1.

A．end

B．air

C．past

D．dark

2.

A．fair

B．famous

C．frank

D．independent

3.

A．volunteering

B．progressing

C．applying

D．leaving

4.

A．anxiety

B．surprise

C．annoyance

D．embarrassment

5.

A．suggestion

B．gift

C．ride

D．choice

6.

A．response

B．change

C．gesture

D．contribution

7.

A．shared

B．needed

C．provided

D．experienced

8.

A．reminder

B．result

C．form

D．proposal

9.

A．eventually

B．fortunately

C．acceptably

D．physically

10.

A．kept back

B．looked into

C．turned down

D．blown away

11.

A．slower

B．emptier

C．broader

D．heavier

12.

A．comparison

B．time

C．communication

D．satisfaction

13.

A．continue

B．found

C．restore

D．check

14.

A．sense

B．achievement

C．dream

D．character

15.

A．expensive

B．artificial

C．ordinary

D．adjustable

5 . A century ago, kids were transported to school by all kinds of random vehicles. Because there were no national standards, it was up to states or individual school districts to hire buses, trucks and even horse-drawn wagons to convey kids to and from school.

Frank Cyr didn’t like this system. Back in the 1930s, Cyr was a professor at Teachers College, Columbia University, and an advocate for rural education. Cyr traveled the country conducting a study of school transportation. “In many cases, standards have been set up by more or less hit-and-miss methods,” reported Cyr in a New York Times article. He decided that something needed to be done to keep America’s schoolkids safe.

So in 1939, Cyr organized a conference in New York City dedicated to improving and standardizing the American school bus. He invited educators, transportation officials from 48 states and bus manufacturers to design a newer, safer school bus. At the meeting, Cyr hung up 50 paint samples on the walls of the conference room and formed a special committee to pick a winner. They chose the symbolic yellow-orange color that was originally known as “National School Bus Chrome”.

Cyr wasn’t a scientist or a safety expert, but he instinctively made the connection between bright colors, visibility and vehicle safety. “Based upon the standards of 1939, yellow was a very intelligent choice,” says Dr. Stephen Solomon, a retired optometrist (验光师) and founder of Visibility in Motion, which does consulting for emergency services providers. “The colors that are most easily seen by the human eye are the yellows — the yellow-green to yellow to greenish-yellow,” says Solomon. “That’s at the peak of the visibility range.”

Solomon explains that color vision is determined by photoreceptor cells in the retina (视网膜) called cones (视锥细胞). There are three types of cones, each tuned to detect different wavelengths of light: red, green and blue. Yellow light stimulates both the red and green cones at the same time, which is why the eye is most sensitive to colors in the yellow range.

1. What does the underlined word “hit-and-miss” in paragraph 2 probably mean?

A．Random.

B．Similar.

C．Effective.

D．Special.

2. What do we learn about the 1939 meeting?

A．Many schoolkids were invited.

B．A prize was chosen to award a winner.

C．Cyr was appointed as a transportation official.

D．The color yellow was selected for school buses.

3. Why is yellow a distinct color for the eye?

A．It has different wavelengths.	B．It determines photoreceptor cells.
C．It affects two cones at the same time.	D．It covers the most visibility range.

4. What can be a suitable title of this text?

A．Why Are School Buses Yellow?	B．Cyr: Father of School Buses
C．1939: a Year of School Bus Standards	D．What Vehicles Are Safe for Kids?

6 . Why did Tom sleep early?

A．He worked too hard.

B．He was in a bad mood.

C．He was tired from body exercise.

7 . Last Monday, when I walked into a supermarket, my daughter, Charlotte, said she would buy me some flowers. I came home with a beautiful bouquet (花束), a(n)_______gift I enjoyed. That reminded me of the old days.

When my kids were younger, sometimes I noticed them_______something on a shop shelf, and I asked what they wanted to take home. Or I saw something while shopping by myself and thought which child would love that. I’d buy it and gave it to the_______child. We may be apprehensive about buying_______for our children. Should we be careful about what we give them because they might_______something every time we go shopping? What if we have several_______? If we buy something for one of them, will we have to buy something for everyone to be_______?

Despite the_______, I still bought gifts just to spread joy. After careful teaching, nothing terrible happened. My kids didn’t_______more when we went shopping. They always appreciated whatever I gave them. The child__________a gift would smile with delight, and the other children were pleased too. They shared the joy__________.

Now they do the same for me__________. Yesterday, I was too unwell to__________my son, James, to the mall. He said he would bring home something nice to cheer me up. He returned with some beautiful sunflowers. Sometimes, I stop my writing and glance up at my flowers, and__________fills my heart.I truly feel __________.

1.

A．special

B．expensive

C．original

D．formal

2.

A．putting up

B．looking at

C．paying for

D．bringing back

3.

A．noisy

B．lonely

C．right

D．intelligent

4.

A．gifts

B．clothes

C．books

D．flowers

5.

A．reveal

B．check

C．expect

D．learn

6.

A．goods

B．children

C．choices

D．memories

7.

A．common

B．practical

C．fair

D．wise

8.

A．fact

B．risk

C．inspection

D．concern

9.

A．investigate

B．request

C．forecast

D．consult

10.

A．creating

B．ignoring

C．receiving

D．donating

11.

A．unwillingly

B．precisely

C．randomly

D．cheerfully

12.

A．in advance

B．in return

C．in place

D．in time

13.

A．move

B．guide

C．track

D．accompany

14.

A．joy

B．worry

C．change

D．curiosity

15.

A．surprised

B．confused

C．cheated

D．loved

8 . Which house is the woman looking for?

A．The one with a garage.

B．The one next to a bookstore.

C．The one with a pool in the garden.

9 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

Wearing traditional Chinese dress,some foreigners in Shanghai    1    (show)up at a Chinese-style market at the River Mall in the Pudong New Area on Thursday,    2    (express)their love for Chinese culture and traditional clothing.

A series of activities including    3    market as well as traditional Chinese culture displays and parades of traditional Chinese fine clothing are rolling out in the city between Thursday and Sunday    4    (promote)traditional Chinese culture among young people.

The market drew some foreign Hanfu    5    (love).Zerin Moirang them,a university student from India,arrived in Shanghai last July.He used to participate in a lot of Hanfu activities during his stay in Kunming,Yunnan Province,and he joined a Hanfu society.“I have around 15 collections of Hanfu,and I took friends to the parks,wearing Hanfu,”hetold Shanghai Daily.“I am crazy    6    Hanfu and I really love it,”he said.“In the future,I want to bring Hanfu culture to my country,showing    7    (it)beauty.”

It was the first time for Katrina Andrushkevich from Belarus to wear Hanfu.“I am     8    (interest)in Chinese culture and history,”she said.“I feel    9     (incredible) special today and cherish this moment a lot.”

There is an interactive experience area    10    visitors can enjoy the fun of chess playing, calligraphy,tea ceremony,and riddle guessing to experience the charm of traditional Chinese culture

10 . Here are several not-to-be-missed events. Mark your calendar!

Flowers on the Mimosa Route

The Mimosa Route covers 130 km of wilderness and coastal towns in France, with stops and festivals in bloom to honour a flower that has become the symbol of the Cote d’Azur. This is the perfect opportunity to discover gardens with their feet in the water or the flower floats (花车) of the corsos.

* From 3 to 18 February

Nice Carnival

Mimosa, roses, lilies thrown to the public... The Battle of the Flowers is a highlight of the Nice Carnival and a nod to this France city’s gardening history. The biggest festival on the Cote d’Azur also includes a carnival-style parade, with floats competing in creativity, with dizzying figures up to twenty metres high. The theme of the 2024 edition is “Pop Culture”.

* From 17 February to 3 March

The Menton Lemon Festival

The programme of the Lemon Festival in Menton, France includes various floats. For 15days, the town celebrates its golden fruit with a touch of madness. With the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games just a few months away, the 90th edition of the Lemon Festival promises to be a great event with the theme “From Olympia to Menton”.

* From 17 February to 3 March

The Trail des Merveilles

The Roya Valley in France is the setting for the Trail des Merveilles, which starts in Breil-sur-Roya. Over a distance of around 30 kilometres, with a positive difference in altitude of 2,000 metres, the race takes competitors along wild paths with views of the snow-capped peaks of the Mercantour National Park and the Mediterranean Sea. A shorter, more accessible 17-kilometre route will delight lovers of running and beautiful scenery. Ready, set, go!

*5 March

1. What is the significance of the Battle of the Flowers?

A．To popularize the tradition culture.	B．To vote for the most creative float.
C．To prove people’s passion for flowers.	D．To show respect for the city’s gardening.

2. Which event appeals to sport lovers?

A．Nice Carnival.	B．The Trail des Merveilles.
C．Flowers on the Mimosa Route.	D．The Menton Lemon Festival.

3. What do these four events have in common?

A．They are around the theme of flowers.	B．They are of the same duration.
C．They take place in the same country.	D．They are to celebrate the end of winter.