1 . Chinese Teapot Escaping from British Museum Goes Viral
Chinese state media has praised a viral video series telling the story of a jade teapot coming to life and fleeing the British Museum to make its way back home.
The set of three short videos, entitled Escape from the British Museum, shows the teapot turning into a young woman in a green dress, who then engages a London-based Chinese journalist to help her reunite with her family. It appears to have struck a chord (弦) in China after first being released by independent vloggers on Douyin. By Monday evening, it had reportedly received more than 310 million views. The plot line taps into growing Chinese criticism of the British Museum after reports last month that more than 1,500 priceless objects, including gold jewelry, semi-precious stones and glass, were missing, stolen or damaged.
In August the state media Global Times called for the return of Chinese artifacts from the museum “free of charge” in the wake of the controversy. “The huge holes in the management and security of cultural objects in the British Museum exposed by this scandal (丑闻) have led to the collapse of a long-standing and widely circulated claim that ‘foreign cultural objects are better protected in the British Museum’,” it said. It strongly supported the video series for touching on a “powerful message” about the importance of cultural heritage and reflecting “Chinese people’s desiring for the repatriation of the Chinese cultural relics.”
State broadcaster CCTV also gave the short films a glowing review saying: “We are very pleased to see Chinese young people are passionate about history and tradition... We are also looking forward to the early return of Chinese artifacts that have been displayed overseas.”
The museum scandal made headlines around the world and reawakened earlier demands by the Chinese media to restore the country’s relics. The new three-part show has triggered a wave of nationalism among viewers, with many praising the creative plot that reduced them to tears by showing how the teapot experienced the happiness of returning to China to see pandas and watch a flag-raising ceremony on Tiananmen Square.
1. What excuse does Britain give for keeping other nations’ cultural objects in its museum?| A．It has taken possession of these objects by all lawful means. |
| B．These objects are safer and taken better care of in its museum. |
| C．It is requested by other nations to protect their cultural objects. |
| D．These objects may come to life, flee their countries and go viral. |
| A．Repair. | B．Reflection. | C．Reserve. | D．Return. |
| A．China had already demanded the restoration of its cultural relics before the scandal. |
| B．The museum’s awful management and security systems are involved in the scandal. |
| C．The Britain Museum is under pressure to return the cultural relics to China sooner or later. |
| D．A London-based Chinese journalist has contributed a lot to the viral three-part video series. |
| A．To appeal to Britain to return China’s cultural objects. |
| B．To introduce a viral video series about a fleeing jade teapot. |
| C．To arouse readers’ concern about Chinese cultural objects abroad. |
| D．To praise Chinese young people’s passion for history and tradition. |
2 . Today, people use the Internet to shop, play games, make friends and read the news. Many young people can’t imagine life without it.
In 1957, the United States was in the middle of the Cold War. The Soviet Union (苏联) had sent up the first satellite (卫星), named Sputnik, into space. This meant the Soviets were ahead of the U. S. in technology. Americans were afraid.
The biggest change in the way that people use the Internet came in 1992. For the first time, the Internet was opened to the general public, creating what is now known as the World Wide Web.
| A．The network took more than ten years to develop. |
| B．Soon, people began finding all kinds of different things they could do on the Internet. |
| C．Most older people, on the other hand, think the Internet is only 10 or 15 years old. |
| D．People began to be fond of the Internet. |
| E．They didn’t know what to do. |
| F．The Internet then became available to colleges all over the United States and to scientists across Europe. |
| G．Scientists in the army of America started developing ideas for protecting the country. |
Learning Chinese musical instruments has been a(n)
Finding a skilled guzheng teacher was my first step. Luckily, I found a great instructor
Playing the guzheng also taught me the cultural
Playing the guzheng enriched my life in countless
Learning the guzheng has been a spiritual journey. It challenged and encouraged me, showing the beauty of Chinese music. The guzheng has
4 . My dad is easy-going and has a gift for chatting. He
One Saturday, we went
Dad said, “Hi, how are you today? This is my son. I have a restaurant, and we
Back in the car, Dad said to me, “The cashier was obviously
| A．owns | B．describes | C．visits | D．recommends |
| A．supermarket | B．hospital | C．restaurant | D．company |
| A．hiking | B．camping | C．exploring | D．shopping |
| A．imagined | B．believed | C．noticed | D．remembered |
| A．beautiful | B．unhappy | C．professional | D．polite |
| A．received | B．needed | C．avoided | D．offered |
| A．suitable | B．frightening | C．special | D．friendly |
| A．helped | B．refused | C．waited | D．forgot |
| A．problem | B．idea | C．hope | D．experience |
| A．talking to | B．looking after | C．going after | D．laughing at |
| A．work | B．play | C．tour | D．exercise |
| A．drive | B．tie | C．treat | D．lead |
| A．quitted | B．finished | C．missed | D．regretted |
| A．in peace | B．in danger | C．in a hurry | D．in low spirits |
| A．warmly | B．immediately | C．secretly | D．comfortably |
5 . Doing fitness routines is challenging and sometimes boring. Here is some advice on how to make exercise as fun as video games.
Have an objective
When you’re playing a game, there’s always an objective. It helps us focus on the task at hand and motivates us to keep playing until we win the game.
Compete against others
Adding an element of competition to your exercise routine can actually help you work out harder. If you’re seeking a similar motivation, look into fitness programs that encourage friendly competition. The app Zwift, for example, is a good choice.
Team up with others
Getting a group to work together toward a common goal was also an effective way to increase physical activity. You can try to recreate this dynamic by working toward an exercise goal with other people, particularly those who you have a close relationship to.
Add a sense of playfulness
Some people love video games because there’s a lot of unpredictability and surprise.
| A．Exercise should be no different. |
| B．Just remember every moment of playful engagement is a victory. |
| C．But how to apply these techniques to our everyday fitness routines? |
| D．Similarly, you can do many things to bring back a sense of childlike wonder. |
| E．It allows you race against others around a virtual world using your own bike. |
| F．This approach encouraged each member of the group to try to meet the day’s step goal. |
| G．They can help you hold yourself accountable in a way you might not do with a stranger. |
Harrison’s home was in a small village. He was a 17-year-old high school student who walked to and from school by himsclf every day. He hadn’t had many friends since growing up, so he always felt lonely.
On his way to his school, he needed to pass through a large woods where birds sang and flowers bloomed. Animals kept each other company and played in the woods, which contrasted (形成对比) sharply with Harrison’s loneliness. Whenever he saw these sights, he longed to make new friends with whom he could play.
One day, on his way from his school, Harrison spotted a red object in a tree. When he got closer, it turned out to be a balloon with a string (细绳) tied to it. The balloon’s stringwas wrapped around a branch, making it impossible to fly away. Just as Harrison was getting bored, he reached up to untie the balloon. He thought it was just a balloon, but then herealized there seemed to be something inside the balloon.
Out of curiosity, Harrison slowly untied the balloon and saw a piece of paper in it. It was a letter, but it was a little hard to read. He picked up the letter and put it in the sunlightfalling from the woods and read it aloud:
If you have found this letter, it means my balloon finally reaches the destination. I used the balloon to see how far my letter would travel. I want this balloon to fly to a teenager like me and I hope to be friends with you. I launched it from Wisconsin Academy on May 1. Please write back to me and tell me where and when you found it. Besides, I’m happy to know something about you.
Sincerely,
Joe Smiths
After reading the letter, Harrison felt unusually excited. He couldn’t believe that hecould receive a letter in the woods. He wanted to write back to Joe right away, so he started running home.
注意：
1.续写词数应为150左右；
2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
As soon as Harrison got home, he ran into his room.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
A few weeks later, Harrison received a letter from Joe.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
7 . Phones, tablets and smart watches will be mostly banned (禁止) from classrooms in the Netherlands from Jan 1, 2024, Sky News reported.
The move is meant to limit distractions from social media, messaging and other sites. Devices will only be allowed if they are needed for the lesson, for medical reasons, or for people with disabilities.
“Scientific research showed that mobile phones are a disturbance (打扰). We need to protect students against this,” said Robbert Dijkgraaf, Minister of Education, Culture and Science of the Netherlands. “Students need to be able to concentrate and need to be given the opportunity to study well.” Dijkgraaf noted that schools could manage the implementation of the ban themselves. However, he added that laws would follow if the results are not good enough.
The United Nations also warned of the risks of smartphones in schools, the BBC reported.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) said that too much mobile phone use was linked to reduced educational performance. And high levels of screen time have a bad effect on children’s mind, noted The Guardian.
UNESCO said its call for a smartphone ban sent a clear message that all digital technology including artificial intelligence should always be less important than a human-centered vision of education and can never replace face-to-face interaction with teachers. Based on its analysis of 200 education systems around the world, UNESCO estimate one in four countries and regions had laws or policies banning phones in schools. Besides the Netherlands, France introduced its policy in 2018, and Finland had a similar decision in June. In 2021, the Ministry of Education in China banned mobile phones, tablets, and other digital devices in the classroom, Xinhua reported.
According to the policy, if such devices are brought to school, then they should be stored together in the same place. Meanwhile, the use of the devices for teaching purposes should not be over 30 percent of the total teaching time.
“Our school has strict rules to ban phones in class. Students who break the rules may lose their merit student qualification or admissions eligibility (保送) for college,” Dai Ting, a 17-year-old student from Chengdu, told Teens.
1. Which of the following is true according to the text?| A．Only disabled students are allowed to use smartphones in classrooms. |
| B．Personal communication with teachers is preferred. |
| C．30% of the teachers use digital devices in class. |
| D．Any digital devices found in classrooms will be destroyed. |
| A．Carrying out. | B．Bringing out. | C．Making out. | D．Putting out. |
| A．Supportive. | B．Objective. | C．Negative. | D．Not mentioned. |
| A．Digital products totally banned in Netherlands |
| B．A ban on digital products in Netherlands schools |
| C．Digital products is a distraction in Netherlands schools |
| D．Digital products’ wide use in Netherlands schools |
8 . Walking in the city is very different from walking in the park. A small psychology study suggests urban(城市的) environments can slow your step and possibly increase your mental load. A walk through nature, on the other hand, appears to ease your mind and quicken your pace. The findings show that natural settings may potentially reduce cognitive (认知的)tiredness and improve reaction times straight away. The study, which includes two experiments with two different approaches, was conducted among 65 university students in the lab.
The first of the two experiments in the new study focused on people’s way of walking and cognitive load. During this trial, participants were fitted with sensors and a dozen motion control cameras were set up to watch them repeatedly walk down a 15-metre room at their natural speed. The wall opposite them showed an image of either a nature scene or a city scene. After each walk, participants were asked to rate their feelings of discomfort in the visual environment. On the whole, when walking in city settings, people reported more discomfort and they walked at a slower pace, indicating a higher cognitive load.
The second experiment dug into some of the higher-level cognitive processes that might be at play. In the trial, participants were asked to distinguish between basic visual shapes on the computer while also in the presence of a natural or urban image(the same ones from the first experiment). Measuring reaction times in both natural and urban settings, the team found results to support their idea. In urban environments, participants were slower in distinguishing between simple shapes. The authors think this is because urban environments are more distracting(令人分心的) for our brains and take longer to process, but more research is needed to prove that idea.
1. How were the experiments conducted mainly?| A．By comparing. | B．By giving data. |
| C．By giving examples. | D．By explaining facts. |
| A．It can make us feel relaxed and react quickly. | B．It can activate our thinking and speed up our step. |
| C．It can make us less tired and improve our memory. | D．It can make us become more focused and creative. |
| A．They had a lower cognitive load. | B．They had to slow down their pace. |
| C．They couldn’t concentrate properly. | D．They felt uncomfortable after walking. |
| A．Urban environment makes us more concentrated. | B．People’s feelings are decided by their pace of walking. |
| C．The result of the experiments is widely appreciated. | D．People tend to get tired more easily walking in the city. |
9 . The AI program ChatGPT might one day be able to help doctors detect (发现) Alzheimer’s disease (a serious illness that especially influences older people) in its early stages, according to new research from Drexel University.
While there is still no effective treatment for the disease, detecting it early can give patients more choices for medical treatment and support. “We know from ongoing research that the harmful results of Alzheimer’s disease can show themselves in language production,” said Hualou Liang, a professor at Drexel University and a co-author of the research. “The most commonly used tests for early detection of Alzheimer’s look at acoustic features (声学特征). We believe the improvement of AI programs provides another way to support early detection. of Alzheimer’s.”
GPT-3 uses a deep learning system (系统) which allows it to produce a human-like answer to any questions that include language. It is extremely good at “zero-data learning” — meaning it can answer questions that would require extra knowledge that has not been-provided. “GPT-3’s systemic method of language learning and production makes it a promising tool for finding certain speech features that may detect the disease,” said Liang.
The researchers carried out a series of experiments to test their ideas. “As we had expected, our test results showed that GPT-3 program can find clues (线索) from its conversations with patients that are 80% accurate (精确的) in the detection. GPT-3 can be a dependable tool,” they wrote.
To build on the promising result, the researchers are planning to develop an APP that could be used at home or in a doctor’s office as a pre-screening tool.
“This could be a simple and accurate tool for community-based testing.” said Felix Agbavor, a doctoral researcher at the University. “It is the latest in a series of efforts to show the effectiveness of AI programs for early detection of Alzheimer’s. It could be very useful for early screening and risk management.”
1. What did the Drexel study look at?| A．Different causes of Alzheimer’s disease. |
| B．Effective treatment for Alzheimer’s disease. |
| C．Detecting the use of AI programs in language learning. |
| D．Finding early signs of Alzheimer’s disease through ChatGPT. |
| A．Its low cost. | B．Its promising future. |
| C．Its wide popularity. | D．Its working system. |
| A．It achieved the expected results. |
| B．It was questioned by community doctors. |
| C．It has driven the development of AI technology. |
| D．It has changed public opinion on Alzheimer’s disease. |
| A．Dissatisfied. | B．Uncaring. | C．Supportive. | D．Curious. |
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