1 . Chaudhary weaves (编织) together lengths of rope and grass collected from the nearby riverbank in her village, skillfully shaping the materials into a gift box while instructing a group of women to follow suit.
The ropes being used were once the lifeline for mountain climbers tackling Nepal’s mountains and were then cast away. Diverse measures to remove such discarded materials have rocketed since 2019, when the government launched Clean Mountain Campaign.Around 140,000 tons of waste were collected on Mt. Everest alone, which were handled accordingly, either securely buried or recycled.
Some waste is now finding fresh life, transformed by skilled hands like Chaudhary’s into items to sell, thanks to an initiative led by Acharya, an owner of a waste processing business and an advocate for sustainable waste management. She has been working with the cleaning campaign, aiming at mountains like Mt. Everest.
“Metal waste goes through the recycling process, but we weren’t capable of recycling these ropes and cooking gas cans,” Acharya says. It didn’t occur to her that the waste which couldn’t be recycled could be reused until she met Rai at an art exhibition and a solution emerged.
Rai, a businessman dealing in craftworks, helped connect Acharya with Chaudhary and her team of craftswomen in hopes of unlocking the economic value of the mountain waste. With flexible hours, the project gives the craftswomen an opportunity to earn money even as they maintain their household responsibilities.
“While this seems insignificant compared to waste in the mountains, it’s a start. We can’t supply sufficient raw material with waste sorting and cleaning processes taking plenty of time and money,” Acharya says, desperate to expand the program to involve more women and treat more waste. But progress has been slow. “We need investment to mechanize the cleaning and processing of waste in the initial phase to provide the crafting team with enough materials to meet their demand,” she adds.
1. What were the ropes mentioned in paragraph 2 initially intended as?| A．Tools for tying up weeds. | B．Villagers’ basic necessities of life. |
| C．Raw materials tor unique artworks. | D．Life-saving devices for mountaineers. |
| A．A journey to the rural area. | B．An encounter with a trader. |
| C．Information from a product launch. | D．Attendance at an academic conference. |
| A．Train more senior technicians. | B．Obtain a better reputation. |
| C．Drop waste washing procedures. | D．Bring in advanced equipment. |
| A．Chaudhary: An Eco-Minded Folk Artist |
| B．Nepali Women Are Turning Garbage into Crafts |
| C．Clean Mountain Campaign Has Already Taken Effect |
| D．A Headache: Mt. Everest Is Heavily Littered with Waste |
2 . We breathe, eat and drink tiny particles of plastic. But are these in the body harmless. dangerous or somewhere in between? A small study published on Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine raises more questions than it answers about how these hits might affect the heart.
The study involved 257 people who had surgery to clear blocked blood vessels in their necks. Using two methods, researchers found evidence of plastics-mostly invisible nanoplastics — in 150 patients and no evidence of plastics in 107 patients. They followed these people for three years. During that time, 30 or 20% of those with plastics had a heart attack, stroke or died from any cause, compared to 8 or about 8% of those with no evidence of plastics.
The researchers also found more evidence of inflammation (炎症) in the people with the plastic bits in their blood vessels. Inflammation is the body’s response to injury and is thought to raise the risk of heart attacks and stroke.
“I hope that the alarming message will raise the consciousness of citizens, especially governments, to finally become aware of the importance of the health of our planet.” said Dr. Raffaele Marfella of the University of Campania in Italy.
Nevertheless, the study was very small and looked only at people with narrowed arteries (动脉), who were already at risk for heart attack and stroke. The patients with the plastics had more heart disease, diabetes and high cholesterol (胆固醇) than the patients without plastics. They were more likely to be men and more likely to be smokers. The researchers tried to adjust for these risk factors during their statistical analysis, but they may have missed important differences between the groups that could account for the results. This kind of study cannot prove that the plastics caused their problems.
“More research is needed and it is the first report suggesting a connection between microplastics and nanoplastics with disease in humans,” said Dr. Philip Landrigan of Boston College. Other scientists have found plastic bits in the lungs, liver, blood, and breast milk, “It does not prove cause and effect, but it suggests cause and effect,” he said, “And it needs urgently to be either confirmed or disproven (反驳) by other studies done by other investigators in other populations.”
1. What did the study find about the plastics in blood?| A．They are visible and detectable. | B．They may raise the risk of serious injuries. |
| C．They need to be removed by surgery. | D．They may account for a higher rate of heart attacks. |
| A．Immediate action should be taken by government. |
| B．Alarming message should be spread widely and quickly. |
| C．The awareness of the harm of plastic bits should be enhanced. |
| D．Joint efforts must be made to keep healthy physically and mentally. |
| A．Limitations. | B．Advantages. | C．Causes. | D．Effects. |
| A．Helpful but unrealistic. | B．Pioneering but impractical. |
| C．Distinctive but unnecessary. | D．Suggestive but inconclusive. |
3 . Born with no right leg, Anthony Robles, one of the best wrestlers in the NCAA, started wrestling when he was in high school. When his cousin first
While some people might have
While the physical aspects of the sport seemed to be the most challenging part, at one point Robles realized he needed to be
Then came the last match. Robles was so scared that he was almost starting to cry. When he defeated defending national champion 7-1, the
Now Robles is ready for the next page in his life, “I really want to help other people achieve things in their lives that others might say are
| A．showed | B．recommended | C．introduced | D．attracted |
| A．partner | B．fan | C．master | D．audience |
| A．questioned | B．admired | C．honored | D．affected |
| A．amount | B．source | C．flood | D．supply |
| A．planted | B．breathed | C．delivered | D．registered |
| A．exchange | B．improve | C．bury | D．apply |
| A．effect | B．credit | C．confidence | D．treatment |
| A．gradually | B．obviously | C．formally | D．mentally |
| A．succeeding | B．going | C．finishing | D．becoming |
| A．break | B．job | C．bus | D．flight |
| A．cut out | B．left out | C．stressed out | D．checked out |
| A．decisions | B．emotions | C．approaches | D．goals |
| A．impressed | B．concentrated | C．design | D．believe |
| A．useless | B．extra | C．confusing | D．impossible |
| A．rest | B．place | C．use | D．test |
The Champion of No Score
Maggie hated Tuesdays—Tuesdays meant gym class, gym class meant picking teams and picking teams meant Maggie would be picked last.
As a newcomer, she’d come up with a special title for each classmate to remember the other kids. There was Kevin, Champion of the Clean Desk. Lynnie, Champion of Knowing the Answer First… Thinking hard, she finally decided her own title: Champion of Quiet.
Maggie felt blue as Tuesday fell again. Mr. Murphy, the gym teacher, asked for volunteer captains to pick their own basketball teams. The usual hands shot into the air. Maggie sighed and glanced to her right. She caught the eye of Jasmine. Champion of Awkward, a girl who was sometimes picked last, too. Then Maggie had an idea. So when Mr. Murphy asked if anyone else wanted to volunteer, Maggie felt her hand slowly rise. Looking again at Jasmine, she took a big breath. Maybe it was time for her to use her voice.
“Maggie?” Mr. Murphy smiled. “You want a turn?”
“Yes,” she said.
The class whispered. Maggie leading a team?
“Yes,” she answered again, louder this time.
Mr. Murphy waved Maggie to the front, where the other three captains—Champion of Jumping Rope, Champion of Never Misses a Shot, and Champion of Doesn’t Know How to Lose—stood, ready to choose their teams.
“Maggie, you get first pick,” said Mr. Murphy. “Jasmine,” announced Maggie. The class snickered. A joke? More than once, Jasmine had tried to score on the wrong basket. Eyes wide, Jasmine took her place beside Maggie. The other three captains called out familiar names—the best players on the basketball court. It was Maggie’s turn again. “I choose Frank.” Frank (Champion of the Untied Shoelace) could not throw, or catch. He knew what it felt like to be the last pick. But not today.
Three very talented teams took shape. And then there was Maggie’s team. Maggie looked at her teammates. There stood Jasmine and Frank, plus Gillian (Champion of Chatter) and George (Champion of Sleepy). “I have chosen the worst team in the history of the world,” Maggie thought to herself.
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。
Hand in hand, the Maggie team walked onto the court.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________They did lose big, but something positive began to unfold in them.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________5 . In 2022, the Nature Conservancy launched two 5-year pilot projects at working ranches (牧场) in Kansas and New Mexico to determine if virtual fences enable land managers to better perform regenerative management practices and to assess potential benefits for biodiversity and for ranchers’ bottom lines, as well as impacts on soil carbon storage.
Applauded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture as a climate adaption strategy, virtual fencing is an innovative technology that enables ranchers to use a smartphone or web app to remotely monitor and control where and when cattle graze (吃草). Virtual fences can reduce the need for physical fences, which require significant time, expense and labor to maintain. Physical fences also limit land managers in their ability to change grazing boundaries to adapt to seasonal changes in vegetation or to exclude cattle from ecologically sensitive areas.
The cows are outfitted with battery-operated, GPS-enabled collars that send out a radio frequency to communicate with reception towers, creating virtual grazing boundaries set by a rancher. When a cow approaches the edge of the virtual boundary, the collar produces a sound signaling it to turn around. If the cow proceeds to cross the boundary, it receives a momentary mild shock, signaling that it’s gone too far and should rejoin its group.
Grasslands are the least protected habitat on earth and one of the most effective carbon sinks, storing up to 20% of the world’s soil organic carbon. Unfortunately, grasslands are continuing to rapidly disappear for several reasons. For ecological health, most grassland ecosystems need periods of disturbance to aerate (使透气) the soil, stimulate plant growth and recycle nutrients into the soil. Ranchers complete this disturbance-rest cycle by managing the timing, location, herd size and intensity of grazing activities, all of which can be time-consuming and painstaking.
“Currently, the costs of virtual fencing are still high, but in the long run it can help land managers better carry out management practices that regenerate land health, help address climate change and biodiversity loss,” said William Burnidge, director of the Nature Conservancy.
1. What’s stressed concerning virtual fencing in paragraph 2?| A．Its smart design. | B．Its major advantages. |
| C．Its wide application. | D．Its working principles. |
| A．It’s time to return. | B．It’s time to graze. |
| C．It’s in danger. | D．It’s in a wrong direction. |
| A．Intense efforts. | B．Polluted soil. | C．Financial failure. | D．Ecological imbalance. |
| A．Intolerant. | B．Objective. | C．Doubtful. | D．Conservative. |
6 . Over the past few months, I’ve been invited to speak with well-known writers, musicians and film producers regarding my recent book, Extraterrestrial. Prior to these conversations, I was on the receiving (and admiring) end of their artistic work, but now they were curious about my own research as a scientist. The reverse led me to recognize the similarities between innovation in the arts and the sciences.
In sciences and arts alike, creativity appears magically as an unpredictable fountain of inspiration from the subconscious (潜意识). Its unexpected content breaks routines within traditional thinking. It delivers something new that is distinct from common practices, often taking people out of their comfort zone because it is ahead of its time. As a result, many innovators are laughed at and denied the recognition they deserve when they need it the most.
There are many examples of such circumstances. In 1933 Fritz Zwicky inferred the existence of “dark matter”, but it took four decades for this concept to gain recognition within the astronomy community. Vincent van Gogh was considered a madman and a failure throughout his life. Today, his paintings are among the most expensive ever sold, though.
Typically, life offers two ways of acquiring objects. One is by collecting available items, and the other is by creating things that never existed before. Whereas most items on the shelves of supermarkets are mass-produced, products that are newly created by artists or scientists are originally unique. Just like aging wine, a product of creative work acquires quality over time. It is colored by the response of the audience as well as by imitations. The initial circumstances are a reminder of an admirable baby. It is fascinating for a scientist or an artist to watch the interaction of their creation with the world, just as it is for parents to watch their children.
Creativity in arts and sciences establishes a backdrop for human existence, as the content it invents gives pleasure and meaning to our lives. The human act of creation is an infinite-sum game, from which all of us benefit. And we can all participate in the creative process.
1. Which can best replace the underlined word “reverse” in paragraph 1?| A．Priority. | B．Assumption. | C．Shift. | D．Preference. |
| A．It tends to be forecastable. | B．It mirrors common beliefs. |
| C．It usually leads the times. | D．It enjoys instant acceptance. |
| A．Creative works withstand the test of time. |
| B．Mass-produced items are preferable. |
| C．Old wine can’t be put into new bottles. |
| D．Inventiveness starts from childhood. |
| A．To clarify a concept. | B．To launch an appeal. |
| C．To offer an entertainment. | D．To advocate a lifestyle. |
7 . Travelling seemed like falsehood to me. I grew tired of backpackers expressing too much praise about how petting a baby elephant in Thailand “transformed” them. Globe-traveling to me held no more promise than finding a few bills in the pocket of an old coat. I needed something deeper than an Eat, Play, Love moment.
One day, Vasilis, my Greek best friend, reminded me of our decade-old promise: after our final exams, I would visit his hometown in Athens. Maybe, it was time to make good on that promise.
I finally boarded the plane. Vasilis picked me up at the airport. I smiled, thinking how improbable this moment seemed all those years ago.
The decade-long wait proved to be well worth it. Every step through the ancient streets revealed new wonders. However, none of them truly mattered. What would forever alter my perception of travel was a chance encounter with a local.
Vasilis and I were wandering Athens when a special sound caught our attention — a rhythmic clinking disturbing the quietness of the residential street. Curiously, we followed the sound to a humble workshop. Inside, a welder (焊工) gave no mind to our presence behind him. He wore no flashy protective suit — this was just another day for him, another dance with fire and metal that had become second nature. Under the sunshade, his orange cat rested in the comforting warmth...
As the man continued welding, I felt a bit of envy. I envied his peace and contentment. I admired the simplicity he embodied. I imagined the welder happy, finding fulfillment in his craft (手艺) and returning to his loving family...The moment moved me to tears. Leaving the workshop, rain blending with tears, I realized how easily life’s poetry could pass unnoticed.
Home again in Montreal, I stop simply pursuing better things, better experiences and better people that are never grasped. I realize the real journey is inward — to appreciate life’s ordinary magic. That sure beats petting any baby elephant. I may not have returned home “transformed,” but I’ll always think of the welder and his cat.
1. Which aspect of travelling makes the author feel uneasy?| A．Shortage of adequate funds. | B．Discomfort in dietary habits. |
| C．Overstatement of travel’s effects. | D．Danger of petting baby animals. |
| A．Meeting a commitment. | B．Exploring a unique landscape. |
| C．Receiving further education. | D．Escaping from the current life. |
| A．Poems written by masters. | B．Peace and simplicity. |
| C．Spirit of craftsmanship. | D．Special sound in the street. |
| A．Friendship Lasts Forever | B．Travelling Shapes a Better Self |
| C．Pursuit of Happiness Never Stops | D．The Ordinary Makes Extraordinary |
8 . For the 150th anniversary of the first Impressionist exhibition, the Musée d’Orsay, which houses the world’s largest collection of this current, is offering a major retrospective (回顾展) of this artistic trend with Paris 1874: Inventing Impressionism from March 26 to July 14.
150 years ago, on April 15, 1874, in a luxurious photographer Nadar’s studio in northern Paris, Berthe Morisot, Edouard Degas and Claude Monet came together as a cooperative limited company to open the first Impressionist exhibition, a movement that would forever change the course of art history.
The retrospective will take visitors on a virtual tour to the very moment 150 years ago. During the 40-minute immersive (沉浸的) tour, visitors will spend a virtual evening with the famous impressionists and travel by steam train to Bougival, west of Paris, where many of them worked. Visitors will then tour the main exhibition, which opens into a gallery with Renoir’s La Parisienne and La Danseuse that featured in the 1874 exhibition, and other impressionist paintings, drawings and sculptures.
“The immersive experience is unique and innovative. You can go into this exhibition and relive the evening with the artists and discover the origin of this movement. We want to recreate the emotion for visitors of the 1874 exhibition.” said Abastado, director of digital development at the Musée d’Orsay.
Guidelines:* The experience is suitable for children of 11 y/o and above; children under 8 y/o are prohibited.
* We remind you that, in view of the technology used, virtual reality experiences are not recommended for people with balance or vision disorders.
* Walkers and motorized wheelchairs are not permitted in the space, but manual wheelchairs are accepted.
1. What’s the retrospective mainly aimed at?| A．Protecting cultural diversity. | B．Fueling people’s love for art. |
| C．Showing honor to late artists. | D．Marking the birth of a movement. |
| A．Painting a picture on the spot. | B．Driving a steam train in person. |
| C．Meeting famous impressionists. | D．Staying overnight in the gallery. |
| A．An eight-year-old boy. | B．An adult with a walker. |
| C．A visually-challenged girl. | D．A teenager in a manual wheelchair. |
Hope Justman, in 81-year-old American, has just completed her 24th trip along the shudao,
Running for around 1,000 kilometers, the shudao
Justman’s
In 1997,after reading almost every English travel book, finally she found the shudao
Justman created a website to share her
Last month, she took some of those friends to the Cuiyunlang section of the shudao,
10 . Imagine a busy restaurant: dishes clattering, music playing and people talking loudly. It’s a wonder that anyone in that environment can focus enough. In an earlier study. researchers established that people can separately control how much they focus (by enhancing relevant information) and how much they filter (by tuning out distraction).
Recently, Neuroscientist Ritz compared the process to muscle coordination (协调) in his study: “In the same way that we bring together more than 50 muscles to perform a physical task like using chopsticks, our study found we can coordinate different forms of attention in order to perform brain activities.”
To explore this, Ritz administered a cognitive task to participants while measuring their brain activity. Participants saw a mass of green and purple dots moving left and right. The tasks involved distinguishing between the movement and colors of the dots. For example, participants in one exercise had to select which color was in the majority for the rapidly moving dots with purple and green percentages close to 50/50.
“You can regard the intraparietal sulcus (脑顶内沟) as a radio dial with two knobs. one for focusing and one for filtering,” Ritz said, “When the anterior cingulate cortex (前扣带皮层) recognizes that, for instance, motion is making the task more difficult, it directs the intraparietal sulcus to adjust the filtering knob to reduce the sensitivity to motion and might also direct the intraparetal sulcus to adjust the focusing knob to increase the sensitivity to color. Now the relevant brain regions are less sensitive to motion and more sensitive to the color, so the participant can make better selection.
Nowadays, much is still being explored about attention coordination. A partnership with scientists at Brown University is investigating focus and-filter strategies in patients with treatment-resistant depression; one study co-led by Rita and Brown Ph,D. students examines the impact of financial rewards and penalties (处罚) on focus -and-filter strategies. “We all know there is still a considerable journey ahead.” Ritz said.
1. What is the main focus of the new study?| A．The process behind brain activities in humans. |
| B．The relationship between mental state and attention. |
| C．The mechanism of focusing and filtering coordination. |
| D．The impart of noisy environment on humans attention. |
| A．A distractor for participants. | B．A tracking target for the test. |
| C．A main factor to evaluate the task. | D．A warning for participants to focus. |
| A．The focusing knob. | B．The intraparietal sulcus. |
| C．The filtering knob. | D．The anterior cingulate cortes. |
| A．There are some challenges of the attention research. |
| B．Ongoing research projects are based on these findings. |
| C．Focus-and-filter strategies can solve depression problems. |
| D．Motivation ways to drive attention are well applied in treatment. |
