The Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway(HSR) started official operation on October 17. It’s the first HSR project that China
The railway is called WHOOSH. It’s the first of its kind in Indonesia. The 142.3-kilometer-long line has four stations,
The railway can carry up
In 2017, Indonesian President Joko Widodo
2 . After a particularly strong storm named Klaus hit southwestern France in 2009, researchers made a curious observation about the damage: nearly all the trees beaten up by winds blowing at speeds of 94 miles per hour, regardless of their species, height or diameter, however, most trees hit by strong winds below that were in good condition. Was this wind-speed threshold(分界线) really the arbiter(仲裁者) of destruction?
Physicist Christophe Clanet and his colleagues at France’s École Polytechnique and ESPCI Paris Tech set to find out by breaking beechwood rods(格木棒) of different lengths and diameters under controlled conditions. To do so, they inserted one end of a given rod into a hole of the same diameter in a block of steel and slowly added force to the other end, causing the rod to bend. Then they measured the critical figures to determine a corresponding wind speed. What they found matched the real-world situation of 2009: the calculated wind speed to break the rods—no matter the size was about 94 mph.
However, several outside experts have concerns about this. For example, Lee Frelich, director of the University of Minnesota Center for Forest Ecology, says that modeling trees as branchless cylinders(无分支气缸) ignores the streamlining (直线型化) of branches in the wind, which in turn changes the relation between force on the trunk and wind speed. In other words, the method did not reflect the complex interactions of real-life biology, weather and physics. Regardless, Clanet and his colleagues do think the results have utility and plan to study whether strong winds can change the breaking point.
1. How did Clanet conduct the study?| A．By setting plans and giving examples. |
| B．By collecting figures and using information. |
| C．By doing experiment and measuring figures |
| D．By analyzing data and drawing a conclusion. |
| A．Optimistic. | B．Indifferent | C．Objective. | D．Worried. |
| A．Effect. | B．Usefulness. | C．Future. | D．Significance. |
| A．How the wind cuts wood |
| B．Why the wind destroys wood |
| C．Wind speed: the changer of winds |
| D．Whether strong winds can change the breaking point |
3 . When landing at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Jakarta , Indonesia, tourists are often surprised to see many billboards advertising Chinese companies such as smartphone maker Oppo.
Walking into high-end shopping malls in Jakarta, consumers also notice that Chinese brands are spotlighted. In Plaza Indonesia, which houses international luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton and Chanel.
Oppo also has a well-designed store. Such a noticeable presence showcases the popularity of Oppo in Indonesia —an example of how Chinese companies are cager to explore the biggest economy in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
According to statistics from the Indonesia n government. Chinese companies’ direct investment in the country reached $8.23 billion in 2022, a year-on-year jump of 160 percent, reaching a record high and ranking as the second-largest source of foreign investment in Indonesia US investment bank Goldman Sachs also forecasted in a report that Indonesia will become the world’s fourth-largest economy by 2050 To turn such rosy prospects into reality. Chinese companies are scrambling to better localize their products, management teams and marketing strategies.
Oppo for instance, is now booming in on the high-end smartphone market after the company beat Samsung as the top smartphone brand in Indonesia in the second quarter with a market share of 20 percent The success is attributed in part to Oppo’s strategy of opening well-designed stores with competitive products in high-end shopping malls.
1. What surprises tourists when they arrive at Sockarno-Hatta International Airport in Jakarta?| A．The large population of Indonesia |
| B．The popularity of Oppo smartphones. |
| C．The number of luxury brands in the shopping malls. |
| D．The Chinese companies advertised on bllboards. |
| A．Because it reduces costs and increase profits. |
| B．Because it establishes a dominant market position. |
| C．Because it shows the spotlight and popularity of Oppo. |
| D．Because it meets the expectation of the Indonesian consumers. |
| A．To obey Indonesian regulations and policies. |
| B．To better understand the local culture and customs. |
| C．To compete with other foreign companies operated in Indonesia. |
| D．To increase their market share and appeal to Indonesian consumers. |
| A．Opening well-designed stores with competitive products resulted in Oppo’ success. |
| B．Oppo in Indonesia is beaten by Samsung as the top smartphone brand. |
| C．Oppo plans to invest high-end shopping malls in Indonesia. |
| D．Oppo is becoming more and more popular because of its cheap price. |
4 . Must see in Guangxi
A Broad Spectrum of Scenery
What you will find here is beyond towering mountains, dense forests, and picturesque scenery. This alpine (高山的) scenic spot spreads across 17,008 hectares, with over one-third being primeval (原始的) forest. Its natural landscape can be magnificent but quiet, special but elegant. The high humidity makes the sea of clouds a common scene here thanks to the mountain climate. And the scenery varies with the season. Here, you can appreciate splendid blossoms in spring, avoid summer heat in the cool canyon, step on red leaves scattered on the ground in autumn, and get stunned by the rime ice in winter.
A Hotel in Nature
Chaoranpai International Hotel is only 2 kilometers away from the Lijiang River Source Grand Canyon. By taking both the ecological design and standards of 5-star hotels into account, this hotel has integrated modern services and nature, especially bamboo. The hotel also offers entertainments such as go-carting, cosplay of counter strike, and Chinese-style tea houses. Besides, the mountain itself is like a natural oxygen bar.
A Heaven of Fauna and Flora
Mao’er mountain is abundant in rare animals and plants. Inhabited by 2,484 species of plants and 345species of vertebrates, this place can serve as a natural gene bank. And surprisingly, a rare alpine wetland featuring
evergreen broad-leave d trees has found a way of surviving in the dwarf forest at a high altitude.
Two ways to get there
1. Take a train and get off at Xing’an Bei station, and take the shuttle bus that goes directly to the Mao’er mountain.
2. Take the Guilin-Xing’an bus from Guilin bus station, get off at Baizhupu station (Zibai Road Intersection), and take the shuttle from Baizhupu to Gaozhai, which is at the foot of the Mao’er mountain.
Travel Tips
Entrance ticket:160 yuan for adults (half price for children under 12)
Opening hours: 8:00 am to 5:00 pm
Recommended duration of visit:2-4 hours
Location: northwest of Xing’an county, Guilin
1. What is the characteristic of natural landscape in Guangxi?| A．Crowded but elegant | B．Magnificent but quiet |
| C．Special and desolate(荒凉的) | D．Common and lifeless |
| A．The alpine scenic spot | B．Xing’an Bei station |
| C．Mao’er mountain | D．Chaoranpai International Hotel |
| A．240 yuan. | B．320 yuan. |
| C．400 yuan. | D．480 yuan. |
5 . From the village, for the village
“In my childhood, the houses in the village were old, and the roads were
Li is a native of this village and was one of the first from her community to
When Li returned to her hometown, she received firm support from her family, despite some villagers who
Li explained, “Her job involves extensive communication with the villagers, and promoting
In the near future, Li hopes to continue helping her fellow villagers raise their potato production and increase their
| A．flat | B．narrow | C．dirty | D．muddy |
| A．stayed in | B．situated in | C．settled in | D．occupied in |
| A．well-designed | B．well-composed | C．well-constructed | D．well-orgnised |
| A．receive | B．witness | C．employ | D．introduce |
| A．living | B．comment | C．decision | D．mistake |
| A．apply | B．addict | C．commit | D．devote |
| A．achievement | B．satisfaction | C．value | D．fulfillment |
| A．questioned | B．followed | C．agreed | D．ignored |
| A．attitude | B．thought | C．behaviour | D．determination |
| A．economic | B．agricultural | C．industrial | D．commercial |
| A．normally | B．properly | C．generally | D．regularly |
| A．techniques | B．tools | C．processes | D．productions |
| A．cope | B．equip | C．furnish | D．collaborate |
| A．skills | B．stages | C．platforms | D．methods |
| A．income | B．cash | C．salary | D．reward |
6 . Why It’s Hard to Lose Weight
What makes people gain weight? This seems like a simple enough question to answer. If we eat a lot and don’t do enough exercise, we will become fat.
As we know, what we eat greatly affects our weight. It is widely accepted that people have 100% control over what they eat and how much they eat. This, however, is partly true.
Our bodies themselves can decide whether we are more likely to gain weight or lose weight. Scientists have found that the more delicious the food, the more excited our brains get.
Also, our bodies use a variety of hormones (激素) to tell our brains whether they are hungry or full. Ghrelin(胃饥饿素), for example, tells the brain that the body wants food. Leptin(瘦蛋白), meanwhile, tells the brain that it’s time to stop eating. Ghrelin and leptin help us to maintain a healthy weight.
| A．But sometimes, they may work improperly. |
| B．People form habits around food at a young age. |
| C．If we often have delicious food, over time, our brain will change. |
| D．Now you know why fat people often have a tough time losing weight. |
| E．There is also evidence to show industrial chemicals may increase body fat. |
| F．However, the science behind weight problems is more complicated than we think. |
| G．People with low levels of body satisfaction are more likely to gain weight over time. |
注意：1. 词数80左右；2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯：3. 开头和结尾已给出，不计入总词数。
Dear Professor Williams,
I am honored to give a presentation about Chinese culture to international students at your invitation.
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Sincerely yours,
Li Hua
Everyone has a hero — someone he admires, who has had an impact on his life. My brother, John, is my hero. He is the most sympathetic, sweet and funny person I have ever met. John is also mentally handicapped (智障的) and has a developmental disability known as autism (自闭症).
I used to be ashamed of John when I was little. When he first started talking, he had a hard time with pronunciation and understanding the meaning of words. He called me May-Me for most of my childhood because he could not pronounce Amy. As John grew older, his language ability gradually increased. I went from May-Me to Amy, and hammer burgers became hamburgers.
When I was younger, I was embarrassed by John. He used to run around in stores talking to himself, flicking his ears and putting his hands in his mouth. He had a hard time swallowing and would have drool (流口水) running down his face. John was very loud, and it seemed to me that he would always find the quietest moments to talk.
All I ever wanted was a normal brother. I would look at other brothers and sisters, see their relationships and turn green with envy. Why did my brother have to be so different? I was very self-conscious of what people thought. I felt as if the entire world was laughing at me because of the way John was acting. I was utterly offended at times that I could not have a normal brother.
The siblings of an autistic child can have many reactions to the amount of attention the autistic child receives. Some feel as if they are not receiving enough attention and may become superachievers to get their share. I hate to admit it, but I definitely fall into this category. I feel the need to excel (突出) in everything I do. I cannot help but think that this comes from having a disabled brother.
John has changed significantly over the past eighteen years.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
As I grow older, I’m no longer ashamed of my brother; instead, I am ashamed that I used to be.
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9 . Since we are vulnerable (脆弱的) when we sleep, sleep must play a critical role, or evolution wouldn’t have selected for it. Early humans had to hunt, gather food and protect themselves. Those activities consumed much time, so unless sleep served very important purposes, those who slept less would have an advantage. Yet sleeping for long hours of the night was kept for years, but scientists had only general ideas about what happened during sleep. Recently, Dr. Chiara Chiarelli, a neuroscientist, shared what sleep neuroscience research has discovered.
Neural (神经的) networks in the brain are connected through synapses (神经突触) which allow signals to flow throughout the brain and onto cells. During waking hours, new learning can strengthen the connections. You can think of knowledge acquired over a long time as a group of well-connected neural paths. When you learn something new, new paths are connected to the old. During the waking hours, your brain processes massive amounts of new insignificant information, say remembering where you parked your car. But that memory has to be preserved at least until you reach the car. It establishes a new connection to your memory of what your car looks like, a well-established “old” memory. The brain creates so many connections daily that particular circuits can be heavily burdened.
Dr. Cirelli explained that during sleep, a great many synaptic connections are weakened so that connections are more available for new learning the next day. Continuing with the parked car example, the exact location of the parked car is not needed again, so the connections are weakened. In fact, if it were not, you might memorize hundreds of places where you have parked, leading to considerable confusion!
You don’t have to be a scientist to understand that not sleeping well affects next day functioning — this is common cultural wisdom. Dr. Cirelli’s research is an example of science showing the “why” and “how” mechanisms that underlie that wisdom.
1. What does the example of early humans show?| A．Sleep wasn’t as important as it is today. |
| B．Our ancestors had a hard time surviving. |
| C．Sleep is significant in the history of humans. |
| D．Whoever sleeps less enjoys more advantages. |
| A．Our memory can be kept over a long period of time. |
| B．Our brain can be overloaded with synaptic connections. |
| C．Our brain’s neural network is connected through synapses. |
| D．Our new learning is based on well-established old memories |
| A．Sleep relieves synaptic burden. | B．Sleep carries cultural wisdom. |
| C．Sleep broadens neural paths. | D．Sleep stimulates brain development. |
| A．Doubtful. | B．Unclear. |
| C．Dismissive (鄙视的). | D．Approving. |
10 . Getting rid of old tyres has long been a problem. Most are thrown into landfills or piled up in storage. Energy recovery is another common method. This involves burning tyres to generate electricity or heat for industries, but that produces planet warming pollution; or we use them to repair roads, but chemicals from them might pollute the ground.
Some firms, therefore, have begun exploring an alternative. One such firm is Wastefront, which owns a big tyre-recycling plant in north-east England. In a couple of years, it will be able to turn 8 million old tyres into new products, including a black liquid called TDO (轮胎衍生油).
The process works by deconstructing a tyre into steel, rubber, and carbon black (炭黑). After tearing down the steel, the remaining material is exposed to high temperatures in the absence of air to make the rubber change into a mix of hydrocarbon gases, and then they’re removed. What is left behind is pure carbon black. Once the removed gases cool down, a part of them liquefies into TDO. The remaining gases are to be burned to fuel the process. This creates a closed-cycle system that prevents emissions (排放).
The carbon black can be reused to make new tyres. That is of interest to tyre-makers because it helps efforts to become carbon neutral-achieving a balance between the amounts of carbon dioxide produced and the carbon dioxide removed from the atmosphere. Producing new carbon black requires burning heavy oil or coal, which lets off plenty of greenhouse gases
The recovered TDO is well-suited for making diesel (柴油). While not completely carbon-neutral, it does produce an 80-90% reduction in emissions of carbon dioxide, compared with the conventional fuel. The future market for such cleaner fuels will remain large, even though electric vehicles are on the rise. Fossil-fuelled vehicles will exist for decades, particularly the big burners of diesel-trucks, which are harder to electrify. The fuel is also needed by trains and ships. So, anything that helps clean up overall emissions is useful—especially if it also eases a mountainous waste problem.
1. What’s the purpose of the first paragraph?| A．To analyze causes. | B．To present problems |
| C．To reach solutions. | D．To make comparisons |
| A．Air boosts the burning of the old tyres. |
| B．The remaining gases are emitted into the air. |
| C．Pure carbon black is an unprocessed substance. |
| D．TDO comes from the removed hydrocarbon gases. |
| A．Diesel made from TDO. | B．Clean electric energy. |
| C．Carbon-neutral process | D．Recovered TDO from old tyres. |
| A．The Problems of Burning Old Tyres. |
| B．The Black Liquid Called TDO. |
| C．The System Preventing Emissions |
| D．The Alternative to Tyre-recycling. |
