1 . Research indicates that Tai Chi, a traditional Chinese exercise that combines slow, gentle movements with deep breathing and relaxation, may provide long-term relief from Parkinson’s disease symptoms. Those who practised the martial art twice a week had fewer complications (并发症) and better quality of life than those who didn’t, the researchers say.

Parkinson’s is a progressive brain disease characterized by slowness of movement, tremors (颤抖), and stiff and inflexible muscles. It is the fastest-growing neurological condition in the world, with the number of those affected projected to reach nearly 5 million by 2030 in China alone. In the UK 2 people are diagnosed with the disease every hour. So far, there has been no cure for Parkinson’s.

Previously published research suggests that Tai Chi eases Parkinson’s symptoms in the short term, but whether this improvement can be maintained over the long term isn’t known.

The new study, from Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, monitored the health of hundreds of Parkinson’s patients for up to five years. One group of 147 people practised regular Tai Chi while another group of 187 did not.

The researchers found that the disease progressed more slowly in the Tai Chi group on measurements of symptoms, movement and balance. This group also saw fewer falls, less back pain and dizziness, with memory and concentration problems also lower than in the other group. At the same time, sleep and quality of life continuously improved.

However, this is an observational study, which can’t establish cause and effect. And the researchers acknowledge that the number of study participants was relatively small.

Prof Alastair Noyce, professor in neurology at Queen Mary University of London, called it “an important study” but said there were limitations in its design, and more trials were needed.

Prof K Ray Chaudhuri, professor of movement disorders and neurology at King’s College London, said, “It is too early to claim any neuroprotection based on this study, although the positive effects on aspects of motor and non-motor functions are impressive.”

1. What do we know about Parkinson’s?

A．It’s severe but curable now.	B．It may lead to a low-quality life.
C．It’s more common in China than in the UK.	D．It’s the fastest-growing disease in the world.

2. What is the new study different from the previous one?

A．It covers more aspects of the disease.

B．It collects data from more study participants.

C．It focuses on the long-term effect of Tai Chi on Parkinson’s.

D．It first proves the positive effect Tai Chi has on Parkinson’s.

3. What can be inferred from paragraphs 5 and 6?

A．The results of the study are not clear.

B．The researchers are unaware of the problems of the study.

C．The methods that the researchers use in the study are inappropriate.

D．The study gives hope to Parkinson’s patients though with its limitations.

4. What is Prof K Ray Chaudhuri’s attitude towards the conclusion of the new study?

A．Disapproving.

B．Supportive.

C．Indifferent.

D．Objective.

2 . An Indiana man ordered a Sausage McMuffin at his local McDonald’s and got much more than he expected.

On January 6, TikTok user Josiah Vargas, aka @ dookiedoeboy, shared a video detailing his trip to a McDonald’s drive-through in Elkhart, Indiana that resulted in him receiving much more than he ordered. In the video, which has attracted over 2.3 million views, Vargas is shocked by what he finds in his to-go bag instead of breakfast: thousands of dollars.

“Why? There’s a couple thousand dollars here,” Vargas says, holding up a baggie full of $20bills. “Like, why would they do this? Why would they give this to me?”

Vargas took to TikTok to share his shocking discovery, knowing that he could easily take the money and leave the McDonald’s workers in quite a bind. But, ultimately, he says he knows what he needs to do.

“Now I have to return it because I’m a good person, I guess,” Vargas says, putting the money back in the bag. “How interesting!”

After he walks into the store, he gives the bag to a worker at the register. The worker realizes he’s returning the cash they had been looking for. Amid all the relieved reactions from staff that can be heard from McDonald’s staff, one employee asks if they could give him a hug — which he accepts.

Back in the car, Vargas reflects on his good deed. “They were just all hugging me and thanking me,” he says. “When I was driving away, they called me back in. They gave me $200as well as free McDonald’s for a month.”

The TikTok ends with Vargas sharing what he believes to be the moral of the story. “Do good, people. Returned $5,000, got $200 and free McDonald’s for a month,” he says. “Good trade value and maybe a viral TikTok.”

1. Why was January 6 a special day for Josiah Vargas?

A．His video views ranked top in TikTok.	B．His bag was taken by others by mistake.
C．He was given a lot of money unexpectedly.	D．He was awarded a big prize by McDonald’s.

2. What does the underlined phrase “in quite a bind” in paragraph 4 mean?

A．In serious trouble.	B．At great ease.
C．With extreme caution.	D．Under strict control.

3. What words can be used to describe Josiah Vargas?

A．Responsible and generous.	B．Considerate and honest.
C．Confident and humorous.	D．Curious and lucky.

4. What message does the text try to convey?

A．Every man has his price.	B．Money is not everything.
C．Details determine success.	D．One good turn deserves another.

3 . 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。

Statistics show that there are more than 1. 9 billion videos related to stove-boiled tea on a popular Chinese short video platform. Stove-boiled tea, a newly     1    (emerge) social activity among young Chinese people, has been filling up social media feeds in recent weeks. Usually several friends sitting around a fire stove enjoy     2     smell of charcoal-grilled snacks and socialize while waiting for the tea     3     (boil). In many ways, it is the perfect activity in the winter,     4     (warm) body and soul in the colder months.

    5     it has recently regained popularity, cooking tea on a stove actually has a long history in China. Stove-boiled tea is derived from an intangible cultural heritage from southwest China’s Yunnan province: huotang roasted tea and a kind of huotang culture thus     6     (form) around it.

The reason why stove-boiled tea is gaining such popularity, apart from its embodiment of traditional Chinese tea culture, is     7     (part) because of its portrayal in the costume television drama “A Dream of Splendor”, which     8    (broadcast) last summer. The activity also shows young people’s pursuit of a sense of ritual, with their     9     (long) for traditional tea culture and aspirations returning to the pastoral (田园). It also helps that tourism is gradually recovering.     10    , stove-boiled tea acts as a social way of combining ancient and modern elements, attracting many young people who love both tourism and traditional tea culture.

4 . Superman Learns How to Ride

It was the summer of 1967, and the moment was nearing when I would cast off my training wheels and learn to ride a bike.

As an adventurous little boy, I sure put my overactive imagination to good use. I would pretend to be the bookish reporter, Clark Kent. Then, at the first sign of something wrong, I disappeared and emerged moments later with a red towel hanging from the collar of my dirty blue T-shirt and an ironed-on letter “S” on my chest.

“This is a job for Superman!” I would cry out as I flew to meet imaginary dangers that threatened the world.

“Hey, Superman, when are you going to learn to ride a bike?” the neighborhood kids would taunt as they rolled past. “The Man of Steel still uses training wheels!” they laughed.

As I watched them ride away, I realized I was being left behind. To claim my place among their ranks, I needed to cast off my training wheels and learn to ride with the big kids. I turned to my father for help.

“Okay, I’m going to let go, and you just remember to balance,” Dad advised patiently on my tenth try. Suddenly I was riding! I dared to smile as my father’s shouts of encouragement faded into the background. My smile widened. Victory was mine.

You are going to fall. The thought was at first a whisper and then grew louder and more convincing until I believed it must be true. After all, I had always fallen before. Why should this time be any different? Fear seized me, and my confidence weakened and I couldn’t grasp the handlebars tightly. Sure enough, I fell to the grass.

“You almost had it,” Dad said, catching his breath. “You are seized with a sense of fear so you fell.”

“I quit,” I said angrily, trying to fight back the tears of frustration. “I don’t want to learn to ride.”

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。
Paragraph 1: However, on thinking of Superman, I decided to behave like a real hero.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 2: I gripped the handlebars with strong determination.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

5 . There’s a song in your head. You keep hearing it repeatedly. You can’t make it stop, and it’s driving you crazy! Has this happened to you? Maybe you have suffered from an earworm, which is a memory of a song.

Earworms are common. A study showed that 90 percent of people experience them. Why do we get earworms? According to neurologist Oliver Sacks, music affects us whether we pay attention to it or not. We’re surrounded by music all the time in our everyday lives. Sacks wonders if there is a higher incidence of earworms today because of all this music in our environment.

Research on the primary auditory cortex supports Sack’s ideas. The auditory cortex is the part of the brain that processes sound. It’s a short-term storage system for small amounts of auditory information. Some of this auditory information is forgotten, and some of it goes into long-term memory. However, songs appear to stay in the auditory cortex for a long time.

James Kellaris, a professor of marketing at the University of Cincinnati, thinks that only certain types of songs become earworms. These songs are repetitive, simple, and incongruous — something unexpected such as uneven rhythm. Your brain pays a lot of attention to a song like this, Kellaris says. Because it is repetitive and unusual, it stays longer in the auditory cortex. At that point, Kellaris believes, it becomes an annoying earworm.

Advertisers often use jingles — short songs that are easy to remember to promote sales. Advertisers want jingles to stick in people’s minds to keep them thinking about their products. It seems that advertisers have learned what Kellaris has found out in his research.

Is there any way to get rid of an earworm? Here are some tips Kellaris collected: replace the earworm song with another song, try to distract yourself by doing an intense activity such as exercising, or tell someone about your earworm. What if none of these strategies work? Then perhaps you should just sit back and try to enjoy the music in your head!

1. How does the author lead to the topic?

A．By giving a definition.	B．By describing a phenomenon.
C．By drawing a conclusion.	D．By clarifying a question.

2. What does the author want to explain by mentioning “auditory cortex”?

A．The mechanism of earworms.	B．The lasting effect of memory.
C．The necessity of the research.	D．The significance of music.

3. In which paragraph does the author explain the features of the earworm music?

A．Paragraph 2.

B．Paragraph 3.

C．Paragraph 4.

D．Paragraph 5.

4. What can be the best title for the text?

A．Earworms — the Songs in Your Head	B．Jingles — the Typical Earworms
C．How Do Earworms Change Our Life?	D．How Do We Live with Earworms?

6 . 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。

According to UNESCO, deep in the sea     1     (lie) a great number of valuable relics—around 3 million boats, many cities and thousands of human relics. Today, these relics of human heritage are suffering serious damage from commercial and industrial exploitation (开发), making     2     (they) protection even more urgent.

    3     (protect) and inherit (传承) our hard-to-notice yet still important underwater cultural heritage, the National Base of Underwater Archaeology for the South China Sea     4     (launch) by China’s National Cultural Heritage Administration in Feb, 2023.

The base is planned to cover     5     area of 74 mu and a total construction area of 31,085 square meters. It is expected to perform various     6     (function), including underwater cultural heritage surveys and protection measures, cultural heritage repair and archaeologist training, according to the administration.

Li Qun, vice-minister of culture and tourism, told Xinhua     7     the South China Sea is the     8     (large) in scale and richest in underwater cultural heritage among China’s waters and is an important area of the Maritime Silk Road.

Building the base is an important step toward strengthening the country’s underwater cultural heritage protection work and is     9     great importance in passing on traditional Chinese culture and     10     (safeguard) China’s sovereignty (主权), security and maritime rights, Li added.

7 . Esports (electronic sports) are organized competitions where players—often referred to as “athletes” — face off against each other in video games. They are not just games in a sense. Actually, they are a sport that can improve the players’ thinking ability, hand-eye coordination, willpower and team spirit.

The esports industry has experienced significant growth in recent years around the world, though it’s still in the nascent stage, which means it has huge growth potential going forward.

In the 1990s, Games like the beat’em up Street Fighter II and the first-person shooter Doom added variety to the increasingly popular competitive gaming scene. In the 2010s, MOBA games like League of Legends and Dota 2 became mainstream in the world of esports. In 2022, esports were announced to be officially included in the Asian Games. There are now over 40 esports games with players competing around the world at huge events.

Esports made their first appearance as a medal event at the Asian Games from Sept 23 to Oct 8, 2023. Seven games were included: FIFA Online 4, PUBG Mobile Asian Games Version, Arena of Valor Asian Games Version, Dota 2, League of Legends, Dream Three Kingdoms 2, Street and Fighter V.

Previously, eight esports games were scheduled at the Hangzhou Asian Games. However, virtual card game Hearthstone (《炉石传说》) was removed in March. This followed the breakdown of negotiations between Hearthstone producer, Blizzard Entertainment, and NetEase, their local partner company in China, over their rights partnership.

1. What is the current state of esports?

A．They face tough challenges.	B．They come ahead of other sports.
C．They have great future prospect.	D．They are no more than video games.

2. When was League of Legends included in the Asian Games?

A．In the 1990s.

B．In the 2010s.

C．In 2022.

D．In 2023.

3. Why was Hearthstone ruled out of the Asian Games?

A．Its version was outdated.	B．Its schedule was up in the air.
C．Its gaming scenes were full of violence.	D．Its two parties failed to reach an agreement.

8 . Peter walked home from school. Salty tears ran down his cheeks. He didn’t know what to do. Grandma saw him and asked why. Peter replied, “I have to give a(n)________ about a family tradition. I know we have lots of beliefs and customs. Can you ________ me of one?”

Grandma smiled and nodded her head. She went to a closet and ________ to reach the top shelf. Pulling out a small box and ________ the dust, she handed it to Peter. Peter opened the box. He ________ a wooden hoop with string woven and twisted around. It was in the shape of a circle, like a spider web. Peter wiped away his ________ and smiled.

“This is a dream catcher,” said Grandma. “Our people have made these for many years. ________are symbols of unity and strength. Hang it over your bed and it will ________ your bad dreams in the web, and your good dreams will fall through the center. Maybe it will give you ________ to do your presentation.”

“Can I take this one to school?” asked Peter. “No,” said Grandma. “This dream catcher is ________ . It means a lot to me.”

Peter felt ________ because he wanted to share it with his class. “We could make you one,” said Grandma. They worked together and ________ a dream catcher. The next morning he told Grandma his plan — to show his class how to make one. “Great! Let’s ________ after your presentation. We will have a ________ party,” said Grandma.

Peter did as he had planned. Peter didn’t feel ________ or scared at all. He felt proud in his culture and felt pride in himself, too.

1.

A．presentation

B．gift

C．example

D．instruction

2.

A．warn

B．remind

C．accuse

D．persuade

3.

A．bent

B．crawled

C．stretched

D．leaned

4.

A．sorting out

B．taking out

C．burning away

D．blowing away

5.

A．spotted

B．marked

C．decorated

D．matched

6.

A．worry

B．tears

C．dust

D．sweat

7.

A．Spiders

B．Strings

C．Twists

D．Circles

8.

A．copy

B．catch

C．chase

D．abandon

9.

A．convenience

B．comfort

C．courage

D．patience

10.

A．precious

B．expensive

C．genuine

D．popular

11.

A．confused

B．anxious

C．disappointed

D．embarrassed

12.

A．made

B．kept

C．folded

D．transformed

13.

A．pray

B．celebrate

C．promise

D．leave

14.

A．fashionable

B．temporary

C．mysterious

D．traditional

15.

A．bored

B．surprised

C．nervous

D．hesitant

9 . LIKE-MINDED MATES

It’s fun to spend time with people who have similar interests to you. Friendships based on mutual passions enable you to indulge (沉溺) in the things you enjoy doing while sharing your creativity and experiences with others. Here are some of the benefits you might discover.

·Sense of belonging

    1    . And having a place where you can explore and develop your creative self is fulfilling and energizing. Groups enable you to gain support, seek advice, and find inspiration. They can be a welcome break and somewhere to relax after a busy day.

·Chance to escape and recharge

Taking part in activities that differ from those in your daily life is a good way to refocus and recharge. Time away from school is uplifting.     2    . Engaging in creative pursuits with others also helps you to be more mindful, meaning you’re more present in the moment and less likely to be thinking about the past or worrying about the future.

·    3    

Talking through projects can help you to discover and develop new ideas.     4    . You might uncover an innovative technique, a way to streamline your work. Creative groups enable you to experiment with things you might not have considered, exposing you to new modes of expression.

·Motivation

Learning and growing with friends allow you to make more of your potential. Sharing a journey can give you a push forward if you become stuck. And the enthusiasm of others is a great motivator.     5    , everyone in the group can support each other, working towards your various goals.

A．Ideas and inspirations

B．Opportunities to make new friends

C．It gives a healthy balance of work and play

D．By sharing what you’d like to achieve with others

E．You may feel isolated joining a new group at first

F．Meeting people with the same interests obtains a feeling of being a part

G．And watching others is a great way to view what you do from a fresh perspective

10 . You may have already seen robot waiters in restaurants: waist-high machines that can greet guests, lead them to their tables, deliver food and drinks and carry dirty dishes to the kitchen. But are they the future?

Many think they are the solution to the industry’s labor shortages. Sales of them have been growing rapidly in recent years, with tens of thousands now working in dining rooms. But others say they have a long way to go before they can replace humans. They can’t take orders, and many restaurants have steps and other physical challenges they can’t adapt to.

Still, the robots are increasing. Redwood City, Califomia-based Bear Robotics, introduced its service robot in 2021 and expects to have 10,000 used by the end of this year worldwide. The lack of labor sped up the adoption of robots globally. In the US, the restaurant industry employed 15 million people in 2022, but that was still 400,000 fewer than before the pandemic. In a recent survey, 62% of restaurant operators told the National Restaurant Association they don’t have enough employees to meet customer demand.

Public recognition of robot servers is already high in Asia. The US was slower to adopt robots, but some chains are now testing them. But not all chains have had success with robots. Chili’s introduced a robot server named Rita in 2020 and expanded the test to 61 US restaurants before abruptly stopping it last August. The chain found that Rita moved too slowly and got in the way of human servers. And 58% of guests surveyed said Rita didn’t improve their overall experience.

It’s expected that about 30% of restaurants will continue to have human servers and be considered more luxurious (豪华的), while the rest will rely on robots in the kitchen and in dining rooms. Economics are on the side of robots; the cost of human labor will continue to rise, but technology costs will fall. But that’s not a future everyone wants to see. “Humans don’t go to a full-service restaurant to be served by technology,” said Saru Jayaraman, president of One Fair Wage. “They go for the experience of themselves and the people they care about being served by a human.”

1. What can we learn about the numbers in paragraph 3?

A．Robot waiters are a solution to labor shortages.

B．Robots play a more important role in restaurants.

C．Human beings are more likely to be out of work.

D．Restaurant owners prefer robot waiters to human waiters.

2. Why was Rita abandoned by restaurants?

A．It could not finish the task correctly.	B．It disturbed the dinners in the restaurant.
C．It added to the expense of the restaurant.	D．It caused trouble for its human colleagues.

3. What might Saru Jayaraman probably agree with?

A．Robot waiters have become a scenic spot in the restaurants.

B．Human waiters can’t be actually replaced by robot waiters.

C．The duties of robot and human waiters should be made clear.

D．Restaurants should balance the cost of robot and human labor.

4. What can be a suitable title for the text?

A．Are robot waiters the future?	B．What can a robot do for you?
C．Where can you find robot waiters?	D．Do robots bring convenience to us?