1. Where will the woman go at first?
| A．Bangkok. | B．Ho Chi Minh City. | C．Singapore. |
| A．See her friend. | B．Go to a market. | C．Visit some temples. |
| A．In big hotels. | B．In small guest houses. | C．In her friends’ houses. |
2 . When you think of a map, is north on the top or the bottom? Usually, maps are designed with north on top, though when we think about it, there is no logical reason for this bias (偏见). After all, there is no up or down in space. So what is wrong with south, east or west being on the top of the map? The answer is: nothing at all. In fact, north-up maps only became the norm in the last few hundred years.
Ancient Egyptian maps had south at the top because the Nile River flows downhill from mountains in the south to the Mediterranean Sea in the north. Mecca was to the south of most early Muslim civilizations, and south-up maps were designed so that viewers would look up to see Mecca. Medieval Christian maps had east at the top, as they believed the Garden of Eden was in the east. The only early maps that had north at the top were those of early China because the emperor lived in the north.
North seems to have settled at the top of maps during the 16th century, largely thanks to a Flemish mapmaker, Mercator. Mercator was a great admirer of an early Greek mapmaker, who, for reasons now unknown, put north at the top of maps, so Mercator did, too. When Mercator’s world map became the standard map to navigate the oceans, north up became standard as well.
What is the implication of this north-view of the world? Psychologically, people tend to think of up as good and down as bad. Just think of words and phrases like “upmarket”, “upbeat” and “moving up in the world”, and how they contrast with their opposites. Because north is so consistently put at the top of maps, people now think of north as good, too.
Several attempts have been made in recent years by introducing south-up maps to the market. These maps not only give us a chance to see the world differently, but also give everyone the chance to see themselves on top.
1. What can we learn from the first two paragraphs?| A．North-up maps were rare in ancient times. |
| B．Deciding up or down in space is ridiculous. |
| C．Mecca maps were based on a legend. |
| D．The south-up map first appeared in ancient Egypt. |
| A．An illogical reason. | B．The spread of Mercator’s maps. |
| C．People’s preference for up. | D．An age-old tradition in Greece. |
| A．Cautious. | B．Supportive. | C．Uncaring. | D．Disapproving. |
| A．To criticize a phenomenon. | B．To compare various facts. |
| C．To correct a cultural bias. | D．To argue for a viewpoint. |
3 . Have you ever been annoyed at younger siblings (兄弟姐妹) for stealing your toys?
Siblings help you have a healthier lifestyle. A survey of more than 15,000 people found that 43 percent of people credited their family members for having the biggest positive impact on their physical condition.
They can help you live longer, In a study from the American Sociological Association, older adults, who described themselves as being “extremely close” to the family members, had a six percent chance of dying over the next five years, compared to a 14 percent risk for the people who didn’t.
Having good friends can bring many of the same benefits. We don’t all have brothers and sisters, or you might not have much contact with them. Don’t panic.
| A．Brothers and sisters protect you from depression. |
| B．Have you ever cooperated with your brothers or sisters? |
| C．Or did you fight like cat and dog when you were younger? |
| D．Siblings can make you twice as likely to do good deeds. |
| E．Develop stable and close relationships with people around you. |
| F．Siblings are easily available fitness and healthy-eating partners. |
| G．They made you better at dealing with the tricky situations in daily life. |
4 . The words “caring” and “empathetic” (共情的) aren’t ones normally associated with technology. Yearsley, an Australian enterpriser who is expert in artificial intelligence (AI), is trying to change that.
Yearsley is the founder of Akin, a robotics startup that currently uses a tablet-based system to help users manage the tasks related to home life, whether that’s planning meals or reminding you to pay your cell phone bill. Current home devices made by Google or Amazon or Apple use predictive AI to track patterns, strengthen behaviors and manipulate (操控) buying decisions, some of which, she assumes, are questionable or just unhealthy.
In contrast, the AI that she is developing will be designed to run the human home, encouraging healthful decisions such as taking a nightly walk, refilling the fridge and supporting social interactions like lunches or birthday celebrations with friends. “It’s the hardest AI I have ever built for it’s a complex system,” Yearsley says.
Yearsley began developing the Akin technology in 2017, when she realized the need to better manage the home is hugely ignored. Besides, she realized that women unequally bear the burden of household work. A United Nations’ report estimates that women do2.6 times the amount of unpaid care and domestic work that men do, or close to 30 hours per week in the U. S. alone.
While Yearsley pictures an army of robots someday helping with routine homemade tasks, the first display for Akin will take time and money. Akin has received some early seed money from a handful of investors, and was recently selected as a finalist for tech giant LG Nova’s Mission for the Future program, an annual challenge that seeks to identify businesses having potential to improve life and lead society into the future.
1. What might the Akin’s AI system suggest?| A．Consuming more drinks to enjoy yourself. | B．Staying up late working to make more money. |
| C．Spending more time staying with your family. | D．Purchasing products that may attract you. |
| A．The high cost of current home devices. | B．Akin’s becoming a finalist for a program. |
| C．Financial support from investors. | D．Heavy burden of housewives. |
| A．Questionable and unhealthy. | B．Unstable and insecure. |
| C．Thoughtful and innovative. | D．Mature and ideal. |
| A．To introduce a futuristic AI system. | B．To compare two companies’ AI systems. |
| C．To call on people to care about housewives. | D．To seek support for an AI expert. |
5 . When John asked his daughters which sculptures they like best, they shouted excitedly, “The Story birds!”. These birds are the
At John’s house, art is a family
There are lots of
Soon, the bird stands
| A．memories | B．creations | C．copies | D．reforms |
| A．magic | B．challenge | C．reward | D．effort |
| A．regulation | B．guidance | C．affair | D．decision |
| A．look | B．move | C．come | D．carve |
| A．joint | B．real | C．final | D．serious |
| A．highlights | B．steps | C．ideas | D．benefits |
| A．rolls | B．fires | C．paints | D．brushes |
| A．disappear | B．enlarge | C．crack | D．explode |
| A．takes over | B．runs out | C．tests out | D．turns over |
| A．washes | B．decorates | C．refreshes | D．strengthens |
| A．resting | B．cycling | C．striking | D．hardening |
| A．drops | B．changes | C．stabilizes | D．rises |
| A．hotter | B．tougher | C．faster | D．deeper |
| A．quietly | B．closely | C．temporarily | D．firmly |
| A．sensitive | B．innocent | C．enthusiastic | D．gentle |
Palace Museum at 600: Old Palace, New Vitality
An exhibition titled “Everlasting Splendor: Six Centuries at the Forbidden City“ was held at the Palace Museum in Beijing to celebrate its 600th birthday. With more than 450 cultural relics and historical photos
The Forbidden City was completed in 1420 and
The Palace Museum is now a world-famous museum
7 . ChatGPT has been banned by schools in New York and Los Angeles, out of concern that students may use it to cheat on assignments. Despite these concerns, educators needn’t fear Al technology will transform education. Instead, it will help students take ownership of their studies and learn real-life skills. Today’s students need instruction that equips them with the skills of reasoning, analysis and argumentation rather than memorizing basic information. And Al may be a useful tool that promotes these skills.
Our experience with Al is perhaps best understood when compared with previous disturbances in education. When printed books, for example, began to occur in the mid-1400s, university professors were filled with panic. At that time, lectures depended on a specific model: Professors read from their hand-written texts, while students hurriedly copied whatever they heard. If students could simply buy the books, teachers likely thought that they wouldn’t need to come to class. Yet in practice, printing had the opposite effect: The number of universities exploded along with the total number of books. The new technology disturbed the mechanical aspect of education, but in doing so it allowed educators to refocus on higher-level skills.
Similarly, ChatGPT will replace the mechanical production of text, but it won’t decrease the need for higher-level skills. Possessing the skills to ask the right questions or state the right opinions will become crucial as the production of a logical essay becomes a simple task for a machine. Al will serve as a tool for information gathering and mechanical organization, but it won’t remove the fundamental need for critical thinking.Schools must remember that education’s value isn’t a head full of facts but a person with the skill to use these facts with the available tools to enhance their impact on the world. Al is one of these tools and, when used strategically, can improve students’ learning and performance in ways not yet seen. Therefore, it is essential for schools to provide an education that trains students in how to use the available tools for information. Unless they adapt quickly to the changing trends of education, they will be left behind by rapid innovation and change.
1. What is the educators’ major concern about Al technology?| A．The possible changes in education. |
| B．Students’ grades of the assignments. |
| C．Students’ fear of technological reform. |
| D．The lack of instructions and equipment. |
| A．To justify the concern of the professors. |
| B．To show the similar value of Al technology. |
| C．To clarify previous disturbances in education. |
| D．To highlight the influence of printing technology. |
| A．Doubtful. | B．Concerned. | C．Critical. | D．Supportive. |
| A．Replace the mechanical production of text. |
| B．Design their courses based on Al technology. |
| C．Catch up with the quick evolution of education. |
| D．Provide a course focusing on information gathering. |
8 . Twelve grams of moon arrived at Ferl’s laboratory in an undecorated delivery box. Ferl, a gardening expert at the University of Florida, had waited more than a decade for that moment. The small box of dirt held some of the last remaining unopened samples of moon dust, called regolith, collected by astronauts on the lunar missions. Despite months of practice, he lifted the sample with trembling hands. “It’s freaky, scary stuff,” he says, “mean, what happens if you drop that?” Ferland his team were about to become the first researchers to grow plants in actual lunar soil.
The experiment was part of a lunar research which aims to send humans back to the moon later this decade in a more sustainable way. Longer duration stays require astronauts to have a source of food. “All of human exploration has been driven by the ability to keep crews fed,” says Gil, a researcher not involved in the study. And Ferl’s experiment offers a significant first step in this journey.
To test the moon soil, Ferl’s team divided the samples into 12 pots of 900 milligrams a piece and planted seeds in them. The seeds developed successfully, but the plants had trouble growing healthy roots. The moon soil lacks important microbes, which play a significant role in regulating plant growth hormones (激素), reducing environmental stress, and absorbing essential nutrients. Without natural microbes, the plants struggled to absorb nutrients and manage stress. Additionally, the lack of water can cause the soil to become difficult to work with.
The seedlings failed to grow strongly in regolith alone, but Ferl hopes to continue studying how life might take hold in otherwise low-yield soil, with an eye toward both boosting humanity’s prospects off the planet and improving agriculture in low-yield soils here at home. “Most of us are not going to go to space,” he says, “But if we can engineer a way to produce these kinds of crops in such an unforgiving environment — like the lunar surface — we can apply that to meet our food challenges in areas that just can’t grow food anymore.”
1. How did Ferl feel when receiving the box?| A．moved and surprised. | B．scared but curious. |
| C．worried but relieved. | D．cautious and nervous. |
| A．To feed the crew of his research team. |
| B．To ensure food supply for space exploration. |
| C．To provide sustainable energy for lunar missions. |
| D．To send the astronauts back to the moon in a shorter time. |
| A．Adding microbes and watering it properly. |
| B．Dividing regolith equally and managing stress. |
| C．Growing healthy roots and making regolith dry. |
| D．Choosing suitable seeds and regulating hormones. |
| A．The original goal of the study. | B．The limitation of space farming |
| C．The application of the experiment result. | D．The factors causing the experiment failure. |
9 . More than 200 people were killed and 900 others injured in a major accident Friday evening involving three trains in the eastern Indian state of Odisha, officials said on Saturday.
At least 233 people
According to officials, the Coromandel Express, which runs from Kolkata to Chennai, hit the Yashwantpur-Howrah Express, which derailed (脱轨). A cargo train was also said to be
Officials said the
All the health facilities nearby were
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has
| A．recovered | B．died | C．attended | D．failed |
| A．content | B．course | C．accident | D．position |
| A．pleasant | B．proud | C．likely | D．similar |
| A．involved | B．visited | C．interested | D．required |
| A．solution | B．impact | C．expression | D．struggle |
| A．lucky | B．large | C．words | D．severe |
| A．cloning | B．saving | C．raising | D．causing |
| A．belief | B．trapped | C．luck | D．concern |
| A．Undoubtedly | B．Gradually | C．Immediately | D．Secretly |
| A．spot | B．location | C．station | D．hospital |
| A．besides | B．also | C．however | D．therefore |
| A．put on | B．put up | C．put out | D．put off |
| A．admitted | B．addicted | C．devoted | D．applied |
| A．reward | B．persuade | C．expressed | D．inspire |
| A．motto | B．remark | C．lesson | D．loss |
10 . Do you think you are too old to do something? Just go online and
He
John loved swimming. He still tried to keep
John was born in Farnborough on 25 July, 1914. And his
“My parents
However, John didn’t start swimming
| A．change | B．watch | C．use | D．make |
| A．broke | B．held | C．quit | D．put |
| A．carefully | B．proudly | C．correctly | D．freely |
| A．interesting | B．brief | C．private | D．amazing |
| A．safe | B．close | C．fit | D．warm |
| A．simply | B．highly | C．openly | D．lightly |
| A．position | B．belief | C．start | D．success |
| A．humorously | B．angrily | C．finally | D．shortly |
| A．guessed | B．discovered | C．hoped | D．repeated |
| A．happy | B．curious | C．sad | D．mad |
| A．began | B．increased | C．disappeared | D．remained |
| A．taught | B．forced | C．advised | D．reminded |
| A．competitively | B．dramatically | C．comfortably | D．necessarily |
| A．work out | B．take up | C．depend on | D．go through |
| A．found | B．answered | C．supported | D．introduced |
