2 . Could your dog be prone to a fatal disease? Is your new shelter pup part beagle or boxer? Many pet owners seek answers to these questions, and as a result, direct-to-consumer dog DNA testing is booming.

Human interfering with dog DNA has long been the driving factor behind dogs’ breed diversity — or lack thereof. But a dog’s DNA can also be used to confirm their lineage (血统) or identify their breed, a boon for pet owners on the lookout for breed-specific health or behavioral challenges or those looking to confirm their dog really has the heritage claimed by a breeder or seller. During DNA analysis, labs sequence the dog’s DNA and look for similarities with a dataset of identified dog breeds.

But breed identification isn’t as simple as it might seem. In a study published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association last month, scientists looked into the accuracy of breed prediction in commercially available DNA tests that required a photo of the dog in addition to its DNA sample. The results were mixed, says Casey Greene, a professor who co-authored the study.

“Most tests could accurately distinguish the breed of purebred dogs,” says Greene. But the analysis suggested that some testing companies might rely on the photo more than the dog’s actual genetics — and revealed big differences between companies’ business practices and the genetic datasets they use to determine dog breeds.

The researchers submitted photos and DNA of 12 purebred dogs to a total of six commercial canine (犬的) ancestry identification services. Since each pup was purebred and possessed extensive American Kennel Club paperwork, the researchers knew their breed conclusively—but in some cases they provided a photo of a different dog to see if the photo influenced the DNA results. One of the companies misidentified a purebred Chinese crested dog — almost entirely hairless — as a long-haired Brittany spaniel, seemingly based on the photo alone. The other five did identify the registered breed correctly, but often gave different predictions for other “ancestor” breeds in dogs whose DNA suggested mixed breeding in prior generations. The researchers concluded that veterinarians and pet owners alike should “approach direct-to-consumer tests with caution” given the lack of industry standardization and at least one company’s reliance on photographs instead of DNA analysis.

Despite these concerns, though. dog DNA seems headed for a golden age — and the insights revealed through further study of Fido’s genome (基因组) have already reached far beyond the doghouse. Domesticated dogs have emerged as surprising superstars in medical research that benefits humans. According to researchers, that’s just the beginning. With implications ranging from entertaining to consequential, there’s no telling what dog DNA will continue to unleash.

1. The underlined word “boon” in paragraph two is closest in meaning to ________.

A．blessing

B．substitute

C．duty

D．struggle

2. According to the passage, dog DNA testing can serve the following purposes except that ________.

A．it assists in accurately determining the breed a dog belongs to

B．it helps to predict whether dogs are subject to certain diseases

C．it provides pet owners with insights into dogs’ behavioral challenges

D．it sequences the DNA of identified dog breeds to find their similarities

3. Which of the following statements can be concluded from the passage?

A．Photos play a more significant role in identifying a dog’s breed than its actual genetics.

B．It is a common phenomenon that the DNA analysis of dogs may yield mixed results.

C．Commercial dog DNA tests still have limitations and should be dealt with cautiously.

D．Direct-to-consumer tests overshadow DNA analysis in identifying purebred dogs.

4. What does the passage suggest about the future of dog DNA testing?

A．Controversies regarding its reliability are here to stay.

B．It is bound to make breakthroughs in the fields of medicine and entertainment.

C．It can step into a golden age as long as some research limitations are fixed.

D．It may have far-reaching significance and be applied to a wider range of areas.

3 . Sandhya Sriram is impatient. The stem-cell (干细胞) scientist wanted to put her knowledge to use, developing cultivated seafood. Yet no one was doing that in Singapore. So four years ago, she set up a company to create lab-grown crustacean (甲壳纲动物) meat. ______, she registered her company, Shiok Meats in August 2018. “Nobody was doing crustaceans,” says Sriram, Shiok’s Group CEO and co-founder. “What do Asians eat the most? Seafood. It was a simple answer. And they’re so delicious.” A lifelong ______, she had never tried real shrimp, but she sampled it the week she registered the company.

Today, the results of her ______ can be seen at the headquarters of her company. During a fall 2022 visit, a bio-process engineer looked into a microscope carefully. He had taken samples from a bioreactor in the room next door, where the company is   ______ crustacean cells. Under the lens, he was checking to see if the cells were ready to harvest.

Shiok Meats has already revealed shrimp, lobster, and crab prototypes (最初形态) to a select group of tasters, and it plans to   ______ regulatory approval to sell its lab-grown shrimp by April 2023. That could make it the first in the world to bring cultivated shrimp to diners, putting it at the leading position of the cultivated-meat   ______. As of this writing, only one company has gained regulatory approval to sell lab-grown animal-protein products: Eat Jus’s cultured chicken is ______ but only in Singapore. Shiok Meats still needs to submit all the paperwork necessary and get regulatory approval, but the company hopes to see its products in restaurants by mid-2024, offering foodies a more environmentally friendly option free of ______ than crustaceans from farms.

But even if that ambitious   ______ is met, it will likely be a while before the average person is eating cultivated crustaceans. It will require not just regulatory approval but also more funding and a bigger factory, along with ______ consumers and governments around the world to accept lab-grown seafood.

“We’re at an interesting stage of a startup; it’s called the Valley of Death,” says Sriram. “We are in the space where we haven’t submitted for regulatory approval yet, but we’re looking to commercialize in the next two years.” Nevertheless, the impatient entrepreneur is   ______. Sriram hopes to have the company’s next manufacturing plant ready by the end of 2023, where a 500-liter and a 2,000-liter bioreactor will be a major   ______ from its current 50- and 200-liter bioreactors. The goal is for her products to enter the mainstream in Singapore in five to seven years.

______ these products could help tackle some of the environmental impacts of crustacean production. Organic waste, chemicals, and antibiotics from seafood farms can pollute groundwater. Shiok Meats says the way it produces crustacean meat minimizes animal cruelty, as growing protein in a lab helps avoid ______ animals. And cultivating shrimp closer to where it’s ______ cuts emissions from fishing-boat fuel and shipping products around the world.

In a word, when science meets seafood, many wonderful things happen naturally.

1.

A．Eagerly

B．Hurriedly

C．Incidentally

D．Interestingly

2.

A．dieter

B．foodie

C．taster

D．vegetarian

3.

A．discipline

B．enthusiasm

C．discovery

D．mindset

4.

A．growing

B．investigating

C．increasing

D．targeting

5.

A．accept

B．adopt

C．grant

D．seek

6.

A．farm

B．race

C．section

D．line

7.

A．available

B．affordable

C．competitive

D．profitable

8.

A．additive

B．cruelty

C．meat

D．salt

9.

A．guideline

B．transformation

C．condition

D．timeline

10.

A．demanding

B．directing

C．persuading

D．training

11.

A．delightful

B．insightful

C．open-minded

D．optimistic

12.

A．difference

B．emergence

C．sacrifice

D．leap

13.

A．Tracking

B．Supervising

C．Popularizing

D．Sampling

14.

A．feeding

B．killing

C．mistreating

D．trapping

15.

A．captured

B．stranded

C．consumed

D．produced

4 . Maps, number lines, shapes, artwork and other materials tend to cover elementary classroom walls. However, too much of a good thing may end up _______ attention and learning in young children, according to research published in Psychological Science.

Psychology researchers Anna V. Fisher, Karrie E. Godwin and Howard Seltman of Carnegie Mellon University looked at whether classroom displays affected children’s ability to maintain _______ during instruction and to learn the lesson content. They found that children in highly decorated classrooms were more distracted, spent more time off-task and demonstrated smaller learning _______than when the decorations were removed.

“Young children spend a lot of time — usually the whole day — in the same classroom, and we have shown that a classroom’s _______ environment can affect how much children learn,” said Fisher, lead author and associate professor of psychology in the Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences.

Should teachers _______ their visual displays based on the findings of this study?

“We do not suggest by any means that this is the answer to all _______ problems. Furthermore,_______ research is needed to know what effect the classroom visual environment has on children’s attention and learning in real classrooms,” Fisher said. “_______, I would suggest that instead of removing all decorations, teachers should consider whether some of their visual displays do make it difficult for young children to _______.”

For the study, 24 kindergarten students were placed in ________classrooms for six introductory science lessons on topics they were unfamiliar with. Three lessons were taught in a heavily decorated classroom, and three lessons were given in a sparse (稀疏的) classroom. The results showed that while children learned in both __________ types, they learned more when the room was not heavily decorated. Specifically, children’s __________ on the test questions was higher in the sparse classroom (55% correct) than in the decorated classroom (42% correct).

“We were also interested in finding out if the visual displays were removed, whether the children’s attention would __________ to another distraction, such as talking to their peers, or the total amount of time they were distracted would remain the same,” said Godwin, a Ph.D. candidate in psychology and fellow of the Program in Interdisciplinary Education Research.

However, when the researchers totaled all of the time children spent off-task in both types of classrooms, the rate of off-task __________ was higher in the decorated classroom (38.6% time spent off-task) than in the sparse classroom (28.4% time spent off-task).

The researchers hope these findings will lead to further studies into developing guidelines to help teachers design classrooms __________.

1.

A．attracting

B．distracting

C．holding

D．paying

2.

A．confidence

B．relationship

C．consistency

D．focus

3.

A．gains

B．opportunities

C．needs

D．disabilities

4.

A．social

B．natural

C．physical

D．visual

5.

A．turn over

B．take down

C．try out

D．look into

6.

A．athletic

B．environmental

C．educational

D．communicative

7.

A．additional

B．prior

C．national

D．independent

8.

A．However

B．Besides

C．Therefore

D．Meanwhile

9.

A．stretch

B．adapt

C．concentrate

D．explore

10.

A．decorated

B．empty

C．transitional

D．laboratory

11.

A．teaching

B．classroom

C．school

D．personality

12.

A．accuracy

B．emphasis

C．impact

D．perspective

13.

A．refer

B．listen

C．respond

D．shift

14.

A．questions

B．behaviors

C．incidents

D．tasks

15.

A．originally

B．innovatively

C．appropriately

D．exclusively

5 . 听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。1.

A．The advantages of reality TV shows.	B．The disadvantages of reality TV shows
C．Their experiences in reality TV shows.	D．Their different views on reality TV shows.

2.

A．Ordinary people.	B．Famous people.
C．Stupid people.	D．Popular people.

3.

A．Most of the situations are not real.	B．Some of them are too touching.
C．They are full of tension and drama.	D．She will never get into such situations.

4.

A．They are amusing but sometimes harmful.

B．They are a form of “gossip entertainment”

C．They can entertain and sometimes educate people.

D．They can make people know more about nature.

6 . Imagine this. You need an image of a balloon for a work presentation and turn to an AI text-to- image generator, like Midjourney or DALL-E, to create a suitable image. You enter the prompt (提示词) “red balloon against a blue sky” but the generator returns an image of an egg instead.

What’s going on? The generator you’re using may have been “poisoned”. What does this mean? Text-to-image generators work by being trained on large datasets that include millions or billions of images. Some of the generators have been trained by indiscriminately scraping online images, many of which may be under copyright. This has led to many copyright infringement (侵害) cases where artists have accused big tech companies of stealing and profiting from their work.

This is also where the idea of “poison” comes in. Researchers who want to empower individual artists have recently created a tool named “Nightshade” to fight back against unauthorised image scraping. The tool works by slightly altering an image’s pixels (像素) in a way that confuses the computer vision system but leaves the image unaltered to a human’s eyes. If an organization then scrapes one of these images to train a future AI model, its data pool becomes “poisoned”. This can result in mistaken learning, which makes the generator return unintended results. As in our earlier example, a balloon might become an egg.

The higher the number of “poisoned” images in the training data, the greater the impact. Because of how generative AI works, the damage from “poisoned” images also affects related prompt keywords. For example, if a “poisoned” image of a Picasso work is used in training data, prompt results for masterpieces from other artists can also be affected.

Possibly, tools like Nightshade can be abused by some users to intentionally upload “poisoned” images in order to confuse AI generators. But the Nightshade’s developer hopes the tool will make big tech companies more respectful of copyright. It does challenge a common belief among computer scientists that data found online can be used for any purpose they see fit.

Human rights activists, for example, have been concerned for some time about the indiscriminate use of machine vision in wider society. This concern is particularly serious concerning facial recognition. There is a clear connection between facial recognition cases and data poisoning, as both relate to larger questions around technological governance. It may be better to see data poisoning as an innovative solution to the denial of some fundamental human rights.

1. The underlined word “scraping” (para. 2) is closest in meaning to ____.

A．facilitating

B．collecting

C．damaging

D．polishing

2. According to the passage, adding poisoned data might ____.

A．increase the accuracy of returned information

B．cause users to forget the prompt key words

C．interfere with the training of generative AI

D．discriminate against great masterpieces

3. What can be inferred from the last two paragraphs?

A．Data poisoning is somehow justified to direct attention to human rights.

B．Computer scientists has learned to respect the copyright of most artists.

C．Nightshade is being abused by human rights activists to recognize faces.

D．The issue of technological governance has aroused the lawyers’ interest.

4. Which of the following might be the best title of the passage?

A．Data Poisoning: Government Empowering Citizens to Protect Themselves

B．Data Poisoning: Addressing Facial Recognition Issues Among Artists

C．Data Poisoning: Risks and Rewards of Generative AI Data Training

D．Data Poisoning: Restricting Innovation or Empowering Artists

7 . In Favour of Simple Writing

Do you edit text messages carefully before sending them? If so, you may be the kind of person who takes pride in _______ even the simplest message. If you do not, you may see yourself as a go-getter, one who values excitement and speed over _______: get it done decently now rather than perfectly later.

People are constantly receiving messages, from the mailbox to the inbox to the text-message alert. What to read, what to skim (略读) and what to ignore are decisions that nearly everyone has to make dozens of times a day. A new book titled All Readers are Busy Nowadays makes the argument for being the careful kind of _______, even in informal lines. The authors also present well-established _______ that have long been prized in guides to writing.

Take “less is more”. Most books on writing well advocate the advice to _______ needless words. The authors, however, have _______ the idea. In an email to thousands of school-board members asking them to take a survey, cutting the count from127 to 49 words almost _______ the response rate.

Keeping messages to a _______ idea—or as few as absolutely needed—helps ensure that they will be read, remembered and acted on. _______ the number of the available options has the same effect, too. A link in an email, ________, attracted 50% more clicks when presented alone than when it was sent alongside a second additional link.

Syntax (句法) and ________ matter, too. It is more ________ to adopt short and active sentences, with common words familiar to everyone. From Facebook posts to online-travel reviews, even brief, informal pieces of writing that follow these rules get more likes and shares.

If everyone is a busy reader, everyone is a busy writer, too. That may make it tempting to sent as many messages as ________ as possible and hope for the best. But from essays to text messages organizing dinner plans, devoting time to the needs of readers has provable ________. If you are so busy that you write an undisciplined message which readers scan, ignore and delete, then you might as well have not ________ it at all.

1.

A．conveying

B．understanding

C．crafting

D．sending

2.

A．care

B．quantity

C．simplicity

D．technology

3.

A．reader

B．poster

C．learner

D．writer

4.

A．structures

B．principles

C．aims

D．alternatives

5.

A．remove

B．ignore

C．reconsider

D．interpret

6.

A．conveyed

B．translated

C．tested

D．shaped

7.

A．lowered

B．affected

C．doubled

D．maintained

8.

A．basic

B．positive

C．definite

D．single

9.

A．Recording

B．Reducing

C．Counting

D．Estimating

10.

A．in comparison

B．after all

C．for instance

D．in particular

11.

A．word-choice

B．pattern-design

C．target-setting

D．platform-selection

12.

A．difficult

B．suitable

C．challenging

D．common

13.

A．carefully

B．often

C．politely

D．quickly

14.

A．outcomes

B．points

C．figures

D．benefits

15.

A．received

B．written

C．read

D．answered

8 . Those who had the pleasure of watching Benny Goodman at work saw a rather ordinary-looking man in rimless glasses and a conservative business suit; but they also saw a human being who could play the clarinet(单簧管) like no one before or since. This made Benny Goodman a unique individual.

Other Americans who have stood out from the flock include Joe DiMaggio, Beverly Sill, Ernest Hemingway and Jonas Salk. They, like Benny Goodman, were recognized and honored for no other reason than excellence.

It is doing something better than other people that makes us unique. Yet a surprising number of people still see individuality as a surface thing. They wear garish clothes, dye their hair strange colors and decorate their skin with tattoos to make some kind of social statement. But an ordinary guy who has dyed his hair purple or orange is nothing more than the same person with a funny-looking head.

The whole purpose of individuality is excellence. Those who invent, who improvise(即兴发挥), who know more about a subject than other people do, and who take something that doesn’t work and make it work––these people are the very soul of capitalism.

Charles Kettering didn’t like the idea of cranking a car to make it start, so he invented the electric starter. Henry Ford figured out the assembly-line technique and made it possible to mass-produce automobiles, and Elisha Otis, inventor of the elevator, indirectly created the city sky-line. These people understood that individualism means working at the top of one’s capacity.

The ones with the purple hair and the funky jewelry are just along for the ride, trying to be “different” and not knowing how to go about it.

The student who earns straight A’s on his report card has grasped the idea and has found the real meaning of individuality. So has the youngster who has designed his own spaceship, who gives piano recitals, who paints pictures of the world around him.

Benny Goodman understood it too. This is why he was at his best, blowing his clarinet, in a blue suit and black shoes.

1. The author mentions the appearance of Benny Goodman to _________.

A．show what a talented musician should look like

B．introduce an important figure in the musical world

C．contrast with his talent in music performance

D．indicate that he can’t stand out from the flock

2. The author would most probably agree that _________.

A．an individualist tends to seek difference both in character and appearance

B．the essence of individualism lies in pursuing excellence to the full

C．being different in appearance is the very first step to being individual

D．those who strive to win the recognition of others are real individualists

3. According to the passage, which individual’s actions may not truly embody the essence of individualism?

A．A scientist who conducts research solely advancing knowledge for the greater good rather than for personal recognition.

B．A social media influencer who conforms to popular opinions to maintain a large following.

C．An artist who creates unique works but fail to gain fame and recognition from others.

D．An entrepreneur who prioritizes ethical considerations over profit in his business practices.

4. For the main thread, the article is organized by way of __________.

A．specific to general	B．cause and effect
C．examples and conclusion	D．comparison and contrast

9 . Precognitive dreams are dreams that seemingly predict the future which cannot be inferred from actually available information. Former US President Abraham Lincoln once revealed the frightening dream to his law partner and friend Ward Hill Lamon, “…Then I heard people weep… ‘Who is dead in the White House?’ I demanded. ‘The President,’ ‘he was killed!’…” The killing did happen later.

Christopher French, Professor in the Department of Psychology at Goldsmiths, stated the most likely explanation for such a phenomenon was coincidence (巧合). “In addition to pure coincidences we must also consider the unreliability of memory”, he added. Asked what criteria would have to be met for him to accept that precognitive dreams were a reality, he said, “The primary problem with tests of the claim is that the subjects are unable to tell when the event(s)they’ve dreamed about will happen.”

However, some claimed to make such tests practicable. Professor Caroline Watt at the University of Edinburgh, has conducted studies into precognitive dreaming. She stated that knowing future through dreams challenged the basic assumption of science — causality (relationship of cause and effect).

Dick Bierman, a retired physicist and psychologist, who has worked at the Universities of Amsterdam, Utrecht and Groningen, has put forward a theory that may explain precognitive dreams. It is based on the fact that when scientists use certain mathematical descriptions to talk about things like electromagnetism (电磁学), these descriptions favour the belief that time only moves in one direction. However, in practice the wave that is running backwards in time does exist. This concept is called the time symmetry, meaning that the laws of physics look the same when time runs forward or backward. But he believes that time symmetry breaks down due to external conditions. “The key of the theory is that it assumes that there is a special context that restores the broken time-symmetry, if the waves running backwards are ‘absorbed’ by a consistent multi-particle (多粒子) system. The brain under a dream state may be such a system where broken time-symmetry is partially restored. This is still not a full explanation for precognitive dreams but it shows where physics might be adjusted to accommodate the phenomenon,” he explains.

Although Bierman’s explanation is still based on guesses and has not accepted by mainstream science, Watt does think it is worth considering. For now, believing that it’s possible to predict future with dreams remains an act of faith. Yet, it’s possible that one day we’ll wake up to a true understanding of this fascinating phenomenon.

1. According to French, what makes it difficult to test precognitive dreams?

A．Unavailability of people’s dreams.

B．That coincidences happen a lot in reality.

C．That criteria for dream reliability are not trustworthy.

D．People’s inability to tell when dreamt events will happen.

2. Believers in precognitive dreams may question the truth of ________.

A．the assumption of causality	B．the time symmetry
C．memories of ordinary people	D．modern scientific tests

3. We can infer from the passage that ________.

A．Lincoln was warned of the killing by his friend

B．Watt carried out several experiments on causality

C．researches on electromagnetism are based on the time symmetry

D．time’s moving in two directions may justify precognitive dreams

4. Which might be the best title of the passage?

A．Should Dreams Be Assessed?

B．Can Dreams Predict the Future?

C．How Can Physics Be Changed to Explain Dreams?

D．Why Should Scientists Study Precognitive Dreams?

10 . Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in the blanks to make the passage coherent and grammatically correct. For the blanks with a given word, fill in each blank with the proper form of the given word; for the other blanks, use one word that best fits each blank.

Remote Work Slows Senior Housing Market Recovery

With the rise of remote work, the market for senior housing has met with problems in its recovery. Only a few old people choose to live in senior-living communities     1     the growing senior population and the cancelation of COVID-19 restrictions once making family visits difficult.     2     this trend suggests is that people’s shift to remote work contributes to the slow rebound of the senior housing market. That is, remote work is keeping many older Americans from moving into senior-living communities once warmly     3     (welcome).

When more adults began working remotely during the pandemic (流行病), they were able to check in on aging parents easily — they     4     take care of their parents’ issues on short notice.

Experts have been analyzing the phenomenon in different ways. Some found that the greater flexibility to care for parents     5     (mean) people’s delay in sending aged parents to expensive senior-housing accommodations. Therefore, markets with high levels of people working from home usually have lower senior-housing occupancy rates. Others said remote work might have some effect but also pointed to different factors. For instance, many seniors think that their family wallets are getting thinner, making some of them reluctant     6     (send) to senior-living communities.

The age at which people enter senior housing is also increasing,     7     serves as another sign that shows people are choosing to delay transitioning. The rising cost of senior living weighs heavily on that decision. The CPI (consumer-price index) for nursing homes and adult day services rose 4.5% last May compared with     8     in May, 2022.

Still, many senior-housing operators are optimistic. When     9     (illustrate) their point, they showed an increase in the number of people turning 80 years old over the following years and the actual wealth they have collected. Moreover, they find remote work arrangements are decreasing in some parts of the country,     10     employees there have seen their lowered productivity while working from home.