1 . The man who set a Guinness record for lipstick has flopped.

On the early morning of September 11th, Li Jiaqi apologized on Weibo for “hating netizens” during the live broadcast on the evening of September 10th. The reason was that when Li Jiaqi introduced a certain brand eyebrow pencil worth 79 yuan during a live broadcast activity, some netizens expressed that it was getting more and more expensive. He first asked back, “Where is it expensive? It has been this price for so many years, don’t talk nonsense with your eyes open.” Then he added, “Sometimes he finds his own reasons. After all these years of salary increase, have you worked hard?”

Li Jiaqi later apologized on Weibo, saying, “I was originally a makeup counter salesperson and know that everyone’s work is not easy. I’m really sorry what I said, which fell short of your expectations.” However, the highly praised comments in the front row of its comment section are no exception: all the apologies are not accepted. “Even a few words cannot stop your true arrogance during your live broadcast.” “You occasionally need to go out and take a look at the world as it is, rather than just sitting in front of the camera harvesting countless amounts of money.”

In addition to careful language, people are happy to see stories of a noble son from a humble family like Li Jiaqi who, through his own efforts, achieves a comeback in life and a rise in social status. The empathy and trust towards Li Jiaqi are also a projection of his own destiny.

1. What do you think is the fact of this incident?

A．The eyebrow pencil is really expensive.

B．Li’s attitude towards the netizens.

C．What Li sold in the broadcast was not the netizens needed.

D．The netizens dislike the brand that Li introduced.

2. Which word is closest to the underlined word “arrogance” in paragraph 3?

A．annoy

B．hauteur

C．pride

D．happiness

3. What can we infer from the passage?

A．The incidents happened on Nov. 11th.

B．People like Li because of his former work.

C．Li acquired his social status and wealth by his own efforts.

D．Li pretended to be a pity man after the incidents happened.

4. What does the passage mainly talk about?

A．Li Jiaqi set a Guinness record for lipstick.

B．Li Jiaqi achieves a rise in social status.

C．Li Jiaqi apologized to the public for the eyebrow pencil incident.

D．People were hurt by Li Jiaqi and can’t buy his goods online.

2 . 听下面一段独白，回答以下小题。
1. Why did the speaker buy a new umbrella?

A．His old one was damaged.

B．He really loved that one.

C．He failed to bring one.

2. What is the main advantage of the hotel’s location?

A．It is very close to a bakery.

B．It is beside the Eiffel Tower.

C．It is within walking distance to Louvre.

3. Why did the speaker go to Paris?

A．To see some artworks.

B．To eat some French food.

C．To meet some good friends.

3 . It was time for Macy to move. She booked a few house viewings and after looking at three places, she fell in love with one house. But that night a feeling of doubt and uncertainty entered her head.    1    Will the others be cheaper?

We’ve all found ourselves in such situations, whether we’re considering job offers or buying a new car. It’s a problem that involves mathematics and psychology. And it’s got a name: the optimal (最优的) stopping problem.    2    It’s asking how long we spend sampling options to give the optimal chances of a successful final decision .

Mathematicians have given us an answer: 37%. The basic idea is that, if we need to make a decision from 100 different options, we should sample and give up the first 37.    3    It’s a period during which we identify what works and what does not. From the rejected 37%, we choose the best and keep that information in our heads moving forward.

Mathematics offers us the best answer to the “optimal stopping problem”. But there’s just one big issue: Humans are not rational probability-calculating machines. In fact, the opposite is usually true.    4    In the psychological and economics field, there is an “explore/ exploit trade-off”. This asks whether we should go with a guaranteed “win” (exploit) or risk going somewhere else for an unknown outcome(explore). The degree to which someone will explore or exploit depends on various factors.    5    Of course, different people are more explorative or exploitative at different times. Teenagers and traders tend to explore more. Adults and managers exploit more.

A．What if the next house is better?

B．How much does it cost a month ?

C．The 37% rule is not some mindless, automatic thing.

D．And it ties in with how curious or risk-seeking we are.

E．It’s then necessary for us to improve our computing power.

F．So it falls on psychology to tell us about how we actually behave.

G．The mathematical question for Macy concerns maximizing probabilities.

4 . Tim Holland is 18 years old and a senior at Lucy C. Laney Comprehensive High School in Augusta, Georgia. Ever since he was young, Holland has been loving animals, particularly the cold-blooded kind. He decided to try herping (野采), something most young men like him aren’t into, in 2020 and said the first time was “low-key and hard” because he didn’t know exactly where the animals were.

After a while, Holland gained hands-on experience and developed a sharp eye. Influenced by him, some of his friends tried out herping too. One of these friends, Ro Smith, encouraged him to start a TikTok page about herping. It took some convincing, but Holland eventually decided to try it and started his TikTok page Nukherping. The general format of his videos is pretty simple: Holland shows animals he has found, says a bit about them and then repeats, with the desire to make them known to the viewers. He has slowly become very popular, with his biggest video gaining over 2 million views in early April.

Though his videos are laid-back, Holland takes herping safety very seriously and hopes his audience could take it seriously, too. Holland keeps a distance from the dangerous animals he finds and adds warnings to videos with such creatures, telling his viewers “do not try this at home”. He also carries equipment such as hand sanitizer, gloves and snake sticks to ensure safety and cleanliness.

Holland hopes to travel after graduating from high school so he can check off some of the animals on his “must-see” list. He also plans to study zoology at North Greenville University in South Carolina and play on the soccer team there.

Some people around Holland think Holland is crazy for what he does, but his mother, Latasha, takes a different view. “I think that’s gonna be very interesting. He can inspire and educate other young boys and girls with his experience, and it’s also something that’s going to be good for the community,” she said.

1. What does Holland want to do with Nukherping?

A．Attract people to herping.

B．Spread knowledge about animals.

C．Support his friend Ro Smith.

D．Call on people to protect animals.

2. Which belongs to Holland’s future plan?

A．Traveling around the world.

B．Going into teaching young children.

C．Becoming a zoology major.

D．Playing for the national soccer team.

3. Which words can best describe Holland ?

A．Ambitious and energetic.

B．Adventurous and inspiring.

C．Devoted and responsible.

D．Cautious and sharp-minded.

4. What is Holland’s mother’s attitude to his herping ?

A．Concerned.

B．Critical.

C．Indifferent.

D．Favorable.

5 . 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。

Bacteriophages (phages) and other mobile genetic elements (MGEs) exert an immense selective pressure on     1    (bacterium), which in response have developed a broad arsenal of defence mechanisms.     2     these, CRISPR–Cas (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats–CRISPR-associated proteins) is a group of widespread RNA-guided adaptive immune systems that are classified into two broad classes, six types and numerous subtypes according to their genetic composition and interference mechanism1. The CRISPR–Cas immune response starts with the    3    (acquire) of short DNA fragments (protospacers) from invading MGEs. The protospacers are inserted as spacers between repeats in the CRISPR array to create a memory of the infection. Next, the CRISPR array is expressed    4     a long transcript that is processed into small, mature CRISPR RNAs (crRNAs), each    5    (carry) a spacer sequence flanked by part of the repeat. Finally, the interference complexes, composed     6     a crRNA and one (class 2) or more (class 1) Cas proteins, degrade the complementary nucleic-acid targets that are often found next to a short protospacer-adjacent motif (PAM). The specificity and programmability of the CRISPR–Cas machinery     7    (lead) to the development of various biotechnological applications in genome editing, molecular diagnostics and more.

In the evolutionary arms race with CRISPR–Cas, phages and other MGEs have evolved diverse strategies to block or circumvent immunity. One widespread evasion mechanism uses protein-    8    (base) CRISPR–Cas inhibitors called anti-CRISPRs (Acrs). So far, more than 100 Acr protein families have been identified    9     inhibit different stages of the CRISPR–Cas immune response, mainly by interacting directly with Cas proteins. For example, Acrs prevent crRNA loading, effector-complex formation, and target DNA binding and cleavage. Notably, the discovery of these natural ‘off switches’ has presented new opportunities    10    (control) the activity of CRISPR–Cas technologies.

6 . Dave Player is the founder and CEO of Team BRIT, a car racing team. He wants to_________his team in the 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance sports car race in 2024. He explains,   “If you're an endurance racer, you'll be_________to compete in the race. Attending this famous event is the_________of every racing driver.”

If the team gains_________to the world's most demanding endurance race , they’ll_________the history books as the first all disabled team to do so. Some drivers with_________have taken part in it, but_________as wild cards. “We don't want to   _________them, ”Dave insists. “We want to compete on a_________playing field like others, as a statement that even as disabled racing drivers we__________on the world stage.”

Dave set up the charity KartForce in 2010 as a way for__________retired soldiers to use motorsport for recovery. He went on to start Team BRIT in 2015. Team member Bobby Trundle,   who has__________himself to car racing for years, says,   “Car racing has__________my life. Mentally, it's like relaxation and also I develop deep__________for the excitement. When I'm behind the wheel, my autism (自闭症) doesn't__________me. In fact, I consider it to be a super power of mine.”

1.

A．assist

B．involve

C．encourage

D．land

2.

A．fortunate

B．ready

C．anxious

D．willing

3.

A．destination

B．result

C．reward

D．dream

4.

A．admission

B．exposure

C．promotion

D．reference

5.

A．revise

B．create

C．enter

D．keep

6.

A．expectations

B．disabilities

C．ambition

D．concern

7.

A．obviously

B．probably

C．rarely

D．merely

8.

A．follow

B．evaluate

C．miss

D．ignore

9.

A．special

B．level

C．formal

D．professional

10.

A．survive

B．win

C．progress

D．belong

11.

A．enthusiastic

B．energetic

C．injured

D．determined

12.

A．applied

B．abandoned

C．addressed

D．adapted

13.

A．shaped

B．guaranteed

C．transformed

D．saved

14.

A．respect

B．love

C．motivation

D．pity

15.

A．get at

B．go after

C．make for

D．turn against

7 . People have been dreaming up horrible monsters and scary spirits for centuries. The vampire, an “undead” creature thirsty for blood, is one of the most inventive and attractive creatures of all. It’s also one of the most lasting: Vampire-like creatures date back thousands of years, and pop up in dozens of different cultures.

In this article, we’ll see where the various elements of the vampire legend come from. We’ll also look at the psychological significance of these creatures and find out about some real-life people or things that are remarkably similar to the supernatural vampire.

The vampires in today’s books, movies and television shows are incredibly complicated creatures. According to the mythology (神话), every vampire was once a human, who, after being   bitten by a vampire, died and rose from the grave as a monster. Vampires desire the blood of the   living, whom they hunt during the night. They bite their victims’ necks with their two sharp front teeth.

Since they’re back-to-life corpses — the living remains of a dead person — vampires are often referred to as “the undead”. They can still pass as healthy humans, however, and will walk undetected among the living. In fact, vampires may be attractive, highly sexual beings, seducing their prey (猎物) before feeding. A vampire may also take the form of an animal, usually a bat or wolf, in order to launch a sudden attack on a victim before being detected.

Vampires are potentially immortal (不死的), but they do have a few weaknesses. They can be destroyed by a stake through the heart, fire, beheading and direct sunlight, and they are afraid of holy water and garlic. Vampires don’t cast a reflection, and they have superhuman strength.

This vampire figure, with its particular combination of characteristics and governing rules, is   actually a fairly recent invention. Bram Stoker made it up in his 1897 novel Dracula. Other authors reinterpreted Dracula in a number of plays, movies and books.

But while the many details are new, most of the individual elements of the legend have deep   roots, extending across many regions and cultures. In the next few sections, we’ll look at some of the more famous vampire ancestors.

1. What can be inferred from the first two paragraphs?

A．Vampire stories only exist in European cultures.

B．Vampires will die in 3 days without drinking blood.

C．Vampire stories have existed since a long time ago.

D．Vampires actually exist in real life.

2. According to the passage, which of the following best matches the image of a vampire?

A．A wolf standing still by the lake staring at its own reflection in the water.

B．A strong man with sunglasses sunbathing on the beach.

C．A lonely old man sitting by the campfire crushing garlic.

D．A sexy young woman dressed in a long skirt sipping wine in a night club.

3. What is the best title for the passage above?

A．Getting to Know Vampires	B．The History of Vampires
C．Where did Vampires Come From?	D．The Hometown of Vampires

4. Which of the following may best explain the meaning of the underlined word “seducing” in paragraph 4?

A．Moving.	B．Attracting.
C．Confusing.	D．Educating.

8 . 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。

On Tuesday, Baidu, a Chinese search engine and artificial intelligence firm, released a new version of its artificial intelligence model, Ernie 4. 0. Baidu's CEO, Robin Li,     1     demonstrated it at the     2     (company) annual Baidu World conference in Beijing, said the model was able to understand complex questions and instructions and employ reasoning and logic     3     (create) answers to questions.

In a live demonstration, Li asked Ernie 4. 0 to generate advertising     4     (material) including posters and a marketing video. He also asked Ernie 4. 0 to come up with a novel complete with characters with     5     (variety) personalities.

Li said that     6     technology can transform how certain products work. Baidu's search engine can generate a customized answer to a query (查询) instead of just     7     (provide) a list of results and links.

Beijing-based Baidu started off as a search engine firm and over the past decade has invested     8     (heavy) in artificial intelligence technology such as autonomous driving     9     more recently, generative AI to stay competitive.

At present, Ernie 4. 0     10     (be) not yet available to the general public, but some people have been invited to try it.

9 . It’s no secret that we all want to be liked and respected.     1     . Here we will go through a list of bad habits that can make people think twice about you.

Being polite with some people but not others

You might not be aware of this. but when you’re talking with someone who is clearly less important than another person in the room, it shows. You may be using fewer words with that person or speaking in a colder tone.     2     If you want to be more likable, it’s important to be equally polite to everyone.

Being too dramatic

Are you the kind of person who tends to be dramatic? If so, I’ve got some bad news for you.     3    . Not only does this behavior create a negative atmosphere, it also makes it difficult for others to take you seriously.

Of course, you don’t have to be as cool as a cucumber (黄瓜) all the time, but try not to be too dramatic.     4    

Telling inappropriate stories or jokes

This bad habit can create an uncomfortable atmosphere. It makes people feel like they are not respected and can even lead to hurt feelings or social tension.     5    . The key is to consider the situation and the relationship between you and the person you’re talking to.

A．This means respecting people’s physical and emotional space

B．Making assumptions can lead to false accusations and judgments

C．This is a sign of disrespect and may hurt the less important people’s feelings

D．Recognize that there are times when it’s best to just let things go and move on

E．But you may not realize some of the things you do may make people dislike you

F．People can tell when you try to make everything a big deal and they don’t like it

G．Remember that what may be funny to one person may be unacceptable to another

10 . 听下面一段独白，回答小题。
1. Why do white-collar workers turn to farming?

A．To get cheaper vegetables.

B．To reduce stress.

C．To learn farming skills.

2. What do Yang Rui's kids want to do next year?

A．Buy more land.

B．Grow some rice.

C．Raise some animals.

3. What is the speaker mainly talking about?

A．A popular lifestyle.

B．A monitoring system.

C．An animal farm.