1 . There are hundreds of genres (流派) of music, so while some might like one kind, others might like something completely different. Why do people like different kinds of music?
Music can also be nostalgic, that is, it creates a kind of longing for the past. Musicians leave behind a footprint with their music.
We may also find that the music we like is strongly tied to our memory. Maybe there was a song that someone sang to us when we were little that brings up good memories.
When we listen to music that we like, a chemical called dopamine is sometimes released in the brain, which can make us feel good.
People’s taste in music can remain the same in their whole life or it can change many times. But the truth is, we don’t know all the exact answers to why people like different kinds of music — or sports, or food, or colors.
| A．It’s music to our ears. |
| B．Music can be a part of our identity. |
| C．It becomes a mirror that we are holding up. |
| D．They leave a permanent mark in people’s lives. |
| E．Therefore, we might want to listen to a song on repeat. |
| F．Other times, we might find music can bring up sad memories. |
| G．There are lots of different factors that can influence our preferences. |
2 . The topic “slash youth”, referring to those refusing to be defined or bound by just one personal identity and choosing to undertake multiple careers, has fueled heated debate on social media. On Douban, a Chinese social networking platform, the topic has attracted about 11,000posts and has been viewed over 400 million times. China’s young people are keen to share their slash youth stories online, presenting themselves as multiple and sometimes distinct identities, such as a nurse and model, a teacher and stand-up comedian, and an engineer and musician.
Xing Eryang, a 31-year-old female resident in Beijing, founded the Douban topic in 2021.While staying diligent about her daytime work, she is developing her hobbies, including stand-up comedy and vlogging, into secondary careers during her spare time. And she is amazed to find her “slash life” philosophy followed by so many of her peers.
Weiheng, a 26-year-old woman in Guangzhou, and Tang Yuhan, a 27-year-old man in Xuancheng city, Anhui province, are both participants in the topic, with their stories earning thousands of likes so far. The two are both musicians in their spare time, even though they are thousands of miles apart and have different jobs in media and finance. Their passion for music has grown since college and they didn’t abandon their enthusiasm, even after entering the workplace.
Their reaction showed the gap between the young and former generations. “My parents used to say, ‘music cannot earn you money’, so the band thing was regarded as a waste of time. However, we want to pursue whatever we love and are willing to pay for it.” says Weiheng.
“The ‘slash life’ mania(狂热)shows that, along with China’s economic development, our society is becoming more and more diversified and inclusive, and it welcomes everyone’s self-fulfillment,” says Shi Yanrong, an associate researcher from Tianjin Academy of Social Sciences. “Young people no longer have to rely on work and money for their sense of self-worth. They tend to practice a carpe diem(活在当下)philosophy and create their own identities.”
1. What are “slash youth” more likely to do?| A．Create a topic on Douban. |
| B．Take diverse occupations. |
| C．Become a stand-up comedian. |
| D．Share their own stories online. |
| A．Other young people’s positive response. |
| B．Hobbies developed while working. |
| C．The growing social networking platform. |
| D．Thousands of likes earned on Douban. |
| A．They sent their stories online to gain more funds. |
| B．They shared similar interests in both their hobbies and jobs. |
| C．They never lost passion for music even if they had to quit college. |
| D．They stuck with their dream despite the older generation’s opinion. |
| A．Doubtful. | B．Supportive. |
| C．Unfavorable. | D．Indifferent. |
3 . In a high-tech lab on John’s Hopkins University’s Homewood campus in Maryland, engineers have been building a robot that may be able to stitch (缝针) back together the broken tissues in your stomach and even your brain, no doctor needed.
The robot has a high-tech camera on one arm and a high-tech sewing machine on a second arm. The goal is to develop, in the next several years, a robot that makes the delicate work more consistent.
The robot, known as Smart Tissue Autonomous Robot, or STAR, which is run by a highly advanced computer program, will advance technology currently in wide use in operating rooms. The robot completes about a stitch a minute, slightly slower than a human surgeon. But the tests so far have shown more consistency than what the humans can achieve.
Long hours of traditional surgery can cause human hands to get tired and tremble, which may cause accidents during an operation. Robert Langer, an engineer, said the robotic arm could change the way surgeries are done. He has helped found dozens of biotech companies including Galen Robotics. The robotic arm being developed by Hopkins engineers is this company’s product.
Galen CEO Bruce Lichorowic compared the robotic arm to future for surgeons, saying it increases their stability, reduces tiredness and prevents cramps (抽搐) during long surgeries, all of which lead to safer surgeries.
Galen Robotics has its roots in research from Johns Hopkins University, but the company had been based in Silicon Valley until 2019. “The company currently employs about 40 people, about half of whom have advanced degrees from Johns Hopkins,” said Lichorowic, adding that the company plans to grow to 60 positions by the end of the year.
Galen’s robotic arm is not for sale yet, but Lichorowic said the company expects to submit an application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) later this year.
1. What can STAR do?| A．Shorten operation time. | B．Replace human surgeons. |
| C．Make operations smooth. | D．Advance medical studies. |
| A．Flexible. | B．High-cost. | C．Promising. | D．Unpredictable. |
| A．It is sponsored by John’s Hopkins University. | B．It still has its base in Silicon Valley now. |
| C．Its robot arm will be released later this year. | D．It is scheduled to expand within this year. |
| A．Mind & Brain. | B．Health & Technology. | C．Business & Investment. | D．Physics & Medicine. |
Which is the most significant classical Chinese painting? According to Paul Denlinger, who
This painting is important
The Beijing Palace Museum keeps the
5 . Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst) recently announced that they have figured out how to engineer a biofilm (生物膜) that harvests the energy in evaporation (蒸发) and changes it to electricity. This biofilm, which was announced in Nature Communications, has the potential to revolutionize the world of wearable electronics, powering everything from personal medical sensors to personal electronics.
“This is a very exciting technology,” says Liu Xiaomeng, graduate student in electrical and computer engineering in UMass Amherst’s College of Engineering and the paper’s lead author. “It generates real green energy, and unlike other so-called ‘green-energy’ sources, its production is totally green.”
That’s because this biofilm — which is a sheet of bacterial cells and as thin as a sheet of paper-is produced naturally by an engineered version of the bacterium Geobacter sulfurreducens (硫还原地杆菌). G. sulfurreducens is known to produce electricity and has been used previously in “microbial batteries” to power electrical equipment. But such batteries require that G. sulfurreducens be properly cared for and fed a constant diet. By contrast, this new biofilm, which can supply as much energy as a comparably sized battery, works continuously, because it is dead. And because it’s dead, it doesn’t need to be fed.
The secret behind this new biofilm is that it makes energy from the moisture (水分) on your skin. Though we daily read stories about solar power, at least 50% of the solar energy reaching the earth goes toward evaporating water. “This is a huge, undiscovered source of energy,” says Yao Jun, professor of electrical and computer engineering at UMass Amherst, and the paper’s one senior author. Since the surface of our skin is constantly moist with sweat, the biofilm can “plug into” it and change the energy locked in evaporation into enough energy to power small equipment. “Our next step is to increase the size of our film to power more intelligent wearable electronics,” says Yao, and Liu points out that one of the goals is to power entire electronic systems, rather than single equipment.
1. What function is the biofilm expected to achieve?| A．Updating wearable electronics. | B．Acquiring power from evaporation. |
| C．Changing the way of getting electricity. | D．Supplying energy to “microbial batteries”. |
| A．It’s thinner in thickness. | B．It’s environmentally friendly. |
| C．It reduces the cost in usage. | D．It employs a rare energy source. |
| A．By interacting with solar power. | B．By gaining energy from electronic systems. |
| C．By using water to generate electricity. | D．By producing continuous electricity from sweat. |
| A．Flexible. | B．Controversial. | C．Promising. | D．Delicate. |
6 . Jose Alberto Gutierrez’s life would never be the same again after finding a copy of Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy in the garbage 20 years ago. It happened while he was driving his garbage truck through wealthier neighborhoods at night and seeing deserted books. It sparked his desire to start rescuing books from the garbage. He took home between 50 and 60 books every morning after his nine-hour shift. Eventually, he turned his book collection into a community library.
Colombia’s capital city of Bogota has 13 million residents and 19 public libraries. However, these libraries tend to be far away from where rural and poorer communities live. The option of buying new books is non-existent for families struggling to make ends meet. Having access to a library of books and being taken away to another world while immersed in a book is a luxury for the kids who visit Gutierrez’s library.
Gutierrez grew up poor, and his family could not afford to educate him beyond primary school. Nevertheless, his mother was a keen reader and read stories to him every night. Her love for books left a deep impression on Gutierrez, who never let a lack of formal education stop him from reading classics by the likes of Victor Hugo, Mario Vargas Llosa and Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
Today, his community library, called “The Strength of Words”, occupies most of his home and is piled from floor to ceiling with fiction and non-fiction titles. Everything from school textbooks to story books can be found in his collection of more than 20,000 books!
The Strength of Words library opens every weekend. It is not just school-going children who are enjoying the benefits of The Strength of Words library. Adults are also welcome to expand their horizons and develop new skills to build a better life for themselves.
Despite having done so much for his community, Gutierrez is not yet content to call it a day. He continues to search through bins for reading material and has even travelled to book fairs in Mexico and Chile to sell his idea of building library from unwanted books.
1. What inspired Gutierrez to build the community library?| A．Famous novelists he liked very much. |
| B．The dilemma he faced on the night shift. |
| C．Abandoned books he came across at work. |
| D．The hobby he has taken up since childhood. |
| A．Gutierrez’s mother was a good reader. |
| B．Gutierrez was greatly influenced by his mother. |
| C．Gutierrez led a difficult life during his childhood. |
| D．Gutierrez had a disadvantage of poor education. |
| A．Responsible and ambitious. | B．Humble and thoughtful. |
| C．Committed and sensitive. | D．Creative and courageous. |
| A．A book holds a house of gold. |
| B．Constant dropping wears the stone. |
| C．Good things come to those who wait. |
| D．One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. |
The Mid-Autumn Festival,
Festival Celebration between New Zealand and China
Guo Zongguang, who is the
Brett Hudson, a member of Parliament, acknowledged that China, now New Zealand’s largest trading partner, provided New Zealanders with thousands and thousands of
8 . In 2013, Alie Ward’s life was falling apart. In a matter of months, her relationship with her partner ended, her dad was
To distract herself from her
At that time Ward was emotionally fragile, and meeting someone new in that state made her nervous and teary. However, her passion for bugs outweighed her anxiety.
Upon Ward’s arrival at the museum, Higgins warmly
Despite her doubts, Ward decided to
Soon, Ward
| A．impressed | B．charged | C．terrified | D．diagnosed |
| A．doubts | B．injuries | C．troubles | D．fears |
| A．samples | B．pictures | C．notes | D．examples |
| A．post | B．show | C．deliver | D．donate |
| A．support | B．criticism | C．sympathy | D．attention |
| A．birds | B．plants | C．insects | D．humans |
| A．checked out | B．reached out | C．showed off | D．called off |
| A．greeted | B．served | C．followed | D．thanked |
| A．risks | B．trips | C．halls | D．exhibits |
| A．confident | B．excited | C．worried | D．upset |
| A．anxiety | B．patience | C．enthusiasm | D．disappointment |
| A．study | B．research | C．perform | D．volunteer |
| A．sign up | B．set out | C．settle in | D．take over |
| A．report | B．evaluation | C．shift | D．recruitment |
| A．friction | B．purpose | C．evolution | D．doubt |
| A．science | B．philosophy | C．biography | D．geography |
| A．kept | B．resolved | C．forgot | D．quit |
| A．writer | B．director | C．guest | D．listener |
| A．promise | B．offer | C．challenge | D．decision |
| A．changed | B．ruined | C．imitated | D．defined |
9 . When I was a graduate student, my co-workers and I were wondering how losing one night of sleep affects a person's ability to manage their emotions.
Once a week, typically on Friday evening, we would stay up all night to monitor our participants and ensure they followed the experimental plan. At about noon the next day, we would all go out of the lab, worn oat and eager to get home and rest.
Two months into the experiment, I was in my car at a traffic light when a silly love song started playing on the radio. Suddenly, I cried uncontrollably. I remember feeling surprised at my reaction. It then hit me that I was not just studying sleep deprivation (睡眠剥夺) —I had become part of the study. Weeks of missed sleep had caused harm, and I was no longer in control of my emotions.
That research project proved a strong connection between good sleep and emotional health. In healthy individuals, good-quality sleep is linked with a more positive mood ——and it takes just one night of sleep deprivation to cause anxiety and depression the following morning. Moreover, people who suffer from long-term sleep deprivation tend to experience daily events more negatively.
For decades researchers and medical professionals have considered sleep loss a by-product or symptom (症状) of depression or anxiety. In other words, first comes the anxiety, and then sleep loss. Today we know that this order can be reversed. Much evidence shows that people who suffer from insomnia (失眠症)are at least twice as likely to develop depression or anxiety later in life, compared with individuals who sleep well.
Stepping back, we can find that mental and emotional health rely on a delicate balance. A single sleepless night can therefore do damage. The science of sleep and mental health suggests that failing to address the problems that prevent people from getting enough rest will leave people easily hurt in mind.
1. What is the author’s research mainly about?| A．Factors that affect emotions. | B．The damage of sleep deprivation. |
| C．Ways to improve mental health. | D．The link between sleep and emotions. |
| A．By referring to previous research. | B．By making researchers the subjects. |
| C．By doing experiments on participants. | D．By including music in the process. |
| A．The love song was so touching. | B．The research was too stressful. |
| C．She missed her family too much. | D．She was severely lacking in sleep. |
| A．Disclosed. | B．Switched. | C．Identified. | D．Arranged. |
10 . Winter sports are constantly evolving and new sports activities are regularly being created. This makes sure your next holiday in the snow is an unforgettable experience.
Snow biking
The snowbike — a cross between a bicycle and skis — guarantees pure fun and a unique skiing experience for snow fans above six. Snowbikes can be used on well-cared-for slopes (斜坡) and riders navigate the slopes with the additional help of short foot skis. And it can be ridden without the rider having previous experience.
Freeriding
There is no other winter sport that gets you closer to nature. Due to the truly unaffected character of the slopes, snow and weather conditions have to be taken into special consideration when freeriding. Therefore, it is very important to be accompanied by a professional guide who knows the skiing area inside out and who is able to correctly assess the weather conditions.
Snowshoeing
Snowshoeing is the perfect activity for those who want to explore the untouched winter landscape. The snowshoes distribute the weight of the person carrying them over a larger area so that the feet only sink lightly into the snow. Handling snowshoes is easy and does not require any previous experience: Simply fasten your snowshoes, pick up your sticks and off you go!
Snowtubing
Snowtubing is an activity for winter fans of all ages and involves sliding down a snowtubing slope in a rubber tire. Snowtubing tracks are often located close to a ski lift. This gives the tuber the opportunity to immediately go back up the mountain after the ride. The activity is the perfect and fun end to a day of skiing.
1. Which activity is the most demanding for skiers?| A．Snow biking. | B．Freeriding. | C．Snowshoeing. | D．Snowtubing. |
| A．They need no skiing experience. |
| B．They depend on special skis. |
| C．They are suitable for people of all ages. |
| D．They take place on slopes with deep snow. |
| A．To attract more tourists to get involved. |
| B．To prevent the rubber tire sliding down. |
| C．To create a fun ending to a day of skiing. |
| D．To help skiers get to the starting point easily. |
