1 . Three scientists jointly won this year’s Nobel Prize in physics for proving that tiny particles (粒子) could keep a connection with each other even when separated, a phenomenon once doubted but now being explored for potential real-world applications such as encoding information. Frenchman Alain Aspect, American John F. Clauser and Austrian Anton Zeilinger were quoted by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences for experiments proving the “totally crazy” field of quantum entanglements (量子纠缠) to be all too real. They demonstrated that unseen particles, such as photons (光子) , can be linked, or “entangled”, with each other even when they are separated by large distances.
In quantum entanglement, establishing common information between two photons not near each other “allows us to do things like secret communication, in ways which weren’t possible to do before”, said David Haviland, chair of the Nobel Committee for Physics. Quantum information “has broad and potential effects in areas such as secure information transmission, quantum computing and sensing technology”. The kind of secure communication used by China’s Micius satellite, as well as by some banks, is a “success story of quantum entanglement”, said Harun Siljak of Trinity College Dublin.
The Nobel Committee said Clauser developed quantum theories first put forward in the 1960s into a practical experiment. Aspect was able to correct an error in those theories, while Zeilinger demonstrated a phenomenon called quantum teleportation that effectively allows information to be sent over distances. “Using entanglement you can send all the information which is carried by an object over to some other place where the object is.” Zeilinger said. He added that this only works for tiny particles. “It is not like in the Star Trek films transporting something, certainly not the person, over some distance,” he said.
1. Which of the following statements about quantum entanglements is NOT true?| A．Scientists were doubtful whether it exists in the real world. |
| B．The Nobel Prize winner has put it into practical experiment. |
| C．Two particles can actually be connected regardless of distances. |
| D．The more distant 2 photons get, the less entangled they’ll become. |
| A．Affecting. | B．Transforming. |
| C．Communicating. | D．Spreading. |
| A．The achievements these 3 scientists have got individually. |
| B．The explanation for information transmission over large distances. |
| C．The clarification that science fiction is no equal to scientific theory. |
| D．The reason why these 3 scientists share this year’s Nobel Prize in physics. |
| A．Classical physics can be applied to tiny particles. |
| B．Quantum physics is the focus of modern physical research. |
| C．Particles, photons, and quanta are all the basic composition of matter. |
| D．Quantum entanglements can contribute to more cutting-edge technologies. |
2 . Like almost every set of new parents, Bryan and Elizabeth Shaw started snapping pictures of their son, Noah, practically from the moment he was born. When he was about three months old, Elizabeth noticed something odd.
The flash on their digital camera created the typical red dot in the center of Noah’s left eye, but the right eye had a white spot at the center, almost as if the flash was being reflected back at the camera by something. When Elizabeth took Noah to an eye doctor, Noah was diagnosed with retinal (视网膜) cancer with the white reflection as a sign. He endured months of treatment, but it was too late.
Noah’s cancer is treatable if caught early. Bryan Shaw wondered whether there were signs he’d missed. He went back over every baby picture of Noah he could find and discovered the first white spot in a photo taken when Noah was 12 days old. As time went on, it appeared more frequently. “By the time he was four months old, it was showing up in 25percent of the pictures taken of him per month,” Bryan recalled.
Later, Bryan was determined to put his hard-won insights to good use. He created a database that recorded the cancer’s appearance in every photo of Noah. He also collected photos and compiled the data from eight other children with the same cancer. Armed with that data, he began to work with colleagues to develop a smartphone app that can scan the photos in the user’s camera roll to search for white eye and can be used as a kind of ophthalmoscope (眼底镜). Called White Eye Detector, it is now available for free on Google Play and in Apple’s Apple Store.
“I just kept telling myself, I really need to do this,” Bryan said. “This disease is tough to detect. Not only could this software save vision, but it can save lives.”
1. Why did Bryan and Elizabeth take pictures of Noah?| A．To record his growth. |
| B．To celebrate his birth. |
| C．To test their digital camera. |
| D．To collect evidence of eye diseases. |
| A．Terrified. | B．Regretful. | C．Lonely. | D．Exhausted. |
| A．It serves as a detector. |
| B．It presents expert advice. |
| C．It saves photos on users’ phones. |
| D．It provides a worldwide database. |
| A．How a boy lost his eye. |
| B．How a new app works. |
| C．How a father saved his son. |
| D．How an app came into being. |
3 . Social media companies are often compared to tobacco companies, for they both market harmful products to children and design their products for maximum customer loyalty (that is, addiction), but there’s a big difference: Teens can and do choose, in large numbers, not to smoke. Social media, in contrast, applies a lot more pressure on non-users, at a much younger age and in a more unnoticed way.
Once a few students in any middle school open accounts at age 11 or 12, the pressure on everyone else to join becomes intense. Even a girl who consciously knows that Instagram can foster beauty obsession, anxiety, and eating disorders might sooner take those risks than accept the seeming certainty of being out of the picture and excluded. In this way, social media unlocks a remarkable achievement: It even harms adolescents who do not use it.
A recent study in the University of Chicago illustrated the effects of the social media trap precisely. The researchers asked more than 1,000 college students how much they would need to be paid to deactivate (停用) their accounts on Instagram for four weeks. On average, the students said they would need to be paid roughly $ 50. Then the experimenters told the students that they were going to get most of their friends to do the same, and then asked, Now how much would you have to be paid to deactivate, if most others did so? The answer, on average, was less than zero — most students were willing to pay to have that happen.
Most students are on social media only because everyone else is too. This is the textbook definition of what social scientists call a collective-action problem. It’s what happens when a group would be better off if everyone in the group took a particular action, but each actor is discouraged from acting, because unless the others do the same, the personal cost outweighs the benefit. Cigarettes trapped individual smokers with a biological addiction. Social media, however, has trapped an entire generation in a collective-action problem.
1. What drives teenagers to start using social media?| A．The longing to stand out. |
| B．The fear of being left out. |
| C．The wish to impress others. |
| D．The pressure from non-users. |
| A．They are happy to interact online. |
| B．They are fed up with social media. |
| C．They choose Instagram over friends. |
| D．They use social media to make money. |
| A．Athletes changing strategies to win a race. |
| B．Students taking exercise for better health. |
| C．Fishermen limiting their catch to protect fish. |
| D．Companies investing more for bigger profits. |
| A．To present new findings of a research. |
| B．To introduce a branch of social science. |
| C．To explore a reason for social media addiction. |
| D．To argue against the benefits of social media. |
4 . Greek Odyssey Reader Event
Join Gourmet editor Joann a Hunkin for an evening of Greek celebration at Kafeneion in Melbourne, Australia.
Escape to the warm waters of the Mediterranean as we celebrate the new, permanent home of Kafeneion, a Greek restaurant, on Spring Street with a shared feast of traditional Greek favorites, inspired by the owners’ own family recipes.
Kafeneion was originally established as a pop-up on Bourke Street, but the co-owners quickly realized they were onto a good thing. As word spread of the simple-yet-vibrant menu — which is built on dishes passed through the team’s families for generations — the race was on to find somewhere to continue the legacy (传承), which set the restaurant apart from others.
Now, following a brief absence, Kafeneion is back, taking over The Supper Club for dinner service (with the late-night favourite still in action from 11pm each night). And what better place to settle in for an evening of good food and great conversation, as we celebrate the rich history of Greece and share stories of adventures old and new? Join us as executive chef Fellipe Mezzavilla immerses us in the flavors of Greece and inspires new journeys to come.
VENUE: Kafeneion, Level 1, 161 Spring St, MelbourneDATE & TIME: 6:30 pm, Wednesday, 19 June 2024
PRICE: $140 per person, all-inclusive four courses with paired drinks throughout
BOOK NOW: Scan the QR code or visit greekodyssey. eventbrite. com.au
ENQUIRIES: Email rsupgt@aremedia.com.au
| A．It includes typical Australian dishes. |
| B．It is served with popular ingredients. |
| C．It is chosen from The Supper Club. |
| D．It shows family cooking heritage. |
| A．By calling the restaurant. | B．By scanning a QR code. |
| C．By sending an email. | D．By purchasing off-line. |
| A．A travel brochure. | B．A cooking recipe. |
| C．A food magazine. | D．A research paper. |
5 . Our National Public Radio staff and trusted crities have made some recommendations about must-reads.
Rough Sleepers Tracy Kidder
This uplifting book is about Dr. Jim O’Connell’s work of bringing health care to unhoused people for more than three decades, first in Boston and now in nearly every American city. His work might be a band-aid on the bigger problem of homelessness, but as he said, “This is what we do while waiting for the world to change.”
The Right Call Sally Jenkins
Sally Jenkins has had a superb career recording the highest achievements in sports by individuals and by teams. With The Right Call, she captures what makes some athletes and coaches reach their peak. Whatever part of life you want to excel in, this book will have you rethinking what you do and how you might do it differently.
The Secret of Cooking Bee Wilson
More than a cookbook, this is a guide to how to make cooking work for you — and even become a joy. What if you have picky eaters, a full time job and a kitchen with only half the ingredients the recipe calls for? This book has the answers, explaining everything from how to figure out what flavors go together, to how to get easy when everything goes wrong.
Land of Milk and Honey C Pam Zhang
Set in a future where a mysterious smog has swallowed Earth, causing widespread crop failures and food shortages, the story follows an unnamed chef who finds herself in a world of cooking delights and unequalled sensory experiences among a landscape of despair (绝望). It’s an exploration of human nature, and the choices we make in the face of difficulties.
1. How does Dr. Jim O’Connell view his own work?| A．It doesn't help in solving the housing problem. |
| B．It shows a way to be excellent in life differently. |
| C．It will make a difference in caring about the homeless. |
| D．It offers a way to get food in times of shortage. |
| A．Tracy Kidder. | B．Sally Jenkins. |
| C．Bee Wilson. | D．C Pam Zhang. |
| A．They tell readers how to reduce food waste. | B．They provide personal cooking experience. |
| C．They both have something to do with cooking. | D．They try to cover some aspects of family life. |
6 . The chorus of the theme song for the movie Fame, performed by actress Irene Cara, includes the line “I’m gonna live forever.” Cara was, of course, singing about the longevity (长存) that fame can bring after she dies. But in Silicon Valley, plenty of big names in big tech have sunk funding into solving the problem of death as if it were just an upgrade to your smartphone’s operating system.
Yet what if longevity will always have a ceiling, no matter what we do? Researchers have now taken on the question of how long we can live if we do not die from cancer, heart disease or getting hit by a bus. They report that when omitting things that usually kill us, our body still fades with time. And even if we make it through life with few stressors, this decline sets the maximum life span for humans at somewhere between 120 and 150 years.
For the study, Timothy Pyrkov, a researcher at a Singapore-based company, and his colleagues looked at this “pace of aging” in the U. S. , the U. K. and Russia. They assessed changes in blood cell counts and the daily number of steps taken and analyzed them by age groups.
For both blood cell and step counts, the pattern was the same; as age increased, some factor beyond disease drove a predictable and incremental (递增的) decline in the body’s ability to return blood cells or pace to a stable level after a disruption. The researchers also found that with age, the body’s, response to injuries could increasingly range far from a stable normal, requiring more time for recovery.
Measurements such as blood pressure and blood cell counts have a known healthy range, however, whereas step counts are highly personal. The fact that the researchers chose a variable that is so different from blood counts and still discovered the same decline over time may suggest a real pace of aging factor in play across different domains.
Study co-author Peter Fedichev says that although the majority of biologists would view blood cell counts and step counts as “pretty different”, the fact that both sources “paint exactly the same future” suggests that this pace of aging component is real.
1. Why did the author mention Irene Cara?| A．To introduce a concept. | B．To bring in the topic. |
| C．To prove the longevity of fame. | D．To show everyone’s dream. |
| A．Ignoring. | B．Testing. | C．Analyzing. | D．Changing. |
| A．The pattern of blood cells. | B．The results of the research. |
| C．The process of the experiment. | D．The body’s response to injuries. |
| A．Advanced. | B．Unreliable. | C．Conventional. | D．Unusual. |
7 . The tales and the tone vary, and the story-tellers are “journal influencers”, mostly young women reading their teenage diaries to audiences online. One influencer, Carrie Walker, draws 1. 2 million views for a half hour read online. And sharing secrets presents commercial opportunity: selling notebooks and pens on shopping website. or copies of diaries on auction (拍卖) website.
Sally Bayley of the University of Oxford, author of The Private Life of the Diary, regards sharing diaries on social media as the contrary of diary keeping. saying the journal is an internal territory, inseparable (分不开的) from privacy. Yet diaries have also long been shared. In the 19th century, when keeping a journal rose in popularity, diary-sharing then was “extremely common”. Diaries were read aloud or sent to friends. “That distinction between public and private really doesn’t hold at all, ” says Professor Huff. Some diaries served practical uses, sharing advice on self-improvement, pregnancy or childbirth. British women in a strange land often sent diaries back home. They were creating an extended family through these diaries.
Many journal videos also create a sense of community. They share stories of loneliness of struggles with body image or early romantic trouble. They make fun of the improper expectations of youth and the disappointments of adulthood, with the ear of sympathetic strangers.
The co-existence of secrecy and celebration was perhaps best understood by Anais Nin, a 20th-century French-born American whose diary was an exercise in self-creation. “I’m in my journal, and in my journal only. Nothing shows on the outside. Perhaps I don’t exist except as a fantastic character in this story. ”
And Nin published her journals. Its content won her fame that her fiction had not. Her confessional (忏悔的) texts broke through the thin screen between public and private. The diaries are a masterclass in broadcast secrecy.
“We write to taste life twice.” Nin wrote, “in the moment and in reflection. ” She spent her last years reading her diaries to crowds. Like today's influencers, she knew that reflection tastes much sweeter in company.
1. How does Carrie Walker attract viewers?| A．By advertising her stories, | B．By reading her journals online. |
| C．By telling stories in a humorous way. | D．By influencing others to write journals. |
| A．It won’t break the privacy of journals. | B．It should be forbidden on social media |
| C．It develops one’s sense of community. | D．It's an age-long custom to observe. |
| A．She shared her advice on exercising in a group. |
| B．She criticized her parents’ unrealistic expectation. |
| C．She publicly reflected on her body image problem. |
| D．She regretted her past mistakes through the journal. |
| A．Writing Journals Is a New Trend | B．Media Platforms Set Stages for Writers |
| C．Who Are the Personal Journals Written for? | D．What Breaks the Barrier of Public and Private? |
8 . Harvest Festivals Around the World
The harvest season falls at different times of the year depending upon region, climate, and crop, but festivals celebrating its arrival are held the world over. The following list highlights four particular harvest festivals.
Rice Harvest Festival in Indonesia (May 1 — June 30)
The Rice Harvest Festival that is held in Bali, Indonesia, is a feature of the island’s Hindu culture. The harvest time, which follows the New Year by about one month, is dedicated to the rice goddess and is a time of joyous celebration. Sculptures of the goddess are placed in the fields in thanks, towns are decorated with colored flags, and special bull races are held.
Yam Festival in Ghana (August or September)
The Ewe people of Ghana in Africa celebrate the end of the rainy season and the first appearance of yams, a staple crop. The duration and exact days of the celebration vary according to place, in hopes of driving away hunger in the coming year. People gather and hold huge feasts and activities such as dances and parades.
Sukkoth in Israel (September-October)
Sukkoth, the “Feast of Booths (棚子),” is held shortly after the High Holy Days of the New Year celebration. Special booths are constructed to recall the period of the Exodus, recorded in the local religion, when their ancestors lived in booths in the desert before entering the Promised Land.
Pongal in India (January)
The four-day festival of Pongal is a celebration of the rice harvest period. Held after the winter solstice (冬至), it celebrates the return of longer days of life-giving sunlight. Pongal is similar to other festivals held in South and Southeast Asia, but its name comes from a local word meaning “to boil” and is also the name given to a rice dish that is prepared during this time.
1. What is special about Rice Harvest Festival?| A．Its connection with Hindu culture. | B．Its celebration of the rainy season. |
| C．Its respect for their ancestors. | D．Its similarity to other festivals. |
| A．In Indonesia. | B．In Ghana. | C．In Israel. | D．In India. |
| A．Rice Harvest Festival. | B．Yam Festival. | C．Sukkoth. | D．Pongal. |
9 . The Miyun Reservoir (水库) near Beijing plays an important role in providing water to the capital. But not many people know this major project was actually designed by a group of university students as their graduation project. In 1959, under Jiang Nanxiang, the then headmaster of Tsinghua University, who encouraged his students to combine theory with practice, students from the Department of Hydraulic Engineering set about the project.
This is one of the stories told in the new season of Century Masters, which focuses on 11 noted educators, among them Peking University head Cai Yuanpei, promoter of mass education Tao Xingzhi and physical education advocate Jiang Nanxiang, which aired on China Education Television in March, 2024.
Produced by the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles, Century Masters is dedicated to people renowned for their mastery in different areas. Earlier seasons focused on famous artists, architects and writers. According to Chen Hong, the general director for the series, the new season seeks to preserve and protect the educational practices, ideas and progress of the subjects, and nurture young people in the process. “We want to crystallize the wisdom and sweat of countless educators, a precious heritage for future generations, and open a window to showcase the country’s progress. Many of them also made great achievements in other areas. This series, however, focuses on their contributions to education”, says Chen.
Unlike artists who produce physical creations, the contributions of educators are often theoretical, and so are difficult to show visually. To deal with this, the series brought the educators to life by illustrating their ideas through snapshots (快照) of their work and life. The two episodes (一集) about Ma Yuehan, a pioneer in advocating for physical education at Tsinghua University, explore his habit of regular exercise maintained since childhood, his participation in national and international competitions at university, and the way in which he benefited from being in good health.
1. What do we know about the Miyun Reservoir from the passage?| A．It was finished in the year 1959. |
| B．Its historical importance has not been fully recognized. |
| C．It was designed by the headmaster of Tsinghua University. |
| D．It is a product of Tsinghua University’s advanced teaching philosophy. |
| A．To introduce Chinese experts of all fields. |
| B．To dig into the all-around achievements of great educators. |
| C．To record the educational practices and ideas of noted educators. |
| D．To call upon young people to contribute to Chinese education. |
| A．To highlight his educational contribution. |
| B．To serve as an example of the practice above. |
| C．To prove the importance of physical education. |
| D．To showcase his achievement in physical competitions. |
| A．Heroes of Education in Century Masters |
| B．Protectors of Heritage in Century Masters |
| C．Physical and Academic Education in Tsinghua University |
| D．Theoretical and Practical Education in Tsinghua University |
10 . Is it true that our brain alone is responsible for human cognition(认知)? What about our body? Is it possible for thought and behaviour to originate from somewhere other than our brain? Psychologists who study Embodied Cognition(EC)ask similar questions. The EC theory suggests our body is also responsible for thinking or problem-solving. More precisely, the mind shapes the body and the body shapes the mind in equal measure.
If you think about it for a moment, it makes total sense. When you smell something good or hear amusing sounds, certain emotions are awakened. Think about how newborns use their senses to understand the world around them. They don’t have emotions so much as needs – they don’t feel sad, they’re just hungry and need food. Even unborn babies can feel their mothers’ heartbeats, and this has a calming effect. In the real world, they cry when they’re cold and then get hugged. That way, they start to associate being warm with being loved.
Further studies have backed up the mind-body interaction. In one experiment, test subjects were asked to judge people after being handed a hot or a cold drink. They all made warm evaluations when their fingertips perceived warmth rather than coolness. And it works the other way too. In another study, subjects’ fingertip temperatures were measured after being “included” in or “rejected” from a group task. Those who were included felt physically warmer.
For further proof, we can look at the metaphors(比喻)that we use without even thinking. A kind and sympathetic person is frequently referred to as one with a soft heart and someone who is very strong and calm in difficult situations is often described as solid as a rock. And this kind of metaphorical use is common across languages.
Now that you have the knowledge of mind-body interaction, why not use it? If you’re having a bad day, a warm cup of tea will give you a flash of pleasure. If you know you’re physically cold, warm up before making any interpersonal decisions.
1. According to the author, what is the significance of EC?| A．It brings us closer to the truth in human cognition. |
| B．It offers a clearer picture of the shape of human brain. |
| C．It reveals the major role of the mind in human cognition. |
| D．It facilitates our understanding of the origin of psychology. |
| A．Their personal looks. | B．Their mental needs. |
| C．Their inner emotions. | D．Their physical feelings. |
| A．Human speech is alive with metaphors. |
| B．Human senses have effects on thinking. |
| C．Human language is shaped by visual images. |
| D．Human emotions are often compared to natural materials. |
| A．To deepen the readers’ understanding of EC. |
| B．To encourage the reader to put EC into practice. |
| C．To guide the reader onto the path to career success. |
| D．To share with the reader ways to release their emotions. |
