1 . When children are growing up, what they see in their families is what they tend to consider normal. That means family traditions and other activities are generally seen as just normal. If a family eats dinner together or spends time talking with each other, that’s what the child absorbs and internalizes.
Our family traditions are declining as we move toward a more isolated (孤立的) society. How many families no longer share meals around the dinner table, instead choosing to watch TV or text friends on their phones? This tends to isolate and disconnect family members from each other. It also stops families from communicating and catching up on each other’s lives.
For those of us who grew up in a household where families shared meals together and spent time talking with each other, chances are that we are passing along those traditions to our own families. The problem is, children today often want to spend their time in front of screens rather than people. Cell phones, computers and other attention-grabbing devices often mean parents get resistance to traditional family togetherness time. This pressure can lead to parents giving in and letting children do what they want rather than fight with them over sitting at the dinner table. This creates a new normal that no longer values the idea of families and the society at large, connecting with each other.
Family and community traditions are important, not just for the current shared experiences, but for the future as well. Since children internalize their experiences, that means generations to come may not know what it’s like to sit together around the dinner table and truly connect as a family.
That is why it is so important that parents and caregivers create boundaries of behavior that help to keep family traditions alive. If you remember the shared experiences you had with your parents and grandparents, you know the important bonding that took place during those times. It is this shared experience that brings people closer together and is well worth preserving.
1. What is the phenomenon the author describes at the beginning of the text?| A．The increase in shared family meals means a shift towards isolation. |
| B．Increased use of technology replaces traditional family interactions. |
| C．More and more children prefer to spend quality time with the family. |
| D．Family members are more likely to share their updates with each other. |
| A．The inability of parents to understand technology. |
| B．The challenge of preserving traditional family values. |
| C．The influence of technology on children’s education. |
| D．The necessity of controlling children’s digital devices. |
| A．They will be more addicted to advanced technology. |
| B．They will maintain stronger and closer family bonds. |
| C．They may create new and irreplaceable family traditions. |
| D．They may not understand the value of family gatherings. |
| A．Insignificant | B．Irresponsible |
| C．Crucial | D．Overemphasized |
2 . When Hurricane Ian made landfall on the southwest Florida coast as a Category 4 storm, it brought strong winds and heavy rain. It was a deadly hurricane, attacking more than four million people, and causing serious flooding and at least 150 deaths. However, during the disaster, there was one innovative community that weathered the storm well: Babcock Ranch, the brainchild of Syd Kitson.
Located 30 miles inland, Babcock Ranch is an environmentally friendly and fully sustainable town that Syd Kitson and his partners hoped would be hurricane proof. Its homes are built to go through severe weather without losing essential services like electricity, water, or the Internet. A significant factor in its design is that power and. Internet lines are buried to avoid wind damage. Additionally, large ponds surround the development to protect houses from flooding. As a backup, streets are designed to absorb floodwaters and spare the houses.
Central to Babcock Ranch’s sustainability is its extensive use of solar energy. The community possesses an 870-acre solar farm with 700,000 individual panels operated by Florida Power & Light, capable of powering 30,000 homes — far more than the 5,000 residents currently living there. At night and on cloudy days, a natural gas generator kicks in to fill the gap.
Hurricane Ian served as a true test for the community. While the surrounding regions suffered, Babcock Ranch’s minimum damage and quick recovery showcased its effective design against natural disasters. Residents even opened their community center, doubling as a storm shelter, to the victims from other hard-hit communities.
Kitson’s vision for Babcock Ranch is not just about creating a sustainable and resilient (适应性强的) community but also about learning and improving. He hopes that the lessons learned from Babcock Ranch can be applied to other developments, contributing to more climate-resilient communities across the United States. This approach reflects a growing awareness of the need for sustainable and resilient urban planning in the face of increasing climate challenges.
1. What does the underlined word “weathered” in paragraph 1 mean?| A．Predicted. | B．Changed. | C．Ignored. | D．Survived. |
| A．Its streets allow houses the capability to take in floodwaters. |
| B．Its design guarantees availability of power in the hurricane. |
| C．Its solar farm lacks the ability of producing sufficient power. |
| D．Its main source of electricity supply is provided by natural gas. |
| A．Babcock Ranch’s community and social life. |
| B．Babcock Ranch’s future expansion strategies. |
| C．Babcock Ranch’s resistance to natural disasters. |
| D．Babcock Ranch’s novel technological innovations. |
| A．Promising. | B．Pessimistic. | C．Uncertain. | D．Doubtful. |
3 . In August 2022, Don Powell from Orchard Lake Village, Michigan, found a wooden doll (玩具娃娃) couple, Mary and Shelley, inside his custom-designed mailbox. Initially assuming it was a mistake, he left them there out of curiosity. Over time, the dolls’ living space expanded with the addition of furniture like a bed, a painting and a stove. Don responded humorously, requesting a refrigerator. A year later, the dolls still reside there, amusing neighbors who follow updates on the local Nextdoor page.
The Powells had paid a local craftsman (工匠) $250 to create a mailbox that looked like their house, which included windows and solar-powered ceiling lights. This mailbox provided a large and bright space for the growing collection of doll furnishings.
Despite potential fines for non-postage items in mailboxes, Don didn’t consider removing the dolls, as the mail carrier found it amusing and it didn’t stop mail delivery. The Powells regularly discovered new items for the dolls, especially during holidays. For example, Halloween saw the dolls temporarily disappearing and replaced by skeletons (骨骼), and Christmas brought festive decorations.
The doll family grew, with the addition of a cousin, Shirley, and a service dog named Maggie. A note mentioned their gratitude for a one-story house compared to their previous multi-story dollhouse.
Don even contributed to the setup by adding a small letterbox to avoid confusion with their mail. He enjoys the mystery-and community enjoyment, resisting the idea of an outdoor camera to uncover the responsible party. The story continues to attract neighbors, who often stop by with questions and enjoy the lighthearted community spirit it brings.
1. What can we learn about the doll family from the first two paragraphs?| A．Don and Nancy Powell were expecting to find the dolls in their mailbox. |
| B．The local community was unaware of the dolls living in Don’s mailbox. |
| C．The doll family shared the big and bright house with the Powell couple. |
| D．Someone may have left the doll family and additional items on purpose. |
| A．To emphasize the legality of the dolls’ placement. |
| B．To illustrate the mail carrier’s disapproval of the dolls. |
| C．To show the mail carrier’s amusement and acceptance. |
| D．To discuss changes in delivery due to the dolls’ presence. |
| A．Community-minded and humorous. | B．Conventional and disciplined. |
| C．Disinterested and approachable | D．Indifferent and responsible. |
| A．How to Construct a Creative Custom Mailbox |
| B．The Legal Issues with Dolls in Custom Mailbox |
| C．The Disappearance and Return of Dolls in Michigan |
| D．A Unique Mailbox Brings Joy to a Michigan community |
4 . Young male zebra finches (斑胸草雀) learn to communicate by listening to adults. In the lab, researchers have found that these songbirds can learn from audio recordings. But zebra finches learn better when they listen to live male finches, notes Ralph Simon. He studies how animals make and use sounds at the Nuremberg Zoo in Germany. Simon is part of the team that built RoboFinch, a robotic singing coach for finches.
The researchers recorded videos of adult males to analyze how their beaks (喙) move when they sing. They then programmed their robots to copy those beak movements. Finally, the researchers painted their RoboFinches the same colors as the real birds.
The team divided 45 young finches into four groups. Some only heard recordings of finch songs played by a speaker. Others listened with female birds that weren’t singing. RoboFinches taught the two other groups of chicks. The birdsongs played from a speaker right behind the robots. And the robots’ beaks moved either in or out of syne (协调) with the songs. That allowed the team to investigate whether beak or head movements aid song learning.
The birds housed with RoboFinches eventually spent most of their time near the robot and its speaker. During the first week, finches living with a RoboFinch whose song was in sync with its beak motions spent 27 percent of their time near the robot. Those caged with a robot playing songs out of syne only spent 5 percent of their time near the setup during the first week. Finches that heard only the audio without RoboFinch or female birds spent even less time around the sound source. Young finches partnered with RoboFinches sang less while the songs played. This was especially true when the robots’ beaks moved in sync with the songs. Those paired with a female also sang less while hearing songs. The young finches seemed to pay close attention to the robots’ movements during training sessions.
Simon hopes researchers will adapt this approach to building robots of other species, too.
1. Whose song did the researchers record?| A．Adult male finches’. | B．Adult female finches’. |
| C．Yong finches’. | D．RoboFinches’. |
| A．By how fast they learn. | B．By where they were kept. |
| C．By how they react to the robot. | D．By what they are accompanied with. |
| A．speakers behind them |
| B．female finches keeping silent |
| C．RoboFinches moving their beaks to the songs |
| D．a recorder playing the songs |
| A．RoboFinches Are Used as Singing Coaches |
| B．Machine Learning Are Adapted to Building Robots |
| C．Yong Finches Communicate Through Beak Movements |
| D．Researchers Discovered How Finches Make and Use Sounds |
5 . Summer tomatoes are so filled with promise: the red color; the grassy tomato-leaf smell; the expectation of a mouthful of sweet-salty tomato dishes. But supermarket tomato after supermarket tomato does little more than disappointment. How can a fruit with so much potential constantly taste slightly juicy at best and a globe of cardboard at worst?
We know that modern tomatoes sold at the supermarket are picked green and grown for pest resistance, shipping, and shelf life-and that the agriculture industry creates produce designed for profit, not flavor. Are these the factors to blame for the tomato’s poor taste?
But even when allowed to ripen (成熟) before they are harvested and shipped with great care, modern tomatoes are still tasteless. When researchers looked into this tomato matter, they uncovered a fascinating genetic cause for the fruit’s dullness. What to blame is a gene mutation (基因突变) discovered accidentally around 70 years ago, onto which tomato growers quickly relied. In fact, now the mutation has been deliberately grown into nearly all modern tomatoes.
Why? It makes them a uniform and attractively red when ripe. Unfortunately for tomato lovers far and wide, the red-making mutation stops the activeness of an important gene responsible for producing the sugar and smell that are essential for a good smelling and flavorful tomato, as reported in the paper, which was published in the journal Science. When the researchers “turned on” the gene that had stopped working, the fruit had 20% more sugar and 20 — 30% more carotenoids (胡萝卜素) when ripe. Yet the fruit’s non-uniform greenish color suggest that mainstream growers will not be following suit anytime soon.
However, for anyone with a nearby farmer’s market, a supermarket that offers traditional produce, or a garden in the back, there is another choice instead of cardboard-flavored tomatoes. Traditional tomatoes and wild species have not had the essence of tomatoes sucked out of them by selective growing-so shop for those or grow them yourself. They may not look like the Disney version of a perfect fruit, but they actually taste like tomatoes.
1. Why is a question raised at the end of paragraph 1?| A．To introduce the topic. |
| B．To draw a conclusion from comparison. |
| C．To encourage readers to take action. |
| D．To express disappointment at supermarket tomatoes. |
| A．They have ripened when picked. |
| B．They are affected by gene mutation. |
| C．They are kept on the shelf for too long. |
| D．They are treated with chemicals for shipping. |
| A．Taste. | B．Color. | C．Size. | D．Production. |
| A．Critical. | B．Unconcerned. | C．Curious. | D．Favorable. |
6 . Plastic is everywhere, from the Arctic ice to vital organs in the human body. In fact, previous estimates suggest that the average person swallows a credit card-worth of microscopic plastic particles(颗粒) every week. But new research shows that this could actually be an understatement.
Microplastics are plastics smaller than 5 millimeters, found in industrial waste, beauty products, and formed during the degradation of larger plastic pieces. Over time, they break down into even smaller nanoplastics. These tiny particles can pass through our intestines and lungs into our bloodstreams, reaching vital organs like the heart and brain.
While the idea of eating plastic is unsettling in itself, the major concern here is that these plastic particles contain chemicals that can interrupt our body’s natural release of hormones, potentially increasing our risk of reproductive disorders and certain cancers. They can also carry toxins(毒素) on their surface like heavy metals.
In the past, researchers have shown bottled water can contain tens of thousands of identifiable plastic fragments in a single container. However, until recently, only the larger microplastics were detectable with available measuring tools, leaving the area of nanoplastics largely a mystery.
Using Raman microscopy (显微镜学), capable of detecting particles down to the size of a flu virus, the team measured an average of 240, 000 particles of plastic per liter of bottled water, 90 percent of which were nanoplastics, a revelation 10 to 100 times larger than previous estimates.
These plastics likely originate from the bottle material, filters used to “purify” the water, and the source water itself. “It is not totally unexpected to find so much of this stuff, ” the study’s lead author, Columbia graduate student Naixin Qian, said in a statement. His team hopes to expand their research into tap water and other water sources to better inform our exposure to these potentially dangerous particles. “The idea is that the smaller things get, the more of them I reveal, ” he added.
1. What is the primary focus of the new research?| A．The presence of plastic particles. | B．The use of plastic in everyday products. |
| C．The detection methods for microplastics. | D．The potential risks of nanoplastics to human. |
| A．Finding the source of plastic particles. | B．Helping to cure the deadly flu virus. |
| C．Detecting the smaller plastic particles. | D．Improving the quality of bottled water. |
| A．To focus on areas with higher plastic pollution. |
| B．To be aware of the dangerous particles in daily life. |
| C．To further measure the types of particles in tap water. |
| D．To detect the smaller plastic particles in industrial areas. |
| A．Skeptical. | B．Objective. | C．Conservative. | D．Positive. |
7 . The study by University of Arizona researchers, published in the Creativity Research Journal, finds that creative people are more likely to fruitfully use idle (空闲的) time by letting one idea lead to another.
“In psychology and neuroscience, most studies on human thoughts either prompt (提示) participants to think in a certain way or ask them to report on thoughts they experienced, but less is known about how thoughts naturally arise and unfold over time in unprompted contexts,” said Jessica Andrews-Hanna, an associate professor in the Department of Psychology and senior author of the paper. “This is where our study comes in.”
The researchers divided the study into two parts. For the first experiment, the researchers asked each participant to sit alone in a room for 10 minutes without any access to digital devices. In the absence of any particular prompt, the participants were asked to voice their thoughts aloud in real time. The recorded files from 81 participants were then transcribed (转录) and analyzed.
The first experiment found that creative people were more engaged in their thoughts when they were left alone without distractions, such as cell phones and the Internet. “Creative people rated themselves as being less bored, even over those 10 minutes. They also spoke more words overall, which indicated that their thoughts were more likely to move freely,” said Andrews-Hanna.
For the second experiment, over 2,600 adults answered questions through a smartphone app called Mind Window, developed by Andrews-Hanna and her graduate student Eric Andrews. Participants who self-identified as being creative reported being less bored during the idle time.
The researchers are continuing this line of work using their Mind Window app. They encourage people to download and use the app to help scientists understand how people across the world think in their everyday lives. “Understanding why different people think the way they do may lead to promising interventions to improve health and well-being,” said Andrews-Hanna.
1. What do Andrews-Hanna’s words in paragraph 2 focus on?| A．The necessity of the study. | B．The value of former studies. |
| C．The participants of the study. | D．The process of former studies. |
| A．They spoke out what they thought. | B．They recorded their own voices. |
| C．They remembered some prompts. | D．They finished a number of reports. |
| A．They made better use of digital devices. |
| B．They enjoyed idle time more than others. |
| C．They were more likely to understand others. |
| D．They were more willing to share their thoughts. |
| A．Educational. | B．Fashionable. | C．Expensive. | D．Beneficial. |
8 . Four Best Books for Teens
The How-To Cookbook for Teens
Price: $19
Cooking is a useful life skill and tons of fun for teens. This beginner-friendly book written by Julee Morrison is packed with 100 simple recipes in an easy-to-follow format that uses everyday, affordable ingredients. Parents love this book because it motivates teens to cook and is well-suited for them to cook all by themselves.
The Outsiders
Price: $13
The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton is about two weeks in the life of a 14-year-old boy. The novel tells the story of Ponyboy Curtis and his struggles with right and wrong in a society in which he believes that he is an outsider.
52 Modern Manners for Today’s Teens
Price: $23
52 Modern Manners for Today’s Teens is more than a book—it’s a 52-week calendar that provides teens (and their parents and caregivers) with crucial tips on living in today’s society. Author Brooke Romney tackles topics like Internet privacy, friendship, respecting people’s homes, helping others, and knowing yourself.
Hey, Kiddo
Price: $15
Fans of author Jarrett J. Krosoczka will know him for his Lunch Lady and Jedi Academy books. This graphic (漫画的) novel goes into the author’s childhood as he struggles with a family facing addiction and finds art to help him survive. New and long-time fans of graphic novels will appreciate the depth of this impactful story.
1. Which book will you buy if you are interested in cooking?| A．Hey, Kiddo. | B．The Outsiders. |
| C．The How-To Cookbook for Teens. | D．52 Modern Manners for Today’s Teens. |
| A．S. E. Hinton. | B．Julee Morrison. |
| C．Brooke Romney. | D．Jarrett J. Krosoczka. |
| A．$39. | B．$45. | C．$57. | D．$69. |
9 . A new study reveals that pigeons (鸽子) can tackle some problems just like artificial intelligence, enabling them to solve difficult tasks that might challenge humans. Previous research has theorized that pigeons employ a problem-solving strategy, involving a trial-and- error approach, which is similar to the approach used in AI models but differs from humans’ reliance on selective attention and rule use. To examine it, Brandon Turner, a psychology professor at the Ohio State University, and his colleagues conducted the new study.
In the study, the pigeons were presented with various visual images, including lines of different widths and angles, and different types of rings. The pigeons had to peck (啄) a button on the right or left to indicate the category to which the image belonged. If they got it correct, they received food; if they were wrong, they received nothing. Results showed that, through trial and error, the pigeons improved their accuracy in categorization tasks, increasing their correct choices from about 55% to 95%.
Researchers believed pigeons used associative learning, which is linking two phenomena with each other. For example, it is easy to understand the link. between “water” and “wet”. “Associative learning is frequently assumed to be far too primitive to. explain complex visual categorization like what we saw the pigeons do,” Turner said. But that’s exactly what the researchers found.
The researchers’ AI model tackled the same tasks using just the two simple mechanisms that pigeons were assumed to use: associative learning and error correction. And, like the pigeons, the AI model learned to make the right predictions to significantly increase the number of correct answers. For humans, the challenge when given tasks like those given to pigeons is that they would try to come up with rules that could make the task easier. But in this case, there were no rules, which upsets humans.
What’s interesting, though, is that pigeons use this method of learning that is very similar to AI designed by humans, Turner said. “We celebrate how smart we are that we designed artificial intelligence: at the same time, we regard pigeons as not clever animals,” he said.
1. What is the purpose of the new study?| A．To test a theory. | B．To evaluate a model. |
| C．To employ a strategy. | D．To involve an approach. |
| A．Draw circles. | B．Correct errors. | C．Copy gestures. | D．Identify images. |
| A．They are of equal intelligence. |
| B．They are good at making rules. |
| C．They respond rapidly to orders from humans. |
| D．They employ simple ways to get things done. |
| A．Pigeons’ trial-and-error method is revealed |
| B．Pigeons outperform humans in tough tasks |
| C．“Not smart” pigeons may be as smart as AI |
| D．AI models after pigeons’ learning approach |
10 . The maker of ChatGPT recently announced its next move into generative artificial intelligence. San Francisco-based OpenAI’s new text-to-video generator, called Sora, is a tool that instantly makes short videos based on written commands, called prompts.
Sora is not the first of its kind. Google, Meta and Runway ML are among the other companies to have developed similar technology. But the high quality of videos displayed by OpenAI — some released after CEO Sam Altman asked social media users to send in ideas for written prompts-surprised observers.
A photographer from New Hampshire posted one suggestion, or prompt, on X. The prompt gave details about a kind of food to be cooked, gnocchi (意大利团子), as well as the setting — an old Italian country kitchen. The prompt said: “An instructional cooking session for homemade gnocchi, hosted by a grandmother — a social media influencer, set in a rustic (土气的) Tuscan country kitchen.” Altman answered a short time later with a realistic video that showed what the prompt described.
The tool is not yet publicly available. OpenAI has given limited information about how it was built. The company also has not stated what imagery and video sources were used to train Sora. At the same time, the video results led to fears about the possible ethical and societal effects.
The New York Times and some writers have taken legal actions against OpenAI for its use of copyrighted works of writing to train ChatGPT. And OpenAI pays a fee to The Associated Press, the source of this report, to license its text news archive (档案) . OpenAI said in a blog post that it is communicating with artists, policymakers and others before releasing the new tool to the public.
The company added that it is working with “red teamers” — people who try to find problems and give helpful suggestions — to develop Sora. “We are working with red teamers-express in areas like misinformation, hateful content, and bias — who will be adversarially testing the model,” the company said. “We’re also building tools to help detect misleading content such as a detection classifier that can tell when a video was generated by Sora.”
1. What makes Sora impressive?| A．Its extraordinary video quality. | B．Its ethical and societal influence. |
| C．Its artificial intelligence history. | D．Its written commands and prompts. |
| A．Some disagreements over Sora have arisen. |
| B．Sora is the first text-to-video generator in history. |
| C．OpenAI CEO Altman wrote a prompt as an example. |
| D．All the details about how Sora was built have been shared. |
| A．The company’s current challenge. |
| B．The company’s advanced technology. |
| C．The company’s problems in management. |
| D．The company’s efforts for Sora’s improvement. |
| A．Neutral. | B．Optimistic. | C．Pessimistic. | D．Cautious. |
