1 . That dinosaurs ate the mammals (哺乳动物) that ran beneath their feet is not in doubt. Now an extraordinary fossil newly described in Scientific Reports, unearthed by a team led by Gang Han at Hainan Vocational University of Science and Technology in China, shows that sometimes the tables were turned.
The fossil -dated to about 125 million years ago, during the Cretaceous period-was formed when a flow of boiling volcanic mud swallowed two animals seemingly locked in a life-and-death fight. The one on top is a mammal. This animal is a herbivorous species closely related to the Triceratops (三角恐龙). Animal interactions such as this are exceptionally cam e in the fossil record.
One possibility is that the mammal was eating something already dead, other than hunting live prey. These days it is uncommon for small mammals to attack much larger animals. But it is not unheard of. And Dr. Han and his colleagues point out that those mammals which eat dead bodies typically leave tooth marks all over the bones of the animals. The dinosaur’s remains show no such marks. There is also a chance the fossil could be a fake. More and more convincing fake s have emerged, as this one did -though Dr. Han and his colleagues argue that the complexly connected nature of the skeletons (骨骼) makes that unlikely, too.
Assuming it is genuine, the discovery serves as a reminder that not all dinosaurs were enormous during the Cretaceous and not all mammals were tiny. From nose to tail, the dinosaur is just 1.2 meters long. The mammal is a bit under half a meter in length. Despite being half the size, the mammal has one paw firmly wrapped around one of its prey’s limbs, and another pulling on its jaw. It is biting down on the dinosaur’s chest, and has ripped off two of its ribs. Before they were interrupted, it seems that the mammal was winning.
1. Which idiom is closest in meaning to underlined part “the tables were turned” in paragraph 1?| A．The fittest survives. | B．The hunters become hunted. |
| C．Fortune always favors the brave. | D．The truth will always come to light. |
| A．To prove the fossil was fake. | B．To show the forming of the fossil. |
| C．To illustrate the process of hunting. | D．To suggest the dinosaur was hunted alive. |
| A．The size of the fossil. | B．The absence of fake fossils. |
| C．The complexity of the skeletons. | D．The consistency of the opinions. |
| A．It offers a cause. | B．It highlights a solution. |
| C．It justifies the conclusion. | D．It provides a new discovery. |
2 . Some people think working overtime means you’re a hard worker. You have to sacrifice your personal time to stay at work, produce something, help the company, and be a more devoted employee. But is that right?
A good manager knows how to encourage his employees to work to their full potential instead of expecting them to work late even if they don’t have something to do. People who stay in their office until late hate their jobs.
Overworking may negatively influence the level of productivity and efficiency. Any company that makes their employees work those hours is not being managed well.
Nowadays, it’s hard for a young person to build a good future, for pressures are on his (or her) shoulders: housing, children, parents, themselves, etc. But everyone must keep working hard to have ourselves on the way to the good future, which is not certain.
| A．No one wants to work overtime. |
| B．The boss thinks highly of overworking. |
| C．Working too many hours only means you are inefficient. |
| D．For it affects their performance, as well as other aspects of their life. |
| E．What’s sure is that if you’re lazy and don’t work hard, no good future will come. |
| F．Managers believe that overworking is an evidence of devotion from their employees’ side. |
| G．In many countries, overworking would be criticized because it reflects poor work efficiency. |
3 . Orchid Island is a striking travel destination full of natural beauty. Due to popular demand, we’ve assembled two- and three-day tour packages to ensure you’ll see the best the island has to offer.
ISLAND ADVENTURES TRAVEL AGENCY
Package options and prices
Two-day tour $406
Three-day tour $606
What to expect
Our tour begins with a scooter(小型摩托车) tour around the island. In the late afternoon, it’s time to head to the beach for a wonderful snorkeling adventure. Finally, we’ll close out the first day by taking in an Orchid Island sunset over the Qingqing Grassland. The following morning, you’ll witness an unforgettable sunrise at Dongqing Bay. Later, you’ll travel around the island on your scooter and observe traditional Tao fishing boats. You’ll even have the option of rowing out to sea on one of these boats for a small additional expense.
The three-day tour costs an additional $200, but it’s well worth the extra expense. It includes a historical tour of traditional underground houses and a visit to the well-known Lover’s Cave.
• Both packages include round-trip boat tickets from Fugang Port to Orchid Island.
• Snorkeling equipment rental and professional instruction are included.
Reminders
Travelers are required to present ID at Fugang Port.
Travelers must have a scooter driving license for scooter rentals.
1. What can you do at the end of the first day of the tour?| A．Go snorkeling. |
| B．Camp at Dongqing Bay. |
| C．Ride a scooter around the island. |
| D．Enjoy the sunset over the Qingqing Grassland. |
| A．It features scooter driving. |
| B．It gives tourists round-trip ferry tickets. |
| C．It involves a visit to the Lover’s Cave. |
| D．It includes boarding traditional fishing boats. |
| A．Receiving professional instruction. | B．Rowing a traditional boat out to sea. |
| C．Renting snorkeling equipment. | D．Renting a scooter. |
4 . Artificial intelligence (AI ) has been increasingly good at fooling people. A series of photos showing former US president Donald Trump being aggressively arrested by police have caught people’s attention. They were fake but very convincing.
Created by the AI program Midjourney, the photos were highly realistic, from the characters’ movements to the surroundings. However, many details can give away the fact that they are made by AI. The Washington Post’s technology writer Shira Ovide shared her tips. The main idea is to spot the problems anything that would look strange in a photo.
AI software has a history of generating human hands incorrectly. It sometimes can create hands with more than five fingers. This is because AI isn’t sure what a “hand” exactly is, according to Popular Science. The data AI uses to learn often show hands and fingers in various gestures, which can be very confusing for AI.
AI-generated images also usually contain details that are against reality. To spot this, focus on items like accessories. For example, people in an image may be missing earrings or one part of their sunglasses. If there’s text in an image, such as a newspaper or poster, it’s usually garbled (篡改), even though the text may look realistic from a distance.
Another thing AI is terrible at handling is the background. If there’s a crowd in the image, people’s faces in the background are usually blurry - or they don’t have faces at all!
The development of AI-generated art also raises alarm bells about how these fake images could be used to spread misinformation. “I think misinformation is going to hit an all-time high,” Jamie Cohen, a digital culture and AI expert in the US, told New York Post. Generating an AI artwork is to “create reality”, Cohen argued, adding that, being able to tell whether the work is real or not requires high media literacy(素养) skills. “The world may not be ready for how realistic the images have become,” Shane Kittelson, a US researcher, told The Washington Post.
1. Why are Donald Trump’s photos mentioned in the first paragraph?| A．To draw more people’s attention. |
| B．To make people convinced of the news. |
| C．To show the AI-generated images were fake. |
| D．To prove that it’s easy for AI to cheat people. |
| A．It is unable to recognize human hands. |
| B．The data it uses to learn contain errors. |
| C．It doesn’t fully understand human hands. |
| D．It has insufficient data about human hands. |
| A．AI artworks may not be reflective of true creativity. |
| B．It’s high time to address the risks posed by AI works. |
| C．AI artworks will replace traditional art forms in the future. |
| D．Detecting real art demands strong media literacy competence. |
| A．A news report. | B．A diary. |
| C．A research paper. | D．A science fiction. |
5 . English is full of funny expressions that don’t always make sense. Idioms are phrases and sentences that do not mean exactly what they say. Even if you know the meaning of each word, you may not understand the idiom because you don’t understand the culture behind it. Here are some English idioms based on animals.
When children jump around and act silly, their parents may tell them to stop “monkeying around”.To “monkey around” means to do things that are not useful or serious, or to simply waste time.
Many American families have and love pet dogs. But for some unknown reason, Americans use “dog” in a phrase that means to feel unwell. If you are “as sick as a dog”, you’re really, really sick.
Sometimes you may also hear cats mentioned in conversations, “I told you to keep that secret, but you have just ‘let the cat out of the bag’!” You probably guessed it — that idiom means to reveal a secret or tell facts that were previously unknown.
Dogs and cats don’t always get along, but they appear side by side in a commonly used idiom. When it rains heavily, people might say it’s “raining cats and dogs”．
Heavy rain often ruins people’s plans for outdoor activities. But on a lovely day, you can have a picnic. If a swarm (一群) of tiny bugs love your food and start to hover (盘旋) around you, it would be really annoying. That experience perfectly explains why people often tell someone who keeps bothering them to “stop bugging me”．
Idioms are very common in both spoken and written English. If you want to have a better understanding of English, you have to learn idioms.
1. According to Paragraph 1, which is right about idioms?| A．Expressions which are based on animals. |
| B．Expressions with rich cultural background. |
| C．Expressions that always make sense. |
| D．Expressions which are easy to understand. |
| A．Children jump around and waste time. |
| B．Children do something useful and serious. |
| C．Children play with monkeys with their parents. |
| D．Children spend time playing with their family pets. |
| A．Dogs and cats always get along nicely. |
| B．Bugs can be used to show your annoyance. |
| C．Americans believe cats can give away secrets. |
| D．Americans use the idiom “as sick as a dog” to describe a healthy man. |
| A．By sharing experiences. |
| B．By making comparisons. |
| C．By giving examples. |
| D．By listing figures. |
6 . Not all heroes wear capes(斗篷) and Steve Montelongo proved the statement. While he doesn’t consider himself a hero, he has saved the lives of three people during the last two decades.
The 80-year-old man was in the right place at the right time, when he pulled a man out of his sinking car after he had accidentally driven into a river. Montelongo jumped to the man’s help without any hesitation(犹豫) or regard to his own health.
The accident happened while the elderly man was taking his granddaughter home after a dentist’s appointment. They had stopped at a traffic light when the girl saw the car fall into the river. Montelongo got out of his car to check out the scene and instantly noticed that water had begun rushing into the vehicle of the trapped driver. He walked into the river and managed to open the automobile’s back door, which fortunately was unlocked. As the water began to rush into the car faster, the 80-year-old managed to pull the 62-year-old Jack Swarts from the car by his shirt.
He later said in an interview—“I don’t consider myself a hero. I was just a man that got put in the right place at the right time”—words from a genuine modern-day good person.
This, however, wasn’t Montelongo’s only act of heroism. Nearly 20 years ago, he helped two of his neighbors get to safety as their house was caught in a fire. He was 62 years old at the time and had to kick open his neighbor’s front door to pull out 80-year-old Kathirne Mattox and 79-year-old Wayne Maxwell. During the rescue, Montelongo suffered chest pains and had to be hospitalized but made a quick recovery (恢复). He was awarded the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission medal for this bravery and act of heroism.
1. What does the underlined part in paragraph 1 mean?| A．Heroes like special clothes. | B．Everyone wants to be a hero. |
| C．Heroes deserve to be praised. | D．Ordinary people can be heroes. |
| A．By managing to start the car. | B．By pulling him out of the car. |
| C．By clearing the car of water. | D．By giving him first aid treatment. |
| A．He is modest. | B．He is brave. |
| C．He is responsible. | D．He is clever. |
| A．A hero is a man of confidence. |
| B．Care is an important part of courage. |
| C．For what they ought to do, such a person is brave. |
| D．The most terrible enemy is the lack of strong faith. |
7 . Do you have any travel plans in the near future? Or are you looking for the safest place to travel? If your answer is yes, this travel guide will provide some places you can visit. In this guide, we will discuss their culture, food, and other things you should expect.
New Zealand
New Zealand has proven to be the world’s safest place to travel after Iceland and it is known for its wonderful dishes such as Fish and Chips, Hokey Pokey ice cream, etc. Whangarei Falls is a 26.3-metre high waterfall with a beautiful view that makes it one of the most photogenic waterfalls.
Belize
A visit to Belize would give you experiences such as world-class diving, explorations of jungles, etc. When you are in Belize, you should try the following foods: Rice and Beans, Tamales, Stewed Chicken, Fry Jacks and lots more. Belize is known for Mayan ruins and caves and jungle adventures, and it is also known as “Mother Nature’s Best Kept Secret”.
Greenland
Greenland is said to be a place where you do not have to worry about crime, so you need not worry too much about your safety. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, and it is the world’s largest island. Major tourist offers in Greenland include trips on hiking, tours on dog sledding, watching icebergs, etc.
Tunisia
Tunisia is said to be one of the most visited African countries. Some attractive places include its great capital city Tunis, the beach resorts of Mahdia and Kasbah Square in Tunis. Tunisia is popular for its beaches which have pocket-friendly expensive items. Tunisians are always willing to help. Some of the delicious dishes that Tunisians enjoy include Tabouna Bread, Tajine Maadnous, Tunisian Meat Dishes, etc.
1. What can visitors enjoy in New Zealand?| A．Mayan ruins. |
| B．Golden beaches. |
| C．The beautiful waterfall. |
| D．Jungle adventures. |
| A．New Zealand. | B．Tunisia. |
| C．Greenland. | D．Belize. |
| A．Tunisians are both warm and friendly. |
| B．It’s famous for its delicious dishes. |
| C．Tunis is the world’s largest port city. |
| D．It offers first-class hiking experiences. |
8 . While attending a conference on campus last spring, Cecilia Miao, Fangdi Pan, and Mupe Niu took a quick look around the room. They couldn’t help but feel disillusioned with whom they saw — or rather, whom they didn’t see.
The conference was funded by the Wisconsin China Initiative, an effort housed in the Division of International Studies and created to, among other goals, strengthen ties between the University of Wisconsin (UW) and higher education institutions in China. Yet the three Chinese natives saw an absence of American-born students at the conference — a reminder of their first days, weeks, and months on campus. Back then, they had felt unwelcome and alone, struggling to adapt to life in Wisconsin.
The three recent graduates found their own approaches to fitting in, but they are now taking action to ease the transition (过渡) for future Chinese students. Motivated by their experience at last spring’s conference, they launched Channel C, a YouTube series of talk show videos that discusses cross-cultural concerns. Their goal was to tear down the social barrier between Chinese and American students at the UW — a wall, they say, that has been put up from accumulated disinterest and stereotyping (刻板印象) by both groups.
The show’s topics range from standards of beauty, to the secret of making conversations with different people, to the initial culture shock of the campus’s party. One video — “Why Don’t Chinese Students Speak English?” — has more than 100,000 views and 400 comments. Miao, Pan, and Niu say they never expected to reach such a large audience; they are receiving feedback from undergraduates across the nation, as well as younger Chinese students who aim to study in the United States.
“I’m just hoping students at the UW can be more sensitive towards someone with an entirely different background,” Miao says. “I think that’s the goal of liberal arts education (人文教育), anyway to be able to talk to and connect with people. And that’s our goal, too.”
1. What does the underlined word “disillusioned” mean in Paragraph 1?| A．Disappointed. | B．Angry. |
| C．Impatient. | D．Impressed. |
| A．Their competence in cooperation with others. |
| B．Their participation in last year’s conference. |
| C．Their successful adapt action to life at the UW. |
| D．Their support for the Wisconsin China Initiative. |
| A．Creative. | B．Inspiring. |
| C．Ambitious. | D．Successful. |
| A．By receiving liberal arts education. | B．By improving their language skills. |
| C．By reaching out with an open mind. | D．By following the talk show Channel. |
9 . One in four children who are feeling sad or anxious hide mental health difficulties from their parents, research shows.
BBC Children in Ned surveyed 2,502 young people aged 11 to 18, whose replies suggested that one in three regularly felt anxious or worried about their future. One in four said that they regularly felt the need to hide negative feelings, while one in three said they did not feel comfortable asking for help about feelings and emotions. One in four said they had not talked to someone they trusted about their mental health in the past six months.
Researchers also surveyed 2,500 parents, with half saying that there was insufficient support available for children struggling with’ mental health. One in six said they were not confident in recognizing signs of poor mental health in their child. Simon Antrobus, president of BBC Children in Need, said, “Some feelings of anxiety can be hidden, so empathizing (共情) with them and letting them know that you understand why they feel the way they do can make a real difference to a child’s health and can help prevent mental health problems from becoming serious.”
Meanwhile a survey of 3,014 adults by the mental health charity, Mind, suggested that the rising expenses of living is making people stressed. Half of participants said that their mental health was being negatively affected by the financial impact of the expenses of living- Sarah Hughes, Mind chief executive, said, “The uncertainty of watching as our costs rise can be difficult to bear and having so much to deal with can affect our mental health. Despite this, looking after our mental health is often last on our list.”
1. What can be learned from the survey on young people in paragraph 2?| A．Most of them have anxiety about their future. |
| B．One in four found it difficult to trust their parents. |
| C．One third felt the need to ask for help with their problems. |
| D．A quarter of them regularly felt it necessary to hide negative feelings. |
| A．Place children’s needs first. | B．Recognize their own struggles. |
| C．Show understanding to children. | D．Study the reasons for children’s problems. |
| A．We are supposed to cut down our living expenses. |
| B．Mental health has been attached much attention to. |
| C．Almost every adult has experienced financial difficulties. |
| D．There is a link between high living costs and mental health. |
| A．To introduce a mental health charity. |
| B．To discuss the causes of negative feelings. |
| C．To encourage studies on children’s mental health. |
| D．To present research findings of mental health issues. |
10 . In the world of digital health, Silicon Valley-based Mindstrong stands out. It has a remarkable team and tens of millions of funding. It also has a fascinating idea-its app, based on mental functioning research, can help detect troubling mental health patterns by collecting data on person’s smartphone usage-how quickly they type, for instance.
The company’s app collects information about how people are typing and runs it through a machine learning algorithm (计算程序) to determine which data can predict their emotional state. The idea is to use that data to establish a “normal” pattern-so it can be compared with someone’s typing habits on any given day. If the habits change, slower or more anxious than normal, the app can warn a health care provider.
The promise of this technology has made Mindstrong incredibly popular since it was launched last year; already more than a dozen counties in California have agreed to apply the company’s app to patients. Does the app live up to its promise? There’s no way to tell. Almost no one outside the company has any idea whether it works, leading some experts to wonder if the technology is ready for the real world. “I wouldn’t waste all that time and money in the wild until they get sure that some of those things are as specific as they hope they are,” said Rosalind Picard, a researcher at MIT Media Lab, who is familiar with Mindstrongs work.
“It has passed the gold-standard clinical tests for depression and anxiety,” said Dr. Paul Dagum, the company’s founder. “We’re confident, and we’re already seeing some really exciting results.” Mindstrong officials said that among their most encouraging results is that its app can even predict how a person will feel next week, kind of like a weather app for your mood. “For a clinician(临床医生) or someone looking after a patient, they know that it could be very, very powerful,” Dagum said.
1. What can Mindstrong’s app do?| A．Improve its users’ mental health. | B．Get its users to type more quickly. |
| C．Discover its users’ mental state. | D．Work out the causes of its users’ trouble. |
| A．The ways of collecting data. | B．The app’s working principle. |
| C．The analysis of typing habits. | D．The development of the app. |
| A．Doubtful. | B．Positive. | C．Uncaring. | D．Defensive. |
| A．The app has a powerful effect on anxiety. |
| B．The app can also predict weather conditions. |
| C．Care providers could be supporters of the app. |
| D．Doctors benefit more from the app than their patients. |
