1 . Young babies make many short and word-like sounds such as “ba” or “aga”. Those early sounds are later replaced with words and, eventually, sentences. While some of them are born to be more talkative than others, a new study confirms that male babies make more sounds than female babies in the first year.
While the research confirms earlier findings from a much smaller study by the same team, they still come as a surprise. That’s because there’s a common and long-held belief that females have an advantage over males in language.
In the study, Dr Kim and his team included more than 450,000 hours of all-day recordings of 5,899 babies, using a device about the size of an iPod. Those recordings were processed to count the number of words spoken by babies and adults across the first two years of life.
Generally, the data showed that male babies made 10% more sounds in the first year compared to females. In the second year, the difference turned directions, with female babies making about 7% more sounds than males. Those differences were observed even though the number of words spoken by adults caring for those babies was higher for female babies in both years compared to males.
Why, then, would male babies be more talkative than females in the first year and not later? “We think it may be because boys are more likely to die in the first year than girls. Given that so many male deaths happen in the first year, boys may have been under especially high selection pressure to produce fitness signals to express their wellness and improve their chances of surviving,” says Kim. By the second year of life, as death rates drop sharply across the board, he added, “the pressure on special fitness signaling is lower for both boys and girls.”
1. Why are the findings of the new study surprising?| A．They are similar to earlier ones. |
| B．They show males are more talkative. |
| C．They go against people’s common belief. |
| D．They show babies learn language differently |
| A．They received more language input. |
| B．They showed better language abilities. |
| C．They communicated more with adults. |
| D．They made less sounds than female babies. |
| A．Improved language skills. | B．Change in living environment. |
| C．Less need for fitness signaling. | D．Increase in social communication. |
2 . Every morning in graduate school, Christy would wave to the woman selling hot dogs outside her building. “If she wasn’t there on a given day, things didn’t feel right. I missed her,” says Christy, now a psychology (心理学) expert at a university in the U.K. “It was this huge source of comfort and safety, and it was with someone I never talked to.”
That connection satisfied a deep, bodily need for Christy, just like water relieves thirst. Humans are intensely social animals, and research increasingly suggests that losing our connections to others can negatively impact our health. A 2023 report called widespread loneliness in the U.S. a deadly health risk comparable to smoking up to15 cigarettes (香烟) a day. On the other hand, a Harvard study found that having strong relationships is key to living a long and happy life. The study also showed that people between 80 and 89 years old in happy marriages reported that their happiness remained stable even on days when they were in greater physical pain.
But close relationships aren’t the only social ties that matter. Chatting with a stranger, giving a smile of recognition to the waiter in your local coffee shop, or waving to the people you see every day at the park creates a much-needed sense of community. “We can’t achieve happiness by ourselves. We simply cannot survive or live well without feeling like we are accepted,” says Christy.
These “weak tie” relationships aren’t a replacement for the deeper, more meaningful connections we also need. But Christy says we should recognize and celebrate their importance, and push ourselves to engage in them because they’re so beneficial to our sense of well-being. “I am not outgoing,” she says. “And, at the same time, I love talking to strangers. I believe that anyone can do it.”
1. How did Christy feel when she couldn’t see the woman as usual?| A．Safe. | B．Disappointed. | C．Angry. | D．Satisfied. |
| A．Older adults feel happier in marriages. |
| B．Physical pain negatively affects happiness. |
| C．Close relationships lead to long-term well-being. |
| D．Happiness has little to do with social connections. |
| A．They contribute to our happiness. | B．They help us to be outgoing. |
| C．They replace close relationships. | D．They push us to communicate. |
| A．Advantages of Being Lonely | B．Influence of Meeting New People |
| C．Value of Strong Social Connections | D．Importance of “Weak Tie” Relationships |
3 . In a groundbreaking discovery, bumblebees (大黄蜂) have shown a previously unseen level of cognitive (认知的) ability. A new study, published in Nature, shows that they can learn difficult, multi-step tasks through social interaction, even if they cannot figure them out on their own.
Led by Dr Alice Bridges and Professor Lars Chittka, the research team designed a two-step puzzle (谜题) box requiring bumblebees to perform two separated actions to get a sweet reward at the end. Training bees to do this was no easy task, and bees had to be helped along by the addition of an extra reward at the end of the first step. This reward in the middle was finally taken away, and bees later had to open the whole box before getting their treat. Then some trained bees repeated the whole process for demonstration.
Surprisingly, while bees that worked on their own had great difficulty in solving the puzzle, those allowed to watch a demonstrator bee finished the two steps easily — even the first — while only getting a reward at the end.
This study shows that bumblebees have a level of social learning previously thought to be unique to humans. They can share and learn behaviors that are beyond their individual cognitive abilities. Professor Chittka further notes the implications, “This challenges the traditional view that only humans can socially learn difficult behavior beyond individual learning. It raises the amazing possibility that many of the greatest achievements of the social insects, like the nesting architectures of bees or the agricultural habits of ants, may have initially spread by copying clever innovators, before they finally became part of the species-specific behaviors.”
This groundbreaking research opens new possibilities for understanding animal intelligence and the development of social learning. It challenges longstanding assumptions and helps us learn more about the cognitive wonders of insects, even suggesting the exciting possibility of advanced culture amongst seemingly simple creatures.
1. What is the purpose of the study?| A．To learn how to train bumblebees. |
| B．To compare bumblebees with ants. |
| C．To develop puzzles for bumblebees. |
| D．To test cognitive abilities of bumblebees. |
| A．By breaking it into two steps. |
| B．By providing an extra reward. |
| C．By demonstrating the process. |
| D．By making the puzzle interesting. |
| A．Both bees and ants are intelligent creatures. |
| B．Only humans are capable of social learning. |
| C．Individual learning may not be that important. |
| D．Bees’ nest-building may be a learned behavior. |
| A．Bumblebees — willing learners |
| B．Bumblebees — smarter than you think |
| C．Social learning — intelligence indicator |
| D．Social learning — universal across species |
4 . “Auntie Goose Legs”, a Beijing street food seller, was recently invited to a meeting on women entrepreneurship (企业家精神) at Peking University, one of China’s top universities. Her inspiring words moved the hearts of many.
In her 50s, Chen Xiufeng, from Lianyungang city in East China’s Jiangsu Province, along with her husband, Liang Decai, has been trying to make a living as street sellers in the country’s capital for more than two decades. In the past few years the pair began to sell homemade goose (鹅) legs. Their secret family recipe has won them a continuous stream of customers over the years, mostly college students, as they usually operated near campuses such as Peking University. They even took orders in advance and delivered goose legs to campuses by motorbikes.
Last winter, Chen became famous on the Internet after she moved her business to Tsinghua University. Old customers from Peking University and Renmin University of China began half-jokingly calling for Tsinghua University to give back their beloved “Auntie Goose Legs”. A “competition” among China’s top universities for “Auntie Goose Legs” soon unfolded. Related topics quickly topped the trending list on social media, making her a focal point of online discussions, while their homemade goose legs became hard to get. At one point, they sold out all 200 goose legs within 20 minutes.
At the meeting, when asked by the host if she felt she was “entrepreneurial”, Chen shook her head, stating that her efforts were merely ordinary means to make a living. Peking University commented in an article posted on the university’s social media account on Friday, stating that entrepreneurship is not only a broad concept, but one that can also represent an attitude toward life.
In Chen’s closing speech at the meeting, she said, “I hope everyone can choose a comfortable pace... Life is a long journey, not something you can cross in one step. You, the youngsters, are full of vitality; everyone is their own hero.”
1. What caused the heated discussion about “Auntie Goose Legs” on the Internet?| A．Her secret family recipe. |
| B．Her selling out 200 goose legs. |
| C．Her relocation to another university. |
| D．Her rich experiences as a street seller. |
| A．She felt confused by the concept. |
| B．She thought it beyond her capabilities. |
| C．She considered herself a business genius. |
| D．She acknowledged it with a sense of pride. |
| A．Wealth comes ahead of happiness. |
| B．Rapid success should be encouraged. |
| C．Take your own pace on life’s journey. |
| D．Entrepreneurship is the key to success. |
5 . Effective communication is the process of exchanging ideas, opinions, knowledge, and data so that the message is received and understood with clarity and purpose. Learning how to communicate well can be beneficial.
Consider your audience.
Practice active listening. Active listening means giving your full attention in a communication exchange.
Make your message as clear as possible. Once you have successfully identified your audience and listened to their purposes, needs, and desires, you may have something to communicate. To do this effectively, turn to the 3Cs of communication: Clear, Correct, Complete.
Use the right medium or platform. Effective communication requires you to consider whether you need to meet in person or online. Is your message casual enough to use WeChat, or would a formal email be more suitable?
By following these four principles, you are well on your way to exercising communication effectiveness.
| A．Who are you communicating with? |
| B．What’s your preference when you catch up with friends? |
| C．Here are a few ways to achieve effective communication. |
| D．Is it more effective to discuss the plan on the phone or face-to-face? |
| E．Be sure to provide positive information based on your audience’s needs. |
| F．It includes paying attention to body language, and giving positive feedback. |
| G．Prepare to communicate in a way that achieves most of these characteristics. |
6 . In the eyes of many environmentalists, the world appears to be getting worse. They believe, the natural resources are running out and the air and water are becoming ever more polluted. But if we check the facts, things look different. Energy has become more abundant, not less so. Fewer people are starving. What seems to cause this gap between perception and reality?
One factor is the prejudice in scientific research. Scientific funding goes mainly to areas with many problems. That may be wise policy, but it will also create an impression that there are more potential problems than actually exist.
Secondly, environmental groups seek attention from the mass media. They also need to get continuous financial support. Understandably, perhaps, they sometimes exaggerate (夸大) their arguments. In 1997, for example, the World Wide Fund for Nature issued a statement titled: “Two thirds of the world’s forests lost forever”. The truth turns out to be near 20%.
The media can add to confusion too. People tend to be more curious about bad news than good. Newspapers and broadcasters are there to provide what the public wants. That, however, can lead to significant misinterpretations. For example, when a natural disaster happens, the media usually highlights the negative parts, giving more attention to the disaster’s details and what happens afterward. This flood of bad news can make people think that such events are more frequent or serious than they actually are. Consequently, people may develop a sense of insecurity, despite statistically low probabilities of similar events happening to them.
Another factor is people’s poor perception. People worry that vaccines can cause severe side effects or long-term health problems. Despite extensive scientific evidence demonstrating their safety and effectiveness, some individuals remain hesitant due to unfounded fears.
It is crucial that we look at the facts if we want to make the best possible decisions for the future. It may be costly to be overly optimistic – but more costly still to be too pessimistic.
1. What aspect of scientific research does the writer worry about in paragraph 2?| A．The need to produce results. | B．The selection of research areas. |
| C．The lack of financial support. | D．The desire to solve research problem. |
| A．To show how influential the mass media can be. |
| B．To show how effective environmental groups can be. |
| C．To show how the mass media can help groups raise funds. |
| D．To show how environmental groups overstate their claims. |
| A．educate readers | B．mislead readers |
| C．meet readers’ expectations | D．encourage readers’ feedback |
| A．Making decisions based on reality. | B．Balancing optimism and pessimism. |
| C．Being optimistic to avoid costly mistakes. | D．Addressing the environmental crisis gradually. |
7 . Mei Lum is the fifth-generation owner of Wing on Wo & Co. in Manhattan’s Chinatown.
For Lum, the oldest-running business in Manhattan’s Chinatown sees the neighbourhood growing larger and larger and is an informal living room where she came of age. In the store on Mott Street, she shared meals with her family, took Chinese lessons with her grandparents and helped clean the store as a young girl.
Wing on Wo was started in the 1890s. In the early days, Wing on Wo was a general store that mainly sold dried fish and canned (罐装的) goods. It was also an informal post office. When Lum’s grandmother, Nancy, took over in 1965, she decided to focus on porcelain (瓷器) specifically. Its heyday (全盛时期) was the late 70s to the late 80s. A lot of the goods came from Hong Kong, where Lum’s grandfather grew up.
In 2016, her grandmother planned to sell the porcelain specialty shop and its building. Lum, who was preparing to study international relations at Columbia University, decided to take over the store — not only to preserve (保护) its cultural value, but to create a community centre.
“I see the store as a place for conversation for Asian Americans. They want to learn about family history and tradition, and are curious about their cultural identity. I want them to learn about their identity through our porcelain,” Lum said.
Wing on Wo has remained a family business from its founding. Lum’s father, Gary, has been manning the counter (柜台) for the past 30 years. Her mother, Lorraine, processes orders and manages the website. Even her grandmother helps out with some work in the store.
The pandemic pushed Lum to start learning how to run an online store. She’s also added a lot of new activities, including youth programs, an artist residency and a ceramicist fair, to ensure that in addition to preserving tradition, the business is shaping the future of Chinatown.
1. What did the store mean to Lum according to paragraph 2?| A．It gave her a chance to help her neighbours. |
| B．It played an important role in her childhood. |
| C．It helped her to develop a money-saving lifestyle. |
| D．It had a great influence on her choice of university. |
| A．She sold Wing on Wo. | B．She opened a new general store. |
| C．She began selling only porcelain in the store. | D．She changed the store into a porcelain factory. |
| A．To collect money for her college education. |
| B．To learn business skills from her grandmother. |
| C．To encourage young people to start a family business. |
| D．To provide a historical connection for Asian Americans. |
| A．Responsible and forward-looking. | B．Humorous and hard-working. |
| C．Creative and honest. | D．Kind and patient. |
8 . I had no idea that the Boulder International Film Festival (BIFF) existed (存在) until I went to the University of Colorado (CU) Boulder club fair with my best friend in September. There was a stand that was run to find volunteers for the festival in the spring, and I signed up. I wasn't quite passionate (狂热的) about films but just wanted to do some volunteer work.
The first volunteer shift I had was before the festival started, and I got to organize all of the passes needed for the festival, including those of all the volunteers, sponsors, filmmakers, and VIP members. I even managed to get a picture of myself and Ale c Baldwin's pass.
During the festival, I worked as a vaccine (疫苗) checker, checking people's vaccination cards and giving out wristbands since BIFF required everyone to be vaccinated to enter the many halls. This job-wasn't terrible, except for the fact that we were outside most of the time and it was snowing. By the end, I could hardly feel my feet, but I kept in high spirits.
After finishing my volunteer work, I was able to see a few films for free. Besides some short films, I really enjoyed “The Last Mountain,” a documentary about the life and death on a mountain in 2019 of the British climber, Tom Ballard, and the mountaineering history of his family. While I was crying throughout most of the movie, it was an inspiring story about love and passion.
I really enjoyed my time at BIFF. It was well-organized and everyone working for the festival was passionate about making it a great experience for everyone alike. Next year, I hope to invite some of my friends to volunteer with me, or at least encourage them to watch a couple of amazing films!
1. Where did the author find out about BIFF?| A．At a volunteer event he had attended. | B．At the CU Boulder club fair. |
| C．From a volunteer of BIFF. | D．From his best friend. |
| A．He guided people to different places at the festival. |
| B．He made wristbands for people who asked for them. |
| C．He gave out passes to filmmakers and VIP members. |
| D．He made sure everyone attending the festival was vaccinated. |
| A．It is about a wealthy British family. | B．It is difficult to understand. |
| C．It is a sad story. | D．It is really short. |
| A．To introduce a special film festival. |
| B．To share his experiences at a film festival. |
| C．To show how he developed an interest in films. |
| D．To discuss the benefits of volunteering at film festivals. |
9 . Is art boring? It’s not, really. I don’t think so, at least. But there’s a problem with how we look at art, how we approach it.
Museums are formal and strangely dry. There’s no embrace. Barriers prevent us from leaving the path set by the curator (馆长). Glass traps the paintings permanently in their frames – an invisible barrier that prevents us from ever getting close to the art, from touching it, feeling it. Guides and guards are constantly observing us, stopping us from taking photos, or using selfie sticks, or talking too loud. Museums have too many rules. And they’ve made our art boring.
We should be able to see art, to sometimes touch it. How can we feel any connection to the world? Art is a way to connect to the world, and yet so much of our art (and it is our art, not theirs, not yours — but ours) is unreachable.
Why can’t we laugh in museums? Why can’t we take silly selfies in front of art, our tongues sticking out, our hands in the air? Art is not boring and yet, we as a society, have made it so. We’ve trapped incredible artists behind glass boxes, with random rules governing noise levels, lights, flashes, sounds, photos, selfies, pens & pencils.
I love art. I think it has this incredible power to change our world. It can move us — as individuals, or as a collective society. Art is so often a window to something else. And yet we’ve allowed museums and galleries and collectors to prevent us from ever opening those windows.
Don’t get me wrong. I enjoy art museums. There are many fantastic ones around the world. And without so many wonderful curators and collectors, we wouldn’t be able to enjoy much of the art that is created -the masterpieces and the newer, more contemporary (and sometimes crazy) art. But at the same time, we’ ve allowed museums too much control.
They’ve taken our art. They’ve controlled our world. And our world, our art — it’s not meant to be controlled. It’s meant to be experienced — however that may be. It’s an individual, personal choice. Let’s take back our art, our museums. And take some selfies.
1. According to the writer, how may visitors to museums feel?| A．Interested. | B．Unwelcome. | C．Excited. | D．Ashamed. |
| A．The writer believes that art should never be kept in museums. |
| B．The writer is losing his love of art due to museums’ policies. |
| C．The writer believes museums are taking away the power of art. |
| D．The writer believes that art should be replaced by something else. |
| A．Help me. | B．Control me. | C．Misunderstand me. | D．Frighten me. |
| A．All of us can create art. | B．Museums are of little use. |
| C．Admission to museums should be free. | D．Museums should give visitors more freedom. |
10 . What distinguishes an outstanding city? The Global Cities Index assesses cities based on diverse criteria, including:
·Business – The presence of multinational corporations. How many global companies are in the city? Does the city do a lot of international business?
·People – The city’s ability to attract talents globally. Does the city attract talented people from around the world? What’s proportion of residents with higher education?
·Media – The accessibility of varied information channels. How many residents have Internet access?
·Entertainment – The availability of leisure and cultural activities. Does the city have many entertainment options: museums, sports, music, and different types of restaurants?
Future Leaders
Most cities on the Global Cities Index are strong in certain areas. Beijing’s strength, for example, is business, while Los Angeles’s strength is people. Which cities will become more powerful in the future?
·Asia: Beijing and Shanghai are both business centers and will continue to grow. In a few years, they will potentially match New York’s influence. Indian cities such as Mumbai and New Delhi have a lot of business potential, too.
·South America: urban centers like Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo in Brazil will gain influence. In these cities, the middle class is growing, and life for many people is improving.
·The Middle East: Istanbul in Turkey, Cairo in Egypt, and the cities of the United Arab Emirates such as Dubai will hold more power in international politics and business, especially in helping East and West work together.
In 10 years, the top cities on the index may be different, but one thing is certain: With over 50 percent of the world’s people now living in urban areas, tomorrow’s global cities will be more powerful than ever.
1. Which aspect is considered in the Global Cities Index?| A．Education. | B．Climate. | C．Transportation. | D．Location |
| A．Asia and Europe. | B．Asia and South America. |
| C．Asia and the Middle East. | D．South America and the Middle East. |
| A．Similarities between top cities. | B．The ways to become global cities. |
| C．Daily life in fastest-growing cities. | D．Forecast on future influential cities. |
