1 . Living Well with Others

A good life is one that is beneficial to living well with others, while living comfortably and honestly. However, not everyone can deal with the relationship well with others.     1    

This article will cover some ideas you may want to consider.

Smile at those around you. It’s often been said that a smile is catching. Research suggests that’s true. Studies suggest that friendly engagement (交往) with others improves happiness levels, at least in part.     2    

Help others. Studies have shown that helping others has a direct relation to individual happiness.     3     Volunteering to help others has been connected to better quality of life.

    4     The golden rule is still the most important rule for getting along with others. Think of how you would like your friends to act around you. If you treat people with love and respect, they will treat you with the same.

Value your friendships with others. The quality of a person’s friendship has a direct effect upon their well-being. Friends can increase a sense of your sense of belonging and purpose.     5    

A．Taking time to care for others has been important to understand “the good life”.

B．They’re looking to explore new ways to make their life better.

C．When meeting someone for the first time, shake hands with them.

D．Treat others with honesty, respect and kindness.

E．People are more likely to treat a smiling person better than a non-smiling person.

F．Treat others how you wish to be treated.

G．They will also help prevent you from developing bad habits.

3 . Van Gogh painted sunflowers for the first time in the summer of 1886. Two years later, his interest appeared again after he settled in Arles. After he had invited the French artist Paul Gauguin, whom he admired, to join his Studio of the South, he began painting sunflowers to brighten up the whitewashed walls of the yellow house he was living in, not far from the town’s railway station.

Gauguin accepted Van Gogh’s invitation. When he began dragging his heels, Van Gogh painted the last two of the four original Sunflowers for the modest bedroom where his guest would sleep following his arrival that autumn. “Van Gogh saw the Sunflowers for Gauguin’s bedroom as a way of attracting his friend to come from Brittany,” says Bailey.

According to Martin Gayford, “Gauguin was very surprised by the Sunflowers, which he repeatedly praised and asked for as a gift. Years later, Gauguin himself painted some sunflower pictures.”

Van Gogh’s Sunflowers stand for his relationship with Gauguin. “I think he painted them for the joy of it,” says Jansen. “Van Gogh was at the height of his powers in the summer of 1888,” explains Bailey. “He painted the Sunflowers quickly and with great energy and confidence.” Van Gogh wrote to his brother Theo in late August, “I’m painting quickly now, which won’t surprise you when it’s a question of painting large Sunflowers.”

Van Gogh recognized at once that he had created something important and that his sunflowers were so different. As he told Theo in January 1889, while other artists were known for painting other flowers, “The sunflower is mine.” This, in fact, explains the reason for the popularity of Van Gogh’s Sunflowers today.

1. Van Gogh painted sunflowers in 1888 in order to ________.

A．give them to Gauguin	B．make his living
C．decorate his house	D．show his artistic talent to others

2. Where were the last two Sunflowers placed by Van Gogh? ________.

A．In the British museum	B．In Gauguin’s bedroom
C．In the town’s railway station	D．In a rich businessman’s house

3. What does “dragging his heels” in paragraph 2 mean in the passage?

A．Putting up his paintings.	B．Packing up his baggage.
C．Preparing for his departure.	D．delaying his coming.

4. From the last two paragraphs we can learn that ________.

A．Van Gogh was not good at painting large Sunflowers

B．Van Gogh had much trouble in painting the Sunflowers

C．Van Gogh didn’t like his Sunflowers at all at that time

D．Van Gogh realized the Sunflowers would make him known

4 . Reunions offer a chance to reflect on how much has changed. One happened in Hollywood when Here premiered (首映), bringing together the actors, director and writer behind Forrest Gump 40 years later for a new film. The stars were “de-aged” using new AI tools, making them more youthful in some scenes and enabling the filmmakers to see the transformation in real time while shooting.

With the use of generative AI in film making come things worth watching. The first is how AI will be used to tell new types of stories, as storytelling becomes more personalised and interactive. No one is quite sure how the nature of storytelling will change, but it is sure to. David Thomson, a film historian, compares generative AI to the advent of sound. “When movies were no longer silent, it changed the way plot points were made and how deeply viewers could connect with characters.” Cristóbal Valenzuela, who runs a company providing AI-enhanced software, says AI is like a “new kind of camera”, offering a fresh “opportunity to reimagine what stories are like”. Both are right.

Another big development to watch is how AI will be used as a time-saving tool. Generative AI will automate and simplify complex tasks like film-editing and special effects. For a glimpse of the future, watch Everything Everywhere All at Once, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 2023. It featured a scene that used a “rotoscoping” tool to edit out the green-screen background and make a talking rock more believable. It shortened into hours what might have otherwise taken days of video-editing.

What is also noticeable is more dramatic conflicts between creators and those running AI platforms. This year is likely to bring floods of lawsuits (诉讼) from authors, musicians and actors about how their works have been used to train AI systems without permission or payment. Perhaps they can agree on some sort of licensing arrangement, in which AI companies start paying copyright-holders.

It will probably be a few years before a full-length film is produced entirely by AI, but it is just a matter of time.

1. What can we learn about the film Here?

A．It relates a story about youth.	B．The theme of the film is reunion.
C．AI tools are employed in the film.	D．It is adapted from Forrest Gump.

2. What does David think of AI’s application in film making?

A．Available.

B．Impressive.

C．Representative.

D．Transformative.

3. Why does the author mention the film Everything Everywhere All at Once?

A．To show the high efficiency of AI tools.

B．To demonstrate the influence of the film.

C．To analyse a novel way of video-editing.

D．To praise the hard work behind the scenes.

4. What is the article mainly about?

A．Conflicts between man and machine.	B．AI’s huge effects on film production.
C．Drawbacks of dependence on AI tools.	D．Hot debate on the use of technology.

5 . Adding to the achievements of a remarkable year, Taylor Swift has been named Time magazine’s Person of the Year for 2023.

Already a superstar before 2023, Swift’s career has reached new heights thanks to the beginning of her Eras Tour that brought her 3.5-hour performance to 66 shows in 23 cities across North America, Argentina and Brazil. Promoted by her tour, Swift has been named the most-streamed female artist in the history of Spotify and Apple Music. According to Billboard, the tour made about $900 million (about 6.4 billion yuan) in 2023. In addition, the tour’s movie Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour became the biggest concert movie of all time, taking more than $250

million globally.

As she was declare a billionaire by Bloomberg in November, a hidden “Taylor Swift economy” also promoted sales for business owners across the US. From soaps to a cruise inspired by her different “eras”, interest in Swift-related products went way up.

Apart from her financial contributions, Swift made a significant cultural impact by taking back control of her music. In 2019, her old record label, Big Machine, sold the master tapes of her first six albums (专辑) to Scoot er Braun. The sale meant that she didn’t have the rights to the albums. In response to this, Swift began re-recording her first six albums, tagging (加标签于) them “Taylor’s Version”. This move stressed her belief that artists deserve to own their work. “It’s all in how you deal with loss,” she told Time. “I respond to extreme pain by resisting.”

Heading into 2024, Swift will start the Eras Tour again in Japan and Australia. As USA Today noted, “Her current top has been a long time coming, but it may also be just beginning.”

1. What do we know about Taylor Swift?

A．She broke a new record on her tour.	B．She toured South America before 2023.
C．Her achievements received great recognition.	D．Her performance began with the Apple Music.

2. What other contribution did Taylor make except economy?

A．She proved herself to be an artist.	B．She learned to make some products.
C．She had influence on music culture.	D．She sold her master tapes to a company.

3. What can we learn about Taylor Swift from the last paragraph?

A．She will end her music career.	B．She will continue her Eras Tour.
C．She will reach her top in Japan.	D．She will make a record in Australia.

4. What is the author’s attitude towards Taylor Swift?

A．Admirable.

B．Uncaring.

C．Doubtful.

D．Critical.

6 . In the rich countries of the West, the electric vehicle revolution is well occurring. Climate-conscious consumers drive Teslas or Polestars for reasons of morality (道德) and fashion. Poorer countries are also experiencing a wave of electrified trend. In Bangladesh, electric three-wheeler taxis, known as tuk-tuks, are rapidly replacing gas-powered ones on the streets. Such electric vehicles are climate friendly, cost effective, and help reduce air pollution.

Yet a glance under the hood (引擎盖) of these vehicles shows a poisonous secret: each tuk-tuk runs on five massive lead-acid batteries (铅酸电池), containing almost 300 pounds of lead (铅) in total. Every year and a half or so, when those batteries need to be replaced and recycled, about 60 pounds of lead leaks into the environment. Battery recycling, often at small-scale unregulated factories, is a highly profitable (高利润的) but deadly business.

Lead is dangerous, and any exposure to it is harmful to human health. Lead that has entered the environment hurts people on an unexpected scale. The numerous ways lead enters air, water, soil, and homes across the developing world and the enormous damage it does to human health, wealth, and welfare cause one of the biggest environmental problems in the world yet receives little attention.

The World Bank estimates that lead kills 5.5 million people per year, making it a bigger global killer than AIDS, malaria, diabetes, and road traffic deaths combined. On top of the shocking deaths, the social burden of lead poisoning is heavy, as is its contribution to global inequality — our research on the cognitive (认知的) effects of lead poisoning suggests that it may explain about one-fifth of the educational achievement gap between rich and poor countries.

But unlike many challenges faced by developing countries, lead poisoning is a problem that can be resolved through financial investment (财政投入). Better monitoring, research, and rules can help protect children all over the world from the unpleasant effects of lead poisoning and reduce the massive global costs it brings.

1. How does the author describe the lead problem in paragraph 2?

A．By listing some numbers.	B．By analyzing hidden causes.
C．By making an interesting comparison.	D．By explaining its working principle.

2. What can we learn about lead’s harm from the text?

A．Lead enters poor countries in one way.

B．Lead leaking has been avoided in all the countries.

C．Lead will definitely not harm anymore.

D．Lead poisoning may make poor societies poorer.

3. What can be done to solve lead poisoning in developing countries?

A．Fixing these used batteries.	B．Reducing the cost of recycling lead.
C．Ignoring the illegal use of lead.	D．Putting certain effort and money.

4. Which of the following is the best title for the text?

A．The Impacts of Lead Poisoning on Man.

B．The Global Lead Poisoning Problem.

C．The Ways to Solve Lead Problem.

D．The Benefits of Using Electric Vehicles.

7 . Time and how we experience it have always puzzled us. Physicists have created fascinating theories, but their time is measured by a pendulum (钟摆) and is not psychological time, which leaps with little regard to the clock or calendar. As someone who understood the distinction observed, “When you sit with a nice girl for two hours it seems like a minute, but when you sit on a hot stove, a minute seems like two hours.”

Psychologists have long noticed that larger units of time, such as months and years, fly on swifter wings as we age. They also note that the more time is structured with schedules and appointments, the more rapidly it seems to pass. For example, a day at the office flies compared with a day at the beach.

Expectation and familiarity also make time seem to flow more rapidly. Almost all of us have had the experience of driving somewhere we’ve never been before. Surrounded by unfamiliar scenery, with no real idea of when we’ll arrive, we experience the trip as if lasting a long time. But the return trip, although exactly as long, seems to take far less time. The novelty of the outward journey has become routine.

When days become as similar as beads (小珠子) on a string, they mix together, and even months become a single day. To counter this, try to find ways to interrupt the structure of your day — to stop time, so to speak.

Learning something new is one of the ways to slow the passage of time. One of the reasons the days of our youth seems so full and long is that these are the days of learning and discovery. For many of us learning ends when we leave school, but this doesn’t have to be.

1. What can we know about time from Paragraph 1?

A．Physical time has little to do with the calendar.

B．Physical time is distinct from psychological time.

C．Time should not be measured by a pendulum.

D．Psychological time is quite more fascinating.

2. Which of the following will make you feel time flies faster?

A．A day spent exploring something unknown.

B．Staying with a person who you dislike.

C．A day packed with appointments to handle.

D．Driving to a new place for the first time.

3. What does “novelty” in Paragraph 3 probably mean?

A．Unfamiliarity.

B．Excitement.

C．Imagination.

D．Amusement.

4. What is the purpose of the passage?

A．To show the difference between physical and psychological time.

B．To explain why time flies and how to slow it down psychologically.

C．To describe how most of us experience time psychologically.

D．To give various explanations about fascinating time theories.

8 . London’s Must-See Exhibitions

This year is zipping along at quite a speed, and London’s already witnessed some great exhibitions. But big treats are still to come.

Van Gogh’s Sunflowers and Starry Night at Tate Britain

A major exhibition at Tate Britain, which examines how Van Gogh was inspired by British art, and how he in tun inspired British artists. His famous painting Sunflowers fills the gallery with joy.

The EY Exhibition: Van Gogh and Britain at Tate Britain. Until 11 August, £22.

Glass Master at Kew Gardens

Dale Chihuly creates sculptures out of glass that we would normally think impossible. With 32 of his sculptures around Kew Gardens, we’re looking forward to Kew becoming even more beautiful than it already is.

Chihuly at Kew: Reflections on Nature at Kew Gardens. 13 April-27 October, £13. 75.

More of Moore at Museum of London

Henry Moorr is best-known for his abstract figure sculptures. What many won’t know about is his obsession (痴迷) with armour (盔甲) , and the sculptures he created inspired by Renaissance armour. Actually, they’re going on display at Museum of London, next to the armour that inspired them.

Henry Moore: The Helmet Heads at Museum of London. Until 23 October, £11.

Shining a Light on Rembrandt at Dulwich Picture Gallery

Dulwich Picture Gallery commemorates 350 years since the death of Rembrandt with an exhibition on the man who mastered the use of light and dark in his paintings. The last Rembrandt exhibition in London was superb.

Rembrandt’s Light at Dulwich Picture Gallery. 2 October-2 December, £15.

1. What do “Class Master” and “More of Moore” have in common?

A．They both exhibit sculptures.	B．They have the same ending time.
C．They share the same exhibition area.	D．They charge the same for admission.

2. Where can you enjoy an exhibition on 10 November?

A．Tate Britain	B．Kew Gardens
C．Museum of London	D．Dulwich Picture Gallery

3. Where can we read this passage?

A．In an art textbook.	B．In a sports newspaper.
C．In a tourist magazine.	D．In an exhibition brochure.

9 . Pick up any packaged processed food, and there’s a decent chance that one of its listed ingredients will be “natural flavour”. The ingredient sounds good, particularly in contrast to “artificial flavours” since there is a common belief that ingredients from nature are necessarily safer than something artificially made. But it’s not true. Then what exactly does the natural flavour mean? It refers to extracts (提取物) got from natural sources like plants, meat or seafood. When consumers see the “natural flavour” on a label, they are unlikely to assume that someone is squeezing the juice from oranges into their bottles. They know even though natural flavour must come from natural sources, it needn’t all come from the plant or meat. For example, orange flavours might contain not only orange extracts, but also extracts from bark and grass.

So if flavours like orange are needed, why not just use oranges? The answer comes down to “availability, cost, and sustainability”, according to flavour chemist Gary Reineccius of the University of Minnesota. “If you’re going to use all your grapes on grape soda,” Reineccius says, “you don’t have any grapes for wine making; the products are going to be exorbitant; besides, what do you do with the by-products you create after you’ve squeezed all the juice out of the grapes?”

Actually, while chemists make natural flavours by extracting chemicals from natural ingredients, artificial flavours are made by creating the same chemicals artificially. The reason why companies bother to use natural flavours rather than artificial flavours is simple: marketing. “Many of these products have health titles,” says Platkin, professor from Hunter College. “Consumers may be talked to believe products with natural flavours are healthier, though they are nutritionally no different from those with artificial flavours. Natural flavours may involve more forest clear-cutting and carbon emissions from transport than flavours created in the lab.”

Platkin suggests getting more transparent (易懂的) labeling on packaging that describes exactly what the natural or artificial flavours are, so consumers are-not misled into buying one product over another because of “natural flavours”. Reineccius also offers simple guidance: “Don’t buy anything because it says ‘natural flavours’. Buy it because you like it.”

1. Which is misunderstanding about the “natural flavour” juice according to Paragraph 1？

A．It comes from 100% original fruit.

B．It is nothing but advertising tricks.

C．It certainly contains extracts made in the lab.

D．It is absolutely safer than juice with artificial flavours.

2. What does the underlined word “exorbitant” in Paragraph 2 probably mean?

A．Popular.

B．Expensive.

C．Favorable.

D．Innovative.

3. Why do companies use natural flavours in the products?

A．To cut the costs.	B．To promote the sales.
C．To advocate a healthy diet.	D．To avoid food safety issues.

4. What can we conclude from the text?

A．Gary and Platkin hold opposite perspectives.

B．Natural flavours are more environmentally friendly.

C．Customers are misled for ignoring labels on packaging.

D．Natural and artificial flavours are more alike than you think.

10 . Guy Noble, one of Australia’s most famous conductors, who conducted the touring concert “East Meets West”, said he’d like to learn more about Chinese music. “I’m impressed by the history and the beauty Chinese music has,” he’s said in an interview recently.

“East Meets West” concert tour in Australia was resumed this year after being postponed twice due to the pandemic. It was hosted in Canberra last Saturday, bringing audiences some well-known Chinese and Western pieces such as Jasmine Flower, Carmen, Romeo and Juliet, and The Yellow River.

While it was called “East Meets West”, music from China and the West with the same themes was brought together. Chinese singer Ya Fen and Australian singer Victoria Lambourn performed a duet(二重唱) Hope Betrayed, which was inspired by the Chinese classic novel A Dream of Red Mansions. Noble said he loved the duet as it showed completely different singing styles: traditional Chinese opera style and Western opera style. “They’re not exactly the same, but they came together,” he said.

Having been a professional conductor for more than 20 years, Noble called music an international language. He noted that most music at the concert was about love, which was also an international language. He also spoke highly of some Chinese musicians, such as pianist Lang Lang who he thought has inspired many kids in China to learn music.

Noble admitted his knowledge of Chinese culture was limited. He said that conducting the Canberra concert was “an experience that I’ve enjoyed”, which made him more interested in discovering the background and history of the music, as well as the stories behind it. Noble is ready to create more things that can involve dance or calligraphy or some of the other aspects of Chinese culture, and put them together with music.

1. What does the underlined word “resumed” in paragraph 2 mean?

A．Expanded.

B．Paused.

C．Restarted.

D．Concluded.

2. Why did Noble enjoy Hope Betrayed?

A．Because it impressed him with its history.	B．Because it showed two performing styles.
C．Because it was inspired by a classic novel.	D．Because it was performed by an Australian.

3. What can we learn about Noble from the text?

A．He intends to integrate more Chinese elements into music.

B．He speaks highly of all Chinese musicians. He is an amateur conductor.

C．He speaks highly of all Chinese musicians.

D．He has a wide knowledge of Chinese culture.

4. Which of the following could be the best title for the text?

A．Guy Noble: A Famous Australian Conductor	B．Music: A Bridge to Understanding Each Other
C．The Cooperation Between Foreign Musicians	D．An Australian’s Passion for Chinese Culture