1 . What was your answer when you were asked to name the best university in the world? I can bet with almost 100% confidence that the universities you came up with included widely known institutions such as Oxford and Cambridge, Harvard, MIT, or Tsinghua University.
The medium through which they are known, other than word of mouth, is to a large extent attributed to various university rankings, some of which are considered to be more accurate and authoritative than others. Among all the organizations that produce global university rankings, the three most trusted and established ones are Shanghai Ranking Consultancy (SRC), Times Higher Education (THE), and Quacquarelli Symonds (QS).
Each year, they rank universities by assessing a combination of measures of their strengths. Since each organization prioritizes a different set of factors that make for a good university, the three organizations often yield different results. Take the year 2023 as an example: QS ranked MIT number one while THE assigned the honor to the University of Oxford. For SRC, the spot belonged to Harvard.
Thousands of students and parents refer to those rankings when they make college application decisions; academics also look to how their own universities measure up in this fiercely competitive race of academic competence.
However, there also exist skeptics who hesitate to hold these rankings in too high a regard. They argue each of the rankings emphasizes a criterion that is different from the other two, yet no criterion is completely free of prejudice.
SRC, for instance, values a university’s research performance the most, but ignores the level of diversity in terms of each university’s demographics (人员构成). The methods THE and QS use to rank universities have also been subject to questioning and criticism. They mostly ask scholars from a selected list of higher-education institutions to state their opinions about a certain university’s reputation, and they use these scholars’ opinions as their standard. Such methods sound subjective to many people.
As for the next time when someone asks you which university is the best in the world, you might not want to rush into a fixed answer.
1. What does the example in 2023 show?| A．Different criterion produces different result. |
| B．The best university varies from year to year. |
| C．SRC, THE and QS are more trustworthy organizations than others. |
| D．MIT, Oxford and Harvard are universally acknowledged as the best universities. |
| A．worried | B．doubtful | C．annoyed | D．careful |
| A．Explanation of the ranking process. |
| B．Impact of the rankings on the public. |
| C．Limitation of each of the three rankings. |
| D．Opinions of students on the three rankings. |
| A．Think twice before deciding. |
| B．Pay no attention to the rankings. |
| C．Just rely on your own judgement. |
| D．Take the research performance as a priority. |
2 . Using more wood for construction has been praised as a lower-emission alternative to carbon-intensive steel and concrete but it may not be as carbon friendly as thought.
“It would be very convenient if wood were a better solution,” says Tim Searchinger atPrinceton University. Wood is, in theory, a renewable resource and any wood used in buildings acts as long-term carbon storage. Research has found that using wood for construction instead of concrete and steel can reduce emissions.
But Searchinger says many of these studies are based on the false assumption that harvesting wood is carbon neutral (中和的). “Only a small percentage of the wood gets into a timber (木材) product, and a fraction (小部分) of that gets into a timber product that can replace concrete and steel in a building,” he says. Efficiencies vary in different countries, but much of a harvested tree is left to rot and used for short-lived products like paper or burned for energy, all of which generate emissions.
In a report for the World Resources Institute, Searchinger and his colleagues have modeled how using more wood for construction would affect emissions between 2010 and 2050, accounting for the emissions from harvesting the wood. They considered various types of forests and fractions of wood going towards construction. They also factored in the emissions savings from replacing concrete and steel. In general, they found a large increase in global demand for wood would probably lead to rising emissions for decades.
The researchers report in a related paper that increasing forest harvests between 2010 and 2050 would add emissions equal to about 10 percent of total yearly emissions. William Moomaw at Tufts University in Massachusetts says the works show that harvesting timber, even when done sustainably, isn’t a carbon neutral activity.
Ali Amiri at Aalto University in Finland says the report’s conclusions about emissions from rising demand are probably correct, but the story is different for wood we have already harvested. Boosting the efficiency of current harvests and using more wood for longer-lived purposes than paper would cut emissions, he says. “We cannot just say we should stop using wood.”
1. What is a common belief about wood used in construction?| A．It is cost-efficient. | B．It is a zero-emission material. |
| C．It stores carbon in a long run. | D．It functions as an alternative to concrete. |
| A．Making Fuels. | B．Building houses. |
| C．Making furniture. | D．Producing fertilizers. |
| A．Harvesting timber sustainably is carbon neutral. |
| B．Replacing concrete and steel saves a lot of emissions. |
| C．Less wood consumption makes no difference to emission. |
| D．An increasing demand for wood results in rising emission. |
| A．Where Does Harvested Wood Go? |
| B．Are Wood Buildings Climate-Friendly? |
| C．Boost the Efficiency of Harvested Wood |
| D．Stop Using Wood, A Carbon Neutral Activity |
3 . An extreme sport like BMX (Bicycle Motocross) may not be the first thing that comes to mind to help overcome a mental health condition. However, that is precisely what enabled Nikita Ducarroz to fight her fears.
As a child, Ducarroz spent every spare moment on the soccer field. But at 13, the talented athlete began to suffer from severe anxiety attacks that made it hard for her to leave home. Ducarroz quit playing soccer. She also began attending high school online.
A BMX video on YouTube inspired her to try the extreme sport. She saved up for a bike. Then she began practicing tricks in her driveway. Soon, she was able to build up enough confidence to ride at the local skate park. By 2016, Ducarroz was ready to ride competitively, and she has not looked back since. “The bike made me get out of the house, go to the skate park, and eventually get on a plane,” said Ducarroz. “It pushed me to overcome all my fears.”
The 26-year-old is now one of the world’s best female BMX freestylers. Ducarroz now has her eyes set on the 2024 Paris Olympics. She says, “My goal in Paris is another medal. I can get that done with the training.”
Though she still suffers occasional panic attacks, Ducarroz now knows how to manage them. To help others with mental health conditions, Ducarroz has started an Instagram page called MindTricks. It is where people discuss their fears safely. “MindTricks started because of my own posts that I was making on Instagram about mental health,” she explained. “And I thought, ‘Why don’t we create something where others can do the same, a central spot where everyone can read about these stories and also feel inspired to share their own stories?’”
1. What changed Ducarroz’s life when she was 13?| A．The soccer game. | B．The family’s moving. | C．On-line education. | D．Mental disease. |
| A．Fighting her fears. | B．Inspiration from a video. |
| C．Enough practice at home. | D．Visiting a local skate park. |
| A．Ambitious and motivating. | B．Miserable but determined. |
| C．Sympathetic and creative. | D．Emotional but confident. |
| A．We should focus on our inner world. | B．People get inspired by sharing. |
| C．Mindtricks is available to everyone. | D．Logging in with Instagram improves mental health. |
4 . Steamed stuffed tofu is tofu stuffed with a mixture of beef, shrimps, and vegetables, which is then battered and deep-fried until crispy outside and finally steamed with lightly seasoned sauce. The tofu is snow white in color and tastes extremely smooth and tender. When you bite off the pastry outside, the tender and smooth filling inside slips into your mouth.
Here is how to cook it.
1. Rinse (清洗) the tofu. Cut horizontally and then cut into big cubes. Scoop out a hole in each tofu cube.
2. Rinse the dried shrimps in cold water. Soak in hot water for 10 mins and cut finely by scissors.
3. Add all marinade (腌泡汁) into the minced beef, stir well and marinate for 15 mins.
4. Cut out the root of the winter mushrooms. Soak in water for 20 mins. Tear into small bunches. Drain (排干) and set aside.
5. Stuff the marinated meat into the tofu cubes and wrap on heat resistant cling wrap.
6. Steam the tofu:
-using electric steamer: steam at 100℃ for 10 mins.
-on the stovetop: put in wok when the water boils, steam on high heat for 10 mins.
At the same time, heat up the cooking oil in a pan on high heat. Add the garlic, winter mushrooms and seasonings. Then add the water. Cook and stir for about 2 mins. Then add the corn starch mixture at this time. Stir well and turn off heat.
7. When the tofu is done, drain off the accumulated liquid. Put chopped scallion on top and pour the glaze together with the winter mushrooms on top of the tofu and serve. Enjoy!!!
Click here to know more about the dish.
1. Which of the following is true about the dish?| A．It stays fresh long enough. | B．It is rich in flavor. |
| C．It is a vegetarian dish. | D．It is stuffed and chewy. |
| A．Stuffing the marinated meat into it. | B．Adding the corn starch mixture to it. |
| C．Draining off the accumulated liquid. | D．Stirring the garlic, winter mushrooms and seasonings. |
| A．In a TV ad. | B．In a recipe book. |
| C．In a food magazine. | D．On a newspaper website. |
5 . China is an amazing country, on the Internet, only you can think of, there is nothing you can’t buy.
| Welcome to Made-in-China Website! | |
| Tea pot Color: White Price: ¥120 Delivery (递送) time: 10 work days after received 30% payment. Tea pots with good quality. And the best gift for your friends or your family. |
| Handbag Color: Black and white Price: ¥280 (¥520 for two on Women’s Day) Delivery time: 7 days after confirmation (认证). We have our own designers. Our new styles may give you a new surprise. |
| 2020 Newly Children BicycleColor: Blue Price: ¥240 (20% off on Children’s Day) Delivery time: 5 days after confirmation. With a basket for children aged from 3 — 7. |
| New Design Fashion Button Color: All kinds of colors Price: ¥1.00 (¥9 for ten) Delivery time: 3 days after confirmation. New and popular designs, you can dye them into different colors if you like. |
1. Where can you buy these things according to the ad?
| A．In a shop. | B．In a mall. | C．On the Internet. |
| A．2 | B．5 | C．8 |
| A．some buttons | B．a handbag | C．a tea pot |
| A．three | B．five | C．seven |
| A．two handbags |
| B．500 buttons |
| C．a tea pot and a handbag |
6 . Do you often dial others’ mobile phone number? Do you know China’s mobile phone has 11 digits. Why is this?
The 11 digits can be divided into three parts. Each part has a different meaning. The first three numbers tell you which mobile phone service provider you are using. For example, 135 is for China Mobile Communications Corporation (中国移动) and 188 is for China Unicom (中国联通). The fourth to the seventh digits tell you which area the number is registered (注册) in. And the last four digits are random (随机的).
The main reason for using 11 digits is that we have the largest population in the world. We once had 10 numbers. But as our population grew, there weren’t enough numbers for us to use. So we began to use 11 digits starting from 1999.
Eleven digits can be used to make billions of mobile phone numbers. That’s enough for each person to have seven or eight numbers to use.
What’s more, mobile phone numbers can be recycled. Usually, the service provider will reuse a canceled (取消的) number after three to six months. If you call a number that you haven’t contacted for a long time, you may find that its owner has changed.
Besides China, Britain and Japan also use 11-digit mobile phone numbers. But their numbers always start with 0. So they cannot create as many numbers as we can. Countries like the United States, Australia and India use phone numbers with 10 digits. Canada’s mobile phone numbers are perhaps the world’s shortest; they use seven digits.
1. The underlined word “digit” means “_______” in Chinese.| A．号码 | B．功能 | C．数字 | D．图案 |
| A．They’re randomly chosen. | B．They stand for the owner’s birthday. |
| C．They stand for the service provider. | D．They stand for the registration area. |
| A．Because China never recycles phone numbers. |
| B．Because China has the most phone service providers. |
| C．Because Chinese people like having many phone numbers. |
| D．Because China has the largest population in the world. |
| A．India. | B．Japan. | C．Canada. | D．Australia. |
| A．What China’s phone number digits stand for. |
| B．China’s mobile phone has 11 digits. |
| C．How many digits make up the longest mobile phone numbers. |
| D．The number of digits in mobile phone numbers around the world. |
7 . Lion dance is a valued tradition deeply rooted in South China’s Guangdong province and among Chinese communities in Southeast Asian countries. Historically, this art form was only practiced by men. However, a unique team consisting entirely of teenage girls stands out among all the male groups — they are the Nanxing Hexingtang Women’s Lion Dance Team from the town of Ren he in Guangzhou.
Nearly every village in Guangzhou has its own lion dance team. Yet as of 2018, Hexingtang had only male participants. As there was a decline in the number of young people practicing lion dance, it accepted a few young girls. The journey was far from smooth for the girls. They were once hired to perform for a family on the first day of Chinese New Year. When the family realized that it was the girls who would be performing, they erupted in anger and chased them away. Then Hexingtang decided to formally establish a women’s team to make the female lion dance leagal. They customized flags and banners printed with “women’s team”, crafted pink and purple lion heads, which are rarely seen in male lion dance, and even fashioned a lion head looking like the image of the female general Mu Guiying, a famous figure in Yue Opera.
It was hoped that after the girls won awards and proved themselves, they might be accepted by more people. Their breakthrough came in 2021 when the girls beat all-male teams and won the first prize in a competition in Guangzhou’s Baiyun district. The following year, at the 16th Guangdong Provincial Games, the girls once again got the top prize in the junior group, representing Guangzhou. Since then, they have continued to win awards. In the recent Maofeng Mountain competition just before Spring Festival in Guangzhou, the team performed a routine titled “Tramping Over Mountains and Hills Step by Step”, which mirrors the growth journey of these girls themselves as they navigate through numerous challenges. Behind this near-perfect performance is girls’ dedication and hard work.
Lion dance is not easy, especially for girls, as it demands significant strength and mastery of martial arts movements. However, girls possess unique advantages and can cultivate a distinctive style. Girls typically have a keen understanding of music, performing perfectly in both lion and instrument roles. Furthermore, their superior physical flexibility allows them to complete difficult moves. Most importantly, their sensitivity enables them to capture the expressions and behaviors of lions.
1. What do we know about lion dance?| A．It is a tradition rooted in all Asian countries. |
| B．Only men could practice lion dance in the past. |
| C．Every village in Guangzhou has its own lion dance team. |
| D．It’s easy for people to practice. |
| A．made. | B．bought. | C．painted. | D．had. |
| A．They performed for a family on the first day of Chinese New Year. |
| B．They performed a routine titled “Tramping Over Mountains and Hills Step by Step”. |
| C．They won the first prize in a competition in Guangzhou’s Baiyun district. |
| D．They won the top prize in the junior group at the 16th Guangdang Provincial Games. |
| A．They can complete difficult moves with superior physical flexibility. |
| B．They have great strength and master martial arts movements. |
| C．They have a keen understanding of music, performing perfectly in different roles. |
| D．They can capture the expressions and behaviors of lions with sensitivity. |
8 . The World’s Most Amazing Caves
Humans have been drawn to caves for thousands of years. Here are four of the world’s biggest caves.
Son Doong Cave, VietnamSon Doong Cave in the remote (偏远的) forests of Vietnam holds the title of the largest cave in the world. Son Doong is a spreading network of tunnels and caves, the largest of which could contain an entire New York City block with 40-story buildings. Parts of the cave’s top have fallen down, creating vast skylights that allow life to grow to a height of hundreds of feet beneath the forest floor.
Mammoth Cave, Kentucky, the United StatesMammoth Cave in Kentucky is the longest cave system in the world, with 426 miles explored and scientists guess another 600 miles have yet to be discovered based on measurements of air movement within the caves. Mammoth Cave has drawn visitors since the 1800s and 10 miles of underground passages are accessible to tourists today.
Sac Actun, MexicoThe longest underwater cave system in the world, Sac Actun winds (蜿蜒) more than 215 miles under Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula. Adventurers can take a drop in the Sac Actun system through more than. 248 cenotes (天然井) — the natural swimming pools that form when sinkholes connect the surface to the underwater caves.
Veryovkina Cave, Abkhazia, GeorgiaVeryovkina Cave is the deepest cave in the world, spreading 1.4 miles beneath the surface. It takes professionals a week to make a round journey to Veryovkina Cave. They have to brave waterfalls, tight presses and sharp drops. But the payoff is excellent — Veryovkina Cave’s end is a beautiful blue lake about 50 feet long and 25 feet wide surrounded by black rocks.
1. What is special about Son Doong Cave?| A．It has lots of tall plants growing. | B．It lies far away from the forests. |
| C．It is the longest cave in Vietnam. | D．It is the highest cave in the world. |
| A．They attract few adventurers. | B．They have long cave systems. |
| C．They stay unexplored at present. | D．They end up with beautiful lakes. |
| A．Over two week. | B．Half a week. | C．One week. | D．Two week. |
9 . 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. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
10 . It may seem as if Mother’s Day was invented by a company named Hallmark, but people have been giving a shout-out to Mom for a long time. A more recent tradition was Mothering Sunday, which developed in the British Isles during the 16th century. On the fourth Sunday in April, young men and women who were living and working apart from their families were advised to return to their mothers’ houses.
Mother’s Day as it is observed in the United States started in the 1850s with Ann Jarvis, a West Virginia woman who held “Mothers’ Work Days” to promote health and hygiene at home and in the workplace. During the Civil War, Jarvis organized women to improve sanitary conditions for soldiers on both sides, and after the war she became a peacemaker, bringing together mothers of Union and Confederate soldiers and promoting a Mother’s Day holiday.
Jarvis’s work inspired another 19th-century woman, Julia Ward Howe. In 1870, Howe published her “Mother’s Day Proclamation”, which envisioned the day not as appreciation of mothers by their children but as an opportunity for women to exercise their collective power for peace. Howe started holding annual Mother’s Day celebrations in Boston, her hometown, but after about a decade the tradition faded away.
It was Jarvis’s daughter, Anna, who succeeded in getting Mother’s Day recognized as a national holiday. After her mother died in 1905, Anna started holding yearly ceremony on the anniversary. In 1912, West Virginia and a few other states adopted Mother’s Day. Two years later, Woodrow Wilson signed a resolution naming the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day, making it an official US holiday.
It wasn’t long before whatever ideals the day was supposed to celebrate were buried under an amount of greeting cards and candy. By the 1920s, Anna Jarvis was campaigning against the holiday she had created. “I wanted it to be a day of emotionalism, not profit,” she said.
1. Who plays the most important role in creating Mother’s Day?| A．Ann Jarvis. | B．Julia Ward Howe. | C．Woodrow Wilson. | D．Anna Jarvis. |
| A．In 1914. | B．In 1912. | C．In 1905. | D．In 1870. |
| A．Because the festival was not profitable. |
| B．Because the festival made her feel emotional. |
| C．Because the celebrations went against the original spirit. |
| D．Because she had no passion on holding celebration activities. |
| A．The Objection to Mother’s Day |
| B．The Argument on Celebrating Mother’s Day |
| C．The Story Behind the Creation of Mother’s Day |
| D．Different Forms of Celebrations on Mother’s Day |
