1 . Catherine Krestyn furnished (布置家具)her home mainly with hard rubbish, such as the chairs, doors and lamps, which have been collected from the street where she lives. And it’s a way of life she’s sharing with her community in the hope of making a difference.
Catherine leads a 6,000-strong online group called Boroondara Hard Rubbish Rehome, where members upload pictures of their hard rubbish piles for eager locals to find. She started the group in 2022 with her childhood friend Jennie Irving, hoping to build a community of thrift (节俭)where they lived. The pair have stopped more than 7,000 kg of hard rubbish going to landfill since they founded the group.
Some items are ready as they are, like chairs and lamps, and others take a bit of effort to clean up, like the old, wooden doors.
Local teacher Ruth Polgar discovered the group while surfing the Internet and has since decorated her classroom with second-hand items, including artwork she has rehomed from a neighbour. “We regularly take unneeded items from the group and use them for our school projects,” she says.
Running the group can be really challenging for Catherine. But she doesn’t resent those who have to let go of their possessions because of stressful circumstances. “If you’re downsizing or if you’re clearing an old house, quite often you’re desperate for access to easy options,” she says. “Hard rubbish piles are often that option.”
All Catherine wants to do is give her community a way to reduce their waste, and to send a message to those in charge that things need to urgently change.
“The government has big targets around sustainable development leading into 2030. We want to start speeding that up even sooner,” she says. “We’re suffering from our own waste really, so anything that we can all do on a practical level helps. We should first make lifestyle choices and be prepared to go second-hand.”
1. Why did Catherine set up Boroondara Hard Rubbish Rehome?| A．To create a community of thrift. | B．To donate her collection to charity. |
| C．To collect hard rubbish for locals. | D．To decorate the houses for the homeless. |
| A．She prefers second-hand items. | B．She buys items on the Internet. |
| C．She supports Catherine’s cause. | D．She teaches art at a local school. |
| A．Feel angry about. | B．Feel pleased with. |
| C．Show sympathy for. | D．Show interest in. |
| A．Setting ourselves a big goal. | B．Giving throwaways a second life. |
| C．Meeting the government’s requirements. | D．Replacing old furniture regularly. |
2 . Have you ever imagined an insect-inspired robot, which weighs less than a gram, could one day help out in surgery (外科手术)?
Scientists have designed this small, “insect-bot” called mCLARI that can control and even change its body shape as it travels in different environments to fit through gaps. It’s 2 centimeters long, weighs less than 0.97 grams and can travel at a speed of 6 centimeters per second.It’s the smaller, faster replacement to CLARI, which was designed by the same team.
“Because of the robot’s small size and ability to change shape, we expect usage of this technology in four important areas,” the lead author Kaushik Jayaram said. These include disaster (灾害) response , check on high-value objects, environmental monitoring and medical treatment.
“In the long term, we hope such robots will be used more widely in moving through human bodies and performing surgeries that can’t be easily done at present,” Jayaram said. With mCLARI, Jayaram’s team is moving closer to creating robots that can fit in different environments—just like the insects they’re inspired by.
The mCLARI robot has four legs and can move in narrow spaces by changing between running forward and side-to-side and can use different speeds in human bodies. Its legs are joined to its body through joints (关节), which enables mCLARI to change its body shape based on the environment it is in. For example, its legs can be lengthened up to 50% in certain spaces.
As follow-up work, the scientists want to give mCLARI more power and sensing ability while helping the surgeries. “We are also excited about understanding the effect of shape change on improving functions of robots,” Jayaram said. “And this is sure a great one-step forward of the technology. The robot will have entered the market by 2025 and will bring greater benefits to mankind, especially in medical treatment.”
1. What is paragraph 3 mainly about?| A．Possible application fields of the robot. | B．Different types of the robot. |
| C．Several important features of the robot. | D．Working process of the robot. |
| A．Valuable but uncontrollable. | B．Modern but high-cost. |
| C．Heavy and time-consuming. | D．Advanced and effective. |
| A．Worried. | B．Positive. | C．Doubtful. | D．Uninterested. |
| A．Jayaram: A Scientist Studying Robot Intelligence |
| B．mCLARI Is Already Widely Available in the Market |
| C．CLARI: A Robot Invented by Inspiration from the Insects |
| D．A Tiny Shape-changing Robot Will Help Perform Surgeries |
3 . A physical checkup often begins with a series of questions: What foods do you eat? Do you smoke? Getting any exercise? New research suggests another telling indicator could be added to that list: What was your college major? The study finds one’s chosen field of college study is a statistically significant predictor of health in midlife.
The researchers find the four majors associated with the best midlife health are architecture/engineering, biology/life sciences, business, and—here’s a surprise—communications/journalism. Perhaps chasing after big stories keeps us journalists in shape.
It has long been established that people with more education tend to be healthier. But does one’s major matter? To find out, the researchers analyzed data from the nationally representative American Community Survey.
Their sample consisted of 3.7 million United States-born adults between the ages of 45 and 64—the time of life when physical functioning problems start to appear. Participants noted whether they had difficulty walking or climbing stairs, dressing or bathing. A “yes” answer in any of those categories resulted in a grade of relatively poor health.
The researchers focused on the 667,362 participants who earned a bachelor’s degree, but went no further in their education. They noted each person’s college major, which they placed into one of 15 categories. They found substantial differences in health across majors. Two majors are particularly disadvantaged in midlife. The chances of poor health are 1.9 times greater among psychology /social work and law/public policy majors compared to business majors. The researchers argue this is likely due to several factors. Psychology majors tend to suffer from high unemployment and low earnings. Law/public policy majors often enter the field of law enforcement(执行).
The researchers say that they have discovered associations, not proof of causality(因果关系). But they make a convincing case that some majors lead people to live healthier lifestyles than others.
Their findings might even inspire a warning country song: Mammas, don’t let your babies grow up to be psychology majors.
1. What can be learned from the first two paragraphs?| A．Smoking can lead to poor health. | B．Diet is more important than exercise. |
| C．Physical checkups keep you healthy. | D．College major chould be added to a checkup. |
| A．By doing face-to-face interviews. | B．By following participants’ daily routines. |
| C．By doing medical examinations. | D．By analyzing the representative data. |
| A．Engineering. | B．Business. | C．Psychology. | D．Agriculture. |
| A．College majors can predict midlife health. |
| B．More majors in college can improve health. |
| C．The annual physical exam is necessary to life. |
| D．People with more education tend to be healthier. |
4 . Researchers have long thought that rewards like food or money encourage learning in the brain by causing the release of dopamine (多巴胺), known to enhance the storage of new information. Now, a new study describes how learning still occurs in the absence of rewards.
The study explored the relationship between dopamine and acetylcholine (乙酰胆碱). Past research had shown that they compete with one another. To provide some clarity, the study authors focused on when and under what circumstances dopamine levels are high at the same time as acetylcholine levels are low. They found that this situation occurs frequently, even in the absence of rewards.
“Our findings challenge the current understanding of when and how dopamine and acetylcholine work together,” said study lead author Anne Krok. “Rather than creating unique conditions for learning, rewards take advantage of a mechanism that is already in place and is constantly at work.”
The study team gave dozens of mice access to a wheel on which they could run or rest. On occasion, the researchers offered the animals a drink of water. Then they recorded the mice’s brain activity and measured the amount of dopamine and acetylcholine released at different moments. As expected, the drink treats created the typical patterns of dopamine and acetylcholine release that are prompted by rewards. However, the team also observed that before receiving water treats, dopamine and acetylcholine already followed “rise and fall” cycles approximately twice every second. Krok notes that this pattern continued regardless of whether the mice were running or standing still. “Similar brain waves have been observed in humans during periods of self-examination and rest,” she adds.
“These results may help explain how the brain learns on its own, without the need for external rewards,” said study senior author Nicolas Tritsch.
Tritsch says, “The results of the study may also offer insight into new ways of understanding depression. Lack of motivation is a common symptom of depression, making it challenging to perform basic tasks. It is possible that a disruption (扰乱) in the internal-drive system might be contributing to this issue.”
1. What does the new study find about dopamine and acetylcholine?| A．Their competitive relationship. |
| B．The effective cooperation between them. |
| C．Their existing working mechanism. |
| D．The role they play in information storage. |
| A．How mouse brains process new information. |
| B．The release patterns of dopamine and acetylcholine. |
| C．What causes the release of dopamine and acetylcholine. |
| D．The difference between mouse brain waves and those of humans. |
| A．Lack of motivation. |
| B．Lack of external rewards. |
| C．The inability to deal with tasks. |
| D．The disorder of the internal-drive system. |
| A．Learning ability can be improved constantly. |
| B．Learning can occur without external rewards. |
| C．Rewards encourage learning in the brain. |
| D．Dopamine release is the key to learning. |
5 . A self-described “girly girl”, nine-year-old Zandra Cunningham was constantly begging her parents for the latest beauty products. One day her dad simply told her “no”, which inspired her to make her own.
Zandra has been recognized by Entrepreneur magazine as one of the youngest millionaires in America. When asked about her experience as a child entrepreneur (企业家), Zandra says, “It wasn’t frightening. When you’re young, you don’t have that fear mentality. ‘Maybe it’s not going to work’ never really crossed my mind.” For Zandra, it became a challenge to separate her personal interest from what her customers actually wanted. “There were a lot of things that I felt were good ideas, but they wouldn’t fit into the market,” she says. Being part of the market herself, Zandra felt she had a unique perspective that allowed her to truly listen and respond to her customers.
It started as a hobby for Zandra and her mom. They’d play around with different ingredients until they found formulas they liked “through trial and error”. Slowly, they started transforming the pastime into a brand. Zandra began selling her products at local markets, and a few years later—when Zandra was 12 years old — the family started a shop for Zandra Beauty. At the time, Zandra Beauty was one of the first brands to offer plant-based and organic beauty products at an affordable price. The 21-year-old has essentially grown up alongside her brand—but her goals have remained the same: “Our main focus is to push out amazing products that are safe for everyone and the earth.”
“There’re so many brands doing similar things, but there’s still so much room to grow,” says Zandra. “Your customers are out there, and you just have to find something that’s going to set you apart.”
1. What can be inferred from Zandra’s words in paragraph 2?| A．Her young mind made her fearless. |
| B．Her parents supported her greatly. |
| C．She had much precious experience. |
| D．She was always very caring. |
| A．Sharing her personal interests. | B．The diversity of hobbies. |
| C．Changing the global market. | D．The need of customers. |
| A．The one that is cheap and useful. |
| B．The one that is enjoyed by her mom. |
| C．The one that is created by trial and error. |
| D．The one that is reliable and eco-friendly. |
| A．Hopeful. | B．Concerned. | C．Doubtful. | D．Relieved. |
6 . Scientists have been experimenting with playing sounds to plants since at least the 1960s, during which time they have been exposed to everything from Beethoven to Michael Jackson. Over the years, evidence that this sort of thing can have an effect has been growing. One paper, published in 2018, claimed that an Asian shrub known as the telegraph plant grew substantially larger leaves when exposed to 56 days of Buddhist music — but not if it was exposed to Western pop music or silence. Another, published last year, found that marigolds and sage plants exposed to the noise of traffic from a busy motorway suffered growth difficulty.
Plants have been evolving (进化) alongside the insects that eat them for hundreds of millions of years. With that in mind, Heidi Appel, a botanist now at the University of Houston, and Reginald Cocroft, a biologist at the University of Missouri, wondered if plants might be sensitive to the sounds made by the animals with which they most often interact. They recorded the vibrations made by certain species of caterpillars (毛毛虫) as they chewed on leaves. These vibrations are not powerful enough to produce sound waves in the air. But they are able to travel across leaves and branches, and even to neighbouring plants if their leaves touch.
They then exposed tobacco plant — the plant biologist’s version of the laboratory mouse — to the recorded vibrations while no caterpillars were actually present. Later, they put real caterpillars on the plants to see if exposure had led them to prepare for an insect attack. The results were striking. Leaves that had been exposed had significantly higher levels of defensive chemicals, making them much harder for the caterpillars to eat. Leaves that had not been exposed to vibrations showed no such response. Other sorts of vibration — caused by the wind, for instance, or other insects that do not eat leaves — had no effect.
“Now speakers with the right audio files are more often being used to warn crops to act when insects are detected but not yet widespread,” says Dr. Cocroft. “Unlike chemical pesticides, sound waves leave no dangerous chemicals.”
1. What can we learn about plants from the first paragraph?| A．They may enjoy Western music. | B．They can’t stand Buddhist music. |
| C．They can react to different sounds. | D．They can make different sounds. |
| A．Plants can make a cry for help. | B．Plants evolve alongside insects. |
| C．Plants are sensitive to the sounds. | D．Plants have been studied for years. |
| A．They can recongnize harmful vibrations. | B．They look like laboratory mice. |
| C．They can threaten the caterpillars. | D．They can release poisonous chemicals. |
| A．Disadvantages of chemical pesticides. | B．Application of the experimental results. |
| C．Interaction between plants and insects. | D．Warning system of widespread insects. |
7 . Power from home-based wind turbines (涡轮机) can be used locally, or sold back to the power company to offset power costs. Power companies buy green power from homeowners at retail (零售) rates, rather than the lower wholesale rates.
There is a great deal of power to use in the wind, and even a small homeowner can get involved. An effective way to use wind power is with a home wind turbine. Wind power is inconsistent in most areas of the world, so a wind generator alone is seldom sufficient to power a house.
However, a single wind generator can ease power cost in a household, especially coupled with other forms of clean energy, such as solar power. Multiple turbines can even be connected with a battery storage system for the household that wants to be completely reliant on air for power. One of the most impressive aspects of air as a power source is that once the turbine is in place, it operates at zero carbon production, making it an extremely environmentally friendly power source.
When siting wind turbines, the following factors should be kept in mind: check with the local government for the laws and regulations about siting wind turbines. Wind speeds are always higher at the top of a hill, on a shoreline, and in places clear of trees and other structures. Remember that trees grow over the years; wind turbine towers do not. Ensure neighbors are informed of plans early on to avoid conflict later on. Wind turbines can be a source of green power that will keep paying off for years to come, though the initial investment can be high. Bear in mind that the wind turbines are also likely to cause problems for wildlife, especially birds and bats.
1. What does the underlined word “offset” in paragraph 1 mean?| A．Result in. | B．Call off. | C．Make up for. | D．Give rise to. |
| A．Wind turbines have a low efficiency. |
| B．Sometimes there is little wind to take advantage of. |
| C．The household consumes too much electricity. |
| D．Wind power is consistent in most areas of the world. |
| A．Multiple turbines. | B．A battery storage system. |
| C．Solar power. | D．Carbon production. |
| A．The best places for siting wind turbines. |
| B．The disadvantages of siting wind turbines. |
| C．Matters needing attention when siting wind turbines. |
| D．Costs and dangers of siting wind turbines ecologically. |
8 . A new study, led by Dr. Rebecca Stone, has shown that children as young as four years old eat 79% more calories when they are bored, compared to when they are in a normal mood (情绪) .
The researchers have explored the behaviors that make children more likely to eat when they experience negative emotions. Often when children experience bad emotions such as boredom or sadness, caring adults will use food to soothe them. However, this behavior, known as emotional feeding, appears to increase the possibility of children eating more when they are in low spirits. As time passes, too many calories intake will have a significant effect on children’s health both mentally and physically.
Dr. Stone stresses that the experience of boredom is important in the development of children’s sense of self and creativity, so she does not recommend that children should avoid being bored. Instead, she suggests children learn to experience boredom without turning to food. She also suggests that parents turn their children’s attention away from food when they feel bored, or restructure the home food environment to make it less likely that children turn to food in response to being bored.
While there do appear to be individual differences between children in terms of their eating when bored, it is helpful to know that the feeding practices that adults use around food might shape the likelihood of this happening. Although it is attractive to use food as a tool to help children, emotional feeding might lead to greater emotional eating in the future. It is important for parents and caregivers to be aware that this short-term fix could create future problems.
It is hoped that, on the original basis of the study, the team will deeply explore other negative mood states in children and offer advice and support for families to find more effective ways to manage challenges around children eating behavior.
1. What does the research focus on?| A．How children form good living habits. | B．How children face challenges in life. |
| C．How boredom impacts on children eating. | D．How parents bring up their children. |
| A．Ignore. | B．Comfort. | C．Excuse. | D．Control. |
| A．It makes children lose weight quickly. |
| B．It creates a new home food environment. |
| C．It cannot keep children trusting their parents. |
| D．It may not help handle bad moods in the long run. |
| A．Expectations for further studies. |
| B．The importance of going on a diet. |
| C．The necessity of managing moods. |
| D．Ways to strengthen family relationship. |
9 . Mathea Allansmith isn’t your typical grandmother. She’s the oldest woman in the world to have completed a marathon. She was 92 years 194 days old when she crossed the finish line at the 2022 Honolulu Marathon, setting the record for the oldest female to complete a marathon.
Mathea, now 94, of Koloa, Hawaii, USA, stays in shape all year round by running seven days a week, no matter what the weather is. Come rain or shine, she covers 36 miles every week, even when she’s on holiday. The retired doctor didn’t take up running until she was 46 years old —after a friend suggested running two miles per day.
“The Honolulu Marathon is my favorite marathon mainly because it doesn’t close the gate at a certain time, which allows even the slowest runner to finish the race,” she said. “It’s one of the best races. Fantastic registration (注册), set-up and management make it a joy to run the race.”
Mathea, who doesn’t allow her age to slow her down, thinks she is the happiest person when she’s on the road. She enjoys running for miles and waving and saying hello to the people she passes. To stay in shape, Mathea keeps a steady training routine (惯例) . “I train all year round but increase the mileage 18 weeks before a marathon,” she said.
Mathea said it was her career as a doctor that allowed her to understand how her body and mind respond to diet and exercise. “I see the direct relation between moving and health,” she said. “It is important to reduce stress rather than ignoring it without a plan on how to do so. Of course, exercise of any kind is a natural stress reducer.”
Mathea thought getting through the finish line and winning a Guinness World Record title was the excitement of her life. “My family completely surprised me after the 2022 Honolulu Marathon, in which I achieved the world record, by wearing matching T-shirts stating my achievements,” she said.
1. What do we know about Mathea from the first two paragraphs?| A．She used to be in poor health． |
| B．She is the oldest to win a marathon． |
| C．She runs daily regardless of the weather． |
| D．She was encouraged by her patient to run． |
| A．It gives winners the best awards． |
| B．It provides runners with quality service．． |
| C．It has no time limit for runners to finish． |
| D．It allows runners to set a world record easily． |
| A．Her professional experience． | B．Her training courses． |
| C．Her views on stress in life． | D．Her hobby from young． |
| A．Practice makes perfect． |
| B．Interest is the best teacher． |
| C．Age is no barrier to success． |
| D．Ups and downs make one strong． |
10 . In the coming decade, space agencies and private space companies like SpaceX are planning to build a base on the Moon and Mars. While scientists are already building rockets for the journey, for long-term human settlements on them, astronauts will need fuel to carry out daily tasks. Many have suggested hydrogen (氢). But a group of scientists is working on turning CO2 in the atmosphere into jet fuel. As Mars is rich in CO2 and the lunar surface has a high concentration of CO2, it may be a feasible solution.
For now the team of scientists at the University of Oxford is focusing on making jet fuel for the aviation (航空) industry. As the aviation industry releases over 900 million tons of CO2 every year, to battle climate change, it is necessary to turn the tide. So far aviation scientists have tried to use other energy resources like electricity to fly. But such flights are limited to short distances. For long-distance flights, there is no alternative yet.
The concept of turning CO2 into jet fuel is not new. Previously, other similar methods had to rely on expensive catalysts (催化剂) like cobalt to speed up the chemical reaction. But what Oxford scientists suggest is adding a cheap iron-based catalyst and hydrogen to turn CO2 into liquid fuel. As the process would not require using fossil fuel, it will make the industry carbon neutral (碳中和的).
The scientists tested the new catalyst in a lab at 300°C and at 10 times the air pressure at sea level. The entire process took 20 hours and turned 38 percent of CO2 into new chemicals. About 48 percent of the chemicals were jet fuel hydrocarbon and the rest were other by-products that are used in the production of plastic.
Professor Peter Edwards, a lead scientist in the project, said the new method could be improved in two to three years to produce jet fuel in large quantities. “This is a really exciting, potentially revolutionary advance. Our vision is that the world can see that CO2 collected can be used as an energy carrier to enable sustainable aviation.”
1. Which word can best explain “feasible” underlined in paragraph 1?| A．Unique. | B．Practical. | C．Time-tested. | D．Quick. |
| A．It is suffering from a serious fuel shortage. |
| B．The traditional jet fuel is much too expensive. |
| C．Climate change partly disturbs long-distance flights. |
| D．Its alternative energy resources are not powerful enough. |
| A．It is green and cost-saving. |
| B．It is complex and time-consuming. |
| C．It runs tests in natural environment. |
| D．It starts with immediate chemical reaction. |
| A．To attract people to explore the space. |
| B．To inform us of a breakthrough in fuel research. |
| C．To warn us the dangers of climate change. |
| D．To encourage us to work in the aviation industry. |
