1 . A humanoid robot can relay video and touch sensations to a person wearing a haptic (触觉内) feedback suit and a virtual reality (VR) headset hundreds of kilometres away, offering away for people to attend events without travelling.

The iCub 3 robot is a 52-kilogram, 125-centimetre-tall robot with 54 joints across its body. Its head contains two cameras where a human’s eyes would be, and an Internet-connected computer where the brain would go. Along with the cameras, sensors covering its body send data to the robot’s “brain”. These sensations are then reproduced on a suit and VR headset worn by a remote human operator.

When the operators react to what they see and feel, the suit’s sensors pick up the movements and the robot matches them. “The key is to translate every signal and bit of digital data that can be sent through the network.” says Stefano Dafarra, who was part of the iCub3 team. There can be a small delay of up to 100 milliseconds to capture and transmit the visual shots, but the operator can case this by moving slightly slower than normal.

The team demonstrated the robot at the Venice Biennale, where it wandered through an exhibition while its operator stood 290 kilometres away in Genoa. Dafarra hopes people will use the iCub3 to attend events remotely, reducing the need to travel. “But at present, a fall could be hugely damaging to the robot, and it’s uncertain whether it could stand up again on its own," he says.

“iCub3 is an interesting robot and offers clear advantages from the previous versions.” says Jonathan Aitken, whose laboratory owns a prior version of the robot. However, he is disappointed that the team wasn’t clear in its research about the data transmission requirements of the new version of the robot. “It would be good to know just how much data was required, and what the upper and lower bounds were.” he says.

1. What’s the principle behind the humanoid robot?

A．It conveys sensations to the wearer and acts accordingly.

B．It receives commands from an operator through the Internet.

C．The cameras take pictures and then interact with the sensors.

D．The computer in the robot processes the data and gives orders.

2. Which aspect of life may the technology be applied to?

A．Medical consultation.	B．Sports events.
C．Outdoor workouts.	D．Virtual tourism.

3. What can we infer about iCub 3 from the text?

A．It fails to appeal to potential investors.

B．Its performance hasn’t been evaluated clearly.

C．Its present version still requires to be updated.

D．Its transmission of data came across technical problems.

4. What is the best title for the text?

A．Humanoid robots with sense of touch catch on

B．iCub 3 robot combines with VR to benefit more people

C．Humanoid robots let people see and feel things remotely

D．New advances in technology enable people to travel at work

2 . Who can imagine life today without an Automated Teller Machine (ATM)? They are available in considerable numbers throughout the world.

The first ATM was the brainchild of an enterprising Turkish-American inventor Luther George Simjian. When the idea of an automated banking machine struck him, he registered 20 patents before any bank agreed to give it a trial run. It is easy to assume that the inventor of such a popular machine was laughing all the way to the bank.     1     Within six months of its operation in New York in 1939, the device was removed due to lack of customer acceptance.

It was not until 1967, nearly 30 years later, that Barclays Bank, in a careful launch, rolled out a self-service machine in London, England, which proved successful.     2     The first cash machine relied on customers’ use of prepaid tokens (代币) to get envelopes with a fixed amount of cash inside.

    3     The banks’ principle was seemingly customer service. But it would be foolish to minimize the many advantages that cash machines provided to the banks themselves. By the late 1970s, the highest fixed cost for the average large bank was its branches. The greatest variable cost and loss to profits were its staff. Bank accounts swiftly recognized that self-service operations could reduce bank branch staff cost by70 percent.

Experts quickly determined that public acceptance of ATMs counted on convenience, simplicity, speed, security and trust.     4     For maximum efficiency, ATMs had to be located near public transport or in a shopping mall, not at a branch. The busier and more crowded the location, obviously, the better. Now, roughly 75 percent of all cash provided by banks to their customers comes from cash machines.     5    .

Public acceptance of deposits (存款) by machine was significantly slower than customers’ usage of ATMs for withdrawals. In general, it seems that customers sometimes still prefer and trust an over-the-counter transaction (交易) for deposits.

A．Location, in particular, was a key factor.

B．His cash machine, however, didn’t prove durable.

C．The device was relatively primitive, at least by today’s standards.

D．However, cash machines posed some interesting, unanswered questions.

E．An interesting factor was the issue of bio-statistics for customer identification.

F．Devices originally dismissed by the public are now recognized as essential institutions.

G．Soon afterwards, many other banks became admittedly champions of the cash machine.

3 . HARDCORE TANO*C is an independent Japanese music label that is known for releasing music compilations and albums focused on various forms of hardcore techno such as UK hardcore, happy hardcore, and gabber. The label was founded in 2003 by Yoshikazu Nagai(who at the time used the Akai Hito alias),originally under the name of Hardcore Tanoshii, but changed to its current name of HARDCORE TANO*C in 2007 after the release of the album HARDCORE SYNDROME. The label features a store which sells the most notable doujin(同人)music releases, and is well known for their frequent live events that are regularly organized throughout the years, including the annual TANO*C TOUR series of events and the S2TBTANO*C events done in collaboration with kors k’s S2TB Recording label.

From 2011 to 2018, HARDCORE TANO*C were very closely linked with BEMANI, most notably in beat mania IIDX and SOUND VOLTEX. Many of HARDCORE TANO*C’s members were frequent contributors to BEMANI,and KONAMI even collaborated with the label for a few of their own album releases. Their presence also expanded to various other music game titles.

Many guest artists have appeared in HARDCORE TANO*C compilations, including Ryu☆, kors k, DJ Shimamura, m1dy, M-Project, JAKAZiD (as Joshka), Hommarju, Camellia, lapix, C-Show, Maozon, Nhato, Dustvoxx, and Akira Complex.

By the end of 2017, HARDCORE TANO*C has started to produce major artist album releases, containing licensed works done for music games by the circle’s artists. From September 2018, a sub-label directed by DJ Myosuke named HARDCORE TANO*C HARD has been established, which focuses on harsher music. HARDCORE TANO*C is also heavily involved in the 2019 rhythm game WACCA, which is published by MARVELOUS!, with nearly its entire staff contributing to the game.

A song composed by various members of HARDCORE TANO*C, BATTLE NO.1, was planned to be in SOUND VOLTEX IV HEAVENLY HAVEN for the The 8th KONAMI Arcade Championship, under the artist name of TANO*C SOUND TEAM. KONAMI rejected the song (likely due to their poking fun (打趣) of the BEMANI Sound Team moniker, which was at its most extreme in the time of that event), and it later appeared instead in the HARDCORE TANO*C-produced game WACCA on August 1st, 2019. It also appeared in lowiro’s Arcaea as part of the Arcaea× HARDCORE TANO*C Collaboration (联动) and SEGA’s maimai でらっくす Splash. It was added to Muse Dash on February 5, 2021.

1. What’s the main idea of the first paragraph?

A．Some basic information about HARDCORE TANO*C.

B．The founder and members of HARDCORE TANO*

C．C. The relationship between Yoshikazu Nagai and HARDCORE TANO*C.

D．The relationship between BEMANI and HARDCORE TANO*C.

2. Among the following members, who has NOT shown up in this music label’s compilations?

A．Camellia.

B．Laur.

C．Maozon.

D．Akira Complex.

3. What can we know about the rhythm game WACCA?

A．It was produced by HARDCORE TANO*C last year.

B．None of MARVELOUS!’s employees is working for it.

C．The song BATTLE NO.1 was included in this game.

D．It had a collaboration with Muse Dash in Feb, 2021.

4. Arcaea has collaborated with both HARDCORE TANO*C and WACCA. As a player of Arcaea, what should you do?

A．Try playing WACCA if possible.

B．Spread bad comments about HARDCORE TANO*

C．Only cheer for the game or the artist you like.

D．Ask the official staff about the song selection petulantly.

4 . When children are growing up, what they see in their families is what they tend to consider normal. That means family traditions and other activities are generally seen as just normal. If a family eats dinner together or spends time talking with each other, that’s what the child absorbs and internalizes.

Our family traditions are declining as we move toward a more isolated (孤立的) society. How many families no longer share meals around the dinner table, instead choosing to watch TV or text friends on their phones? This tends to isolate and disconnect family members from each other. It also stops families from communicating and catching up on each other’s lives.

For those of us who grew up in a household where families shared meals together and spent time talking with each other, chances are that we are passing along those traditions to our own families. The problem is, children today often want to spend their time in front of screens rather than people. Cell phones, computers and other attention-grabbing devices often mean parents get resistance to traditional family togetherness time. This pressure can lead to parents giving in and letting children do what they want rather than fight with them over sitting at the dinner table. This creates a new normal that no longer values the idea of families and the society at large, connecting with each other.

Family and community traditions are important, not just for the current shared experiences, but for the future as well. Since children internalize their experiences, that means generations to come may not know what it’s like to sit together around the dinner table and truly connect as a family.

That is why it is so important that parents and caregivers create boundaries of behavior that help to keep family traditions alive. If you remember the shared experiences you had with your parents and grandparents, you know the important bonding that took place during those times. It is this shared experience that brings people closer together and is well worth preserving.

1. What is the phenomenon the author describes at the beginning of the text?

A．The increase in shared family meals means a shift towards isolation.

B．Increased use of technology replaces traditional family interactions.

C．More and more children prefer to spend quality time with the family.

D．Family members are more likely to share their updates with each other.

2. What is the central concern expressed in paragraph 3?

A．The inability of parents to understand technology.

B．The challenge of preserving traditional family values.

C．The influence of technology on children’s education.

D．The necessity of controlling children’s digital devices.

3. What can be inferred about future generations if current trends continue?

A．They will be more addicted to advanced technology.

B．They will maintain stronger and closer family bonds.

C．They may create new and irreplaceable family traditions.

D．They may not understand the value of family gatherings.

4. How does the author view the role of parents in preserving family traditions?

A．Insignificant	B．Irresponsible
C．Crucial	D．Overemphasized

5 . Ramirez Castañeda, a Colombian biologist, spends her time in the Amazon studying how snakes eat poisonous frogs without getting ill. Although her findings come in many shapes and sizes, she and her colleagues have struggled to get their biological discoveries out to the wider scientific community. With Spanish as her mother tongue, her research had to be translated into English to be published. That wasn’t always possible because of budget or time-and it means that some of her findings were never published.

“It’s not that I’m a bad scientist,” she says. “It’s just because of the language.”

Castañeda is not alone. There is plenty of research in non-English-language papers that gets lost in translation, or is never translated. A research looked through more than 400, 000 peer-reviewed papers in 16 different languages and found 1, 234 studies providing evidence on biodiversity conservation which, because they weren’t in English, may have been overlooked. These included Japanese-language findings on the effectiveness of relocating the endangered Blakiston’s fish owl, the largest owl species.

Some experts argue that for the sake of the bigger picture, scientific knowledge should converge (转换) into one common language. Science is very globalised and becoming more so, so the use of a global language is enormous for that.

Of course, scientists can work with an English partner, or use a translator-but this ultimately strengthens the cycle of dependency on the global north, leading to inequality in international influence. The specific meanings of words can also pose a problem in translation. For example, it is difficult to find in English one single word to describe forest snakes and frogs in the work Castafieda does with indigenous (土著的) communities in the Amazon.

“So we’re losing observations for science, too, ” says Castañeda. “For me, it’s not possible to just have everything translated into English. We need multilingual (多语种的) science, and we need people that feel comfortable doing science in their own languages. It could be possible to switch to a world where, say, Chinese, English and Spanish are the three languages of science, just as English, French and German were the languages of science in the 19th century.”

1. What prevented Castañeda’s discoveries from being more widely known?

A．Poor management.	B．Opposition from her colleagues.
C．Her bad reputation.	D．The language barrier.

2. What’s the consequence of the dominant focus on English in scientific research?

A．Inefficient wildlife conservation.

B．A knowledge gap in the scientific world.

C．A growing interest in non-English papers.

D．Inadequate job opportunities for translators.

3. What does the author want to illustrate by mentioning forest snakes and frogs?

A．The urgency to protect rare species.

B．The need to adopt one global language.

C．The challenges in translating scientific texts.

D．The biodiversity on the South American continent.

4. What is presented in the last paragraph of the text?

A．A potential solution.	B．A theoretical model.
C．A popular belief.	D．A global trend.

6 . What comes to mind when you think about chocolate? A candy bar at Halloween? Ice cream on a hot day?

For Ibrahim, a 12-year-old boy from the West African country of Ghana, chocolate is not about sweet treats; it is about bitter work.     1     But if they did, we would learn that Ibrahim spends his days growing and harvesting cocoa beans, from which chocolate is made. We would also learn that he is just one of more than two million children who perform this difficult labour instead of attending school.

To change the harmful practices like this, some farms use an approach called Fairtrade.     2     It aims to create a different relationship between buyers (chocolate companies) and sellers (cocoa farmers) by encouraging farmers to join together to form a shared business called a cooperative. Because farmers work together instead of competing with each other, they can demand a higher price from the buyers.     3    

Consumers like you can play a role as well. You can buy Fairtrade chocolate if possible, pressure candy companies to change their labour practices, or ask local stores to sell Fairtrade products.     4     It is a programme recognizing schools that provide Fairtrade products in cafeterias or include related lessons in curriculum (课程).

Chocolate has a hidden story that affects children like Ibrahim—children who want a happy future just like you do.     5     By enjoying Fairtrade products or simply spreading the word, you can make chocolate as sweet for all children as it is for you.

A．You have the power to change the story.

B．The labels on chocolate do not tell his story.

C．Fairtrade is a way of doing business that prohibits child labour.

D．You can also take action through the Fairtrade Schools network.

E．On many farms, children like Ibrahim perform difficult farming tasks.

F．Cocoa trees grow in the tropical climates of Africa, Latin America and South-East Asia.

G．With more income, farmers can pay adult workers and can send their children to school.

7 . Some ants have figured out how to avoid getting lost: build taller anthills, according to a recent study.

Desert ants living in the hot, flat salt pans of Tunisia spend their days looking for food and reach as far as 1.1 kilometers from their nests. To find their way home, desert ants use a navigation system, relying on the sun’s position and counting their steps to track their location relative to their nest.

But this system becomes increasingly unreliable as the distance from the nest increases. “We realized that, whenever the ants in salt pans came closer to their nest, they suddenly pinpointed the nest hill from several meters distance,” says Markus Knaden, a researcher at Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology. “This made us think that the hill serves as a nest-defining landmark.”

So Knaden and colleagues captured ants from nests in the middle of salt pans and from along their shorelines. Only salt-pan nests had distinct hills, up to 40 centimeters tall, whereas the hills on shoreline nests were lower or barely noticeable. Next, the team removed any hills and placed the captured insects some distance away from their nests. Salt-pan ants struggled more than shore ants to find homes. Shore ants relied on the shoreline for guidance and weren’t affected by the hill removal, the researchers concluded.

The team further conducted another study to see if desert ants were deliberately building a taller hill when their surroundings lacked any visible landmarks. So, the researchers removed the hills of 16 salt-pan nests and installed (安装) two 50-centimeter-tall blocks near eight of them. The other eight nests were left without any artificial visual aid. After three days, the researchers found that seven ants from the unaided nests had rebuilt their hills. But only two ants from the nests with man-made blocks nearby had bothered to rebuild.

“It implies that ants regularly assess the complexity of their environment and change their decisions based on their conclusion,” says ecologist Judith Bronstein of the University of Arizona.

1. What aspect of ants is the recent study mainly about?

A．Challenges of survival.	B．Landmarks of habitats.
C．Intelligence of navigation.	D．Comparison of varieties.

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

A．Explored.

B．Recognized.

C．Climbed.

D．Crossed.

3. Why did researchers set shoreline ants in the experiment?

A．To observe different ants’ reactions.	B．To prove impacts of various habitats.
C．To disturb desert ants’ navigation system.	D．To test anthills’ functions and significance.

4. What conclusion about desert ants can be drawn from the follow-up study?

A．Evaluate and make changes.	B．Visual aid is a must.
C．Cooperation brings victory.	D．No man-made blocks are used.

8 . The needs of plus size consumers have long been the elephant in the room of the fashion industry until body positivity and fat acceptance movements promoted the slogan (口号) that large-bodied people are not those who are left behind. This size-inclusive (尺码包容) trend has become so popular that it is influencing mainstream culture. As a result, fashion brands have finally decided to extend their size ranges. In 2022, the plus-size market grew twice as fast as the standard size market in both North America and the UK.

Yet, many consumers say fashion brands broadening their ranges are not truly inclusive. “Inclusive sizing means that all bodies are included in fashion, not just the ones who fit in standard sizes,” says Marie Southard Ospina, a UK-based journalist who covers body-image issues. “However, what many designers do right now is pick a number that they think is big enough to include plus sizes and stop. This is even more disrespectful.”

Researchers also criticize that some brands are just taking advantage of the trend. “Brands that used to promote so-called perfect bodies in their advertisements are now trying to get in on the trend by adding a few sizes. It doesn’t feel like they really care about plus-size people,” says Tom Burgess, analyst in fashion industry. “If brands cared about large-bodied consumers, then it wouldn’t have taken until now to acknowledge that they exist,” he says. “It gives the impression that companies are just trying to gain a share of the market without a real commitment to the community.”

The fashion industry must go beyond merely producing clothing in a range of sizes if they hope to succeed with a body -diverse world. The whole industry has to connect on a personal level with consumers. That involves showing shoppers that they are seen, understood and important to brands. “Consumers care about values, and so they want to buy from brands that reflect the values they believe in. Everyone should enjoy the same range of fashion options,” says Ludovica Cesareo, professor of marketing at the College of Business in the US.

1. What do the underlined words “the elephant in the room” mean in the first paragraph?

A．The hot issue that is valued.

B．The obvious truth that is ignored.

C．The important principle that is recognized.

D．The common phenomenon that is criticized.

2. Why do consumers say fashion brands are not truly inclusive?

A．They pick sizes randomly.	B．They offer limited plus sizes.
C．They treat designers disrespectfully.	D．They haven’t broadened standard sizes.

3. For what do researchers mainly criticize some brands?

A．Their designs.	B．Their quality.
C．Their motivations.	D．Their advertisements.

4. What does the last paragraph imply?

A．Buyers may deserve fashion that fits their figure.

B．Consumers prefer brands with personalized values.

C．Brands should catch up with the size-inclusive trend.

D．A good brand image is critical in the fashion industry.

9 . The UK has a rich literary heritage, with cities packed with bookshops, literary landmarks and comfortable cafes. If you love books, try one of these city breaks.

York

Earning a remarkable “bookspiration” score of 9. 4/10, York has claimed the title of the best UK city for book lovers. Having the highest number of reading spots per 100, 000 people among all cities analysed, literary lovers will find themselves spoiled for choice in this city. Home to 20 libraries and 33 highly-rated bookshops, this serves as a significant literary resource for a city of its population size.

Books inspired by York include: The Secret Garden, Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre

Bath

Bath comes second, receiving a final “bookspiration” score of 8. 1/10. Beyond its plentiful quiet reading spots, more than seven libraries and 16 bookshops per 100, 000 people, the city also offers sufficient green spaces, perfect for eager readers to dive into their favourite books. It’s a dream destination for those with a preference for Jane Austen’s works. It’s also host to the annual Jane Austen Festival in September, featuring many immersive(沉浸式的)Regency-themed experiences.

Books inspired by Bath include: Northanger Abbey, Persuasion, Vathek

Belfast

In third place is Belfast, scoring a respectable 7. 3/10. The Northern Irish city has 18 libraries and 55 charming bookshops to choose from. Serving as the backdrop of inspiration for CS Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia, Belfast also has a bookish culture as it plays host to an annual book festival drawing in the nation’s biggest bookworms.

Books inspired by Belfast include: Eureka Street, Mystery Man, The Star Factory

Bristol

Bristol with a score of 6. 8/10 secures fourth place to be a literary lover’s paradise. Thanks to its treasure of bookshops from independent to second-hand, over 17 bookshops per 100, 000 people, the lively South West city makes an incredible destination for book-shopping.

Books inspired by Bristol include: Shadow Dance, Birdcage Walk, Keep Him Close

1. Which city is the source of the inspiration for Wuthering Heights?

A．York.

B．Bath.

C．Belfast.

D．Bristol.

2. What can you do during Jane Austen Festival?

A．Rate bookstores of the city.	B．Attend theme-based activities.
C．Dive into CS Lewis’s books.	D．Take a South West city tour.

3. What is a feature of Belfast?

A．The best green reading spaces.	B．The highest “bookspiration” score.
C．The most attractive book festival.	D．The biggest second-hand bookstore.

10 . The recent reports of a 4-year-old girl on a Shanghai beach have gone viral on social media platforms, provoking debate about whether China should criminalize negligence in child supervision.

The father of the little girl claimed that he left her alone on the beach for about 12 minutes to fetch his phone. However, she was nowhere to be found when he was back. Surveillance (监控) videos show that she waited for about 10 minutes before walking toward the water’s edge alone, and then disappeared into the water. Two weeks later, her body was discovered about 100 kilometers away in neighboring Zhejiang Province.

The core issue in this case is the father’s leaving his young daughter unattended on the beach, causing her tragic death. Should such behavior, when it causes harm to a child, be seen as a criminal act? In an online survey, more than 90 percent of respondents insisted that the father be held legally responsible and face criminal punishments.

Nevertheless, according to Liu Chunquan, a lawyer, it may not satisfy the criteria for criminal negligence, since the primary focus of Chinese criminal law is on extreme cases of parental neglect, such as physical abuse and mental torture. Rarely do legal authorities charge parents; instead, they are just likely to face penalties consisting of warnings and fines.

In 2022, a 2-year-old baby drowned in a cesspool while in the company of his father. The court ruled shared responsibility between the father and the cesspool’s owner, with a 7:3 proportion. The owner was ordered to pay 20,000 yuan to the child’s family. Unluckily, similar cases do exist nationwide. Roughly, 100,000 children lose their lives in accidents annually in China, which is largely due to negligence, such as parents leaving their children unattended, either in locked cars or at home. Besides, drowning is now the main cause of death for children aged 1 to 14 years old.

It is no wonder that an increasing number of netizens request that specific laws and regulations be passed to ensure the safety of children and their well-being. Hopefully, criminalizing child supervision negligence in China can serve as a warning and precaution.

However, downsides of introducing such legislation may also emerge. For instance, it’s difficult to distinguish between a regrettable accident and criminal negligence, so that over-criminalization can be triggered, in which well-meaning parents making honest mistakes are charged with a crime.

Therefore, a more balanced approach to addressing the issue of infant safety should involve a combination of new legislation, education and support services. The ultimate objective is to prevent similar catastrophes in the future. We must recognize that children are not only their parents’ offspring, but also the nation’s future.

1. What can we infer from the tragedy of the 4-year-old girl?

A．Her father’s carelessness and negligence should be to blame.

B．The beach in Shanghai should not be open to small children.

C．Her father has been sentenced to severe penalties by the police.

D．She would have survived if she had not waited in the water for a long time.

2. What are the figures in paragraph 5 intended to prove?

A．Irresponsible adults contribute to children’s death.	B．People can’t be too concerned about child safety.
C．Kids shouldn’t be allowed to swim alone.	D．Parents’ constant monitoring is a must.

3. Updated legislation in child supervision is in demand for the following reasons except _______.

A．the mild penalties in the existing laws	B．parents’ ignorance of potential dangers
C．frequent occurrence of such incidents	D．masses of netizens’ urgent appeals

4. What attitude does the author hold to criminalizing child supervision negligence in China?

A．Indifferent.

B．Negative.

C．Objective.

D．Supportive.