1 . Uninvited opinions about someone’s marriage, their constant failures or whatever just happened in the bathroom are all clues you’ve got an Oversharer on your hands. Whether they’re telling too much or asking for details you’re not comfortable sharing, this all-too common persona has no boundaries.
“The discomfort you feel comes from a difference of standards about what topics of conversation are OK,” says Wisner. “What they consider to be acceptable, need-to-know information is different from what it is for you.”
At the same awkward time, the Oversharer is only trying to get closer to you by revealing more about themselves — and hoping you’ll do the same. “We tend to label these people as overly-curious, invasive(侵入的) or rude,” notes Gerber, “but they really just want to be liked and accepted.”
To satisfy the Oversharer, and meanwhile reject endless TMI (too-much-information), consider sharing something else — still personal but less invasive — that satisfies their urge to connect. When they really cross the line, don’t be shy. Say something that indicates your boundary is being crossed. But you don’t have to declare them to be rude or insist them change their ways immediately. “OMG, that’s private!” says everything, and you’ll never have to bring it up again.
A compliment (称赞) also works wonders with an Oversharer, adds Gerber, because it refocuses the conversation in their direction while subtly resetting your boundary.
To my nosy friend who asks me when I plan to have a baby, for example, I will give this wise response next time: “You made having kids look so easy! How’d you do it?” Then nod and smile, nod and smile. Maybe I won’t have another baby in this life, but at least I’ll be ready to face an Oversharer — or any of the challenging people it takes to make a world.
1. What is the function of the first paragraph?| A．Shaping the image of an Oversharer. |
| B．Stressing the importance of boundaries. |
| C．Identifying the clues of an unpleasant talk. |
| D．Presenting different opinions about sharing. |
| A．They want sympathy from others. |
| B．They see it as a way to break the ice. |
| C．They are curious about others’ sufferings. |
| D．They long for closer connections with others. |
| A．Ignore their comments. | B．Demanding an apology. |
| C．Declaring your boundaries. | D．Criticizing their rudeness. |
| A．To check her friend’s boundary. | B．To show admiration for her friend. |
| C．To learn from her friend’s experience. | D．To shift the topic to her friend’s direction. |
2 . The Yellow River is the cradle of China’s civilization. And flood control and prevention have always been key to the well-being of the people living along it. Now, scientists can better work on these issues by giving the river a digital twin.
The digital twin of the Yellow River uses various technologies, including big data, artificial intelligence, and the internet of things. Devices set up along the river collect and transmit information to the command center. Based on the information, a 3D model of the river is presented on the computer screen. It’s like the Yellow River has a twin that reflects its real conditions.
One big breakthrough in the river’s digital governance is “smart stones”. According to Wang Qin, a lead researcher at the Information Center of Yellow River Henan Bureau, a smart stone is a water-proof stone-shaped device with chips, a battery, and a signal transmitter. They are buried in important dike locations to record and report the movement of dike stones. “Upon feeling movement of the dike stones, the smart stone sends an alarm to the command center for quick response.” Wang said.
“In the past, researchers had to learn the conditions of the dike on the spot by themselves, putting their lives at risk,” said Zhao Xiaoxiong from the bureau. “Now the smart stones can do this for us, more safely, quickly, and accurately.”
And in the sky, drones (无人机) are flying. On the routes designed by engineers, the drones become expert patrollers (巡逻员) of the river, looking at its dikes and flood prevention projects. According to Shen Lin from the Yellow River Conservancy Commission, thanks to the drones, researchers at the command center can get first-hand photos and information. “Researchers then update the 3D model according to the changes the drones reported. The newly updated model helps us test our floodwater release plans in case we ever need to batten down the hatches.” said Shen.
Under the water and up in the sky, intelligent systems are helping to protect the Yellow River Basin on all fronts. According to the Ministry of Water Resources, in the future, we can expect to see the construction of an even more comprehensive digital system for this important river.
1. A digital twin of the Yellow River is created to ______.| A．popularize the digital information |
| B．promote the local economic development |
| C．increase the effectiveness of flood prevention |
| D．arouse the awareness of environmental protection |
| A．The significance of smart stones | B．The components of smart stones |
| C．The design feature of smart stones | D．The working principle of smart stones |
| A．To take wildlife photos. | B．To update the previous model. |
| C．To collect the needed information. | D．To test the floodwater release plans. |
| A．Yellow River Seeing Double | B．The Cradle of China’s Civilization |
| C．Bright Outlook of Digital Development | D．Intelligent Systems Witnessing a Breakthrough |
3 . There are positive effects of having deep conversations with strangers, published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
“Connecting with others in meaningful ways tends to make people happier, and yet people also seem unwilling to engage in deeper conversation,” said Nicholas Epley, a professor of behavioral science at the University of Chicago. “This struck us as an interesting social paradox: If connecting with others in deep and meaningful ways increases well-being, then why aren’t people doing it more often in daily life?”
To answer that question, Epley and his colleagues designed several experiments, where pairs of people—mainly strangers—were asked to discuss either relatively deep or shallow topics. Before the conversations, participants predicted how awkward they thought the conversations would be, how connected they thought they would feel to their conversation partner and how much they would enjoy the conversation. Afterward, they rated their predictions on actual basis. Generally, the researchers found that both deep conversations felt less awkward and led to greater feelings of connectedness and enjoyment than the participants had expected.
If deep connection is better, then why aren’t people actually having more of them? The researchers suspected it might be because people underestimate how interested strangers are in learning about their deeper thoughts and feelings. In some of the experiments, the researchers asked participants to predict how interested their conversation partner would be in the discussion, and then afterward to indicate how interested their partner actually was in the discussion. On average, people consistently underestimated how interested their partners would be in learning about them.
“People seemed to imagine that revealing something meaningful about themselves in conversation would be met with blank stares and silence, only to find this wasn’t true in the actual conversation,” Epley said. “Human beings are deeply social and tend to respond in conversation. If you share something important, you are likely to get something important exchanged in return, leading to a considerably better conversation.”
1. What does the underlined word “paradox” in paragraph 2 mean?| A．Complexity. | B．Coherence. | C．Transformation. | D．Contradiction. |
| A．All the topics discussed were not deep ones. |
| B．The experiments were carried out on a regular basis. |
| C．Most of the participants are familiar with each other. |
| D．The participants made predictions while in conversation. |
| A．Depth of the topic. | B．People’s expectations. |
| C．Participants’ interest. | D．Consistency of the talk. |
| A．Giving active responses in talking. |
| B．Making safe predictions in communication. |
| C．Engaging in more conversations to be sociable. |
| D．Striking up in-depth conversations with strangers. |
4 . Once you get close enough to someone, it’s easy to assume they’ll be a friend for life — but friendships take work, too, and it’s important that you make time to cultivate these relationships as well.
1. “How do you think we’ve both changed since we became friends?”
There’s a good chance that you’ve been friends with those closest to you for some time, which means you’ve both changed in certain ways over the years. Shari, founder of Imperfectly Perfect Life, says it’s important to reflect on that change. “
2. “
“You don’t have to just focus on your own friendship. People vary greatly in what makes them feel most connected to others — for some it’s sharing something exciting together, while for others, it’s doing daily tasks together,” Julia, a clinical psychologist, notes.
3. “What is the best advice you’ve ever received?”
Another way you can “gain a deeper understanding of your friend’s values, beliefs, and the lessons they’ve learned along their journey” is by asking them about the best advice they’ve ever received. “This provides an opportunity to share wisdom that has had a significant impact on their personal growth,” Natalie shares. “
4.“What are your biggest dreams for your life?”
| A．What life experience has shaped you the most? |
| B．Acknowledging your growth can enhance your friendship |
| C．When do you feel most connected to the people in your life? |
| D．It’s also good to acknowledge that even the closest friendships are not perfect |
| E．You should know what your friend actually envisions for themselves in the future |
| F．Additionally, it opens the door for meaningful conversations about life’s challenges |
| G．We’ve talked to different experts to get their best advice on how to create stronger bonds |
5 . If you’ve scrolled through your Facebook feed recently, you may have noticed something surprising: lots and lots of short videos.
What makes this “Reels” feature strange is that it is hugely addictive, which I know quite well from my own personal experience. Last Friday, I took a break and hit on one short clip of someone making dinner and, well, the next time I looked up it was 20 minutes later and the blank document on my computer monitor was confirming to me that my work was still not done.
However, as silly as it seems, Reels-is actually super important, and is at the centre of a major battle between the world’s largest tech firms. The format (格式) was first pioneered by TikTok-the Chinese-owned video app that has taken the world by storm since it launched in 2016. Today, TikTok has around 23 million UK users every month-including basically every person you know under the age of 25. And that fact has made Facebook and its parent company, Meta, very nervous indeed. As TikTok has continued to boom, Facebook has actually fallen in popularity among “Gen Z”. The reason Tik Tok has proven such a powerful challenger to Facebook’s social media dominance is almost entirely down to these sorts of short-form videos.
The format is almost perfectly optimised to be as addictive as possible: Tik Tok’s app shows you a short-form video, and if you don’t like it, you can simply swipe it away and another one will start playing instantly. And because it is portrait, not landscape, videos look “right” when viewed on your phone. What’s also smart is that TikTok’s algorithm (算法) picks videos for you based on what you actually watch, and not what you say you want.
Facebook isn’t the only app trying to do what TikTok does so well. Instagram, which is owned by Facebook’s parent company Meta, has integrated Reels even more aggressively into its app. And even Google is nervous, launching its own TikTok-style video section of YouTube(which it owns)a couple of years ago. As things stand, though TikTok currently maintains a healthy lead in the category, both YouTube and Facebook have deep pockets-so expect to see even more Reels and Shorts popping up in your feed as this intense battle continues to rage. You won’t be able to take your eyes off them.
1. Why did the author mention his own experience in paragraph 2?| A．To illustrate the feature of short videos. |
| B．To stress the importance of short videos. |
| C．To prove his preference to short videos. |
| D．To introduce the functions of short videos. |
| A．It has shown the trend of the fall in popularity among “Gen Z”. |
| B．It is perceived as a potential threat to Facebook’s social media dominance. |
| C．Its number of registered UK users has reached 23 million since it launched in 2016. |
| D．It underestimates the essential role of short videos in competition with large tech firms. |
| A．The beautiful visual effects. |
| B．The high video quality. |
| C．The random recommendation. |
| D．The quick switch between videos. |
| A．The short videos have a profound impact on our daily life. |
| B．TikTok seems to be losing its advantage over short videos in the short run. |
| C．YouTube and Facebook may encounter financial difficulties in developing Shorts. |
| D．A growing number of tech firms have engaged in fierce competition for the short video market. |
6 . In today’s world, AI is increasingly becoming an integral part of our lives.
Artificial intelligence has revolutionized how students are measured in terms of their strengths and weaknesses. By analyzing massive datasets, AI can quickly identify a student’s areas of strengths and weaknesses through the images they upload, videos they watch, and data gathered from feedback systems.
With the advancements in AI technology, each student can receive the most tailored education they need to reach their own educational goals. It can also aid in how to write an article review, potentially by being able to particularize how challenging certain elements are for students and how much further focus and practice any one student needs to accomplish their educational objectives.
In today’s ever-connected world, having access to reliable sources of information beyond normal business hours can make a huge difference in a person’s life.
| A．AI-based chatbots offer just that, providing up-to-date information 24/7. |
| B．Here are some benefits of AI for students that can help them in their studies. |
| C．These data cannot reflect the whole picture of students’ performance, though. |
| D．This timeless advantage has significantly reduced the workload for the educators. |
| E．Thus, AI-supported personalized learning could finally create equal access to education. |
| F．Therefore, they allow us to efficiently access services without worrying about time limit. |
| G．It will also better identify potential areas for improvement in teaching and evaluating students. |
7 . Fifty years after Liliana Cavani’s film The Night Porter was released to widespread critical disgust, how have views of it changed?
“To write a poem after Auschwitz is barbaric,” wrote the German theorist Theodor Adorno, suggesting in his 1949 essay Cultural Criticism and Society that artistic expression had been rendered inadequate as a tool to understand reality after the Holocaust. In her 1974 film The Night Porter, Italian director Liliana Cavani challenged this theory, taking it to its logical extreme. She used a concentration camp as the setting to explore a crazed sexual bond between an adolescent prisoner and an SS commandant, and how, years later, this psychological poison has pervaded their souls.
Amid the furore after its release — which included intensely negative reviews and an at-tempted ban by the Italian ratings board—with typical nonchalance, Cavani told The New York Times: “This is nothing compared to the numberless couples who tear each other apart psychologically.”
Half a century on, however, does The Night Porter still seem like a provocation that plumbs the depths of bad taste? With the film’s recent restoration and re-releases, as well as renewed conversations around cinematic depictions of the Holocaust, many have revisited the film and remain unimpressed by its content. Others are perhaps seeing the film more as Lili-an a Cavani originally intended: as an artistic reflection of how sexual obsession can be fascistic in its tunnel-visioned ferocity. Cavani herself put it more simply: “love comes always with a price to pay.”
The Night Porter is set in Vienna in 1957, where a former Nazi commandant, Max (Dirk Bogarde), works in an upmarket hotel. There, he clashes with former SS colleagues who are determined to purge themselves of any shame about their roles in the Final Solution and eliminate any surviving witnesses. Max, however, would rather forget his past and move on, living his life quietly, he says, “as a church mouse.” His careful world is upended when Lucia (Charlotte Rampling), now married to an American composer, walks into his hotel lobby — the very woman he sexually abused while she was a prisoner in his camp, and with whom he entered into a sadomasochistic relationship. Reunited once more, their twisted folie a deux resumes and a fervent debasement begins — now, on both sides.
1. Which of the following statements best reflects the author’s perspective on the film’s portrayal of the Holocaust?| A．The film is a disrespectful and exploitative representation of the Holocaust. |
| B．The film is a complex and abstract exploration of Nazi ideology and sexual taboos. |
| C．The film is a straightforward historical account of the Holocaust. |
| D．The film is a romanticized depiction of love during the Holocaust. |
| A．A form of psychological therapy. |
| B．A type of artistic expression. |
| C．A relationship dynamic characterized by the exchange of pain and pleasure. |
| D．A historical account of events during World War II. |
| A．The film provides a realistic portrayal of the Holocaust. |
| B．The film’s controversial nature generates important discussions. |
| C．The film is a successful example of the “Nazisploitation” genre. |
| D．The film’s plot and character development are highly original. |
| A．“The Night Porter: A Cinematic Controversy” |
| B．“Liliana Cavani: The Director Who Challenged Art” |
| C．“Love and Evil: The Complex Themes of The Night Porter” |
| D．“The Holocaust on Film: A History of Cinematic Portrayals” |
8 . I’m always cautious of the tired saying, “If it doesn’t kill you, it’ll make you stronger.” I mean, what about polio (小儿麻痹症)? Or loads of other horrible things that if you survive, you’re left scarred in one way or another.
For many years I worked in a specialist NHS clinic for people with eating disorders, which are greatly misunderstood and connected with vanity (虚荣) when instead it’s usually about control or even profound trauma (精神创伤). Eating disorders have the highest mortality of any mental illness, with one in five of those with an eating disorder dying from it. Treatment for it is long, tough and tiring. So, it’s fair to say it’s not something to be taken lightly.
Yet I was often surprised by how many patients-patients with all sorts of other conditions too, from depression to cancer -would tell me how the experience had changed them for the better after receiving treatment. It’s not so much that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger; more, it might make you more understanding of yourself and more sensitive to the battles and struggles of others. It can also give people a sense of determination and perseverance they never had before.
I had one patient who was an addict and alcoholic besides suffering eating disorder. She was frequently rushed into hospital and was sometimes at a real risk of dying. However, after years of hard work, she stopped drinking, stopped using drugs and her eating disorder improved. She got back into work and started doing several courses to get promoted. Actually, she had gone through numerous intense and exhausting interviews before landing a job, but she said whenever she felt she couldn’t handle it or doubted her capabilities, she reminded herself that nothing would ever be worse or harder than what she had already gone through. She managed to make the most of her life and turn her life around.
1. What does the author think of the old mantra?| A．Always applicable. | B．Totally absurd. |
| C．Partially right. | D．Quite misleading. |
| A．The number of deaths. |
| B．The possibility of being cured. |
| C．The rate of getting mentally hurt. |
| D．The chance of having mental illness. |
| A．It leads to a changeable attitude. |
| B．It makes no noticeable difference. |
| C．It builds up their physical strength. |
| D．It fosters self-awareness and sympathy. |
| A．She continued harmful habits. | B．She relied only on medication. |
| C．She always believed in herself. | D．She became stronger and tougher. |
9 . When continent splits occur, they usually leave traces in ancient rocks, fossils, and mountain ranges. However, around 155 million years ago, when a 5,000-kilometer land broke away from Western Australia and began its drift, it only left behind a basin deep below the ocean known as the Argo Abyssal Plain and scientists have been unable to find where this lost continent, Argoland, disappeared to until now.
The seabed structure suggests that the continent drifted northwestward, potentially towards present-day Southeast Asia. But surprisingly, there is no large continent hidden beneath those islands, only small continental fragments. Using this theory, geologists discovered that Argoland hadn’t really disappeared but survived as a “very extended and fragmented collection” under the islands to the east of Indonesia. Unlike other continents like Africa and South America, which broke neatly into two pieces, Argoland split into many smaller fragments that were dispersed (分散的). With advanced technology and the discovery, scientists can now piece them together.
Tracing the continents is vital for understanding processes like the evolution of biodiversity. It could help explain something known as the mysterious Wallace Line, which is an imaginary boundary that separates mammals, birds, and even early human species in Southeast Asian islands. The boundary has puzzled scientists for long because it clearly separates the island’s wildlife. To the west of the line are mammals like apes and elephants. But these are almost completely absent to the east, where you can find marsupials and cockatoos — animals typically associated with Australia. Researchers have theorized that this may be because Argoland carried its own wildlife away from Australia before it crashed into Southeast Asia, which helps explain why different species are found on one land.
The story of Argoland is not one of complete disappearance but of transformation. As the world continues to evolve, this lost continent serves as a powerful symbol of the fragility (脆弱性) of life on this planet, and a reminder of the importance of respecting and protecting the world that we live in.
1. What is Argoland?| A．It is a basin deep below the ocean in Western Australia. |
| B．It is a large continent hidden beneath the islands of Southeast Asia. |
| C．It is a new land emerging from under the islands to the east of Indonesia. |
| D．It is a fragmented continent drifting from Western Australia to Southeast Asia. |
| A．To introduce an imaginary boundary. |
| B．To support the assumed theory of the lost continent. |
| C．To show different species in Southeast Asian islands. |
| D．To explain the reason why scientists are puzzled about the boundary. |
| A．it warns us to protect our planet. |
| B．it shows the creatures on earth are fragile. |
| C．it reminds us of the power of human activities. |
| D．it explains the biodiversity in Southeast Asian islands. |
| A．The mystery of a lost continent has been unfolded. |
| B．The fragments of Indonesia have been pieced together. |
| C．The formation of the Argo Abyssal Plain has been discovered. |
| D．The evolution of species in Southeast Asian islands has been traced. |
10 . In the late nineteenth century, art critics regarded seventeenth-century Dutch paintings as direct reflections of reality. The paintings were discussed as an index of the democracy of a society that chose to represent its class, action, and occupations exactly as they were, wide-ranging realism was seen as the great accomplishment of Dutch art. However, the achievement of more recent study of Dutch art has been the recovery of the fact that such paintings are to be taken as symbolizing mortality, the renaissance of earthly life, and the power of God, and as message that range from the mildly moralizing to the firmly didactic. How explicit and consistent the symbolizing process was intended to be is a much thornier matter, but anyone who has more familiarity than a passing acquaintance with Dutch literature or with the kinds of images used in illustrated books (above all emblem books) will know how much less pervasive was the habit of investing ordinary objects than of investing scenes with meaning that go be-y ond their surface and outward appearance. In the mid-1960s, Eddy de Jongh published an extraordinary array of material — especially from the emblem books and vernacular literature — that confirmed the unreliability of taking Dutch pictures at surface value alone.
The major difficulty, however, with the findings of critics such as de Jongh is that it is not easy to assess the multiplicity of levels in which Dutch viewers interpreted these pictures. De Jongh’s followers typically regard the pictures as purely symbolic. Not every object within Dutch paintings need be interpreted in terms of the gloss given to its equivalent representation in the emblem books. Not every foot warmer is to be interpreted in terms of the foot warmer in Rowmer Visscher’s Sinnepoppen of 1614, not every bridle is an emblem of restraint (though many were indeed just that).
To maintain as Brown does, that the two children in Netscher’s painting A Lady Teaching a Child to Read stand for industry and idleness is to fail to understand that the painting has a variety of possible meanings, even though the picture undoubtedly carriers unmistakable symbolic meanings, too. Modern Art historians may well find the discovery of parallels be-tween a painting and a specific emblem exciting, they may, like seventeenth-century viewers, search for the double that lie behind many paintings. But seventeenth-century response can hardly be reduced to the level of formula. To suggest otherwise is to imply a laboriousness of mental process that may well characterize modern interpretations of seventeenth-century Dutch Art, but that was, for the most part, not characteristic in the seventeenth century.
1. The passage is primarily concerned with which of the following?| A．Reconciling two different points of view about how art reflects. |
| B．Criticizing a traditional method of interpretation. |
| C．Describing and evaluating a recent critical approach. |
| D．Describing a long-standing controversy and how it was resolved. |
| A．Suggest that restraint was only one of the many symbolic meanings attached to bridles |
| B．Provide an example of an everyday, physical object that was not endowed with symbolic meaning |
| C．Provide an example of an object that modern critics have endowed with symbolic meaning different from the meaning assigned it by seventeenth-century Dutch artists |
| D．Provide an example of an object with symbolic meaning that was not always used as a symbol |
| A．It provides specific applications of the critical approach introduced in the preceding paragraph. |
| B．It present a caveat about the critical approach discussed in the preceding paragraph. |
| C．It presents the research on which a theory presented in the preceding paragraph is based. |
| D．It refutes a theory presented in the preceding paragraph and advocates a return to a more traditional approach. |
| A．They confirm that seventeenth century Dutch painting depict some objects and scenes rarely found in daily life. |
| B．They are more useful than vernacular literature in providing information about the sym-bolic content of seventeenth-century Dutch painting. |
| C．They have been misinterpreted by art critics, such as de Jongh, who claim seventeenth-century Dutch paintings contain symbolic meaning. |
| D．They contain material that challenges the assumptions of the nineteenth-century critics about seventeenth-century Dutch painting. |
