1 . Certain Chinese cuisines, such as the well-known Roasted Duck from Beijing or the delicious Tianjin-style Pancakes, might appear commonplace to the Chinese, but they have gained global recognition. The appeal of these delicacies is deeply rooted in vast geographical diversity.
Stretching from the extremely cold northern plains to the southern rainforests, different regions have their unique ingredients and cooking techniques.
Climate plays a crucial role in shaping regional cuisines. In Sichuan, for example, the hot and wet climate, coupled with the region’s mountainous physical geography, has led to a preference for spicy foods, like Stir-Fried Tofu in Hot Sauce or Spicy Chicken. The spicy flavors add appetite to dishes. In addition,
One of the most noteworthy contrasts between southern and northern Chinese cuisines lies in the employment of ingredients. Southern dishes tend to be lighter and more delicate, featuring seafood, vegetables, and rice. In contrast,
Another important aspect of Chinese dining culture is the significance of table manners. Meals are often shared among family and friends, with each person taking turns to serve and pour. Chopsticks, rather than forks or knives, are preferred, symbolizing closeness and familiarity. The act of eating together goes beyond food alone.
| A．northern cuisines are heavier and more hearty |
| B．they serve to warm up and remove dampness from the boday |
| C．This diversity comes down to its geographical and climatic conditions |
| D．The Chinese people have for centuries crafted varieties of delicious dishes |
| E．This geographical diversity has given birth to eight major cooking traditions |
| F．That is to say, it represents a sense of community and the strength of bonds |
| G．Chinese cuisines share emphasis on the perfect harmony of color, flavor and taste |
2 . Pity the poor traffic policeman. He’s the last guy you want to see when you’re speeding down the highway. But according to a major research by scientists in Canada and California, that policeman just might be saving your life or the life of someone else.
The researchers have found that a traffic ticket reduces a driver’s chance of being involved in a disastrous accident greatly. The effect doesn’t last long, however. Within months, the lead foot is back on the pedal and the risk of killing yourself or someone else is back up to where it was before that policeman stared you in the eye and wrote out that expensive ticket. It is back to business as usual for most motorists.
Traffic tickets save thousands of lives every year. Yet traffic laws are applied infrequently, almost as if by whim (心血来潮), partly because people just don’t like traffic policemen, and there are lots of other things for the government to spend money on than applying highway safety laws.
Researches looked at the month prior to a disastrous accident, and the number of traffic convictions (定罪), and then the same month in the year before. They found there were fewer tickets in the month before a disastrous accident than there were a year before, which suggests there’s a protective effect of having a ticket.
The scientists also turned up some surprising results. “Most of the crashes did not involve alcohol,” they reported. “The relative risk reduction associated with traffic convictions was remarkably consistent among women and men, regardless of age, prior driving record, and other personal data. Men, however, were involved in far more disastrous accidents than women and the most accident-prone (有倾向的) age was between 30 and 50.”
They also pointed out that most crashes could have been prevented by a small difference in driver behavior. So the next time you see that policeman in your rear-view mirror, give him or her a broad smile.
1. How will the drivers probably behave months after having traffic tickets?| A．Drive more attentively than before. | B．Return to where accidents happened. |
| C．Escape a spot check for alcohol. | D．Drive as fast as they did before. |
| A．They have saved thousands of lives so far. |
| B．They are not favored by traffic policemen. |
| C．They are carried out consistently and sufficiently. |
| D．They are not the priority of the government’s budget. |
| A．Traffic tickets can guarantee safe driving. |
| B．It is necessary to reduce traffic convictions. |
| C．Disastrous accidents will decline with more traffic tickets given. |
| D．Tickets’ protective effect can be found before disastrous accidents. |
| A．Its results applied to both men and women. |
| B．None of the traffic crashes involved alcohol. |
| C．Women aged 30 to 50 caused more disastrous accidents. |
| D．Drivers were used to looking at the mirrors while driving. |
3 . My family and I had set out on a day trip from Shillong to Cherrapunji, a town known for being one of the wettest places on Earth. However, after we had been stuck in traffic for more than four hours, one of my sisters proposed going back to the city as a last attempt to save whatever remained of the day. A quick online search revealed other must-visit spots around Shillong. Most were familiar, but one caught our attention—Nartiang with its mysterious monoliths (独石碑). The photo showed tall stones piled together in a strange formation, appealing to us to explore further despite the lack of details provided.
That is how I found myself standing in the shadow of the huge monoliths of Nartiang, which is home to the thickest and largest collection in the region. Curious to uncover their history, I approached Maryo Symblai, a village elder I met later that day, who told me the story of the monoliths that has been orally passed down over generations. She said, “Back in the day, Nartiang didn’t have a bazaar (集市) and the nearest one was at Raliang. On one such bazaar, a giant named Mar Phalyngki was caught in heavy rain on his way back. He requested to borrow an umbrella from the Raliang chief’s youngest daughter, but she wanted to test his legendary strength instead. ‘Why don’t you go lift that huge stone in the bazaar and use it as an umbrella?’ she said dismissively. Emboldened by her challenge, he just did that, but before reaching Nartiang, he placed it in a forest when the rain had stopped.”
“There is a certain overlap of ancient story and memory in the case of the Nartiang monoliths. The locals’ account of how the place came to be is based on ancient stories or folk customs. But they also remember it because it served their ancestors as a weekly marketplace, a memorial, and a place for political gatherings. That is how oral history works. It mixes fact and fiction into collective memory”, said Dr Reeju Ray, a local writer.
Today, even though the traditional customs and more confirmed historical accounts offer some insight into the site, the mystery(奥秘)of the stone giants lasts.
1. Why did the author and his family come to visit the monoliths of Nartiang?| A．It was in their original trip plan. |
| B．They had to choose it as an alternative. |
| C．It was the only remaining place to visit. |
| D．An elder village r gave them the suggestion. |
| A．Threatened. | B．Moved. | C．Stimulated. | D．Frightened. |
| A．To info rm what the monoliths served as. |
| B．To illustrate how the mysterious story came into being. |
| C．To introduce the feature of Nartiang monoliths. |
| D．To deny the overlap of ancient story and memory. |
| A．A Trip to the Monoliths. | B．The Mystery of Shillong. |
| C．The Formation of the Monoliths. | D．A Disappointing Travel Experience. |
4 . Is a moviegoer different than a movie-lover? I’d say so. You can love a movie by watching it at home.
I’ve thought about two views of the moviegoer lately.
The first view comes from Roland Barthes. Most often, his moviegoers don’t go to the movies for a distinct purpose.
The second view comes from the Clark Theater manager, Bruce Trinz. When people go to the movies they go for a certain personal motive. They may want to forget something, or escape from the lives they are leading. Or they may want to see a film they liked years ago.
| A．Whatever motive they have |
| B．To be a moviegoer, you have to go out |
| C．The movie also puts them somewhere else |
| D．They are instead wrapped up in themselves |
| E．Because moviegoers go in search of beauty |
| F．Moviegoers may be hopelessly addicted to the movies |
| G．It’s something to do with a response to leisure, free time |
5 . If you’ve been on BookTok, an online community where readers recommend, review and theorize about their favorite books, authors and genres, you’ve probably heard of Rebecca Yarros’ Fourth Wing. On BookTok, the release of Fourth Wing came with hype (炒作) around a mix between romance and fantasy. The novel was published last May and its sequel (续集) followed just six months later.
But questions came: Are publishers and authors publishing books too quickly, and does this affect the quality of writing?
On the day of the sequel’s release, Yarros and her publisher, Red Tower Books, were met with much criticism about her misuse of a language’s grammar in the novel. Many argued that the mistakes could have been avoided if the publishers had hired someone to proofread (校对) the language.
So what does BookTok have to do with this? It was one of the reasons why within the first week of Fourth Wing being published, the book quickly shot up to the top of the New York Times Best Sellers list despite criticism.
With the rising readers, it isn’t uncommon for both publishers and authors to use that hype to their advantage. This was likely a reason why the series, originally including three books, was dragged into a five-book series.
This is kind of what fast fashion is all about. Fast fashion refers to the process of clothing manufacturing that moves from production/design to stores quickly to keep up with current trends. These pieces are often cheap and low-quality and sent to stores with the hope of selling out quickly. The same approach used in the publishing world, thanks to BookTok to some degree, could lead to decreasing book quality when writing and editing aren’t able to reach their maximum potential.
This isn’t to say that books like Fourth Wing are bad just because they’re hyped. But abandoning developed work for crowd-pleasers doesn’t do all readers justice. These worries about the quick turnover in the publishing industry aren’t directed towards independent authors who carefully write, edit and publish themselves, but rather towards those who overlook the importance of everything that goes into the writing process.
1. Why does the author raise questions in the text?| A．To doubt readers’ judgment. | B．To keep the text developing. |
| C．To highlight BookTok’s advantages. | D．To provide background information. |
| A．It enjoyed popularity. | B．It faced little criticism. |
| C．It was publicly rejected. | D．It didn’t sell well in stores. |
| A．Book quality is vital in the publishing industry. |
| B．Books like Fourth Wing are not good ones. |
| C．Authors should avoid doing too many duties. |
| D．BookTok shouldn’t be to blame for fast fashion. |
| A．BookTok Is Misleading Consumers in Reading. |
| B．Are Those Books Posted Online Worth Reading? |
| C．Fast Fashion Emerges in the Publishing Industry. |
| D．Can the Publishing Industry Adapt to Challenges? |
6 . Researchers discovered a new function for a common protein in the brain—a development that throws new light on the mysteries of the mind and holds promising implications for the treatment of memory loss and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
The protein, called RPT6, normally performs necessary housekeeping in the brain’s hippocampus (海马体) by working as part of a larger protein complex called the proteasome to destroy other proteins. But researchers in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences’ School of Animal Sciences recently noticed this protein behaving in a previously undetected way.
“We have found that RPT6 is capable of this completely different function where it can combine with DNA and increase the expression of other genes or proteins during memory formation,” said Tim Jarome, associate professor of neurobiology. “This indicates that RPT6 plays a dual (双重的) role in memory formation, both inside and outside the proteasome complex.”
Gene expression is critical to memory formation. It helps to build the neural networks needed to form and strengthen memories. The discovery, published in the Journal of Neuroscience, opens up new avenues for exploration of how RPT6 functions in the brain and how it can be controlled to improve memory and reduce the harm of memory disorders like PTSD.
Researchers don’t yet understand why RPT6 has this dual function or how it is helping to control the cells that form a memory. “There has to be something else that’s working with it to control gene expression,” Jarome said. “We are trying to understand now how it’s doing that.”
Hopefully, the discovery will be helpful to the ongoing research in Jarome’s lab, which focuses on understanding and treating memory disorders.
“The discovery of RPT6’s new function is leading us somewhere new in revealing the complexities of the brain and how we learn and store memories,” said research scientist Kayla Farrell. “We believe that this will help to inform new directions into understanding how gene expression is controlled during memory. In the long term, this could lead to potential treatment of controlling and improving memory.”
1. What does Tim Jarome say about RPT6 in paragraph 3?| A．It is a new kind of protein. | B．It has little to do with DNA. |
| C．It can feed most of the cells. | D．It affects memory formation. |
| A．What contributes to RPT6’s dual function. |
| B．The role of gene expression in memory formation. |
| C．The discovery of RPT6’s dual function in the brain. |
| D．Whether RPT6 can increase the expression of other genes. |
| A．The brain is not complex to explore. |
| B．The finding is of great significance. |
| C．The new treatment of memory loss works. |
| D．The problem of storing memory is serious. |
| A．In a lab report. | B．In a chemistry textbook. |
| C．In a health magazine. | D．In a first aid brochure. |
7 . Four Must-see Museum Exhibitions in 2024
LaToya Ruby Frazier, “Monuments of Solidarity”Museum of Modern Art, New York
May 12 — September 7
Museum of Modern Art will present a range of works, including photography, text, and moving images, from the artist LaToya Ruby Frazier’s career. Frazier’s first museum show, the exhibition spans over 20 years and highlights her ongoing interest in revitalizing and preserving overlooked and erased stories from America’s post-industrial era, in particular, stories of gender, race, inequality and labor.
Jenny Holzer, “Light Line”Guggenheim Museum, New York
May 17 — September 29
The museum is revisiting the artist’s influential practice with “Light Line”, an expanded version of the landmark show. The 2024 exhibition will include some of Holzer’s earliest and rarely shown works alongside new text that has been generated with AI, illustrating the artist’s continued interest in employing the latest tech innovations.
Anselm Kiefer, “Fallen Angels”Palazzo Strozzi, Florence
March 22 — July 21
Bringing together new and historic paintings, sculptures and prints, “Fallen Angels” offers a comprehensive look at the influential German artist’s career. Kiefer, one of the most important figures in German art, draws from a range of sources, including religion, philosophy, collective memory and the history of war. The exhibition promises to explore the complexity of Kiefer’s works, showcasing a range of subjects and materials in the context of Palazzo Strozzi’s historic Renaissance (文艺复兴) architecture.
Caspar David Friedrich, “Infinite Landscapes”Alte Nationalgalerie, Berlin
April 19 — August 4
Celebrating the 250th anniversary of the birth of the great German artist Caspar David Friedrich (1774 — 1840), “Infinite Landscapes” joins two other major German exhibitions of the Romantic landscape painter’s works in Hamburg and Dresden. “Infinite Landscapes” will bring together nearly 60 paintings and 50 drawings, including several pairs of paintings that the artist created to explore the concepts of perspective (透视) and change.
1. What can you do at the exhibition in Museum of Modern Art?| A．Interact with Italian photographers. |
| B．Admire the latest tech innovations. |
| C．Watch films about various machines. |
| D．Learn about the overlooked side of America. |
| A．“Light Line”. | B．“Fallen Angels”. |
| C．“Infinite Landscapes”. | D．“Monuments of Solidarity”. |
| A．They take place in three different places. |
| B．They celebrate two famous painters’ birthdays. |
| C．They focus on historic Renaissance architecture. |
| D．They display the works of artists from the same country. |
8 . The United Kingdom is hosting the AI Safety Summit, bringing politicians, computer scientists and big AI company leaders to a site chosen for its symbolism: Bletchley Park, the birthplace of computing and code-breaking (密码破译).
During World War II, a group of mathematicians, chess masters and other experts gathered at the Victorian country house 72 kilometers northwest of London to start a secret war against Nazi Germany. Their goal was to break a set of constantly changing codes produced by Nazi Germany’s Enigma machine. To do it, Bletchley Park’s wartime scientists—building on work done by Polish code-breakers—developed Colossus, the first programmable digital computer. Some historians say cracking the code helped shorten the war by up to two years.
“It has oversimplified its true contribution by describing Bletchley Park as a playground for Turing and other scientists.” said historian Chris Smith, author of The Hidden History of Bletchley Park. “Although it fits into the romantic idea that a group of smart men with a bit of wool and some yards of wire can win the war. In fact, almost 10,000 people worked at Bletchley Park during the war. Three quarters of them were women. It’s basically a factory... Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. When peace came, the code-breakers returned to civilian life and promised to keep secret about their wartime work. It was not until the 1970s that the work at Bletchley Park became widely known in Britain.”
In 1994, the site opened as a museum, after local historians banded together to prevent it from being pulled down to build a supermarket. It was restored to its 1940s appearance, complete with old typewriters, phones and cups—including the one tied to a heater in Hut 8, where Turing led the Enigma team.
1. What can we learn about Colossus?| A．It was invented by Nazi Germany. |
| B．It was designed to send secret messages. |
| C．Polish code-breakers also made a contribution to it. |
| D．The project’s goal was to produce the first computer. |
| A．Women’s hard work was overlooked. | B．The secret should not be kept for so long. |
| C．The computer ought to be more powerful. | D．It is silly to say the machine shortened the war. |
| A．To highlight the government’s support. | B．To show the perfect restoration of the site. |
| C．To stress Turing’s important role in the project. | D．To tell the difficulty in collecting the lost items. |
| A．To advocate women’s equal rights with men. |
| B．To advertise a newly restored computer museum. |
| C．To show the significance of an important meeting. |
| D．To add some background to the AI safety meeting. |
9 . The number of universities has grown very fast in recent decades. Higher-education institutions across the world now employ 15 million researchers, up from 4 million in 1980. Governments are also happy to spend on higher education because it is supposed to produce scientific breakthroughs that can be available to all. In theory, therefore, universities should be an excellent source of productivity growth.
In practice, however, the productivity has slowed down during the last decades. In the 1950s and 1960s, workers’ output per hour across the rich world rose by 4% a year. But in the last decade, 1% a year was the norm. Even with the wave of innovation in artificial intelligence (AI), productivity growth remains weak — less than 1% a year, which is bad news for economic growth.
A new paper by Ashish Arora and his team suggests that universities’ rapid growth and the rich world’s slowdown productivity could be two sides of the same coin. The paper suggests that scientific breakthroughs from public institutions “caused little or no response from businesses” over a number of years. A scientist in a university lab might publish brilliant paper after brilliant paper. Often, however, this has no impact on corporations’ own patents, with life sciences being the exception. And this, in turn, points to a small impact on the overall productivity.
Why do companies struggle to use ideas produced by universities?
The paper says that, free from the demands of the market, researchers in university labs focus more on satisfying their curiosity than finding breakthroughs that will change the world or make money. “To some degree, such kind of research is not a bad thing; some breakthrough technologies, such as penicillin, were discovered almost by accident,” it writes, “But if everyone is doing that, the economy suffers.”
Perhaps, with time, universities and the business world will work together more tightly. Tougher competition could force businesses to beef up their internal research. In fact, researchers in companies’ labs, rather than universities, are driving the current AI innovations. At some point, governments will need to ask themselves hard questions. In a world of weak economic growth, huge spending on universities may come to seem an unjustifiable luxury.
1. What are the statistics in paragraph 2 mainly about?| A．The weak economy around the globe. | B．Universities’ contribution to employment. |
| C．Governments’ spending on higher education. | D．The slow productivity growth in the rich world. |
| A．The investors. | B．The workers. | C．Life sciences. | D．Al industries. |
| A．They are very eager to make more money. | B．They are less concerned about applications. |
| C．They usually find breakthroughs by accident. | D．They should be left alone to do their research. |
| A．A Study Suggests Universities Fail to Increase Productivity |
| B．Universities and the Business World May Work Together Soon |
| C．It Is Important for Companies’ Labs to Lead the AI Innovation |
| D．It Is a Big Waste to Spend So Much Money on Higher Education |
10 . Keith Payne realized he was poor for the first time when he was in the fourth grade. The awareness came to him when a new lunch lady in the cafeteria asked him to pay for his lunch.
“Previously, the lunch lady had just waved me on because I’d always been on free lunch,” he says. “But this new lady didn’t know how things worked, and it was the first time that I had been asked to pay for my lunch.”
It was an agonizing moment and all of a sudden, he realized why he got free lunch while many of his classmates were paying for their meals every day.
“It’s not like I was poorer the day after that than I was before. Nothing objective had changed. But because of that subjective awareness, I began constantly comparing myself with my classmates and felt really unhappy,” he says.
Keith Payne is now a social psychologist at the University of North Carolina and shares how the awareness of inequality affects the way that both our minds and our bodies respond.
“As we walk through the world, it is very natural for us to compare our lives with those of others. We think about ourselves in terms of being on a certain ladder (梯子) with some people above us and it can cause serious psychological consequences,” he says.
One is that it makes us more willing to seek out risks and engage in high-risk, high-reward sort of behaviors. It affects us in ways that are similar to physical threats.
“But I think there are wiser and less wise ways to make those social comparisons,” he says. “Upward social comparisons feel terrible, but they can be motivating. Downward social comparisons feel great, and yet they can be demotivating. So one of the things I recommend is that we can be more strategic in making upward and download social comparisons, Neither one is good in itself. It just depends on what your goal is.”
1. Which of the following best explains “agonizing” underlined in paragraph 3?| A．Painful. | B．Brief. | C．Important. | D．Happy. |
| A．Poor people should be treated equally. |
| B．He wants to blame the new lunch lady. |
| C．There were a lot of poor people in his country. |
| D．We can be influenced by the awareness of inequality. |
| A．Unimportant. | B．Acceptable. | C．Annoying. | D．Unnecessary. |
| A．Talk to psychologists immediately. | B．Hang out with top performers. |
| C．Compare with less successful persons. | D．Stay alone and enjoy ourselves. |
