1 . When temperatures rise, humans sweat, dogs pant, and cats ... don’t move enough to overheat? Well, partially. Cats, who need to maintain an internal body temperature of 101°F to 102°F, have several methods for keeping cool in sweltering (酷热难耐的) weather.
It’s a misconception that cats sweat through their paws to cool themselves off. As summer wears on, you might see moist paw prints, but as veterinarian (兽医) Kimberly May told The Washington Post, “any secretions there or from their nose, mouth, or tongue are not for sweating; they’re for protection and moisture and are insufficient to cool the blood.”
Instead, cats recreate the sweating process — which works to cool humans via evaporation (蒸发) — by grooming themselves regularly. The saliva from their tongues acts like sweat that cools their body when it evaporates — which is why you can also help cool your cat down by using a damp washcloth to lightly wet their fur. In extreme weather, cats will also pant, but unlike dogs who pant regularly to keep themselves cool, a panting cat is a sign of more dangerous over-heating or other serious diseases.
And if you’re tempted to shave your feline (猫科的) friend to help keep him cool — don’t!
“Fur acts as a thermal regulator to slow down the process of heat absorption,” James H. Jones, an expert in comparative animal exercise physiology and thermoregulation (体温调节) at the University of California at Davis, told The Washington Post.
Fur coats are highly evolved — in the winter they keep animals warm, but in the summer, they work both to protect delicate skin from the sun and slow dehydration (Jones notes that, according to research, shaved camels fared worse in the deserts than those with their fur intact).
But even with these methods for keeping cool, cats also rely on the perks of domesticity to stay comfortable. So even though they evolved from wild ancestors and are able to tough it out, leave the A/C (or a fan) on for your cats when you go out, and make sure to leave them plenty of water.
1. What can we learn from paragraph 1?| A．Temperature affects humans and dogs more than cats. |
| B．Cats need to keep cool while the temperature is high. |
| C．Cats have more methods for keeping cool than humans and dogs. |
| D．Cats need to keep an internal temperature so they don’t have to keep cool. |
| A．grooming themselves | B．sweating like humans |
| C．panting like dogs | D．sweating through paws |
| A．fur can speed up the process of cooling down |
| B．cats with fur can be sold at a better price |
| C．fur can protect the cats both in heat and cold weather |
| D．cats with fur can survive in the deserts |
| A．Why cats need to keep cool. | B．The importance for cats to keep cool. |
| C．How fur works in the process of cooling down. | D．How cats keep cool in hot weather. |
2 . Over 1 in 10 young adults in the United States regularly use e-cigarettes, according to a new report from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The study, conducted by the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics, provides a snapshot (大致印象) of e-cigarette use in 2021. Based on data from the National Health Interview Survey, the report identified that e-cigarette use generally declined as family income increased. Adults under 44 were more likely to be dual users of both cigarettes and e-cigarettes.
Previous findings from the National Health Interview Survey have shown that cigarette use has fallen to record lows. E-cigarettes, however, have flared in popularity.
From 2020 to 2022, e-cigarette sales jumped in the United States, to 22.7 million products sold each month, according to previous CDC research. More brands — particularly of disposable e-cigarette products — entered the market, while fruit and candy flavors that appeal to younger audiences surged in popularity.
The new data indicates that a little under 1 in 20 adults reported in 2021 that they were current e-cigarette users, with slightly higher rates among men than women. Young adults, between the ages of 18 and 24, used e-cigarettes the most, with 11% indicating that they actively consumed the products.
As people got older, the study found, rates of e-cigarette use dropped — but traditional cigarette use steadily climbed. About 11.4% of survey respondents over 45 said they currently smoked cigarettes.
For Dr. Joanna Cohen, director of the Institute for Global Tobacco Control at Johns Hopkins University, the young demographic (人群) of e-cigarette users is worrying. Young people who have never smoked cigarettes — rather than older cigarette users trying to break the habit — make up the bulk of e-cigarette consumers.
“If e-cigarettes were being used as we would hope, the only people who should use them are those who are using them to quit smoking,” said Cohen, who was not involved with the new research. “You will see very different patterns.”
1. The study conducted by the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics shows that____.| A．most of the young adults in the US often use e-cigarettes |
| B．high-income are families inclined to use e-cigarettes |
| C．both e-cigarettes and cigarettes are used by adults over 44 |
| D．cigarettes have failed in popularity |
| A．E-cigarette sales slightly increased from 2020 to 2022. |
| B．More choices of e-cigarettes for young adults appeared in the market. |
| C．Previous male e-cigarettes users outnumbered the female ones. |
| D．The majority of the aged 18 to 24 indicates that they were active e-cigarettes consumers. |
| A．Young e-cigarettes users worry about the development of cigarettes. |
| B．Older cigarette users often use e-cigarettes to quit smoking. |
| C．E-cigarettes can be used to quit smoking. |
| D．E-cigarettes are being used as Cohen hoped. |
| A．The proper use of e-cigarettes. | B．Different patterns of e-cigarettes. |
| C．Tips on how to quit smoking. | D．Further criticism towards e-cigarettes. |
3 . What to Watch
My Brilliant Friend: Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay
The series, taken from the brilliant fiction of Elena Ferrante, is mainly about two women. It’s in the 1970s, and Elena has married a professor, and published a famous novel. Her close friend Lila, smarter but forced to skip college and marry a local man, becomes a single mom working in a terrible factory. Are they getting along well as before? It’s complicated.
Watch it; on HBO and HBO Max, $14.99 a month
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Season 4
The series is about how a rich housewife becomes a Greenwich Village stand-up comic. Midge (Rachel Brosnahan) is divorced and trying to find herself in 1960, and her dad (Tony Shalhoub) has become a Village Voice drama critic. We also can’t wait for the upcoming guest stars: Jason Alexander, Kelly Bishop, John Waters, Milo Ventimiglia and Luke Kirby.
Watch it: on Amazon Prime, $12.99 a month
The Beatles: Get Back
There’s never been a better time to be a Fab Four fan. Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson turns 150 hours of 50-year-old footage of the Beatles in the studio creating 14 songs and doing their last public performance into a spanking new docuseries with scenes you’ve never seen before.
Watch it: on Disney +, $6.99 a month
Ted Lasso, Season 2
If you watch only one show this summer make it this one, a heartwarming hit comedy. Jason Sudeikis plays a positive American football coach who knows little about soccer but gets hired to coach a soccer team in England. Apple TV + has a first-week-free offer, and if you bought a new iPhone lately, you probably have a year’s free subscription on it.
Watch it: on Apple TV+, $4.99 a month
1. What is the first series mainly about?| A．Married life. | B．Female friendship. | C．How to write a novel. | D．Single moms’ suffering. |
| A．It is taken from a novel. | B．It is directed by an actress. |
| C．It is an inspirational story. | D．It is a fantastic musical play. |
| A．My Brilliant Friend: Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay |
| B．The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Season 4 |
| C．The Beatles: Get Back |
| D．Ted Lasso, Season 2 |
4 . For over a decade, Zubin Kanga, a pianist, composer and technologist, has changed the limits of the forms of musical performances. He has both organized and performed shows that have pushed barriers, with motion sensors, artificial intelligence (AI), live-generated 3D visuals and virtual reality among the technological advancements used to unlock new possibilities of music and performances.
Kanga’s approach to employing cutting-edge technology was first informed by the relative limitations of his chosen instrument. “The piano is a very accurate technology,” he says. “From the early 20th century till now it hasn’t really changed at all. It’s an amazing instrument, but it does have certain limitations in terms of the types of sound you can create.”
One of the early works is Steel on Bone, composed by Kanga himself. He performs the piece using MiMU multi-sensor gloves. “I can put up one finger, and that’ll produce a particular sound,” Kanga explains. “And then I can control that sound just by moving my wrist through the air — I can do that with lots of different gestures.”
“For Steel on Bone, I’m actually playing inside the piano with these steel knitting (编织) needles, and getting all these interesting effects on the strings. Then I’m using samples of them. Sometimes I’m using live delays and operating them. The sound can change depending on how my hands are moving. It allows me to make a very theatrical piece, and people can see this immediate connection between how I’m moving — these very big, almost conductor-like gestures through the air — and the way the sound is changing,” said Kanga.
This is just the start, and Kanga goes on to be enthused with the use of motion sensors to make music, the possibilities that AI offers composers as a tool, and how virtual reality could transform performances and more.
1. What do technological advancements do for music and performances?| A．Remove music barriers. |
| B．Bring new performance forms. |
| C．Popularize musical performances. |
| D．Make performances professional. |
| A．To indicate its stability. |
| B．To prove its rare accuracy. |
| C．To show it has a long history. |
| D．To clarify why he uses technology. |
| A．By moving his hands in the air. | B．By pressing the piano keys. |
| C．By beating the steel knitting needles. | D．By making very small gestures. |
| A．Technology: When It Replaces Music |
| B．Virtual Reality: Future of Performances |
| C．Zubin Kanga: When Music Meets Technology |
| D．AI Music: From Composing to Performing |
5 . It was Christmas Eve when my elder sister and I decided to open our presents before our mom got home from work. She usually came home about an hour after we got home from school, which we thought was plenty of time to sneak a look (偷看) at the gifts under the tree.
My elder sister opened present after present while I was ordered to stand guard at the big window in our front room. Finally, when my sister’s curiosity was satisfied, we changed places.
After opening a few presents, I found it faster to open one end of a present and look inside. “Cool! Mom and Dad got me headphones!” I pulled the headphones out of the box and was about to put them on when my sister shouted, “Quick! Wrap (包裹) it back up! Mom’s coming!”
I put the headphones back in the box but my hands were shaking. My heart beat faster as I tried to get the tape to stick. I had just finished burying the package with my headphones in it when my mother came into the front room. I jumped up and said, “Hi, Mom!” She smiled at me and said “Hi” back, but didn’t appear to suspect (怀疑) anything. My heart began to slow as I took a deep breath.
On Christmas morning, my sister and I smiled, and gave award-winning performances when we opened our presents—again. “Headphones!” I shouted. “Thanks, it’s just what I wanted.” After everything had been opened, my sister and I looked at each other, and our eyes met. Our secret was safe, but somehow Christmas morning didn’t feel the same.
My sister and I never opened our Christmas presents early again. I don’t know if it was that opening our gifts for the second time just wasn’t as much fun as the first time, or if we came too close to getting caught and didn’t want to think about what our mother would have done to us.
1. What did the author and his sister do before their mother came back?| A．They bought some Christmas presents. |
| B．They hid Christmas presents under the tree. |
| C．They opened Christmas presents in advance. |
| D．They wrapped the headphones for their mother. |
| A．Grateful and moved. | B．Happy and excited. |
| C．Curious and surprised. | D．Nervous and frightened. |
| A．His secret was found out. | B．His curiosity wasn’t satisfied. |
| C．A pleasant surprise was lost. | D．A festival atmosphere was lost. |
| A．He didn’t like the headphones. | B．He regretted what he had done. |
| C．He wasn’t satisfied with his mother. | D．He couldn’t find his Christmas present. |
6 . The idea of Buy Now Pay Later or BNPL, has attracted millions of shoppers with the promise of interest-free credit. An incredible 45 percent of 18 to 24-year-olds in the UK turned to BNPL last year, according to The Money Charity. Lenders say they offer a better deal than credit cards, because they do not charge interest but make money from affiliate deals (关联交易) with retailers (零售商). It may be a new way of borrowing money, but the old rules still apply: unless you repay the debt quickly, you are building up trouble for the future.
Now, BNPLs are growing in popularity and do have upsides — mostly convenient shopping with no interest financing and no strict approval requirements. However, they also make it effortless to overshop, overspend, and get in over your head with credit problems.
Lenders pay the retailer on your behalf, and then you repay over 30 days or three months, spreading the cost to help with your cash flow. They say this is fairer and less expensive than credit cards. That may be true, but BNPL has dangers, too.
BNPL lenders may not charge any interest, but they still want you to pay back the money you have borrowed, so what if you can’t? Typically, you have 30 days to pay. If you don’t, your lender will contact you to chase late payments. If you still don’t pay, they call in the debt collectors.
Citizens Advice says that 14 million used a BNPL product last year, but six million did not understand what they were signing up for. Some 26% of BNPL customers regretted their choice, while 41% struggled with repayment. Younger people were particularly at risk. A quarter of those making BNPL repayments couldn’t afford food, rent or bills as a result.
Another worry is that BNPL lenders only perform soft searches on a person’s credit report, so do not see the borrower’s true credit status. This means they cannot remove people with financial problems and may end up adding to their troubles. BNPL lenders say they do careful checks to make sure they never lend more than a consumer can afford to pay back, and also pause accounts if a single payment is late. Nobody wants to be pursued by debt collectors. If you do use BNPL credit, never borrow more than you can afford to repay.
1. How do BNPL lenders earn profits according to the text?| A．They force borrowers to pay their debts. |
| B．They require payment for retailers’ services. |
| C．They receive a certain fee from affiliate deals. |
| D．They charge interest from 18 to 24-year-old users. |
| A．For strict approval requirements and no interest. |
| B．For its convenience of shopping with high interest. |
| C．For buying anything needed without credit problems. |
| D．For convenient shopping and no strict approval requirements. |
| A．All the young people can’t repay the debt quickly. |
| B．It is difficult to know the borrower’s real credit status. |
| C．More than half of BNPL customers can’t afford the payments. |
| D．BNPL has to depend on debt collectors to get back the money. |
| A．To make up your mind. |
| B．To start to feel happy. |
| C．To be involved in a difficult situation. |
| D．To show an indifferent attitude. |
7 . A Norwegian company has created what it calls the world’s first zero-emission(排放), autonomous cargo ship(货船). Developed by chemical company Yara International, the ship was designed to reduce emissions of pollutants and greenhouse gases, and move goods away from roads to the sea.
The shipping industry accounts for between 2.5% and 3% of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to the International Maritime Organization. Nearly all of Norway’s electricity is generated by hydroelectric power, which is generally considered to have much lower carbon emissions than burning fossil fuels, despite the fact that it still produces greenhouse gases.
Capable of carrying 103 containers and with a top speed of 13 knots, it will use a 7 MWh battery, with about a thousand times the capacity of one electrical car. The ship will be charged near the port before sailing to container harbors along the coast and then back again, replacing 40,000 truck journeys a year.
As well as providing a greener option compared to conventional cargo ships, there is no crewman, which means it will be more cost-effective to operate. Initially, loading and unloading the ship will require humans, but gradually, all loading, discharging, and some other operations will also be eventually operated using autonomous technology. That will involve developing autonomous cranes(起重机) and carriers, which are the vehicles that place containers onto ships.
According to researchers, fully autonomous ships are the future. But there are many challenges to overcome before autonomous ships can be used for commercial long sea journeys. Navigating traffic in large ports could be a major barrier.
Without a crew aboard to carry out maintenance checks, autonomous ships would need built-in self-diagnosing systems with the ability to detect and fix problems, or call for human assistance.
Although Yara International has no plans to add more autonomous ships to its operations, we may see more elements of AI technology used on commercial ships in the future. Elements are already being used in shipping today when it comes to the voyage and we’ll see more partly autonomous elements added.
1. What’s the good news about the new ship?| A．It’s conventionally designed. | B．It has been fully marketed. |
| C．It’s environmentally friendly. | D．It is luxuriously equipped. |
| A．The autonomous carriers. | B．The latest navigating traffic. |
| C．The burning of fossil fuels. | D．The massive battery capacity. |
| A．Researchers are pessimistic about its future. |
| B．The new ship isn’t completely autonomous yet. |
| C．A lot more such ships will be in operation soon. |
| D．No human labor is needed to maintain the ship. |
| A．Favorable. | B．Reserved. | C．Suspicious. | D．Disapproving. |
8 . Are you keen on learning something new? Are you looking for application programs that can help you learn with confidence. The following apps will just suit your needs.
Quizlet
Best for: Boosting your knowledge and brushing up your skills
Whether you are brushing up on a language, gardening knowledge and cooking techniques, or having a good command of your favorite literature classics, the online learning platform, Quizlet, gives you access to over 300 million different study sets on almost any subject you can imagine for free.
Babbel
Best for: Learning a new language
As well as being a great skill to show off on holiday, learning a new language can have profound(深远的) effects on solving problems and might even give you a leg-up in your career. With classes designed to be 10-15 minutes long, Babbel encourages learning in short, yet achievable, bursts. So why not give language learning a try?
Blinkist
Best for: Bite-sized book learning
Blinkist is the perfect app to provide the key highlights from non-fiction books in both audio and text form. Whether you want to start a new business, improve your management skills, or achieve a better life balance, micro-learning app Blinkist takes key ideas from non-fiction texts and summarizes them into easy-to-consume 15-minute digests.
Remente
Best for: Improving mental well-being
Stress is something that most of us face on a daily basis—be it at work or at home—and continual worry and stress can be harmful to your health.
Whether the aim is to improve mental well-being, mindfulness, stress management or personal or professional relationships, Remente guides users through every step in order to make their goals a reality. It does this through dividing your overall aim into daily goals, making large tasks manageable and keeping you on track.
1. Which app will a learner consider if money is a concern?| A．Remente | B．Blinkist | C．Babbel | D．Quizlet |
| A．Successful learning. | B．Enjoyable learning. |
| C．Autonomous learning. | D．Interactive learning. |
| A．To advocate online learning. | B．To promote modern technology. |
| C．To attract people to use them. | D．To encourage life-long learning. |
9 . Turning on the air conditioning can bring sweet relief from the heat. But your resulting energy bill? Not so much. What if your home could stay cool all on its own? That’s the premise (前提) of Zheng Yi’s new invention. The associate professor at Northeastern University in Boston has created a sustainable material that can be used to make buildings or other objects able to keep cool without relying on conventional cooling systems.
Zheng imagines this material covering the roofs of houses or other buildings. The material, which Zheng has named “cooling paper”, has light colors and internal microstructure with many small holes. It reflects those warm solar rays away from the building, and it also absorbs heat inside—heat that is from electronics, cooking and human bodies.
Cooling paper is, in fact, made of paper. One day, Zheng saw a container full of used printing paper. He thought to himself, “How could we simply transform that waste material into some functional energy material?” So, with the help of a high-speed blender (搅拌机) from his kitchen, Zheng made a pulp (浆状物) out of it and the material that makes up Teflon, a type of plastic. He then made it into waterproof “cooing paper” that could coat homes. Then, he and his team tested its ability to keep cool: it can reduce temperatures by as much as 6℃. He selected materials that would reduce the cost of using the new technology to cool homes.
The cooling paper isn’t just green in its ability to reduce your energy footprint. The material can be used, exposed to solar radiation and varying temperatures, and then reduced to a pulp (again) and remade without losing any of its cooling properties. “That is incredible!” Zheng says. “We thought there would be maybe 10 to 20 percent of loss, but no. It’s just as well as the original.”
1. On what basis is Zheng’s new invention created?| A．Relieving the discomforts of the heat. | B．Improving traditional cooling systems. |
| C．Cooling the air without electricity. | D．Reducing electricity use and costs. |
| A．It works in two ways. | B．It’s complexly structured. |
| C．It has limited applications. | D．It’s available in dark colors. |
| A．From Teflon. | B．From a pulp. | C．From the blender. | D．From the wastepaper. |
| A．Its practicality. | B．Its recyclability. | C．Its heat resistance. | D．Its user-friendliness. |
10 . The Nobel Literature Prizes are awarded to the persons who shall have produced in the field of literature the most outstanding work in an ideal direction. The followings are some famous female winners in recent years.
Herta Müller (from Germany)
The Nobel Prize winner in Literature 2009. Her works are rooted in her experiences as one of Romania’s German-speaking racial minority. Muller describes how dictatorship(独裁)causes a fear and sense of distance that stays in an individual’s mind. With precise language, she recalls images from the past.
Svetlana Alexievich (from Belarus)
The Nobel Prize winner in Literature 2015. Svetlana Alexievich represents life during and after the Soviet Union(苏联)through the experience of individuals. She uses interviews to create a picture of a wide range of voices. Her books are a combination of oral history and deeply psychological literature, composed of stories collected on a simple tape recorder.
Louise Glück (from America)
The Nobel Prize winner in Literature 2020. The prize committee stressed “Her unmistakable poetic voice with plain beauty makes individual existence universal”. Childhood, family life, the close relationships with family is a theme that has remained central to her. She seeks the universal, and in this she takes inspiration from myths and classical themes.
Annie Ernaux (from France)
The Nobel Prize winner in Literature in 2022. She usually describes the events in her life and the lives of those around her. “The courage and clinical sensitivity with which she uncovers the roots, separations and collective restriction of personal memory” is the reason she was awarded the prize according to Swedish Academy.
1. How does Svetlana Alexievich create her works?| A．By interview. | B．By biography. |
| C．By short stories. | D．By memoir. |
| A．Her family life. | B．Individual existence. |
| C．Simple beauty. | D．Fictional structure. |
| A．They are rooted in life experience. |
| B．They create a lot of pictures for their books. |
| C．They bring light to the root of people’s memory. |
| D．They are focused on the relationship between individuals. |
