1 . Language gives us the power to describe countless actions, properties and relations that compose our experiences, real or imagined. As for how languages were created, scientists found iconicity might play a key role.

People can’t bridge language gap and understand each other without iconicity. When playing a game of charades (猜字谜) , we act out our meaning, using our hands and bodies to describe the sizes and shapes of objects. The key to this process of forming new symbols is the use of iconicity. Not limited to gesturing, iconicity appears in our visual communication too. Traffic signs, food packaging, maps. . . wherever there are people communicating, you will find iconicity.

According to our research, iconicity might also exist in our voices. We organized a contest in which we invited contestants to record a set of sounds to express different meanings. The winner of the contest was determined by how well listeners could guess the intended meanings of the sounds based on a set of written options. Critically, the sounds that contestants submitted couldn’t include actual words or onomatopoeias (拟声词) .

Listeners were remarkably good at interpreting the meanings of the sounds. Yet, all of the contestants and listeners were speakers of English. Thus, it was possible that listeners’ success relied on some cultural knowledge that they shared with the speakers. Did the listeners also understand the speakers from completely different cultural backgrounds?

Later, an Internet survey translated into 25 different languages was carried out. Participants listened to each sound from the English speakers and guessed the meaning by choosing from six written words. Guessing accuracy for the different groups ranged from 74 percent for English speakers to 34 percent for Portuguese speakers. It is far from perfect, but well above the chance rate of eight percent expected by us.

Taken together, these studies show that our capacity for iconic communication has played a critical role. Without this special talent, language would likely never have gotten off the ground.

1. Which of the following can explain “iconicity” ?

A．A skill in foreign language learning.	B．The process of acting out our meanings.
C．The connection between form and meaning.	D．A barrier between different language speakers.

2. What can we know about the contest?

A．It required sounds containing meanings.	B．Its winners were creative in recordings.
C．It aimed to prove iconicity in words.	D．Its entries were familiar to listeners.

3. What can be inferred from Paragraph 4?

A．English pronunciations differ.	B．The research has a limitation.
C．The cultural gap is narrowing.	D．Listening skills vary in cultures.

4. What is the significance of the research?

A．Clarifying the influence of sounds.	B．Proving the necessity of exchanges.
C．Uncovering the origin of languages.	D．Identifying the function of gestures.

2 . It lasted just 24 seconds, but it’s an unforgettable moment that has caught hearts everywhere. During a basketball game at Zeeland East High School in Zeeland, Michigan, the crowd fell quiet, giving high school junior Jules Hoogland an opportunity to take a shot.

Hoogland, who is blind, followed along as a woman tapped (轻敲) a yellow pole against the backboard and a teammate guided her to the perfect position. Thirteen seconds later, the 11th grader nailed a free throw and the silent audience erupted in roaring cheers and applause.

Zeeland Public Schools shared the extraordinary moment, filmed by Brandy Navetta, the school district’s communications and marketing director on Twitter, along with the words, “You thought national basketball tournaments were infusive, but Zeeland Public Schools Unified Basketball took over the court this morning. And the crowd went wild!”

Hoogland’s mom Karen said she was so proud of her achievement. She also praised the young students for their respect and sensitivity towards her daughter. Hoogland set a new record on what blind people can achieve and wanted this video to inspire all those who are facing challenges. “I’m hoping this video will inspire others to keep trying no matter what their challenges are,” she said.

Students from both Zeeland East and Zeeland West High School witnessed Hoogland’s uplifting shot, part of an inclusive basketball game with zLinks. Nathan VandeGuchte, a special education teacher with Zeeland West, added that inclusive sports has made a significant impact on students at Zeeland schools since the zLinks program started. “It was so moving to see Hoogland hit that shot again in front of 2,500 people,” said Nathan. “The lens (视角) with which many of our special education students are viewed has now been forever changed. They know that they are important, and they recognize that they are contributing members of our student body!”

1. Why did the crowd go wild as Hoogland nailed a free throw?

A．Because she couldn’t see.	B．Because she was competitive.
C．Because it was her first shot.	D．Because it was the end of the game.

2. What does the underlined word “infusive” in paragraph 3 probably mean?

A．Addictive.	B．Puzzling.
C．Informative.	D．Exciting.

3. What message does Hoogland convey to us through her story?

A．Dream big, dream early.	B．Never fear to fight challenges.
C．Interest is the best teacher.	D．The more one does, the more one can do.

4. What can we infer about the special education students from Nathan’s words?

A．They were usually overestimated.

B．They got confidence from the program.

C．They should be given more opportunities.

D．They were eager to explore the unknown.

3 . If you are trying to assess a person’s character, make sure you do not rely too heavily on factors that can be misleading. Instead, observe the individual’s ability to tell the truth and to commit.     1    

You can tell a lot about a person’s character by observing how he treats other people.     2     It may be difficult to determine how he treats different types of people if you only encounter him in a single environment, such as the workplace. It is often possible, however, to get some idea of his manner of interaction with different types of people through conversation with him.

Whether or not a person is honest says a lot about his character. The attitude a person has about honesty can also indicate what type of person he is.     3     To some degree the types of lies he may tell and his motives for doing so matter.

    4     The word “commitment” often causes people to instantly think of close relationships. Whether a person can respect the vows (誓约) and agreements is usually an indication of character.

A person’s character is affected by his attitude.     5     Attitude can affect many aspects of a person’s life, including how hard he works and his ability to be supportive of others.

When you are trying to assess someone’s character, remember that it consists of qualities and habits that form his identity.

A．More importantly, it’s necessary to continue his inner struggle.

B．The level of commitment indicates the type of character he has.

C．There are many other things in life that may require commitment.

D．This includes both people he knows and people he does not know.

E．Also, pay attention to his attitude and try to distinguish how it impacts his life.

F．Observe the person’s conversations and try to determine how often he tells lies.

G．Some people generally have a negative outlook while others may try to be positive even in difficult situations.

4 . When consuming information, we try to acquire more signals and less noise. We feel like the more information we consume the more signals we receive. While this is probably true on an absolute basis, Nassim Taleb argues in the book Antifragile that it is not true on a relative basis. As you consume more data and the ratio (比率) of noise to signals increases, you know less about what’s going on and you are likely to cause more unintentional trouble.

The supply of information to which we are exposed under modernity is transforming humans from a calm person to a neurotic (神经质的) one. For the purpose of our discussion, the first person only reacts to real information, and the second largely to noise. The difference between the two will show us the difference between noise and signals. Noise is what you are supposed to ignore; signals are what you need to heed.

In science, noise is a generalization beyond the actual sound to describe random information that is totally useless for any purpose, and that you need to clean up to make sense of what you are listening to. You can use and take advantage of noise and randomness, but noise and randomness can also use and take advantage of you, particularly with the data you get on the Internet or through other media. The more frequently you look at data, the more noise you are likely to get, and the higher the noise-to-signal ratio is.

Say you look at information on a yearly basis—the changes you see will all be large ones. The ratio of signals to noise is about one to one—this means that about half the changes are real improvements or degradations, and the other half come from randomness. But if you look at the very same data on a daily basis, the composition would change to 95 percent noise and 5 percent signals, and the changes you see daily will certainly be small.

1. What opinion does Nassim Taleb probably hold?

A．It’s hard to know the real truth.	B．The noise-to-signal ratio is changing.
C．The information explosion can be harmful.	D．More information brings more signals.

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

A．Notice.

B．Analyse.

C．Solve.

D．Describe.

3. What does paragraph 3 mainly talk about?

A．Causes and harms of more noise.	B．The meaning and impact of noise.
C．The relationship between noise and signals.	D．Advantages and disadvantages of noise.

4. How should we handle information according to the author?

A．Check it frequently.	B．Make use of online data.
C．Look at key changes.	D．Focus on all changes in it.

5 . Summer camps everywhere are filling up fast, but opportunities remain open for camps where fun and games come around food- growing it, that is. Your kids will learn how to tend to vegetables and livestock (家畜) and almost certainly taste the fruits of their labor. Here’s a small sampling of what’s out there.

Muscot, New York

This farm, offers a half-day Wangler Camp for kids (a livestock-centred experience) and a two-week long Young Farmers camp for kids in grades one through eight. Camps range from $150 for weeklong half-day sessions to $350 for full-day sessions

Sproutai’ Up, Colorado

An agriculture farm with a focus on education, Sprout’ Up offers skill-building programs for teens throughout the year, but their summer camp for kids is all about fun. In addition to farm activities the kids spend time at a local climbing gym. Three weekly half-day sessions are available for half-day sessions are available for $200 each.

Humboldt, California

Located north of San Francisco, this sleepaway camp spreads out over several hundredacres in the coastal hills of Sonoma County. The lodging (住处) is tent-style, with outdoorshowers. A range of farm activities are available throughout the summer.

Alegre, Georgia

Your kids will clean and brush a horse, and learn to milk a goat at this camp. Three-daysessions (mornings only) cost $125, and parents can attend with their children for an extrafee.

1. Which camp best suits kids who enjoy climbing?

A．Museum.

B．Sproutai'Up.

C．Humbold.

D．Alge.

2. What can kids do in Alegre?

A．Interact with animals.	B．Have sessions in the afternoon.
C．Sleep in tents at night.	D．Enjoy the scenery of coastal hills.

3. What do the four camps have in common?

A．They provide full-day camps.	B．They offer farm-themed camps.
C．They are located in the same state.	D．They focus on health education.

6 . Deforestatio — by clear-cutting or wildfires — has massive consequences both on climate and health. But leaving reforestation to Mother Nature can take decades, particularly as disastrous wildfires are increasing in frequency and intensity. And the time, cost and labor involved makes traditional methods of tree planting not as practical as they once were.

Bryce Jones knows how hard it is to replant forests. For four months in 2013, he worked as a tree planter throughout Canada. “There’s no technology there,” he says. “The only way you can accomplish reforestation is through the air.” But it wasn’t until 2019 that he hit on the one that he thought had potential: use drones (无人机) to fire specially designed seed pods (荚) into the ground-at 10 times the normal temperature and costing 20 percent less than traditional methods. He proposed the idea to his brother and Flash Forest was born. His first goal was to plant a billion trees by 2025.

The team took out a loan, bought a drone and used 3D printers at Jones’s school to make casts of the pods. Now, only two and a half years later, the company has a group of drones with each able to carry several thousand pods per flight. Three operators work in a field, controlling five drones, whose flight take 15 to 20 minutes. Flash Forest’s big draw is its seed pod, which contains everything seedlings (幼苗) need to survive survival. And its technology allows them to reach post-burn sites or remote areas that are difficult for traditional tree planting.

There are challenges every day, Jones says, as they work to improve the engineering, hardware, software and seed-pod recipes. Then there are the challenges presented by the climate — this year, record temperatures, record wildfires and drought. “That was something that was totally out of our control,” he says.

Unlike some traditional forms of reforestation, Flash Forest is focused on biodiversity. For Jones, the target of planting a billion trees by 2025 is just the beginning. “I have a dream that the company will plant on six continents — everywhere where our technology is needed,” he says.

1. What does the author intend to tell us in paragraph 1?

A．The benefits of reforestation.

B．The power of AI machines.

C．The way of putting out wildfires.

D．The necessity of using new planting methods.

2. What contributes to the particular appeal of Flash Forest?

A．Its drone operators.	B．The frequent flights.
C．Its seed pod.	D．The low cost of seedlings.

3. What does the underlined word “that” in paragraph 4 refer to?

A．Extreme weather.	B．Drone technology.
C．3D equipment.	D．Computer software.

4. What can we infer about Flash Forest from the last paragraph?

A．It changed its focus in the past.

B．It will achieve its final target in 2025.

C．It might be available worldwide one day.

D．It has replaced traditional forms of reforestation.

7 . Teen Writing Contest at the Morgan Library & Museum

How does money impact our behavior? The Morgan Library & Museum’s exhibition Medieval (中世纪) Money, Merchants, and Morality explores mainly how the newly widespread use of money in medieval life transformed society, often challenging and conflicting with the moral beliefs of the community. Choose an object from the Selected Images on the exhibition page and write a diary entry from the opinion of a character in the image.

Winners receive a $100 MasterCard gift card!

Entry rules:

▲Identify the title of the Medieval Money artwork that inspired you in your submission.

▲Participants can submit up to two diary entries per person. Character limit is 3,000 per entry.

▲Awards will be given in two age groups: Middle School (Grades 7 to 8) High School (Grades 9 to 12)

Entries will be judged by a group of Morgan Library & Museum staff for originality, creative choice of opinion and style.

Written work should be submitted in a format (格式) readable by Google Drive and/or Microsoft Word. Submissions must be written in English. Content will be published on the Morgan’s webpage and via our social media channels.

Morgan Teen Writing Contest Guidelines:

◆Participants must live, work, or go to school in one of the five areas of New York City.

◆Participants must be between 13 and 19 years of age as of the date of entry.

◆Contest ends at 11:59:59 PM ET on Sunday July 10,2024.

◆Limit two entries per person, per email address.

◆Winners will be informed on Friday, July 29,2024.

◆The Morgan requests a photograph of the winner to post with their writing.

1. What does the writing contest focus on?

A．Money and behaviors.	B．Characters and images.
C．Art and opinions.	D．Exhibition and inspiration.

2. What is the writing style for the contest entries?

A．A news report.	B．An inspiring poem.
C．A personal diary.	D．An artwork review.

3. What do we know about the writing contest?

A．Winners will be awarded in cash.

B．The entry will be judged by famous writers.

C．Participants should write in their native languages.

D．Submissions should be emailed before the deadline.

8 . A complete chicken egg estimated to be around 1,700 years old is believed to be the only of its type in the world, after scientists found it still had liquid inside.

It was discovered during a dig in Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire between 2007 and 2016, with researchers saying at the time that it was a “genuinely unique discovery”. During the course of the dig, archaeologists broke three other eggs which released a “terrible smell”, but a fourth egg remained undamaged. It is the only complete egg ever found dating back to the Roman times.

Now, a micro scan has found that the egg still contains the yolk (蛋黄) and egg white, and it is believed to be the only complete egg from that period. The recent work has been carried out by conservator Dana Goodburn-Brown, who took the egg for further analysis at the University of Kent.

Edward Biddulph, senior project manager at Oxford Archaeology, who oversaw the dig, said, “It produced an amazing image that indicated that the egg, apart from being complete — which is incredible enough — also held its liquid inside. We were absolutely blown away when we saw the contents in there, as we might have expected them to have leaked out.”

It has also been taken to London’s Natural History Museum, where Douglas Russell, the senior director of the museum, was consulted about how to conserve the egg. Mr Biddulph said, “As we found out when we visited the Natural History Museum, it appears to be the oldest known example in the world.”

The egg is now being housed at Discover Bucks Museum in Aylesbury while work continues to discover how to extract (提取) the inside without breaking the delicate shell.

“There is huge potential for further research and this is the next stage in the life of this remarkable egg,” Mr Biddulph said.

1. Why was Edward Biddulph shocked at the egg?

A．It was badly preserved.	B．It could be blown away.
C．It kept liquid contents inside.	D．It was still good enough to eat.

2. What can we infer from the last two paragraphs?

A．The egg will be broken for further study.

B．The egg will be on display in the museum.

C．More studies will be carried out about the egg.

D．More efforts will be put into studying the egg shell.

3. What is the best title for the text?

A．The Secret of an Ancient Egg Has Been Revealed

B．An Ancient Egg Reveals the History of Buckinghamshire

C．An Egg Is Said to Be the Oldest Complete One in the World

D．An Amazing Egg Is Still Full of Liquid 1,700 Years Later

4. What is the text?

A．A news report.	B．A biology essay.
C．A technical invention.	D．A geographical discovery.

9 . What would you do if you walked up to a robot with a human-like head and it smiled at you first? You’d likely smile back and perhaps feel the two of you were genuinely interacting. But how does a robot know how to do this? Or a better question, how does it know to get you to smile back?

While we’re getting accustomed to robots that are expert at verbal (口头的) communication, thanks in part to advancements in large language models like ChatGPT, their nonverbal communication skills, especially facial expressions, have fallen far behind.

The Creative Machines Lab has been working on this challenge for more than five years. In a new study, the group unveils Emo, a robot. To train the robot how to make facial expressions, the researchers put Emo in front of the camera and let it do random movements. After a few hours, the robot learned the relationship between their facial expressions and the movement orders — much the way humans practice facial expressions by looking in the mirror. This is similar to our human ability to imagine what we look like when we make certain expressions.

Then the team ran videos of human facial expressions for Emo to observe them one after another. After training, which lasts a few hours, Emo could predict people’s facial expressions by observing tiny changes in their faces as they begin to form an intent to smile. It can not only make a wide range of facial expressions but also knows when to use them.

“I think predicting human facial expressions accurately is a revolution. Traditionally, robots have not been designed to consider humans’expressions during interactions. Now, the robot can integrate human facial expressions as feedback,” said Yuhang Hu. “When a robot makes co-expressions with people in real-time, it not only improves the interaction quality but also helps in building trust between humans and robots. In the future, when interacting with a robot, it will observe and understand your facial expressions, just like a real person.”

1. Why does the author ask questions in paragraph 1?

A．To stress the sincere interaction.

B．To show curiosity about robots.

C．To get readers engaged in the subject.

D．To prove the power of smiling.

2. How do researchers train Emo to make facial expressions?

A．By making it force a smile.

B．By asking it to look in the mirror.

C．By recording its expression at random.

D．By employing a way of self modeling.

3. What can the robot Emo do?

A．Interact with humans like a friend.

B．Prepare facial expression in advance.

C．Read the mind of humans in an active way.

D．Recognize and respond to real-time human expressions.

4. What might be the best title for the text?

A．Emo Robot Makes Quick Facial Reactions

B．Robots Can Smile at Human Beings Now

C．Emo Robot Reads Human Mind Exactly

D．Robots Can Interact with You Naturally

10 . During my daughter’s first year at school, her teacher dismissed our concerns about her shaky pencil hold by saying: “Don’t worry, handwriting is on its way out. By the time she’s in year 12, they’ll all be typing or voice-dictating their exams.”

Fast-forward 12 long school years and that now grown-up girl is in her final high-school exams. And of the many hours of articles and long and short answers, every single page, line, word and letter will be handwritten. Every single primary-school teacher undertook at the start of each year to fix her handwriting but it never changed.

My high school had company typing classes. It was so boring but I say that typing is the very best thing I learned at school. In all my work—as a health professional, a writer and an online teacher—being able to type efficiently, quickly and exactly has been invaluable. As a writer, I can type reasonably accurate notes during an interview, all while looking at the person I’m speaking with. As writing rates have been inactive or going backwards, I’d have a much harder time if I couldn’t type so well.

A group of friends who went to high school says that I’m fortunate to have had compulsory typing lessons, as some schools only offered it to girls, and some friends deliberately shunned the subject in order to avoid gender-based opinions that they wanted to become a secretary.

You might be thinking that none of this will be an issue for much longer, given how far voice recognition tech has come and how ChatGPT can produce writing within seconds. In fact, the increased availability of AI will perhaps mean that handwritten exams will be around for even longer, as seeing someone put pen to paper is one of the few ways we have of promising original work.

Efficient handwriting and fast and correct typing are skills that perhaps should be more highly valued by educators and employers. Learning to hand-write and type might be boring but I predict that they’ll still be important skills even when today’s little ones are in year 12.

1. What does the example of the author’s daughter prove?

A．Handwriting isn’t out of date.	B．His concern turned out true.
C．Students like voice-dictating exams.	D．Adults can’t fix their handwriting.

2. Why was the author grateful for learning typing at school?

A．It earned him a big come.	B．It made him work more effectively.
C．It brought more job chances for him.	D．It helped him survive his hard life.

3. What does the underlined word “shunned” in paragraph 4mean?

A．Put up with.	B．Keep away from.
C．Take advantage of.	D．Get used to.

4. What does the author think handwriting may ensure?

A．The application of AI.	B．The value of education.
C．The originality of our works.	D．The efficiency of exams.