1 . Many people recognize the name of the great Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci. Far few have heard of Albrecht Durer, known by those with expertise (专门知识) in art as the “Leonardo of the North”.
During his youth, Albrecht Durer apprenticed (当学徒工) with his father, who was a goldsmith, and also with a local painter. But he showed a remarkable talent for printmaking, which at the time was the main method of illustrating books. This art form involved carving an image into a block of wood, inking the wood and then pressing it against paper or cloth. Durer’s skillful carving and printing resulted in beautiful prints. His decision to become a printmaker rather than a goldsmith disappointed his father but benefited Durer throughout his adult life.
From time to time, deadly diseases broke out in Durer’s hometown of Nuremburg, Germany. This danger was one reason why Durer decided to leave Nuremburg twice to visit Italy. He was also fascinated by Italy’s Renaissance culture. While there, he absorbed Italian philosophy, science and artistic techniques. He also served as official court artist to two Holy Roman Emperors.
Durer was extremely diligent regarding the details of his artwork as evidenced in his nature pieces. These include Young Hare, which correctly captures the energy of a large hare (野兔) even while it is sitting still, and Rhinoceros, which was so correct that it was included in scientific documents for years.
The same attention to details can be seen in Durer’s early self-portraits (自画像). The first one that he made at age of 13 shows a young boy with childish features. A second self-portrait that he made at age 22 displays a more mature individual who has a greater sense of himself. In a self-portrait done at age 26, he is a finely dressed gentleman, reflecting his rise in status within the printmaking community.
1. What saddened one of Durer’s parents?A.Durer’s choice of profession. | B.Durer’s refusal to lear from his father. |
C.Durer’s leaving his hometown. | D.Durer’s suffering from deadly diseases. |
A.he was invited by Roman Emperors |
B.he pursued richer life in Italy |
C.he was interested in Renaissance culture |
D.he wanted to find a cure for the diseases |
A.his research in scientific documents |
B.his accurate image of living creatures |
C.his social relationship with other artists |
D.his rising status in the field of printmaking |
A.His physical limitations. | B.His strong love for himself. |
C.His interest in philosophy. | D.His development as a person. |
2 . The biggest criticism (批评) of social networking is that our young people are losing their offline friends to online friends. In fact there is a lot of research that shows these criticisms are generally unfounded. Research by Allen et al. found that people are not replacing offline friends with online companions but are using them to support their offline relationships. They also found that our online friendships actually allow us to have discussions with a much more diverse set of people than in the real world and improve our psychological happiness.
However, there is one part of social networking that is deeply worrying. We find ourselves in a hyper-connected world where people access social media day and night, excited to make announcements about the tiniest details of their lives. Research is starting to show that this culture is negatively affecting not our friendships but our character.
Professor Larry D. Rosen, in his book iDisorder, presents evidence that social networking is turning us into narcissists (自恋者). He says that young people who overuse social networking sites can become vain, aggressive, and show anti-social behavior in their offline lives. But perhaps an even more disturbing effect is that one of our most basic emotions seems to be disappearing—empathy. This is the emotion that bonds us together; it allows us to see the world from our friends’ points of view. Without it, we are far less able to connect and form meaningful adult relationships.
Sherry Turkle, a professor of social sciences at MIT, suggests that people are no longer comfortable being alone. This is something confirmed by a study where 200 university students were asked to go without social media for 24 hours. Many admitted an addiction to their online social network; most complained that they felt cut off from family and friends. But being alone is a time, Turkle argues, when we self-reflect and get in touch with who we really are. It is only when we do this that we can make meaningful friendships with others. She believes, as is the title of her book, that we are simply “Alone Together”.
These potential changes in our characters are rather disturbing. If nothing is done, our young people could well be in trouble. Therefore, suggestions about ways to encourage our young people to avoid the problems of social networking should be made, so they can develop the kinds of friendships that are required to grow into well-adjusted and happy adults.
1. In this passage, the author mainly argues that ________.A.internet culture causes various problems |
B.we are losing some most important emotions |
C.online friendships do good to offline friendships |
D.social networking affects young people’s personalities |
A.by getting in touch with online friends |
B.by avoiding the problems of social networking |
C.by reflecting and getting in touch with ourselves |
D.by being alone then having discussions with a much more diverse set of people |
A.social media have more advantages |
B.young people will develop offline friendships |
C.young people can’t go without social media |
D.we are becoming unable to understand others well |
3 . Many people don’t understand why anyone would travel by bicycle. It’s so exhausting. For me it’s the best way to travel. Why I love it and why the effort is paying off, you can read here.
When I sit on the bike, I am free and flexible. I can pause at any time to eat or start the stove to enjoy a coffee with breathtaking views. I’m not dependent on bus or train.
I am the whole day in nature. The wind blows around my nose.
I could tell hundreds of stories. Because of getting to know so many people I’m experiencing a lot. The travel form itself invites many to ask questions. And the best thing about it is, that all these stories make me rich. Rich in memories, on which I think with laughter.
A.I listen to the birds singing. |
B.I get the chance to look inside myself. |
C.It will change the way you see the world. |
D.I can decide for myself when and where to go. |
E.Before my start, I was fascinated of the bike touring community. |
F.Likewise, I find my own rhythm and how to assess my reserves of strength. |
G.Nobody can ever take them away and they have an unspeakable value for me. |
4 . Reunions offer a chance to reflect on how much has changed. One happened in Hollywood when Here premiered (首映), bringing together the actors, director and writer behind Forrest Gump 40 years later for a new film. The stars were “de-aged” using new AI tools, making them more youthful in some scenes and enabling the filmmakers to see the transformation in real time while shooting.
With the use of generative AI in film making come things worth watching. The first is how AI will be used to tell new types of stories, as storytelling becomes more personalised and interactive. No one is quite sure how the nature of storytelling will change, but it is sure to. David Thomson, a film historian, compares generative AI to the advent of sound. “When movies were no longer silent, it changed the way plot points were made and how deeply viewers could connect with characters.” Cristóbal Valenzuela, who runs a company providing AI-enhanced software, says AI is like a “new kind of camera”, offering a fresh “opportunity to reimagine what stories are like”. Both are right.
Another big development to watch is how AI will be used as a time-saving tool. Generative AI will automate and simplify complex tasks like film-editing and special effects. For a glimpse of the future, watch Everything Everywhere All at Once, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 2023. It featured a scene that used a “rotoscoping” tool to edit out the green-screen background and make a talking rock more believable. It shortened into hours what might have otherwise taken days of video-editing.
What is also noticeable is more dramatic conflicts between creators and those running AI platforms. This year is likely to bring floods of lawsuits (诉讼) from authors, musicians and actors about how their works have been used to train AI systems without permission or payment. Perhaps they can agree on some sort of licensing arrangement, in which AI companies start paying copyright-holders.
It will probably be a few years before a full-length film is produced entirely by AI, but it is just a matter of time.
1. What can we learn about the film Here?A.It relates a story about youth. | B.The theme of the film is reunion. |
C.AI tools are employed in the film. | D.It is adapted from Forrest Gump. |
A.Available. | B.Impressive. | C.Representative. | D.Transformative. |
A.To show the high efficiency of AI tools. |
B.To demonstrate the influence of the film. |
C.To analyse a novel way of video-editing. |
D.To praise the hard work behind the scenes. |
A.Conflicts between man and machine. | B.AI’s huge effects on film production. |
C.Drawbacks of dependence on AI tools. | D.Hot debate on the use of technology. |
5 . Despite his slim body of work, J. D. Salinger was one of the most influential American writers of the 20th century. His short stories, many of which appeared in The New Yorker, inspired the early careers of writers such as Phillip Roth, John Updike and Harold Brodkey.
Born on January 1, 1919, in New York, Salinger was a restless student, attending New York University, Ursinus College and Columbia University. While taking classes at the latter, he met Professor Whit Burnett, who was also the editor of Story magazine. Burnett, sensing Salinger’s talent as a writer, pushed him to create more often and soon Salinger’s works were appearing not just in Story, but in other big-name publications such as Collier’s and the Saturday Evening Post.
His career had started to take off, but then, like so many young American men around that time, World War II interrupted his life. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, Salinger was drafted into the army, serving from 1942 to 1944. During that time, however, Salinger kept writing for a new novel whose main character was a deeply unsatisfied young man named Holden Caulfield.
When Salinger returned to New York, he quickly set about resuming his life as a writer and soon found his work published in his favorite magazine, The New Yorker.
He also pushed on with the work on his novel about Holden Caulfield. Finally, in 1951, The Catcher in the Rye was published. The book earned its share of positive reviews, but some critics weren’t so kind. But over time the American reading public ate the book up and The Catcher in the Rye became an essential part of the academic literature course. To date, the book has sold more than 65 million copies.
In 1953, two years after the publication of The Catcher in the Rye, Salinger moved from New York City to Cornish, New Hampshire. There, Salinger did his best to cut off contact with the public and significantly slowed his literary output. He only published one new story, the 25,000-word Hapworth 16, 1924, before his death on January 27, 2010, in Cornish, New Hampshire.
1. Who had a great influence on J. D. Salinger?A.Phillip Roth. | B.Whit Burnett. |
C.John Updike. | D.Harold Brodkey. |
A.Continuing. | B.Saving. |
C.Wasting. | D.Risking. |
A.It was published during World War II. |
B.It has sold less than 65 million copies. |
C.It was well received by American readers. |
D.It features an old man as the main character. |
A.He stopped writing when he was in the army. |
B.He wrote lots of short stories in his later years. |
C.His literary output was very low in his later years. |
D.He had moved to New York City just before he died. |
6 . What if our bodies had a new way — other than our eardrums — to hear the world around us? That’s what neuroscientist David Eagleman wondered five years ago. Then he looked at the body for answers and saw a huge sound jack (插孔). “We have this huge input channel called our skin,” he says, “and we aren’t using it.”
So Eagleman, along with Scott Novich, his student at Baylor College of Medicine, created the Versatile Extra-Sensory Transducer, or VEST. The VEST is worn like it sounds. Through 32 tiny motors, it translates sound waves into vibrations (振动) on your back.
First, a computer or smartphone picks up sounds from your surroundings and breaks down the sound sample into a set of specific frequencies. Each frequency band in the set sets off one of 32 motors in the VEST. With time and practice, your brain learns to unconsciously interpret the series of vibrations as sound — and individual sounds as words in a language.
“There is no theoretical reason why this can’t be almost as good as the ears,” says Eagleman. So far, he has trained deaf people to recognize single words through the VEST. He hopes to eventually help them understand sentences, and then full conversations. Just like with language, Eagleman discovered, children — whose brains are more shapable — learned to interpret the VEST more easily than adults did.
Eagleman says his device could one day be deployed in dozens of professions to better understand complex environments. A pilot could interpret a plane’s condition through the VEST’s vibrations. An astronaut could literally feel the health of the International Space Station. Eagleman and Novich’s startup, Neo Sensory, plans to develop the VEST for all kinds of uses, so someday we all can experience this sixth sense. “The possibilities are endless for the kind of information we could be streaming in,” says Eagleman.
1. What is the VEST?A.A huge input channel on the body. | B.A computer-smartphone connector. |
C.A processing program with tiny motors. | D.A wearable sound-vibration transformer. |
①motors to be activated ②sounds to be decomposed ③words to be interpreted
A.①②③ | B.②③① | C.①③② | D.②①③ |
A.Assessed. | B.Employed. | C.Detected. | D.Invented. |
A.Listen with Your Skin | B.Hear Your Sixth Sense |
C.To Listen or Not | D.Here to Hear. |
7 . Mathcamp
Mathcamp is an intensive 5-week-long summer program for mathematically talented teenagers, designed by the Mathematics Foundation of America to expose them to the beauty of advanced mathematical ideas and to new ways of thinking. Attendees can expect a comprehensive curriculum comprising lectures, workshops, and collaborative math projects, with an extensive range of subjects.
At Mathcamp, students can explore undergraduate and even graduate-level topics while building problem-solving skills that will help them in any field they choose to study. They can also study with mathematicians who are passionate about their subject, from internationally known researchers to graduate students at the start of their careers.
Eligibility:
We invite applications from high-school and middle-school students from around the world who are passionate about mathematics. Students between ages 13 and 18 are eligible (有资格的).
Cost: $5,000 (Financial Aid is available on a case-by-case basis)
Location: University of Puget Sound, Tacoma, WA
About the application:
Application materials for our 2024 summer program will be available on January 10, 2024 and all applications received by the deadline (March 6, 2024) will receive equal consideration.
An application to Mathcamp includes the following:
•Some information about your Math Background: where you are now in learning the material that's traditionally covered in high school. We do not require school transcripts (成绩单); instead, we ask for self-reporting of your content knowledge.
•A short piece of writing About You, where you can tell us a little more about yourself, your interest in math, and why you want to come to Mathcamp!
•Your solutions to the Mathcamp 2024 Qualifying Quiz.
•(Optional) A scholarship application, if you require financial assistance to attend Mathcamp. Each applicant's final admissions decision will be determined no later than May 31, 2024.
Program Dates: June 30 — August 4, 2024
1. What can attendees do in the program?A.Volunteer as a math teacher. | B.Apply for college admission. |
C.Meet famous mathematicians. | D.Gain scholarship for high school study. |
A.An essay about the future career. | B.The answers to the Qualifying Quiz. |
C.A recommendation letter for schloarship. | D.An official school report on mathematics. |
A.On January 10, 2024. | B.On March 6, 2024. |
C.On May 31, 2024. | D.On June 30, 2024. |
8 . More than 1 billion children, teenagers and adults live with obesity (肥胖) around the world, making it the most common form of malnutrition in many countries, according to a study published on Thursday in the journal The Lancet.
“Previous estimates by the World Obesity Federation suggested that there would be 1 billion people living with obesity by 2030, but that number was already overtaken in 2022,” Dr. Majid Ezzati, senior author of the study and professor at Imperial College London, said in a news conference on Thursday. “We hadn’t expected that the things happened so fast.”
The new global study, conducted by more than 1,500 researchers from the Non-Communicable Diseases Risk Factor Collaboration and the World Health Organization (WHO), analyzed the height and weight measurements of over 220 million people from more than 190 countries.
The study focused on rates of underweight and obesity, both forms of malnutrition that are harmful to people’s health. Adults were regarded as obese if their body mass index (指数) (BMI) was greater than or equal to 30 and considered as underweight if their BMI was below18.5. Children and teenagers were defined as obese or underweight based on age and sex, according to the study.
“Undernutrition and obesity are two faces of the same problem, which is the lack of access to a healthy diet,” Dr. Francesco Branca, director of the WHO Department of Nutrition and Food Safety, said in the news conference. “Public policy must aim to improve monitoring of food producers and ensure fair access to healthy and nutritious food for everyone. Over 3 billion people in the world still cannot afford a healthy diet.”
France, which saw a steady level in its obesity rates in the study, has carried out a national plan called Programme National Nutrition Santé that sets objectives for nutritional policy at the industry, consumer and research levels. Countries in South America have begun carrying out front-of-package nutritional labelling that includes clear warnings about fat, sugar and salt levels. Mexico has led the way on taxation of sweetened drinks, and in Chile, processed foods cannot be marketed to children.
1. How does Ezzati feel about the number of obese people worldwide in 2022?A.Disappointed. | B.Astonished. |
C.Amused. | D.Relieved. |
A.By asking questions. | B.By analyzing data. |
C.By making observations. | D.By carrying out experiments. |
A.33. | B.30. |
C.20. | D.18. |
A.The good habits of teenagers in South America. |
B.The differences in diet among different countries. |
C.The problems of rising obesity rates faced by France. |
D.The measures taken by several countries to address obesity. |
9 . Developing new materials requires significant time and labor, but some chemists are now hopeful that AI could one day shoulder much of this burden. In a new study in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, a team used a popular AI model, ChatGPT, to perform one particularly time-consuming task: searching scientific literature. With that data, they built a second tool, a new model to predict experimental results.
Reports from previous studies offer a vast amount of information that chemists need, but finding and analyzing the most relevant details can be laborious. For example, those interested in designing highly porous, crystalline (晶体) metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) — which have potential applications in areas such as clean energy—must sort through hundreds of scientific papers describing a variety of experimental conditions. Researchers have previously attempted to let AI take over this task; however, the language processing models they used required significant technical expertise , and applying them to new topics meant changing the program. Omar Yaghi and colleagues wanted to see if the next generation of language models, which includes ChatGPT, could offer a more accessible, flexible way to extract information.
To analyze text from scientific papers, the team gave ChatGPT prompts (提示符) it through three processes intended to identify and summarize the experimental information the papers contained. The researchers carefully constructed these prompts to minimize the model’s tendency to make up responses, and to ensure the best responses possible.
When tested on 228 papers describing MOF syntheses (合成), this system drew more than 26, 000 factors relevant for making roughly 800 of these mixtures. With these data, the team trained a separate AI model to predict the crystalline state of MOFs based on these conditions. And finally, to make the data more user-friendly, they built a chatbot to answer questions about it. The team notes that, unlike previous AI-based efforts, this one does not require expertise in coding. What’s more, scientists can shift its focus simply by adjusting the narrative language in the prompts. This new system, which they call the “ChatGPT Chemistry Assistant,” could also be useful in other fields of chemistry.
1. What does the research team hope the new model to do?A.Search and classify scientific literature. |
B.Analyze data and predict laboratory findings. |
C.Prevent the model from making up responses. |
D.Generate a faster language processing system. |
A.To suggest their potential applications in clean energy. |
B.To illustrate the laborious analysis of scientific papers. |
C.To confirm they are of importance in chemistry industry. |
D.To stress the testing system is extraordinarily complicated. |
A.Secure. | B.Virtual. | C.Practical. | D.Specialized. |
A.Making the MOFs be more useful |
B.Doing further analysis for scientific papers |
C.Improving the language processing models |
D.Turning ChatGPT into a “chemistry assistant” |
10 . There’s a useful concept from psychology that helps explain why good people do things that harm the environment: the false consensus effect. That’s where we overvalue how acceptable and prevalent (普遍的) our own behavior is in society. Put simply, if you’re doing something (even if you secretly know you probably shouldn’t), you’re more likely to think plenty of other people do it too. What’s more, you likely overestimate how much other people think that behavior is broadly OK.
This bias (偏见) allows people to justify socially unacceptable or illegal behaviors. Researchers have observed the false consensus effect in drug use and illegal hunting. More recently, conservationists are beginning to reveal how this effect contributes to environmental damage.
In Australia, people who admitted to poaching (偷猎) thought it was much more prevalent in society than it really was, and had higher estimates than fishers who obeyed the law. They also believed others viewed poaching as socially acceptable; however, in reality, more than 90% of fishers held the opposite view. The false consensus effect has also shown up in studies examining support for nuclear energy and offshore wind farms.
Just as concepts from psychology can help explain some forms of environmental damage, so too can they help address it. For example, research shows people are more likely to litter in areas where there’s already a-lot of trash scattered around; so making sure the ground around a bin is not covered in rubbish may help.
Factual information on how other people think and behave can be very powerful. Energy companies have substantially reduced energy consumption simply by showing people how their electricity use compares to their neighbors. Encouragingly, stimulating people’s natural desire for status has also been successful in getting people to “go green to be seen”, or to publicly buy eco-friendly products.
As the research evidence shows, social norms can be a powerful force in encouraging and popularizing environmentally friendly behaviors. Perhaps you can do your bit by sharing this article!
1. Which example best illustrates the false consensus effect?A.A student spends long hours surfing the internet. |
B.A blogger assumes many people dislike his posts. |
C.A driver frequently parks illegally in public places. |
D.A smoker believes people generally approve of smoking. |
A.It is unacceptable. | B.It is widespread. |
C.It is controversial. | D.It is complex. |
A.Embrace green habits for better health. |
B.Make green choices that others can perceive. |
C.Join green movements for personal fulfillment. |
D.Choose green items that are easy to spot in stores. |
A.Understate social norms. | B.Highlight personal responsibilities. |
C.Publicize sustainable practices. | D.Encourage technological innovations. |