1 . Directions: Complete the following passage by using the words in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. engage   B. assess   C.   combination   D. intentions   E. refresh   F. understanding   G.   relaxed   H. consciously   I. return   J. threatens   K. regretfully

“Dealing with money is a basic life skill”

Why financial transactions are about relationships and why the

quality of the relationship is more important than the transaction itself.

British psychologist, William Bloom, has long argued that society would benefit if money flowed more freely-if, for example, people regularly give part of their salaries or profits to charity.

When you say, “Money should flow more freely,” what do you mean?

“There are two metaphors that I like to use for money. One is the energy of the environment and human nature. Money represents a(n)     1     of these energies; it’s a materialized form of energy. The other metaphor is water. If you look at water, it can be still and polluted or, once the dams are opened, it has the ability to     2     itself. Healthy energy flows in the way rich people should allow their money to flow. If they are good, they will know how to give.”

Money still isn’t flowing freely.

A lot of it is dammed up in banks and in the hands of a small percentage of extremely wealthy individuals. “We have to build a society in which we are not threatened by each other. The gap between the rich and the poor     3     social connection and harmony. The Baby Boomers (婴儿潮一代) are too comfortable for too long. Now they have to ask themselves what their politics are, because life is political. This is the time for all of us to     4     politically.”

How can we deal with money in a healthier way?

“When it comes to money, there is a lot of naiveté. Children need to be taught in school that dealing with money is a basic life skill. They need to be able to read a bank statement in a(n)     5     way. When a transaction takes place, this means     6     pausing to say, ‘This exchange affects me in this and this way.’ We are often in too much of a hurry to realize that. We also forget that transactions are first and foremost about relationships. The quality of that relationship is more important than the transaction itself. That’s why Bedouins (游牧民族贝都因人)   always share a cup of tea when they do business together. They understand the need to     7     their relationship with others.”

Another form of flow is giving. Can that be a kind of spiritual practice?

“Humans are paradoxical beings. It is possible to have pure     8     and to get satisfaction as a by-product from your actions. There is the classic idea that giving away money brings a sense of safety and satisfaction. And it does. Being alive in this universe comes from the     9     that you’re part of a flow in the universe. People think highly of altruism (舍己为人), giving away money to someone who cannot see you. Donating money to charity is not just about the material effect but it also allows you to pay attention to what causes you’re supporting. It’s healthy to give without thinking of the material     10    . Money is neutral, like language. It’s all about the way in which it is used.”

2 . Directions: Complete the following passage by using the words in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. pursuits        B. interests        C. comparable   D. innovation     E. schedule F. options        G. realization       H. routes        I. subjects        J. recipes       K. motivated

Creativity Is a Human Quality That Exists in Us

When you think about creativity, it might be highly creative people like Mozart, da Vinci or Einstein who spring to mind. They were all considered to be “ geniuses” for their somewhat in their fields. Their type of creativity is unique talents that led to global     1     what’s known as “Big C creativity” ( or historical) and is not very common in everyday life. Not all of us can create works of art or music or scientific theories that are new to the world.But while we can’t all be Mozart, da Vinci or Einstein, many people do enjoy creative activity--through hobbies such as water colour painting or playing the piano. And these types of are often what people think of when asked what being creative looks like.     2     are often wheat people think of when asked what being creative looks like. Our finished pieces may not be     3     with the likes of the great master, but often the process is therapeutic and the end result can be aesthetically pleasing.

On top of hobbies and     4    , we all posses creative attributes that can help as we solve life’s problems and make decisions. It is this type of creativity that enables us to plan different     5     to get to the same destination, or how to fit in a trip to the supermarket when our     6     looks full.

It might not sound very creative, but this aspect of creativity relies on our ability I consider     7     and assess their suitability, as well as how to make decisions based on personal prior experience or what we have learnt formally or informally. These examples are known as “ Small C creativity” or “personal everyday creativity”.

While Big C creativity is valued and celebrated, it is often Small C creativity that has allowed humans to flourish over thousands of years. It sets us apart from other animals and it is also the type of creativity which can be fostered through our education system and beyond into the workplace. Traditionally, research tells us that creativity has been largely associated with the arts. Our previous research has shown that teachers are often able to give examples of creative activity in arts     8    ,but find it harder to do so when asked to describe creativity in subjects such as science.

But there is a growing     9     that opportunities to be creative are found across a broader range of subjects. For instance, engineering provides opportunities to be creative through problem solving, and history gives the opportunity to think creatively about why events happened,and what     10     those involved.

3 . Directions: Fill in each blank with a proper word chosen from the box.   Each word can be used only once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. digesting       B. distinction        C. examine       D. identical        E. intervening F. live             G. mixture            H. perspective     I. shock            J. space       K. texting

Communication — a thing of the past?

We all think we communicate all the time, and that’s true. There’s also non-verbal communication you could add into the mix — everything we’re saying when we’re not saying anything. But there’s a(n)     1     between saying things to people, or liking and sharing a post on social media, and communication. I’m quite well connected — there’s Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, email, iEverything, but sometimes communication starts to feel like a chore. Check this blog post, read that article someone shared,     2     back to someone else, and answer their questions… Sometimes I feel like a cross between Siri and a mad juggler. Nothing seems to go in and I’m always mixing people up — asking someone how their band is going when they can’t play an instrument or how the job search is going when someone’s just written to say how depressed they are that they can’t find a job.

So it was quite a(n)     3     to spend New Year in the Highlands in Scotland with no phone signal, no internet and no ‘communication’ at all, apart from with the people I was with. Suddenly all the pressure to communicate disappeared. All of our conversations became slower, more inverted and far more interesting. We were a group of 12, a(n)     4     of couples and friends, only one of whom I was at university with, so I was meeting a bunch of new people for the first time. Our conversations veered towards the banal and the humdrum in that we often discussed our plans for the day and what we were going to cook in the evening, but often they went a lot farther and a lot deeper. Tucked up on the leather sofas,     5     dinner, we dissected Brexit and one person even changed their     6     entirely! We shared ideas and theories, plots of books and plays and city trips we’d been on, described family troubles and gave advice, listened to work scenarios and offered pointers, and we had to talk and sketch and use words more than ever before, because you couldn’t say, ‘It’s a great film, you should google it later.’ Some of us even had sore throats from talking so much! In such a short     7     of time, due to the proximity of sharing interconnected cottages and verbal communication, I felt much closer to the new people I’d met and been speaking with than some other people I communicate with in my normal life.

I don’t think our common, current methods of communication come close to being in a small house with lots of people and having to communicate     8    . The brevity of Twitter, the showiness of Facebook, all these aspects contribute to a shallow form of communication that doesn’t challenge you to     9     your feelings and motives enough. ‘Liking’ something is an instant response but what does it really say about your opinion of something? It’s a(n)     10     response to millions of other people, whereas you and your thoughts are unique. If we’re not careful, perhaps we might forget how to communicate on a deeper lever.

4 . 选词填空

promote the safety       participating in volunteer activities a different perspective   wipe a lamp   a peaceful and joyful Spring Festival cultivate the enthusiasm     the electricity safety promotion

“Can we use a wet cloth to     1    ? For fire evacuation, should we take the elevator or use the stairs?”

At the entrance of the supermarket, a class on safe electricity usage is taking place. To further     2     of electricity concept in rural areas, young volunteers from the Suqian Power Supply Co of State Grid arrived at a supermarket in Luxu village of Suqian, Jiangsu province.

Unlike previous times, volunteers involved in     3     this time included not only staff, but also a group of enthusiastic university students.

“This is my first time     4    . I not only learned electricity and fire safety knowledge with the villagers, but also experienced interesting folk customs of the village,” said Pan Yan, a university student, adding that this practical activity has given her     5     on safety.

“I just answered two questions correctly and got this little doll. It made me so happy!” said 11-year-old villager Li Chuyang after participating in the event.

“We hope to provide villagers, especially children, with useful knowledge of electricity and fire safety, and     6     of young people for public welfare,” said Li Jietai, an employee at State Grid Suqian Power Supply Co.

“We also brought some Chinese New Year gifts for the villagers, and wish that everyone has     7    .”

5 . Directions: Fill in each blank with a proper word chosen from the box. Each word can be used only once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. unanticipated       B. moments       C. evolved       D. basically E. explored       F. clearly       G. navigate       H. rituals I. integral       J. access       K. inspiring

Boat of Power

Dragon boat racing began in China more than 2,000 years ago as part of a cultural community event to memorize the ancient poet, Qu Yuan. The traditional holiday was a time to perform    1    for good fortune and well-being, and to drive off evil spirits. Over time, dragon boat racing    2    into a global sport.

The Toronto-based Dragons Abreast team stands out at this sport for a few reasons. For one, the79-member team includes people ranging in age from 30 to 93. Prior to joining Dragons Abreast, some members hadn’t been part of a sports team since childhood and wouldn’t have described themselves as particularly athletic ones. And what has brought these women together is something    3     — living with breast cancer.

The breast cancer survivors on this team are in the same boat in every way. For many, being part of a community that knows    4    how life changes after breast cancer is as beneficial as the physical gains. The team offers a supportive space to    5    all the complexities of survivorship.

“I was so surprised at how    6    the racing was for me,” says Liz Johnston Hill, the race coordinator for Dragons Abreast. “It’s almost overwhelming how people encourage, no matter what.”

Being out on the water and connecting to the environment is an important aspect of dragon boating for many of the team members. They talk about how it provides    7    of peace and encourages mindfulness, something we could all use more of in our lives. Outside of dragon boat, the members are a(n)    8    part of each other’s life. “We’ve all been through    9    the same thing in our various ways,” says the race coordinator Liz Johnston Hill. While the number of breast cancer survivor teams grows, barriers to the sport remain such as cost, time,     10    to water and practice facilities and the lack of cultural and language diversity. But there are ongoing efforts to introduce more people living with breast cancer to dragon boat.

6 . Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in each blank with a proper word chosen from the box. Each word can be used only once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A．attractive       B．bothered       C．building       D．contrasts E．crossed       F．demonstrates       G．dramatically       H．greyed I．instrumental       J．sustaining       K．vividly

A Review on Oppenheimer

Oppenheimer is Christopher Nolan’s film about J. Robert Oppenheimer, the man known as “the father of the atomic(原子的) bomb”. As a drama about genius, pride and error, it    1    the life of the American theoretical physicist who helped research and develop the two atomic bombs that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, two cities in Japan, during World War II.

Oppenheimer is a great achievement, partly because it    2    relates that period of history thanks to Nolan’s lifelike filmmaking. Nolan goes deep and long on the    3    of the bomb, but he doesn’t restage the attacks and there are no documentary images of the dead or cities in ashes.

The story tracks Oppenheimer across decades, starting in the 1920s with him as a young adult and continuing until his hair    4    . The film touches on his personal and professional milestones, the controversies that    5    him, and the attacks that nearly ruined him. Besides, the friendships and romances    6    him, yet also troubling, are also described.

The path of Oppenheimer’s life    7     shifted at Berkeley. He was once only an academic there, but his identity changed after Germany entered Poland by force. By that time, Oppenheimer had become friends with Ernest Lawrence, a physicist who invented the historic particle accelerator (粒子加速器) and played a(n)     8    role in the Manhattan Project. And Oppenheimer also met the project’s military head and was then made director of Los Alamos, where much of his later research on nuclear weapons took place.

François Truffaut once wrote that “war films, even those who support peace, even the best, willingly or not, present wars in a certain    9    way.” That is why Nolan refuses to show the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, killing millions of souls. In the film, you hear that Oppenheimer’s famous words    10    his own mind as the mushroom cloud rose: “Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.” Nolan is actually reminding audience to reconsider the roles they can play in the world.

7 . Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in each blank with a proper word given in the box. Each word can be used only once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. housed   B. overcome   C. mounting   D. distress   E. marveling   F. instrument G. chain   H. facilitate   I. pilot   J. confused   K. striking

Unlocking The Vatican Museums

Gianni Crea has, almost every morning for the past decade, unlocked the doors to the Vatican Museums. He has seen the splendor of the Sistine Chapel and admired the textures of ancient Egypt. “Yes, I’m a key keeper. But the doors I open are the ones to the history of art, and it’s here that exists the biggest and most beautiful history in the world,” says Crea.

The Vatican Museums have     1     collections since the 15^th century, including tens of thousands of artworks and artifacts spanning prehistory to modern times. The most     2     one of them, according to Crea, is Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel. He recalls being     3     with emotion the first time he accompanied the former head key keeper to open the chapel more than 20 years ago. Since then, he’s witnessed people of all faiths     4     at the chapel’s loveliness, something the church believes is increasingly vital during these unsettled times.

“In the difficult current context the world is experiencing, in which sadness and     5     seem to have the upper hand, art is more necessary than ever, because beauty is always a source of joy,” Pope Francis said last year.

There is also     6     scientific evidence to support this view. A 2019 WHO analysis revealed that artistic and cultural activities     7     physical and psychological health. In fall 2022, physicians at Brussels’ hospitals partnered with the city to launch a six-month     8     study examining the benefits of “museum prescriptions as supplemental treatment for stress, burnout, and anxiety”. It’s the first investigation of its kind in Europe and is expected to have     9     effects across the continent. And in the wake of the pandemic (疫情), which forced the Vatican Museums to close three times between 2020 and 2021, there’s a growing movement for wider and easier access to the arts for people’s well-being. “The Vatican Museums must open their doors to people from all over the world, as a(n)     10     of dialogue between cultures and religions,” Pope Francis wrote in his 2015 publication.

“Everyone can find something beautiful and moving here,” says Crea, who always welcomes travelers from around the world to accompany him during his morning routine on select dates. “The Vatican Museums will give you an understanding of art and history regardless of your faith.”

8 . Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in each blank with a proper word given in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. advantage       B. anticipating       C. digitally       D. facilitating       E. geometry       F. giant G. initiated       H. painstakingly       I. potentially       J. reopened       K. sought

How Digital Modeling Plays a Key Role in Restoring the Notre Dame Cathedral (巴黎圣母院)

It’s been more than four years since a fire damaged Notre Dame, the Catholic cathedral in Paris that’s historically drawn millions of visitors every year.

Since then, people from around the world have united to support an effort,     1     by French President, that’s intended to have the building back open to the public by the end of next year. Teams working to restore the Gothic cathedral have     2     to rebuild much of the damaged sections using materials like oak wood (橡木) and stone that have stood the test of centuries.

But the builders, architects and engineers do have the     3     of some 21st century technologies, including modern building information modeling (BIM) software that enables them to work with a(n)     4     detailed 3D digital model of the cathedral and surrounding site, backed by powerful cloud computing technology.

“It allows you to really understand a lot of how a building fits together, how it’s constructed,” says Andrew Anagnost, CEO of design software     5     Autodesk. It has contributed technical consulting, software and financial assistance to the project since shortly after the fire. A digital model, which took more than a year to create, includes more than 12,000 objects.

It was a complex process. Onsite workers captured the point-by-point 3D     6     of the cathedral with laser (激光) and photo equipment. Then, others turned the data points from that process into detailed shapes and objects, down to individual building stones. That let experts see how the building shifted in the fire — important for     7     any stability issues — and plan out the process of reconstruction.

“It’s like Mission: Impossible when they plan,” says Nicolas Mangon, VP of architecture, engineering and construction industry strategy at Autodesk. “Every little piece is done     8    , and with the 3D model you can simulate (模拟) everything.”

Even when the cathedral is     9    , the model may still serve important roles. Mangon says the company is currently in discussions about using it to manage aspects of the complex going forward,     10     using sensors that could show the exact location of any future fires.

9 . Directions: Fill in each blank with a proper word chosen from the box. Each word can be used only once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. characteristics     B. diverse     C. employ       D. function     E. issue F. integration          G. hit            H. military     I. potential     J. schemes     K. wearers

Future Fashion: Biometric Bodysuits

A team of the Applied NanoBioscience Center at Arizona State University has built prototypes (原型) of biometric bodysuits. They can detect chemical attacks, deliver drugs to their     1    , or even perfume scents if your body temperature rises too much. The     2     version of the Scentsory Chameleon Bodysuit incorporates fuel cells to provide a lightweight source of power for the soldier’s equipment. The civilian one can monitor your heart or blood pressure, deliver interactive games or simply work as a wearable computer. You will even be able to download new colors and patterns from the Web to change your appearance according to this article from East Valley Tribune in Arizona. Both versions should     3     the market within a few years.

Frederic Zenhausern, director of the Applied NanoBioscience Center at ASU, has joined with Ghassan Jabbour, a professor at the University of Arizona, to develop two prototypes of “biometric bodysuits” that contain embedded sensors, power sources, microfluidic devices and other gadgets not normally associated with the latest Paris fashions. Such “smart” clothing could     4     future soldiers early warning of chemical attacks or automatically deliver insulin to diabetics, Zenhausemn said. “The biometric bodysuit shows how electronics and fluidics (流体学) can be incorporated into clothing to perform a wide range of     5     tasks, from highly functional to the aesthetic.” he said.

The civilian Chameleon will have somewhat different     6    . Its biometric outfit demonstrates how miniature electronics could be embedded in clothing to promote health. It is made of clear vinyl (乙烯基) and white plastics to show the placement of various electronic and fluidic devices. In the future, such an outfit could diagnose diseases and deliver medications to the wearer, monitor heart rate or blood pressure, deliver interactive games and other forms of entertainment or     7     as a wearable computer.

Another possibility would be to download different designs from the Internet so the fabric could change colors and patterns, Zenhausern said. And it could all be made to look stylish by the     8     of electronics and high-fashion designs, he said. In fact, the concept of embedding microelectronics in fabrics has     9     far beyond clothing. Sheila Kennedy, a Boston-based architect and visiting professor at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design, sees possibilities to     10     the technology in building design. As an example, she said window shades containing organic light emitting diodes (二极管) could produce electricity from sunlight that would help generate power.

10 . 选择方框内合适的形容词完成下面短文。（每个单词限用一次）

current, useful, extra, amazed, ordinary, annual, social, academic

It was just another     1     day when I had the idea to spread kindness among my friends. I sent them unusual messages to begin my mission without revealing what I had planned. This was all inspired by my teachers, who always provide kind remarks and show they care.

I noticed a different atmosphere among peers due to the     2     circumstances around COVID-19. Students were not as motivated as before, with their sense of vigour (精力) to conquer the     3     exams decreasing.

So I decided that a surprise care package would be a great idea to uplift the mood! While finding inspiration for the card designs, I could not help but wonder how my friends would react to such a surprise gift. After I had finally created the cards, I moved on to the personalised care packages. First, I prepared a list of items that people would find     4    , such as pens with quotes to cheer them up, sweets to energise them when they study, as well as a notebook that they could either use for       5     purposes, or just to write their emotions. I also included some     6    surprises such as masks or photo books, depending on the person and their preferences.

Next, I had to work out different timings to meet up with each friend at a(n)     7    distance.

The day finally arrived, and my heart was pounding (砰砰地跳). I handed over the first surprise package. My friend was so     8    ! We laughed as she told me she had thought I was going to ask her if we could study together and was not at all expecting anything like this.

One by one, I delivered all the surprise packages. They really appreciated what I did and I felt so happy.