She’s intelligent and works hard and
2 . At my first lesson in Chinese calligraphy, my teacher told me plainly: “Now I will teach you how to write your name. And to make it beautiful.” I felt my breath catch. I was curious.
Growing up in Singapore, I had an unusual relationship with my Chinese name. My parents are ethnically Chinese, so they asked fortune tellers to decide my name, aiming for maximum luck. As a result, I ended up with a nonsense and embarrassing name: Chen Yiwen, meaning, roughly, “old”, “barley (薏米)” and “warm”.
When I arrived in America for college at 18, I put on an American accent and abandoned my Chinese name. When I moved to Hong Kong in 2021, after 14 years in the States, I decided to learn calligraphy. Why not get back in touch with my heritage? I thought.
In calligraphy, the idea is to copy the old masters’ techniques, thereby refining your own. Every week, though, my teacher would give uncomfortably on-the-nose assessments of my person. “You need to be braver,” he once observed. “Have confidence. Try to produce a bold stroke(笔画).” For years, I had prided myself on presenting an image of confidence, but my writing betrayed me.
I was trying to make sense of this practice. You must visualize the word as it is to be written and leave a trace of yourself in it. As a bodily practice, calligraphy could go beyond its own cultural restrictions. Could it help me go beyond mine? My teacher once said to me, “When you look at the word, you see the body. Though a word on the page is two-dimensional, it contains multitudes, conveying the force you’ve applied, the energy of your grip, the arch of your spine.” I had been learning calligraphy to get in touch with my cultural roots, but what I was really seeking was a return to myself. Now I have sensed that the pleasure out of calligraphy allows me to know myself more fully.
During a recent lesson, my teacher pointed at the word I had just finished, telling me: “This word is much better. I can see the choices you made, your calculations, your flow. Trust yourself. This word is yours.” He might as well have said, “This word is you.”
1. What did the author initially think of her name “Chen Yiwen”?| A．It was lucky so she gladly accepted it. | B．She felt proud of its symbolic meaning. |
| C．She understood the intention but still disliked it. | D．Its strange pronunciation made her embarrassed. |
| A．pick up a new hobby | B．reconnect with her origin |
| C．gain insights into a new culture | D．fit in with local community |
| A．reflects the creator’s spirits | B．comes from creative energy |
| C．highlights the design of strokes | D．depends on continuous practice |
| A．Appreciate what our culture offers. | B．Find beauty from your inner self. |
| C．A great teacher leads you to truth. | D．We are the sum of what we create. |
3 . An Art Class
When Kelly was twelve, she started taking classes at Miss Grace’s School for Art. She didn’t like it at first: the “novice artists”—the kids who hadn’t really done art before-worked mostly with clay, and Kelly was a terrible sculptor.
It wasn’t until her third year that Kelly found something she was really good at-charcoal drawing (素描). She loved watching the lines spread unevenly across the page as she moved the bits of charcoal back and forth over the paper.
One day, Sophia, the best artist in her class, sat down and set up her easel (画架) next to Kelly. Kelly felt a sinking feeling in her stomach. She’d actually found an art form that she enjoyed and was good at-and now Sophia was going to outshine her again? Kelly fought back tears when Miss Grace entered the room.
“Hello class, Miss Grace said.” We’ll continue to work on the project today. What masterpiece would Sophia have come up with?
Kelly looked at Sophia’s easel and she couldn’t believe it-it was a mess! For a brief moment, Kelly couldn’t actually believe her drawing was better than Sophia’s.
But then she looked at Sophia, who was watching Kelly with an anxious expression. “I…. I couldn’t decide what to do,” Sophia said. “And you’re so good. Sometimes I feel like my stuff is just so bad in comparison.”
Kelly looked to see if Sophia was joking, but she seemed completely serious. Now Kelly was shocked. “I’m not talented ... Miss Grace seldom praises me. You’re the best one in our class!”
Sophia raised her eyebrows. “I might be a really good copier of the stuff, but I have no idea what to do when it comes to making up my own images. You are so great at making new things out of the old stuff. I’ve loved your works.”
“I’ve loved yours, too,” Kelly said.
“Well, definitely not this one,” Sophia said.
Kelly smiled. “Maybe not right now. But if you move these lines up...” she said, pointing her finger on Sophia’s paper.
Sophia was quiet for a moment. “That’s a great idea!” she said finally.
Kelly smiled and turned back to her drawing, looking every so often at Sophia’s work to see that she was taking her advice, down to the last line.
1. When Kelly started classes at the art school, she _____.| A．was not good at the course | B．lacked confidence in drawing |
| C．was often pushed by Miss Grace | D．did not get along with the other kids |
| A．Thrilled. | B．Confused. | C．Frustrated. | D．Relieved. |
| A．She inspired Sophia. | B．She praised Sophia’s creativity. |
| C．She decided to outshine Sophia. | D．She finished the drawing for Sophia. |
| A．Interest is the best teacher. | B．You are what you believe to be. |
| C．Everyone has their own strengths. | D．Hard work will eventually pay off. |
ChatGPT is a chatbot. Some schools
5 . When I teach research methods, a major focus is peer review. As a process, peer review evaluates academic papers for their quality, integrity and impact on a field, largely shaping what scientists accept as “knowledge”- By instinct, any academic follows up a new idea with the question, “Was that peer reviewed?”
Although I believe in the importance of peer review and I help do peer reviews for several academic journals-I know how vulnerable the process can be.
I had my first encounter with peer review during my first year as a Ph. D student. One day, my adviser handed me an essay and told me to have my -written review back to him in a week. But at the time, I certainly was not a “peer”-I was too new in my field. Manipulated data (不实的数据) or substandard methods could easily have gone undetected. Knowledge is not self-evident. Only experts would be able to notice them, and even then, experts do not always agree on what they notice.
Let’s say in my life I only see white swans. Maybe I write an essay, concluding that all swans are white. And a “peer” says, “Wait a minute, I’ve seen black swans.” I would have to refine my knowledge.
The peer plays a key role evaluating observations with the overall goal of advancing knowledge. For example, if the above story were reversed, and peer reviewers who all believed that all swans were white came across the first study observing a black swan, the study would receive a lot of attention.
So why was a first-year graduate student getting to stand in for an expert? Why would my review count the same as an expert’s review? One answer: The process relies almost entirely on unpaid labor.
Despite the fact that peers are professionals, peer review is not a profession. As a result, the same over-worked scholars often receive masses of the peer review requests. Besides the labor inequity, a small pool of experts can lead to a narrowed process of what is publishable or what counts as knowledge, directly threatening diversity of perspectives and scholars. Without a large enough reviewer pool, the process can easily fall victim to biases, arising from a small community recognizing each other’s work and compromising conflicts of interest.
Despite these challenges, I still tell my students that peer review offers the best method for evaluating studies aird advancing knowledge. As a process, peer review theoretically works. The question is whether the issues with peer review can be addressed by professionalizing the field.
1. What can we learn about peer review in the first paragraph?| A．It generates knowledge. | B．It is commonly practiced. |
| C．It is a major research method. | D．It is questioned by some scientists. |
| A．Complexity of peer review ensures its reliability. |
| B．Contradictions between scientists may be balanced. |
| C．Individuals can be limited by personal experiences. |
| D．Experts should detect unscientific observation methods. |
| A．Workload for scholars. | B．Toughness of the process. |
| C．Diversification of publications. | D．Financial support to reviewers. |
| A．what fuels peer review | B．why peer review is imperfect |
| C．how new hands advance peer review | D．whether peer reviewers are underrated |
In early November in 2023, a diver, swimming off the coast of Sardinia,
When I lived in Boston, I taught English as a second language to adult students from around the world. On the last day, they threw a nice party. I was amazed they had learned enough English
8 . On Feb. 21, four students were standing on the side of Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu when a driver going 110 miles per hour lost control of his car and it crashed into the parked vehicles.12 people were killed at the scene, including 2 drivers.
This kind of traffic death shouldn’t be called an accident. In Los Angeles, we seem to have accepted constant carnage (屠杀) in our streets in exchange for maximizing driver speed and convenience. The official responses to proven traffic dangers are mere gestures, if even that.
Los Angeles is a uniquely deadly city with a death rate that is four times the national average. Unsurprisingly, it’s also a city that has been designed with one thing in mind: a concept called level of service, which grades streets on how well they serve those in automobiles. To many Angelenos, that makes sense — to design our streets for car traffic, which is the way many get around the city. Unfortunately, we don’t recognize that there’s a trade-off. We can either have streets bettered for free-flowing traffic, or we can design streets for people to move around safely outside of cars.
City leaders consistently choose for the easy but deadly option. In one recent example, a resident asked the city’s Department of Transportation to block drivers from using Cochran Avenue at Venice Boulevard as a cut-through street, as they were speeding through a quiet residential neighbourhood. The department responded by suggesting a “speed awareness campaign” in which neighbours put up yard signs urging drivers to slow down.
People don’t drive based on signage, but they drive on the design of the street. The trunk roads of Los Angeles such as Venice Boulevard all need to be revised so that people are prioritized over cars. This would include narrowing travel lanes (道), building bike lanes, and banning right turns at red lights. These measures would make drivers feel like they’re in a city and not on a highway. A recent John Hopkins study says this would have substantial safety benefits.
With more than 7,500 miles of streets in the city of Los Angeles, they won’t all be rebuilt anytime soon. But with each road construction project, or each crash, we should be revising streets to make them safer for all road users.
The solution to traffic jam isn’t to make more space for cars. It’s to design the streets to be safe enough for alternatives such as biking, walking and mass transit, especially for the 50% of trips daily in Los Angeles that are less than three miles. The solution to protecting people dining outdoors isn’t crash barriers. It’s a street design that forces drivers to go slowly. The problem is carnage in the streets, and we know the solutions.
1. Why should the traffic death in Los Angeles be called “constant carnage”?| A．The traffic accidents happen quite often. |
| B．Too many people are killed in the traffic accidents. |
| C．The drivers’ speeding is to blame for the traffic death. |
| D．City leaders’ consistent choice contributes to the traffic death. |
| A．Balance. | B．Guideline. | C．Conflict. | D．Resolution. |
| A．To widen travel lanes. | B．To add more crosswalks. |
| C．To arrange more traffic police. | D．To punish speeding drivers. |
| A．Drivers first or walkers first? | B．Traffic death or constant carnage? |
| C．More warning signs or safer designs? | D．More narrow lanes or speedy highways? |
9 . Eleven o’clock at night saw a large woman with a large purse walking alone, when a boy ran up behind and tried to snatch (抢夺) her purse. But the boy lost his balance and fell on his back. The woman picked him up firmly by his shirt front.
“Aren’t you ashamed of yourself?” shouted the woman. Two or three people passed, stopped, and stood watching.
“I’m very sorry, lady. I’m sorry,” whispered the skinny little boy, in broken tennis shoes.
“Um-hum! And your face is dirty,” said the large woman dragging the frightened boy. “Since you put yourself in contact with me, you are going to remember Mrs. Luella Jones.”
He began to struggle, but Mrs. Jones continued to drag him up the street. When she got to her door, she dragged the boy inside. “What’s your name?” the woman asked.
“Roger,” answered the boy in a low voice. “Then, Roger, you go to that sink and wash your face,” ordered the woman and finally let go of him.
“You gonna take me to jail (监狱)?” asked Roger, bending over the sink.
“Not with that face,” said Mrs. Jones. “I believe you were hungry to snatch my purse.”
“I wanted a pair of blue shoes,” replied the boy.
There was a long pause. After he had dried his face, the boy turned around. The door was open. He could run!
After a while the woman said, “I was young once and I wanted things I could not get. I have done things too, which I would not tell anybody else, son.” There was another long pause. The boy’s mouth opened.
Then Mrs. Jones went to do the cooking. She did not watch the boy to see if he was going to run, nor did she watch her purse left behind her. She did not ask him anything about where he lived, or his folks. Instead, as they ate, she told him a lot about her job in a hotel shop and how all kinds of people came in and out. She cut him another piece of her cake.
When they finished eating, she got up and said, “Now, here, take this ten dollars and buy yourself some blue shoes. Do not make the mistake, because shoes come by devilish ways like that will burn your feet.”
She led him to the front door. “Good night! Behave yourself, son!” she said, looking out into the street.
1. How did Roger feel when Mrs. Jones mentioned her past?| A．Frightened. | B．Surprised. | C．Settled. | D．Ashamed. |
| A．She intended to go easy on him. |
| B．He reminded her of her own son. |
| C．He put himself to be in contact with her. |
| D．She lacked an excuse to teach him a lesson. |
| A．Kind and generous. | B．Able and ambitious. |
| C．Frank and cooperative. | D．Calm and courageous. |
| A．Home is where the heart is. |
| B．Life is full of ups and downs. |
| C．A best parent is to lead by example. |
| D．A good deed shines the light into the dark. |
10 . We need people like you, who understand the power of science, to fund the research that will change lives in the future.
By donating to the Medical Research Foundation (MRF), you’ll be funding the research that future generations will depend on. MRF is an independent charity, focused solely on funding quality medical research. With close links to the Medical Research Council (MRC), we’re able to choose the most impactful studies and adapt quickly to meet any emerging health crisis, thanks to the support of people like you.
Your gift can support some of the brightest scientific minds. Many of these scientists are at the beginning of their careers, when funding is hardest to secure. Your support at this critical time can provide the springboard that a scientist needs to drive their research and career forward, ensuring they can continue to make life-changing discoveries.
MRF has supported researchers tackling pressing challenges like the Bird Flu, as well as vital areas of research that are often overlooked by other funders, ensuring we fill the gaps in our medical knowledge and protect the future of human health.
As someone interested in science, you will understand that while no one can predict what we will face next, we can be certain that it is only through ambitious, high-quality medical research that we will meet whatever new challenges come our way. By leaving a donation, you can have a lasting impact on science and on the future of human health.
| A．Provide service for the MRC. | B．Predict emerging health crisis. |
| C．Fund quality medical research. | D．Donate to people interested in science. |
| A．fill the gaps in medical knowledge |
| B．tackle the future pressing challenges |
| C．choose the most impactful medical studies |
| D．support some of the brightest scientific minds |
| A．To raise medical research funds. |
| B．To introduce the impact by donation. |
| C．To analyse the health crisis in the future. |
| D．To employ people devoted to medical research. |
