1 . 阅读下面短文，根据题目要求用英文回答问题。

Smartphones have become a big part of people’s lives. When we temporarily can’t find them, it causes a feeling of anxiety or panic. Some psychologists have called it “nomophobia”. Thankfully, I rode through the withdrawal of my smartphone and it was short-lived.

When I got my first smartphone over a decade ago, I loved it. It gave me instant access to my music, a world of information and thousands of photos and videos. But over time, I became increasingly ambivalent about its role in my life. I would repeatedly refresh my email, shop online for stuff I didn’t need and constantly scroll through the latest news. I’d often complain to my husband and to my seven-year-old son, Louis, that I felt trapped by it.

Then, one day last summer, while I was playing with Louis, I was once again distracted by dings and pings. He finally reminded me of my complaints, but rephrased them as a plea: “Mommy, just give it up already!”

I decided to try. Instead of going cold turkey — no cellphone at all — I bought a flip phone. With no touch screen, texting is time-consuming. Once, while trying to catch up on texts with a friend, I finally got frustrated and called her. I realized I hadn’t spoken to her since her big move. It made a difference to hear both the excitement in her voice as she described seeing the northern lights and her sadness in being away from a sick parent.

Nowadays, people may prefer text-based communication over using the phone because they fear that the call will be awkward. But, just as I learned, when we were forced to connect voice to voice, we would find ourselves more bonded to that person.

Wuyou Sui, an expert researching digital health, describes nomophobia as a reliance that’s been placed upon us. “Whenever something is designed to make a choice easier, it’s called a behavioural nudge,” he explains, adding that the more central to our lives the smartphone’s functions are, the more prisoned we become.

Ultimately, though, that sense of dependence is false. As I’ve found, you can do all the things you need to do in other ways. It’s not always convenient, but I know I’m much calmer on a regular basis without my smartphone.

1. What does “nomophobia” refer to?
_____________________________________________________________________________________
2. Why did the author decide to give up her smartphone?
____________________________________________________________________________________
3. Please decide which part is false in the following statement, then underline it and explain why.
▶According to the author, we will find it awkward to talk with a friend on the phone.
____________________________________________________________________________________
4. Apart from the ways mentioned in the passage, what can you do to avoid “nomophobia”? (In about 40 words)
____________________________________________________________________________________

2 . 阅读下列短文，根据短文内容填空。在未给提示词的空白处仅填写1个恰当的单词，在给出提示词的空白处用括号内所给词的正确形式填空。

My six-year-old daughter, Rona, listened attentively to the radio on the hardships people suffered     1     poor areas. It was the day after Rona’s birthday and her grandmother had given her some money. When the offering basket came around, Rona     2     (reach) into her pocket, pulled out her birthday money, and put it in the basket. “Your grandmother wanted you to use that to buy something nice for     3     (you),” I said. “I did,” Rona replied with a big smile. “I bought happiness.”

3 . The Science of Comfort Food

Certain foods always give us much pleasure.     1     However, much of the happiness we get from our favorite foods comes from the memories they bring to us and the people we’re with while we enjoy them.

    2     That’s why our brains reward us for eating anything at all by releasing a chemical that enhances mood. But as anyone who’s ever eaten apple pie knows, sweets can make us feel especially nice. One study found that people who are especially sensitive to sweetness have stronger brain-reward responses to sugary foods than less sweet-sensitive people do.

Some foods are especially emotionally satisfying for reasons that have little to do with their taste or nutritional content, though.     3     And many favorite American comfort foods—chili, say—are not particularly sweet or high in carbohydrates (碳水化合物). Often we love food because we have fond memories associated with it. One dish I cannot live without at a New Year party is my mom’s Snowy Mashed Potatoes, which remind me of holiday joy and past reunions with extended family.

    4     Sometimes you might feel sad when you eat foods that remind you of loved ones you miss. We may also avoid foods that we associate with bad experiences. I haven’t eaten cottage cheese since I was 8 years old, because it was the last thing I ate before rolling off the bed with a terrible stomachache.

In addition to past memories, the context in which we eat foods matters, too.     5     And our gustatory (味觉的) experiences can be heightened by “a sense of community, a sense of warmth and enjoying it together”. I appreciate my mum’s potatoes even more today when I eat them with my husband and two children.

A．Food is essential for our survival.

B．These associations can go the other way, too.

C．We desire comfort foods when we feel lonely.

D．It shapes how much we enjoy them in the moment.

E．Their taste and nutritional content affect how we feel.

F．Our memory for smell can be long-lasting and precise.

G．After all, different cultures have different comfort foods.

4 . Connected to each other like never before, young people today are becoming agents of change, increasingly contributing to innovative solutions that improve people’s lives and the planet’s health.

The United Nations Institute for Training and Research is therefore delighted to launch the Young Leaders Online Training Programme, a four-week e-Learning course, to provide participants with the knowledge and skills to fully unfold their potential as global leaders.

◆CONTENT
◇Online Learning Modules

Module 1: The United Nations (3-9 June 2024)

Module 2: Conference Diplomacy (外交) (10-16 June 2024)

Module 3: Sustainable Development Goals   (17-23 June 2024)

Module 4: International Communication   (24-30 June 2024)

Each module will comprise about 30 pages of literature, external links, videos, and other relevant material, corresponding to a total workload of 40-45 hours during the four weeks.

◇Live Components

Each e-Learning module will go with a series of live meetings with UN experts. These will have varying lengths and formats, including e-workshops, mock (模拟的) interviews, etc.

◆COMPLETION REQUIREMENTS

Participants are qualified for a course certificate upon successful completion of the components below:

◇Reading the four modules’ content. You may wish to study the material through the interactive programme Articulate Storyline or simply download the PDF version of the content. They are identical in content and are meant to give participants flexibility in the way to study.

◇Participation in the discussion board forums (论坛). You are supposed to answer questions on every module in short texts. Your posts will be evaluated according to both quantity and quality.

◇Passing the multiple-choice assessments. Each module features an assessment quiz at its end. It contains 10 questions, and passing the module requires at least 8 out of 10 questions correctly answered.

1. What is the main aim of the course?

A．To improve the lives of young people.	B．To connect the youth around the world.
C．To collect innovative ideas from young people.	D．To build up the youth’s global leadership ability.

2. What will participants do in each module?

A．Read great works of literature.	B．Spend 40-45 hours on learning.
C．Make videos for the United Nations.	D．Have online meetings with UN experts.

3. To get a course certificate, a participant needs to ______.

A．take part in the discussions	B．post questions on each module
C．copy the PDF version of the content	D．answer all the test questions correctly

5 . 阅读下列短文，根据短文内容填空。在未给提示词的空白处仅填写1个恰当的单词，在给出提示词的空白处用括号内所给词的正确形式填空。

A study shows 176 bird species have been found to build nests with human litter, such as plastic bags and fishing nets.     1     worries the scientists is that such materials can harm chicks and even adult birds. The study     2     (review) research covering almost 35,000 nests and finds that birds use human-made materials in nests on all continents except Antarctica. While such behaviour     3     (observe) as early as in the 1830s, in recent years it has undoubtedly increased.

6 . Microgreen Farming

Microgreens have been used in cooking since the 1980s.     1     Chefs now realize they also add flavor and visual appeal when included in all types of dishes and recipes.

As with most vegetables, it all starts with seeds. But instead of allowing the plant to grow to its full potential, microgreens are created when the plant is harvested shortly after it starts to grow. The result is a strong flavor and an ingredient that packs a variety of nutrients and health benefits in a tiny, delicious package. The Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry states that microgreens have increased levels of vitamins E, C and K.     2    

One of the most significant benefits of using microgreens in dishes is that they provide an intense experience that will improve the overall flavor of any dish. Many chefs use them to add depth of flavor and to create complex flavor. Another benefit of microgreens is the convenience factor — they are incredibly easy to cook with!     3     You just put them onto your meals such as soups, sandwiches, salads, etc. Microgreens are the ultimate healthy convenience food!

    4     It is usually ready for harvest in only 6-7 days and offers a spicy radish taste. The result is a dish that not only tastes wonderful but offers a visual appeal that satisfies the eyes and is incredibly nutritious!

Traditional plants require an extended amount of time and large amounts of land.     5     They require very little physical effort and are ready for harvest in as little as one week. In addition, growing microgreens doesn’t require a lot of space, and is typically done indoors with a vertical setup. So why not give it a shot?

A．Microgreens, on the other hand, are easy!

B．They were initially used as a form of decoration.

C．There is no prep and cutting work as with most vegetables.

D．They have as much as 40 times more nutrients than a mature plant.

E．One popular form of microgreens is a mix of purple and green radish.

F．Some beginners like to start with a familiar plant, such as radish, cabbage, or peas.

G．Mature traditional vegetables are generally harvested 2 to 4 months after they are planted.

7 . Think of the words in your head: that tasteless joke you wisely kept to yourself at dinner; your unvoiced impression of your best friend’s new partner. Now imagine that someone could listen in.

Recently, scientists from the University of Texas, have made another step in that direction. In a study published in Neuroscience, the team showed it was possible to read people’s thoughts with a non-invasive brain scanner called fMRI and large language models (LLMs) built with GPT.

The study centered on three subjects, who lay in an fMRI scanner recording their brain activity by detecting changes in blood flow in parts of their brains while they listened to online stories. By integrating this information with the LLMs’ ability to understand how words relate to one another, the researchers developed an encoded (编码的) map of how each individual’s brain responds to different words. Then, the team worked backward. They recorded the fMRI activity while the participants listened to a new story. Using a combination of the patterns previously encoded for each individual and LLMs, the researchers attempted to translate this new brain activity.

While many of the sentences it produced were inaccurate, the decoder generated sentences that got the main idea of what the person was thinking. For instance, when a person heard, “I don’t have my driver’s license yet,” the decoder spat out, “She has not even started to learn to drive yet.” Alex Huth from the university said, “We were shocked and impressed that this worked as well as it does.”

The researchers also found that the technology isn’t one-size-fits-all. Each decoder was quite personalized and worked only for the person whose brain data had helped build it. Additionally, a person had to voluntarily cooperate for the decoder to identify ideas. If a person wasn’t paying attention to an audio story, the decoder couldn’t pick that story up from brain signals.

While the technology was still far from perfect, the result could ultimately lead to seamless devices that help people who can’t talk or otherwise communicate easily. However, the research also raises privacy concerns about unwelcome neural overhearing. The team said the potential of the technology was such that policymakers should proactively address how it can be legally used. Jerry Tang from the team said, “Nobody’s brain should be decoded without their permission. If one day it does become possible to get accurate decoding without a person’s will, we’ll have a regulatory foundation in place.”

1. What is the study mainly about?

A．The working principle of a smart scanner.

B．The potential impact of mind-reading GPT.

C．The advance in brain-decoding technology.

D．The breakthrough in large language models.

2. How did the team work backward?

A．They fed the decoder data on people’s brain activities.

B．They employed the scanner to encode people’s thoughts.

C．They recorded the fMRI activity to assess thinking ability.

D．They used brain activity patterns to read the subjects’ mind.

3. What did the researchers find?

A．The decoder worked as expected.

B．The decoder can get the wording right.

C．The decoder required willing participation.

D．The decoder can be applied to different people.

4. What will the team most probably do next?

A．Personalize the technology.	B．Establish proper regulations.
C．Apply the technology across fields.	D．Break limitations of the technology.

8 . As you leave the Bandhavgarh National Park in India, there is a notice which shows a huge tiger. The notice says, “You may not have seen me, but I have seen you.” There are more than a billion people in India and Indian tigers probably see humans every single day. Tigers can and do kill almost anything they meet in the jungle. However, it is a little strange that attacks on humans are not that frequent.

Some people might argue that these attacks were in fact common in the past. But there were far more tigers around in those days. So, to some extent, attacks appear to have been as rare then as they are today.

People think it is because of fears, but what exactly are tigers afraid of? Can they really know that we may be even better armed than they are? Surely not. Has the species programmed the experiences of all tigers with humans into its genes to be inherited as instinct? Perhaps. But I think the explanation may be simpler and, in a way, more interesting.

I suspect that a tiger’s fear of humans lies in the way he actually observes us visually. Imagine a tiger sees a man who is 1.8 meters tall. A tiger is less than 1 meter tall but he may be up to 3 meters long from head to tail. So when a tiger sees the man face on, it might not be unreasonable for him to assume that the man is 6 meters long. If he met a deer of this size, he might attack the animal by leaping on its back, but when he looks behind the man, he can’t see a back. From the front the man is huge, but looked at from the side he all but disappears. This must be very disturbing. A hunter has to be confident that it can kill its prey, and no one is confident when they are disconcerted.

The opposite is true of a squatting human. A squatting human is half the size and presents twice the spread of back, and appears like a medium-sized deer. Many incidents of attacks on people involve villagers bending over to cut grass. The fact that humans stand upright may not just distinguish them from other species, but also help them to survive in an unpredictable environment.

1. As for some people’s opinion on tiger attacks, the author is ________.

A．objective

B．unconcerned

C．supportive

D．disapproving

2. Why does the author raise three questions in Paragraph 3?

A．To present assumptions.	B．To evaluate arguments.
C．To question findings.	D．To confirm opinions.

3. What does the underlined word “disconcerted” in Paragraph 4 probably mean?

A．Confused.

B．Annoyed.

C．Depressed.

D．Surprised.

4. What can we learn from the last two paragraphs?

A．It is the genes that cause the tiger’s fear of humans.

B．It is hard for a tiger to make out the shape of humans.

C．Tigers sense the danger the moment they spot humans.

D．Tigers are less confident when facing squatting humans.

9 . 阅读下面短文，根据短文内容填空。在未给提示词的空白处仅填写1个适当的单词，在给出提示词的空白处用括号内所给词的正确形式填空。

In New York, longtime Kunqu artists and students are working together to pass down the ancient traditional form from generation     1     generation, and Kunqu societies     2     (be) active in the city for over 30 years. And recently, these Kunqu Opera artists, young and old, staged a performance at the Big Apple     3     (celebrate) the 35th anniversary of the Kunqu Society of New York, a nonprofit culture and arts organization.

10 . Last September, Sarah, 44, slipped on a platform and ________ in the gap between a train and the platform edge. When the train left the station, it ran over her right arm and leg. Unfortunately, another train pulled in, causing further ________. A few minutes later, someone noticed her and called emergency services. They ________ to the scene and took Sarah to the hospital, but doctors were ________ to save her arm and leg.

________, Sarah is now the world’s first woman to use a £250.00 bionic (仿生) arm ________ by AI.

“It’s hard to explain but when I think about a ________ — say ‘open my hand’ — my muscles twitch (颤动) in a particular way. The sensors in it will ________ these twitches, and send signals to make my hand work. And if it ________ the fact that I point my finger often, it will learn that I like to do that and make it easier for me to do so,” said Sarah.

In February, Sarah returned to work and a few months later she attended a conference in Rome to give a speech about the accident.

“I do miss myself before the accident. But at the end of the day, I’m just ________ that AI can give me a piece of my life back. I know I am blessed to be able to keep moving forward with my family.”

1.

A．fell

B．jumped

C．stood

D．filled

2.

A．changes

B．worries

C．injuries

D．failures

3.

A．moved

B．turned

C．walked

D．rushed

4.

A．uncertain

B．unable

C．patient

D．eager

5.

A．Naturally

B．Normally

C．Obviously

D．Luckily

6.

A．powered

B．developed

C．graded

D．treated

7.

A．pattern

B．signal

C．movement

D．moment

8.

A．protect

B．detect

C．, connect

D．reflect

9.

A．cares about

B．talks about

C．figures out

D．points out

10.

A．hopeful

B．grateful

C．concerned

D．amused