1 . The humble beaver could hold the key to saving our water, according to a new research that has found how their dam building skills protect the rivers threatened by climate change.
The research, done on rivers in Colorado, found the wooden barriers built by beavers raise water level upstream. As it builds up, the water flows into surrounding soils and secondary waterways. These acts separate out extra nutrients and pollutants before water reenters the main channel downstream.
Extreme weather events, such as severe storms, impact water quality in major river systems. Droughts and floods are becoming more frequent, and the scientists have also found they are contributing to an increase in the American be aver in the US, and consequently an explosion of dam building.
The team chose to monitor a 40-kilometer stretch of the East River. They reviewed data on water levels gathered hourly by sensors fixed in the river and the areas along the river.
They also collected water samples, including from below the ground’s surface to monitor nutrient and pollutant levels. The researchers compared water quality along the stretch during a historically dry year, to water quality the following year when water levels were unusually high. They also compared these year-long datasets to water quality during the nearly three- month period, starting in late July 2018, when the be aver dam blocked the river.
The study revealed the dams increased nitrate（硝酸盐）by nearly 50% by increasing the pressure of the water flow upstream 10 times over, which pushed more water out into the surrounding areas. This decrease in nitrates, which are absorbed and digested by tiny organisms in the soil, helped increase the oxygen content and quality in the rivers.
Beavers’ handiwork is responsible for the land they love.
1. What do the wooden barriers created by beavers act as?| A．Waterways | B．Samples | C．Dams | D．Sensors |
| A．More dams emerge on the river. |
| B．More American beavers appear in the US. |
| C．More pollutants are removed from the river. |
| D．More oxygen is created in the river. |
| A．To keep an eye on the water quality. | B．To compare water quality of the stretch. |
| C．To reveal the damage caused by floods. | D．To save the river from drying up. |
| A．Organisms help decrease nitrate. |
| B．Beavers contribute to climate change. |
| C．Extreme weather catches researcher’s eyes. |
| D．Beavers help protect rivers against climate change. |
2 . When the economic crisis hit, Bruno and Marilena lost their jobs in Florence. It was then that they decided to return to their hometown in Tuscany. There, they
Guests at their Bed and Breakfast are treated like extended family, sharing home-cooked meals together and
Through commitment to community and sustainability values, Bruno and Marilena have not only found their inner
| A．appreciated | B．evaluated | C．transformed | D．deserted |
| A．resources | B．reservation | C．information | D．equipment |
| A．rural | B．urban | C．cultural | D．private |
| A．self-assessment | B．self-sufficiency | C．self-discipline | D．self-awareness |
| A．adapting | B．exchanging | C．publishing | D．creating |
| A．Legend | B．Word | C．Intelligence | D．Prediction |
| A．observed | B．booked | C．traded | D．conserved |
| A．escape | B．solution | C．opportunity | D．challenge |
| A．temporary | B．permanent | C．meaningful | D．complicated |
| A．Despite | B．Without | C．Against | D．Beyond |
| A．care for | B．fight with | C．take over | D．set down |
| A．donate | B．monitor | C．preserve | D．taste |
| A．hardship | B．pressure | C．fulfillment | D．maintenance |
| A．struggle | B．loneliness | C．achievement | D．peace |
| A．environmental | B．emotional | C．communicative | D．economic |
3 . How to win a creative writing competition
I’ve judged a lot of competitions for young writers, and the following advice may give you the chance of winning one.
●Cut your first paragraph.
It’s amazing how many stories are improved by simply covering up the first paragraph. You may just want to warm up.
●Keep it simple.
●
If you want to write about Harry Potter, or a footballer or celebrity, adjust it. Change the name. Change the situation. Make your own character and try exaggerating an aspect of the personality to make your point striking.
●Write an ending.
The great film director Alexander Mackendrick said, “If you’ve got a beginning, but you don’t yet have an end, then you’re wrong.” I suggest you come up with your ending first.
| A．It’s the story that matters. |
| B．Avoid characters that already exist. |
| C．I see a really odd trend in the stories. |
| D．Describe characters in your own words. |
| E．Plan that out, then plan how you’re going to get there. |
| F．Works handed in are usually divided into two categories. |
| G．Or you may just desire to tell me some crucial information in the first few lines. |
4 . Millions of people have conditions that make walking difficult. Millions more regularly perform tough movement as part of their jobs. Wearable robotic devices called exoskeletons that help the legs move could benefit both of these groups. In laboratory settings, such devices have helped people walk faster while using less energy. But various obstacles have kept these devices from being practical for everyday use.
A research team at Stanford University led by Dr. Steven Collins has developed an exoskeleton that can rapidly adapt to the user during normal walking. The team tested how well an exoskeleton based on their model could adapt to a user. They then compared it to one based on lab measurements. Both methods wound up applying similar forces at different speeds and reduced effort similarly across a range of conditions. But the model-based adaptation took only one-quarter as long as the measurement-based adaptation.
Next, the researchers created a portable, ankle-worn exoskeleton that could be used in the real world. The exoskeleton was powered by a battery pack worn at the waist.
The team conducted tests of the device outdoors on public sidewalks. Compared with walking in normal shoes, the exoskeleton increased walking speed by 9% while expending 17% less energy on average. This is equal to the energy savings of removing a 20-pound backpack. When walking on a treadmill (跑步机) at a constant speed, users expended up to 23% less energy, equal to removing a 30-pound backpack.
“This exoskeleton personalize s assistance as people walk normally through the real world,” Collins says. “This opens the door to a much broader use of exoskeletons to assist individuals with physical impairments (损伤) and people who need to carry heavy loads,” adds co-author Dr. Scott Delp.
1. Who are exoskeletons designed for?| A．Sportsmen in a race. | B．Firefighters on a mission. |
| C．Patients with mental disabilities. | D．Doctors doing an operation. |
| A．Barriers. | B．Applications. | C．Models. | D．Backpacks. |
| A．To illustrate the advantage of exoskeletons. | B．To compare exoskeletons with normal shoes. |
| C．To give examples of different kinds of shoes. | D．To list the reasons for designing exoskeletons. |
| A．Conservative. | B．Negative. | C．Favourable. | D．Indifferent. |
5 . We’re often told that there’s no age limit when it comes to pursuing our goals, but it’s truly inspiring to see someone achieve them later in life-especially if they are 95 years old. Angela Alvarez is a Cuban-born singer and songwriter who, after putting aside her dream of pursuing a career in entertainment for decades, finally released her first album in 2021.
Once Alvarez graduated from school, she told her father she wanted to become a professional singer. However, he prevented her from doing so. Eventually, she got married and found happiness in raising her four children, though life wasn’t easy.
With time, her grandson, Carlos Jos é Alvarez, grew up to be a music producer. When he found out his grandma had written over 50 songs throughout her life, he asked if she would like to record her songs. Her answer was “yes”. And that was the beginning.
Alvarez’s story even caught the attention of actor Andy García, who produced a documentary about this amazing woman and the recording process of her 15-song album. “She represents a generation, perhaps our greatest generation of Cubans,” said the actor.
The dream reached new heights as she became nominated for a Latin Grammy. Once she took to the stage to accept her award, she gave an inspiring speech, “I want to dedicate this award to my beloved homeland, Cuba; also to those who have not achieved their dream. Although life is difficult, there is always a way out, and with faith and love they can achieve it. I promise, it’s never too late.”
1. What do we know about Alvarez?| A．She lived a miserable life bringing up her children. |
| B．She has released 15 albums since she returned to music. |
| C．She got nominated as the best musician of her generation. |
| D．She gave up her dream after graduation owing to her father’s prevention. |
| A．Her hard life after marriage. | B．Her grandson’s support. |
| C．Her desire to make more money. | D．Her enthusiasm for music. |
| A．Inspiring. | B．Interesting. | C．Amusing. | D．Moving. |
| A．To introduce a woman’s life-time story. |
| B．To call on others to learn from Alvarez. |
| C．To praise what Alvarez has done in music. |
| D．To tell us it’s never too late to achieve one’s dream. |
6 . Global Support assists you to organize and undertake activities outside of New York.
If you are a student, please contact Office of Global Services about visa-related questions, the Student Health Center about health insurance abroad, Office of Global Programs about studying away at one of our university’s global sites, and Office of General Counsel about any travel to Cuba.
When Should I Contact Global Support?
Conducting a university activity outside of New York, whether it is research, short trips, exchange programs or study-away programs, may present obstacles as a result of U.S. or local legal requirements. Countries and local districts have their own set of rules and regulations, and it can be challenging to be knowledgeable and current on the rules and regulations of the many countries and districts where the university operates.
How Can Global Support Help?
We will help you identify important issues relating to your activity, obtain information about these issues, engage the appropriate administrative departments and function al experts, and address these issues.
Our university maintains functional experts in a range of administrative areas to provide you with technical advice and guidance. Because there are often changes to local country rules and regulations, these university experts have relationships with third party local country experts, from whom they at times seek advice and guidance. Allowing the university functional experts to remain current on the best local country experts ensures you get the best advice at the best price.
1. Where should you go to ask questions about travel to Cuba?| A．Office of Global Services. | B．The Student Health Center. |
| C．Office of Global Programs. | D．Office of General Counsel. |
| A．researches | B．laws | C．programs | D．cultures |
| A．Their constant adaptation to changes. | B．Their expertise in introducing regulations. |
| C．Their cooperation with local country experts. | D．Their diverse educational backgrounds. |
7 . A brown and dry lawn is not something many gardeners would boast about. But that is exactly the kind of yard competition organizers in Sweden were looking for when they launched the prize for the “World’s Ugliest Lawn”. People from around the world were invited to post pictures of their dehydrated(脱水的)grass to social media in a bid to win the uncertain honor.
The intention, according to those behind the project, was to raise awareness of “saving water on a global scale by changing the norm for green lawns”. Lawns, which can require large amounts of water to maintain, are coming under increasing examination as climate change makes periods of drought more frequent and intense.
The global initiative was launched on the official website for Gotland in Sweden. “Huge amounts of water are used to water lawns for aesthetics(美学). As the world gets warmer, lack of water in urban areas is projected to affect up to 2.4 billion people by 2050. By not watering lawns for aesthetic reasons, we can protect the availability of groundwater,” the competition organizers said.
The unlikely title has been awarded to Kathleen Murray who lives in Sandford in Tasmania, Australia. According to the organizers, Murray’s lawn “boasts deep and dry divots created by three wild bandicoots(袋狸)and not one dust-covered decimeter is wasted on watering”. Murray said in the press release about her triumph, “I am terribly proud! I knew I would have my 5 minutes of fame, even if it was for having the ugliest lawn on the planet! I am now free of ever taking care of my lawn again.”
A press release by the Gotland, office added, “For the planet and its declining stockpiles of life-giving liquid, thank you, Kathleen, as well as those naughty bandicoots damaging your lawn for the greater good.” Organizers added, “Gotland aims to show to Sweden and the world that sustainable behavior doesn’t have to be dull.”
1. What can we say about the yard competition organized in Sweden?| A．People had even doubted its authenticity. |
| B．People worldwide were unwilling to join. |
| C．Its participants must be professional gardeners. |
| D．Its entries must agree with the existing aesthetics. |
| A．To call on people to protect lawns. | B．To encourage people to be creative. |
| C．To challenge the norm of aesthetics. | D．To remind people of water shortage. |
| A．Ambition. | B．Success. | C．Sorrow. | D．Barrier. |
| A．People’s Whelming Reaction To A Yard Contest In Sweden |
| B．Lawns And Rare Bandicoots Calling For Urgent Protection |
| C．A Lawn Named The Ugliest Globally All For A Good Cause |
| D．The World’s Ugliest Lawn Unaccepted By The Whole World |
8 . Monet gets his place in the art timeline because of his leading role in the impressionist art movement, and through the lasting appeal of his artistic style. The painting he titled Impression: Sunrise, done early in his career, may not seem one of Monet’s best paintings, but the big deal about it is that it was the painting that gave impressionism its name.
Done with oil paint on canvas, this painting is characterized by thin washes of rather mild colors, on top of which he painted short strokes of pure color. Monet gave depth and perspective to an otherwise flat painting by the use of aerial perspective (空间透视法). Look closely at the three boats, and you can see how these get lighter in the tone, which is the way aerial perspective works. The lighter boats appear to be further away from us than the darkest one.
Monet exhibited the painting in what we now call the First Impressionist Exhibition, in Paris. Monet and a group of about 30 other artists, frustrated by restrictions and politics of the official annual art salon, had decided to hold their own independent exhibition, an unusual thing to do at the time. They called themselves the Anonymous Society of Painters, Sculptors, Engravers, etc., which included artists who are now world famous such as Renoir, Degas, Pissarro, Morisot, and Cezanne. Monet said he’d called the painting “impression” because “it really couldn’t pass as a view of Le Harve”.
Louis Leroy, an art critic, in his review of the exhibition used the title of Monet’s painting as the headline, calling it the “Exhibition of Impressionists”. Leroy had meant it ironically as the term “impression” was used to describe a rapidly finished painting of an atmospheric effect, and artists rarely, if ever, exhibited pictures so quickly sketched. The label stuck. In his review published on 25 April, 1874, Leroy wrote,“Wallpaper in its embryonic (萌芽期的) state is more finished than that seascape.” Then in a supportive review published a few days later, Jules Castagnary was the first art critic to use the term “Impressionism” in a positive way.
1. What do we know about Monet’s Impression: Sunrise?| A．It was universally acknowledged as Monet’s best painting. |
| B．Leroy was deeply impressed by the painter’s remarkable skill. |
| C．The different tones of the three boats gave depth to the painting. |
| D．It was exhibited in the official annual art salon with 30 other artists. |
| A．The label met strong opposition from other art critics. |
| B．The label was stuck to the surface of Monet’s painting. |
| C．The label was not regarded as a positive image. |
| D．The label stayed and became widely used after that. |
| A．Monet. | B．Leroy. | C．Renoir. | D．Castagnary. |
| A．Impression: Sunrise gave Impressionism its name. |
| B．Critics had a disagreement over Monet’s painting. |
| C．Monet is a leading artist of Impressionism. |
| D．Impressionism is an appealing artistic style. |
9 . If you look at the dynamic “Global Temperatures” map on NASA’s website, you can see the historic temperature change over time across the planet as the timeline goes from 1880 to the modern day. By 2019, the entire planet is in red, orange, and yellow colors, indicating temperatures much higher than the historical average in every country and human inhabitance.
If the timeline went to 2023, the map would look even worse. That’s because the summer of 2023 was the hottest ever, according to ocean monitors. July was the hottest month in recorded history. Next July could be worse. Unless we do something quickly, we face dealing with more and more dangerous and expensive natural disasters in the future.
Forest fires sent smoke from Canada across the North American continent, causing New York City to have the worst air quality in its recorded history. Heavy rainstorms fell on Vermont and the Northeastern United States in just a couple of days in the middle of July, which exceeded the amount that area would usually receive in two months and caused extreme damage to homes and businesses. Around the same time, flash flooding in Bucks County, Pennsylvania — north of Philadelphia — killed nearly a dozen people.
Erich Fischer, a researcher specializing in climate studies at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, is concerned that natural disasters could get much worse in the future—and in ways we cannot predict. He called for a “strike for climate justice,” which actually took place on Sept. 15, 2023. “The strategy needs to be twofold (双重的) . We need to decrease carbon emissions as much as realistically possible. That is already happening with people using electric cars and other green technologies. At the same time, we also need to find ways to predict the risk of natural disasters ahead of time,” said Erich Fischer.
1. Why does the writer mention the data on NASA’s website in paragraph 1?| A．To explain a concept. | B．To introduce a topic. |
| C．To provide a solution. | D．To make a prediction. |
| A．The severity of natural disasters. | B．The worst air quality in New York City. |
| C．The extreme damage by flash flooding. | D．The cause of the forests fires in Canada. |
| A．He advocated a twofold strategy. |
| B．He suggested forbidding carbon emissions. |
| C．He required people to use more electric cars. |
| D．He emphasized the awareness of climate changes. |
| A．The Hottest Month in History | B．Natural Disasters in the World |
| C．Extreme Weather Could Get Worse | D．Green Technology Would be Needed |
10 . The sun was preparing to rest for the evening. Saying goodbye to the clan (氏族), I headed back to camp. I looked forward to setting my
I wasn’t long headed home when I heard a
As I looked at him, half interested, an idea for a composition
To cheer him, others in his clan gathered around, clapping loudly.
That photograph turned out to be better than the
| A．budget | B．camera | C．essay | D．flame |
| A．voice | B．quarrel | C．scream | D．whistle |
| A．joints | B．fingertips | C．heels | D．cheeks |
| A．blow | B．print | C．see | D．shoot |
| A．largely | B．wide | C．straight | D．barely |
| A．integrity | B．resistance | C．tolerance | D．anticipation |
| A．knocked | B．spared | C．flashed | D．raised |
| A．pose | B．sleep | C．pretend | D．cover |
| A．urbanization | B．frustration | C．tiredness | D．convention |
| A．sensible | B．curious | C．blind | D．shy |
| A．In response | B．In panic | C．In comparison | D．In short |
| A．guidance | B．potential | C．composition | D．technique |
| A．kicked off | B．picked up | C．told off | D．caught up |
| A．civilized | B．particular | C．successful | D．cooperative |
| A．delivered | B．memorized | C．recorded | D．reserved |
