During the Song Dynasty, there was a beloved toy known as “Mo He Le”,
With fashionable styles and diverse clothing, Barbie dolls
2 . I stared out the window,
I made myself dinner, which wasn’t anything
Arthur stayed by my side a majority of the time. My friend called him ‘mama’s boy’ or something silly like that. I didn’t
| A．enjoying | B．cursing | C．monitoring | D．envying |
| A．depression | B．surprise | C．alarm | D．tiredness |
| A．dramatic | B．fancy | C．solid | D．justified |
| A．called | B．made | C．put | D．took |
| A．handled | B．drilled | C．fixed | D．grabbed |
| A．committed | B．outgoing | C．innocent | D．dangerous |
| A．glare | B．laugh | C．smile | D．shout |
| A．blouse | B．fire | C．friend | D．towel |
| A．fighting | B．interfering | C．sticking | D．combining |
| A．part | B．number | C．sort | D．bit |
| A．engaging | B．stuffing | C．digesting | D．loading |
| A．possible | B．accessible | C．appropriate | D．essential |
| A．forgive | B．demand | C．mind | D．accept |
| A．time | B．opportunity | C．access | D．gift |
| A．sincerely | B．elegantly | C．practically | D．distinctly |
3 . Good morning! I’m glad this day has arrived and I’m so glad you are here. As you set off on the grand adventure of a liberal education, I want to share with you a bit of wisdom.
Today, I want to urge you to cultivate the habit of moving purposefully, systematically, slowly, not necessarily to slow down your pace in four years’ time, but to reflect on the ideas to which you will be exposed, and to be in a position to repair what is broken in the world you will then enter.
As perhaps never before, you have come of age in a culture of hurriedness. Yours is a generation that has never known life without the instant spread of information. Social networking was born before nearly all of you. And similarly, novel technologies that were unthinkable in my generation are native to yours.
Many of the innovations on which society has come to rely are the fruit of a mantra (口号) first expressed by Mark Zuckerberg. “Move fast and break things,” he instructed his staff at Facebook around the time of its 2004 launch. “Unless you are breaking stuff,” he continued, “you are not moving fast enough.”
To be sure, this mantra was eventually phased out (淘汰) as Facebook’s motto, but it remains very much a dominant ethos (理念) in today’s tech ecosystem.
This ethos also has gone into the DNA of newer online platforms that prioritize,rather harmfully, speed over depth. The appearance of artificial intelligence has allowed us to find its potential to compound (重) these trends.
So, rather than “move fast and break things,” I suggest here doing the opposite.
I am not against technological progress. I treasure the benefits of technological advance to our lives and our relationships. But the trend we have developed for the immediate divests us of the time and space necessary for careful reflection. So, I encourage you to watch out for it.
1. The speaker worries that the audience of this speech might become too ______.| A．adventurous | B．shallow | C．technological | D．purposeless |
| A．To offer some background information for his speech. |
| B．To provide supporting evidence for his viewpoint. |
| C．To remove misunderstanding of his speech purpose. |
| D．To introduce the main problem mentioned in his speech. |
| A．reminds us of saving | B．convinces us of using |
| C．saves us from losing | D．prevents us from having |
| A．slow down college education | B．catch up with the trends |
| C．slow down and fix things | D．abandon using technology |
4 . Recent headlines claimed that regular napping (打盹) can build a bigger brain and slow neural (神经的) aging. The research was published in the journal Sleep Health. To explore whether napping is beneficial to brain health over the long term, the study authors made use of UK Biobank,a database of in-depth genetic and health information from half a million residents of the United Kingdom.
Thanks to the data in the UK Biobank, they were able to link numerous gene variants (变体) to a greater likelihood of napping in 378,932 subjects (all of whom were aged 40 to 69). The likelihood of napping was measured based on how subjects replied to the question, “Do you have a nap during the day?” The options were“never or rarely,” “sometimes,” and “usually.”
When it comes to napping, two key variables (变量) that can influence data greatly are age and sickness. Older and sicker people tend to nap more often and for longer because they easily get tired. The researchers found that the people with the gene variants linked to napping had slightly larger brains than people without those gene variants, about 1.3% larger. That might sound small, but the authors of the study noted that it can be quite significant.
“Our finding of a larger total brain volume in those who usually nap is nearly equal to 2.6 to 6.5 years of difference in aging,” they wrote. “In addition, this difference roughly equals to the difference in brain volume between people with normal cognitive (认知的) function and mild cognitive impairment.”
Professor Tara Spires-Jones, President of the British Neuroscience Association, said that the study was well-conducted, but had remarkable limitations. “The napping habits of UK Biobank participants were self-reported, which might not be entirely accurate, and the ‘napping’ signature overlapped (重叠) greatly with the signature for cognitive outcomes in the study, which makes the causal (因果关系的) link weaker.” Additionally, as the brain is easily the most important organ in the body, it’s quite possible that people with larger brains simply need to nap more, rather than napping actually increasing their brain size. So don’t look to napping as an ideal way to buff up your brain.
1. What’s the major finding of the research?| A．Regular napping does good to human brain. |
| B．Age and sickness has little to do with napping. |
| C．People with napping gene get tired more easily. |
| D．Napping people can live 2.6 to 6.5 years longer. |
| A．Logic reasoning. | B．Unplanned sampling. |
| C．Data analysis. | D．Doing Experiments. |
| A．damage | B．recovery | C．understanding | D．development |
| A．The research result is acceptable. |
| B．Napping boosts people’s brain size. |
| C．The study shouldn’t have used UK Biobank. |
| D．Napping doesn’t matter much to people’s brain. |
5 . These local hot spots put the “win” in winter
1. Roasting s’mores at Backyard Bar
It’s a dream backyard that encourages sitting outside with a glass of wine, ignoring the evening chill.
Open Wednesday through Sunday. S’mores $12, cocktails $12-$14. (Warning: When the temperatures get close to freezing, outdoor service may be stopped. )
2. Discover a comedian at Hotbug
If you need to hear a few jokes, head to underground comedy, a stand-up show case held five nights each week at Hotbug.
Underground Comedy takes place Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays at 8 p. m. and Fridays and Saturdays at 11:30 p. m. Free.
3. Watch indoor movies for all ages at Metrobar
Free outdoor movies have been a loved communal activity in D. C. for decades, but uncertain weather means that most series tend to wrap up before Labor day. But Metrobar, the outdoor bar is best known for the out-of-service Metro car sitting in the heart of its beer garden.
Sundays at 3 p. m. Metrobar. Free.
4. Have a sound bath at Eaton
It may seem like the last place you’d expect to find your happiness, but not if Artis Moon is your host. Each Thursday night, the healing guide takes over the yoga room at the Eaton wellness center.
Thursdays at 7 p. m. Eaton,. $30.
5. Watch the poets spit rhymes at Busboys and Poets
The Busboys and Poets’ 14th Street location feels like a warm embrace. Try your hand at a verse (章节) or a song or a five-minute set of stand-up comedy. There is no friendlier crowd.
Tuesdays at 8 p. m. Busboys and Poets. $5. See Busboys and Poets’website for the full schedule.
1. If you arrive at this city on Wednesday with the temperatures getting close to freezing, which hot spot would be available?| A．Backyard Bar. | B．Hotbug. | C．Metrobar | D．Eaton. |
| A．Listen to comedy for free. | B．Watch movies for free. |
| C．Practice yoga. | D．Try playing stand-up comedy. |
| A．A market research report. | B．A magazine column. |
| C．An online news report. | D．An official document. |
1. What does the man ask the woman to do?
| A．Bring him a snack. | B．Walk the dog. | C．Stay quiet. |
| A．The dog is sleeping on his legs. |
| B．He has injured himself. |
| C．He is very tired. |
| A．5km. | B．10km. | C．15km. |
| A．China. | B．Japan. | C．Vietnam. |
8 . On New Year’s Day, my 13-year-old son Mike broke his leg while skiing. Honestly speaking, it was no more than another
At dinner on a Tuesday, it came to me. In the coming springtime, I announced, we would have a family roller disco party in the house. My children looked up, their
Later that day, my youngest son wore his roller skates and
| A．ache | B．challenge | C．ceremony | D．adventure |
| A．hoped | B．discovered | C．explored | D．proved |
| A．mood | B．benefit | C．spirits | D．abilities |
| A．part with | B．come up with | C．put up with | D．stick to |
| A．eyes | B．heads | C．faces | D．mouths |
| A．moved | B．inspired | C．surprised | D．impressed |
| A．details | B．benefits | C．choices | D．examples |
| A．stressed | B．shared | C．celebrated | D．updated |
| A．after | B．when | C．until | D．before |
| A．eventually | B．frequently | C．typically | D．immediately |
| A．Therefore | B．Besides | C．Still | D．Despite |
| A．expectation | B．tension | C．memory | D．change |
| A．searching | B．preparing | C．accounting | D．apologizing |
| A．beginning | B．difference | C．point | D．answer |
| A．shortest | B．happiest | C．simplest | D．toughest |
9 . Utah’s governor, Spencer Cox, recently signed two bills into law that strictly limit children’s use of social media platforms. Under the law, which takes effect next year, social media companies have to check the ages of all users in the state, and children under age 18 have to get agreement from their parents to have accounts. Parents will also be able to use their kids’ accounts, apps won’t be allowed to show children ads, and accounts for kids won’t be able to be used between 10:30 pm and 6:30 am without parental agreement.
While some people argue age limitation allows tech companies to collect even more data about users, let’s be real: These companies already have much private information about us. To solve this problem, we need a separate data privacy law. But until that happens, this concern shouldn’t stop us from protecting kids.
One of the key parts of the law is allowing parents to use their kids’ accounts. By doing this, the law begins to help address one of the biggest dangers kids face online: harmful content.
One huge challenge the law helps parents get over is the amount of time kids are spending on social media. A 2022 survey found that, on average, children aged 8 to 12 spend 5 hours and 33 minutes per day on social media while those aged 13 to 18 spend 8 hours and 39 minutes daily. It’s warned that lack of sleep is connected with serious harm to children — everything from injuries to depression (抑郁), fatness and diabetes. So, parents need to have a way to ensure their kids aren’t up on social media platforms all night.
Considering the experiences many kids are having on social media, this law will help Utah’s parents protect their kids. Parents in other states need the same support. Now, it’s time for the government to step up and ensure children throughout the country have the same protection as Utah’s kids.
1. Which is allowed according to the new bill?| A．Ads can be put on to children. |
| B．Children can use social media freely. |
| C．Parents can check their kids’ accounts. |
| D．Related companies protect users’ accounts. |
| A．Because children’s right to surf the Internet is limited. |
| B．Because more personal information may be given away. |
| C．Because it prevents the data privacy law from taking effect. |
| D．Because children may become too dependent on the Internet. |
| A．Higher learning efficiency. |
| B．Better personal eating habits. |
| C．Easier access to healthy media. |
| D．Improved physical and mental health. |
| A．Supportive. | B．Doubtful. | C．Flexible. | D．Negative. |
10 . Here’s an all-too-familiar situation: You excitedly packed for your beach trip. Luckily, you remembered all the necessities: socks, underwear, a phone charger and your passport, etc. But upon arrival, you realized you forgot to bring your toothbrush. In a new study, researchers suggest offloading important to-do items — for example, by setting reminders on your phone — could clear brain space to better remember the little things, like your toothbrush.
To prove this, the researchers developed a memory task to be played on a touch screen computer. The test was undertaken by 158 volunteers aged between 18 and 71. They were shown 12 numbered circles on the screen, and had to remember to drag some of these to the left and some to the right. The number of circles that they remembered to drag to the correct side decided their rewards at the end of the experiment. One side was “high value’, meaning that remembering to drag a circle to this side was worth 10 times as much money as remembering to drag a circle to the other “low value” side.
Volunteers performed this task 16 times. They had to use their own memory to remember at half of the trials and they were allowed to set reminders on the external digital devices for the other half.
The researchers found volunteers tended to use the digital devices to store details of the high-value circles. And, when they did so, their memory for those circles was improved by 18%. “What was unexpected was that their memory for low-value circles was also improved by 27%, even in those who had never set any reminders for low-value circles,” said Sam Gilbect.
However, results also showed a potential cost to using reminders. When reminders were taken away, the volunteers remembered the low-value circles better than the high-value ones. “Far from causing digital dementia (痴呆), using a memory device can even improve our memory for information that we never saved. But we need to be careful that we back up the most important information. Otherwise, if a memory tool fails, we could be left with nothing but less important information in our own memory,” Gilbert said.
1. The situation in paragraph 1 is described to show that ______.| A．our memory is incorrect sometimes |
| B．our memory has a certain preference |
| C．our memory has an order of importance |
| D．our memory is likely to weaken over time |
| A．Volunteers’ performance was connected with their ages. |
| B．Volunteers tended to set reminders for low-value circles. |
| C．Volunteers were not allowed to use devices in the experiment. |
| D．Dragging high-value circles to the correct side would win more awards. |
| A．Digital devices did harm to the brain when used improperly. |
| B．Volunteers tended to remember low-value information better. |
| C．Volunteers’ memory for low-value content was improved too. |
| D．Volunteers tended to use digital devices for high-value information. |
| A．We rely too much on to-do lists |
| B．Digital reminders are replacing human memory |
| C．Overuse of technology leads to digital dementia |
| D．Using digital reminders helps improve our memory |
