1 . Cheetahs (猎豹) are usually daytime hunters, but the speedy big cats will shift their activity toward dawn and dusk hours during warmer weather, a new study finds.

Unfortunately for endangered cheetahs, that sets them up for more potential conflicts with mostly competing animals like lions. “Lions normally kill prey (猎物) themselves, but if they come across a cheetah’s kill, they will try to take it,” said Bettina Wachter, a behavioral biologist. “The cheetahs will not fight the larger cats, they will just leave.” Hunting at different times of the day is one way to reduce meetings between large meat-eating animals.

But the new study found that on the hottest days, when daily temperatures got to nearly 45 degrees Celsius, cheetahs became more active at night. Kasim Rafiq, co-writer of the study, said, “There’s a greater chance for more unfriendly encounters and less food for the cheetahs.”

For the current study, researchers placed GPS devices on 53 large meat-eating animals—including cheetahs, lions, and African wild dogs. Researchers then recorded their position s and hours of activity over eight years. They compared this data with the highest daily temperature records. While seasonal differences explain most temperature changes in the time from 2011 to 2018, the scientists say the observed behavior changes offer information about the future of a warming world.

In future research, the scientists plan to use audio-recording devices and accelerometers (加速度计) — “like a Fit bit for big cats,” said Rafiq. The goal is to document the number of meetings between large meat-eating animals.

In addition to competition with lions, cheetahs already face strong pressure from the loss of living space and conflict with humans. The fastest land animal — cheetahs are the rarest big cat in Africa, with fewer than 7,000 left in the wild.

“These climate changes could become really critical if we look into the future — it’s predicted to become much warmer in this part of Africa where cheetahs live, in Botswana, Namibia and Zambia,” said Wachter.

1. What does the underlined word “it” in paragraph 2 refer to?

A．The lion’s kill.

B．The cheetah’s prey.

C．The lion.

D．The cheetah.

2. Which of the following statements would Kasim Rafiq agree with?

A．Cheetahs would rather sleep in the daytime.

B．Cheetahs will get more food if they hunt later.

C．Cheetahs spend less time hunting than lions.

D．Cheetahs will face strong competition with lions.

3. How is the current study on large meat-eating animals carried out?

A．By placing positioning equipment on them.

B．By documenting their meeting times in summer.

C．By providing them with a Fitbit equipment.

D．By leading them to hunt in different hunt areas.

4. Why will the scientists use audio-recording devices and accelerometers?

A．To show the big influences of climate changes.

B．To protect the environment from being destroyed.

C．To reduce conflicts among large meat-eating animals.

D．To record the frequency of encounters between large meat-eating animals.

2 . My daughter, Stella, had a surgery that left her with casts (石膏) on both legs and a bar between them. So it’s impossible for her to wear _________ pants. Doctors told me that she would have to wear long dresses for three months while she _________. But Stella didn’t like long dresses, so I _________ to make her a special pair of pants. Using a pair of brightly colored pajama (睡衣) bottoms, I took them apart. It was a simple _________, but it was a “game changer” for my daughter.

When the doctor saw what Stella was wearing, he was pleased and said to me, “Many parents ask us all the time what to _________ their children in, and you _________ solved that problem.” When I told my friend Joanne DiCamillo what the doctor said, she was shocked. She was just really _________ by that. She thought it was just something that was _________ from the market.

It was there that our company was _________. But with neither of us having __________ experience, we enlisted the help of a third mom: DiCamillo’s mother, who is a tailor. We three women worked together, eventually making our adaptive clothing after __________ with medical experts.

Our dream is that in five years, our adaptive clothes will be __________ in stores and be sold alongside traditional clothes. DiCamillo noted that __________ buyers are not limited to just children with disabilities, but adults with disabilities. Like any mother, I want my daughter to grow up to be __________. I made a promise to Stella to do anything in my __________ to give her that freedom—no matter what.

1.

A．special

B．traditional

C．natural

D．respective

2.

A．served

B．issued

C．recovered

D．founded

3.

A．compared

B．happened

C．tended

D．determined

4.

A．fix

B．treatment

C．desire

D．comfort

5.

A．dress

B．attract

C．settle

D．support

6.

A．secretly

B．basically

C．gradually

D．sincerely

7.

A．held on

B．picked up

C．blown away

D．figured out

8.

A．slight

B．tough

C．various

D．lacking

9.

A．purchased

B．born

C．reminded

D．prepared

10.

A．operation

B．occupation

C．fashion

D．organization

11.

A．competing

B．struggling

C．consulting

D．inventing

12.

A．lively

B．friendly

C．active

D．common

13.

A．remarkable

B．potential

C．pleasant

D．normal

14.

A．independent

B．intelligent

C．modern

D．fantastic

15.

A．generation

B．guideline

C．magic

D．power

3 . Developing new materials requires significant time and labor, but some chemists are now hopeful that AI could one day shoulder much of this burden. In a new study in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, a team used a popular AI model, ChatGPT, to perform one particularly time-consuming task: searching scientific literature. With that data, they built a second tool, a new model to predict experimental results.

Reports from previous studies offer a vast amount of information that chemists need, but finding and analyzing the most relevant details can be laborious. For example, those interested in designing highly porous, crystalline (晶体) metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) — which have potential applications in areas such as clean energy—must sort through hundreds of scientific papers describing a variety of experimental conditions. Researchers have previously attempted to let AI take over this task; however, the language processing models they used required significant technical expertise , and applying them to new topics meant changing the program. Omar Yaghi and colleagues wanted to see if the next generation of language models, which includes ChatGPT, could offer a more accessible, flexible way to extract information.

To analyze text from scientific papers, the team gave ChatGPT prompts (提示符) it through three processes intended to identify and summarize the experimental information the papers contained. The researchers carefully constructed these prompts to minimize the model’s tendency to make up responses, and to ensure the best responses possible.

When tested on 228 papers describing MOF syntheses (合成), this system drew more than 26, 000 factors relevant for making roughly 800 of these mixtures. With these data, the team trained a separate AI model to predict the crystalline state of MOFs based on these conditions. And finally, to make the data more user-friendly, they built a chatbot to answer questions about it. The team notes that, unlike previous AI-based efforts, this one does not require expertise in coding. What’s more, scientists can shift its focus simply by adjusting the narrative language in the prompts. This new system, which they call the “ChatGPT Chemistry Assistant,” could also be useful in other fields of chemistry.

1. What does the research team hope the new model to do?

A．Search and classify scientific literature.

B．Analyze data and predict laboratory findings.

C．Prevent the model from making up responses.

D．Generate a faster language processing system.

2. Why are the MOFs mentioned in the text?

A．To suggest their potential applications in clean energy.

B．To illustrate the laborious analysis of scientific papers.

C．To confirm they are of importance in chemistry industry.

D．To stress the testing system is extraordinarily complicated.

3. What can best describe the chatbot involved in the last paragraph?

A．Secure.

B．Virtual.

C．Practical.

D．Specialized.

4. What is the best title for the text?

A．Making the MOFs be more useful

B．Doing further analysis for scientific papers

C．Improving the language processing models

D．Turning ChatGPT into a “chemistry assistant”

4 . Whether you’re hiking through Yellowstone or camping in the Ozarks, choosing the best backpacking stove (炉子) to take with you can make a big difference. Read on for some of our top picks.

Soto Windmaster 4Flex

Backpackers love its convenient built-in igniter (点火器), powerful heat output, and four-pronged (四管的) pot stabilizer, which provides a more stable platform for cooking than three-pronged stoves.

Buy it now at REI
Solo Stove Titan

The Solo Titan burns twigs, pine cones, leaves, and any other biofuels you may find out in nature, offering a safe and natural alternative to burning gas. The Titan is considered mid-size, ideal for cooking for several people.

Buy it now at SoloStove
Fire Maple Star X2 Cooking System

Based on hundreds of reviews, hikers say they’re impressed by this gas-powered stove’s easy setup. The Star X2 also features Heat Exchange Technology, which the company says provides superior wind-resistance in different weather environments, helping to reduce overall boil time.

Buy it now on Amazon
Soto Amicus

Weighing just 2.9 ounces, the Soto Amicus is well known for its light weight and attractive appearance. Multiple Amazon reviewers praise this backpacking stove’s easy setup and four integrated pot stabilizers, which create a stable base for cooking in the wilderness.

Buy it now on Amazon or REI
1. Which stove suits you best if you want a quick meal?

A．Soto Amicus.	B．Solo Stove Titan.
C．Soto Windmaster 4Flex.	D．Fire Maple Star X2 Cooking System.

2. What feature do Soto Windmaster 4Flex and Soto Amicus have in common?

A．Easy setup.	B．Wind resistance.
C．Relative stability.	D．Attractive appearance.

3. What is the text?

A．An adventure travel report.	B．An outdoor travel guide.
C．An advertisement for facilities.	D．A cookbook for easy meals.

5 . The Rhys Davies Short Story Competition, established in 1991, is a distinguished national writing competition for writers born or living in Wales. We are delighted to manage this well-known award on behalf of The Rhys Davies Trust and in association with Parthian Books.

Awards

·1st Prize — £1,000 and publication in a short story anthology (选集) to be published by Parthian Books in 2024.

·11 Runners-up/Finalist Prizes — £100 each and publication in a short story anthology to be published by Parthian Books in 2024.

Entry Rules

The Rhys Davies Short Story Competition recognises the very best unpublished short stories in English in any style and on any subject up to a maximum of 5,000 words. Entries must not have been previously published in print or online. Participants must have been born in Wales, lived in Wales for 2 years or more or currently be living in Wales.

·Entries open on 9th November, 2023 and close on 15th February, 2024 at midnight (British Standard Time). Entries received after this time will not be considered.

·The 2024 finalists will be announced in 15th June 2024; The winner of the 2024 Competition will be announced in September 2024.

·Entries must be submitted via the online form https://forms.gle/Myys7jKdt7GTC8B8A. At the last step, you must pay the entry fee before you click the “submit” button in your application. The entry fee is £ 8 per story.

·You may submit a maximum of three stories to this competition. Your name should not appear anywhere in your story.

Conditions of the Award

·The winner and 11 runners-up/finalists will make free of charge such personal appearances as may be agreed between the writer and the Event Organizer.

·Winning stories may not be published elsewhere until September 2025.

1. What do we know about the competition from the text?

A．It has a history of about half a century.

B．Its participants must be locals of Wales.

C．Its awards include a published short story collection.

D．It’s run by The Rhys Davies Trust and Parthian Books.

2. What is a requirement for the participants?

A．Posting entries by express delivery.	B．Submitting at least three story writings.
C．Making payment for the entry fee online.	D．Attaching personal information to the entry.

3. What is the author’s purpose in writing the article?

A．To introduce a famous competition.	B．To encourage readers to love literature.
C．To stress the importance of short stories.	D．To compare different winners worldwide.

6 . 阅读下面材料，根据其内容和所给段落开头语续写两段，使之构成一篇完整的短文。

Ryan Swift was a bright and thoughtful boy with a big heart. He lived in Adams County, Colorado, and attended a small primary school. His teacher, Mrs. Miranda Green, was a kind and dedicated educator who always spend extra time with the kids to help them.

At home, the Swifts often expressed gratitude for Mrs. Green’s daily emails, which provided them with ways to help Ryan improve. They sometimes mentioned that the teachers were not fully rewarded for the contributions they made in developing children into responsible adults. Kids were always listening to their conversations, and they were quick to model adults’ behaviour.

As Ryan’s birthday drew near, a sense of excitement grew inside him. He would get this year’s birthday money from his parents, but this time, he wanted to do something truly special rather than spend the money on toys or treats for himself. Ryan decided to give Mrs. Green, his beloved teacher, a well-deserved pay rise.

The next morning after his birthday, Ryan arrived at school with a big smile on his face. Holding his school bag to his chest, he had a secret of his own — he had carefully placed $15 in bills along with a heartfelt note inside a plastic zip-lock bag.

Dear Mrs. Green,

I don’t think that you get paid enough for what you’ve done for us, so will you accept this gift?

Ryan Swift

He was the first to arrive at the classroom and tiptoed up to Mrs. Green’s desk. With a bit of anxiety, he placed the zip-lock bag on her desk, making sure it was hidden under a pile of papers. His heart pounded wildly in his chest as he quickly returned to his seat, trying to act as usual.

Throughout the morning, Ryan stole glances at Mrs. Green, wondering when she would find the surprise. The anticipation was almost unbearable, but he knew that the joy on her face would be worth it. “Mrs. Green must be thrilled to have this pay rise!” Ryan couldn’t help smiling to himself when picturing the scene in his mind.

注意：
1. 续写词数应为150个左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Mrs. Green finally discovered the zip-lock bag when her class finished.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Learning about it, a local newspaper decided to interview the Swifts and the teacher.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

7 . 听下面一段独白，回答以下小题。
1. Where did the speaker stay in Seoul?

A．In an Airbnb.

B．In a spa hotel.

C．In a beach house.

2. How does the speaker describe Seoul?

A．Magic and adventurous.

B．Calm and beautiful.

C．Busy and energetic.

3. What was the most unforgettable for the speaker about Jeju’s visit?

A．Enjoying the perfect beaches.

B．Exploring a hidden waterfall.

C．Attending a village festival.

4. What is the purpose of the talk?

A．To discuss Korean cultural traditions.

B．To recommend Korean tourist attractions.

C．To share travel tips on visiting the Republic of Korea.

8 . 听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。
1. How many bestsellers has Philip authored except The Fear Within?

A．Three.

B．Four.

C．Five.

2. How does Philip feel about entering the film industry?

A．Unconfident.

B．Uninterested.

C．Determined.

3. What is Philip planning to do in September?

A．Start a new book.

B．Find some new talent.

C．Do some teaching work.

9 . 听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。
1. What was the man’s opinion on his job in China?

A．Rewarding.

B．Boring.

C．Easy.

2. What did the woman initially plan to study?

A．Mechanical engineering.

B．Business administration.

C．Hotel management.

3. What did the woman realize through her gap year experience?

A．It was challenging to work abroad.

B．The planned major wasn’t suitable for her.

C．She desired to set up her own business.

10 . 听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。
1. What does the woman like to try?

A．African dishes.

B．Asian dishes.

C．South American dishes.

2. What will the man do at the festival?

A．Join a dish-making class.

B．Buy some local produce.

C．Cook some noodles.

3. How long will the festival last?

A．Two hours.

B．Five hours.

C．Seven hours.