1 . Many of us share an incredible bond with our pets. They provide companionship, bring happiness and for some even provide a sense of purpose. So, when a pet passes away—or goes missing or is stolen—it can trigger (引发) all sorts of painful emotions.     1     . It’s difficult to go through. Here’s some advice for dealing with the death of a pet.

You are normal

Some may not understand how upsetting the loss of a pet can be and can make you feel you’re overreacting. You should not feel ashamed of your emotions, and the grieving process can’t be forced or sped along. Be patient with yourself.     2     .

    3    

Bottling up your feelings will only make matters worse in the long run. Don’t be afraid to show your emotions. It’s okay to cry or feel angry, after all you have lost someone very special and dear to you. Don’t be hard on yourself if some days are more difficult than others.     4     . These can be places you often went to, or the date of your pet’s arrival or their birthday.

Open up

    5     . Don’t be afraid to speak to family and friends, especially if they knew your pet, as they can support you. If a pet is lost or stolen, this can be very difficult. One thing is writing down how you feel and what you would have said to your pet. This can work for any form of loss.

A．Don’t ignore the pain

B．Pets can be our best companions

C．Life can suddenly feel very empty

D．There will be events that cause your sorrow

E．Avoid the items and places related to your pet

F．Talking about your feelings and your pet can really help

G．Understand that what and how you are feeling is perfectly normal

2 . The will to live more sustainably is certainly growing in the UK, even if many are still unsure about how to put that into action.

Most have become well acquainted with recycling paper, cardboard, metal and glass, thanks in large part to council-provided recycling bins for each household. But when it comes to more difficult to recycle items, many households are all at sea. It is the case that the UK is rapidly becoming one of the worst offenders for e-waste in the world. Although it takes a little more conscious waste management, there are ways that you can recycle these more tricky household items and reduce your environmental impact.

E-waste like phones and laptops contains precious metals, like gold, nickel and copper, which leak toxins into the ground when they decompose (分解). Recycling the metals in electronics is vital then to lessen the tech industry’s environmental and social impact. For mobile phones, your retailer might already have a recycling initiative set up. O2 and Virgin Media offer customers money in exchange for their old devices, depending on their condition. As for old clothes, lots of shops, like M&, now offer clothes donation banks in-store, while councils are getting in on the act with on-street clothes recycling points. You can also sell your clothes or donate them to charity—second hand apps like Depop have already ensured that the resale market in Britain grew at an impressive speed. Mattresses (床垫) are especially difficult to get rid of when they reach their end of life, and many of us are resorting to landfill. Many of the materials in mattresses, such as box springs, are not biodegradable (可生物降解的), so it is better to save them from landfill by reusing them. Companies like Collect Your Old Bed pick up your old mattress and bed parts and take them to be dismantled and recycled.

Individual acts alone can’t fix social ills. But each of us can do our part to put more energy into the search for solutions.

1. What can we know from the second paragraph?

A．The UK is the world’s largest e-waste producer.

B．The British are having difficulty in handling e-waste.

C．The UK lacks relevant technology to deal with e-waste.

D．The British aren’t equipped with knowledge about waste recycling.

2. How does the author develop the third paragraph?

A．By giving definitions.	B．By explaining concepts.
C．By providing examples.	D．By making comparisons.

3. Which activity can be considered sustainable according to the text?

A．Donating extra items to non-profit organizations.	B．Purchasing new devices to replace old ones.
C．Abandoning outdated digital products.	D．Sending old mattresses to the landfill.

4. What is the text mainly about?

A．Negative impacts of e-waste.	B．Ways to recycle tricky items.
C．Resource conservation efforts.	D．Sustainable practices of the British.

3 . Ask ChatGPT to write a five-paragraph essay on the symbolism of “The Great Gatsby” and it will produce a response within seconds. That’s not all. The ability of the artificial intelligence chatbot tool (聊天机器人) is vast.

ChatGPT is a “large language model,” which means it’s able to generate readable text on demand in a wide range of styles and for a variety of purposes. It can fix spelling and grammar errors, give feedback on writing, write poems and songs, create lesson plans for teachers and much more. It can perform those tasks with noticeably more accuracy and coherence (连贯) than previous models. Plus, ChatGPT is designed to be user-friendly, and it’s free. It quickly has the attention of school administrators, teachers, parents and students, and its presence has gained mixed responses.

Some say they’re excited about its potential to advance learning for some students and become a valuable tool in education. Those teachers are thinking about ways to adapt their teaching to incorporate it in their lessons. However, one of the main concerns that educators have is that students might explore ChatGPT’s potential use to cheat on assignments—using the app to produce research papers and essays instead of doing the work themselves. New York City Public Schools announced in early January 2023 that it was banning ChatGPT across all district devices and networks. Other big city districts like Seattle and Los Angeles have also blocked access to the app, and more may follow in the future, which means to receive general recognition, ChatGPT has a long way to go.

Edward Tian, a student at Princeton University, recently developed an app that he said “can quickly and efficiently detect whether an essay is ChatGPT or human written.” This can partially free a certain number of people from worries, who advocate a cautious use of this tool.

1. Why is the example of “The Great Gatsby” mentioned?

A．To introduce the essay to readers.	B．To show the quick response of ChatGPT.
C．To prove the power of artificial intelligence.	D．To demonstrate the competence of ChatGPT.

2. What can be inferred about ChatGPT from the second paragraph?

A．It is multifunctional and flexible.

B．It is well-received in the education field.

C．It provides users with perfectly accurate feedback.

D．It is hard to use for students with learning disabilities.

3. What can we say about the future of ChatGPT?

A．It will hold a major share in the market.

B．It will be widely applied in different fields.

C．It can speed up the development of the whole industry.

D．It needs further improvement to cater for different needs.

4. What is the author’s attitude to the use of ChatGPT in education?

A．Favorable.

B．Unclear.

C．Cautious.

D．Indifferent.

4 . An unpublished novel by the late literary giant Gabriel Garcia Marquez will arrive on bookstore shelves next year. The novel called En Agosto Nos Vemos—roughly translated from Spanish as See You In August—will be published by Penguin Random House.

The Colombian author behind One Hundred Years of Solitude and Love in the Time of Cholera died in 2014, leaving behind an unfinished manuscript. At the time, Garcia Marquez’s family hadn’t decided whether to publish the novel posthumously. But now his two sons, Rodrigo and Gonzalo Garcia Barcha, have concluded that the book should be read by an eager public.

“En Agosto Nos Vemos was the fruit of a final effort to continue creating against all odds,” they said. “Reading it once again almost 10 years after his death, we discovered that the text had many and very enjoyable merits and nothing to prevent us from enjoying the outstanding aspects of Gabo’s work: his capacity for invention, the poetry of language, the captivating narrative, his understanding of the human being and his affection for his experiences and misfortunes, but most especially, the love, possibly the main theme of all his work,” they added, using a common nickname for Garcia Marquez.

According to the publishing industry trade publication The Bookseller, Viking will publish the novel in hardback, e-book and audio versions, and Penguin Random House Spain will publish it in all Spanish-speaking countries except Mexico.

Viking editorial director Isabel Wall told the website it was “exceptionally privileged to be bringing this re-discovered masterpiece into the world” 10 years after Garcia Marquez’s death.

1. What do we know about Gabriel Garcia Marquez?

A．He refused to publish his unfinished novel.

B．He is highly influential in the literary circle.

C．He was not satisfied with his unfinished work.

D．He becomes a household name due to See You In August.

2. What impresses the readers of En Agosto Nos Vemos more deeply?

A．The core theme.	B．The unique language.
C．The writing style.	D．The professional ability.

3. What does the underlined word “privileged” in the last paragraph refer to?

A．Practical.

B．Concerned.

C．Honored.

D．Profitable.

4. What is the best title for the text?

A．García Márquez’s representative work will come out next year

B．An unfinished novel by García Márquez will become a hit soon

C．Readers call on the publication of García Márquez’s masterpiece

D．An unpublished novel by García Márquez is set for release next year

5 . Asia has some of the most suitable places in the world to retire. Retirement in Asia is sure to be full of exotic (非本地的) experiences and unexpected adventures.

George Town, Malaysia

George Town is one of Southeast Asia’s most livable destinations. Life here is both traditional and 21st century, and the city is exotic and comfortable. Low costs are a big part of the appeal. Delicious and inexpensive food is served everywhere, and there are at least a dozen museums and other venues for enjoying high culture.

Bali, Indonesia

Bali enjoys a well-deserved reputation as one of the most beautiful tropical islands in the world. The ocean, never far away, offers world class diving, surfing, parasailing and other water sports. On the southeast side of Bali is the small town of Sanur. Quiet and laid-back, Sanur feels far removed from the crowds of tourists who flock to Bali for vacations and honeymoons.

Da Nang, Vietnam

One of Vietnam’s biggest cities with a population of over 1 million, Da Nang manages to be forward-thinking and provincial at the same time. The roads and architecture are modern, but most of the businesses are still family run, with almost no big international brand names, fast food joints or coffee shop chains to be found.

Chiang Mai, Thailand

Since the 1800s, Chiang Mai has been attracting tourists from the west with great weather, rich history and distinct culture. The biggest advantage of retirement in Chiang Mai is the low cost of living and affordable health care. The biggest downside can be air pollution during the annual burning season, mid-February through mid-April, when local farmers burn their fields.

1. Which place will attract visitors who want to do water sports?

A．George Town.

B．Bali.

C．Da Nang.

D．Chiang Mai.

2. What do George Town and Chiang Mai have in common?

A．They are cost-friendly areas to tourists.	B．They have excellent health-care systems.
C．They are livable and pollution-free cities.	D．They offer delicious and inexpensive food.

3. Where is the text probably from?

A．A research paper.	B．A history book.
C．A travel brochure.	D．A geography textbook.

7 . Tourists visiting La Gomera and EI Hierro in the Canary-Islands can often hear locals communicating over long distances by whistling-not a tune, but the Spanish language. The locals are communicating in Silbo, a whistled Spanish language.

Whistled languages are almost developed in rough, mountainous regions or in thick forest. That’s because whistled speech carries much farther than ordinary speech or shouting. As a result, whistled speech can be understood up to 10 times as far away as ordinary shouting. That lets people communicate even when they cannot easily approach close enough to shout. On La Gomera, for example, a few traditional shepherds (牧羊人) still whistle to one another across mountain valleys that could take hours to cross.

Whistled languages work because many of the key elements of speech can be produced in a whistle, says Meyer. We distinguish(区分) one speech sound from another by small differences in their sound frequency patterns. A long e, for example, is formed higher in the mouth than along o, giving it a higher sound.

To language scientists, such languages are more than just a curiosity. By studying whistled languages, they hope to learn more about how our brains get meaning from the complex sound patterns of speech. Whistling may even provide a chance to know one of the most dramatic jump forward in human evolution(进化): the origin of language itself.

Despite their interest to both language experts and casual observers, whistled languages are disappearing rapidly all over the world, and some, such as the whistled form of the Tepehua language in Mexico, have already disappeared. “...now you still find whistled speech only in places that are very, very remote, that have had less contact with modernity and less access to roads,” Meyer says.

Fortunately, there is still hope. UNESCO, the UN cultural organization, has listed two whistled languages, Silbo, and a whistled Turkish, as the world’s cultural heritage. Such attention can lead to conservation efforts.

1. What led to the development of whistled languages?

A．Geographic inaccessibility.	B．Rapid increase in tourism.
C．Greater information capacity.	D．Interest of language experts.

2. Why are a long “e” and a long “o” mentioned in paragraph 3?

A．To show what key elements speech has.

B．To explain the differences between speech sound frequency patterns.

C．To prove the popularity of whistled language in the world.

D．To compare whistled languages and ordinary languages.

3. What might be a reason for the disappearance of whistled languages according to Meyer?

A．Construction of cities.	B．Lack of attention.
C．Expansion of other cultures.	D．Modernization.

4. Which of the following could be the best title for the text?

A．Why People Used Whistled Languages	B．When Whistles Languages Disappeared
C．How Whistled Languages Developed	D．Why Whistled Languages Matter

8 . In this post, we’ll introduce some top robotics competitions open to high schoolers. Keep reading to learn more.

Botball Educational Robotics Program

Level: Regional and national competitions available

Grades: 9th, 10th. 11th, 12th

Over a period of about seven weeks, students learn to code(编程) and develop complex strategies to use artificial intelligence. This allows them to create an autonomous robot together that competes in an annual game challenging against other teams in competitions at various levels across the country.

FIRST: Robotics Competition

Level: Local, regional and national competitions available

Grades: 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th

Teams work together with professional teachers to design, assemble(装配), and test an industrial-sized robot .The robot then competes in a head-to-head field game against other teams.

Robo Games

Level: International

Grades: All ages and backgrounds

This self-claimed “Olympics of robots” and current largest open robot competition challenges participants in a wide variety of events to display various skills. Amateurs, professionals, young and old alike are invited to participate with the goal of winning prizes, expanding educational service, and recognizing robot-builders in the public eye.

Zero Robotics High School Tournament

Level: International, including the U.S. and member countries of the European Space Agency

Grades: 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th

This fascinating competition begins with robots called SPHERES inside the International Space Station. The first phase of the competition is entirely online, in which competitors code the SPHERES to meet a yearly challenge. Finalists compete in person, onboard the International Space Station, conducted live in microgravity by a real astronaut!

1. What do the first and second robotics competitions have in common?

A．Teamwork is a must in competitions.

B．They have the same goals and rules.

C．The robot is tested before competitions.

D．They are completely of the same level.

2. Which of the competitions has no age limitation?

A．Bot ball Educational Robotics Program.	B．FIRST: Robotics Competition.
C．Robo Games.	D．Zero Robotics High School Tournament.

3. What can we learn about Zero Robotics High School Tournament?

A．It is held by the European Space Agency.

B．It is a local robotics competition.

C．The whole competition is conducted online.

D．The final competition is held at the International Space Station.

9 . Harvesting fruit is a very precise operation. The fruit must be picked when it is perfectly ripe. But with pickers in short supply in recent years. growers needed to quickly find another way to harvest their crops. Tevel Aerobotics Technologies came to the farmers’ rescue with the Flying Autonomous Robots (FARs) that can help pick fruit.

“Not finding enough fruit pickers is every farmer’s biggest concern,” Yaniv Maor, Tevel’s founder and CEO said. Ask any farmer, anywhere in the world and they’ll tell you they don’t have the people. Food consumption is increasing, but labor availability(劳动力可用性) is decreasing. If pickers are not available. fruit will go bad on the trees. The flying robots will work day and night in almost any weather, without taking a break, to pick as much ripe fruit as possible.

Maor set up Tevel in 2017 and developed the technology after seeing young Israelis pick fruit and get tired after a few hours. He realized that there had to be a better way, so he began developing the software and artificial intelligence (AI) that are needed for the smart robot pickers. “We have to teach the robots about the structure of each fruit how to access the fruit and how to rotate(转动) it and disconnect it from the tree,” Maor said.

The flying robots circle round trees and pick only the ripe ones with a twist(扭动) of their integrated grasper arms. The robots are fitted with cameras that USC AI to assess the size and color of the fruit so that only the ripe ones are picked. The cameras also ensure that the robots’ paths are not blocked.

The robots arc currently picking Asian pears in Israel. In 2022, the FARs were used in pilot programs in Italy to pick peaches and other fruits, as well as in the US. They are not a replacement for labor, instead, they are a solution for the inadequate human pickers. In the future fewer people will work in picking and more will work in managing the robots, analyzing the data and making decisions.

1. Why are the FARs developed?

A．To meet the shortage of pickers to pick fruit.

B．To improve the software and AI for smart robots.

C．To help farmers keep the fruit in perfect condition.

D．To relieve farmers from the tiredness of picking fruit.

2. What can we infer from paragraphs 2 and 3?

A．Maor developed the FARs out of curiosity.

B．The FARs can produce more fruit for food consumption.

C．Labor shortage is an urgent problem in every country.

D．The FARs can work without stop in almost any weather.

3. What does paragraph 4 mainly talk about?

A．How the robots work.	B．What the robots consist of.
C．Why the robots are useful.	D．Where the robots are used.

4. What is the author’s attitude towards the FARs?

A．Doubtful.	B．Positive.
C．Worried.	D．Unclear.

10 . An embroidered (刺绣的) butterfly made by Liang Zhongmei is so lifelike that it could easily be mistaken for the real thing. It looks as if it could flap its colorful wings and fly free from its white cloth background.

This 55-year-old embroiderer from Guizhou Province was born in a closed and underdeveloped village deep in the mountains, where most residents live by farming or as migrant workers. Losing her left arm at a very young age meant she could not feed herself, but she refused to become downhearted, and learned embroidery from her mother diligently and determinedly.

After producing several works featuring butterflies and goldfish, she won many national professional skills awards in 2011 among people with disabilities. In 2012, she opened her workshop, with embroiderers putting their designs on the shelves to sell to locals, but business was poor.

However, Liang’s career prospered after an online commercial order. Now, clothes, ties, paintings and handicrafts produced by the workshop are sold to consumers worldwide via e-commerce platforms, with profit reaching from 300,000 yuan to 500,000 yuan annually.

As the number of orders rose, Liang employed more workers, offering jobs to more than 100 female embroiderers in the neighborhood. She has also organized training courses for jobless women. “Thanks to the online buyers, our products sell well, which has changed our lives and brought us income and dignity,” Liang said.

Wang Danqing, an online seller, has worked with Liang’s team since 2015. She said, “Many young consumers prefer products with cultural elements and personal appeal. Only by combining embroidered designs with modern life can cultural heritage be seen, loved, protected and passed down.”

1. What do we know about Liang Zhongmei?

A．She made a fortune when her business began.

B．She became world-famous after winning awards.

C．She was strong-willed while learning embroidery.

D．She was brought up in a well-off environment.

2. Which of the following can replace the underlined word in paragraph 4?

A．took off.	B．went wrong.
C．held steady.	D．broke down.

3. What can we learn from Wang Danqing’s words?

A．New designs need to be integrated into the products.

B．Expanding the range of product sales online is crucial.

C．It is Liang’s duty to pass on the embroidered technique.

D．Products with personal elements are favored by the youth.

4. What is the main idea of the text?

A．Online shopping gains popularity in China.

B．Young people take a great interest in embroidery.

C．Liang became an expert in embroidery despite her disability.

D．Disabled Liang achieved success by trading embroidery online.