1 . Photographer Joe Sartore began making studio portraits (肖像) of
In Sartore’s opinion, the Rabbs’ fringe-limbed tree frog (巴拿马树蛙) is one of the most
Another memorable species Sartore photographed is the Florida grasshopper sparrow (草蜢沙鹀). It is endangered, but seems to be
The situation is still
| A．people | B．plants | C．animals | D．insects |
| A．collect | B．record | C．paint | D．identify |
| A．examples | B．methods | C．goals | D．versions |
| A．urban | B．national | C．best | D．endangered |
| A．impressive | B．dangerous | C．interesting | D．powerful |
| A．missing | B．wild | C．extinct | D．popular |
| A．awake | B．unchanged | C．alive | D．untouched |
| A．seen | B．studied | C．treated | D．photographed |
| A．naturally | B．nervously | C．carelessly | D．excitedly |
| A．duty | B．response | C．chance | D．promise |
| A．bouncing | B．stepping | C．locking | D．calling |
| A．looked after | B．cared about | C．searched for | D．depended on |
| A．unique | B．similar | C．amusing | D．personal |
| A．dying | B．booming | C．suffering | D．recovering |
| A．pleasant | B．ongoing | C．unclear | D．serious |
| A．decision | B．way | C．trip | D．access |
| A．money | B．food | C．trash | D．life |
| A．negative | B．objective | C．difficult | D．effective |
| A．police | B．children | C．public | D．artists |
| A．time | B．space | C．value | D．concern |
2 . In the late afternoon, fifteen-year-old Saanya Hasan Ali can often be found in the comfortable family room of her home. But she isn’t doing homework and she isn’t in front of a computer screen. She is cutting, drawing, measuring, gluing and folding. “I just love arts and crafts,” says Saanya. whose talent for designing and making greeting cards is matched by her dedication (奉献) to helping children and families in need. During the past six years, she has raised an astonishing $26,000 through the sale of her cards.
Saanya’s unexpected success began, when her family moved from Houston to Washington, DC. “My mother received an e-mail from friends who bad just founded the Pennies for Education and Health (PEH) organization. They were raising money for children in Gujarat, India to be able to go to school.” explains Saanya, who was nine at the time. Her mother, Salma, offered to donate $75 in Saanya’s name, a sum that would pay for one child’s schooling for a year. But Saanya decided she wanted to raise the money herself. “I was in the third grade then and I couldn’t even wrap my mind around the fact that kids couldn’t go to school over there” she says. Saanya and her mum unpacked one of the moving boxes filled with Saanya’s crafts supplies, and she made cards to sell at a family wedding that summer. To her surprise, she earned $600 — enough to send eight children to school for the year. “I kept on making cards and the following summer I was able to help support the kids for another year,” explains Saanya, who by then had established her own non-profit organization called Children Helping Children. One of her goals now, she says, is to support the schooling of these first eight children until they graduate from college.
“I would love to continue making cards,” says Saanya. “Now that I am in high school, I would also like to start giving talks in inner-city schools to try to inspire other kids to do their own projects. No matter who you are, there is always an opportunity to make a difference.”
1. What was Saanya’s reaction when she knew some kids couldn’t go to school?| A．She felt very surprised. | B．She emailed her mother’s friend. |
| C．She became worried about them. | D．She decided to go to India to help them. |
| A．By selling her cards at a wedding. | B．By founding the PEH organization. |
| C．By collecting money from her mother. | D．By donating money through a friend. |
| A．She set up her own shop. | B．She donated $600 to PEH. |
| C．She created a non-profit organization. | D．She provided card-making supplies to others. |
| A．Give talks on card-making. | B．Set up more projects. |
| C．Support more poor students in college. | D．Encourage more students to help kids in need. |
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号(∧)，并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线(\)划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1.每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；
2.只允许修改10处，多者(从第11处起)不计分。
This year I enter the Great Gorilla Run in London. This is a programme run by The Gorilla Organization to raise money save the world’s last remaining gorillas from die out. Each runner received the gorilla suit and off we went! It was a bit hot and sweat inside the suit, and my legs ached, and it was interesting. The funniest moment was that someone watching the race offered I a banana — a real treat for a running gorilla! I had a great day out of in London, as well as helping to save gorilla!
4 . Five years ago, I wrote about the connection between expectations and happiness—lower your expectations and you will be happier: control expectations and despair won’t be so obvious when life does not go according to plan. And perhaps there is some truth in that idea.
However, with reduced expectations, we chip away at hope. And how can we not hope for a better tomorrow? I consider myself to be someone with spirit. I look forward to experiences and anticipate memorable ones. And while it’s important to cope when such experiences fall through. I think it’s even more important to hold onto what was originally present -that sense of hope.
The Times article, Optimism Bias: Human Brain May Be Hardwired for Hope, offers a perspective with roots in evolutionary (进化的) psychology. Hope can be wired in the human brain to enhance survival. If present during trying times, hope can be a factor that allows some to overcome difficulties and gather positivity for the days ahead.
“Hope keeps our minds at ease, lowers stress and improves physical health,” the article states. “Researchers studying patients with heart disease found that optimists were more likely than nonoptimistic patients to take vitamins, cat low-fat diets and exercise, thereby reducing their overall risk. A study of cancer patients revealed that pessimistic patients under the age of 60 were more likely to die within eight months than nonpessimistic patients of the same initial health and age.”
Life is always going to bring us challenges. Life is always going to be comprised of problems that might pull us down. Is it still foolish to have hope? I say it’s not. Because without hope, what are we left with? I say hope is significant. I say it’s a beautiful part of what it means to be human.
1. What would the author do to deal with disappointments five years ago.| A．Raise expectations. | B．Anticipate less. |
| C．Stay away from stress. | D．Make fewer plans. |
| A．Forget. | B．Weaken. | C．Change. | D．Doubt. |
| A．Pessimists tend to live a shorter life. | B．Optimists usually have a better appetite. |
| C．Being hopeful helps humans survive. | D．Human brains are designed for hardship. |
| A．The methods of achieving happiness. | B．How to cope with difficulties. |
| C．The importance of holding on lo hope. | D．How to balance hope and reality. |
5 . How to Find Yourself
Do you often feel lost? Do you think you are living somebody else’s life? If yes, discover ways to find yourself by going through the following article.
Give yourself a breakIf you are thinking. “how to find yourself when you are lost?”, then the first thing to do is to have a rest from everything — work, personal life and all worldly things.
For once, instead of being the way others want you to be, be yourself. Look within and find yourself in you Think about the things that you would want to do if you didn’t have any family obligations or any money issues. If you really want to know bow to find inner peace, then think, what you would want others to describe you as - an honest person? Or adventurous? Or loving. or realistic?
Thinking deeply about the past, the time or situations when you were the happiest, is another way to find yourself.
Knowing yourself and determining what you want to do with your life will not come to you in a day or two. Discovering oneself is an ongoing process and it can take months or sometimes even years to truly find yourself. So, it’s important that you keep a written record of all your feelings and thought.
| A．Accept yourself. |
| B．Focus on yourself. |
| C．Give time to yourself to think why you seem lost |
| D．Pour all your emotions and feelings about life in it. |
| E．Think what you were doing or when you were the happiest. |
| F．It is very important for you to truly find yourself before it is too late |
| G．Once you look within, you will know the answer and then try to be exactly that. |
Shaanxi History Museum
Shaanxi History Museum is located on the northwest side of the Big wild Goose Pagoda in Xi’an, Shaanxi Province.
7 . If you’re searching for the best tool to help you achieve your fitness goals. look no further than your smartphone. Here is a list of four fitness Apps that are worth the download.
Map My Run
Map My Run is one of the original fitness Apps for runners. The App’s bank of more than 70 million running routes ensures you always have a new course to try, and it accurately records your distance, pace, calories burned and more as you move. You can review every detail about your run within the map itself after you’ve logged your workout.
Cost: Basic for free, Pro for $5.99 a month or $29.99 a year.
JEFIT
Successful strength training requires smart program planning, and that’s where JEFIT shines. This App has a database of more than 1,300 exercises to help you plan the specifics of your weightlifting sessions. It also comes equipped with set training programs appropriate for all training levels for those who want to follow an expert.
Cost: Basic for free, Pro for $6.99 a month or $39.99 a year.
8fit
When dropping pounds is your primary goal, it’s important to pursue it with effective exercise and smart nutrition. 8fit clearly delivers in both areas. It offers custom workout and food plans, encouraging lifestyle change over unsustainable diets.
Cost: Basic for free, Pro for $25 a month, $60 for six months or $80 a year.
Alo Moves
Alo Moves is loaded with more than 1,500 different video classes from world-class yoga (瑜伽) instructors. Once you share a few details about your fitness goals, the App delivers personalized class recommendations. You can also filter (筛选) classes by style, difficulty, time, and instructor to best suit your mood and schedule.
Cost: $20 a month after a 14-day free trial.
1. What separates the four Apps from one another?| A．Popularity among users. | B．Target users. |
| C．User friendliness. | D．User feedback. |
| A．Real-time data recording. | B．Program planning |
| C．Fitness meal designing. | D．Expert instructions. |
| A．Map My Run. | B．JEFIT. | C．8fit. | D．Alo Moves. |
8 . Before the year has even come to a close, climate experts are certain that 2023 will be the hottest year in recorded history.
On Dec. 6, the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) — part of the European Union’s space program — revealed that this year’s average global temperatures have been 2.6 F (1.46 C) higher than temperatures in preindustrial times and 0.2 F (0.13 C) higher than January to November in 2016. These “extraordinary” temperatures mean that 2023 will be “the warmest year in recorded history,” C3S deputy director Samantha Burgess said in a statement.
The researchers note that this year’s record heat was partly caused by the latest El Nino event—a phenomenon where warmer water near the equator triggers warmer global air temperatures—that began in June. Some other experts have suggested that the January 2022 eruption of Tonga’s underwater volcano, which pumped record levels of water vapor into the atmosphere, may also be partly responsible.
Despite these factors, the major cause of climbing temperatures is global warming caused by runaway greenhouse gas emissions, which, noted in a C3S statement, have trapped more than 25 billion atomic bombs’ worth of energy in our atmosphere over the last 50 years. And still worse, the global carbon emissions have reached a new high this year, according to scientists at the United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP28) On Dec 4.
The effects of global warming are becoming more obvious. In 2023, research revealed that climate change is causing major US cities to sink and more than half of the world’s largest lakes and reservoirs to shrink. Studies also predicted that the Gulf Stream, which plays a vital role in ocean circulation, could collapse by as early as 2025, and that rising sea levels could swamp the US coastline by 2050.
However, scientists say that we still have time to prevent further disaster. Leading climate change expert Michael Mann, from the University of Pennsylvania, recently wrote that “we can still stop the worst effects of climate change” if we stop emitting greenhouse gases as soon as possible.
1. Which is the main factor in causing the warmest weather in 2023?| A．Eruption of an underwater volcano. | B．Greenhouse gas emissions. |
| C．Collapse of the Gulf Stream. | D．The latest El Nino event. |
| A．Scientists’ predictions of the technology. | B．The threat of rising sea levels to the U.S. |
| C．The effects of climate change. | D．Different opinions on global warming. |
| A．Confused. | B．Worried. | C．Pessimistic. | D．Hopeful. |
| A．Release. | B．Prevent. | C．Reduce. | D．Seek. |
9 . Choosing a major is one of the biggest decisions you’ll make while you’re in college. It’s important that you make your choice confidently and after some consideration.
There’s Nothing Wrong With Being “Undecided”.
Between 20% and 50% of college freshmen enter school without a declared major. Keep in mind that there’s nothing wrong with remaining “undecided” or “undeclared” for the first few years of your college career. You can use this time to decide what you’re interested in. Also, keep in mind that even if you do declare a major your freshman year, you can always change your mind. About one-third of first-time college students change their major within three years. Even more, over 60% of college graduates say they would go back and change their major if they could, primarily to pursue their passion areas and expand their job opportunities.
Explore Your Passions and Abilities.
Set aside some time to really explore your passions and take stock of your unique abilities. With an undeclared major to start, you can take time to really develop into what interests you. Join clubs around campus to connect with fellow students who share your interests. Take electives in areas that you might not otherwise have an opportunity to experience. For example, when else might you be able to take a poetry course or an art history seminar? College is the perfect time to step out of your box and expand your horizons. As a student with an undeclared major, you’re uniquely positioned to do just that.
Consider Employment Opportunities.
While it’s important to choose a major that interests you, it’s also critical to choose a college major that will provide you with future employment opportunities. Statistically, the college majors that tend to have the most earning power are in STEM. These majors might include health sciences or computer engineering. Business majors can also expect a higher than average earning potential. That being said, employers frequently recognize that graduates who majored in the liberal arts have valuable soft skills, too, including strong communication, written and verbal skills, and leadership abilities. The key is to pick a major that will be marketable for the career you’re interested in pursuing.
Talk to an Academic Advisor.
If you need a little guidance, set up an appointment with an academic advisor or career counselors. Career development counselors and academic advisors can help you narrow down your options. If you have an idea of, what classes you’ve most enjoyed and what career paths are most appealing to you, working with one of these professionals might be the final push you need to pick a major.
Still have some doubts now? You can submit your questions Here.
1. What can we learn from the second paragraph?| A．Most graduates went back to college and changed their majors for a brighter future. |
| B．Most students frequently change their majors throughout their college years. |
| C．It is all right to remain undecided on majors for only the freshman year. |
| D．You don’t necessarily need to declare your majors upon entering college. |
| A．the courses and seminars are popular with college students |
| B．it helps you fully explore where your interest lies |
| C．you can share your common interest with your fellow students |
| D．your major lies in the areas, you can’t miss them |
| A．you express yourself well in a controversial business discussion |
| B．you fix the technical problems of computers in your office easily |
| C．you quickly figure out why the communication equipment doesn’t work |
| D．you never delegate but shoulder more of the workload at work |
10 . Styrofoam, or polystyrene, is a light-weight material, about 95 percent air, with very good insulation (隔热) properties, according to Earthsource. org. It is used in products from cups that keep your drinks hot or cold to packaging material that protects items during shipping. With the above good features, Styrofoam still enjoys a bad reputation. It cannot be recycled without releasing dangerous pollution into the air. The U. S. Environmental Protection Agency says it is the fifth-largest creator of harmful waste.
But now the common worms which are usually disgusting can come to the rescue, specifically, meal-worms. Scientists from the U. S. and China have discovered that meal-worms can digest plastic. One meal-worm can digest a pill-sized amount of plastic a day. Study co-author Wei-Min Wu says that in 24 hours, the plastic is turned into carbon dioxide.
Since Styrofoam has no nutrition at all, are the worms hurt by eating plastic? Much to the scientists’ surprise, the study found that worms eating Styrofoam were as healthy as worms eating bran (谷糠) . The researchers will study the worm’s eating habits and digesting system, looking to copy the plastic breakdown but on a larger scale. Once the way can be put into practice, it will make a revolutionary difference to the disposal of plastic.
“Solving the issue of plastic pollution is important”, says Wu, a Stanford University environmental engineering instructor. After all, our earth is small and landfill space-is becoming limited with too much garbage waiting to be dealt with, he says.
About 33-million tons of plastic are thrown away in the United States every year. Plastic plates, cups and containers take up 25 percent to 30 percent of space in America’s landfills. One Styrofoam cup takes more than 1 million years to recycle in a landfill, according to Cleveland State University.
1. What do we know about Styrofoam?| A．It can be used to cool drinks. | B．It is a weightless material. |
| C．It is harmful when recycled. | D．It is usually used on ships. |
| A．Meal-worms have amazing digesting power. | B．Meal-worms are not bad in their nature. |
| C．Meal-worms can rescue people’s lives. | D．People misunderstood meal-worms in the past. |
| A．by raising amounts of meal-worms | B．by environmental engineering instructors |
| C．using a method inspired by eating meal-worms | D．without sending out dangerous pollution |
| A．Styrofoam is widely used in daily life. | B．Meal-worms are genius at eating plastic |
| C．Plastic recycling may be no more a problem. | D．Plastic can be turned into carbon dioxide |
