1 . Since young children went back to school across Sweden recently, many of their teachers have been putting a new emphasis on printed books, quiet reading time and handwriting practice, and devoting less time to tablets, independent online research and keyboarding skills.
The return to more traditional ways of learning is a response to politicians and experts questioning whether Sweden’s hyper-digitalized approach to education, including the introduction of tablets in nursery schools, had led to a decline in basic skills.
Sweden’s minister for schools, Lotta Edholm was one of the biggest critics of the all-out embrace of technology. “Sweden’s students need more textbooks,” Edholm said in March. “Physical books are important for student learning.” The minister announced in August that the government wanted to change the decision by the national agency for education to make digital devices compulsory in preschools. It plans to go further and to completely end digital learning for children under age six, the ministry has told the Associated Press.
Although Sweden’s students score above the European average for reading ability, an international assessment of fourth-grade reading levels, the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS), highlighted a decline among Sweden’s children between 2016 and 2021.
In comparison, Singapore — which topped the rankings — improved its PIRLS reading scores from 576 to 587 during the same period, and England’s average reading achievement score fell only slightly, from 559 in 2016 to 558 in 2021. An overuse of screens during school lessons may cause youngsters to fall behind in core subjects, education experts say. “There’s clear scientific evidence that digital tools impair rather than enhance student learning,” Sweden’s Karolinska Institute, a highly respected medical school focused on research, said in a statement in August on the country’s national digitalization strategy in education.
“We believe the focus should return to acquiring knowledge through printed textbooks and teacher expertise, rather than acquiring knowledge primarily from freely available digital sources that have not been checked for accuracy.” the school added.
1. Why do Swedish schools return to paper books?| A．To cater to parents’ increasing needs. |
| B．To help with children’s independent learning. |
| C．To overcome children’s addiction to digital tools. |
| D．To avoid possible decline in children’s basic skills. |
| A．Total acceptance. | B．Creative use. |
| C．Rapid development. | D．Serious addiction. |
| A．Teachers should acquire more knowledge. |
| B．Knowledge from digital tools may not be reliable. |
| C．Digital tools smooth out learning barriers for children. |
| D．The accessibility to digital sources should be improved. |
| A．Swedish Children’s Return to Paper | B．Problems with Children’s Education |
| C．Popularity of Digitalization in Sweden | D．Enhancement of Teaching Strategies in Sweden |
2 . In a world of music streaming services, access to almost any song is just a few clicks away. Yet, the live concert lives on. People still fill sweaty basements to hear their favorite musicians play. And now neuroscientists might know why.
Concerts are immersive social experiences in which people listen to and feel the music together. They are also dynamic — artists can adapt their playing according to the crowd’s reaction.
It was this last difference that led neuroscientists, from Universities of Zurich and Oslo, to study the brain responses of people listening to music. In the experiment, participants lay in an MRI (核磁共振) scanner listening to the music through earphones, while a pianist was positioned outside the room. The pianist was shown the participant’s real-time brain activity as a form of feedback. In the recorded condition, participants listened to pre-recorded versions of the same tunes.
The scientists were interested in how live music affected the areas of the brain that process emotions. In the live condition pianists were instructed to change their playing in order to drive the activity in one of these regions known as the amygdala.
The results, just published in the journal PNAS, showed that live music had far more emotional impact. Whether the music was happy or sad, listening to the pianist playing in a dynamic way generated more activity in both the amygdala and other parts of the brain’s emotion processing network.
The study was far from reconstructing the real experience of a concert, and the authors noted that the live music ended up sounding quite different from the recorded tracks, which may have driven some of the differences in participant’s brain activity. Some musical acts now attempt to recreate the real concert experience with everything but the artist — ABBA Voyage is a social, immersive show performed entirely by pre-recorded hologram avatars (全息图). But without Benny’s (a member of the band) ability to read the mood of the room, it will never quite match the real thing.
1. What caused the scientists to study music listeners’ brain response?| A．People’s preference to recorded music. | B．The important social function of concerts. |
| C．The changeable characteristic of live music. | D．The easy accessibility of streaming services. |
| A．By clarifying a concept. | B．By making a comparison. |
| C．By analyzing previous data. | D．By referring to another study. |
| A．It offers a more traditional and raw sound. | B．It engages the brain’s emotion centers more. |
| C．It fosters a sense of community and shared energy. | D．It guarantees a deeper understanding of the music. |
| A．The artists will be replaced by technology soon. |
| B．The immersive audio makes live music special. |
| C．The study recreated the experience of a real concert. |
| D．It is vital for musicians to read the audiences’ mind. |
3 . A 40-year-old man in China found his calling — teaching quantum mechanics (量子力学) on social media — after being unemployed for more than 20 years. Li Wei, from Qinghai province in northwestern China, became
Such is his popularity, he has
Photovoltaic
| A．evident | B．attractive | C．effective | D．popular |
| A．accumulated | B．told | C．urged | D．admired |
| A．listening to | B．waiting for | C．dealing with | D．talking about |
| A．needed | B．gained | C．offered | D．refused |
| A．employment | B．experts | C．information | D．applications |
| A．game | B．career | C．relationship | D．growth |
| A．left | B．saved | C．joined | D．believed |
| A．anxious | B．horrified | C．surprised | D．eager |
| A．results in | B．responds to | C．looks for | D．refers to |
| A．strange | B．reputable | C．secret | D．renewable |
| A．desire | B．tradition | C．character | D．knowledge |
| A．full | B．free | C．true | D．aware |
| A．introduced | B．expanded | C．found | D．chose |
| A．caring | B．ending | C．setting | D．calling |
| A．late | B．busy | C．good | D．easy |
It took six hours for Liu Yi to get to Tianshui, Northwest China’s Gansu province by train. He
The popularity of the dish is
Within a month, bookings for hotel rooms in Tianshui had increased year-on-year, according to Ctrip,
Baiyang Lake, also known as Lake Baiyangdian, is located in the Xiong’an New Area of Baoding. As the largest freshwater lake in North China, it has gained
The old Chinese movie “Zhang Ga, the Soldier Boy” is famous for the lake
However, the lake almost dried out because of climate change from 1983 to 1988. Local governments launched 26 rehabilitation projects in 2005
6 . Have you ever wondered about the universal layout (布局) of supermarkets? Smart designers are behind it, subtly tempting you to walk through each aisle and fill your cart without even realizing it.
Grocery store design is a carefully crafted art from both psychological and marketing standpoints, according to Reeves Connelly, who studied architectural design at the Pratt Institute. He explained there is a specific reason why fruit and vegetables are often located at the front of the store, “You’ll grab the fruits and vegetables first and then hopefully feel less guilty about buying junk food later on.” Meanwhile, essential items such as milk and eggs are placed at the back of the store to ensure customers walk through other aisles with many unhealthy options like snacks and sodas, potentially increasing the likelihood of impulse purchases.
There’s also a reason why you often feel lost in local supermarkets. Shockingly, they move things around. Reeves explained, “They are very much aware that these strategies become less effective after you visit the store a few times and get a better sense of where everything is, so they’ll regularly move the products to different aisles to confuse you. The practice is not limited to a specific store but is employed across various retail chains.”
“Their little tricks always work on me,” one regular shopper admits, “I walk in to get three things and end up spending $300; that’s why I hate grocery shopping,” he said. On the other hand, some shoppers are proud to declare they have never fallen into the trap. “That’s why I always keep a shopping list on me,” another shopper shared. “I’ve started having my groceries delivered. If I have to go to the store, I never grab a cart. If I can’t carry it, I’m not buying it,” he added.
1. What is the purpose of the supermarket layout?| A．To encourage healthy lifestyle. | B．To save consumers’ shopping time. |
| C．To provide multiple goods for choice. | D．To promote non-essential consumption. |
| A．Distributing junk food in different areas. |
| B．Putting milk and eggs at the back of aisles. |
| C．Rearranging products in supermarkets regularly. |
| D．Placing fruit and vegetables at the front of the store. |
| A．Shopping baskets are better than heavy carts. |
| B．Most shoppers are trapped in marketing tricks. |
| C．Grocery delivery can help improve supermarket sales. |
| D．Taking a shopping list can be a smart move to avoid impulse buying. |
| A．A business magazine. | B．A psychology report. |
| C．A research paper. | D．A shopping guidebook. |
7 . Vegetarians would rather not be forced to eat meat. Yet the reverse compulsion is hidden in the proposals for a new plant-based “planetary diet.” Nowhere is this more visible than in India.
Earlier this year, the EAT-Lancet Commission released its global report on nutrition and called for a global shift to a more plant-based diet and for “substantially reducing consumption of animal source foods.” In countries like India, that call could become a tool to aggravate an already tense political situation and stress already undernourished populations.
The EAT report assumes that “traditional diets” in countries like India include little red meat, which might be consumed only on special occasions or as minor ingredients in mixed dishes.
In India, however, there is a vast difference between what people would wish to consume and what they have to consume because of innumerable barriers around class, religion, culture, cost, geography, etc. Policymakers in India have traditionally pushed for a cereal-heavy “vegetarian diet” on a meat-eating population as a way of providing the cheapest sources of food.
Currently, under an aggressive Hindu nationalist government, Muslims, Christians, disadvantaged classes and indigenous communities are being compelled to give up their traditional foods.
None of these concerns seem to have been appreciated by the EAT-Lancet Commission’s representative, Brent Loken, who said “India has got such a great example” in sourcing protein from plants.
But how much of a model for the world is India’s vegetarianism? In the Global Hunger Index, the country ranks 102nd out of 117. Data from the National Family Health Survey indicate that only 10 percent of infants of 6 to 23 months are adequately fed, which is why calls for a plant-based diet modeled on India risk offering another whip with which to beat already vulnerable communities in developing countries.
A diet directed at the affluent West fails to recognize that in low-income countries undernourished children are known to benefit from the consumption of milk and other animal source foods, improving cognitive functions, while reducing the prevalence of nutritional deficiencies as well as death.
EAT-Lancet claimed its intention was to “spark conversations” among all Indian stakeholders. Yet vocal critics of the food processing industry and food fortification strategies have been left out of the debate. But the most conspicuous (明显的) omission may well be the absence of India’s farmers.
1. What is more visible in India than anywhere else according to the passage?| A．People’s positive views on the proposals for a “planetary diet”. |
| B．People’s reluctance to be compelled to eat plant-based food. |
| C．People’s preferences for the kind of food they consume. |
| D．People’s unwillingness to give up their eating habits. |
| A．Radically change their dietary habits. | B．Keep them further away from politics. |
| C．Make them even more undernourished. | D．Substantially reduce their food choices. |
| A．People’s diet will not change due to the EAT-Lancet report. |
| B．Many people simply do not have access to foods they prefer. |
| C．There is a growing popularity of a cereal-heavy vegetarian diet. |
| D．Policymakers help remove the barriers to people’s choice of food. |
| A．It may benefit populations whose traditional diet is meat-based. |
| B．It may be another blow to the economy in developing countries. |
| C．It may worsen the nourishment problem in low-income countries. |
| D．It may help narrow the gap between the rich and poor countries. |
Rich Danieu, a man awaiting a heart transplant (移植), had to stay in Strong Hospital in Rochester, New York, since January. His days were filled with uncertainty, medical procedures, and a longing to be with his family. The slim hope of getting cured had almost driven Danieu’s mood down to the ground. He was close to giving up. What’s worse, he was frustrated at the thought of missing a crucial event: his 5-year-old daughter Mara’s school’s father-daughter dance.
Shortly after Danieu’s arrival at the hospital, Mara had excitedly shared the news of her school’s upcoming father-daughter dance. She had been eagerly looking forward to her father’s participation. But Danieu’s illness had kept him away from his daughter’s joyous event. As the day of the dance drew near, Mara’s excitement began to be replaced by a deep sadness. “My daughter was a little upset, for I couldn’t go with her,” Danieu said to a nurse with a heavy heart.
Mara’s grandfather stepped in to take her to the dance, hoping to make the evening special for her. They both got dressed up, arrived at the school hall, and even had a beautiful photo taken. However, for Mara, something was wrong, because she noticed everybody else was with their dads. Excitement gave way to disappointment. On their way home, Mara was walking silently, without saying a word, when her grandfather received a call from the hospital.
The nurses at Strong Hospital had been closely following the family’s story. Having witnessed what Danieu was experiencing due to missing such a crucial moment in his daughter’s life, they decided to do something. They knew they couldn’t make a big change, but they could certainly create a moment of magic. On the night of the dance, with delicate care, they transformed an empty hospital room into a magical dance floor, complete with twinkling lights and soft music playing in the background.
At the same time, Danieu lay in his hospital bed, a sense of disappointment at his heart. When he was gazing out the window, a nurse came in with a warm smile.
注意：1. 续写词数应为150左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Led to the room, Danieu didn’t know what awaited him.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________That special dance brought great strength and hope to Danieu.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________9 . When Shelby Lattimore, a math and science teacher, saw her third graders weren’t attending class, she found a fun way to change that. The 25-year-old teacher started her class
In the class, students can choose from a variety of “
Each month, Lattimore’s students also have to pay “rent” for their class desk and chair. To keep things interesting, Lattimore also introduced a new
Students can buy rewards once a month. The reward
Today, Lattimore has seen how much they’ve learned about various
| A．report | B．economy | C．interaction | D．survey |
| A．get through | B．take over | C．set out | D．show up |
| A．tools | B．areas | C．jobs | D．parts |
| A．amount | B．outcome | C．position | D．honour |
| A．term | B．test | C．choice | D．idea |
| A．awarded | B．charged | C．returned | D．refused |
| A．bonus | B．fine | C．rent | D．income |
| A．appearance | B．exception | C．adjustment | D．impression |
| A．covers | B．reveals | C．follows | D．combines |
| A．general | B．expensive | C．suitable | D．tasty |
| A．save up | B．settle down | C．go around | D．move on |
| A．opinions | B．roles | C．comments | D．skills |
| A．sharing | B．donating | C．carrying | D．counting |
| A．careful | B．supportive | C．tolerant | D．aware |
| A．accept | B．praise | C．impact | D．bless |
10 . If you’ve ever tried something big, then you’ve probably had to deal with doubt at a certain point. No matter how often you face it, doubt can be depressing.
·
·Look back on past wins. Reflecting is a powerful way to tell yourself that you’re capable of doing much more. Get rid of doubt by entering reflection mode and reminding yourself that you are capable of getting things done.
·Meditate (冥想) regularly.
·Take action on your plans. A sure sign that self-doubt has you in its grasp is that you are beginning to buy into the excuses you make.
| A．Visualize success. |
| B．Build a reward system. |
| C．It is a big challenge to strengthen your motivation. |
| D．Stress and anxiety allow room for weakness and doubt. |
| E．It can also weaken your determination to get things done. |
| F．This will ultimately prevent you from being able to accomplish your goals. |
| G．After all, the reminder that you have overcome doubt is a big confidence boost. |
