1 . We sometimes think that everything was much better and easier in the past. It’s one of the tricks our minds play on us, especially when we are in low spirits.
Actually, it’s unlikely that things were objectively better in the past. This form of thinking is called rosy retrospection, which is a well-studied cognitive bias. It happens because when we think about the past, we are more likely to focus on positive generalities than annoying details.
If you think back to a holiday with your family five years ago, you’re likely to recall the beautiful views rather than the uncomfortable bed. In other words, the negative details disappear from our memory over time while the positive ones remain.
Rosy retrospection can influence how we make decisions, and it’s one of the reasons why we easily return into problematic relationships. The longer it is since we experienced the negative influence of a relationship, the more likely we are to let the good memories outweigh the bad memories and to perhaps forgive unforgivable behavior. It’s always a good idea to review our nostalgic (怀旧的) feelings with a healthy degree of doubt.
But rosy retrospection does serve an important purpose. It keeps us in a positive state of mind in the present and is important to our psychological wellbeing. In fact, people who tend to remember negative experience s more than positive ones are likely to exhibit psychological disorders. Research generally suggests that our happiest days are still to come. And even if they’re not, it’s still important to believe that they are. Don’t shy away from looking upon the past with a certain degree of nostalgia. But, for the same reason, don’t use the past as an excuse to be unhappy in the present.
1. When we think about the past, we usually __________.| A．improve present living conditions | B．beautify past experiences |
| C．focus on mind mapping | D．play games to forget bad things |
| A．Having a preference for good memories. | B．Remembering exactly about the details. |
| C．Concentrating on impossible things. | D．Thinking objectively about the past. |
| A．Reviewing the nostalgic feelings critically. |
| B．Ignoring the nostalgic feelings absolutely. |
| C．Forgiving the unacceptable behavior generously. |
| D．Getting back to the problematic relationships bravely. |
| A．Negative. | B．Subjective. | C．Favorable. | D．Objective. |
2 . If someone created a flying machine able to track you down by listening for your voice, you might be terrified. But what if you were trapped in ruins after a natural disaster and first responders couldn’t locate you? Maybe then a human-seeking drone (无人机) wouldn’t be such a terrible idea. That concept is the focus for engineers at Germany’s Fraunhofer FKIE Institute, who’ve built a drone to find people by detecting human screams.
“The human seeking drone would be ideal for responder post-disaster situations, such as earthquakes, hurricanes and wildfires,” said Macarena Varela, one of the lead engineers. “They could hover (盘旋) over an area that rescue crews have difficulty getting to and locate exactly where people may be trapped.”
Locating people by sound presents its share of challenges. An auditory (听觉的) system would need to tell human cries from sounds that often happen in nature, such as animal calls and wind. It might also need to recognize patterns associated with kicking, clapping or other ways people try to get the attention of rescue teams.
Engineers took those situations into account when building out their concept drone. They recorded themselves screaming, tapping and creating other noises that might be a sign of people in trouble. Then, they analyzed each sound frequency to find common signatures and used those to train artificial intelligence software. They also worked to remove the noise created by the drone and other environmental sounds.
Once the software part was completed, the team placed tiny digital microphones under the drone and used signal processing techniques that enabled them to track where human noises are coming from. The microphones also enhanced the volume and clearness of the speech. So far, they have conducted successful open field experiments, finding that the drone can estimate a victim’s location within a few seconds of picking up sound.
Next, they would like to add a higher frequency microphone to a drone to acquire more audio sound signals. The idea is to pick up noises from hundreds of meters away, Varela said. In the real world, victim’s location date might one day be sent wirelessly to emergency crews carrying a tablet.
1. What is the advantage of the human-seeking drone?| A．Its high speed of flying. | B．Its long working hours. |
| C．Its quick response to screams. | D．Its easy access to disaster scene. |
| A．Recognize human cries. | B．Pick up sounds from far away. |
| C．Send victim’s location data to a tablet. | D．Improve the quality of human screams. |
| A．developed higher frequency microphones for use on drones |
| B．rescued disaster victims by using drones to recognize human cries |
| C．coached artificial intelligence software to distinguish human and natural sounds |
| D．completed outdoor experiments using drones to quickly locate disaster victims |
| A．AI Enables Drones to Give Better Performance |
| B．Human-seeking Drones Replace Rescue Crews |
| C．Engineers Teach Drones to Hunt Human Screams |
| D．Rescuers Use Drones to Locate Disaster Survivors |
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To Travel Is To Learn
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Dear Peter,
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5 . As the shift from traditional farming to modern farming is progressing, the use of technology such as drones (无人机), robots and machinery has also begun, producing favorable results and increasing efficiency in the industry. A farmer from the Philippines, Rey Kent Dejesica, wanted to help and contribute to the agriculture industry. Through an advertisement, he saw DIAGRAS drones and was interested in the idea of drones being used for farm applications.
In the Philippines, when people think of farmers or agriculture, they usually picture long hours working in the sun. Farming is an onerous process, especially for young people, who like everything instant. “Rice and bananas are the primary sources of income in my city. I want to contribute to the agriculture industry in a way to reduce growers’ expenses and make the usage of pesticides (农药) more precise and efficient because I’ve seen how innovative individuals are and how they always find ways and methods to make tasks easier,” Rey Kent Dejesica said.
“Using drones as a sprayer (喷雾器) also lessens human labor. Besides that, we can obtain a bird’s-eye view of fields and spay crops precisely and effectively with drones,” Rey Kent Dejesica said. Moreover, farmers stated that the use of drones also minimized the Panama disease. “After we switched to drone technology, our field became more beautiful,” they added.
Agriculture is the main source of income for some Asian regions. Parts of Asia are now going through a rapidly aging farmer population and a fear of food shortage. That is why the youth must be part of the trade to ensure food security in the future. Advancements in agricultural technology such as drones can attract the youth back to the farming scene.
Armed with his knowledge of drone technology and having a positive attitude, Rey Kent sets an example for the next generation of farmers. May this be a stepping stone showing that farming is not something to be embarrassed about, but to be accepted through applying new technology.
1. Why was Rey Kent Dejesica interested in using drones for farming?| A．He was influenced by his parents. |
| B．He was doing experiments with drones. |
| C．He wanted farmers to stop using pesticides. |
| D．He aimed to use them to help the agricultural industry. |
| A．Simple. | B．Creative. | C．Heavy. | D．Dangerous. |
| A．Helpful. | B．Harmful. | C．Useless. | D．Funny. |
| A．The aging farmer population in Asia. | B．The importance of food security in the world. |
| C．The youth’s role in high-tech agriculture. | D．The advancements in agricultural technology. |
The “Understanding Contemporary China” Foreign Language Contests were held in Beijing from December 4 to 8．
Nearly one million college students from more than 1,300 universities participated , with about 2,500
The champion of the English group
Xu Chengcheng, from Beijing Foreign Studies University, won
A special session of “Multilingual Champions Showcase” was part
7 . Being approachable brings you many advantages. However, you often struggle to make friends and network when you are perceived as not being friendly. So how do you make yourself approachable?
Avoid isolating yourself
The first step is to consider whether you open yourself to contact with others. Looking angry and crossing your arms can suggest to others that you are not to be approached.
Listen actively
The basic skill to master to be someone’s go-to person is to listen first.
Avoid a judgmental attitude
If you want to be seen as more approachable, you can also invite people to come to you. Do it only if you mean it and be sincere in offering your support. Open some time in your schedule to welcome people or, if you can’t, schedule a follow-up meeting.
| A．Invite people to come to you |
| B．Persuade people to come back later |
| C．Here are a few ways to help you enhance this aspect |
| D．It allows you to share your troubles with others honestly |
| E．Often, we get the urge to interrupt or rush the conversation along |
| F．The way you respond also encourages others to come to you again |
| G．So you can try to appear more approachable by focusing on your body language |
8 . Want to know what is coming soon to a cinema near you? Probably not a 1.5-hour-long movie, as in the old days. On October 20th comes Killers of the Flower Moon. At nearly three and a half hours, its length is nearly double that of the average film last year. Even movie fans struggle to concentrate for that ridiculously (荒谬地) long time and some viewers even nod off. Afterwards, there is a mad run for the toilets. When does watching a film become such an effort?
The Economist analyzed over 100,000 feature films released internationally since the 1930s, the start of Hollywood's golden age, using data from IMDb, a movie database. The average length of productions rose by around 24%, from 1 hour and 21 minutes in the 1930s to 1 hour and 47 minutes in 2022. For the ten most-popular titles, the average length grew to around two and a half hours in 2022, nearly 50% higher than in the 1930s.
One driver of this trend is that studios want to squeeze the most out of their costly intellectual property, but they are competing with streaming platforms for eyeballs. The hope is that a spectacular, drawn-out “event” movie will draw audiences away from the small screen and into cinemas. This approach has often paid off: Avengers: Endgame Marvel's three-hour superhero masterpiece was the highest-grossing (票房最高的) film in 2019. Last year, long movie series made up most of the highest-grossing films in America.
Another explanation for longer films has to do with directors’ growing influence. Who would dare tell the likes of Mr. Nolan to cut out their masterpieces? Moreover, streaming platforms, which do not have to worry as much about the length because viewers can pause whenever they like, may attract big names by promising them sufficient fund and creative freedom. Netflix funded and released three-hour The Irishman in 2019, a film that would have benefited from a decisive editor, Irish or otherwise.
1. How does the author organize the second paragraph?| A．By listing numbers and making comparisons. | B．By giving examples and explaining theories. |
| C．By telling stories and showing experiments. | D．By asking questions and offering solutions. |
| A．To introduce its impact. |
| B．To explain why its gross is the highest. |
| C．To prove that the studio’s strategy is working. |
| D．To summarize the secret of the studio's success. |
| A．A photographer. | B．A director. | C．An actor. | D．An audience. |
| A．A brief history of long movies. | B．How film studios distribute their movies. |
| C．The production process of a movie. | D．Why films have become so ridiculously long. |
9 . Sarkar is a nanotechnologist (纳米技术专家) and assistant professor at MIT. She is conducting her research on brain diseases that
Born in Kolkata, India, Sarkar credits both of her parents as early
After
Along the way, Sarkar became fascinated with the
| A．enrich | B．read | C．affect | D．poison |
| A．birds | B．researchers | C．failures | D．inspirations |
| A．aunt | B．mother | C．sister | D．grandmother |
| A．working | B．pretending | C．refusing | D．waiting |
| A．protected | B．switched | C．stimulated | D．supported |
| A．job | B．holiday | C．discomfort | D．passion |
| A．complex | B．convenient | C．peaceful | D．meaningful |
| A．interested | B．honest | C．lucky | D．disappointed |
| A．starting | B．carning | C．needing | D．introducing |
| A．adapted to | B．related to | C．headed to | D．belonged to |
| A．create | B．fix | C．operate | D．sell |
| A．water | B．money | C．power | D．time |
| A．Unfortunately | B．Immediately | C．Obviously | D．Eventually |
| A．computer | B．brain | C．exercise | D．fashion |
| A．empty | B．busy | C．relaxed | D．remarkable |
Steven Green was a hardworking man who worked all his life to support his family. He never finished college, so he had to take hard labor jobs around the neighborhood. He worked as a builder and a carpenter through the years. He often helped his neighbors whenever needed. However, as he grew older, he could no longer do these jobs. His knees grew weak, and his health condition made it difficult for him to do difficult jobs.
Steven’s kids didn’t live in the same state as him and could only send him a little money because they also led a poor life. Unfortunately, Steven experienced constant physical pain after doing hard labor jobs for years, and he needed to take medicine every day. The money his kids offered was only enough for food, and his savings were small. Realizing that he needed more money, Steven decided to get a job again. Finally, he found a job as a doorkeeper. At first, his salary was enough to pay for the groceries and the medicine he needed. However, due to his advanced age, he started to need more medicine, and it cost a whole lot.
To pay the growing bills, Steven began to take things from his home to a second-hand store to get some money. One day, as he was carrying an old radio to the store, his neighbor, Ben, saw him. “Mr. Green, it’s so good to see you! How have you been?” Ben asked. “I’m doing great. I’m just selling couple of things I no longer use at home for some cash. Being weak is terrible when you’re old, so take care of yourself when you are young, alright?” he said almost jokingly. Ben nodded.
“Thanks for the tip, Mr. Green!” he said before waving goodbye. That same day, Steven was cooking dinner when he heard the doorbell ring. He wasn’t expecting anyone, so he curiously walked towards the door.
Paragraph 1:Surprisingly, he saw Ben standing there with a jacket in his arms.
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Paragraph 2:
“Ben must have forgotten about the check inside the pocket,” Steven thought.
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