1 . In San Francisco, a large group of sea lions move themselves out of the bay waters and hang out on PIER 39, which is a popular tourist destination. According to dock (码头) officials, this is the most sea lions seen in the region in 15 years.

“Over 1,000 sea lions have been counted this week,” PIER 39 harbormaster Sheila Chandor told many different media. “The surge in sea lions is usually a good sign of their strong population and healthy living environment,” said Adam Ratner, Director of Conservation Engagement at the Marine Mammal (海洋哺乳动物) Center in Sausalito, California.

“California sea lions are sentinels (哨兵) of the ocean,” Ratner said. Their population to some extent reflects the health of the ocean. Therefore, seeing a large number of California sea lions is clearly a good thing.

For nearly 35 years, the slippery (滑的) residents have been a star attraction for tourists. That autumn in 1989, PIER 39 had just been repaired, but the ships had not yet been moved back. At that moment, the sea lions unexpected arrival not only attracted fans but also created enemies. According to a website, some dock residents and workers were scared away by the strong and very unpleasant smell and noise of their new neighbors, while others saw these animals as a bright spot after the destructive Loma Prieta earthquake.

The officials sought help from the Marine Mammal Center to find a way to deal with sea lions. Ratner said that the final decision is to let the sea lions stay and coexist with humans. “The fact proves that this is really a good thing,” he said. “This is just a proof of how we can truly work together and think about how we can share our coasts with marine mammals and other wildlife in a way that benefits all the parties involved.”

1. How does the author start the text?

A．By describing a situation.

B．By answering a question.

C．By holding a conversation.

D．By comparing different opinions.

2. What does the underlined word “surge” in paragraph 2 mean?

A．Sharp increase.	B．Tight control.
C．Slow development.	D．Sudden movement.

3. What is Ratner’s attitude to the final decision?

A．Doubtful.	B．Uninterested.
C．Supportive.	D．Unclear.

4. What message does the author seem to convey in the text?

A．Sea lions are pretty cool animals.

B．Animals and humans can live in harmony.

C．Watching sea lions might not be a proper action.

D．Sea lions should be driven out of PIER 39.

2 . At some point, something will have to be done about the stuffed toys (毛绒玩具). I haven’t counted them because, truthfully, I’m not prepared to know how many there are. Lately, our neighborhood’s message boards are filled with posts about parents trying to make space, to clear out the things their kids no longer need. The tone of some of these posts can best be described as “emergency”. “Help!” they sometimes begin. “I have to get this out of my house.”

“The proliferation (激增) of children’s toys is the outcome of a long, gradual cultural change,”says Gary Cross, a professor at Pennsylvania State University. To understand how we got here — drowning (淹没于) in all those stuffed toys and bricks — it helps to look as far back as the late 19th century. “Parents were no longer passing their jobs on to the children,” Cross says. “Instead, they connect across generations through the gifting process. From the early 20th century on, goods became the things that define relationships between family members, and the way of marking success as a family.”

Then, how can parents deal with the proliferation of children’s toys at home? Naeemah Ford Goldson, a professional organizer, is also a mom of two. In her own home, Goldson likes to include her kids in the work of sorting out their toys. They know that the items they don’t need anymore will be given to people who can use them, to families who might not be as fortunate as theirs. “Doing so helps them build those habits of letting go,” she says, “so then they don’t become adults who are too dependent on material things instead of experiences, or people, and the memories we make with people.”

Her idea made sense. She told her 5-year-old they should pick some to give to kids in their community who came from another country and had to leave their toys behind. She immediately took a pink bear from the pile.

1. Why does the author present the posts in paragraph 1?

A．To show the popularity of children’s toys.

B．To offer suggestions about choosing children’s toys.

C．To praise the role of social media in buying children’s toys.

D．To introduce the influence too many children’s toys bring about.

2. What has caused the huge increase of children’s toys according to Cross?

A．Children’s demands.	B．The growth of technology.
C．The traditions in the 18th century.	D．The practice of gifting among family members.

3. What does Goldson do to avoid too many toys?

A．Involve her kids in organizing toys.	B．Put away toys for her kids.
C．Buy her kids fewer toys.	D．Sell unwanted toys to neighbors.

4. Which is the most suitable title for the text?

A．The Rise of Toy Stores in Neighborhoods	B．The Importance of Choosing Proper Gifts
C．The Challenge of Managing Children’s Toys	D．The Joy of Collecting Children’s Toys

3 . 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。

It was 40 years ago. One day, Emma came back to their apartment from work and realized that her husband, David, was extremely ill. He was throwing up and slurring (发音不清) his words. Immediately, Emma grabbed her purse and took him by taxi to the nearest hospital, on the Lower East Side of New York City. The minutes slowly passed as they waited to see a doctor.

They sat there for a couple of hours, and it was pretty clear that nobody was going to pay attention to David. So they rushed to a second hospital, where they were also ignored. Emma knew something was very wrong with David, so they went to a third hospital. As she told the receptionist what was happening, Emma sensed the person wasn’t going to treat their case with urgency.

Emma was on the edge of a breakdown. After three failed attempts to get help, she had reached her limit. She started to shout in the lobby (大厅). That’s when her unsung hero appeared.

That person was a young man with dark hair and a white physician’s coat. He came to Emma and said, “How can I help you? What’s going on here?” Emma explained what was happening to David, and that she was afraid it was serious.

The young man said, “You know, I just got done with my neurological residency (神经系统的实习期) up at Lenox Hill Hospital. I’ll take him in the back and look.” Within two or three minutes, the young man came out and said, “You are absolutely right. Something is very seriously wrong with your husband.”

The man told Emma to take her husband to Lenox Hill Hospital, and that he had called the doctor with whom he had done his residency.

“He’ll be waiting for you,” said the young man.

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。

But Emma began to cry, realizing she had no way of getting there, because she didn’t have any more cash for a taxi.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Soon Emma and her husband arrived at the hospital.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4 . Researchers are training robots to perform an ever-growing number of tasks through trial-and-error reinforcement (强化) learning, which is often laborious and time-consuming. To help out, humans are now employing large language model (LLM) AI. A team at NVIDIA Research directed an AI protocol (协议) powered by OpenAI’s GPT-4 to teach a simulation (模拟) of a robotic hand nearly 30 complex tasks, including throwing a ball, pushing blocks, pressing switches, and some other seriously impressive abilities.

NVIDIA’s new “AI agent” Eureka uses GPT-4 by asking the large language model to write its own reward-based reinforcement learning software code. According to the company, Eureka doesn’t need complicated reminders or even pre-written patterns; instead, it simply begins experimenting with a program, and then follows any external human feedback.

In the company’s announcement, Linxi “Jim” Fan, a senior research scientist at NVIDIA, described Eureka as a unique combination of LLMs and simulation programming. “We believe that Eureka will enable robots to control items flexibly and provide a new way to produce physically realistic animations for artists,” Fan added. After testing its training protocol within an advanced simulation program, Eureka then analyzes its collected data and directs the LLM to further improve upon its design. The result is a protocol capable of successfully numbering a variety of robotic hand designs to operate scissors, turn pens and open cupboards within a physics-accurate simulated environment.

Eureka’s alternatives to human-written trial-and-error learning programs aren’t just effective—in most cases, they’re actually better than those authored by humans. In the team’s open-source research paper findings, Eureka-designed reward programs outperformed humans’ code in over 80 percent of the tasks—amounting to an average performance improvement of over 50 percent in the robotic simulations.

“Reinforcement learning has contributed to impressive wins over the last decade, yet many challenges still exist, such as reward design, which remains a trial-and-error process,” said Anima Anandkumar, an AI researcher. “Eureka is the first step toward developing new algorithms (算法) that integrate generative and reinforcement learning methods to solve hard tasks.”

1. Why is AI used for the training?

A．To simplify robots’ tasks.	B．To advertise OpenAI’s GPT-4.
C．To speed up the training process.	D．To recognize artists’ role in art creation.

2. What does Eureka need to do in the training?

A．Design reward programs.	B．Copy pre-written patterns.
C．Get complicated reminders.	D．Avoid human intervention.

3. How does Anima Anandkumar find Eureka?

A．It is still poor at the reward design.	B．It should learn from hard tasks.
C．It has few challenges to solve.	D．It is of pioneering significance.

4. What is the main idea of the text?

A．Trial-and-error learning programs are promising.

B．Robots can finish complex tasks through learning.

C．Reinforcement learning improves robotic simulations.

D．AI can better teach a simulated robotic hand to perform tasks.

5 . 听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。
1. What is the aim of the campaign?

A．To remind people of Earth Day.

B．To encourage people to reduce garbage.

C．To warn people of the bad effects of pollution.

2. What will be the task on the second day?

A．Planting trees.

B．Designing posters.

C．Collecting garbage.

3. What does the man expect the teachers to do?

A．Paint paper.

B．Stop driving cars.

C．Decorate classrooms.

4. How does Sara find the man's ideas?

A．Absurd.

B．Hollow.

C．Practical.

6 . I think I lived rather sustainably last year. I composted (堆肥) fruit and vegetable scraps, ________ my own clothes and even grew food on my balcony. I grasped every chance to make ________ in my lifestyle.

I became accustomed to getting up early, which I think came with various ________. I devoted the morning hours to breathing in the flesh air. I kept my evenings ________ to meet friends, read, or connect with family, and slowly get myself ________ to rest as dusk approaches.

The biggest ________ for me was to take a walk wholeheartedly. Having spent much time staying indoors, I wanted to take a ________ kind of exercise where I could enjoy the natural scenery, rather than an intense one. Walking not only ________ me to the beautiful creatures that lived among us, but helped me to ________ my own life.

I found out how much organic waste even a small household could ________. It is reported that U. S. households waste approximately one-third of food they buy, ________ $ 240 billion per year. Although I got my composting into place, I needed to find a ________ for the plastic waste from deliveries and takeaways. ________, I was offered a door-to-door recycling service that visited every two weeks and ________ the waste.

While I’ve always been getting clothes made by the family ________, this stopped during the pandemic. Last year, as the traveling exhibitions which ________ artisans and help them sell their products came back to the city, I bought some ________ which was made into fashionable sets and dresses. I also ________ an old block-printed dress into a jumpsuit.

Thanks to my ________, I found my life was eased back into a healthy one. I’ll stick to my ________ lifestyle from now on.

1.

A．purchased

B．mended

C．ordered

D．donated

2.

A．improvement

B．progress

C．promotion

D．sense

3.

A．doubts

B．results

C．benefits

D．challenges

4.

A．slow

B．active

C．quiet

D．free

5.

A．prepared

B．tired

C．trained

D．addicted

6.

A．task

B．change

C．moment

D．problem

7.

A．potential

B．rare

C．proper

D．gentle

8.

A．increased

B．surprised

C．connected

D．limited

9.

A．reflect on

B．send up

C．result in

D．slide into

10.

A．receive

B．resist

C．store

D．generate

11.

A．destroying

B．saving

C．totaling

D．sharing

12.

A．routine

B．solution

C．practice

D．rule

13.

A．Fortunately

B．Gradually

C．Accidentally

D．Regularly

14.

A．reduced

B．welcomed

C．abandoned

D．collected

15.

A．designer

B．tailor

C．assistant

D．consultant

16.

A．hold

B．excite

C．support

D．feature

17.

A．fabric

B．steel

C．wood

D．patent

18.

A．repeated

B．repurposed

C．included

D．decorated

19.

A．defense

B．decision

C．imagination

D．effort

20.

A．flexible

B．comfortable

C．sustainable

D．typical

7 . Cold weather not only threatens the life of human beings but also the survival of wild animals. In Houston, it has claimed some unusual animal victims-bats.

Mary Warwick is the wildlife director at the Houston Humane Society. She was doing shopping when the freezing winds reminded her that she had not heard how the area’s bats were going. So she drove to the bridge where over 100 bats looked to be dead as they lay frozen on the ground. But during her 40-minute drive home, they began to come back to life. The bats made sounds and moved around in a box she had placed on her heated passenger seat for warmth. She returned to the bridge twice a day to collect more.

Two days later, she got a call about more than 900 bats rescued from a bridge in nearby Pearland, Texas. On the third and fourth days, more people showed up to rescue bats from the Waugh Bridge, and a special transportation effort was set up to get the bats to Warwick, which touched her a great deal. Each of the bats was warmed in an incubator (恒温箱) until their body temperature rose.

However, there were too many bats for one person to care for. The society’s current buildings did not have the necessary space, so Warwick and others put the bats in her attic (阁楼). The bats were separated by group in containers usually used for dogs. There, they were able to reach a state of hibernation (冬眠). Over 100 bats died because of the cold and the fall from the bridge but the others are being or have been released.

The society is now raising money to build a special room for bats at the society. The society’s entire animal rescue team will be vaccinated (接种疫苗) and trained in rescuing bats as they prepare to move into a larger building with the special bat room. “That would really help in these situations where we continue to see strange weather come through,” she said. “We could really use more space to rescue the bats.”

1. Why did Mary War wick drive to the bridge?

A．To get rid of the dead bats.	B．To check what happened to the bats.
C．To reach home a little earlier.	D．To monitor the surviving bats.

2. Which of the following moved Mary Warwick deeply?

A．More people were willing to donate.

B．More people showed concern about her.

C．More people came up with good ideas.

D．More people joined her rescue.

3. What trouble did Mary Warwick have in saving the bats?

A．There was not enough space to warm the bats.

B．An increasing number of bats died from the cold.

C．It was difficult for her to get bats into hibernation.

D．The bats’ body temperature didn’t rise as expected.

4. What is Mary Warwick’s attitude towards the human e society’s efforts?

A．Critical.

B．Grateful.

C．Positive.

D．Doubtful.

8 . While there are already apps that guide blind users to a bus stop’s approximate location, those people may unknowingly end up standing too far away from the actual stop. A new app addresses that shortcoming by letting the smartphone’s camera in on the act.

Known as All_Aboard, the AI-based app was developed by a team of scientists at the Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts Eye and Ear treatment and research center. It’s made to be used along with a third-party GPS-based online navigational (导航的) map.

Users start by using other apps to get to a bus stop’s location. They then open All _Aboard and proceed to hold their smartphone up so that its back camera can “see” the surrounding street. Drawing upon a deep learning neural network which was trained on around 10,000 images of bus stops within that city, the app is reportedly able to visually identify the target stop’s sign if it’s within a range of up to 15 meters away. Once the sign has been spotted, the app guides the user via sonar-like beeps (哔哔声) which change pitch and speed as the person gets closer to the bus stop.

In field tests, 24 legally blind volunteers used both online maps and All _Aboard to locate 20 bus stops—10 in an urban setting and 10 in a suburban environment.

When it came to getting close enough to those stops, online maps alone had a success rate of just 52%, whereas All _Aboard boosted the number to 93%. Additionally, while the average distance between the map’s endpoint and the actual bus stop was 6.62 meters with online maps, it was just 1.54 meters with All _Aboard.

“Our findings suggest that the All _Aboard app could help travelers with visual impairments (视力受损) in navigation by accurately detecting the bus stop, and therefore greatly reducing their chance of missing buses due to standing too far from the bus stops,” said Massachusetts Eye and Ear’s Assoc. Prof. Gang Luo. “This study indicates that computer vision-based object recognition capabilities can be used in a complementary (补充的) way and provide added benefit to purely mapping-based, macro-navigation services in real-world settings.”

1. What is the author’s purpose of writing paragraph 1?

A．To introduce the topic.

B．To highlight other apps.

C．To show the new app’s shortcomings.

D．To detailedly compare the new app with others.

2. What is paragraph 3 mainly about?

A．The importance of camera in smartphones.

B．The potential advantage of the new app.

C．How the new app All _ Aboard works.

D．Why users get closer to the bus stop.

3. What can we infer about All _ Aboard from the data given in paragraph 5?

A．High accuracy.	B．Good reputation.
C．Perfect property.	D．More application.

4. What can be the best title for the text?

A．Blind Users Benefiting From Science

B．A New App Is In The Charge Of Its Users

C．Online Maps Needing Improvement To The Bus Service

D．All _ Aboard Making Navigation Efficient For The Blind

9 . When planning a trip, people may find it hard to look for a destination. Luckily, the following fantastic movies might have the answer, and they could have audiences jumping to book their next flight abroad.

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

Directed by and starring Ben Stiller and adapted by Steve Conrad, the movie sees Walter Mitty break out of his comfort zone and start an adventure across the globe Iceland’s volcano and the Himalayas are just two of the fantastic locations featured. This is a perfect time to get any home-lovers out into the wilderness, enjoying the beauty of nature.

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

Directed by John Madden, the movie boasts an all-star line-up that includes Maggie Smith and Judi Dench. The movie portrays India in all its glory, with audiences surely wanting to be immersed in its rich culture. It argues that not only is travel good for the soul, but it can make an extraordinary difference within each of us.

The Bucket List

Directed by Rob Reiner and written by Justin Zackham, the movie focused on making the most of life. The leading characters’ terminal illnesses were not going to hold them back from visiting their destinations. While the film is deeply moving, it also promotes a notable message, to get into the world and never stop getting inspired.

Away We Go

Directed by Sam Mendes and written by Vendela Vida, it’s fantastic. Burt and Gloria want to find a new home where they can raise their child safely. The search begins with a visit to Phoenix and their journey takes them to Tucson, Madison, Montreal, Miami and Florida. It’s a tour of some of North America’s wonderful towns and cities, but each time they are viewed through the lens of family, love and support.

1. Which of the following is suitable for those who want to visit India?

A．The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.

B．The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.

C．The Bucket List.

D．Away We Go.

2. Who acted as a scriptwriter for the movie The Bucket List?

A．Ben Stiller.	B．John Madden.
C．Maggie Smith.	D．Justin Zackham.

3. What is Away We Go mainly about?

A．A road trip.	B．A love story.
C．A family reunion.	D．A special family.

10 . How to improve your home’s energy efficiency

Ensuring that your home is energy-efficient possibly keeps your bills right down and helps you play your part in the fight against climate change.     1    .

Insulate (使隔热) your loft

Most of your home’s wasted energy will attempt to escape through your roof. To stop it in its tracks, you must invest in having your loft insulated.    2    , but it will be sure to save you over £100 a year.

    3    

By investing in a top-of-the-line boiler, you’ll no doubt tap into an extra of savings. What’s more, making this kind of investment will also be sure to lower your home’s carbon emissions. When choosing a new boiler, give precedence (优先) to those that fall in or near the “A” category. Whatever you do, just don’t slip towards the lower end of the scale.

Fit double glazing (双层玻璃)

    4    . This is because double-glazed windows and doors trap more heat than regular ones, ultimately meaning they will stop you from having to put your heating on as much or as high. The initial investment demanded in this instance can be costly, which is why you should consider making use of the Help to Buy Windows Scheme.

Keep an eye on your energy consumption

Only when you know how much energy you use can you take action with regards to being less wasteful and more resourceful. This means that you should make a conscious effort to keep an eye on your energy consumption.    5    , you might want to consider fitting an energy monitor in your home. Generally, this type of technology will cost between £25 and £40.

A．Update your boiler

B．Maximize the boiler

C．To assist you in rising to this challenge

D．Taking such action may demand some cost in advance

E．Double-glazed windows will increase your energy consumption

F．Take these steps, and you’ll be living in an energy-efficient home

G．Double glazing will make a massive difference to your annual energy bills