2 . We clearly live in an era with little patience. Entire TV series are available at once on streaming services, and burning questions are solved in seconds via a search engine. This instant satisfaction, undoubtedly, is killing our ability to wait.    1    . Here are some strategies to pick up that magic mix if you weren’t born with it.

● Visualize success

There’s no need to set a real situation where you wait in a super long grocery checkout line to test yourself. Simply visualizing it helps a lot. See yourself smiling and breathing as you wait for the line to move.    2    . For example, you could say, “it’s not bad to enjoy this magazine while waiting”. Your mind will start to process the picture as a real experience and help to set you up for future successes.

● Slow down

Racing around is not necessarily the only way to get what you want.     3    . Most adults do not feel happy when they’re rushing, and children are even less capable of doing it with a good attitude. Instead of sweating through your routine, turn on some background music you like and move at a normal pace.

●    4    

The ability to let your mind wander, whether daydreaming or actively applying your imagination, is a skill that improves patience.    5    . Take a break and do something that could free your brain from the work that takes tons of energy. This helps you build up your staying power, so next time you might be more patient and more likely to focus on your task.

A．Learn to distract yourself

B．Add some positive words if possible

C．Therefore, we are getting more and more impatient

D．You don’t have to get the whole paper done in one go

E．We get so caught up in hurrying that we get stuck in that mode

F．But sometimes, a fast pace does improve our working efficiency

G．Thus, the loss of this mixed quality of tolerance and calmness is unavoidable

5 . This month, the Internet was flooded with wonderful digital art portraits, thanks to the work of the latest artificial intelligence-assisted application to go viral: Lensa. Users uploaded their photographs to the App and then—for a small fee—it used AI to transform their profile pictures into, say, a magical warrior princess version of themselves, in no time at all.

This year has seen a breakthrough for AI-driven image generators, which are now better than ever in quality, speed and affordability. If that sounds great to you, you might not be one of the millions of humans whose livelihoods depend on being able to exchange those skills for money.

Some artists predicted that a computer would recreate the aura of a masterpiece by Leonardo da Vinci in the near future. As long as there are enough data for the AI to train itself, it can copy numerous masterpieces just in several minutes. It seems unavoidable that a large number of artists would lose their jobs.

“I see it less as a threat and more of an opportunity,” the UK-based illustrator Michelle Thompson said, adding, “Like everything else, there will always be artists who can use the tools better.”

These tools are only as good as the data sets they are trained on. Human imagination, on the other hand, has no limit. For Dryhurst, an artist from Germany, AI models “could attempt to make a pale version of something we did years ago”, but that “doesn’t account for what we might do next”.

The kind of artificial intelligence we might imagine replacing artists—an entirely autonomous creative robot—does not yet exist, but it is coming. And as AI becomes more universal, artists, illustrators and designers will ultimately be set apart not by if, but by how, they use the technology.

1. Why does the author mention Lensa in Paragraph 1?

A．To recommend the new App.	B．To inform latest news.
C．To lead in the AI topic.	D．To introduce its new function.

2. What is Michelle Thompson’s attitude towards AI?

A．Concerned.

B．Favorable.

C．Unclear.

D．Critical.

3. What might be a weakness of AI in creating art works?

A．Accuracy.

B．Diversity.

C．Creativity.

D．Efficiency.

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

A．Is AI coming into our daily life?	B．Can AI copy masterpieces of great artists?
C．Shall we welcome new AI technology?	D．Will AI replace artists in the future?

6 . Are you frequently depressed by the feeling that life is leaving you behind particularly when you look over social media sites and are faced with all the exciting things your friends are up to?     1    

FOMO, or Fear of Missing Out refers to the perception that other people’s lives are superior to our own. It appears as a deep sense of envy, and constant exposure to it can have a weakening effect on our self-esteem(自尊).

While feelings of envy and lack of confidence seem to be human nature, social media seems to have added fuel to the fire.    2    Social media, with its built-in appeal, allows us to share only the best presentations of our life, while leaving out the more boring aspects. Although this could be characterized as dishonest, it is the atmosphere social media seems to demand. So how do we avoid being trapped into our own insecurities by social media?

Consider your own social media posts.    3    Well, so have others. And what they’ve left hidden is the fact that boredom, loneliness and unpleasant chores are an unavoidable part of everyone’s life, and you’re not the only one feeling left out.

    4    You may not be a regular at fancy parties or a climber of dizzying peaks, but you have your health, a place to live and real friends who appreciate your presence in their lives.

Learn to shake it off. We are all flooded daily with photos of other people’s perfections, but really, what does it matter?    5    And even if you are more easily affected than others by social media envy, all you need to do is to look around you and acknowledge that you are doing pretty well after all.

A．If so, you are not alone.

B．Value your friends in real life.

C．Learn to appreciate the positives.

D．Why does it have such a stimulating effect?

E．They are probably no more real than the funniest reality TV show.

F．The feeling that we are left out has long-term damaging psychological consequences.

G．Have you ever chosen photos that lead others to the rosiest conclusions about your life?

7 . One Second Every Day

I’ve been in advertising for eight years and used to work a lot of late nights and weekends for numerous projects.     1     One day I watched a talk called “The power of time off”. It’s about how every seven years, the speaker takes a year off from work so he can do his own creative projects.     2     I decided I had to do that. I need to take time to start my own creative ideas.

The first project ends up being something I call “One Second Every Day”. Basically I record one second of every day for the rest of my life, combining these moments into one single continuous video until I can’t record them anymore.     3     There’re many things I have no recollection of unless someone brings them up, and I think, “Oh, that’s something I did.”

    4     On a good day, I’ll have maybe four seconds I want to choose. I’ll just have to narrow them down to one, but even narrow them down to that one allows me to remember the other three anyway.

I don’t use any filters (滤镜), just trying to catch the moment as much as possible as it is. I started a rule of the first person view. Early on, I thought I should have a couple of videos where people would see me, but I realized that wasn’t the way to go.     5    

The project has many possibilities. I encourage you all to record just a small piece of your life every day, so you can never forget that day and treasure every moment.

A．It instantly inspired me.

B．The purpose is to remember what I’ve done.

C．I’m always energetic when doing things I love.

D．People might have different interpretations of it.

E．It’s difficult, sometimes, to pick that one second.

F．But I never had time for one I wanted to work on on my own.

G．The essence of my project should be recording the thing as I actually see it.

9 . Getting older means greater maturity and wisdom.     1     In a society that is aging fast, it has become crucial to find ways to prevent related mental and emotional disorders. Music emerges as a promising tool for promoting well-being of the elderly.

Music has a great power to cause strong emotions and intense pleasure.     2     singing and dancing to music with others is not only fun but also improves mood. Musical activities are great ways to reduce stress because they take our minds off problems. They also help us feel less lonely and more connected with other people.

    3     A song may become a soundtrack for a particular time, such as a delightful party with friends that you had along time ago. Listening to that song allows you to remember all the happy memories from that time.

Finally, music contributes to keeping our thinking skills sharp. It makes our brains work hard in unique ways to understand the rhythm and melody.     4     For example, exposure to background music, particularly classical music, during cognitive (认知的) tasks is shown to improve older people’s cognitive processes, such as processing speed and working memory.

In conclusion, music is a powerful tool to fight against aging-related emotional and cognitive problems. It is an enjoyable and social activity, available to anyone regardless of their background or previous musical experience.     5    

A．Music can also open forgotten doors to our memories.

B．Recalling happy memories can lift our mood on a bad day.

C．Even passive music listening can help elderly adults think better.

D．This helps people feel better when they are depressed or anxious.

E．However, it often involves a series of physical and mental challenges.

F．The ability to form new memories is essential for processing information.

G．Thus, this accessible intervention should become a major policy priority for healthy aging.