1 . Four astronauts headed to the International Space Station (ISS) on Sunday where they will oversee the arrivals of two new rocketships during their half- year stay.
SpaceX’s Falcon rocket was launched from Kennedy Space Center, carrying NASA’s Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt and Jeanette Epps and Russia’s Alexander Grebenkin. The astronauts should reach the orbiting lab on Tuesday. They will replace a crew from the US, Denmark, Japan and Russia, who have been there since August.
“When are you getting here already?” space station commander Andreas Mogensen asked via Twitter, after three days of delay due to high wind. SpaceX Launch Control termed it “fashionably late”. There was almost another postponement Sunday night. A small leak in the seal of the SpaceX capsule’s hatch caused a last- minute flurry (忙乱) of reviews, but it was thought safe for the whole mission.
The new crew’s six- month stay includes the arrival of two rocketships ordered by NASA.Boeing’s new Starliner capsule with test pilots is due in late April. A month or two later, Sierra Space’s Dream Chaser, a mini shuttle, should arrive. It is for delivering supplies to the station, but not passengers yet.
Epps, who is from New York, is the second Black woman assigned to a long station mission. She said before the flight that she was especially proud to be a role model for girls, especially for Black girls, demonstrating that spaceflight “is an option for them, and that this is not just for other people”.
Also new to space are Dominick, a Navy pilot, and Grebenkin, a former Russian military officer. Barratt, a doctor on his third mission, is the oldest full- time astronaut to fly in space. He turns 65 in April. As for his age, he said before the flight, “As long as we stay healthy and fit and engaged, we’re good to fly.”
1. Why were the four astronauts sent to the ISS?A.To train test pilots for Starliner. | B.To monitor the new rocketships. |
C.To deliver supplies to the station. | D.To replace the crew on the station. |
A.The leak in the capsule. | B.Bad weather conditions. |
C.An interview with the media. | D.Repair work on the rocket. |
A.He worked as an officer in the army. | B.He was a full- time astronaut from Russia. |
C.He performed the task for the first time. | D.He was in charge of the space program. |
A.Females are capable of investigating space. |
B.Age is a decisive factor in space tasks. |
C.Her work makes her a role model for girls. |
D.Space technology is a great challenge for girls. |
An exhibition titled “Learn from the Past and Know the Future: China’s Archaeological (考古学的) Achievements in the New Era” is taking place at the National Museum of China. Nearly 400 of the most recently
The exhibits cover a wide range of periods
It is also worth noting that the design of the exhibition hall was inspired by the unique spatial (空间的) structures of the archaeological sites, offering audiences the chance
3 . Going to school on a special day like “Pajama (睡衣) Day” is usually a happy event. But on that morning, the bus driver Larry Farrish noticed that something was very
Actually, he was crying. When Farrish asked Levi what was wrong, Levi told him that he didn’t have the
“ It
Farrish began driving a school bus seven years ago. He
Farrish loves
Since his kind act was posted online, the response has been
A.simple | B.different | C.tough | D.influential |
A.neighbors | B.colleagues | C.customers | D.passengers |
A.confident | B.down | C.satisfied | D.annoyed |
A.plans | B.presents | C.clothes | D.ideas |
A.hurt | B.beat | C.discouraged | D.treated |
A.test | B.challenge | C.assess | D.fix |
A.purchased | B.borrowed | C.ironed | D.ordered |
A.looked up | B.got close | C.headed back | D.gave in |
A.supported | B.consulted | C.improved | D.picked |
A.temporarily | B.quickly | C.regularly | D.suddenly |
A.turning | B.appealing | C.connecting | D.objecting |
A.ignore | B.hug | C.disobey | D.leave |
A.exercise | B.luck | C.joy | D.pressure |
A.hot | B.proper | C.flat | D.typical |
A.concentration | B.impact | C.comment | D.impression |
4 . If you’ve scrolled through your Facebook feed recently, you may have noticed something surprising: lots and lots of short videos.
What makes this “Reels” feature strange is that it is hugely addictive, which I know quite well from my own personal experience. Last Friday, I took a break and hit on one short clip of someone making dinner and, well, the next time I looked up it was 20 minutes later and the blank document on my computer monitor was confirming to me that my work was still not done.
However, as silly as it seems, Reels — is actually super important, and is at the centre of a major battle between the world’s largest tech firms. The format was first pioneered by TikTok—the Chinese-owned video app that has taken the world by storm since it was launched in 2016. Today, TikTok has around 23 million UK users every month — including basically every person you know under the age of 25. And that fact has made Facebook and its parent company, Meta, very nervous indeed. As TikTok has continued to boom, Facebook has actually fallen in popularity among “Gen Z”. The reason Tik Tok has proven such a powerful challenger to Facebook’s social media dominance is almost entirely down to these sorts of short-form videos.
The format is almost perfectly optimized to be as addictive as possible: Tik Tok’s app shows you a short-form video, and if you don’t like it, you can simply swipe it away and another one will start playing instantly. And because it is portrait, not landscape, videos look “right” when viewed on your phone. What’s also smart is that TikTok’s algorithm (算法) picks videos for you based on what you actually watch, and not what you say you want.
Facebook isn’t the only app trying to do what TikTok does so well. Instagram, which is owned by Facebook’s parent company Meta, has integrated Reels even more aggressively into its app. And even Google is nervous, launching its own TikTok-style video section of YouTube (which it owns) a couple of years ago. As things stand, though TikTok currently maintains a healthy lead in the category, both YouTube and Facebook have deep pockets-so expect to see even more Reels and Shorts popping up in your feed as this intense battle continues to rage. You won’t be able to take your eyes off them.
1. What does the author intend to express by referring to his own experience?A.Short videos play a significant role in his life. |
B.People often lose themselves in short videos unconsciously. |
C.Short videos have multiple functions that attract potential users. |
D.The author prefers short clips of people making dinner to others |
A.Because they present breathtaking visual effects. |
B.Because they include high-quality content. |
C.Because users can change from one video to the next effortlessly. |
D.Because users can use an algorithm to choose videos they really want. |
A.Tiktok is regarded as a competitive opponent to Facebook. |
B.Tiktok has attracted 23 million UK users since it was launched in 2016. |
C.Tiktok has lost its attraction among “Gen Z”. |
D.Tiktok’s market share has been falling due to fierce competition. |
A.Many western companies have integrated Tiktok into their own apps. |
B.Tiktok’s leading position in short videos is unchangeable |
C.Big tech companies are competing for more short video users |
D.Highly addictive short video apps should be removed. |
5 . Here’s How to Use Wallpaper
Wallpaper is a powerful design tool that can transform a room. Here are tips to see how it’s done.
Where should the wallpaper go?The first step is figuring out where you’re going to hang the wallpaper. Keep in mind:
Once you’ve settled on a room, your decisions aren’t over. Where exactly in that room should you hang the paper? A typical installation involves covering all four walls.
Measure the walls or ceiling you plan to cover and consider how the width of the roll you’ve chosen will work in the space.
With all the decisions made, it’s time to stick the wallpaper up with glue. You may hire a professional installer, but you can hang the wallpaper yourself. Once the wallpaper is hung, don’t be afraid to hang decorative pictures.
A.Stick it up |
B.It’s not worth fixing the wall |
C.Decorate the room with pictures |
D.Small-scale patterns provide flexibility |
E.Wallpaper isn’t a fix for damaged or uneven walls |
F.Not all rooms are good candidates for wallpapering |
G.Another option is wallpapering the ceiling instead of the walls |
6 . Willful ignorance exists in large amount in daily life. People regularly look the other way rather than examining the consequences of their actions. Despite plenty of scientific evidence for climate change, for instance, many people still avoid engaging with facts about global warming.
We wanted to understand how common willful ignorance is and why people engage in it. After collecting data from multiple research projects that involved more than 6, 000 individuals, we discovered that willful ignorance is common and harmful, with 40 percent of people choosing “not to know” the consequences of their actions to free themselves of guilt while maximizing their own gains. But we also found that about 40 percent of people are unselfish: rather than avoiding information about the consequences of their actions, they seek it out to increase the benefits to others.
In the experiments, the decisions were made in one of two settings. In the transparent (透明的) setting, decision-makers had information about how their choice would affect themselves and their partners. In an ambiguous setting, decision-makers knew how their choice would matter for themselves but not for their teammates — although they could request that insight.
The overall balance tipped toward selfishness when participants had the option to avoid information. Only 39 percent of people in the ambiguous setting made the choice that ultimately benefited their partners — a significant drop from 55 percent in the transparent condition.
If we can avoid putting a strong moral emphasis on decisions, it may make people feel less threatened and, as a result, be less willfully ignorant. Other research groups have found promising ways to do this. For instance, we could encourage people to think more positively about good deeds rather than guilt-trip them for what they have failed to do. Highlighting recent global achievements, such as healing the ozone (臭氧) layer, can inspire people to keep up the good work rather than feeling like the battle is lost and that the situation is hopeless.
In short, we can encourage one another and ourselves toward more selfless and generous actions.
1. What causes people to ignore the effect of their behaviors deliberately?A.They want the biggest personal benefits without feeling ashamed. |
B.They hold the belief that willful ignorance is socially acceptable. |
C.They are unsure about the results of their actions. |
D.They always take others’ benefits into consideration. |
A.People in the ambiguous setting were more aware of the impact of their decisions |
B.More than half of the participants are selfish in the transparent condition. |
C.All people in both settings chose to put their partners’ interests in the first place |
D.Some people still increased the benefits of others although they could avoid information |
A.Highlighting the difficulties of ozone layer healing inspires people to keep up the good work. |
B.Paying less attention to the morality of decisions is helpful to decrease willful ignorance |
C.Having a sense of guilt enables people to take global issues seriously |
D.Stressing the threats of willful ignorance contributes to more selfless and generous actions |
A.Literature | B.Technology | C.Archaeology. | D.Psychology. |