Studying abroad has become an extremely popular study option amongst university students. While studying abroad is extremely expensive, it exposes students to a wide range of people, cultures and experiences that will reward them later on in their careers. In my opinion, students are far better off studying abroad even though it might be a bit costly.
One of the greatest advantages of studying in a foreign country is that it exposes students to essential life experiences that will develop them professionally, impossible if they have studied only in their own country. Being in another country forces people to pop and come out of their bubble of comfort, opening them to a wide range of opportunities, which can help them advance in their careers. When I went to study in the UK as an eighteen-year-old, I had to push myself out of my comfort zone and become self-reliant, making me much more mentally and emotionally mature. These ultra-challenging experiences are what develops a person.
A negative aspect of studying overseas is that it is extremely expensive. It is not just high university fees that drive up the expenses; it includes stationery and study material expenses, travelling costs, rent, money spent on food, and other different expenses. I had to take an. education loan of 30000 pounds to fund my tuition fees. Moreover, during my stay in the UK. I had to take up a job as a part-time waiter to earn enough to pay my monthly rent and meet a part of my monthly expenses.
An increasing number of students are opting to study overseas. Although studying abroad can make a hole in your pocket, it will test and challenge you mentally and emotionally, helping your overall personal and professional development. In my opinion, long-term professional and personal gains from overseas studies justify every penny spent on it.
1. What’s the author’s opinion towards studying abroad?2. What drives up the expenses of studying abroad?
3. Please decide which part is false in the following statement, then change it and explain why. Studying abroad can make a hole in your pocket and challenge you, so overseas studies are not worth it.
4. Apart from what have been mentioned towards studying abroad, what else do you think of it?(In about 40 words )
2 . As Frans de Waal, a primatologist (灵长动物学家), recognizes, a better way to think about other creatures would be to ask ourselves how different species have developed different kinds of minds to solve different adaptive problems. Surely the important question is not whether animals can do the same things humans can, but how those animals solve the cognitive (认知的) problems they face, like how to imitate the sea floor. Children and some animals are so interesting not because they are smart like us, but because they are smart in ways we haven’t even considered.
Sometimes studying children’s ways of knowing can cast light on adult-human cognition. Children’s pretend play may help us understand our adult taste for fiction. De Waal’s research provides another interesting example. We human beings tend to think that our social relationships are rooted in our perceptions, beliefs, and desires, and our understanding of the perceptions, beliefs, and desires of others — what psychologists call our “theory of mind.” In the 80s and 90s, developmental psychologists showed that pre-schoolers and even infants understand minds apart from their own. But it was hard to show that other animals did the same. “Theory of mind” became a candidate for the special, uniquely human trick.
Yet de Waal’s studies show that chimps (黑猩猩) possess a remarkably developed political intelligence — they are much interested in figuring out social relationships. It turns out, as de Waal describes, that chimps do infer something about what other chimps see. But experimental studies also suggest that this happens only in a competitive political context. The evolutionary anthropologist (人类学家) Brain Hare and his colleagues gave a junior chimp a choice between pieces of food that a dominant chimp had seen hidden and other pieces it had not seen hidden. The junior chimp, who watched all the hiding, stayed away from the food the dominant chimp had seen, but took the food it hadn’t seen.
Anyone who has gone to an academic conference will recognize that we may be in the same situation. We may say that we sign up because we’re eager to find out what other human beings think, but we’re just as interested in who’s on top. Many of the political judgments we make there don’t have much to do with our theory of mind. We may show our respect to a famous professor even if we have no respect for his ideas.
Until recently, however, there wasn’t much research into how humans develop and employ this kind of political knowledge. It may be that we understand the social world in terms of dominance, like chimps, but we’re just not usually as politically motivated as they are. Instead of asking whether we have a better everyday theory of mind, we might wonder whether they have a better everyday theory of politics.
1. According to the first paragraph, which of the following shows that an animal is smart?| A．It can behave like a human kid. |
| B．It can imitate what human beings do. |
| C．It can find a solution to its own problem. |
| D．It can figure out those adaptive problems. |
| A．We talk with infants in a way that they can fully understand. |
| B．We make guesses at what others think while interacting with them. |
| C．We hide our emotions when we try establishing contact with a stranger. |
| D．We try to understand how kids’ pretend play affects our taste for fiction. |
| A．Neither human nor animals display their preference for dominance. |
| B．Animals living in a competitive political context are smarter. |
| C．Both humans and some animals have political intelligence. |
| D．Humans are more interested in who’s on top than animals. |
| A．we know little about how chimps are politically motivated |
| B．our political knowledge doesn’t always determine how we behave |
| C．our theory of mind might enable us to understand our theory of politics |
| D．more research should be conducted to understand animals’ social world |
If you listen to the stream of articles and podcasts telling us how to become a billionaire in 10 easy steps, you might hold the belief that squeezing ourselves dry each second of the day will bring happiness and success.
But this obsession with productivity is costing us. Even a car doesn’t stay in the same gear the whole time. “We are not machines,” says psychologist Professor Drew Dawson. “Performance declines as a function of time, of task and time of day.”
Instead of moments of boredom, where we might let our minds wander and come up with novel solutions to problems and novel ways of thinking, we seek constant stimulation - and have a lowered tolerance for boredom as a result.
“It leads people to a false assumption that the world’s most successful people are literally making good use of every single minute,” Dawson says. “That’s a myth. We’re not hardwired to act that way as humans, and it’s a good recipe for burnout.”
COVID-19, for a variety of reasons, has led people to question and even opt out of this myth. “Who wants to lie on their deathbed going, ‘I wish I’d been more productive’?” Dawson says. “Post-COVID, people are starting to say, ‘what am I losing compared to what am I gaining?’”
So, if not more productivity, what should we be aiming for?
·Get our priorities straight.
A life spent chasing the state of being able to do everything is less meaningful than a life of focusing on a few things that count. We can reflect on five things that matter most to us and lead a life around them. Once clear on them, we also become clear on where to direct our attention and what to say “no” to.
·Enjoy downtime(停工期)for its own sake
Glorifying productivity can blind us to the value of other parts of our lives, including boredom, connection, creativity and play. But activities in our lives don’t need to always be productive or worthwhile-enjoying an activity is reason enough to spend time on it.
We weren’t meant to be productive all the time, so stop constantly struggling, and start chilling.
1. What does “obsession with productivity” refer to in the passage?2. How has COVID-19 changed the situation according to the passage?
3. Please decide which part is false in the following statement, then underline it and explain why.
It is more meaningful to focus on a few things that count in life, so we can reflect on five things in our life to say “no” to. 4. Do you agree with the statement “enjoying an activity is reason enough to spend time on it”? Why or why not?(In about 40 words)
4 . In general, the society is becoming one of giant enterprises directed by a bureaucratic (官僚主义的) management in which man becomes a small, well-oiled cog in the machinery. The oiling is done with higher wages, well-equipped factories and piped music, and by psychologists and “human-relations” experts; yet all this oiling does not change the fact that man has become powerless, that he does not wholeheartedly participate in his work and he is bored with it. In fact, the blue-collar and the white-collar workers have become economic puppets who dance to the tune of automated machines and bureaucratic management.
The worker and employee are anxious, seemingly because they might find themselves out of a job or they would say that they are unable to acquire any real satisfaction or interest in life. In fact, they feel desperate as they live and die without ever having confronted the fundamental realities of human existence as emotionally and intellectually independent and productive human beings.
Those higher up on the social ladder are no less anxious. Their lives are no less empty than those of their subordinates. They are even more insecure in some respects. They are in a highly competitive race. To be promoted or to fall behind is not a matter of salary but even more a matter of self-respect. When they apply for their first job, they are tested for intelligence as well as for the right mixture of submissiveness and independence. From the moment on they are tested again and again by the psychologists, for whom testing is a big business, and by their superiors, who judge their behavior, sociability, capacity to get along, etc. This constant need to prove that one is as good as or better than one’s fellow-competitor creates constant anxiety and stress, the very causes of unhappiness and illness.
Am I suggesting a return to the pre-industrial mode of production or to nineteenth-century “free enterprise” capitalism? Certainly not. Problems are never solved by returning to a stage which one has already outgrown. I suggest transforming the social system from a bureaucratically managed industrialism in which maximal production and consumption are ends in themselves into a humanist industrialism in which man and full development of his potentialities — those of all love and of reason — are the aims of social arrangements. Production and consumption should serve as means to this end, and should be prevented from ruling man.
1. By “a small, well-oiled cog in the machinery”, the author expresses the idea that man is _________.| A．an essential part of society with irreplaceable functions |
| B．expected to work in reasonable harmony with the rest of society |
| C．an unimportant component of society, though functioning smoothly |
| D．responsible for the smooth running of society and business operations |
| A．they are filled with an overwhelming fear of being unemployed |
| B．they don’t have any genuine satisfaction or interest |
| C．they have to face the fundamental realities of human existence |
| D．they lack a sense of independence and productivity |
| A．caution | B．obedience | C．commitment | D．optimism |
| A．To introduce the production mode of our ancestors. |
| B．To show the problematic situation in society. |
| C．To argue for full development of human potentials. |
| D．To help people escape production and consumption. |
5 . High school life, especially in the senior year, is a rollercoaster of emotions filled with challenges and pressures. The constant demand for academic excellence, combined with the expections of college applications, and managing extracurricular (课外的) activities can lead even the best students to feel the weight of stress. However, it’s not only possible but essential to find moments of joy and strategies to reduce the pressure efficiently.
Understanding the nature of stress is the primary step. Stress isn’t just a state of mental unrest; it’s a physiological response.
Interestingly, not all stress is harmful. We often overlook the distinction of different stress. Acute (急性的) stress, in contrast to the chronic (长期的), can act as a force.
However, long exposure to stress leads to chronic stress. This kind of stress, if left unchecked, can cause various health issues ranging from mental health problems like anxiety and depression to physical ailments like high blood pressure and even heart diseases.
To reduce the effects of stress, mindfulness and meditation have proven effective. Even on a busy day, sparing just a few moments to focus on one’s breathing or practicing guided meditation can significantly reduce stress levels.
Pursuing hobbies or activities that one is passionate about can also be a good way. Whether it’s painting, reading, playing a musical instrument, or engaging in sports, these activities not only divert the mind but also release endorphins, the body’s natural mood lifters.
Another aspect is communication.
So, with the weight of expectations, deadlines, and too many responsibilities, remember to prioritize mental well-being.
| A．When channeled correctly, stress can be our friend. |
| B．This response is a swift, automatic sequence designed for survival. |
| C．Prioritizing self-care isn’t a luxury (奢侈品); it’s a necessity. |
| D．Every challenge, it approached with a positive mindset, can be an opportunity for growth. |
| E．Seeding external help or just talking to a friend can be incredibly therapeutic. |
| F．They attach us to the present, clearing the mental disorder and lifting the spirit. |
| G．These parts often provide processes adjusted to individual needs. |
6 . In the annals of human history, few subjects have generated as much excitement, debate, and guess as artificial intelligence (AI). This revolutionary technology, which enables machines to perform tasks that once required human intelligence, has the potential to transform every part of our society, from healthcare and finance to transportation and entertainment.
At its heart, AI is all about data. Massive amounts of data are fed into algorithms that learn from this data, allowing them to make predictions, recognize patterns, and even make decisions. This “machine learning” is the driving force behind many of the AI applications we see today, from virtual assistants like Siri and Alexa to more advanced systems like IBM’s Watson, which can analyze vast amounts of information to assist doctors in diagnosing diseases.
The transformative potential of AI is undeniable. In the medical field, for instance, AI can assist in early detection of diseases, predict patient outcomes, and even suggest treatment options. In finance, algorithms can predict stock market trends, and provide personalized financial advice. In transportation, self-driving cars equipped with AI systems promise to reduce accidents, ease traffic jams, and transform urban landscapes.
However, with great potential comes great responsibility. The rise of AI has caused debates about is ethical implications (道德含义). The machines are only as good as the data they are fed, and there’s a growing concern about biases (偏见) being built into AI systems. For instance, facial recognition technologies, used in everything from unlocking phones to police monitoring cameras, have come under check for misidentifying individuals based on race or gender.
Moreover, the widespread adoption of AI could lead to significant job displacement. While new roles and industries might emerge as a result of AI, it is not sure that these will pay off the jobs lost. This could increase income inequalities and causes difficulties to social systems.
Another major concern is the “black box” nature of AI. Many AI systems operate in ways that even their creators don’t fully understand. This can be problematic, especially in critical applications like healthcare or criminal justice where understanding the logic behind a decision is important.
Then there’s the potential for AI to be weaponized. In the hands of evil actors, AI could be used to spread misinformation, control public opinion, or even engage in internet warfare. The global community must come together to set standards and regulations to prevent such misuse.
On the brighter side, many experts believe that by setting the right frameworks and investing in education and retraining, we can use the power of AI for the greater good. By fostering (促进) a culture of continuous learning and staying abreast (并排的，并肩的) of technological advancements, society can benefit from the promise of AI while avoiding its potential dangers.
In conclusion, artificial intelligence stands as one of the most profound inventions of our time. While it offers vast opportunities, it also poses significant challenges that we, as a society, must welcome. As we stand at this technological crossroads, our choices will determine whether AI serves as a benefit or a harm for humanity.
1. Which of the following best describes the method by which machines acquire the capability to perform tasks that traditionally required human intelligence?| A．By programming predefined rules. |
| B．Through user interactions every day. |
| C．By ingesting and processing vast amounts of data. |
| D．Via regular software updates from developers. |
| A．By citing numerous statistical data. |
| B．By presenting both the positive potential and the challenges of AI. |
| C．Through personal experiences. |
| D．By focusing on the negative effects of AI. |
| A．The Rise of Virtual Assistants: Siri and Alexa |
| B．Understanding the Mechanisms Behind AI Algorithms |
| C．Artificial Intelligence: Charting the Course for Tomorrow’s Tech |
| D．Balancing the Potential and challenges of AI in Modern Society |
| A．AI has already replaced most human jobs and is the leading cause of unemployment. |
| B．The global community has taken measures to prevent AI misuse. |
| C．The operation of many AI systems is easily understood by their creators. |
| D．The solving to the dilemma brought by AI needs collective efforts of our society. |
7 . Think of the words in your head: that tasteless joke you wisely kept to yourself at dinner; your unvoiced impression of your best friend’s new partner. Now imagine that someone could listen in.
Recently, scientists from the University of Texas, have made another step in that direction. In a study published in Neuroscience, the team showed it was possible to read people’s thoughts with a non-invasive brain scanner called fMRI and large language models (LLMs) built with GPT.
The study centered on three subjects, who lay in an fMRI scanner recording their brain activity by detecting changes in blood flow in parts of their brains while they listened to online stories. By integrating this information with the LLMs’ ability to understand how words relate to one another, the researchers developed an encoded (编码的) map of how each individual’s brain responds to different words. Then, the team worked backward. They recorded the fMRI activity while the participants listened to a new story. Using a combination of the patterns previously encoded for each individual and LLMs, the researchers attempted to translate this new brain activity.
While many of the sentences it produced were inaccurate, the decoder generated sentences that got the main idea of what the person was thinking. For instance, when a person heard, “I don’t have my driver’s license yet,” the decoder spat out, “She has not even started to learn to drive yet.” Alex Huth from the university said, “We were shocked and impressed that this worked as well as it does.”
The researchers also found that the technology isn’t one-size-fits-all. Each decoder was quite personalized and worked only for the person whose brain data had helped build it. Additionally, a person had to voluntarily cooperate for the decoder to identify ideas. If a person wasn’t paying attention to an audio story, the decoder couldn’t pick that story up from brain signals.
While the technology was still far from perfect, the result could ultimately lead to seamless devices that help people who can’t talk or otherwise communicate easily. However, the research also raises privacy concerns about unwelcome neural overhearing. The team said the potential of the technology was such that policymakers should proactively address how it can be legally used. Jerry Tang from the team said, “Nobody’s brain should be decoded without their permission. If one day it does become possible to get accurate decoding without a person’s will, we’ll have a regulatory foundation in place.”
1. What is the study mainly about?| A．The working principle of a smart scanner. |
| B．The potential impact of mind-reading GPT. |
| C．The advance in brain-decoding technology. |
| D．The breakthrough in large language models. |
| A．They fed the decoder data on people’s brain activities. |
| B．They employed the scanner to encode people’s thoughts. |
| C．They recorded the fMRI activity to assess thinking ability. |
| D．They used brain activity patterns to read the subjects’ mind. |
| A．The decoder worked as expected. |
| B．The decoder can get the wording right. |
| C．The decoder required willing participation. |
| D．The decoder can be applied to different people. |
| A．Personalize the technology. | B．Establish proper regulations. |
| C．Apply the technology across fields. | D．Break limitations of the technology. |
8 . The need for clarity extends beyond how we communicate science to how we evaluate it. Who can really define stock phrases such as ‘a significant contribution to research’? Or understand what ‘high impact’ or ‘world-class’ mean? Scientists demand that institutions should be clear about their criteria and consider all scholarly outputs—preprints, code, data, peer review, teaching, mentoring and so on.
My view about the practices in research assessment is that most assessment guidelines permit sliding standards: instead of clearly defined terms, they give us feel-good slogans that lack any fixed meaning. Facing the problem will get us much of the way towards a solution.
Broad language increases room for misunderstanding. ‘High impact’ can be code for where research is published. Or it can mean the effect that research has had on its field, or on society locally or globally—often very different things. Yet confusion is the least of the problems. Words such as ‘world-class’ and ‘excellent’ allow assessors to vary comparisons depending on whose work they are assessing. Academia(学术界) cannot be a fair and reasonable system if standards change depending on whom we are evaluating. Unconscious bias(偏见) associated with factors such as a researcher’s gender, ethnic origin and social background helps the academic injustice continue. It was only with double-blind review of research proposals that women finally got fair access to the Hubble Space Telescope.
Many strategies exist to improve fairness in academia, but conceptual clarity is paramount. Being clear about how specific qualities are valued leads assessors to think critically about whether those qualities are truly being considered. Achieving that conceptual clarity requires discussion with faculties, staff and students: hours and hours of it. The University Medical Center Utrecht in the Netherlands, for example, held a series of conversations, each involving 20-60 researchers, and then spent another year revising its research assessment policies to recognize social impacts.
Frank conversations about what is valued in a particular context, or at a specific institution, are an essential first step in developing concrete recommendations. Although ambiguous(模棱两可的) terms, for instance ‘world-class’ and ‘significant’, are a barrier when performing assessments, university administrators have said that they rely on flexible language to make room to reward a variety of contributions. So it makes sense that more specific language in review and promotion must be able to accommodate varied outputs, outcomes and impacts of scholarly work.
Setting specific standards will be tough. It will be inviting to fall back on the misleading standards such as impact factors, or on ambiguous terms that can be agreed to by everyone but applied wisely by no one. It is too early to know what those standards will be or how much they will vary, but the right discussions are starting to happen. They must continue.
1. Regarding the current practices in research assessment, the author is ________.| A．supportive | B．puzzled |
| C．unconcerned | D．disapproving |
| A．Bias on assessors can cause inequality. | B．Frank conversations harm scholarly work. |
| C．Specific qualities need to be clearly stated. | D．Broad language ensures academic fairness. |
| A．primary. | B．recognized. |
| C．optional. | D．accomplished. |
| A．Fix research assessment. Change slogans for clear standards. |
| B．Fix research assessment. Change evaluations for conversations. |
| C．Define research assessment. Change simplicity for specification. |
| D．Define research assessment. Change broad language for flexible one. |
9 . Frozen in time, a 125-million-year-old mammal attacking a dinosaur. A 39-million-year-old whale, the heaviest animal that ever lived. The oldest known jellyfish, from 505 million years ago. Paleontology (古生物学) produces newsworthy discoveries.
Fossils (化石), moreover, provide direct evidence for the long history of life, allowing paleontologists to test hypotheses (假设) about evolution with data only they provide. They allow investigation of present and past life on Earth. Flows of biological diversity, appearances of new life forms and the extinctions of long existing ones, would go undiscovered without these efforts. But the headlines over exciting new fossils greatly underestimate the true importance of paleontology. Its real significance lies in how such discoveries brighten the grand history of life on Earth. From its beginnings, more than three billion years ago, to the present day, fossils record how life adapted or disappeared in the face of major environmental challenges.
Paleontologists provide us with a unique vantage on modern climate change. They play an essential role in interpreting ancient environments, in reconstructing ancient oceans, continents and climates. Fossils provide key limitation on the climate models that are essential for predicting future climate change. And the fossil record gives important insights into how life will respond to predicted future climate conditions, because these have occurred before in Earth’s history.
In addition, paleontology has provided a fundamental contribution to human thought: the reality of species extinction and thus of a world that has dramatically changed over time. In documenting the history of life, paleontologists recognized that many extinction episodes could occur suddenly, such as the event 66 million years ago that ended the dinosaurs. The search for the causes of past mass extinctions started pioneering studies from across the scientific spectrum (科学界), focusing on potential future threats to humanity.
Not only do paleontologists know what happens to life when things go bad, they also know how long it takes for ecosystems and biodiversity to recover from these disasters, which can take far longer than modern humans have existed.
Paleontologists thus provide a unique perspective on the nature and future long-term ecological impact of the current human-produced biodiversity crisis, the so-called Sixth Extinction, and therefore the importance of protecting modern biodiversity. The very concept of a Sixth Extinction would not exist without paleontologists documenting the first five.
Paleontologists know that understanding life’s past is critical to anticipating and adapting to life’s and humanity’s future. Paleontology is important because it brings its unique and critical perspective to current challenges in climate change, biodiversity loss and the environment. Paleontologists can predict the future because they know the past.
1. The first two paragraphs are written to _______.| A．describe an event | B．raise a question |
| C．present an opinion | D．make a comparison |
| A．A positive effect. | B．A valuable suggestion. |
| C．A quick decision. | D．A comprehensive view. |
| A．Ecological recovery takes shorter than imagined. |
| B．Past lessons can help to predict the future threats. |
| C．Paleontologists can handle the biodiversity crisis. |
| D．Fossil studies focus on the causes of mass extinctions. |
| A．Paleontology: A Pioneering Study |
| B．Paleontology: A History Recorder |
| C．Paleontology Tells More About Nature Than Humans |
| D．Paleontology Is Far More Than New Fossil Discoveries |
We’ve all seen the little kids—losing temper in the toy store, screaming in restaurants and generally making a scene in public. For their parents, giving in to a kid’s monstrous behavior helps to end the mess and gain some peace and quiet, and this is where overindulgence begins.
According to Kathy Webb, a psychotherapist in Brunswick, overindulgence is the result of parents’ beliefs. A lot of overindulging parents believe their children should be happy all the time, which is the reason why the parents try to avoid conflict at all costs. They also hold that overindulgence equals love, but experts insist that being overly permissive and indulgent is not a healthy kind of love.
Overindulgence can create a myriad of wrong attitudes and behaviors in children. When overindulged, children develop unrealistic expectations which do not serve them as they grow. Healthy parenting, Webb said, means giving children unconditional love, quality time, healthy discipline and respect for what is appropriate. “Healthy parents promote good values and use everyday life experiences to teach their children,” she said.
Many parents don’t intentionally overindulge, but fail to follow through on consequences. “Consequences help children develop their own self-guidance skills,” Webb said. “Without consequences, children never learn to discipline themselves.”
But parents who have overindulged shouldn’t just throw up their hands and walk away from the situation, feeling like failures. There are steps that can be taken to turn family life around. “All is not lost,” Webb said. “You just have to take it step by step.” Identifying problems and what can be done to correct them are the first steps. This is where parents might want to invest in some counseling or parent coaching and refer to some parenting books.
Such parents should also manage to regain proper parental power. In some families, overindulging parents are acting like peers, not parents. Consistency is also important—children often imitate the behavior they see from their parents. “Say what you mean and mean what you say,” Webb said. It seems that all it takes is one raised eyebrow and a very stern look to stop the misbehaviour. But Webb believes what really grounded her children is their inclusion in the family’s life, not just the fun stuff like vacations and outings. They should also be taught to clean house, cook, and do laundry.
1. What do overindulgent parents believe?2. What is healthy parenting according to Webb?
3. Please decide which part is false in the following statement, then underline it and explain why.
To relieve overindulgence, parents can take certain steps such as acting like kids’ peers and ensuring consistency.
4. Share one parenting method that benefits your growth and explain why.(In about 40 words)
