1 . Belonging is important in most cultures. It can give you a sense of purpose. Working alongside people who might be serving an important cause, or being on a championship team, or working together with people who share similar goals, values, or interests makes a person feel important and useful.
Sometimes, though, the belonging aspect can translate to a sense of “us versus them”. It can create a situation where you view someone who is not of your team or group as the enemy and the person to be feared. While this often happens in political contexts, it can also occur in daily life. You might hear the way someone talks, or look at their dress, or learn where they went to school, and depending on your alignment to a certain group you might consider them worthy of your attention, or ignore them because they don't belong where you belong.
The problem with belonging is that sometimes you begin to gain such a sense of purpose from it, that your group is what matters most. In some cases, you may even find ways to separate from others not in your group. The fact is that fundamentally we all belong to the human race. We all have the same make- up and design underneath, with different packaging around us.
When you use belonging to create separation, you are missing out on gifts that others might be able to share. It's one of the most hurtful and judgmental things you can do to someone else: dismissing them out of hand simply because they don't share the views of your group.
Become aware of your desire to belong, and try to be objective about your need for it. Belonging can be a powerful experience, and it can also serve to separate you. You might want to be separated from the people in “that group,” but you end up cutting yourself off from potential gifts and support that may be meaningful to you. Having beliefs and supporting noble causes is certainly important, and simply being part of a group isn’t fundamentally a bad thing; just become watchful about whether it translates into a refusal to accept someone who belongs elsewhere.
1. What does belonging give a person according to paragraph 1?| A．A sense of value. | B．A chance to win. |
| C．The power of culture. | D．The way to fame. |
| A．Restriction. | B．Association. |
| C．Resolution. | D．Contribution. |
| A．The significance of groups. |
| B．The underlying unity of people. |
| C．The characteristics of belonging. |
| D．The attraction of the external world. |
| A．Having a strong desire for it. |
| B．Satisfying your need from it. |
| C．Abandoning it for its likely dangers. |
| D．Balancing it with openness to others. |
| A．7. | B．8. | C．9. |
Ten years ago, I decided I needed to do more than teach leadership. I needed to find a real way for my teenage students to make a difference. We decided to help the homeless. We began by collecting food and clothing for people in need. Just days before our scheduled trip, our local newspaper ran an article about the many organizations helping the homeless along Hastings Street, an area known as Canada’s poorest neighborhood. We realized that the homeless there were already receiving plenty of food and clothing, so we decided to look for a more significant way to make a difference.
Rather than handing out food and clothing, we developed what we call Project HELLO (Helping Everyone Locate Loved Ones), and we made greeting cards so that the homeless had something to give. The idea was simple: We would take our blank, handmade greeting cards to the streets and invite people to write to those they had lost touch with
Magic began. One by one, people who had not spoken with family for years opened up and shared their stories. The homeless wrote to their children, parents, friends and siblings. We searched phone directories to connect with families and mailed messages of love from long-lost loved ones. We made hundreds of connections. I recognized that some of the stories were so raw that our five-minute visits were not enough. I began what I call “Beyond HELLO” and made the personal commitment to take a homeless person to lunch once a month to hear his or her story.
Cindy was the first lady I met. She had moved to Vancouver twenty years earlier after ending a miserable marriage and giving her child up for adoption in Ontario. She suffered great pan as she was battling cancer. On the day we met, she was sitting on the sidewalk. I approached her with water and she told me she was starving. With a smile, I invited her to lunch, during which our friendship began.
Despite Cindy’s pain, she hung onto hope — her one reason for living. Although twenty-seven years had passed, Cindy still dreamed of meeting her daughter. She asked for my help. She knew the date of birth and that her daughter’s birth name was Paige.
注意：1.续写词数应为150左右：2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
With determination in my heart, I promised Cindy that I would do everything in my power to help her reconnect with her daughter.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________The day of their re union was one of the most moving moments of my life.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________4 . We never stop learning. The most important skill I
It can be easy to get so used to your routine that you don’t
When I first came to college, I was
It wasn’t until my junior year that I really started setting time aside to explore things that were
Routines are important, yes, but don’t forget: it’s not the routine that
| A．made up | B．picked up | C．put off | D．held back |
| A．meanings | B．purposes | C．disadvantages | D．solutions |
| A．realize | B．ensure | C．desire | D．admit |
| A．service | B．play | C．explanation | D．advance |
| A．explore | B．lose | C．further | D．obtain |
| A．business | B．goal | C．lifestyle | D．organization |
| A．demonstrated | B．ordered | C．observed | D．told |
| A．bring down | B．focus on | C．get across | D．take away |
| A．simple | B．same | C．best | D．helpful |
| A．care | B．talk | C．bring | D．forget |
| A．chances | B．holidays | C．movies | D．lectures |
| A．affordable | B．effective | C．fascinating | D．scientific |
| A．difference | B．balance | C．connection | D．match |
| A．certain | B．significant | C．regular | D．new |
| A．defines | B．destroys | C．risks | D．saves |
5 . Imagine this. You need an image of a balloon for a work presentation and turn to an AI text- to- image generator to create a suitable image. You enter the prompt (提示词) “red balloon against a blue sky” but the generator return s an image of an egg instead.
What’s going on? The generator you’re using may have been “poisoned”. What does this mean? Text- to- image generators work by being trained on large datasets that include millions or billions of images. Some of the generators have been trained by indiscriminately scraping online images, many of which may be under copyright. This has led to many copyright infringement (侵害) cases where artists have accused big tech companies of stealing and profiting from their work.
This is also where the idea of “poison” comes in. Researchers who want to empower individual artists have recently created a tool named “Nightshade” to fight back against unauthorised image scraping. The tool works by slightly altering an image’s pixels (像素) in a way that confuses the computer vision system but leaves the image unaltered to a human’s eyes. If an organization then scrapes one of these images to train a future AI model, its data pool becomes “poisoned”. This can result in mistaken learning, which makes the generator return unintended results. As in our earlier example, a balloon might become an egg.
The higher the number of “poisoned” images in the training data, the greater the impact. Because of how generative AI works, the damage from “poisoned” images also affects related prompt keywords.
Possibly, tools like Nightshade can be abused by some users to intentionally upload “poisoned” images in order to confuse AI generators. But the Nightshade’s developer hopes the tool will make big tech companies more respectful of copyright. It does challenge a common belief among computer scientists that data found online can be used for any purpose they see fit.
Human rights activists, for example, have been concerned for some time about the indiscriminate use of machine vision in wider society. This concern is particularly serious concerning facial recognition. There is a clear connection between facial recognition cases and data poisoning, as both relate to larger questions around technological governance. It may be better to see data poisoning as an innovative solution to the denial of some fundamental human rights.
1. The underlined word “scraping” (para. 2) is closest in meaning to ______.| A．facilitating | B．collecting | C．damaging | D．polishing |
| A．increase the accuracy of returned information |
| B．lead users to forget the prompt key words |
| C．cause trouble to with the training of generative AI |
| D．discriminate against great masterpieces |
| A．Data poisoning is somehow justified to direct attention to human rights. |
| B．Computer scientists has learned to respect the copyright of most artists. |
| C．Nightshade is being abused by human rights activists to recognize faces. |
| D．The issue of technological governance has aroused the lawyers’ interest, |
| A．Data Poisoning: Government Empowering Citizens to Protect Themselves |
| B．Data Poisoning: Addressing Facial Recognition Issues Among Artists |
| C．Data Poisoning: Risks and Rewards of Generative AI Data Training |
| D．Data Poisoning: Restricting Innovation or Empowering Artists |
Every day in the evening after I have finished my homework, I will go out for a walk in the small park near my home and play some outdoor games with other children sometimes, but the outdoor activity that I did for the first time was something different and it had a great influence on me.
It was in the middle of last summer holiday, when I noticed that some of the people were gathering in the center of the park and they all had bicycles with them. They were dressed like professional cyclists and were discussing something excitedly. That day I was with one of my neighborhood friends and we went out with our bicycles. My friend and I went closer to the group and heard that they were members of a bicycling group, who did the cycling as part of their outdoor exercise.
After staying with them for a while, we found that they were planning to cycle around the city in 4 hours. The team leader, a friendly man in his fifties, kindly invited us to join them just when we were about to leave. They made us members of their group. Carrying small flags of various colors, we together started the cycling ride around the city, starting from the park and went through the major parts of the whole city. To be honest, cycling for the whole 3 — 4 hours was not an easy task, especially for us teenagers who were still in high school. And yet we enjoyed it and we managed to keep close to the group who gave us courage the whole time.
After a few hours, we came back to the park where we started and I found that I was totally absorbed and tired. As we sat down to catch our breath, the team leader approached us with a warm smile. He praised our determination and will, noting that we had done exceptionally well as first-timers. His encouragement made us feel proud and motivated.
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。
Inspired by the experience, my friend and I wanted to join the group regularly.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Over time, cycling has become more than just an exercise for us.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Rain, an 88-year-old woman, was a regular at a restaurant and all the staff loved her. She was a ray of sunshine and always had a kind word for her server.
Rain didn’t always visit the restaurant alone. She and her husband had eaten at the restaurant when it opened and became regulars. It was the venue of their 30th wedding anniversary too and they danced till late into the night. Unfortunately, her husband took ill about a year later and died. It was a terrible time for Rain. Their son and daughter were working and settled in New Zealand, who wanted Rain to come and live with them so that they could take care of her. However, Rain refused because she loved her hometown very much. But she was so sad because of the passing of her husband. Gradually, she didn’t want any visitors, nor did she go out.
After Sampson, the owner of the restaurant, learnt what happened to Rain, he personally wrote a letter to Rain inviting her to his restaurant for free meals every day and designated waiter Robert to serve her specifically. It was the encouragement she needed to get past her sorrow. Though it wasn’t easy, Rain took a brave step. As she sat at the table by the window, Sampson sat with her and told her that though busy since he was investing in a big project, he assured, “I`ll be always with you because I’ve known you for over 30 years.” Rain was deeply moved. It was a great evening and the beginning of a new chapter in her life.
Then one day, Rain received a call from the hospital. It was the test result she had a week earlier. She went to the hospital quickly, where the doctor informed Rain that she had blood cancer. She asked how serious it was and how long she had. The doctor told Rain it was in the final stages and she had between 6 months to 1 year left.
注意:(1)续写词数应为 150 左右;
(2)请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
After Rain’s visit to the hospital, she went straight to the restaurant.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Hearing Robert’s words about Sampson’s terrible situation, Rain took out a pen and a piece of paper.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Jon’s Pajama Problem
Oh no, he had done it again. He’d forgotten something important. Last year on their family trip to his uncle’s cottage for Christmas, he had forgotten the bag with the toiletries (洗漱用品) in it. Neither he nor his brother had toothbrushes or toothpaste or shampoo. He’d had to borrow from his cousins who were not thrilled to share, and Jon was not too thrilled that his hair smelled like strawberries all week.
The year before, Jon had left the marshmallows and graham crackers at home, so they had no s’ mores for the evening fire and annual reading of “The Night Before Christmas”. They had to nibble on (小口咬) some stale (不新鲜的) crackers instead. His cousins still teased him about that.
And now, Jon couldn’t believe he had forgotten to pack his pajamas. At home, that wouldn’t really be a problem: he had extra pajamas. But at the cottage, there were photographs dating back for years and years of Jon’s family on Christmas morning in front of the tree in their pajamas. Jon was feeling awful. He would be the first one to break the family tradition ever. Would he ruin Christmas for everyone? What could he do?
He didn’t want to tell his parents. He went looking around the cottage, and found an old T- shirt. That could work. He tried putting it on, but it was too small. He tried to stretch it, but it must have been washed 100 times, and it ripped when he pulled on it.
At this point, Jon was getting desperate. He snuck into his brother’s luggage, trying to find some spare pajamas, only to find himself in trouble when his older brother caught him and yelled. His brother hated it when Jon messed with his stuff.
注意：1.续写词数应为150左右；
2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Then his brother told their parents.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Then came the next morning. Jon’s mother said. “Before we take the Christmas photo, I have a special gift for someone.”
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________1. How many plays did Pinter write for the theatre?
| A．27. | B．28. | C．29. |
| A．At the Lyric Theatre. | B．At the Arts Theatre. | C．At the Cambridge Theatre. |
| A．A piano player. | B．A novelist. | C．An actor. |
| A．50 years old. | B．62 years old. | C．78 years old. |
10 . Sometimes, it’s good to be bored
“I am dying of boredom,” complains the young wife Yelena in Chekhov’s 1897 play Uncle Vanya. Of course, if Yelena were around today, we know what she would do: pull out her smartphone and find something fun. Today it is easy to get rid of boredom.
That is the finding of two fascinating recent studies. In one, researchers asked subjects to do something boring, like copying out numbers from a phone book, and then take tests of creative thinkings. The result?
“An restless mind hungers for stimulation, so boredom becomes a seeking state,” says Sandi Mann, the psychologist at the University of Central Lancashire. “
The problem, the researchers worry, is that these days we don’t struggle to overcome these slow moments. “
| A．And there is, of course, bad boredom. |
| B．Bored subjects came up with more creative ideas. |
| C．But what if boredom is a meaningful experience? |
| D．These moments are a lot more valuable than expected. |
| E．Actually, tips on getting away from boredom are countless. |
| F．We try to kill every moment of boredom with mobile devices. |
| G．When not satisfied with your state, you’re seeking and engaged. |
