1 . Economic growth is often considered as a sure way of increasing the well-being of people in low-income countries, and global surveys in recent decades have supported this strategy by showing people in high-income countries tend to report higher levels of life satisfaction than those in low-income countries. This strong connection might suggest that only in rich societies can people be happy. However, a recent study conducted by ICTA-UAB and McGill University in Canada suggests that there may be good reasons to question whether this link is universal.

While most global surveys gather thousands of responses from the citizens of industrial and urban societies, they tend to ignore people in simple-and-tiny societies on the fringe, where social group has a limited number of members and where the exchange of money plays a minimal role in everyday life with natives and local communities depending directly on nature.

The research, published in the scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), consisted of a survey of 2,966 people from local communities in 19 globally distributed sites. Only 64% of surveyed households had any cash income. The results show that “surprisingly, many populations with very low incomes report very high average levels of life satisfaction, with scores similar to those in wealthy countries,” says Eric Galbraith, researcher at ICTA-UAB and McGill University and lead author of the study.

The average life satisfaction score across the studied simple-and-tiny societies was 6.8 on a range of 0-10. Although not all societies reported high satisfaction levels, four of the sites reported average scores higher than 8, despite many of these societies having suffered histories of neglect and control. The results are consistent with the opinion that human societies can support very satisfactory lives for their members without necessarily requiring high degrees of material wealth.

“While the reasons behind these findings remain unclear, the study provides valuable insights into how diverse communities achieve satisfying lives. It offers hope that understanding these factors can help others improve their well-being while addressing sustainability concerns.” Galbraith concludes.

1. What does the research focus on according to the passage?

A．The impact of cash income on locals’ well-being.

B．Income-satisfaction connection in industrial societies.

C．Economic growth’s concerns in low-income countries.

D．Relation between wealth and happiness across societies.

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

A．Edge.

B．Surface.

C．Horizon.

D．Scene.

3. What’s the purpose of the numbers listed in paragraph 3 and paragraph 4?

A．To indicate the research’s limitations.

B．To prove the reliability of the findings.

C．To emphasize high satisfaction scores.

D．To show the number of people surveyed.

4. What is Galbraith’s attitude toward the research?

A．Unconcerned.

B．Unclear.

C．Promising.

D．Critical.

2 . Born in London on 28 November 1772, Luke Howard was interested in the weather from an early age     1     He was instead easily distracted (分心) by the clouds he could see through the window. He started his career as a pharmacist, producing and sending out medicines for people.     2     He soon became an amateur meteorologist (业余气象学者).

In 1802, Howard presented his research in a lecture to the Askesian Society, a club for people who were interested in science. At this point, meteorology hadn't progressed as much as other sciences, because it was difficult to take observations when the weather was always changing. To take his observations, Howard did sketches (草图) of the clouds as they moved and changed in the sky.     3    

Howard suggested that although the shapes of clouds were changing, there were three basic types of clouds in the sky, to which he gave Latin names.     4    . The second was“cumulus”, meaning heap (一堆) or pile. And the third was “stratus”, meaning layer or sheet. He also introduced four other cloud types to recognize the changing clouds when they are joining together or breaking apart. In 1803, he published his research in a paper called “On the Modifications of Clouds”.

After the publication of Howard's research, the field of meteorology continued to develop. Scientists now have a much greater understanding of weather patterns (模式) all around the world.     5     Professor Liz Bentley, Chief Executive of the Royal Meteorological Society, said, “His scientific work helped us understand our climate.”

A．There are now 10 types of clouds.

B．But his true passion was meteorology.

C．But it was Howard's work that started it all.

D．He couldn't stay focused when he was at school.

E．This helped him to recognize the forms we know today.

F．Howard's findings also inspired the artist John Constable.

G．The first was called “cirrus”, which means tendril or hair in Latin.

3 . Chris, a 21-year-old young man from Maitland, Florida, completed an Ironman triathlon (铁人三项). An Ironman ________ a 112 mile cycle, a 2.4-mile swim and a 26.2-mile run. While this is an amazing ________ for any human being, it is especially ________ for Chris Nikic who has Down Syndrome. ________, Chris Nikic did the impossible!

His ________ to this amazing and inspiring accomplishment has been anything but ________. Chris had open-heart surgery when he was just five months old. He needed a ________ when he was three and did not even walk on his own until he was four years old. Throughout his childhood, he and his parents were told that he could not do many things that other kids could do. For years they got ________ to and accepted these limits.

Until in 2017, he sets his ________ on competing in triathlons. His training starts with one pushup as well as an amazing commitment he ________with his dad to get 1% better each day. ________, Chris trained four to eight hours each day for a whole year to prepare for the ________.

Chris’s amazing perseverance (毅力) is an example for not only children with Down Syndrome and other special ________ but to all kids around the world. Chris is now trying to ________ as many people as he can with his story which he is ________ through public speaking, presentations, and a book he is working with his father.

1.

A．stands for

B．takes over

C．consists of

D．calls on

2.

A．enjoyment

B．achievement

C．development

D．improvement

3.

A．strange

B．unique

C．advanced

D．private

4.

A．Preciously

B．Necessarily

C．Temporarily

D．Apparently

5.

A．solution

B．response

C．road

D．secret

6.

A．easy

B．difficult

C．interesting

D．complicated

7.

A．speaker

B．sticker

C．jumper

D．walker

8.

A．accustomed

B．rooted

C．lost

D．engaged

9.

A．luck

B．sights

C．standards

D．pleasure

10.

A．made

B．included

C．met

D．demonstrated

11.

A．Occasionally

B．Suddenly

C．Eventually

D．Casually

12.

A．memory

B．experience

C．story

D．competition

13.

A．skills

B．disabilities

C．movements

D．features

14.

A．promote

B．inquire

C．inspire

D．provide

15.

A．sharing

B．talking

C．writing

D．posting

6 . Few humans have had the opportunity to see Earth from space. And for astronauts living in the International Space Station like Loral O’Hara, that view never gets old. “You know, you see it in photographs, but that doesn’t compare at all to seeing it in person for the first time in 3D,”O’Hara said in a recent interview. “I just saw the ocean and the clouds — this blue and white marble against the blackness of space — and it was one of the most beautiful things I’d ever seen.”

O’Hara is a flight engineer for NASA’s Expedition 70 crew, who launched into space in September 2023. She and her team spent the last six months researching a range of topics: How the human brain and body adapt to microgravity, 3D-printed human heart tissue and how space changes the immune (免疫) systems of plants. One of these investigations is the Complement of Integrated Protocols for Human Exploration Research program, or CIPHER, which is intended to help researchers understand how living in space changes human health and psychology.

On Earth, gravity keeps blood and other fluids relatively low in the body. But when astronauts live in microgravity, these fluids are pushed up towards the heart, which can cause swelling, congestion (淤血) and even vision and hearing changes. Onboard the ISS, O’Hara says astronauts keep tabs on these potential health risks, performing regular eye exams and ultrasounds to collect data. The hope is to use this data not only for microgravity research, but also for research on Earth. For example, researchers know astronauts lose about 1% to 2% of their bone density per month during spaceflight. So, O’Hara and her team are analyzing bone marrow stem cells in order to better understand both this bone loss and normal aging on Earth.

O’Hara says the changes aren’t just physical either. She’s even had new types of dreams since she boarded the ISS last September. She says she often finds herself in small, tight spaces, looking for things on the space station.

1. What does the word “that” underlined in the first paragraph refer to?

A．The blue and white marble.

B．The sight of space in pictures.

C．The chance to see Earth from space.

D．The life in the International Space Station.

2. What does CIPHER aim to do?

A．Test the astronauts’ health conditions.

B．Understand the immune systems of plants.

C．Investigate the human psychological issues.

D．Study the impact of life in space on humans.

3. What can we learn from paragraph 3?

A．Astronauts can suffer hearing changes on Earth.

B．Researchers check their eyes to reduce health risks.

C．Microgravity leads to some physical changes.

D．Bone loss research is welcome among astronauts.

4. Which of the following is the best title for the text?

A．What’s It Like to Live in Space?

B．The Research of Microgravity in Space

C．Do You Dream of Living in Space?

D．An Extraordinary Woman Flight Engineer