1 . An Ellenton man just turned 93 years old, and decided it was time for him to go to the beach—for the first time.
Howard Fisher has been living in Florida for 20 years, but never went into the Gulf waters. For his birthday, he finally decided to see what the hype was all about it. On Sunday, he took a trip to Anna Maria Island with the help of his daughter, Sandra.
“I guess he never went to the beach because he wasn’t motivated at the time!” she told FOX 13. “By the time he decided to go, he was 93—and needed my help.”
He told her, “Sandra, isn’t it amusing? I have lived here for 20 years and never once went to the ocean. Now, I think I might like to, but I can’t.”
Sandra responded, “Yes, you can, Dad. I will make sure of it.”
Sandra, who lives in Alabama, visited her father for his birthday, and decided to help his beach wish come true. They got a beach wheelchair, which is loaned out to visitors from noon to 4 p.m. every day, she explained, at Anna Maria Island Beach Café. Those wheelchairs are provided by Manatee County.
Sandra had to document the big day. In her photos, Howard is seen with a big smile, as he relaxed and swam in the calm, green waters.
She said he was mesmerized, as he floated on his back, gazed up above him, and took in his surroundings.
“Look, I float just like a cork,” he said. “Isn’t this great? Look at that sky and those clouds.”
1. Why did Sandra’s father never go into the Gulf waters?| A．Because he was afraid of water. |
| B．Because he was too occupied to go there. |
| C．Because he couldn’t find anyone to help him. |
| D．Because he had no interest. |
| A．Funny. | B．Sorrowful. |
| C．Joyful. | D．Unimaginable. |
| A．They bought one. | B．They borrowed one. |
| C．Visitors lent one to them. | D．Manatee County made one for them. |
| A．A Daughter Took Her 93-year-old Father to Swim in the Sea |
| B．A Daughter Gave Her Father a Big Surprise for His 93rd Birthday |
| C．A 93-year-old Man from Florida Went to Beach for the First Time |
| D．A 93-year-old Man from Florida Regretted Not Having Swum in the Sea |
When I started karate (空手道) class a few years ago, I didn’t know a single person. I felt ashamed of having no idea how to do any of the moves. Even though I liked the learning part, I did not like the feeling-worse-than-everyone part!
But one day after class while I was putting my shoes on, a girl named Abigail said, “That last kick we practiced is so hard for me, and you’re so good at it.”
“You must have confused me with someone else,” I replied. “I’m not good at any of it.”
“In that case, I’m in trouble,” she joked, “because you’re the one I stand behind and copy in class.”
I laughed, “Seriously?”
“Seriously!” she laughed, too. After that, we became great friends. However, a few months later when Abigail’s mom got a job in a different state and she had to move away, I was rather sad. I had a tough time dragging myself to karate for a while after that I missed Abigail so much.
Then, a girl named Ava joined my class. She was always quiet. Until one day we finally had a conversation.
“It must be weird (怪异的) being the new one in class.” I said.
“So weird!” said Ava. “You do things really differently than we did at my old dojo (柔道馆).”
I suddenly realized she’d been silent only because she was new. We started talking more, and we got along so well that we started hanging out after class. Then, almost a year later, guess who showed up at karate.
“This is so cool.” I said, giving Abigail a huge hug. “What are you doing here?”
“My mom’s job in New York didn’t work out,” she explained. “So we got to move back.”
“That’s the best news ever!” I said. “You have to meet my dear friend Ava. And Ava, meet my dear friend Abigail.”
I put my arms around their shoulders. Feeling very excited, I told them I hoped we could get along well and be close friends, while Abigail and Ava stared at each other with some hesitation and an uncertain smile.
注意：
1. 续写词数应为150词左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Things seemed all right at first.
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One day, I simply could not take it anymore.
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3 . Human rubbish can be a cockatoo’s treasure. In Sydney, the birds have learned how to open dustbins and throw rubbish around in the streets as they hunt for leftovers. People are now fighting back.
When cockatoos learn how to open dustbin lids, people change their behavior, using things like bricks to weigh down lids (盖子), to protect their trash from being thrown about. That’s usually a low-level protection and then the cockatoos figure out how to defeat that. That’s when people strengthen their efforts, and the cycle continues.
Tricks such as attempting to scare the parrots off with rubber snakes don’t work very well. Nor does blocking access with heavy objects such as bricks; cockatoos use force to push them off. Hanging weights from the front of the lid or placing items such as sneakers and sticks through a bin’s back handles work better. Researchers didn’t see any birds get inside bins with these higher levels of protection.
The findings suggest an arms race, but the missing piece is how the birds will respond as people try new ways of blocking bins. Some survey responses suggest that the parrots are learning.
Cockatoos may stay away from strategies that take too long to beat. Bricks, for instance, are easy to quickly push off a bin; breaking sticks placed through the bin’s back handle could take more time. Perhaps if enough people in a neighborhood adopt a highly effective method, Clark, a behavioral ecologist says, the cockatoos may not find it worth it to stop by.
1. Why are bricks used in the battle against cockatoos?| A．To increase the weight of the lids. | B．To hit the birds when necessary. |
| C．To reduce the size of the rubbish. | D．To keep the dustbin balanced. |
| A．Using rubber snakes to frighten the parrots. | B．Blocking access with objects like bricks. |
| C．Hanging weights from the back of the lid. | D．Placing sticks through a bin’s back handles. |
| A．They are in danger of extinction. | B．They are the strongest parrots. |
| C．They are clever and adaptable. | D．They are good at finding treasure. |
| A．People are defeated by cockatoos in the battle. | B．People should work together to win the battle. |
| C．People and cockatoos should live in harmony. | D．People had better adopt all the cockatoos. |
1. How does the man like Avatar 2?
| A．Disappointing. | B．Average. | C．Impressive. |
| A．The plot. | B．The characters. | C．The special effects. |
| A．Compare the two movies. |
| B．Appreciate Avatar 2 again. |
| C．Explain his love for Avatar 1. |
5 . “You need to sign this,” my son Joe informed me. “What is it?” I asked. Rolling his eyes with a sense of impatience, Joe replied,“ Your permission. And it’s due tomorrow!”
I learned that Joe’s sixth-grade class would be taking a field trip to the state capital. “That sounds like fun,” I said.“ I’ve always wanted to go there.” “You can’t come!” Joe answered. Puzzled, I asked. “Why not?” “Because you always come on field trips!”
Of course，I always joined his class on field trips. Being a chaperone(监护人)on a field trip is one of the advantages that comes with being a mom, a vacation day in a career that offers few opportunities for a change of scenery. “You don’t want me to be a chaperone?” “Give someone else’s mom a chance,” he suggested. What was surprising was how much I minded being so impolitely removed from the short list of willing chaperones by my own son.
When Joe was in kindergarten, his class planned a pretend trip to Norway. The day before the trip, Joe woke up not feeling well.
After learning that he didn’t have a fever, I asked, “You don’t want to miss getting ready for the trip to Norway, do you?” “I guess not,” he said.
But when I picked him up at the end of the day, the teacher whispered, “Joe got a little upset today.” “What happened?” “He doesn’t want to go to Norway without you.” So that was what had been bothering my 5-year-old.He thought his class was really flying to Norway on their wooden chairs in their paper airplane. He believed those passports and tickets he and his classmates had been making were the real deal.
Preadolescence fell upon my family as my husband and I found ourselves preparing for our son’s upcoming teen years with the same trepidation as someone about to climb an ice-covered mountain wearing high heels.
Joe needed to take a field trip without me accompanying him. And I needed to let him. I’m glad he doesn’t need me all the time.
1. What did the author really mind?| A．The additional responsibilities as a mom. |
| B．Being asked by her son to sign a permission. |
| C．Having missed the chance to visit the state capital. |
| D．Being denied rudely by her son as a chaperone. |
| A．His going to Norway without his mom. |
| B．The occurrence of his fever on the journey. |
| C．His fear of the paper airplane’s crashing down. |
| D．The loss of his passport and ticket. |
| A．Excitement. |
| B．Nervousness. |
| C．Expectation. |
| D．Determination. |
| A．He hated being controlled by parents. |
| B．He was longing for his parents’ love. |
| C．He was becoming less dependent. |
| D．He was unwilling to obey rules. |
6 . The curb cut (下斜路缘). It’s a convenience that most of us rarely, if ever, notice. Yet, without it, daily life might be a lot harder—in more ways than one. Pushing a baby stroller onto the curb, skateboarding onto a sidewalk or taking a full grocery cart from the sidewalk to your car—all these tasks are easier because of the curb cut.
But it was created with a different purpose in mind.
It’s hard to imagine today, but back in the 1970s, most sidewalks in the United States ended with a sharp drop-off. That was a big deal for people in wheelchairs because there were no ramps (斜坡) to help them move along city blocks without assistance. According to one disability rights leader, a six-inch curb “might as well have been Mount Everest”. So, activists from Berkeley, California, who also needed wheelchairs, organized a campaign to create tiny ramps at intersections to help people dependent on wheels move up and down curbs independently.
I think about the “curb cut effect” a lot when working on issues around health equity (公平). The first time I even heard about the curb cut was in a 2017 Stanford Social Innovation Review piece by PolicyLink CEO Angela Blackwell. Blackwell rightly noted that many people see equity “as a zero-sum game.” Basically, that there is a “prejudiced societal suspicion that intentionally supporting one group hurts another.” What the curb cut effect shows though, Blackwell said, is that “when society creates the circumstances that allow those who have been left behind to participate and contribute fully, everyone wins.”
There are multiple examples of this principle at work. For example, investing in policies that create more living-wage jobs or increase the availability of affordable housing certainly benefits people in communities that have limited options. But, the action also empowers those people with opportunities for better health and the means to become contributing members of society—and that benefits everyone. Even the football huddle (围成一团以秘密商讨) was initially created to help deaf football players at Gallaudet College keep their game plans secret from opponents who could have read their sign language. Today, it’s used by every team to shield the opponent from learning about game-winning strategies.
So, next time you cross the street, or roll your suitcase through a crosswalk or ride your bike directly onto a sidewalk—think about how much the curb cut, that change in design that broke down walls of exclusion for one group of people at a disadvantage, has helped not just that group, but all of us.
1. By “might as well have been Mount Everest” (paragraph 3), the disability rights leader implies that a six-inch curb may become ________.| A．as famous as the world’s highest mountain |
| B．an almost impassable barrier |
| C．a connection between people |
| D．a most unforgettable matter |
| A．it’s fair to give the disadvantaged more help than others |
| B．it’s impossible to have everyone be treated equally |
| C．it’s necessary to go all out to help the disabled |
| D．it’s not worthwhile to promote health equity |
| A．Spaceflight designs are applied to life on earth. |
| B．Four great inventions of China spread to the west. |
| C．Christopher Columbus discovered the new world. |
| D．Classic literature got translated into many languages. |
| A．Everyday items are originally invented for people with disabilities. |
| B．Everyone in a society should pursue what is in his or her interest. |
| C．A disability rights leader changed the life of his fellow men. |
| D．Caring for disadvantaged groups may finally benefit all. |
7 . Gentle sound stimulation, also known as pink noise, may significantly enhance deep sleep in older adults and improve their ability to recall words, a new study has found.
Deep sleep is critical for memory consolidation. However, beginning in middle age, deep sleep decreases substantially, which scientists believe contributes to memory loss in aging. The sound stimulation significantly enhanced deep sleep in participants and their scores on a memory test. “This is an innovative, simple and safe non-medication approach that may help improve brain health,” said Phyllis Zee, professor at Northwestern University in the US. “This is a potential tool for enhancing memory in older populations and attenuating normal age-related memory decline,” said Zee.
Zee and a team of researchers gathered 13 adults, 60 and older, and monitored their sleep in a lab for two nights. On both nights, the participants took a memory test, went to bed while wearing headphones and a special cap, and took another memory test in the morning. But without the participants’ awareness, researchers only played pink noise into the headphones on one night. More specifically, they timed the sounds to match the participants’ slow-wave oscillations. During deep sleep, brain waves slow to about one oscillation per second, compared to about ten oscillations per second during wakefulness. The system they employed in the study allowed the team to deliver a low burst of pink noise at the “precise moment” when the participants’ slow waves rose — a pattern that is unique to each person.
The study found that participants’ slow waves increased after the night of sound stimulation, suggesting that they were getting more deep sleep. And on the morning after hearing pink noise, they performed three times better on memory tests than they did after sleeping without any sound stimulation.
Previous research showed pink noise during deep sleep could improve memory consolidation in young people. But it has not been tested in older adults. The new study targeted older individuals and used a novel sound system that increased the effectiveness of the sound stimulation in older populations.
The study was a relatively small one, so further research is needed to confirm its findings and to study how longer-term use of pink noise affects sleep. But Northwestern has taken steps to patent the researchers’ technology, which seems to have hit upon a way to stimulate slow waves at the right moment. The team hopes to develop an affordable device that people can use at home, from the comfort of their beds.
1. The new study mainly reveals that _____.| A．deep sleep consolidates old adults’ memory |
| B．pink noise boosts memory among the elderly |
| C．sleep disorders play a key role in memory loss |
| D．sound stimulation increases the length of sleep |
| A．worsening | B．reversing | C．slowing down | D．bringing about |
| A．It employed a sound system programmed in step with brain waves. |
| B．It compared the effects on older adults and on younger populations. |
| C．It repeated the experiment several times without the participants’ notice. |
| D．It adjusted the participants’ slow-wave oscillations to match the stimulations. |
| A．may put old adults in risk in the long run |
| B．has the potential to be applied in practice |
| C．requires an innovative and affordable device |
| D．needs Northwestern’s patent for confirmation |
8 . ChatGPT, designed by OpenAI to carry on conversations just like humans, has become a viral excitement. The AI-powered tool went from zero to a million users in just five days! Its ability to provide in-depth answers to user questions has even drawn the attention of distinguished technology companies.
The intelligent robot understands what the user says or types and then responds in a way that makes sense. Its vast body of knowledge has been gathered from the internet and archived books. It is further trained by humans. This makes ChatGPT a useful tool for researching almost any topic.
“We have a lot of information on the internet, but you normally have to Google it, then read it and then do something with it,” says Ricardo, chief science officer and co-founder of AI company Erudit. “Now you’ll have this resource that can process the whole internet and all of the information it contains for you to answer your question.”
ChatGPT cannot think on its own. It depends on the information that it has been trained on. As a result, the AI tool works well for things that have accurate data available. However, when unsure, ChatGPT can get creative and flow out incorrect responses. OpenAI cautions users to check the information no matter how logical it sounds. Also, ChatGPT has only been trained with information till 2021. Hence, it cannot be relied upon for anything that happened after that.
Experts believe ChatGPT has limitless potential to solve real-world problems. It can translate long texts into different languages, create content on almost any topic, and even summarize books.
However, ChatGPT has received mixed reactions from educators. Some believe it could serve as a valuable tool to help build literacy skills in the classroom. It could also be used to teach students difficult science or math concepts. But other educators think ChatGPT will encourage students to cheat. They fear this will prevent them from building critical thinking and problem-solving skills. As a result, many districts are starting to ban its use in schools.
1. What is the unique feature of ChatGPT?| A．It has artificial intelligence. | B．It can answer users’ questions. |
| C．It has the largest number of users. | D．It can engage in meaningful conversations. |
| A．Its capability of information processing. | B．Its accurate information. |
| C．Its availability of up-to-date data. | D．Its vast body of questions. |
| A．ChatGPT is unable to think itself. | B．ChatGPT lacks creativity. |
| C．ChatGPT offers illogical information. | D．ChatGPT is not properly trained. |
| A．Favorable. | B．Disapproving. | C．Objective. | D．Intolerant. |
9 . When reading, my mother likes to slice a paragraph or a sentence out and attach it to the wall of her kitchen. She picks boring sentences that puzzle me. But I prefer copying favorite bright lines into a journal in soft, gray No. 2 pencil, word by word.
She doesn’t know any of this. There's nothing shocking: for our chatting. we seldom begin certain conversations though we talk on the phone weekly, sometimes making each other laugh so hard that I choke and she cries. But what we don't say could fill up rooms. Fights with my father. Small failures in school. Anything that really upsets us.
My mother has never told me “I love you, Lisa.”—as if the four-word absence explains who I am—so I carry it with me, like a label on me. The last time she almost spoke the words was two years ago, when she called to tell me a friend had been in hospital. I said, “I love you, Mom.” She stopped for a while and then said, “Thank you.” I haven't said it since, but I've wondered why my mother doesn't until I've found a poem that supplies words for the blank spaces I try to understand in our conversations:
Don’t fill up on bread. I say absent-mindedly. The servings here are huge.
My son, middle-aged, says: Did you really just say that to me?
What he doesn’t know is that when we’re walking together, I desire to reach for his hand.
It's humble, yet heartbreaking. After copying it down in my journal, I emailed it to mom, adding “This poem makes me think of you.” My mother doesn’t read poetry—or at least, she doesn’t tell me, and I felt nervous clicking “Send”.
She never mentioned the poem. But the next time I went home for vacation, I noticed something new in the kitchen fixed to an antique board: the poem. The board hung above the heater, the warmest spot in the kitchen. The poem still hangs there. Neither my mother nor I have ever spoken about it.
1. What's the function of paragraph 1?| A．To stress the theme. | B．To establish the setting. |
| C．To represent the characters. | D．To create the atmosphere. |
| A．Shaky. | B．Distant. | C．Reserved. | D．Intense. |
| A．It reminded her of mom's love. |
| B．She wanted to apologize to mom. |
| C．It suited mom's taste of literature. |
| D．She needed an interpretation from mom. |
| A．A memory of golden days. |
| B．Daughter’s gratefulness to her. |
| C．A decoration in the plain kitchen. |
| D．Daughter's understanding of her. |
10 . It’s no secret that some of the world’s best ski resorts (胜地) are found within Switzerland’s outstanding mountains. Here are some of them.
Grindelwald—Wengen
If you’re looking for a Swiss postcard ski experience, then Grindelwald is the place for you. The beautiful North Face of the Eiger towers over this pretty mountain village, which has a long history of mountain climbing and skiing. Its main ski area can be skied on the same lift ticket! There’s no better way to get up the mountain here than by train.
Opening Date: Nov. 26, 2022 Closing Date: Apr. 16, 2023
Flims Laax Falera
What pulls in skiers and snowboarders from all over the world to Flims Laax Falera are the world-class terrain (地形) parks. There’s no denying this ski resort is a big hit with freestylers, but there’s also plenty to attract skiers.
Opening Date: Nov. 28, 2022 Closing Date: Apr. 26, 2023
Engelberg
Engelberg is a rising star for a range of good reasons, but the highlight is the massive free-ride potential. The secret is most definitely out as the town fills up every year with Scandinavians in search of their dry light snow.
Opening Date: Oct.15, 2022 Closing Date: May 21, 2023
Zermatt
Zermatt is the best of Switzerland’s ski resorts. This is your resort if you have the money to afford it! Fantastic restaurants are seen all over the mountain, serving Swiss cheese hotpot and other cooking masterpieces.
Opening Date: Nov. 26, 2022 Closing Date: Apr. 30, 2023
1. Which ski resort do you choose if you enjoy mountain villages?| A．Grindelwald-Wengen. | B．Flims Laax Falera. |
| C．Engelberg. | D．Zermatt. |
| A．Its beautiful secenry. | B．Its pleasant weather. |
| C．Its terrain parks. | D．Its free admission. |
| A．Transportation. | B．Security. |
| C．Price. | D．Location. |
