1 . While it might seem like a basic skill to us, self-recognition is an indication that an animal is capable of higher mental processes. It’s most commonly tested using mirrors. Many animals will react to their reflection as though it is another individual, but some are able to recognize that what they’re seeing is themselves.
A few years ago, a team of scientists investigated whether a fish species called cleaner wrasse (清洁隆头鱼) could pass the mirror test. They marked the fish with what looked like a parasite on their throats, and placed a mirror in the tank. Many of the animals saw the mark in their reflections and erased it off their throats, indicating they realized they were looking at themselves.
In a new study, the researchers took it one step further — they wanted to check whether the fish could recognize themselves in a photograph. They presented each cleaner wrasse with four photos: one of themselves, one of an unfamiliar fish, one with their own face on a different fish’s body, and one with an unfamiliar face on their own body.
Cleaner wrasses always attack intruders (侵入者). In this case, they attacked the photos of unfamiliar fish but not the photos of themselves. They also didn’t attack the photos of their face on another body but did attack those of a stranger’s face on their own body, indicating the fish discern facial features more than bodily ones. These photo tests show that the fish aren’t just recognizing themselves by matching movements in a mirror. They can actually build a mental model of their own faces. After all, only fish that had been trained on mirrors could pass the photo tests.
“This study is the first to indicate that fish have an inner sense of self,” said Masanori Kohda. “Since the target animal is a fish, this finding suggests that nearly all social vertebrates (脊椎动物) also have this higher sense of self.”
1. What is the purpose of the new study?| A．To find if all fishes have an inner sense of self. |
| B．To find if the fish species could pass the mirror test. |
| C．To see whether the fish could identify themselves in a picture. |
| D．To see whether all social vertebrates have an internal sense of self. |
| A．Recognize. | B．Attack. | C．Show. | D．Build. |
| A．By analyzing data. | B．By presenting facts. |
| C．By conducting questionnaires. | D．By making comparisons. |
| A．What kind of fish has self-recognition? |
| B．A research on the self-recognition of the fish. |
| C．The fish capable of higher mental processes. |
| D．Does all social vertebrates have self-recognition? |
The snowstorm was supposed to hit the evening of Monday. I had to leave my home to go to First Nations University, to sign a financial aid check for a student. As the finance director, I wanted to get it to him quickly, despite the approaching snowstorm. Little did I know that this decision would lead me to an unexpected meeting with André Bouvier aged 75 and his wife.
I figured I had enough time to make the trip safely. When I arrived at the office, my colleague cosigned the check and left. As I packed up, I noticed he had left his laptop bag in my office. I called him and offered to bring it to him. even though it was already late afternoon. To avoid the potentially dangerous road conditions on the highway. I decided to take the country roads to his home. On the way, I stopped to buy a cellphone charger, filled up my SUV with gas, and picked up pizzas. It took me about 15 minutes to drop off the laptop case at my colleague’s house.
As I got back on the road, the snow started falling heavily. Within minutes, I was in a whiteout (乳白天空) . The snowstorm came down fast, the wind screaming. The windows were fogging up and getting covered with snow, so I opened the driver’s side window to better see the road’s edge. However, I became disoriented (迷失方向) and unsure of my location. Fearful of driving into a farmer’s field, a ditch, or worse, I decided to stop.
I kept the car running to stay warm and called 911. The dispatcher (调度员) advised me to wait until morning for assistance due to the dangerous conditions. Those seconds after the call were extremely painful. Getting out to walk in a whiteout with zero visibility (能见度) and high winds—when I didn’t even know where I was—wasn’t an option. Breathe, I told myself. Panicking won’t help.
It was now about 6 p.m. and dark, and I worried about the visibility of my black SUV in the whiteout. Feeling helpless, I shared my location on Google Maps and posted a screenshot of where I was on Facebook, seeking help from anyone familiar with the area. Soon enough, people started to respond.
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。
At 8 p.m., my cellphone rang.
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His wife, Maryann Bouvier, treated me to hot drinks and apple jam.
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3 . People who lost their loved ones know how precious it is to safeguard their memories. Beaton’s
Talking about how
Rob Evans, the executive director of engineering at Virgin Media, said finding Ruby’s message was like “
Evans called Beaton to
| A．daughter | B．sister | C．wife | D．cousin |
| A．radio | B．recording | C．television | D．phone |
| A．copy | B．repair | C．remember | D．keep |
| A．fix up | B．set up | C．build up | D．clear up |
| A．voicemail | B．name | C．information | D．photo |
| A．surprising | B．normal | C．important | D．practical |
| A．confused | B．powerful | C．low | D．frightened |
| A．carelessly | B．sadly | C．nervously | D．casually |
| A．affected | B．touched | C．amazed | D．puzzled |
| A．paying | B．asking | C．searching | D．allowing |
| A．slim | B．accessible | C．numerous | D．flexible |
| A．cut | B．pass | C．bring | D．track |
| A．repeat | B．deliver | C．record | D．design |
| A．liberation | B．absence | C．promotion | D．death |
| A．disappointment | B．joy | C．anger | D．fear |
4 . Your family may have special traditions, particularly during this time of year as the holidays approach. Whether making cookies or watching a favorite holiday movie, these traditions can help you feel closer to the people you love. You can enjoy established traditions or create new ones together.
Consider current traditions.
Think about the traditions your family already has, then write them down. For example, shared traditions might be going to a favorite ice cream stand on vacation every summer or making a cherished family recipe.
Next, gather the thoughts you and your family may have for brand-new traditions. Add those ideas to your list. For instance, you could discuss making a special once-a-year outing, like going to a nice restaurant. Traditions can also be super simple. For example, on Thanksgiving Day, you could volunteer at a soup kitchen to serve others. Also consider beginning new food traditions.
Get your relatives on board.
Create a keepsake (纪念品).
Celebrating traditions is a great way to create family memories that last forever.
| A．Brainstorm new ideas. |
| B．Here’s how to get started. |
| C．Experience the joy of family gatherings. |
| D．Try to contact as many distant relatives as possible. |
| E．Consider taking photos while you’re spending time together. |
| F．Many families have members who love to organize and bring everyone together. |
| G．Ask older adults in your family what traditions they remember participating in as children. |
5 . In an amusing atmosphere at a historical palace in the Sayeda Zeinab neighborhood of the Egyptian capital Cairo, a large audience of different ages interacted lively during an Aragoz show, the traditional Egyptian hand puppet (木偶) performance. The three-day event was meant to shed light on Aragoz as a unique art performance, give people a chance to see the beauty of puppet shows, and save the art that faces the danger of extinction.
Aragoz is a classic form of Egyptian theater art using traditional hand puppetry. During the performances, puppeteers remain hidden inside a small portable (便携式的) stage while an assistant interacts with the puppets and the crowd. It takes its name from the main puppet, whose unique voice is created with a voice modifier (修改器). Performers and the audience interact throughout the show, which creates a comic and entertaining atmosphere, and practitioners must be skilled in controlling the puppets.
The art used to be presented by traveling performers, who moved from one folk celebration to another. However, as these performances began to decline (衰退), performers and their assistants settled permanently (永久地) in fixed places. The number of surviving practitioners has decreased, while many of those who once-performed stories have now disappeared. Many people see the need of protecting the Aragoz shows, explaining that it’s not only an important traditional cultural heritage in the country, but also serves to entertain the public, especially the children.
“The audiences were enjoying our shows. Many of them only saw Aragoz on TV and in movies, while those who saw live Aragoz performances recalled childhood memories,” said Bahgat, a professor of theater at Helwan University. “We are now in the era of technology and direct communication has become limited, so I see that we have an opportunity to spread this art again because virtual social media could not make up for the human need to watch such live shows,” he stressed.
1. Why does the author refer to the three-day performance?| A．To tell a story. | B．To introduce the topic. |
| C．To highlight an opinion. | D．To explain an argument. |
| A．They create the puppet’s unique voice. |
| B．They interact directly with the audience. |
| C．They perform without being observed by the audience. |
| D．They must be skilled in interacting throughout the show. |
| A．The disappearance of many performers. |
| B．The decline in popularity of the performances. |
| C．The need to preserve traditional cultural heritage. |
| D．An increase in the number of surviving practitioners. |
| A．Optimistic. | B．Negative. | C．Unconcerned. | D．Doubtful. |
6 . November 14, 2021 was a perfect day for skydiving: sunny, with little wind. I was a greenhand solo jumper; I’d done 14 jumps, not enough to be licensed. It scared me, but fear always makes you a better risk taker, right? That’s what drew me to skydiving.
It took about 40 minutes to drive from my home to the hangar (飞机库) near Suffolk. I went up in the plane with a group of 15 for a jump at 1:30 pm. The mood on the plane was light—lots of joking, lots of laughing. My coach and I jumped. After 30 seconds, at around 5,500 feet, we tracked away from each other because we need lots of empty space to safely pull our parachute (降落伞). I looked at my altimeter (高度表) and realized I was lower than I’d thought. The ground was coming up so fast! I knew I had to pull the parachute at roughly 4,000 feet, but in my rush to pull my parachute I hadn’t taken time to balance. The parachute was pulling my right leg up, while the main parachute remained in its bag.
“Just get it off”, I told myself calmly. With the ground rapidly coming into focus below me, I prepared to crash. The two parachutes began pulling in opposite directions, causing me to accelerate hard and fast toward the ground. When I crashed, my body felt like it was on fire. I tried to get up, but I couldn’t move anything below my waist. I lay with my face buried in the grass, fully conscious, for about half an hour before the first two rescuers arrived by ambulance. My injuries were serious: an injured ankle, broken leg and a spinal injury.
In February 2022, three months after the crash, I walked again for the first time and several months after that, I was able to climb to Everest base camp, and I plan to skydive again.
1. Why was the author drawn to skydiving?| A．To get a license. | B．To have a good mood. |
| C．To be a better risk taker. | D．To pull the parachute. |
| A．The author didn’t pull the parachute timely. |
| B．The atmosphere before the jump was tense. |
| C．The author took much time to balance his body. |
| D．Skydiving requires little empty space to pull the parachute. |
| A．Adventurous and calm. | B．Cautious and fearless. |
| C．Independent and serious. | D．Strong-willed and humorous. |
| A．An injury caused by an adventure. | B．An experience of pulling a parachute. |
| C．An adventure of skydiving from Everest. | D．A survival from a parachute breakdown. |
7 . No doubt you’ve heard of Plato and Socrates, but what about these lot? Here are four influential Greek intellectuals that you should know about.
Strabo (c.63 BC—c.AD 25)
Strabo was a lively and sociable geographer who wrote a survey of ancient Mediterranean (地中海). It took him 40 years and is the longest Greek text to survive. It proved fascinating for those who rediscovered it in the Renaissance. Strabo believed that the central Mediterranean had the ideal climate with the result that its people were the most civilized!
Plutarch (c. AD 46—after 119)
Plutarch was a historian and philosopher from a landed family in Boeotia, central Greece. His most famous work was The Parallel Lives which compared one Roman to a Greek equivalent, so the Roman speaker Cicero was discussed alongside the Greek speaker Demosthenes. The Parallel Lives is full of accounts from sources now lost and was greatly influential in later ages.
Ptolemy (c.AD 100—c.170)
Claudius Ptolemy was the genius who composed the most sophisticated (复杂的) ancient paper on astronomy, the Almagest. Despite placing the Earth at the centre of the universe, he gave explanations of the motion (运动) of the planets. Ptolemy also composed a geography which could be used to create fairly accurate maps of the Mediterranean and Asia.
Galen (AD 139—216)
The most famous doctor of the ancient world, Galen studied medicine as well as philosophy and was noted for using logic in his careful observation of his patients. He often achieved cures when other doctors had failed. Many of his works survived which gave him an authority lasting until the 19th century.
1. Who surveyed the ancient Mediterranean?| A．Ptolemy. | B．Plutarch. | C．Strabo. | D．Galen. |
| A．They were historians. | B．They studied philosophy. |
| C．They were skilled doctors. | D．They specialized in logical reasoning. |
| A．He was a composer of genius. | B．He composed The Parallel Lives. |
| C．He spent 40 years writing the longest text. | D．He accounted for the movements of the planets. |
8 . Pamela Malhotra has always attached great importance to education. However, life always seemed to “get in the way” every time she tried to finish her bachelor’s degree. The single mom was so devoted to working to support her two children that she repeatedly put her own education goals on hold, giving up her college program on two separate occasions over the years.
When he was just five years old, her son Bonifacio Malhotra noticed her struggling to get her degree, and he made a promise to help her. “I remember I just told my mom … one day, it’s gonna be you and me,” Bonifacio said. “We’re going to gain our degrees at the same time.” Those words proved to be prophetic for the mom-and-son duo, who currently walked across the stage at the university to collect their bachelor’s degrees together!
“That promise, he never allowed it to die,” said Pamela. “He continuously confirmed that we’re gonna do this.” Their path to graduation wasn’t easy, but Bonifacio stayed true to his promise and helped his mother along the way. The two hold two associate’s degrees each, so in the fall of 2021 they registered together in bachelor-level online courses. They both found the classes challenging, but Bonifacio stepped up as the cheerleader his mother needed. “Mom, you’ve got to keep it going. I know you want to stop. We must keep going,” Bonifacio recalled. “The main thing was just trying to get everything lined up and stay on top of all the work.”
It took the Malhotras two years to finish their bachelor’s degrees, hers in humanities and Bonifacio’s in public safety administration. Pamela plans to stay at her job as a coordinator, and Bonifacio has accepted a job at university to help other students succeed in college, too.
Pamela said she was incredibly proud of her son’s achievement, and she personally couldn’t have reached her lifelong goal without the support of her family, especially him. “Between my son and my daughter, they were my greatest supporter,” Pamela proudly said.
1. What does the underlined word “prophetic” in Paragraph 2 probably mean?| A．Professional. | B．Particular. | C．Precious. | D．Predictable. |
| A．They took online courses at the same time. |
| B．Pamela thought the courses were more challenging. |
| C．Bonifacio majored in humanities at university. |
| D．Pamela now works as a university teacher. |
| A．He’s the good man of the house. | B．He’s a man of all work. |
| C．He’s a man among men. | D．He’s a man of his word. |
| A．We Value the Time Being with Families |
| B．Families Help Each Other |
| C．The Home Is Our Heaven |
| D．Each Family Has Its Own Problems |
9 . In the digital age, we are becoming accustomed to technological innovations, and the fact that they can have a deep impact on our lives.
The number of the smartphone adult users has reached 85 percent in the UK population. Meanwhile streaming and 5G tech are changing the way we watch movies, TV shows and sports events. But Artificial Intelligence(AI) is probably the biggest game-changer of them all. The biggest impacts have nothing to do with robots or even digital assistants like Google Home. Here are two real-world applications of AI that are already changing our world for the better
One is better medical diagnose. If you had some illness, would you want to be diagnosed by a doctor or a machine? You’d probably say the former, but in reality, the question is not that simple. Today, human expertise and AI work side by side to make faster, better diagnoses. Think of it this way—a doctor can spend an hour reading six or seven cases while AI can do six or seven thousand in seconds and then present the doctor with a range of possible medical conditions along with their related probabilities.
The other is reducing fraud( 欺 诈 ) . Fraud against big businesses seems nothing to do with us. In fact, it often ends up affecting us all, especially when insurance companies, for example, are forced to increase the premium( 保 费 ) to cover losses. AI is being used more and more in insurtech, both to speed up the claim( 索 赔 ) process and to mark possibly fraudulent claims more reliably. It does this by analysing big data trends. Faster processing and reduced fraud are good news for everyone, and that can save money for us.
1. What has affected the way of our lives most?| A．Reading books. | B．Digital assistants. |
| C．Smart robots. | D．Artificial Intelligence. |
| A．Professional knowledge | B．Interesting hobbies |
| C．Medical conditions | D．Scientific research |
| A．AI can benefit us a lot. |
| B．AI can help us earn money. |
| C．AI makes the claim process slow. |
| D．AI makes us increase the premium. |
| A．How AI Is Reducing Fraud in Our Live. |
| B．How AI Is Touching All Our Lives for the Better. |
| C．What Advantages AI Is Bringing to Medical Diagnose. |
| D．In What Aspects AI Is Changing the Way of Entertainment. |
10 . I have a confession(坦白)to make: I’m a recovering addict. I was addicted to YouTube. The
My first experience was on the
As the months went by, I subscribed to (订阅) many
At some point though, I got annoyed by these artistic and seemingly perfect lives, which started to annoy me while forcing
Regardless of my growing anxiety, I
I gradually realized that I had a full and happy life, which
| A．annual | B．negative | C．earnest | D．precious |
| A．congratulation | B．recollection | C．recommendation | D．solution |
| A．staring at | B．pointing at | C．aiming at | D．tearing at |
| A．fruitless | B．changeless | C．tireless | D．endless |
| A．policy | B．advice | C．tradition | D．procedure |
| A．journals | B．theories | C．channels | D．patterns |
| A．offerings | B．blessings | C．savings | D．outings |
| A．agreements | B．bonds | C．associations | D．comparisons |
| A．requested | B．continued | C．intended | D．declared |
| A．limitless | B．wide-ranging | C．spare | D．eye-catching |
| A．hate | B．harm | C．break | D．confirm |
| A．rescued | B．suited | C．survived | D．favored |
| A．making | B．leaving | C．watching | D．hearing |
| A．increased | B．kept | C．ignored | D．limited |
| A．promoted | B．decorated | C．inspired | D．replaced |
