1 . While socializing comes naturally for some, it can be a struggle for others. Shyness is a normal, common personality trait (特征).     1    . If you’re often hesitant to engage in social situations, you may interact with those around you in a more comfortable way. We outline four strategies for overcoming shyness in life.

Get Excited About A New Adventure

You may have been shy most of your life.     2    . Working through shyness and developing increased confidence may seem like a discouraging task for you, but viewing the journey as an exciting adventure to parts unknown can be exciting and, in turn, may boost your self-esteem.

Pay Attention To Your Words

    3    . Talking to yourself in a negative way when describing yourself can damage your self-confidence. Consider replacing phrases like “I am shy” with “I am learning to be more comfortable” in social situations. This can go a long way toward moving from shyness to confidence.

Practice Mindfulness (正念)

Mindfulness involves drawing your attention to the present and being aware of your thoughts, feelings, and surroundings.     4    . In one study, participants in a mindfulness program experienced an improved view of their self-worth.

Take Small Steps

Getting started can be the hardest part of learning how to be more social for those who are shy.     5    . You can start out small. Try chatting with the teller at the bank or the person ahead of you in the checkout line. This can help you build confidence and work your way up to more difficult challenges.

A．If so, that’s a part of you that you’re used to

B．Sometimes the best path toward addressing a fear is exposure

C．Mindfulness can help reduce symptoms of social anxiety disorder

D．Taking time to tend to your appearance can make a big difference

E．How we communicate and characterize ourselves can be powerful

F．However, shyness can make it hard for people to connect with others and achieve their goals

G．But engaging with people doesn’t have to be practiced as an important work presentation

2 . Volunteer at the EcoTarium! We simply could not offer the programs and special events that make the EcoTarium a unique resource to our community without our diverse and dedicated corps of volunteers. To be considered for a more specific position, look through the volunteer listings below, and submit an application.

Zoo Ambassador Volunteer

Our zoo ambassador volunteers will assist the Zoology Department to connect with guests through engaging educational experiences about our animal residents. We are looking for volunteers who are passionate about animals and excited to interact with guests of all ages. Volunteers may also complete behavioral studies on numerous animals within the care of the EcoTarium to help enhance the welfare for our animals!

Animal Care Volunteer

Animal care volunteers will aid in all areas of husbandry (农牧业), including feeding, cleaning, record keeping, training animals, and behavioral observations. They will work with a variety of animals under our care, including mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and insects. The position is physically demanding and requires working in all weather conditions.

Education Program Volunteer

Through conversations and hands-on activities, education program volunteers help visitors make meaningful connections to our exhibits, encourage curiosity and scientific inquiry, and challenge visitors to dive deeper into the concepts explored at our museum.

Collections Volunteer

The EcoTarium seeks volunteers who are interested in making a contribution to science by uncovering lost specimens (标本) in the EcoTarium collection! Photograph, measure, and take notes on birds, eggs, seashells, or pressed flowers. This is an excellent position for a high school or college student considering a career in biology or lab science. It is also appropriate for citizen scientists of any age. It offers an opportunity to see examples of rare or extinct plants and animals.

1. What can an animal care volunteer do?

A．Collect lost specimens.

B．Learn to feed and clean animals.

C．Finish some studies on the exhibits.

D．Help elderly visitors interact with animals.

2. Which position most suits a biology major?

A．Collections Volunteer.	B．Animal Care Volunteer.
C．Education Program Volunteer.	D．Zoo Ambassador Volunteer.

3. What is the main purpose of the text?

A．To list the advantages of volunteers.

B．To spread knowledge about volunteers.

C．To train more people to become volunteers.

D．To introduce some positions about volunteers.

3 . Catherine Krestyn furnished (布置家具)her home mainly with hard rubbish, such as the chairs, doors and lamps, which have been collected from the street where she lives. And it’s a way of life she’s sharing with her community in the hope of making a difference.

Catherine leads a 6,000-strong online group called Boroondara Hard Rubbish Rehome, where members upload pictures of their hard rubbish piles for eager locals to find. She started the group in 2022 with her childhood friend Jennie Irving, hoping to build a community of thrift (节俭)where they lived. The pair have stopped more than 7,000 kg of hard rubbish going to landfill since they founded the group.

Some items are ready as they are, like chairs and lamps, and others take a bit of effort to clean up, like the old, wooden doors.

Local teacher Ruth Polgar discovered the group while surfing the Internet and has since decorated her classroom with second-hand items, including artwork she has rehomed from a neighbour. “We regularly take unneeded items from the group and use them for our school projects,” she says.

Running the group can be really challenging for Catherine. But she doesn’t resent those who have to let go of their possessions because of stressful circumstances. “If you’re downsizing or if you’re clearing an old house, quite often you’re desperate for access to easy options,” she says. “Hard rubbish piles are often that option.”

All Catherine wants to do is give her community a way to reduce their waste, and to send a message to those in charge that things need to urgently change.

“The government has big targets around sustainable development leading into 2030. We want to start speeding that up even sooner,” she says. “We’re suffering from our own waste really, so anything that we can all do on a practical level helps. We should first make lifestyle choices and be prepared to go second-hand.”

1. Why did Catherine set up Boroondara Hard Rubbish Rehome?

A．To create a community of thrift.	B．To donate her collection to charity.
C．To collect hard rubbish for locals.	D．To decorate the houses for the homeless.

2. What can we infer about Ruth Polgar?

A．She prefers second-hand items.	B．She buys items on the Internet.
C．She supports Catherine’s cause.	D．She teaches art at a local school.

3. What does the underlined word “resent” in paragraph 5 probably mean?

A．Feel angry about.	B．Feel pleased with.
C．Show sympathy for.	D．Show interest in.

4. What does Catherine advocate in the last paragraph?

A．Setting ourselves a big goal.	B．Giving throwaways a second life.
C．Meeting the government’s requirements.	D．Replacing old furniture regularly.

4 . The philosophy that can help you keep your home organized

How can we clean up our space and keep it that way? That’s a question that Star Hansen thinks a lot about. She’s a professional organizer who teaches classes on home organizing. She believes that keeping your home neat and tidy is a continual process.     1    . Here are her tidying philosophy strategies to clean up your messes.

Understand your chaos

Hansen says everyone’s chaos tells a personal story. What becomes chaos and where your chaos build up can say a lot about what’s going on with you. If you have unwanted piles of stuff around your house, ask yourself: What’s making it hard to throw them away? For example, a uniform that hasn’t fit for years.     2    . When you understand the reasons behind your chaos, it’s a lot easier to know what to keep and what to throw away.

Start small

When it comes to organizing, don’t bite off more than you can chew. If you start with too big a goal, you might get discouraged if the job takes too long. So don’t try to clean your entire garage in one afternoon.     3    . For example, you can tidy your cupboard first and save more complicated items, like your garage, for last. Setting realistic goals can help keep you invested in the process.

    4    

It’s easy to be organized the day after tidying. But what happens when you come home from a trip and are too tired to unpack your luggage? Or when you get the flu and are too sick to clean up? The key to staying organized is to create practices that can be easily maintained. Make a system that works for you even when you’ve got a cold. For example, label storage containers on all four sides so they’re easier to spot.     5     .

A．Make it easy to stay organized

B．Abandon the fancy storage boxes

C．Instead, start with something less challenging

D．Maybe it reveals a longing for your former profession

E．That attitude can help you let go of things you don’t need

F．You have to take the time to create systems that work for you

G．Make sure your most used items are always the easiest to reach

5 . Summer Badminton Camp

Our annual badminton camps are back this June holidays! Come and join us for some fun and action! All camps will be held at the Chestnut Sports Hall. There are a total of 4 fun-filled camps lined up for this amazing holiday. The aim is to allow them to understand and lift their game to the next level or just for recreation, at the same time adding fun elements in training to build a strong interest in the sport.

Camps Available

Beginner: For those who want to learn basic badminton skills. Date: 12 to 14 June 2024 Time: 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. Fees: $80 Ages: 5-8 years old only	Intermediate: For those who know the basics of playing badminton and want to improve their skills further. Date: 15 to 17 June 2024 Time: 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. Fees: $100 Ages: 7-12 years old only
Advanced: For those who want to take up badminton as a competitive sport. Date: 19 to 21 June 2024 Time: 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Fees: $150 Ages: 11-12 years old only	Recreation: For those who want to make new friends while staying active. Date: 12 to 14 June 2024 Time: 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. Fees: $60 Ages: 13-16 years old only

Camp Highlight

Guest Speaker Badminton world champion, Adrian Goh, will address the participants at the start of each camp. He will share invaluable tips and his experience of playing badminton competitively.

Special Camp Present All participants will receive our summer badminton camp sweater and water bottle.

Early Bird Special First 20 participants to register will be given a pair of Yinex badminton bats. For more information, call Mr. Tan at 67892111 or visit our website at www. sbssummer camps. com

1. Which should you sign up for if you want to become a national badminton player?

A．The beginner camp.	B．The advanced camp.
C．The intermediate camp.	D．The recreation camp.

2. Who is Adrian Goh?

A．A summer badminton camper.	B．The badminton camp organizer.
C．A badminton world champion.	D．A sponsor for the summer camp.

3. What is the purpose of the passage?

A．To give away free badminton bats.

B．To promote the special camp bottles.

C．To invite people to attend Mr. Goh’s talk.

D．To encourage people to sign up for the camps.

6 . A physical checkup often begins with a series of questions: What foods do you eat? Do you smoke? Getting any exercise? New research suggests another telling indicator could be added to that list: What was your college major? The study finds one’s chosen field of college study is a statistically significant predictor of health in midlife.

The researchers find the four majors associated with the best midlife health are architecture/engineering, biology/life sciences, business, and—here’s a surprise—communications/journalism. Perhaps chasing after big stories keeps us journalists in shape.

It has long been established that people with more education tend to be healthier. But does one’s major matter? To find out, the researchers analyzed data from the nationally representative American Community Survey.

Their sample consisted of 3.7 million United States-born adults between the ages of 45 and 64—the time of life when physical functioning problems start to appear. Participants noted whether they had difficulty walking or climbing stairs, dressing or bathing. A “yes” answer in any of those categories resulted in a grade of relatively poor health.

The researchers focused on the 667,362 participants who earned a bachelor’s degree, but went no further in their education. They noted each person’s college major, which they placed into one of 15 categories. They found substantial differences in health across majors. Two majors are particularly disadvantaged in midlife. The chances of poor health are 1.9 times greater among psychology /social work and law/public policy majors compared to business majors. The researchers argue this is likely due to several factors. Psychology majors tend to suffer from high unemployment and low earnings. Law/public policy majors often enter the field of law enforcement(执行).

The researchers say that they have discovered associations, not proof of causality(因果关系). But they make a convincing case that some majors lead people to live healthier lifestyles than others.

Their findings might even inspire a warning country song: Mammas, don’t let your babies grow up to be psychology majors.

1. What can be learned from the first two paragraphs?

A．Smoking can lead to poor health.	B．Diet is more important than exercise.
C．Physical checkups keep you healthy.	D．College major chould be added to a checkup.

2. How do researchers draw their conclusions?

A．By doing face-to-face interviews.	B．By following participants’ daily routines.
C．By doing medical examinations.	D．By analyzing the representative data.

3. Which of the following is against midlife health according to the researchers?

A．Engineering.

B．Business.

C．Psychology.

D．Agriculture.

4. What is the best title of the passage?

A．College majors can predict midlife health.

B．More majors in college can improve health.

C．The annual physical exam is necessary to life.

D．People with more education tend to be healthier.

7 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

South Koreans have enjoyed their first close-up look of new baby giant pandas at a name-revealing ceremony that is also     1     early celebration of the 100 days since the twins’ birth.

What to name the twin sisters was widely discussed among netizens after they were born on July 7 in theme park Everland. The names were     2     (ultimate) decided on through two public voting     3     (procedure). One is named Rui Bao, which means wise treasure, and the other is Hui Bao or shining treasure. Half a million panda lovers helped choose their names with a handful of lucky fans     4     (invite) to the ceremony. “They are even     5     (cute) in real life than they appear on screen,” said a college student in attendance.

The baby pandas,     6     have just begun teething and crawling, are very healthy. Everland has shared videos documenting the pandas’ growth online. The twins’ birth has gained 640,000 views since it     7     (upload). “This feels like a great opportunity to call for better     8     (preserve) of pandas,” said Donghee Chung, head of the park’s zoo. Chung noted that between 40% and 50% of panda births result     9     twins.

Everland said it would monitor the twins’ health     10     (determine) when the twins are ready to be open to the public.

8 . Scientists have been experimenting with playing sounds to plants since at least the 1960s, during which time they have been exposed to everything from Beethoven to Michael Jackson. Over the years, evidence that this sort of thing can have an effect has been growing. One paper, published in 2018, claimed that an Asian shrub known as the telegraph plant grew substantially larger leaves when exposed to 56 days of Buddhist music — but not if it was exposed to Western pop music or silence. Another, published last year, found that marigolds and sage plants exposed to the noise of traffic from a busy motorway suffered growth difficulty.

Plants have been evolving (进化) alongside the insects that eat them for hundreds of millions of years. With that in mind, Heidi Appel, a botanist now at the University of Houston, and Reginald Cocroft, a biologist at the University of Missouri, wondered if plants might be sensitive to the sounds made by the animals with which they most often interact. They recorded the vibrations made by certain species of caterpillars (毛毛虫) as they chewed on leaves. These vibrations are not powerful enough to produce sound waves in the air. But they are able to travel across leaves and branches, and even to neighbouring plants if their leaves touch.

They then exposed tobacco plant — the plant biologist’s version of the laboratory mouse — to the recorded vibrations while no caterpillars were actually present. Later, they put real caterpillars on the plants to see if exposure had led them to prepare for an insect attack. The results were striking. Leaves that had been exposed had significantly higher levels of defensive chemicals, making them much harder for the caterpillars to eat. Leaves that had not been exposed to vibrations showed no such response. Other sorts of vibration — caused by the wind, for instance, or other insects that do not eat leaves — had no effect.

“Now speakers with the right audio files are more often being used to warn crops to act when insects are detected but not yet widespread,” says Dr. Cocroft. “Unlike chemical pesticides, sound waves leave no dangerous chemicals.”

1. What can we learn about plants from the first paragraph?

A．They may enjoy Western music.	B．They can’t stand Buddhist music.
C．They can react to different sounds.	D．They can make different sounds.

2. What’s the basis for Appel and Cocroft’s research?

A．Plants can make a cry for help.	B．Plants evolve alongside insects.
C．Plants are sensitive to the sounds.	D．Plants have been studied for years.

3. What can we infer about plants from Paragraph 3?

A．They can recongnize harmful vibrations.	B．They look like laboratory mice.
C．They can threaten the caterpillars.	D．They can release poisonous chemicals.

4. What does the last paragraph mainly talk about?

A．Disadvantages of chemical pesticides.	B．Application of the experimental results.
C．Interaction between plants and insects.	D．Warning system of widespread insects.

9 . Packing up my luggage, I felt a wave of fear. Maybe tomorrow’s flight would be ________ and I didn’t have to go after all — I ________ hoped. It was May 2022, and I’d ________ my job in London to begin a year-long journey around the world.

I loved to travel and had been ________ to visit many countries with friends and family. This time, I’d be travelling alone, which was pretty ________ for a woman with a disability, though I have learnt to ________ life in a wheelchair since I was 7.

Accessibility isn’t much of a(n) ________ in some countries, but my first ________ on my solo trip was Bali. Although I’d ensured my hotel wouldn’t be a problem, I couldn’t ________ any risks.

“If it doesn’t ________, you can always come home.” my parents ________ me. But I wasn’t going to give up without a ________.

In Bali, the hotel where I stayed was ________ by a kind woman who made sure I had ________ to the shower and anything else I needed. With her help, I made it to a mountain ________ and saw most of the island’s sights. As ________, the view from the top was thrilling.

After that, I made the trip up as I went, staying in a country until I got ________ and moved on to the next. Wherever I went, such as Africa and Asia, I was greatly impressed by the ________ of strangers helping me.

________, I’d visited a total of 66 countries on my own by February 2023. Now, I’m fully ________ that a disability doesn’t have to stop a person from getting out there and seeing the world.

1.

A．arranged

B．analysed

C．booked

D．cancelled

2.

A．curiously

B．secretly

C．doubtfully

D．proudly

3.

A．promised

B．proved

C．found

D．quit

4.

A．sensitive

B．nervous

C．fortunate

D．unwilling

5.

A．disappointing

B．frightening

C．embarrassing

D．exciting

6.

A．object to

B．compare to

C．adapt to

D．belong to

7.

A．issue

B．experience

C．demand

D．benefit

8.

A．collection

B．communication

C．assumption

D．destination

9.

A．rid

B．update

C．organize

D．tolerate

10.

A．work out

B．settle down

C．come out

D．break down

11.

A．believed

B．ignored

C．helped

D．comforted

12.

A．strategy

B．reward

C．fight

D．support

13.

A．challenged

B．run

C．damaged

D．suspected

14.

A．access

B．response

C．reference

D．addiction

15.

A．village

B．range

C．peak

D．stream

16.

A．prepared

B．explained

C．required

D．predicted

17.

A．fascinated

B．bored

C．accustomed

D．amused

18.

A．cruelty

B．stubbornness

C．kindness

D．selfishness

19.

A．To start with

B．From then on

C．Now and then

D．Sooner or later

20.

A．convinced

B．guessed

C．worried

D．questioned

10 . Welcome to Musée Rodin

The Musée Rodin, a hidden jewel in Paris, is actually the former residence of famed 19th-century sculptor Auguste Rodin. Here you can enjoy Rodin’s emotive sculptures, including The Walking Man, The Kiss and The Thinker, among many more. In addition to the sculptures, the museum houses 8,000 of the artist’s drawings in its collection — some of those are on display. Visitors will also get to view pieces from Rodin’s personal art collection, including paintings by Van Gogh.

Another big favorite for visitors, as much of a highlight as the art, is the beautiful on-site gardens. To travelers, the gardens create a peaceful atmosphere not found at other top Parisian museums.

Transport

The Musée Rodin is just a short walk from the Varenne stop and Saint-Francois-Xavier stop, both of which lie on Metro Line 13.

Opening times

The museum is open Tuesday through Sunday from 10:00 am to 6:30 pm.

Admission charges

Admission to the museum (including the gardens and permanent and temporary exhibits) costs 13 euros (around $14) per adult and is free for kids who are 17 and younger; audio guides cost an extra 6 euros (about $6). The museum is free to visit on the first Sunday of the month from October to March.

1. What makes Musée Rodin different from other top Parisian museums?

A．On-site gardens.	B．Many sculptures.
C．Personal art collections.	D．Famous artists’ drawings.

2. When can you visit Musée Rodin?

A．At 9:00 am on Monday.	B．At 3:00 pm on Thursday.
C．At 7:00 pm on Friday.	D．At 8:00 am on Sunday.

3. How much should a couple with a kid aged 5 pay to enter the museum on Tuesday?

A．€39.

B．€32.

C．€26.

D．€13.