1 . It seems that the era of fancy, well-known restaurants has ended as people are now more interested in finding which hole-in-the-wall restaurant (苍蝇小馆) has the best food. Nowadays, it’s more fulfilling to post hole-in-the-wall restaurants you have found on Xiaohongshu and be asked for addresses in the comment section.
Hole-in-the-wall restaurants are small restaurants that are not highly decorated but have many delicious local dishes. Though they have long served as the “canteen” of their surrounding neighborhoods, these hole-in-the-wall restaurants have gradually retreated from the busy streets as more high-rise structures are built.
Now, hole-in-the-wall restaurants are often found in the corners of small lanes and alleys in different parts of a city and the most popular ones usually have a history of more than 10 years and are run as family businesses.
Many hole-in-the-wall restaurant lovers desire a more natural lifestyle, with some viewing their dining habits as a protest against consumerism. A native of Wuhan surnamed Tian, appreciates that these humble diners cook food with care. In contrast, some internet-famous restaurants only use pre-made food or simply stir-fry their dishes, she complained. This results in the foods having similar tastes.
A university student surnamed Zhou, tried a hole-in-the-wall restaurant with her boyfriend after friends recommended it to her. She ordered three dishes, which only cost 64 yuan. “The food tastes good, and it’s cheap,” she said.
Still, there are risks for both owners and fans of hole-in-the-wall restaurants. Zou Zhiping, a professor at Hubei University of Economics, said that due to limitations in funds and management as well as lack of food safety awareness, there could be hygiene and food security issues at these locations.
To solve these problems, Zou suggested that the government provide training and more support for these restaurants. These restaurants should also improve their quality of service.
1. What is the author’s attitude to the hole-in-the-wall restaurants?| A．Approving. | B．Dismissive. | C．Neutral. | D．Indifferent. |
| A．They are often run as family businesses in the back lanes and alleys. |
| B．Pre-made food or simply stir-fried dishes are highly recommended there. |
| C．Customers can appreciate a natural and overdecorated lifestyle there. |
| D．Delicious and costly local specialities are served in those humble diners. |
| A．Limitations in funds. | B．Imperfect management. |
| C．Off-the-map locations. | D．Lack of safety awareness. |
| A．Economy. | B．Cuisine. | C．Security. | D．Management. |
2 . Besides getting out into nature yourself, the next best thing — especially in the cold, dark winter — is to take it all in through the pages of a book. But where to start? Check out our natural history book recommendations from China and beyond below!
My First Summer in the Sierra by John Muir, US/UK
In the summer of 1869, John Muir, joined a group of shepherds in the foothills of California’s Sierra Nevada mountain. During the months, he kept a diary while following a flock of sheep, painting a glorious picture of idyllic forests and majestic mountain peaks. His rich perspective and enthusiasm inspired thousands of Americans to visit the area, which later became the famous Yosemite National Park.
Living as a Naturalist by Liu Huajie, China
Natural history might seem to tackle from a theoretical perspective, but Living as a Naturalist makes it accessible and attractive. Liu uses flowers and plants as an entry point and gives readers practical examples of how we can engage with natural history in our daily lives. With a humorous and engaging writing style, not only does the book interpret ancient Chinese educational and philosophical ideas, but it also introduces key figures in the West’s approach to the subject.
The Peregrine by J.A. Baker, UK
In 1965, John A. Baker gave up his work and lived on his earnings, devoting all his time to his “obsession” — the peregrine falcon. Like the bird itself, Baker has a keen eye for detail, and his book is “full of the drama of the everyday”, especially their most exciting moments, like fast flying and hunting prey. He pours his heart and soul into his descriptions, transforming his narrative into poetry. In doing so, he entices (吸引) the reader to become fascinated by the smallest of details in things like bird flight and cloud formation.
1. Whose book eventually helped establish a national park?| A．Yosemite’s. | B．John Muir’s. | C．Liu Huajie’s. | D．J.A. Baker’s. |
| A．It helps tackle the subject from a more theoretical perspective. |
| B．It offers readers a practical and daily angle to understand nature. |
| C．It interprets natural history from an ancient way of the West. |
| D．It applies an attractive way to feature some eastern key figures. |
| A．My First Summer in the Sierra | B．Living as a Naturalist |
| C．The Peregrine | D．None of the above. |
3 . Shakespeare described sleep as “the main course in life’s feast, and the most nourishing”. New research suggests it may also be a key nutrient in defend us against Alzheimer’s disease.
Poor sleep has long been linked to Alzheimer’s, but the relationship is similar to the chicken-and-egg puzzle. It isn’t clear which came first. During deep sleep, the brain produces slow electrical waves and flushes out neurotoxins (神经毒素) including amyloid (淀粉样蛋白) and tau (微管蛋白) , two indicators of the disease.
Studies have shown that even one night of terrible deep sleep can lead to an increase of amyloid. A week of disrupted sleep can raise the amount of tau, which is especially insidious because over time it can strangle neurons from the inside out.
A study in the Annals of Neurology found that a sleep pill called suvorexant could reduce amyloid and tau in middle-aged adults with no cognitive problems. The two-night trial showed that amyloid dropped 10%to 20%, and a key form of tau 10%to 15%in people who received a high dose compared to a placebo (安慰剂) group. But these effects need to be studied over longer periods of time—including in older adults at higher risk of Alzheimers. But the study suggests that improving sleep quality among middle-aged adults could help reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer’s later in life.
What has puzzled neurologists, however, is that some people with high levels of amyloid who may appear to have Alzheimer’s based on brain scans nonetheless function normally. Neurologists assume that this is because some people have higher levels of “cognitive reserve.” which enables them to function normally despite neurological damage. But there’s another X factor, which scientists have struggled to identify. A new study suggests it may be sleep, and in particular deep sleep.
“Think of deep sleep almost like a life raft that keeps memory afloat, rather than memory getting dragged down by the weight of Alzheimer’s disease,” says Matthew Walker, a neuroscience professor at UC Berkeley.
1. What is the relationship between sleep and Alzheimer’s disease according to the new research?| A．Inadequate sleep will indicate Alzheimer’s disease. |
| B．The disease may be prevented if we can sleep well. |
| C．Neurotoxins produced during sleep cause the disease. |
| D．A good sleep will raise the indicators of the disease. |
| A．It’s too early to use the sleeping pill to treat Alzheimer’s. |
| B．It’s advisable that adults turn to suvorexant to sleep well. |
| C．Suvorexant is a desirable pill to improve our sleep quality. |
| D．The amount of Amyloid and tau decreased due to placebo. |
| A．Researchers’ great confusion about the high levels of amyloid. |
| B．Low level cognitive reserve resulting in abnormal brain function. |
| C．Potential determinants related to the possibility of Alzheimer’s. |
| D．Neurologists’ assumption about our brain function and damage. |
| A．To advocate a healthy lifestyle among adults. |
| B．To emphasize the significance of sleep quality. |
| C．To demonstrate the crucial role of our memory. |
| D．To detail the damage brought by Alzheimer’s. |
Students looking forward to
The program will begin holding courses in September 2024. As the UK’s first postgraduate program in magic,
Emily Selove, the leader of the program, said that as yet there
The goal of the program is to help students develop skills such as creative and
“This course will allow people to re-examine the
5 . The sun’s “sneeze” arrived as predicted! Chin’s National Center for Space Weather (NCSW) forecast geomagnetic activities to occur from March 24 to 26. According to monitoring data, Earth experienced a geomagnetic storm that lasted for 12 hours on March 25.
Geomagnetic storms happen due to coronal mass ejections (CMES，日冕物质抛射) during which some material from the sun’s outer layer makes its way to Earth. They can shoot out a huge amount of material and carry a strong magnetic field, which causes major changes in Earth’s magnetic environment.
“Geomagnetic storms can disrupt radio waves and cause problems for ground communication and satellite signals,” Professor Cai Zheng from Tsinghua University said. This can influence the accuracy of navigation systems and the quality of signals for phones and satellite TV. Strong geomagnetic storms can also impact power transmission systems, even resulting in power outages.
To ease off the effects of geomagnetic storms, it’s recommended to power off unnecessary electronic devices, especially high-powered ones, to prevent damage or fire. Critical equipment and infrastructure also require special protective measures, including regular checks and data backups.
Intense geomagnetic activity can also affect the migration and navigation abilities of animals, for instance, homing pigeons. Geomagnetic storms can affect their ability to find their way, making it difficult for them to return home.
Despite these disruptions, what about the impact of such storms on humans? Shortly after the recent geomagnetic storm, some internet users claimed that they had trouble sleeping. However, it was just a convenient excuse. “Geomagnetic storms usually don’t influence human health,” said Zong Weiguo at China Meteorological Administration.
Not only do geomagnetic storms have minimal impact on humans, they also deliver an unexpected gift—auroras (极光). During such a storm, charged particles from the sun are guided by Earth’s magnetic field into the atmosphere. When these particles hit atoms in the upper atmosphere, they release energy, causing the glowing lights known as auroras. In the early morning of March 25, auroras appeared in Genhe in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region and Mohe in Heilongjiang.
1. What causes geomagnetic storms?| A．Magnetic sneezes forecast by NCSW. | B．Sun’s outer layers with a magnetic field. |
| C．Mass solar ejections emitted from the sun. | D．Particles guided by the earth’s atmosphere. |
| A．Radio waves and satellite signals become unstable. |
| B．High-powered electronic devices power off easily. |
| C．Migratory animals find them on the right way home. |
| D．More and more netizen suffer from sleeplessness. |
| A．Earth’s own magnetic field is guided into the core. |
| B．Charged particles are emitted with unexpected lights. |
| C．Upper atmosphere release energy and glowing light. |
| D．Solar particles collide with air molecules and glow. |
| A．in northern China | B．before March 24 | C．in Mongolia | D．on a sunny day |
1. What time did the examiner leave?
| A．At 10:55. | B．At 11:00. | C．At 11:05. |
| A．He had forgotten the paperwork. |
| B．He had to go somewhere else. |
| C．He had finished his work. |
| A．Be prepared. | B．Try to be on time. | C．Never fear failure. |
1. What is the conversation mainly about?
| A．Fighting fires. | B．Detecting fires. | C．Using fires. |
| A．Around 50. | B．About 400. | C．Over 8600. |
| A．The size of a car. | B．The size of a plane. | C．The size of a sports field. |
| A．Saving animals. | B．Saving the trees. | C．Saving humans. |
8 . 2024 Philly Theatre Week
Theatre Philadelphia hosts Philly Theatre Week: a celebration of the artists, organizations, and audiences that have made Greater Philadelphia one of the most vibrant theatre regions in the nation. Audiences will have an opportunity to try something new from our theatre community through a series of productions, readings, interactive events, and much more!
Plan your Philly Theatre Week experience
1. GET THE “WHAT'S ON STAGE” NEWSLETTER:
Delivered to your inbox! Sign up for our email list to receive daily updates during theatre week. Plus, go behind the scenes with artists, performers, and more.
2. SHARE YOUR STORIES:
Use #phillytheatreweek to share your Theatre Week experience online, and to see what else audiences are discovering.
Pay What You Can tickets
This year, all Philly Theatre Week tickets are Pay What You Can. This is a ticketing system that allows all audiences to choose their own ticket price. Each show listing includes information about how each PWYC ticket sale supports their company and artists.
Please note that all Philly Theatre Week tickets are limited and exclusive — they are offerings outside of normal box office ticket sales. If a show is out of Philly Theatre Week tickets, check a company’s official website for regular price tickets. If a Philly Theatre Week option is sold out, please visit the theatre’s official website to find additional tickets.
How can I view events/reserve Philly Theatre Week tickets?
All shows will be listed on www. phillytheatreweek. com on March 4th, when tickets go on sale! Click “Buy Now” and select your tickets.
1. What arrangement can you make for 2024 Philly Theatre Week?| A．Open an email account. | B．Watch shows with artists. |
| C．Post with a given tag. | D．Exchange letters for updates. |
| A．Their price is all up to the participants. | B．They are intended for the Theatre Week. |
| C．They offer information about companies. | D．They are cheaper than regular price tickets. |
| A．On a company’s website. | B．On a theatre schedule poster. |
| C．In a travel guidebook. | D．In an advertising brochure. |
9 . Late last month a team of researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine transplanted a genetically modified pig heart into a person — the second such surgery ever attempted — and it has kept him alive for the past few weeks.
The patient, 58-year-old Lawrence Faucette, underwent the highly experimental procedure under a “compassionate use” pathway, in which the U.S. Food and Drug Administration permits an unapproved therapy when a person is seriously ill or dying and has no other options available. Faucette was not eligible for a conventional human heart transplant because he had peripheral vascular disease and other complications, which narrowed the outlook for success.
By mid-October, Faucette was continuing to recover. “He’s had a rough time,” however, Bartley Griffith, a surgeon who performed Faucette’s procedure as well as the previous one, said at that time. According to Griffith, Faucette was living at home when the FDA first approved the surgery, but he was subsequently hospitalized with fluid in his lungs. Then he suffered a cardiac arrest the night before the surgery. Still, he had so far responded well to the transplant.
More than 100,000 people are waiting for an organ transplant, so researchers have long been exploring xenotransplantation (异种器官移植): transplanting other species’ organs into humans. To prevent the human immune system from attacking these alien organs, scientists have begun to breed genetically modified donor pigs that lack certain genes or have other genes added.
In the past couple of years, pig xenotransplants have been tested in both nonhuman primates and deceased humans — but the ultimate goal is to conduct human clinical trials on a bigger scale. The results of the recent compassionate use transplant will likely influence the FDA’s consideration of whether and when to allow such trials to take place. Many researchers hope this could happen in the next year or two.
“We took a pretty good swing at the ball the first time, and we got very close to a prolonged success, we think,” Griffith says. Although there were some unforeseen circumstances in that first xenotransplant, his team and others have developed better methods to test for these conditions.
1. Why did Faucette undergo the pig-to-human heart transplant?| A．Because he was seriously ill and there was no better options. |
| B．Because the pig heart fits well in human body. |
| C．Because FDA has long approved such transplant. |
| D．Because the surgery has been applied in medical treatment already. |
| A．Faucette highly praises the surgery. |
| B．Faucette responds well to the alien organ. |
| C．Faucette has suffered a lot after the transplant. |
| D．Faucette experienced cardic arrest after the surgery. |
| A．The FDA is taking great care on human clinical trials. |
| B．The patients will receive the best of care after the transplant. |
| C．The human immune system is greatly changed before the transplant. |
| D．Scientists modified the donor pig’s genes or added other genes before breeding it. |
| A．Skeptical. | B．Neutral. | C．Supportive. | D．Indifferent. |
10 . Ammaar Reshi, 28, has been fascinated by technology since he was a child. One day, when he was experimenting with an AI-powered chatbot, he began to consider how artificial intelligence could be used to create a basic children’s book to give to his friends. Without ever picking up a pen and paper, he created a 12-page picture book.
Just 72 hours later, Reshi self-published his book on Amazon’s digital bookstore. The next day he got the paperback (平装书), which was made available for free through another Amazon service called KPD.
Reshi said he paid nothing to have the book created and published, although he has already paid for a $30-per-month Midway subscription. Impressed by the speed and results of his project, Reshi shared the experience in a Twitter thread that attracted more than 2,000 comments and 5,800 retweets (转发).
Reshi stated that he received great feedback (反馈) from users, who lauded his creative work at first. But the next day, the replies were negative. “There was this incredibly passionate reaction,” Reshi said. “At 4 am, I was woken up by my phone exploding every two minutes with a new tweet saying things like ‘We hate you’.”
Reshi was taken aback by the outpouring of emotion in response to what was supposed to be a present for some friends’ children. He didn’t realize he had landed in the heart of a much broader argument.
Some artists have expressed concern that AI art generators are stealing their work in response to Reshi’s book. And some artists claim that their work has been used without their permission to train AI picture generators.
“I wouldn’t even call myself an author,” Reshi said. “The AI is essentially the ghostwriter (代笔者), and the other AI is the illustrator.” But he thought the process was creative.
1. Why did Reshi create the picture book?| A．To test his friends. |
| B．To make some money. |
| C．To test a computer program. |
| D．To improve his technical ability. |
| A．Improved. | B．Studied. |
| C．Resisted. | D．Praised. |
| A．Worried. | B．Shocked. |
| C．Motivated. | D．Ashamed. |
| A．He wants to be a real author. |
| B．He won’t create another book. |
| C．He doesn’t mean to upset artists. |
| D．He worries about AI stealing artists’ work. |
