1 . Best friends Tommy, 17, and Daniel, 15, decided to sign up for their school’s robotics team in their freshman year, and began their journey towards changing lives for the better.

They began their work with 3D printers to create parts for their robots, but they wanted their impact to be greater. “It started off with a team idea,” Tommy said. “We were trying to figure out how we could make a difference to society as a first-year robotics team. We later thought of the idea of using 3D printers to make prostheses (假肢), like hands.”

The team worked with IMAHelps, a nonprofit organization, and received help from the Science Robotics Initiative. Shortly after, they began working with their first person in need of a prosthesis.

“We started off with making an artificial (人造的) arm for Samantha, a 12-year-old little girl in Ecuador who lost her arm in a bus accident,” Tommy explains. “We got her measurements and then made the prosthesis. IMAHelps brought it to Samantha and it fit her perfectly and worked well.”

“Samantha had a dream to write, and we wanted to help with that,” adds Daniel.

It didn’t take long for other kids to see Samantha’s prosthesis. A young man named Ernest Priester, 13, asked to have an artificial foot. Later, the team offered to make him one for free. “He started tearing up. It brought so much joy to his eyes.” Tommy says.

This July, the team traveled to Ecuador to deliver four more prostheses to those in need. “We were so happy to help,” Tommy shares.

The team also plans on continuing to give away their 3D creations. “You can do whatever you want to do when it comes to helping people and changing the world,” Tommy says. “There are no age limits.”

“By offering a little bit,” adds Daniel. “We can change a lot.”

1. To make the robotics team’s impact greater, Tommy and Daniel decided to________.

A．create robot parts	B．start a robotics course
C．make prostheses	D．invent a 3D printer

2. What did the robotics team do for Samantha?

A．They set up IMAHelps for her.	B．They made her an artificial arm.
C．They offered her medical treatment.	D．They gave her instructions on writing.

3. How does Tommy feel about what they are doing?

A．Curious.

B．Relaxed.

C．Regretful.

D．Pleased.

4. Which of the following words can best describe Tommy and Daniel?

A．Caring.

B．Calm.

C．Honest.

D．Brave.

2 . A houseplant is pretty to look at and brings fresh air to your home. Besides, looking after a plant will give you something more to do and care about. Let’s look at the four best houseplants you can grow.

Australian Pine A perfect “living decoration” to add in your house, it is good to look at and has a comforting feel. It can also serve as the perfect Christmas tree. It grows around 10 feet tall indoors. Remember that it requires plenty of light and fresh air. Otherwise, it becomes weak and an easy target for mites (螨虫).	Dracaena The green and yellow pattern on its leaves looks great. It can grow to be around 10 feet tall. Just make sure you keep the soil surface dry between your watering periods because it gets influenced by too much water. Also, having this plant around a dog can be dangerous. It can be poisonous to dogs if they eat it.
Grape Ivy If you want something off the ceiling (天花板), this houseplant is the one for you. It’s a climbing plant, and it will make for a beautiful hanging basket decoration. The plant is full of life wherever it is hung. It needs to be kept wet in all its parts for good growth.	Peperomia It is little in size, with long leaves. It adds energy to your living room and creates a comforting environment. As it’s not a very tall plant, you needn’t worry about how much space it will take up. The plant likes a dry surface of the soil.

So what are you for? Choose the one that attracts you most, and give your home a wonderful addition.

1. Which of the following can serve as a Christmas tree?

A．Australian pine.

B．Dracaena.

C．Grape ivy.

D．Peperomia.

2. When keeping Dracaena as a houseplant, you should________.

A．be careful with mites	B．hang it from the celling
C．keep dogs away from it	D．leave the surface of the soil wet

3. What do you know about Peperomia?

A．Its leaves are short.	B．It is small in size.
C．It likes much water.	D．It is a climbing plant.

4. In which section of a website can you most likely find the passage?

A．Politics.

B．Business.

C．Travel.

D．Life.

3 . Physicist and Nobel Prize winner Richard Feynman developed a clever learning method known as the Feynman Technique. It involves explaining what you're learning to others. By teaching what you’ve learned from memory, you engage in active recall.     1     It also ensures that you understand the topic, because you can only explain an idea if you truly understand it. The technique consists of four repeatable steps.

To begin, choose a concept or topic you wish to fully understand.     2     The more interested you are, the faster you’ll grasp it. Moreover, a personally interesting topic will keep you motivated and engaged.

    3     Write notes and explain it in a way that makes sense to a five-year-old. If you’d rather avoid actually teaching someone, you can just teach it to an imaginary audience. But it works much better if you use a real person. They’ll be able to let you know when something isn’t clear.

While teaching you may discover gaps in your understanding.     4     Review your notes, reread books, or seek external help to ensure you have a complete understanding of the context before moving forward.

Now that you fully grasp the concept, test your understanding by trying to teach it to another person. This will help you identify any remaining areas of uncertainty you need to revisit.

The Feynman Technique is a great way for kids and grown-ups to learn.     5     You need to actively think about the problem instead of passively reading or listening to someone else. However, with great efforts in mastering this method, you’ll see your learning results improve quicker than ever before.

A．It is mentally demanding.

B．This helps the information stick in your mind better.

C．Teach it to a five-year-old, who would give you direct feedback.

D．Your curiosity about it will determine the pace of your learning.

E．Once you have chosen a topic, you can teach it to someone else.

F．Active engagement plays a key role in promoting deeper learning.

G．When this happens, refer back to the original material for the missing pieces.

4 . 阅读下面短文，根据题目要求回答问题。

Anxiety is not deadly, because being able to feel anxious shows that our fight-or-flight system is operational, which is an indicator of brain and sensory health. Once we accept that being anxious is a normal part of life, we can use it to our benefit.

Anxiety can help build our emotional strength. If we want to build emotional strength, we need to face some degree of mental stress. Of course, unpleasant and abuse tend to cause more harm than good, but the experience of occasional anxiety, stress, and tension substantially increases our emotional courage.

Anxiety can increase your emotional connection. Clinical science has identified that sharing our anxieties with our loved ones is one of the most effective strategies to build connection. When my patients learn to open up and share their anxieties with their partners, they almost always report a greater sense of emotional connection.

Anxiety can help us rebalance. When we feel genuinely anxious because of stress, it’s our body’s way of telling us to rebalance. Nobody is truly limitless. When we pay attention to our internal cues and acknowledge our weaknesses, we emerge more focused and healthier overall and also less stressed and anxious.

Anxiety can be a healthy, helpful emotion that is a constructive aspect of human life. When it comes to occasional experience of anxiety, it can emotionally help boost our courage. It can also build up emotional connect ion when we express our sensitive feelings to others. And in the form of stress, it can serve as an internal indicator to remain balanced and healthy. Now it’s high time we started putting it to good use．

1. Why is anxiety not deadly?

____________________________________________________________________________________________

2. When can anxiety increase our emotional connection?

____________________________________________________________________________________________

3. Please decide which part is false in the following statement, then underline it and explain why?

When we pay attention to our internal cues and acknowledge our weaknesses, we emerge more focused and healthier overall and also more stressed and anxious．

____________________________________________________________________________________________

4. As a student, how do you make use of test anxiety to help you be better prepared for exams? (In about 40 words)

____________________________________________________________________________________________

5 . Do you want to be a cognitive superager when you are old? Just as you take steps towards a future-proofing body, you can enhance your brain’s resilience to age-related disease by boosting cognitive reserve.

Andrew Sommerlad, an associate professor of psychiatry, discovers the power of cognitive reserve in studies of older people who show signs of Alzheimer’s (阿尔兹海默症) in their brains.     1     Actually, three years ago, colleagues of Sommerlad had also published findings from Study of Ageing. They showed that higher levels of cognitive reserve are associated with lower levels of dementia.

    2     The strong cognitive reserve is helpful to stave off symptoms of brain changes associated not just with dementia but with other brain diseases. It also helps you to function better for longer when facing unexpected life events as you get older.

How do you improve it? The younger you implement things that will bolster it, the better. For example, you can do tasks that challenges your brain ability, like crosswords, reading, giving impromptu speech and critical thinking.     3     So, do mind-body practices like yoga, Tai Chi or meditation to reduce stress is also important. This can help you balance the periods of mental demand and relaxation.

    4     ideally, seven to nine hours is optimal for enhancing cognitive reserve. Start by improving your sleep hygiene with steps such as avoiding electronic screens.

Cognitive reserve is developed through a lifetime of education, curiosity and persistence.     5    

A．Its effects are wide reaching.

B．Additionally, maintain regular sleep patterns.

C．So plan ahead to make sure you keep cognitively busy and engaged!

D．There are ways you can improve sleep, for both young and old people.

E．It suggests that developing a good cognitive reserve can be powerfully protective.

F．However, thinking too hard for too long may wear you out, hurting cognitive reserve.

G．They cope better with pathological (病理上的) changes, the higher their powers of cognitive reserve.

6 . It is rapidly emerging as one of the most important technological, and increasingly ideological, divides of our times: should powerful generative artificial intelligence systems be open or closed?

Supporters say they broaden access to the technology, stimulate innovation and improve reliability by encouraging outside scrutiny. Far cheaper to develop and deploy, smaller open models also inject competition into a field dominated by big US companies such as Google. Microsoft and OpenAI that have invested billions developing massive, closed and closely controlled generative Al systems.

But detractors argue open models risk lifting the lid on a Pandora’s box of troubles. Bad actors can exploit them to spread personalised disinformation, while terrorists might use them to manufacture cyber or bio weapons. “The danger of open source is that it enables more crazies to do crazy things, “Geoffrey Hinton, one of the pioneers of modern AI, has warned.

The history of OpenAI, which developed the popular ChatGPT chatbot, is itself instructive. As its name suggests, the research company was founded in 2015 with a commitment to develop the technology as openly as possible. But it later abandoned that approach for both competitive and safety reasons. Once OpenAI realised that its generative AI models were going to be “unbelievably potent”, it made little sense to open source them, Ilya Sutskever, OpenAI’s chief scientist said.

Supporters of open models hit back, ridiculing the idea that open generative AI models enable people to access information they could not otherwise find from the internet or a rogue scientist. They also highlight the competitive self-interest of the big tech companies in shouting about the dangers of open models, whose intention is to establish their own market dominance strongly.

But there is an ideological dimension to this debate, too. Yann LeCun, chief scientist of Meta, has likened the arguments for controlling the technology to medieval obscurantism (蒙昧主义): the belief that only a self-selecting priesthood of experts is wise enough to handle knowledge.

In the future, all our interactions with the vast digital repository of human knowledge will be mediated through Al systems. We should not want a handful of Silicon Valley companies to control that access. Just as the internet flourished by resisting attempts to enclose it, so AI will thrive by remaining open, LeCun argues.

Wendy Hall, royal professor of computer science at Southampton university, says we do not want to live in a world where only the big companies run generative Al. Nor do we want to allow users to do anything they like with open models. “We have to find some compromise,” she suggests.

We should certainly resist the tyranny (暴政) of the binary (二进制) when it comes to thinking about AI models. Both open and closed models have their benefits and flaws. As the capabilities of these models evolve, we will constantly have to tweak the weightings between competition and control.

1. What does the underlined word “potent” in Paragraph 4 most probably mean?

A．Accessible.

B．Powerful.

C．Significant.

D．Unnoticeable.

2. What can we learn from this passage?

A．It needs billions of dollars to develop and deploy open-source models.

B．The field of generative AI systems is dominated by big companies.

C．Only self-selecting experts can handle open models wisely.

D．Users can do anything they like with open models at this moment.

3. Regarding Wendy Hall’s suggestions, the author is ______.

A．sympathetic

B．puzzled

C．unconcerned

D．opposed

4. Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?

A．How to Keep the Lid on the Pandora’s Box of Open AI

B．Divides on Open AI: technology and ideology

C．Where does the Debate on Open AI End

D．Pros and Cons of Open AI

7 . EVs are in the middle of an obesity epidemic

Fisker, an electric vehicle, unveiled the future line-up on August 3rd. It included: a souped-up, off-road version of the Ocean. Though Fisker says sustainability is one of its founding principles, it is indulging in a trait almost universal among car firms: building bigger, stronger cars, even when they are electric.

There are two reasons for this. The first is profit. As with conventional cars, bigger EVs generate higher margins. The second is consumer preference. For decades, drivers have been opting for SUVs and pickup trucks rather than smaller cars, and this now applies to battery-charged ones. EV drivers, who worry about the availability of charging infrastructure, want more range, hence bigger batteries. That may help make for a more reassuring ride. But eventually the supersizing trend will prove to be unsustainable and unsafe.

For now, carmakers can argue that however big the electric rigs, they have a positive impact on the planet. Though manufacturing EVs—including sourcing the metals and minerals that go into them—generates more greenhouse gases than a conventional car, they quickly compensate for that through the absence of tallpipe emissions.

But in the long run the trend for bigger butteries may backfire, for economic and environmental reasons. First, the bigger the battery, the more pressure there will be on the supply chain. If battery sizes increase there are likely to be looming seareitles of lithium and nickel. That will push up the cost of lithium-ion batteries, undermining carmakers’ profitability. Second, to charge bigger batteries in a carbon-neutral way requires more low-carbon electricity. That may create bottlenecks on the grid. Third, the more pressure on scarce resources vital for EV production, the harder it will be to make affordable electric cars critical for electrifying the mass market. That will slow the overall decarbonisation of transport. Finally, there is safety. Not only is a battle tank that does zero to 100 kilometres per hour in the blink of an eye a liability for anyone that happens to be in its way.

Governments have ways to encourage EVs to shrink. The most important is to support the expansion of charging infrastructure, which would reduce range anxiety and promote smaller cars. Taxes could punish heavier vehicles and subsidies could promote lighter ones.

Ultimately, the industry is almost sure to realise the folly of pursuing size for its own sake. The penny is starting to drop. Ford’s CEO, Jim Farley, recently said carmakers could not make money with the longest-range batteries. His opposite number at General Motors, Mary Barra, has taken the unexpected step of reversing a plan to retire the affordable Chevy Bolt EV. In Europe, carmakers like Volkswagen are building smaller, cheaper EVs. Tesla is said to be planning a compact model made in Mexico.

1. Consumers want EVs with more range and bigger batteries because ______.

A．they can bring more profits

B．they can reduce tailpipe emissions

C．they are more secure

D．there are insufficient charging facilities for them

2. From the passage, we know that ______.

A．Rising cost of batteries will increase profitability

B．Conventional cars produce more greenhouse gases than EVs in production

C．Bigger batteries may create more pressure on the supply chain

D．The demand on scarce resources in EVs makes electric cars more affordable

3. What is the passage trying to tell us?

A．Lighter electric vehicles should be encouraged.

B．Bigger, stronger cars are safer and more sustainable.

C．Supersizing electric vehicles have a positive impact on the planet.

D．EVs with bigger batteries may help make for a more comfortable ride.

8 . Living beyond limits

Growing up in the hot Las Vegas desert, all I wanted was to be free. I would daydream about traveling the world, living in a place where it snowed.

At the age of 19, the day after I graduated from high school, I moved to a place where it snowed and I found my dream job. For the first time in my life, I felt free, independent and completely in control of my life. That is, until my life took a detour (转折点) . I went home from work early one day with what I thought was the flu, and less than 24 hours later I was in the hospital on life support with less than a 2% chance of living.

Over the course of two and a half months I lost the hearing in my left ear and both of my legs below the knee. I thought the worst was over until weeks later when I saw my new artificial legs for the first time. They were so painful that all I could think was, how am I ever going to travel the world in these things? And how was I going to snowboard again?

But I knew that in order to move forward, I had to let go of the old Self and learn to embrace the new Self. And that is when it dawned on me that if I snowboarded again, my feet aren’t going to get cold.

Four months later I was back up on a snowboard, although things didn’t go quite as expected: My knees and my ankles wouldn’t bend. But I knew that I would be able to do this again if I could find the right pair of feet.

I did a year of research, still couldn’t figure out what kind of legs to use. So I decided to make a pair myself. My leg maker and I put random parts together and we made a pair of feet that I could snowboard in. Then in 2005 I cofounded a nonprofit organization for youth with physical disabilities so they could get involved with action sports.

Eleven years ago, when I lost my legs, I had no idea what to expect. But if you ask me today, if I would ever want to change my situation, I would have to say no. Because my legs haven’t disabled me. They’ve forced me to rely on my imagination and to believe in the possibilities.

1. How did the author feel when she saw her new legs for the first time?

A．Astonished.

B．Hopeful.

C．Desperate.

D．Delighted.

2. What mainly helped the author change her thought toward her situation?

A．Her positive attitude.

B．Inspiration from research.

C．Her love for snowboard.

D．Help from a nonprofit organization.

3. The author’s attempt could help her and other youths with physical disabilities to ______.

A．travel around the world

B．take part in action sports

C．bend their knees and ankles

D．recover from their disabilities

4. What can we learn from the passage?

A．Practice makes perfect.

B．Actions speak louder than words.

C．You can’t judge a book by its cover.

D．Nothing is impossible to a willing heart

9 . The Great Book Swap

Hi, sixth graders! My name is Tony Hill. I am president of the Windsor High School Student Council. Your teacher let me come to your class today to tell you about a reading project that we want to do, and we need your help.

If you’re like me, you love to read but sometimes have a hard time finding books you want to read. It seems as if the best books at the library are always checked out. To help get more books into people’s hands, we’re planning the Great Community (社区) Book Swap.

To make the project a success, we need everyone’s help. Ask your parents if there are any unused books taking up space. Ask your friends and neighbours to donate unwanted books. Maybe you have books you liked when you were younger but don’t read anymore. Bring them to school and make a young reader happy. We need all kinds of books for all kinds of readers!

There are many times I’d like to go buy new books, but I don’t have a lot of money to spend on them. Wouldn’t it be great to swap books right here in our community? Volunteers will organize the donated books. Then the books will be displayed at the community center. Everyone will be able to read and hopefully find the perfect book. Students will be allowed to choose up to two books during each day of the swap. Our plan is to have the book swap the first Saturday of every month.

If you like reading, just come and look through the collection of books. Each grade will have its own week to bring in books. Right now, eighth grade is bringing in books. When every grade has brought in books, we will have quite a selection. You will probably find at least one new book that you’d like to read. Who knows? Maybe you’ll find a book so good that you won’t be able to put it down.

What are you waiting for? Go home and clean out your bookshelves and closets!

1. Why did Tony Hill come to the class of sixth graders?

A．To explain a reading project.

B．To introduce a newly-built library.

C．To ask the students to help donate books.

D．To give the sixth graders advice on reading.

2. What is Paragraph 4 mainly about?

A．How the book swap will work.

B．When books will be brought in.

C．What kinds of books are needed.

D．Why the book swap is necessary.

3. What does the underlined sentence in the last paragraph indicate?

A．More books are needed in the future.

B．Volunteers play an important role in the project.

C．Everyone is sure to be able to find the books he wants.

D．Students have already started helping with the book swap.

4. Which of the following words best describes Tony Hill?

A．Realistic.

B．Convincing.

C．Independent.

D．Ambitious.

10 . French parenting isn’t perfect, but there’s a lot we can learn from this kind but no-nonsense style of parenting.

French children are allowed to handle difficult things themselves.     1     The early years are when they discover all the cool ways their new body works and how to use it. To encourage this autonomy, French parents treat children more like adults-in-training than helpless babies. They believe kids feel confident when they’re able to deal with things on their own.

Fearful of hurting feelings, American parents tend to praise every child for everything.     2     However, all that praise eventually turns out to be pointless. By contrast, French adults give children appropriate praise, thus allowing them to feel a true sense of achievement and take pride in what they learn.

Painful experiences are the best learning opportunities and sheltering children from this fact of life will merely delay their emotional development. French doctors never say “sorry” when giving kids shots. The French believe undergoing hurts, is part of life and that there’s no reason to apologize for that.     3    

Plus, the expectation of eye contact and a polite hello starts from the minute French children can say hello. They know saying “hello” and good manners are non-negotiable. Teaching them about that will benefit them for a lifetime.     4     Be patient with little ones as they learn.

All the above feels easier said than done, especially as a tired parent facing an intolerable child.     5     Your efforts will end up with children’s better behaviour overall.

A．They mean what they say.

B．This isn’t to say it’ll come easily.

C．It might save tears in the short term.

D．They wish children to suffer sometimes.

E．Bearing a few blow-ups is worthwhile, though.

F．Parents have to spare them such psychological discomfort.

G．“Me do it!” is little kids’ favorite phrase and for good reason.