In the 1950s and 1960s, people were widely using chemicals in agriculture, which polluted the food web and broke the eggs of Bald Eagles. Concern for the birds helped to pass the Endangered Species (物种) Act (ESA) on December 28,1973.
The ESA is now 50 years old. It is a vital part of protection efforts in America, but it comes into play only when a species is nearly gone. There is much we can do to prevent our weak creatures from needing the act in the first place.
Recent studies have shown that the best way to protect species is to protect their habitats (栖息地), because it follows a sound, nature-based logic. People and progress depend on nature for large benefits. Compared to recovering a species, protecting habitats won’t need to decide which species is the most serious case that should be treated first.
In January 2023, a bill named Recovering America’s Wildlife Act (RAWA)was passed, which would provide significant funding for protection of wildlife habitat that supports species at risk. It basically modernized the Pittman-Robertson Act in 1937, one of the first species-protection acts in America. RAWA was one of the most important acts in wildlife conservation in decades providing $1.397 billion to fund local and state efforts not only to help recover endangered species but also prevent at-risk wildlife from becoming endangered. While this funding has worked for decades, the accelerating (加速) loss of biodiversity requires a new way and more investment.
Protecting habitat doesn’t just protect wildlife; it protects humanity. If the desire to care for our world is not enough, it’s wise to remember that if you destroy your home, you des troy your life.
1. What is the disadvantage of ESA?2. Why protecting habitats is better than recovering a species?
3. Please decide which part is false in the following statement, then underline it and explain why.
▶RAWA, a modern version of the Pittman-Robertson Act, mainly helps to save the species that are endangered.
4. Apart from protecting habitats, what else can we do to protect animals? (In about 40 words)
2 . Over the past century, the average lifespan (平均寿命) in developed countries has increased by 30 years, from roughly age 50 to 80.
While lifespan is certainly an important measure of health and well-being, it is not the only one.
By a study based on the World Health Organization, an American who expects to live to 79 might first face serious disease at 63.
Lengthening healthspan starts with thinking about aging well overall, meaning putting physical health, mental health, and daily lifestyle all in one.
For now, there are some familiar steps to extend healthspan: common-sense nutrition, sleep, exercise and social connection are the four main factors.
| A．Some disease is less linked with lifestyle habits. |
| B．It also means taking ways to feel joy and connection. |
| C．It is important to remember that aging is a natural process. |
| D．Longer lifespans overall have been a public health success. |
| E．That could mean he will live in sickness for at least 15 years. |
| F．Healthspan is increasingly being known as an important idea. |
| G．The reason those things work is that they improve the biology of aging. |
3 . Whenever anyone asks me what tech I’d like to see invented, I always say the universal translator, which lets you understand and speak any language.
Meta AI recently announced the start of the universal speech translator (UST) project, which aims to create AI systems that enable real-time speech-to-speech translation across all languages, even those that are spoken but not commonly written. Meta says that today’s AI translation models are focused on widely-used written languages, and that more than 40% of primarily spoken languages are not covered by such translation technologies.
According to Meta, the model is the first AI-powered speech translation system for the unwritten language Hokkien (闽南语), a Chinese language spoken in southeastern China. The system allows Hokkien speakers to hold conversations with English speakers, a significant step toward bringing people together wherever they are located.
To build UST, Meta AI focused on overcoming three important translation system challenges. It addressed data scarcity by getting more training data in more languages and finding new ways to use the data it had found. It solved the modeling problems that arise as models grow to serve many more languages. And it sought new ways to improve on its results.
Meta AI claims that the techniques it pioneered with Hokkien can be extended to many other unwritten languages—and eventually work in real time. For this purpose, Meta has released the Speech Matrix, a large collection of speech-to-speech translations, which enables other research teams to create translation models for other languages.
Artificial (人工的) speech translation could play a significant role in our world. For interactions, it will enable people from around the world to communicate with each other more smoothly, making the social net more interconnected. For content, using artificial speech translation allows you to easily localize content.
Yashar Behzadi, CEO and founder of Synthesis AI, believes that technology needs to enable more natural experiences if the digital world is to succeed. He says that one of the current challenges for UST models is the computationally expensive training that’s needed because of the wide range and very slight differences in meaning or sound of languages. Also, to train strong AI models requires vast amounts of typical data. A significant bottleneck to building these AI models in the near future will be to ensure training data collect the privacy in agreement with rules and law.
1. What is the feature of the UST project?| A．It changes spoken languages to written forms. |
| B．It attracts wider attention to written languages in translation. |
| C．It adds 40% of spoken languages into translation technology. |
| D．It enables real-time speech-to-speech translation across all languages. |
| A．Lack. | B．Mistake. | C．Recovery. | D．Management. |
| A．It is expensive to collect typical data. |
| B．It increases the use of a certain language. |
| C．Its techniques are finally developed for Hokkien. |
| D．It helps inspire interactions and content localization. |
| A．AI Translation: Make Translation Faster |
| B．AI Translation: Meet You in All Languages |
| C．Unwritten Language: Bring People Together |
| D．Unwritten Language: Translation Challenge |
4 . Getting older often involves a series of challenges, such as cognitive (认知的) decline, late-life depression and social isolation. In a society that is aging fast, it has become important to find ways to promote successful aging to prevent and limit cognitive and emotional disorders. Music is a promising tool for improving cognition and promoting well-being.
Cognitive reserve (储备) is the mind’s power to stop age-related brain damage. Research has shown that stimulating (令人兴奋的) life experiences are linked with higher power to prevent age-related brain diseases. Music is known to be cognitively stimulating and it could contribute to building such reserve throughout the life course. Music makes unique demands on our nervous system, like cognitive control. For example, lifelong musical expert knowledge and skills seem to reduce cognitive decline. However, it is not necessary to be a professional musician to benefit from musical training. Research shows that even short-term musical training strengthens cognition in the elderly.
The brain is built to change over our lifetime, which can be shaped by experience. Importantly, this happens over time and in response to a specific new skill. Research studies have identified structural and functional differences between the brains of musicians and non-musicians, especially in regions related to motor control and auditory processing. Evidence shows that even short-term musical interventions (干预) can promote brain plasticity and increase grey matter volume. Even passive music listening can result in improved cognitive abilities.
Music can open forgotten doors to our memories — such as weddings, school dances, and parties — with little cognitive effort. Music helps to recall all the memories that you have connected with a song. The “reminiscence bump” is used to describe enhanced memory for events that occur during adolescence (青春期) and early adulthood that are often sharp. A song becomes a soundtrack for a particular time, such as during a summer hanging out with a specific group of friends.
Music has a great power to bring strong emotions and intense pleasure into your mind, thus changing mood. Music can be used as an aid for escaping from everyday life through imagination of your own memories. Moreover, musical activities often involve social functions promoting social contact, cooperation, and a sense of belonging with others.
In sum, music is a powerful tool to fight against aging-related emotional and cognitive disorders. Music is also considered as a social activity, accessible to anyone regardless of background. So, this intervention should become a major policy priority for health y aging.
1. What does Paragraph 2 mainly tell us about music?| A．The effect of music on musicians. | B．The benefit of music for cognition. |
| C．The power of music over loneliness. | D．The demand of music on nervous system. |
| A．introduce a topic | B．provide an opinion |
| C．compare with music | D．explain an argument |
| A．Short-term musical training doesn’t work. |
| B．The brain can’t be influenced by experience. |
| C．Music can be used to limit emotional disorders. |
| D．Music is a powerful tool to fight against aging. |
5 . As a little boy, the first time I stepped into the Taekwondo dojang (跆拳道道场), I knew that I had discovered my interest. The physical training, mental focus, and spiritual development of Taekwondo drew me in, and I started a journey that would change my life.
My journey began as a White Belt filled with excitement. I was introduced to the basic skills, forms, and principles of Taekwondo. With each belt promotion (晋级), I faced new challenges. The training pushed me to test my limits and develop mental strength. Self-control became the most important part of my training. Early mornings and late nights were spent improving skills, perfecting forms, and pushing myself to the edge of tiredness. Taekwondo taught me valuable lessons, not just on the training floor but also in other areas of my life.
The path to the Black Belt was not without challenges. I experienced moments of frustration (挫折) and wanted to give up. However, it was during these challenging times that I discovered the power of determination (决心). With the support of my teachers and friends, I found the strength to push through the hard times. Each challenge became an opportunity for growth. Dealing with these challenges strengthened my desire to become a Black Belt and inspired me to keep pushing forward.
Beyond the physical and mental aspects, the art has taught me to treat others with kindness. It has allowed me to face life’s challenges with a calm and focused mind. Taekwondo has also taught me the importance of leadership, as I now have the opportunity to guide and inspire junior students on their own journeys.
Finally, after years of training and personal growth, I stand before you as a Black Belt. I have grown both physically and mentally, gaining valuable life skills along the way. As I continue my journey, I look forward to meeting new challenges and inspiring others.
1. What drew the author in Taekwondo?| A．The support of teachers. | B．The interest in Taekwondo. |
| C．The hope to change his life. | D．The decision to start a journey. |
| A．Self-control. | B．Leadership. | C．A calm mind. | D．Determination. |
| A．He never thought of giving up. | B．His friends pushed him forward. |
| C．He is ready for new challenges in life. | D．His training was relaxing and meaningful. |
| A．describe the training process | B．express thankfulness to teachers |
| C．inspire others with personal growth | D．show the importance of friendship |
6 . The end of the school year is often when we celebrate student growth. I know how important it is for students to look back at everything they’ve achieved.
Students don’t always remember how far they’ve come over the year. When we praise students for their growth, we help them remember or see it themselves. This can help inspire them to continue learning. That’s why I’ve written this letter to my fifth-grade students.
| Dear Students, I can’t believe it, but we’re coming to the end of our school year. Let’s look back at all you’ve done this year. I saw you learn to set goals, focus on learning, and find ways to deal with stress. I saw your confidence soar throughout the year. I saw you explore your interests and you taught me about the problems you care deeply about. I feel good knowing the world is in your hands! As you look back at all of these achievements, here are a few things I hope you remember next school year. • Lifelong learners ask questions. You’ve learned how to ask this year, so keep asking! • Stay curious. You are so much more than what can ever be shown with a test score or a grade. • Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Use mistakes as chances to learn and grow. • Continue to get along well with your friends and teachers. I can tell you how lucky I was to be your teacher. Yours, Lily |
I encourage you to write your own letter to your students. Personalize it for each student by adding a sticky note or a handwritten message to point out specific growth areas.
1. The author wrote the letter to students because ________.| A．it is a school tradition | B．she has much to tell them |
| C．they remember how far they’ve come | D．it can encourage them to keep learning |
| A．To set goals. | B．To stay curious. | C．To deal with stress. | D．To build up confidence. |
| A．Teachers | B．Parents | C．Teenagers | D．School leaders |
7 . Drought is an increasing problem in our warming world. All continents have been experiencing more extended periods without rain, leading to forest fires and poor crop growth. Consequently, people are looking at cloud seeding to solve the problem — a method of encouraging precipitation (降水) by sending small particles of certain chemicals into clouds.
Cloud-seeding expert Arlen Huggins has been studying its effectiveness. “My earliest experience was to use cloud seeding to reduce the amount of hail (冰雹) in northeast Colorado. We didn’t have any luck with that, but we had success later on in increasing snowfall in Utah. Now, the focus is shifting towards increasing rainfall from summer clouds, which is far more unpredictable.” said he.
The problem is that it’s pretty hard to know whether precipitation resulted directly from cloud seeding. It might have rained or snowed anyway. Even if you cloud seed in one place and don’t in another, it’s impossible to know for sure what caused the precipitation. Also, it’s not during foggy and snowy conditions that people think of increasing the chance of rainfall. When a country is hit by drought, then cloud seeding isn’t an option due to the lack of clouds. During drought, skies tend to be clear with few clouds. The best option to prevent drought is to seed at times of the year when rainfall levels are normal or higher. That way, slightly more rain can be stored the dry season.
As cloud seeding is expensive and its effectiveness tenuous, its usefulness is still a matter of opinion. University of Colorado researcher Katja Friedrich says cloud seeding can’t end a drought. However, it can be beneficial, provided it occurs alongside other water conservation strategies. Still, for that to happen, the water would need to be captured and stored effectively.
There are also environmental issues regarding the impact of cloud seeding. At high levels, the chemicals sent into the clouds can harm humans and other animals, and some studies have found them slightly poisonous. Apart from that, some environmentalists are concerned about the long-term impacts, as there isn’t data on how much those chemicals accumulate (累积) in the environment over 10 years.
Another fear is that cloud seeding could potentially steal water from neighbouring areas by encouraging the water in clouds that would otherwise fall somewhere else to fall in your location. If one country uses cloud seeding to create rain, a neighbouring country will also be very likely to lose out because clouds are constantly forming and reforming.
1. In Huggins’ study, at first cloud seeding was used to .| A．increase annual snowfall in Utah |
| B．send chemicals into summer clouds |
| C．lower the amount of hail in Colorado |
| D．put out forest fires and help crops grow |
| A．Negative. | B．Weak. | C．Surprising. | D．Various. |
| A．Should we seed clouds to make rain? |
| B．Should we seed clouds at a lower price? |
| C．Can cloud seeding help end a drought? |
| D．Can cloud seeding be more eco-friendly? |
8 . What does it mean to be intelligent? If it’s defined by having the biggest brain, then sperm whales—whose brain is 20 pounds—would be the brightest creatures on Earth. But, more likely, intelligence is what gives an organism the best chance to survive in an environment. Language may be one of the best ways to demonstrate that kind of smarts. Though all animals can communicate with others, humans are one of the few species to have a spoken language. Using speech, we could share complex ideas, pass knowledge through generations, and create communities. Whether spoken language actually helped us evolve (进化) as species into more advanced beings, however, has never really been tested.
“Language allowing humans to be a more advanced species is an assumption that somebody came up with one day without really trying to prove it,” says Erich Jarvis, a professor who studies the neurobiology of vocal learning.
But Jarvis and his colleagues were able to examine this assumption with the help of songbirds. Jarvis’ new study provides some of the first evidence that vocal learning—one of the crucial components for a spoken language—is associated with problem-solving. Vocal learning is the ability to produce new sounds by imitating (模仿) others, relying on experience rather than instinct.
To get a better grasp of vocal learning and cognition (认知), the study authors turned to songbirds. The team performed seven cognitive experiments on 214 songbirds from 23 different species. Of these, 21 species were caught from the wild. Two songbirds studied are domesticated. The behavioral tests examined the birds’ problem solving, for instance by figuring out how to remove an object to access the food reward. The researchers also tested two other skills often associated with intelligence: learning by association, plus what’s called reversal (倒转的) learning, in which an animal adjusts its behavior to get a reward. They then looked at whether being vocal learners helped develop the three skills, comparing 21 bird species to two others, which were vocal non-learners.
The biologists noticed a strong relationship between vocal learning and problem-solving skills. Vocal learning bird species could come up with innovative ideas, such as getting seeds, or a worm trapped under a cup by removing the obstacle or pulling it apart. All three abilities—problem solving, associative learning, and reversal learning—are typically considered “components of intelligence,” he says.
Brain size was another benefit to vocal learning that may have supported these problem-solving abilities. The 21 vocal-learning species had slightly larger brains, relative to their body size, than the two who weren’t. Jarvis says it’s possible these big-headed birds packed more neurons.
One question left unanswered is why there’s such a strong relationship between problem-solving abilities and vocal learning. The brain areas in charge of vocal learning are not the same ones that get activated when we need to troubleshoot an issue, says Jarvis.
1. The purpose of the first paragraph is to ______.| A．promote a new theory | B．offer an example |
| C．present an assumption | D．make a contrast |
| A．To examine the problem-solving ability of songbirds. |
| B．To prove the significance of vocal learning to humans. |
| C．To illustrate the influence of brain size on vocal learning. |
| D．To test the relation between vocal learning and intelligence. |
| A．Advanced species have better problem-solving ability. |
| B．Vocal learners have a better development of intelligence. |
| C．Better problem-solving ability leads to bigger brain size. |
| D．Humans and songbirds are both good at vocal learning. |
| A．why humans’ problem-solving abilities develop better |
| B．how other abilities are connected to songbirds’ intelligence |
| C．how problem-solving and vocal learning brain areas are related |
| D．why vocal learning differences exist in various songbirds species |
When advising children and adolescents who are learning to regulate their emotions, experts explain that how they think affects how they feel. After children learn to use some basic techniques to regulate their emotions, a greater sense of internal control arises. Thereafter, people start to notice the power they can feel in their minds by changing their thought patterns.
“I believe that changing our thinking patterns helps engage different parts of the brain,” said Ran D. Anbar, the author of Changing Children’s Lives with Hypnosis: A Journey to the Center, “For instance, we may find ourselves habitually thinking in a particular way that predictably makes us feel poorly, for example angry, anxious, or sad. People can become angry when they feel that they have been treated poorly or have not gotten their way. The anger occurs because the person focuses on the perceived (察觉到的) injustice. When we shift our thinking, we can more easily create new, healthier thought patterns.”
For instance, 14-year-old “Sarah” became angry with her parents for restricting her use of social media. While discussing why her parents did so, Sarah recognized that they were attempting to protect her from some of the ill effects of overusing social media. Sarah let go of her anger. She switched from thinking about her frustration with her parents’ restrictions and instead focused her thoughts on how to solve the dilemma (困境) regarding her overuse of social media. She was able to recognize that her parents were her valuable friends rather than her opponents.
Frequently, people explain to themselves and others that their poor mood is related to unfortunate circumstances. While holding such a belief, people sometimes take comfort in the idea that since they cannot change their circumstances, there should be no expectation that they take charge of improving their feelings.
However, as demonstrated in this post, our emotional response to unfortunate circumstances can be brought under our control and improved through a change in our thinking patterns. Sometimes, that change can even help us figure out new ways to act that also will improve our situation.
1. What happens after children regulate their emotion?2. Why does the author mention the example of Sarah in the 3rd paragraph?
3. Please decide which part is false in the following statement, then underline it and explain why.
People always believe their poor mood is due to unfortunate circumstances, so they will try to change their situation in order to have a good mood.
4. Besides changing thinking patterns, do you have other way(s) to control your emotions? (In about 40 words)
10 . Get Comfortable Giving Honest Feedback
Should you cautiously tell a coworker she’s been mispronouncing a client’s name? Or would you tell someone about the piece of vegetable left in his teeth?
In five experiments, study participants took part in real-time interactions in which they gave or received feedback. Those who gave feedback estimated how much the other person wanted to hear a well-intentioned criticism; receivers reported their actual desire for constructive critiques.
The underestimation is likely due to a human tendency to ascribe (归因) different motives and desires to others than we do to ourselves, says Harvard doctoral student Nicole Abi-Esber, who authored the study. People tend to want feedback for themselves, but they underestimate how much others want it, too.
Skipping offering constructive criticism could have consequences. In one study, the subjects were asked to engage in a public-speaking contest. The feedback-givers, again, underestimated the speakers’ desire for constructive criticism.
Is it possible to overcome this and get better at giving feedback when it’s most needed?
| A．They chose to give them praises instead. |
| B．A quick role-exchanging exercise could move the needle. |
| C．It can also help identify potential problems before they occur. |
| D．The reason is that they’re not putting themselves in the other person’s shoes. |
| E．How you ask for feedback may stop you from hearing what you need to hear. |
| F．Many people hesitate to offer such honest criticism even when the benefits seem obvious. |
| G．Feedback-givers always underestimated how much others wanted to hear helpful criticism. |
