1 . It’s normal for teenagers to feel nervous, but if nervousness prevents you from speaking up in class or making friends, you may have a common condition known as social anxiety disorder. To overcome it, you need to take some measures.

Practice deep breathing to ease anxiety. If anxiety hits before a presentation or right before the bell rings to change, take a few deep breaths to calm down.     1    

Try to make eye contact and smile at people. Making casual conversation with other kids at school may seem too difficult.     2     Briefly making eye contact and flashing a smile helps you seem cool, so they may come up and talk to you.

Channel your anxiety into a creative activity.     3     These activities not only bring about positive self-worth, but they’ll also temporarily take you away from worries. What’s more,creative activities also allow you to release anxiety and turn it into something special, like a song or a painting.

    4     If you have friends or siblings (兄弟姐妹) your age, consider talking to them about social anxiety. Share some of your fears and ask them for support. For example, you might ask your sibling if it’s okay to sit with them at lunch so you’re not eating alone.

Practice exposing yourself to fearsome situations gradually.     5     Make a plan to expose yourself to these situations, starting with those causing the least anxiety. For example, you might start exposing yourself to eating in common areas at school.

A．Sign up for a band, drama, or art.

B．Talk to trusted ones and ask for their help.

C．Thus, avoid face-to-face communication at first.

D．You can’t expect to be free of anxiety overnight.

E．You can start by trying to present yourself as approachable.

F．Sit down with a trusted person and list the situations that cause anxiety.

G．This is a handy tool you can always use to get a handle on your anxiety.

2 . Climate change poses a particular threat to children and youth, starting before birth and potentially influencing the normal development of physiological systems and emotional skills in ways that are sometimes irreversible (无法逆转的), according to a report released by the American Psychological Association (APA) and ecoAmerica. The serious impacts of climate change, such as weather disasters, can cause trauma (心理创伤) and post-traumatic stress disorder in the short term, and many longer-term mental health challenges in the absence of proper treatment, the report says.

The effect of extreme weather events resulting from climate change can interrupt normal fetal (胎儿的) development and lead to a greater risk of anxiety or depressive disorder, and lower levels of self-control. The list of possible climate change-related mental health struggles expands as children get older, according to the report.

The impacts of climate change interact and combine with other factors that threaten youth mental health, which is already in danger. These factors include child development, parental health, rates of depression, anxiety, poverty, housing security, inadequate nutrition, and access to medical care, according to the report.

“If our responsibility to ensure a safe climate and great future for our children and future generations was not clear enough, this report brings it into vivid relief. My hope is for anyone caring for children-especially policymakers-to join me in following its guidance,” said Meighen Speiser, executive director of ecoAmerica and a coauthor of the report.

This new report builds on the prior Mental Health and Our Changing Climate: Impacts, Inequities, and Responses report, published in 2021. “Since the publication of the 2021 report, concerns about the mental health impacts of climate change have grown among scientists, health professionals, policymakers and the public, and the effects on children and youth are more noticeable,” said APA CEO Arthur C. Evans Jr. , PhD. “Psychology, as the science of behavior, will be of great importance to making the changes that are vital to slow and stop its advance. ”

1. What does the author say about youth mental health?

A．It is already under many threats.

B．It reflects a lot of social problems.

C．It differs a great deal from age to age.

D．It is the biggest concern of the society.

2. What does Meighen Speiser think of the report?

A．It reminds us to take good care of our children.

B．It calls on people to join in the fight against pollution.

C．It clarifies the need to control climate change for future.

D．It urges policymakers to provide guidance on climate change.

3. What can be inferred from Arthur Evans’s words in the last paragraph?

A．The study of youth health has sped up.

B．The climate is worsening faster than ever before.

C．The development of psychology needs more attention.

D．The impact of climate change-related mental health may be improved.

4. Which of the following is the best title for the text?

A．Global Climate Changes

B．Threats to Children’s Health

C．Mental Challenges Faced With Babies

D．Impacts of Climate Change on Kids’ Mental Health

3 . As a kid, Kara McGrath had to have her “pocket cheese” into jackets so she could have it on the go. In college, she blew her budget on fancy cheese during grocery runs with roommates. And when she got married, she served her guests a flowery, four-tiered cake made from wheels of blue cheese. So it wasn’t a surprise when she quit a stable job to pursue a career as a cheesemonger (干酪商).

In 2019, McGrath joined a cheese catering business. There, she gained experience making display boards and leading tasting sessions. But a typhoon hit and took away their wooden shop as well as the community’s business. Her partner decided to turn to other business, leaving McGrath unsure of her next steps.

“There’s not a ton of cheese options in D. C. ,” she said. “My whole thing was, if I can’t find a place to work, I’m going to build it.” She created a cheese club, featuring virtual guided tastings, working first at her home, then in a rented shared kitchen space. As her following grew,she expanded with holiday markets, and when she saw that a wine bar on H Street had closed,she seized the opportunity and rented it.

Today, she’s the owner of Paste and Rind, a cheese and wine bar on H Street in Washington, D. C. , which opened in February after she emptied her 401K to fund the decoration of the space. To build a good reputation, she’s created regular tastings of limited-release cheeses in their bar, which sold out in August and will be offered monthly starting in October. And she doesn’t depend only on walk-in customers: Paste and Rind regularly appears at local farmer’s markets, offers custom cheese food for events and exhibits a subscription box.

As a self-taught enterpriser, MeGrath follows cheese experts on Instagram, connects with peers at the Cheesemonger Invitational in New York and listens to restaurant strategy programs. They’re excited to expand their business further, such as hiring full-time staff to increase the wine bar’s hours and exhibit at bigger occasions like weddings, where she might find herself with another full-circle cheese wheel moment.

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

A．She was a born businessman.

B．Her marriage influenced her greatly.

C．She was a big fan of cheese.

D．Her previous job was a very challenging one.

2. What did McGrath do when she lost her shop?

A．She set up her own business.	B．She decided to find a partner.
C．She rented a bar immediately.	D．She lost faith in doing business.

3. How did McGrath attract walk-in customers for her bar?

A．By displaying the products.	B．By hosting tasting activities.
C．By advertising in local events.	D．By offering free cheese to farmers.

4. Which of the following can best describe McGrath?

A．Ambitious and adaptable.	B．Generous and responsible.
C．Independent and considerate.	D．Enthusiastic and cooperative.

4 . Artificial Intelligence (AI) has greatly sped up how long it takes to sort, label and analyze(分析) animal sounds—as well as to figure out which aspects of those sounds might carry meaning. One day we’ll be able to use AI to build a chat box that translates complex(复杂的) animal sounds into human language. Project CETI is just one organization working toward this goal.

“AI could eventually get us to the point where we understand animals, but that’s hard to deal with and long-term,” says Karen Bakker, a researcher at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. “Some species have been on the planet longer than humans. Some species could go extinct before we figure out their language,” Bakker adds. “Besides, the idea of walking around with an animal translator may seem cool, but many animals might not be interested in chatting.”

“Why would a bat want to speak to you?” she asks. What interests her is what we can learn from how bats and other creatures talk amongst each other.“We should listen to nature and ask the animals’ requirements in order to better protect them,” she argues. For example, a system set up to record whales or elephants can also track their locations. This can help our boats avoid whales or protect elephants from poachers (偷猎者).

Protection is one goal driving Project CETI. “If we understand sperm whales better, we will be better at understanding what’s troubling them,” says Gašper Beguš, a linguist at the University of California, Berkeley. Learning that a species has something very similar to language or culture could also inspire people to work harder to protect it.

When we protect an animal that has some version of language or culture, we’re not simply protecting nature and we’re also saving a way of life. Marine biologist Denise Herzing says that animals are supposed to have a healthy environment so that their cultures can develop well.

1. What can we infer from Paragraph 1?

A．We can tell the complex animal behavior.

B．We will find ways to talk with animals.

C．We can share our language with animals.

D．We need conduct more research on animals.

2. Bakker thinks that understanding animals’ language fully is ______.

A．difficult.

B．costly.

C．harmful.

D．worthless.

3. How can we protect the animals effectively according to Paragraph 3?

A．By learning about their needs.	B．By setting up shelters for them.
C．By mapping out their locations.	D．By living peacefully with them.

4. Which statement does Herzing probably agree with?

A．Animals’ culture should be given up.

B．Saving nature means saving ourselves.

C．Short-term and long-term goals need to be set.

D．Animals should be in a healthy natural world.

5 . The parents’ interpersonal strength, such as kindness, love, and social intelligence, is one of the salient points in nurturing their children. As social psychologist John Bowlby puts it, “We do as we have been done by.”

Here is the example of my grandmother. When other children came over to play with my mother, my grandmother would fix them delicious butter sandwiches-the crusts (面包皮) delicately removed from the bread for “the guests” but unavoidably left on for her own children. This is how we ought to treat guests in our home-guests are worthy of kindness, but you are not. The kindness that my grandmother modeled and instructed her children to emulate (效仿) was not ultimately what they experienced - kindness was seen but not felt.

Generally, we often treat others the way we ourselves were treated. So much of what we learn as children and adults is experience-dependent. First-hand experience, especially when repeated over time, literally shapes the brain and nervous system, with downstream consequences for the way we engage with the world around us, deal with emotions, and behave socially.

We don’t learn to love by being instructed to love; we learn to love by experiencing love. We don’t learn kindness by being told to be kind; we learn kindness by experiencing kindness in our darkest moments. Recent research shows that children who received help while playing a game were more likely to share with another child, possibly motivated by feelings of gratitude to the person who helped them. They could learn that they don’t just repay the kindness but they need to pay it forward.

This transforms one of the key questions about raising kids: Perhaps we should ask not how to teach our children kindness, but how we want our children to experience kindness from us. If we want to create a kinder society, we might start with policies that ensure kinder treatment of kids. This means reimagining our education and foster care systems around compassion and support. Science tells us that experiences of kindness in childhood have long-term, biological, intergenerational effects on children’s development; our parenting and political systems should reflect the science.

1. What does the underlined word “salient” in the first paragraph mean?

A．Obvious.

B．Important.

C．Interesting.

D．Controversial.

2. What does the author think of his grandmother’s way of teaching her kids kindness?

A．Understandable.

B．Instructive.

C．Disappointing.

D．Impractical.

3. What can be inferred from the recent research?

A．Action speaks louder than words.

B．Kindness makes better cooperation.

C．It is important to repay others’ kindness.

D．Gratitude is a motivation for helping others.

4. What’s the author trying to do in the last paragraph?

A．To give suggestions on parenting.

B．To call on people to learn science.

C．To show the advantages of being kind.

D．To offer evidence supporting his point of view.

6 . Scientists say they have created a new method that can turn brain signals into electronic speech. The invention could one day give people who have lost the ability to speak a better way of communicating than current methods.

Brain-computer interfaces (交界面) already exist to help people who cannot speak on their own. Often these systems are trained to follow eye or facial movements of people who have learned to spell out their thoughts letter by letter. But researchers say this method can produce many errors and is very slow, permitting at most about 10 spoken words per minute. This compares to between 100 and 150 words per minute used in natural speech.

For the new method, scientists created a brain-machine interface that is inserted in the brain. It can read and record brain signals that help control the muscles that produce speech, like the lips, the tongue and the jaw. The experiment involved a two-step process. First, the researchers used a “decoder (解码器)” to turn electrical brain signals into representations of human vocal (声音的) movements. An electronic instrument then turns the representations into complete spoken sentences.

The new two-step method actually presents a “proof of principle” with great possibilities for real-time communication in the future. Five volunteer patients who were being treated for epilepsy (a disease of the nervous system) participated in the study. The individuals had the ability to speak and already had interfaces built in their brains. They were asked to read several hundred sentences aloud while the researchers recorded their brain activity.

The researchers then used audio recordings of the voice readings to reproduce the vocal muscle movements needed to produce human speech.

This process made it possible for the scientists to create a realistic “virtual voice” for each individual, controlled by their brain activity.

The study reports the spoken sentences were understandable to hundreds of human listeners later asked to write out what they heard. Scientists say future studies will test the technology on people who are unable to speak.

1. What’s the new method mainly designed to do?

A．To monitor people’s brain and control their speech.

B．To help people improve their communication skills.

C．To turn people’s speaking desire into digital speech.

D．To develop a hand gesture for people unable to speak.

2. What’s the problem with the existing brain-computer interfaces?

A．They are unreliable and inefficient.

B．They ask people to fully concentrate.

C．They require too much body language.

D．They are useless to people unable to speak.

3. What does Paragraph 3 mainly talk about?

A．How to decode brain signals correctly.

B．How the new method works theoretically.

C．How to use your speech muscles effectively.

D．How the brain responds to one’s muscle movements.

4. What will the scientists do next?

A．Ask human listeners for opinions.

B．Bring their products to the market.

C．Invent new tools for those unable to speak.

D．Prove the new method in people unable to speak.

7 . Managing Pre-Exam Anxiety

Experiencing anxiety before an exam is common.     1    . You can create a study plan, breaking down your revision into small sections. Start preparing early to avoid last-minute cramming and following are the strategies you can apply to cope with the anxiety before the exam.

    2    . Remind yourself of your preparation and abilities. Replace thoughts like “I can’t do this” with “I am prepared and capable.” Avoid comparing yourself to others, as this can increase anxiety. By consistently focusing on the positive aspects and maintaining a hopeful attitude, you can boost your confidence and improve your performance under stress.

Make regular physical activity part of your daily routine to reduce stress and improve your mood. Include relaxation exercises in your routine. Deep breathing exercises can calm you down. Progressive muscle relaxation, where you tense and then slowly release each muscle group, can also relieve tension.     3    .

Use effective study techniques to maximize your learning. Break down complex topics into simpler parts and use mnemonic devices to remember key facts.     4    , as discussing material with peers can enhance understanding and retention. Taking regular practice tests can also help track your progress and identify areas that need more focus.

Talk about your feelings with friends, family, or teachers. They can offer support and advice.     5    . They can provide professional help and coping strategies. By preparing well, maintaining healthy habits, practicing relaxation, thinking positively, managing time wisely, and seeking support, you can manage pre-exam anxiety. Some stress is natural, but with these strategies, you can control it and perform your best on exam day.

A．Challenge negative thoughts

B．Come up with some cheerful ideas

C．Group study sessions can also be helpful

D．Meditation and mindfulness can help you stay focused

E．When you were seized with tension, talk to your parents

F．Managing this stress effectively is crucial for performing well

G．If your anxiety feels overwhelming, consider talking to the counselor

8 . Hummingbirds occupy a unique place in nature: They fly like insects but have the bone and muscles of birds. According to Bo Cheng, a professor in Mechanical Engineering at Penn State, hummingbirds have incredible agility (敏捷) when flying through the air, which is why their flight behavior is often mimicked in the design of drones and other flying vehicles.

Using a new modeling method, Cheng and his team gained new insights into how hummingbirds produce wing movement, which could lead to design improvements in flying robots. “We essentially analyzed how the muscles and skeleton   (骨骼) work in hummingbirds to flap the wings,” said Cheng. “The traditional methods have mostly focused on measuring the activity of a bird or insect during natural flight or in an artificial environment where flight-like conditions are reproduced. But most insects and, among birds specifically, hummingbirds are very small. The data that we can get from those measurements are limited.”

The researchers employed various methods to inform and adjust their model. With this model, they uncovered previously unknown methods of hummingbird wing movement. The discovery was that hummingbirds tighten their shoulder joints in both the up-and-down direction and the twisting direction using various smaller muscles.

“It’s like when we do fitness training and a trainer asks us to tighten our core to be more agile,” Cheng said. “We found that hummingbirds are using a similar kind of procedure.” They tighten their wings in the twisting and up-and-down directions but keep the wings loose along the back- and-forth direction. So their wings appear to be flapping back and forth only while their power muscles, or their flight engines, are actually pulling the wings in all three directions. In this way, the wings have very good agility in their motion.

While Cheng stressed that the results from the new model are predictions that will need confirmation, he said that it has suggestions for technological development of flying vehicles. “Even though the technology is not there yet to fully mimic hummingbird flight, our work provides essential methods for informed mimicry of hummingbirds hopefully for the next generation of agile flight systems.”

1. What’s the limitation of previous studies on hummingbird flight?

A．Insufficient records.

B．Inaccurate measurements.

C．Few bird species for research.

D．Lack of suitable test environments.

2. What has the research discovered about hummingbirds’ agile winging?

A．They tighten their wings for balance in flight.

B．They use twisting motions to get flight power.

C．They keep straight flight by controlling small muscles.

D．They flexibly adjust wing movements in different directions.

3. What is Cheng’s attitude towards the research findings?

A．Unclear.

B．Approving.

C．Doubtful.

D．Negative.

4. What is the best title for the text?

A．The impact of drones on hummingbirds’ survival

B．Identifying hummingbird species through flying patterns

C．A new approach to studying hummingbirds’ muscle system

D．Studying hummingbirds to advance future flying vehicles

9 . Trans-Siberian Railway

About the tour

Board our private train, the Zarengold, and start a 15-day journey from Beijing to Moscow via Ulaanbaatar on the world’s most famous railroad. An unforgettable adventure will wait for you. Set this dream of a lifetime on the tracks with our private train and experience Russia, Mongolia and China in the safest and most comfortable manner.

The historic route between Beijing and Moscow is the central part of the trip. The exciting days of your journey are delivering three of the world’s largest countries directly to your compartment (车厢). Sit back to fully enjoy the great changes of scenery and Europe’s and Asia’s most excellent landscapes!

Highlights

● Visits to the Great Wall of China and Ming Tombs

● Traditional Mini-Naadam celebrations, including Mongolian horse-riding shows

● Rides on the panoramic (全景的) railway tracks along Lake Baikal with photo stops

● Traditional Russian welcome ceremonies

● Moscow city tours including a guided visit to the Kremlin

● Professional tour guides offering a special understanding of Russian, Mongolian and Chinese culture

View Dates

15 May 2022 - 29 May 2022 (15 days)

12 Jun. 2022 - 26 Jun. 2022 (15 days)

31 Jul. 2022 - 14 Aug. 2022 (15 days)

26 Aug. 2022 - 09 Sept. 2022 (15 days)

18 Sept. 2022 - 02 Oct. 2022 (15 days)

What’s included

TRANS	●   Overnight private train ●   Transfers in Moscow and Beijing
ACCOMMODATION	●   Overnight private train accommodations for 9 nights ●   Hotel accommodations for 5 nights
LUGGAGE	●   Luggage service at train stations
FOOD & DRINKS	●   All meals on the train except meals at hotels

What’s not included

● Cancellation and travel insurance are not included in the price of the tour but can be organized

● Airport transfers

1. What can we know about the tour?

A．It covers places outside Europe and Asia.

B．It’s a year-round trip popular with Asians.

C．It’s a cross-border trip with impressive scenery.

D．It can be adjusted according to tourists’ requests.

2. What can tourists do during the trip?

A．Visit the Kremlin.	B．Clean the Ming Tombs.
C．Walk along Lake Baikal.	D．Ride a horse in Mongolia.

3. What does the tour include?

A．Airport transfers.	B．Luggage storage.
C．Private tour guides.	D．All meals in the tour.

10 . Imagine getting ready for bed, brushing your teeth, setting your alarm and then putting a device on your head that allows you to control your dreams. It might sound like something unfeasible, but it’s the real-life promise of a new futuristic-looking headband called Halo, at present in development by US tech company Prophetic.

Expected to be released in 2025, Halo aims to allow you to have more lucid dreams (清醒梦). In some cases, you might also exercise a degree of control over what happens in these dreams, perhaps in ways that benefit your waking life, such as solving work problems, practicing guitar and more.

Earlier research has shown lucid dreams could be used for real-life benefits. For example, one study carried out by researchers at the University of Bern, Switzerland showed that participants who practised casting coins into a cup in their lucid dreams showed superior performance the next day.

The team behind Halo are using technologies like EEG (脑电图) to collect vast amounts of brain data from volunteers experiencing lucid dreams. The idea is to build a detailed map of what’s happening in the brain during different types of lucid dreams. This information will be key for the second main area of investigation, which involves using TUS (delivered via the headband) to control brain activity. TUS, a non-invasive brain stimulation technique, can change brain function by using high-frequency sound.

“It’s seemingly true that the sound stimulation could contribute to the high-frequency brain activity that’s associated with lucidity,” says Professor Mark Blagrove, a sleep scientist based at Swansea University. “Sound stimulation has been used to cause low-frequency slow waves in slow wave sleep, so the method suggested is believable.”

However, TUS is a relatively new approach to brain stimulation and it’s not entirely clear what the long-term results of stimulating your brain with high-frequency sounds might be. Moreover, some sleep scientists believe dreams have basic functions, including processing emotional experiences. By using a device to change the nature of your dreams, maybe you risk interrupting the usual purpose of your dreams.

1. What does the underlined word “unfeasible” in paragraph 1 probably mean?

A．Impossible.

B．Significant.

C．Logical.

D．Meaningless.

2. Why is the study by the University of Bern mentioned?

A．To suggest a way to dream a dream.	B．To provide a theory for developing Halo.
C．To prove the benefits of lucid dreams.	D．To indicate the meaning of being awake.

3. What is the fourth paragraph mainly about?

A．The way in which EEG works.	B．The reason for designing Halo.
C．The changes brought by Halo.	D．The methods used by the team.

4. What can we know from the last paragraph?

A．Hal o has got widespread recognition.	B．There may be some side effects about Halo.
C．Dreaming doesn’t have any functions.	D．Lucid dreams cause emotional experiences.