1 . Interlibrary Loan is the service that the Osterhout Free Library offers for free to our patrons (顾客). You can use Interlibrary Loan to borrow an item (books, DVDs, music CDs, etc.) from within the continental 48 states if it is unavailable in the Luzerne County Library System.

How to request an Interlibrary Loan item
·To request an Interlibrary Loan item, you must either call the Osterhout Free Library, or come to our Information Services Desk.
·You must know exactly what item(s) you would like. We do not accept requests for general topics, for instance, “I would like books on antique cars.”
·Be sure to check the Luzerne County Library System’s catalog before asking Interlibrary Loan for an item.
Interlibrary Loan Processing
·When a patron requests Interlibrary Loan items, they are allowed to request more than one item, but there is a maximum of 5 requests in the system per patron.
·When the item comes in, the patron will be contacted via phone to ask him/her to pick it up. If the item is not able to be obtained, the patron will be notified via e-mail.
·If you wish to renew your Interlibrary Loan item, you must call us at least one week before the due date.
Interlibrary Loan Penalties (处罚)
·Interlibrary Loan overdue fees are $0.50/day per item.
·The following actions will result in an additional $3.00 per item fine:

(1)Returning an Interlibrary Loan item to any library other than the Osterhout Free Library.

(2)Returning an Interlibrary Loa n item without the paperwork with the due date.

1. What is a must when you borrow a book from Interlibrary Loan?

A．Renewing the book 3 days in advance.	B．Specifying your desired book.
C．Visiting the Osterhout Free Library.	D．Giving priority to Interlibrary Loan.

2. What’s a privilege for patrons of the Osterhout Free Library?

A．Being reminded of an unavailable item by e-mail.

B．Borrowing at least 5 items at a time.

C．Being given unlimited renewal of an item.

D．Having a free delivery service.

3. How much fine will you pay for just an item’s delayed return for 2 weeks?

A．$4.	B．$6.5.
C．$7.	D．$3.5.

2 . Teachers worried about students turning in essays written by a popular artificial intelligence chatbot now have a new tool of their own.

Edward Tian, a computer science major at Princeton University, has built an App called GPTZero to detect whether a text is written by Chat GPT, which is a popular chatbot that has caused fears over its possibility for immoral uses in American academic circles. His motivation to create the computer program was to fight what he sees as an increase in AI plagiarism (剽窃). Since the release of ChatGPT in 2022, there have been reports of students using the language model to pass off AI-written assignments as their own. Many teachers have reached out to him after he released GPTZero, telling him about the positive results they’ve seen from testing it.

To determine whether an essay is written by a computer program, GPTZero uses two indicators: “confusion” and “burstiness (突发性)”. The first indicator measures the complexity of text; if GPTZero is confused by the text, then it has a high complexity and it’s more likely to be human-written. However, if the text is more familiar to GPTZero — because it’s been trained on such data — then it will have low complexity and therefore is more likely to be AI-generated. Besides, the second indicator compares the variations of sentences. Humans tend to write with greater burstiness, for example, with some longer or complex sentences alongside shorter ones. AI sentences tend to be more uniform.

In a demonstration video, Tian compared the App’s analysis of a story in The New Yorker and a Linked In post written by ChatGPT. It successfully distinguished writing between human and AI. However, GPTZero isn’t foolproof, as some users have reported when putting it to the test. He said he’s still working to improve the model’s accuracy.

Tian is not opposed to the use of AI tools like ChatGPT. GPTZero is “not meant to be a tool to stop these technologies from being used,” he said. “But with any new technologies, we need to be able to adopt it responsibly and we need to have protections.”

1. What have some students done since ChatGPT was released?

A．They have built language models from ChatGPT.

B．They have copied AI-written text from ChatGPT

C．They have accessed their assignments through ChatGPT.

D．They have passed their writing exams through ChatGPT.

2. What can be inferred about the two indicators of GPTZero?

A．The more uniform the text is, the more likely it is to be AI-generated.

B．The less complex the text is, the more likely it is to be human-written.

C．GPTZero sometimes confuses human-written texts with AI-generated texts.

D．GPTZero is more familiar with human-written texts than with AI-generated texts.

3. What does the underlined word “foolproof” mean in the fourth paragraph?

A．User-friendly.	B．Time-efficient.
C．Perfectly legal.	D．Completely reliable.

4. What maybe Tian’s attitude to the use of AI tools?

A．Favorable.

B．Disapproving.

C．Objective.

D．Ambiguous.

3 . “Man is by nature a social animal,” the famous Greek philosopher Aristotle wrote more than 2,000years ago. From the time you enter this world, you start communicating. Your first cry is your first attempt at verbal (口头的) communication. And as you start growing, you find newer ways of communication. You learn to form words and sentences to communicate.     1    

Verbal communication means effectively presenting your thoughts verbally.     2     Be it a weekly meeting or a presentation to stakeholders (股东), the importance of verbal communication is unparalleled. People always remember a person who speaks clearly, effectively, and confidently. For instance, Apple co-founder Steve Jobs’s speech at the iPhone launching ceremony is a classic example of brilliant verbal communication that people remember even today.

    3     Interpersonal communication often happens between two individuals. Reactions and responses from the other person will help you understand if you’re getting your thoughts across clearly. Public communication is also known as “public speaking”. Speeches, election campaigns and presentations are a few examples of this type.

Verbal communication is a broad topic. There are various elements that help us organize our thoughts around it. They include the tone, speed, and volume of your speech.     4     Each of these elements matters in any kind of verbal communication.

A variety of challenges may arise in verbal communication. Although difficulties with verbal communication can’t be entirely avoided, it is possible to increase your chances of communicating successfully. Consider the message you wish to communicate before speaking and communicate with respect for the recipient’s point of view.     5     Pronounce your words clearly and be conscious of nonverbal aspects such as eye contact, posture and facial expressions.

A．Pay attention to what you say and how you say it.

B．Its relevant skills are essential in the world of business.

C．Verbal communication can be classified into two main types.

D．This is the beginning of the real sense of verbal communication.

E．Language barriers are a major cause of confusion in verbal communication.

F．Everyone has a unique style of communicating and understanding messages.

G．Additionally, grammar and vocabulary are critical aspects of verbal communication.

4 . Sharon downsized her parents’ home and then cleared out her father’s stuff after he died. “So much of it hadn’t been used in years. So I decided that we wouldn’t do the same thing to our children.” Sharon spent six months looking over each object in her home. Each day, she sold, donated or threw one away. “It was liberating,” she said. “Now, life is much simpler and the clutter (杂乱) is gone.”

This process has its own reality TV show, The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning. Inspired by a best-selling book by Magnusson, 89, three Swedes travel across the Atlantic to help Americans clean house and face death. “A loved one wishes to inherit (继承) nice things from you,” mentions Magnusson in her book, “not all things from you.” If you’re lucky enough to meet your material needs, then letting go of some of your stuff, or not buying it in the first place, can bring immediate benefits. The clutter is linked to stress and anxiety, even depression. Prioritizing relationships and experience over possessions has been proven to boost our happiness.

What is Swedish death cleaning? It isn’t about clearing out closets. It’s about rethinking your relationship with things. Rather than making do with less, it’s about getting more from the things that make you happy. Death cleaning happens to agree with scientists’ understanding of our relationship with things and why we’re unwilling to part with them. Decades of research has shown that we subconsciously see our possessions as physical extensions of ourselves. For most of us, of course, a degree of attachment is healthy, but it’s not the number of things or the quality that matters. It’s about the symbolic meaning of it. That can bring a lot of happiness.

Things take up space in our minds, well beyond what our storerooms and garages hold. By clarifying what’s important and what’s not, you make room. Your loved ones can receive what they might like before you go, relieving themselves of the burden of cleaning up once you’re gone.

1. Why does the author mention Sharon’s experience in paragraph 1?

A．To lead to the topic.	B．To make a comparison.
C．To support an argument.	D．To reach a conclusion.

2. What is the purpose of Swedish death cleaning?

A．To reduce the waste.	B．To remember their loved ones.
C．To boost their happiness.	D．To make the reality TV show.

3. What should one focus on when cleaning up the old things?

A．The quantity.	B．The popularity.
C．The significance.	D．The degree of attachments.

4. Which of the following is a suitable title for the text?

A．Old Stuff: a Heavy Burden or a Sweet Memory.

B．Everyone’s Stuff: Physical Extensions of Himself.

C．The Way to Deal with Your Belongings: Give Away.

D．Swedes’ Secret to Happiness: You Aren’t Your Stuff.

5 . Food polluted with fungi (真菌) can be an inconvenience at best and life-threatening at worst. But new research shows that removing just one protein can leave some fungal toxins (毒素) high and dry, and that’s potentially good news for food safety.

Some fungi produce toxic chemicals called mycotoxins that not only ruin food such as grains but can also make us sick. “It is a silent enemy,” said fungal researcher Ozgur Bayram of Maynooth University in Ireland, as most people don’t notice when foods like corn or wheat are ruined.

For years, researchers have known that some fungi produce these toxins, but didn’t know all the detail. Now, Bayram and his colleagues have identified a group of proteins responsible for turning on the production of mycotoxins. Genetically engineering the fungus to remove even just one of the proteins prevents the toxins from being made, the researchers reported in the September 23 issue of Nucleic Acids Research.

“The newly identified proteins act like a keystarting a car,” Bayram said. “The researchers wanted to figure out how to remove the key and prevent the starting signal from going through, meaning that no toxins would be made in the first place.”

Bayram and his team identified the proteins in a kind of fungus named A. nidulans, revealing that four proteins come together to make the key. The researchers genetically engineered the fungus to delete each protein in turn. When any of the four proteins are missing, the key does not start mycotoxin ignition(点火装置), the team found.

Fungi and fungi-like organisms are estimated to ruin a third of the world’s food crops each year. If that contamination could be prevented, Bayram estimates the saved food would be enough to feed 800 million people in 2024.

The new research is a good start, but it will still be a challenge to try to understand how this can be operationalized for agricultural purposes. “It’s difficult to apply the technique, and getting US regulatory agencies to approve the use of a genetically modified fungus on key food crops might be difficult,” said Felicia Wu a food safety expert.

1. Why is the mycotoxin called “a silent enemy”?

A．It is hard to be proved.	B．It tends to be unnoticed.
C．Its protein is harmful.	D．Its damage is incurable.

2. What does the underlined word “contamination” in paragraph 6 mean?

A．Pollution

B．Increase

C．Spread

D．Control

3. What is one difficulty according to Felicia Wu?

A．Changing the genes of fungus.	B．Putting the technique to practical use.
C．Enlarging the size of farmland.	D．Using genetically modified food.

4. What is the main idea of the text?

A．Many crops are ruined by fungi each year.	B．Fungi bring great harm to people’s health.
C．Deleting a protein can stop toxin production.	D．Researchers found new proteins producing toxins.

6 . One early morning, I was cleaning the bathroom shower curtain and its liner (衬布) when it hit me. I had to clean a two-dollar plastic liner because I didn’t have a few extra dollars to buy a new one. I couldn’t believe it! Complaining wasn’t how I would start the day, especially when the sun was shining.

To continue the day optimistically, I left the cleaning for my daily walk at the beach. Along the way through the down town area, something on the sidewalk caught my attention. I walked over and picked it up. It was a small paper bag with no markings, so it wasn’t possible to figure out who it belonged to. I assumed someone must have dropped it, perhaps while loading other bags into his/her car. I turned it over for any identification. No store name, but the brand marking on the front clearly specified it was a shower curtain liner!

Speechless, I turned it over many times in my hands. Believe it or not, it was really an unopened shower curtain liner. I just happened to be the person who walked by and found it on the sidewalk. It took me a few minutes to decide what to do next, not wanting to claim something that wasn’t mine. If I brought it to the police station across the street, the police might just share a good laugh over a two-dollar shower curtain liner. I decided to keep it for myself.

But I was still surprised because the worthless plastic liner that had needed cleaning inspired my complaint and an early morning walk had suddenly transformed itself into a gift on the sidewalk for me. How that moment brightened my day!

At home, my focus was on myself, my anxieties, and my limits in being able to fix the problem. Once outside, I relaxed in the perspective of a much bigger picture. My personal complaint changed to thankfulness for the beauty that extended before my eyes in the form of a brand-new shower curtain liner, which matched perfectly with my bathroom!

1. What is the purpose of the author going for a walk on the beach?

A．To seek a replacement for the liner.

B．To start her day in an optimistic way.

C．To get energetic for the day’s work.

D．To get relaxed after the heavy cleaning.

2. What stopped the author from reporting the bag to the police?

A．The curiosity of opening the bag.

B．The urge to keep it to herself.

C．The chance to find the owner.

D．The fear of being laughed at.

3. Why did the author feel surprised?

A．It was strange that a free liner should make her day.

B．The worthless liner turned out a gift from friends.

C．There was a special way for her financial support.

D．A chance meeting gave her confidence in life.

4. What did the author try to convey in the last paragraph?

A．Learn to be grateful.	B．Fix the problem timely.
C．Avoid complaints.	D．Broaden your perspective.

7 . “The mountains are calling and I must go” — the famous quote is from John Muir(1838-1914), who is described as “the wilderness poet” and “the citizen of the universe.” He once jokingly referred to himself as a “poet-geologist-botanist and ornithologist (鸟类学家)-naturalist etc. etc.!” He is known as the Father of American National Parks.

Famed documentary filmmaker Ken Burns recently said, “As we got to know him… he was among the highest individuals in America; I’m talking about the level of Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr., and Thomas Jefferson— people who have had a transformational effect on who we are.”

So where is the quote from? Well, John Muir was a productive writer. Whether he was writing poetry or simply letters to his family, John Muir was always putting pen to paper. The quote is from within one of his many letters written to his sister:

September 3rd, 1873 Yosemite Valley Dear sister Sarah, I have just returned from the longest and hardest trip I have ever made in the mountains, having been gone over five weeks. I am weary, but resting fast; sleepy, but sleeping deep and fast; hungry, but eating much. For two weeks I explored the glaciers of the summits east of here, sleeping among the snowy mountains without blankets and with little to eat on account of its being so inaccessible. After my icy experiences, it seems strange to be down here in so warm and flowery a climate. I will soon be off again, determined to use all the season in carrying through my work—will go next to Kings River a hundred miles south, then to Lake Tahoe and surrounding mountains, and in winter work in Oakland with my pen. Though slow, someday I will have the results of my mountain studies in a form in which you all will be able to read and judge them. The mountains are calling and I must go, and I will work on while I can, studying incessantly (永不停息地). I will write again when I return from Kings River Canyon. Farewell, with love everlasting. Yours, John

1. What can we learn from John Muir’s self-description in paragraph 1?

A．He longed to expand his own career.

B．He enjoyed his involvement in nature.

C．He wanted to find his real advantage.

D．He valued his identity as a poet most.

2. What did Ken Burns mainly talk about?

A．Muir’s political influence.	B．A documentary film on Muir.
C．Muir’s historic significance.	D．The social circle around Muir.

3. How did Muir feel when writing the first paragraph of his letter?

A．Relieved but regretful.	B．Exhausted but content.
C．Excited but lonely.	D．Defeated but hopeful.

4. Why must John Muir go into mountains again?

A．To go on with his mountain studies.

B．To seek freedom from social connection.

C．To attend an appointment in Oakland.

D．To experience the hardship of wilderness.

8 . The humble beaver could hold the key to saving our water, according to a new research that has found how their dam building skills protect the rivers threatened by climate change.

The research, done on rivers in Colorado, found the wooden barriers built by beavers raise water level upstream. As it builds up, the water flows into surrounding soils and secondary waterways. These acts separate out extra nutrients and pollutants before water reenters the main channel downstream.

Extreme weather events, such as severe storms, impact water quality in major river systems. Droughts and floods are becoming more frequent, and the scientists have also found they are contributing to an increase in the American be aver in the US, and consequently an explosion of dam building.

The team chose to monitor a 40-kilometer stretch of the East River. They reviewed data on water levels gathered hourly by sensors fixed in the river and the areas along the river.

They also collected water samples, including from below the ground’s surface to monitor nutrient and pollutant levels. The researchers compared water quality along the stretch during a historically dry year, to water quality the following year when water levels were unusually high. They also compared these year-long datasets to water quality during the nearly three- month period, starting in late July 2018, when the be aver dam blocked the river.

The study revealed the dams increased nitrate（硝酸盐）by nearly 50% by increasing the pressure of the water flow upstream 10 times over, which pushed more water out into the surrounding areas. This decrease in nitrates, which are absorbed and digested by tiny organisms in the soil, helped increase the oxygen content and quality in the rivers.

Beavers’ handiwork is responsible for the land they love.

1. What do the wooden barriers created by beavers act as?

A．Waterways

B．Samples

C．Dams

D．Sensors

2. What is the direct result of frequent droughts and floods?

A．More dams emerge on the river.

B．More American beavers appear in the US.

C．More pollutants are removed from the river.

D．More oxygen is created in the river.

3. Why did the researchers collect water samples from below the ground’s surface?

A．To keep an eye on the water quality.	B．To compare water quality of the stretch.
C．To reveal the damage caused by floods.	D．To save the river from drying up.

4. What can be a suitable title for the text?

A．Organisms help decrease nitrate.

B．Beavers contribute to climate change.

C．Extreme weather catches researcher’s eyes.

D．Beavers help protect rivers against climate change.

9 . How to win a creative writing competition

I’ve judged a lot of competitions for young writers, and the following advice may give you the chance of winning one.

●Cut your first paragraph.

It’s amazing how many stories are improved by simply covering up the first paragraph. You may just want to warm up.     1     Well, that information is not as important as you think. It can wait.

●Keep it simple.

    2     Writers in the older age groups try to show how well they can use fancy words. The younger writers are better at telling a story. Which do you think is more important? If you’re in the older age group category, you might find it a tricky question. It isn’t.     3     All those fancy words, complicated constructions... cut them.

●    4    

If you want to write about Harry Potter, or a footballer or celebrity, adjust it. Change the name. Change the situation. Make your own character and try exaggerating an aspect of the personality to make your point striking.

●Write an ending.

The great film director Alexander Mackendrick said, “If you’ve got a beginning, but you don’t yet have an end, then you’re wrong.” I suggest you come up with your ending first.     5    

A．It’s the story that matters.

B．Avoid characters that already exist.

C．I see a really odd trend in the stories.

D．Describe characters in your own words.

E．Plan that out, then plan how you’re going to get there.

F．Works handed in are usually divided into two categories.

G．Or you may just desire to tell me some crucial information in the first few lines.

10 . Millions of people have conditions that make walking difficult. Millions more regularly perform tough movement as part of their jobs. Wearable robotic devices called exoskeletons that help the legs move could benefit both of these groups. In laboratory settings, such devices have helped people walk faster while using less energy. But various obstacles have kept these devices from being practical for everyday use.

A research team at Stanford University led by Dr. Steven Collins has developed an exoskeleton that can rapidly adapt to the user during normal walking. The team tested how well an exoskeleton based on their model could adapt to a user. They then compared it to one based on lab measurements. Both methods wound up applying similar forces at different speeds and reduced effort similarly across a range of conditions. But the model-based adaptation took only one-quarter as long as the measurement-based adaptation.

Next, the researchers created a portable, ankle-worn exoskeleton that could be used in the real world. The exoskeleton was powered by a battery pack worn at the waist.

The team conducted tests of the device outdoors on public sidewalks. Compared with walking in normal shoes, the exoskeleton increased walking speed by 9% while expending 17% less energy on average. This is equal to the energy savings of removing a 20-pound backpack. When walking on a treadmill (跑步机) at a constant speed, users expended up to 23% less energy, equal to removing a 30-pound backpack.

“This exoskeleton personalize s assistance as people walk normally through the real world,” Collins says. “This opens the door to a much broader use of exoskeletons to assist individuals with physical impairments (损伤) and people who need to carry heavy loads,” adds co-author Dr. Scott Delp.

1. Who are exoskeletons designed for?

A．Sportsmen in a race.	B．Firefighters on a mission.
C．Patients with mental disabilities.	D．Doctors doing an operation.

2. What do the underlined word “obstacles” in the first paragraph mean?

A．Barriers.

B．Applications.

C．Models.

D．Backpacks.

3. Why are the figures listed in paragraph 4?

A．To illustrate the advantage of exoskeletons.	B．To compare exoskeletons with normal shoes.
C．To give examples of different kinds of shoes.	D．To list the reasons for designing exoskeletons.

4. What’s Dr. Scott Delp’s attitude towards exoskeletons?

A．Conservative.

B．Negative.

C．Favourable.

D．Indifferent.