1 . The Chinese Students and Scholars Association in the UK held a Spring Festival gala (庆典) on Wednesday in London to count down to the Chinese New Year. More than 900attendees, including representatives from British universities and education institutions, as well as Chinese students and scholars, joined to enjoy a feast of Chinese culture.

This year’s Chinese New Year falls on Saturday, and 2024 is the year of the dragon based on the Chinese zodiac. The dragon is considered by the Chinese people to represent dignity, prestige, and fortune.

The festival gala, with a theme of “Soaring Dragon’s Spring Melody”, featured Chinese folk music, dance, singing, martial arts performance and more.

During the event, Zheng Zeguang, China’s ambassador to the UK, made a speech to the attendees, highlighting major accomplishments achieved in the past year and stating China’s future development focuses.

He pointed out that China will determinedly pursue high-quality development and Chinese modernization to advance the great rejuvenation (复兴) of the Chinese nation. China will also call for an equal and orderly multipolar (多级的) world as well as for inclusive economic globalization that benefits all, Zheng noted. “Our motherland has bright prospects for future growth,” he said.

The ambassador praised Chinese students and scholars for being hardworking and behaving in a controlled way, saying that the number of Chinese students in the UK has significantly increased due to the transformation of China. “I hope you will carry on the tradition of patriotism. I hope you will ai m high and work hard. I hope you will unit e and help each other, as well as make friends widely. I hope you will grow into the backbone of the nation in the near future,” he said.

Alistair Fitt, vice-headmaster of Oxford Brookes University, extended warm wishes of good fortune and prosperity in the year of the dragon and expressed hope for progress in Sino-British relations. “I am very sure that our two great nations will continue to expand all of our very successful relationships,” he said.

1. What does the underlined word “prestige” in Paragraph 2 mean?

A．The condition of being strange and alone.	B．The condition of being respected and admired.
C．The condition of being large and frightening.	D．The condition of being followed and monitored.

2. Why has the number of Chinese students significantly risen in the UK according to Zheng Zeguang?

A．Advertising activities have been organized well in China to promote British universities.

B．Chinese students are most attracted by the scenery in the UK.

C．The education fees in the UK have been reduced.

D．Great changes have taken place in China.

3. What does Alistair Fitt mainly express in the last paragraph?

A．His suggestions.

B．His surprises.

C．His arrangements.

D．His expectations.

4. What is the best title for the news report?

A．Spring Festival gala brings joy to Chinese students in UK

B．Chinese students in UK count down to Chinese New Year

C．Warm wishes of good fortune expressed in year of dragon in UK

D．China’s ambassador to UK states China’s future development focuses

2 . Jennifer and James Crumbley were found guilty of involuntary manslaughter (过失杀人罪) due to their failure to prevent their son Ethan from carrying out a deadly school shooting in Michigan, US. They were sentenced to 10 to 15 years in prison on April 9, reported The New York Times. The sentence for them marks the first instance in the US where parents have been held legally accountable for their child’s involvement in a mass shooting.

Prosecutors (检察官) argued that the couple ignored clear signs of their son’s mental health issues and emphasized that they purchased the gun he used in the 2021 attack. Ethan, who was only 15 when he killed four students in the shooting, was sentenced to life. “Opportunity knocked over and over again, louder and louder, and it was ignored,” Judge Cheryl Matthews told the court.

Instances of extreme and violent crimes committed by minors consistently stir shock and controversy globally. Such issues urge widespread societal reflection, leading nations to consider revising laws to lower the age of criminal responsibility. While most countries and regions have maintained a standard minimum age of criminal responsibility at 12 or 14 years for an extended period, there are exceptions. For example, Japan lowered the age from 16 to 14 in 2000, according to Xinhua.

In 2010, Denmark lowered its minimum age of criminal responsibility from 15 to 14 years old. However, researchers found that this change did not reduce crime rates among 14-year-olds. Instead, the punitive measures (惩罚措施) had negative effects. These young individuals often fell behind their peers academically, especially on high school graduation exams, and the rate of reoffenders increased. Consequently, Denmark reversed this policy two years later, restoring the minimum age of criminal responsibility to 15 years old, The Paper reported.

Denmark’s experience showed that the law doesn’t always stop people from committing crimes again. Furthermore, preventing young people from committing crimes poses a complex challenge.

In Germany, imprisonment is considered a last resort, with a focus on educational, rehabilitative (善后的) and disciplinary measures, as noted in a 2018 paper published in the Justice Evaluation Journal. According to the paper, youth imprisonment is applied in only 2 percent of all cases. Additionally, some prisons offer vocational programs for young inmates, including woodworking, metalworking, and farming. Meanwhile, most of these teenage offenders are placed in community programs where social workers help educate and guide them toward a normal life.

1. Why were Jennifer and James sentenced ?

A．They were the murders of involuntary manslaughter.

B．They offered a gun to Ethan who carried out a school shooting.

C．They didn’t take the parenting responsibility for their son’s problems in growth.

D．They ignored their son’s mental health problems.

2. Which of the following statements does the author possibly agree to?

A．Parents should be the key power to stop young people from committing crime.

B．Solving the problems of minor’s crime needs joint efforts and diverse measures.

C．Lowering the age of criminal responsibility can effectively prevent minors from crime.

D．Increasing the rate of youth imprisonment can effectively prevent minors from crime.

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

A．action to take	B．a place to visit
C．an end to happen	D．a chance to take

4. What’s the purpose of the author to write the article?

A．to show the severity of youth crime

B．to show the efforts countries have made to stop youth crime

C．to show the measures countries have made to stop youth crime

D．to raise parents’ awareness of regulating and educating responsibility

3 . I moved from America to Italy 14 years ago and I have learned a lot along the way. Here are several money-saving tricks I have picked up from living in Italy — most of which can apply to wherever you live too!

Buy fewer groceries at a time.

Italians tend to buy more fresh food — and buy it in smaller quantities. We have just what we know we’ll consume in a few days, before anything has a chance to spoil and go to waste.     1    .

Eat seasonally.

I love strawberries, cantaloupe and watermelon, but in Italy, I can only get them in the summer, when they’re ripe. Out of season, these fruits would have to be imported.     2     Instead, enjoying them seasonally helps me appreciate them more.

    3     Neither my husband nor I have developed any gardening skills just yet, but fortunately, his mother, uncles and cousins have, and they frequently leave bags of just-picked produce on our doorstep.

Cook more meals at home.

I live in a small town where we have no fast-food restaurants other than a pizzaria that does carry-out. OK! Not only do we save money on expensive restaurant meals, but we get more quality family time by cooking, eating and cleaning up together.     4    

Yes, bigger cities have more options for fast food, delivery and carryout.     5     I’ve also found that Italians are more conscious of what’s in their food, so they tend to be less willing to make fast food more than an occasional meal.

A．Of course, it takes a little more meal planning.

B．We also end up having healthier meals.

C．Another way Italians save is by growing their own produce.

D．It takes a long time to transport goods from foreign countries.

E．McDonald’s plans to open 200 new restaurants and hire 12000 staff in Italy by 2025.

F．They’d be a lot more expensive, of lesser quality and quite possibly grow n in an industrial greenhouse.

G．But even where the community is less closely connected, cooking and sharing meals with family and friends is still a big part of the social structure in Italy.

4 . “What exactly is a nervous breakdown?     1     .” Dr. David A. Merrill, a neurologist and psychiatrist, further explains the condition, “You feel like you are reaching a breaking point.”

You can’t concentrate.

In the short term, stress can increase your brainpower by releasing hormones that improve memory storage and improve concentration. But in the long term, long-time stress makes it difficult to block out distractions from outside.     2    .

You can’t stop eating.

Do you reach for a cup of ice cream or a packet of cookies after a long day? There’s a good reason for that.     3    , including adrenaline (肾上腺素), which energizes your muscles for a “fight or flight” response. Once the adrenaline disappears and no longer has any effect, cortisol tells the body to replenish (补充) its lost energy stores with food.

Your stomach is upset all the time.

Sometimes stress and anxiety can appear as stomach aches and cramps. But if you notice some symptoms that include abdominal (腹部的) pain or different pains, you could have Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)

    4    .

Skipping basic daily practices can signal you are having a period of depression or an emotional breakdown. You don’t shower or brush your teeth as usual. You spend little or no time on your clothing or hair style. Stress puts burdens on the mind and body, leading to tiredness and indifference, which can cause a loss of happiness or lack of motivation for activities you used to enjoy.

You have a different posture.

Have you ever looked at someone and thought, “That person looks depressed?” We communicate a lot through our posture and non-verbal gestures, including our mental state.     5     when people adopt a “protective position”—arms crossed, slouching, or facing away.

A．You stop caring about how you look

B．You recover from your serious breakdown

C．Depressed people may mix up their words

D．Stress causes the brain to release hormones

E．It affects your ability to focus on projects at hand

F．It shows they are feeling very stressed and defensive

G．It generally describes the feeling of being under long-term stress

5 . In a groundbreaking project, China First Metallurgical Group has completed its first overseas waste-to-energy plant in Hanoi, Vietnam.

The largest waste incineration (焚化) power plant in Vietnam has not only revolutionized waste management in the country but has also involved the training of local workers. The plant has addressed the city’s growing waste problem by processing 4,000 metric tons of urban waste every day, about 60 percent of the city’s daily waste, the group said. The technology in the facility not only converts waste into green energy but also ensures environmentally friendly treatment.

Hu Changbing, manager of the group’s Vietnam branch, said, “The plant is an achievement of the cooperation between China and Vietnam. It is a green project that benefits local residents.” Since the first unit started generating electricity in July, 2022, the plant has been operating well, Hu said.

The project was built on the former site of Hanoi's waste treatment center, where the majority of the city’s waste was previously buried in landfill. In addition to generating clean energy through incineration, the plant also produces environmentally friendly bricks from the residue (残渣). The emitted gases and wastewater are treated to meet European Union emission standards and achieve drinking-water quality. Covering an area of 170,000 square meters, the plant consists of waste storage pools, incinerators, treatment and processing plants, and waste gas treatment facilities.

Recalling the start of the project, Hu said to gain the trust of local residents, his group set up a dedicated team of Chinese and Vietnamese personnel to explain the benefits of the project and take on local people. Vietnam lacked experience in waste incineration power plant construction. The Chinese team has set a bench mark (标杆) for the local industry and left behind valuable technical knowledge, Hu said. During the peak of construction, over 80 percent of the 2,000 workers employed were locals. “The local workers proved to be intelligent and diligent. They learn skills quickly,” Hu said.

In 2021, Hu took over the management of the Vietnam project. Hu, a native of Yichang city, Hubei province, has been working with the group for 23 years since graduating from Hubei University of Technology with a degree in civil engineering. Chinese masters led groups of Vietnamese workers, teaching them skills and safety regulations, and assessing their qualifications before allowing them to work.

This success has also inspired the construction of multiple waste incineration power plants in Vietnam, with many workers having gained their skills and experience from the project, he added. The project was carried out under the framework of China’s Belt and Road Initiative and was aimed at contributing to the sustainable development of the Vietnamese capital.

1. How many metric tons of urban waste are produced daily in Hanoi?

A．About 4,000 metric tons.	B．About 5600 metric tons.
C．About 6000 metric tons.	D．About 6600 metric tons.

2. How does the plant make sure it is environmentally friendly?
①Making full use of solar and wind energy
②Planting a lot of trees and growing flowers
③Producing clean energy through incineration
④Dealing with wastewater to reach drinking-water quality
⑤Making environmentally friendly bricks from the residue

A．②③④

B．①④⑤

C．③④⑤

D．①②③

3. Which can replace the underlined word “diligent” in Paragraph 5?

A．Stubborn.

B．Courageous.

C．Gentle.

D．Hardworking.

4. Which is the best title for the news report?

A．China aids Hanoi with waste-to-power plant

B．Chinese masters train local workers in Vietnam

C．Achievement of cooperation between China and Vietnam

D．Project built on former site of Hanoi’s waste treatment center

6 . If you mention “voice technology”, most people think of Siri, Alexa or Cortana. While personal artificial intelligence (AI) assistants are becoming increasingly popular in our everyday lives, they are just one use of voice tech, and are primarily designed for adults.

Irish tech company SoapBox Labs wants that to change. The company has developed speech recognition technology designed specifically for children, and it’s already in use across a range of applications, from toys to education apps.

Children’s voices differ from that of adults. “Typically, they have a higher pitch (音高), and may use different language or speech patterns, which regular voice technology cannot always pick up on.” explains Patricia Scanlon, the founder of SoapBox. “It’s understandable that an industry that has spent decades working on technology and only focusing on adults runs into a fairly significant problem when they try to apply it to children.”

Rather than making slight changes to the available voice technology already on the market, SoapBox builds its voice engine from scratch-focusing on children aged 2 to 12. The company says it created a data set to train its AI system, made up of thousands of hours of children’s speech collected in real-world noisy environments-kitchens, classrooms and cars-from kids of all ages, accents and dialects (方言)，from a total of 192 countries.

This opens up a whole new market, for which there’s growing demand. More than 8 billion digital voice assistants are expected to be in use, and there is an increased focus on adapting the tech for children.

SoapBox, which is selling a technology rather than a product, has attracted more than 50 clients from around the world. The technology can help a child learn to read or learn a language. It acts as a helpful adult, reacting immediately to the child and giving them one-on-one time, and it can also help to record a child’s progress and provide recommendations to a teacher or parent.

1. What makes SoapBox different from Siri?

A．Its use of voice tech.

B．Its creative use of AI.

C．It is designed for children.

D．It is used on many applications.

2. What can we infer according to Scanlon in paragraph 3?

A．A lot of effort has gone into developing SoapBox.

B．Voice technology has much room for development.

C．There has been great demand for a system like SoapBox.

D．SoapBox understands adults’ voice better than that of children.

3. What did SoapBox use to build its voice engine?

A．Recordings of 192 dialects.

B．Data from a previous system.

C．Speech from people of all ages.

D．Newly-collected speech of children.

4. What does the underlined word “recommendations” in the last paragraph mean?

A．Markets.

B．Suggestions.

C．Experiments.

D．Problems.

7 . 41-year-old Tracey Matayian is one of those Maasai women who fought hard to become the first-ever Maasai female referee. In an interview, Matayian said during her formative years, she couldn’t hide her passion for football and would join local boys every time she saw them play, which resulted in her being called names by other girls and occasionally getting scolded by her parents for keeping too much male company.

Matayian later joined a teachers’ training college. After graduating from college, she worked with Compassion International and would often encourage children of both genders to play football.

“It was then that I got an opportunity to referee a game between Rongai Football Club and Compassion International. There was no other referee at the time and since I was readily available, I went ahead to referee the match,” she recalled. Matayian added that after the game, she was eager to do more than just play and train the young children as she was also cultivating a lively interest in refereeing.

She would later help form football teams for both boys and girls from the local clubs. “The game occupies them as they get to spend time in the field, especially during the period they were home due to COVID-19. Football is a game of rules, and thus it ends up drilling discipline and character into young boys and girls,” said Matayian. She added that many of the youths were previously living an aimless life on account of laziness, but through football she has managed to occupy them.

Nevertheless, her efforts to follow her passion have not gone without challenges. Her dress code was criticized all the time. “This became a big issue for some people. They always complained that I was not respecting our culture by wearing shorts. But I have no option, since that’s the official dress code for the game. I often explained this to my beloved people, but it took a long time for it to be accepted by my community,” notes Matayian.

1. How did things go when Matayian first played football?

A．She was popular with local boys.	B．She was abused by other girls.
C．She was turned down by the referee.	D．She was driven out of her college.

2. How did Matayian feel after refereeing her first game?

A．Motivated.

B．Tense.

C．Exhausted.

D．Relieved.

3. What is paragraph 4 mainly about?

A．How football is transforming the local children.

B．How COVID-19 is impacting the community.

C．How children overcome their laziness naturally.

D．How crucial discipline and character are.

4. What situation might Matayian have been in?

A．She was trying to change some football rules.	B．She was getting soft with local people.
C．She was working hard to gain acceptance.	D．She was promoting local culture.

8 . In today’s society, kids are interested in films, music and video games. However, many parents are looking for exciting, protected and educational hobbies which their kids can get pleasure from.     1    , but here we will talk about collecting coins.

One of the several reasons why collecting coins is a hobby that is fantastic for children is that it is an activity that can be enjoyed by oneself or as a family activity. It can teach them the significance of collecting potentially worthwhile items.     2     but the top quality time spent collecting, examining and researching coins can be regarded as priceless.     3    .

In terms of coin-collecting supplies, a lot of parents choose to obtain coin-collecting starter kits (入门套件). Coin-collecting starter kits may be different.     4    . In truth, several coin-collecting starter kits even come with coins! This is a wonderful way to get youngsters interested in enjoying collecting coins as a hobby. It is a fantastic way to get a coin collection started.

Depending on kids and their age, parents can educate them on collecting coins and the possibilities it holds. For instance, even if kids are just interested in collecting coins for entertainment, they must know that their coins collected may turn lucrative (赚钱的) one day. Of course, for that to take place, all coins collected need to be properly stored and cared for.     5    .

As previously stated, collecting coins is an excellent, protected and fun hobby for children of all ages to take pleasure in.

A．There are a number of choices

B．Kids can learn how to save money from it

C．Coins collected by kids can be handed to their parents

D．But a lot come equipped with how-to guides or coin albums

E．Not only can this hobby be a single activity that is educational for children

F．Depending on kids’ age, parents can supply them with useful guides for collecting coins and coins resources

G．An additional reason why collecting coins is a hobby excellent for youngsters is that it is relatively affordable

9 . While it is known that parents control the dietary choices of their children during early childhood, the increasing independence experienced during adolescence brings with it more freedom when it comes to food choices. This time of life also brings enormous physical and emotional changes in a young person, which is often associated with an increase in comfort eating, or eating as a means to relieve stress. A recent study investigates how various feeding practices used by parents impact the emotional eating behavior of adolescents.

The initial study was conducted in 2017 with 218 families. Additionally, data collected in 2013 were also available. One parent from each family completed the Child Feeding Questionnaire, as well as the Child Feeding Practices Questionnaire, and both adolescent and parent completed the Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire. The adolescent’s body weight and height were measured by researchers. The four years between 2013 — 2017 covered the years from late childhood to mid-teens.

The study found that when parents used food as a reward, or restricted and monitored an adolescent’s access to food, this was associated with an increased tendency by the adolescent to use emotional eating as a strategy to deal with their emotions. On the other hand, involving a child in meal preparations had the opposite effect — it was associated with higher levels of emotional regulation and lower levels of emotional eating in the adolescent participants.

Additionally, the researchers found a negative link between the extent to which parents restrained (克制) their own eating behavior and the use of emotional eating by their adolescent children. This means that the more a parent limited his or her own consumption of food for the purpose of health or dietary goals, the less the adolescent child used emotional eating as a means of regulating his or her own emotions.

According to study lead author Joanna Klosowska, restrictive parenting was most damaging, whereas restrained eating by the parent seemed to be the most beneficial. “Additional research is required to understand the way in which restrained eating demonstrated by a parent impacts the emotional eating of a child,” said Klosowska.

1. What does the underlined word “it” in paragraph 1 refer to?

A．Parents’ dietary choice.	B．Parents’ eating behavior.
C．Children’s way of relieving stress.	D．Children’s increasing independence.

2. What did the researchers do in the study?

A．They studied parents’ body weight and height.

B．They investigated children’s eating behaviors.

C．They interviewed parents about their emotional health.

D．They assessed parents’ understanding of children’s care needs.

3. What did the study find?

A．Restrained eating by parents is bad for their children.

B．Emotional eating by teens is influenced by their parents.

C．Parents seldom engage their children in family meal preparations.

D．Using food as a reward can help children form good eating habits.

4. What will future research focus on according to Klosowska?

A．Factors resulting in parents’ and adolescents’ food choices.

B．The underlying logic behind parents’ restrictive parenting.

C．What effect emotional eating can generate on children’s health.

D．How parents’ restrained eating influences children’s emotional eating.

10 . The TV series Wolf Pack starring Sarah Michelle Gellar is centered around the lives of a group of Los Angeles teenagers, whose lives are changed forever when a supernatural creature is freed after a series of unexplained wildfires break out.

Not much is known about Gellar’s character on the show, except for the fact that she is playing Kristin Ramsey, an expert who moves to Los Angeles to find the person who started the wildfires. She spoke to Fox News Digital about her big return to TV, and explained why she thought she was drawn to projects featuring monsters (怪物).

“For me, it’s always about the stories, and in talking today, we have discovered that the superhuman allows you to tell the most human stories because it really allows you to use these monsters to explore emotions, fears and anxieties that you can’t experience in other worlds,” Gellar explained.

“I think it’s a really important conversation that people will be along for the ride, but then realize what the meaning is behind all of it,” she added. Gellar’s co-star, Rodrigo, agreed with her, saying he hoped audiences could look at the deeper meanings behind the monsters on the show and realize they were all metaphors (隐喻) to discuss in our own inner monsters.”

Gellar recently told SFX Magazine she was very proud of the show.

1. What is the first paragraph mainly about?

A．The cause of wildfires.	B．A creature’s activity.
C．A group of teenagers’ lives.	D．The plot of Wolf Pack.

2. According to Gellar, what can help her uncover people’s feelings?

A．Rich experiences.	B．Monsters in the story.
C．Wildfires in a show.	D．Discussion with each other.

3. How did Gellar feel about the series Wolf Pack?

A．Satisfied.

B．Frightened.

C．Moved.

D．Disappointed.

4. In which section of a newspaper may this text appear?

A．Lifestyle.

B．Nature.

C．Science.

D．Entertainment.