2 . Many of our most worrying problems, from overeating to not saving enough for retirement to not working out enough have something in common: lack of self-control. Self-control is what gives us the capacity to say no to choices that are immediately satisfying but costly in the long term — that a piece of chocolate cake (instead of an apple), that afternoon in front of the couch (instead of a visit to the gym).     1    

The problem of self-control has puzzled psychologists and behavioral scientists for decades. A great deal of research has identified situations in which self-control failures are likely to happen and tools to help people exercise better control.     2     These motivating incentives can increase our self-control, at least up to a point.

Entrepreneurs have also become interested in self-control, as is evident from the many diet and exercise apps and gadgets on the market. To take one notable example, on the commitment contract website stickK.com, users put down some money (say, $200) and state a goal they want to achieve (such as to lose ten pounds in a month).     3     If they meet their goal, they earn their money back. If they don’t, they lose the money.

Tools like stickK.com can be effective, but they are often difficult to implement. My colleagues and I conducted a new research to point to a different solution that may be easier to carry out: using rituals.

    4     Players in all sorts of sports have rituals that involve actions such as eating the same foods in exactly the same order before a game. From the way some prepare their coffee to the way people celebrate important life events, like weddings or graduations, rituals are a part of our daily life. And though they may seem useless, or even silly, research has found that rituals are powerful.

A．They have to point out someone to monitor them and ensure they reach the goal or donate the money.

B．Despite our best intentions, we often fail to meet our goals.

C．Rituals are series of steps we take while attaching some kind of symbolic meaning.

D．In the past, my colleagues and I have found that rituals reduce anxiety before stressful tasks, and improve performance.

E．They also need to state what will happen to the money if they don’t stick to their commitments (e.g., it’ll go to a friend or to a charity they do not like).

F．For instance, research has found that people persist for longer on tasks that require self-control when they know they’ll be paid for their efforts, or when they are told that their work will benefit others.

3 . Animal products could produce electricity, one British power company warns — and to give consumers a choice, it's offering what it calls the world’s first vegan electricity.

Ecotricity, a renewable energy provider in the U.K., announced its electricity and gas would be certified vegan after it claimed half of British homes are powered by electricity made from animal byproducts. Company founder Dale Vince accused companies that consider themselves “ethical” or “green” of keeping consumers in the dark about their “secret ingredient.” “We need clear labeling of energy sourcing so that people can make informed choices,” he said in a statement.

The company offers “vegan energy” in wind and solar power, and it’s developing “sea power” produced by wave oscillation and marine currents. None of Ecotricity’s electrical sources contains animal byproducts that the company knew of before it made the announcement, but it registered with the Vegan Society to certify its green status.

Though not widely disclosed, it’s fairly common for power companies to derive electricity from animals through anaerobic digestion (厌氧消化). Animal waste is generally considered a clean, renewable energy source. Turning manure into fuel eliminates a sizeable chunk of carbon pollution and lessens power companies’ reliance on “dirtier” fossil fuels like coal and oil. Plus, animals provide a limitless supply of waste, while Earth’s natural gas stores are finite, so crackers wouldn’t need to drill into rock to extract it.

Cows are pictured at a Wagyu cattle breeding center in June in Petit-Mars, France. A U.K. energy company announced the first “vegan electricity” after warning consumers about animal byproducts in energy production.

After anaerobic digestion, farmers can use the liquid remains of the manure as fertilizer and make chips for animal bedding from the solid leftovers, chemical engineer David Simakov told Popular Science.

“We are talking about producing the amount of renewable natural gas enough to heat thousands of homes from just a single large landfill site,” he said. “We need to stop pumping carbon from underground into the atmosphere and start caring about introducing more and more renewable energy to make our lives more sustainable.”

Renewable energy only accounts for 11 percent of energy consumption in the U.S., according to the Energy Information Administration. Fossil fuels and nuclear energy generate more than 80 percent of the country’s electricity, and that’s unlikely to change: like other clean energy sources, anaerobic digestion is still more expensive than traditional sources of energy.

1. According to Dale Vince, ____________________.

A．it’s necessary for consumers to know how electricity is produced

B．people don’t need to make choices of whether to use vegan electricity

C．vegan electricity and gas shouldn’t use animal byproducts

D．it’s not certain whether Ecotricity has used animal byproducts

2. In Paragraph 2, “secret ingredient” refers to ___________________.

A．an energy provider

B．vegan energy

C．animal waste

D．energy labelling

3. What can be inferred from the passage?

A．It’s forbidden to get exploited natural gas since it is limited.

B．Clean energy may not replace fossil fuels to be used by families.

C．Power companies can rely on animal waste to produce clean energy.

D．The waste of cows is first used to produce clean energy in the world.

4. What does the author think of clean energy?

A．It has been a mainstream.

B．It has a promising future.

C．Consumers tend to use more clean energy now.

D．Its producing cost has decreased its popularity.

5 . Could your dog be prone to a fatal disease? Is your new shelter pup part beagle or boxer? Many pet owners seek answers to these questions, and as a result, direct-to-consumer dog DNA testing is booming.

Human interfering with dog DNA has long been the driving factor behind dogs’ breed diversity — or lack thereof. But a dog’s DNA can also be used to confirm their lineage (血统) or identify their breed, a boon for pet owners on the lookout for breed-specific health or behavioral challenges or those looking to confirm their dog really has the heritage claimed by a breeder or seller. During DNA analysis, labs sequence the dog’s DNA and look for similarities with a dataset of identified dog breeds.

But breed identification isn’t as simple as it might seem. In a study published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association last month, scientists looked into the accuracy of breed prediction in commercially available DNA tests that required a photo of the dog in addition to its DNA sample. The results were mixed, says Casey Greene, a professor who co-authored the study.

“Most tests could accurately distinguish the breed of purebred dogs,” says Greene. But the analysis suggested that some testing companies might rely on the photo more than the dog’s actual genetics — and revealed big differences between companies’ business practices and the genetic datasets they use to determine dog breeds.

The researchers submitted photos and DNA of 12 purebred dogs to a total of six commercial canine (犬的) ancestry identification services. Since each pup was purebred and possessed extensive American Kennel Club paperwork, the researchers knew their breed conclusively—but in some cases they provided a photo of a different dog to see if the photo influenced the DNA results. One of the companies misidentified a purebred Chinese crested dog — almost entirely hairless — as a long-haired Brittany spaniel, seemingly based on the photo alone. The other five did identify the registered breed correctly, but often gave different predictions for other “ancestor” breeds in dogs whose DNA suggested mixed breeding in prior generations. The researchers concluded that veterinarians and pet owners alike should “approach direct-to-consumer tests with caution” given the lack of industry standardization and at least one company’s reliance on photographs instead of DNA analysis.

Despite these concerns, though. dog DNA seems headed for a golden age — and the insights revealed through further study of Fido’s genome (基因组) have already reached far beyond the doghouse. Domesticated dogs have emerged as surprising superstars in medical research that benefits humans. According to researchers, that’s just the beginning. With implications ranging from entertaining to consequential, there’s no telling what dog DNA will continue to unleash.

1. The underlined word “boon” in paragraph two is closest in meaning to ________.

A．blessing

B．substitute

C．duty

D．struggle

2. According to the passage, dog DNA testing can serve the following purposes except that ________.

A．it assists in accurately determining the breed a dog belongs to

B．it helps to predict whether dogs are subject to certain diseases

C．it provides pet owners with insights into dogs’ behavioral challenges

D．it sequences the DNA of identified dog breeds to find their similarities

3. Which of the following statements can be concluded from the passage?

A．Photos play a more significant role in identifying a dog’s breed than its actual genetics.

B．It is a common phenomenon that the DNA analysis of dogs may yield mixed results.

C．Commercial dog DNA tests still have limitations and should be dealt with cautiously.

D．Direct-to-consumer tests overshadow DNA analysis in identifying purebred dogs.

4. What does the passage suggest about the future of dog DNA testing?

A．Controversies regarding its reliability are here to stay.

B．It is bound to make breakthroughs in the fields of medicine and entertainment.

C．It can step into a golden age as long as some research limitations are fixed.

D．It may have far-reaching significance and be applied to a wider range of areas.

6 .

FAQs on preparing your Application
Q: Should I target my Application to a specific Job Opening (JO)?
A: Yes. Naturally, a customized cover note will also help you focus on the key aspects of your Application that relate to the JO, but it is also in your interest to target the Application according to the responsibilities and competencies of the position.
Q: What’s the difference between duties and achievements?
A: Duties describe the specific responsibilities of your job. They accurately reflect what you are doing or have done in each of your previous jobs. In other words, it is the “what you do” of your job. Achievements describe in specific terms “how well” you did in your job.
Q: Many of my achievements are team-based, how do I draft them in my Application?
A: You should include your team-based achievements in your Application. Indicate that you were part of a team, and describe your specific role in reaching the goal.
FAQs on general Application guidelines
Q: Can I save my Application?
A: Yes. You should save your Application when you make changes and/or update it. It is recommended that you save different versions of your Application in Word format and then edit the Application online according to the post for which you are applying.
Q: Can I update my Application to apply for a new JO?
A: Yes. Each time you apply for a new JO, we recommend that you review your Application and update it, if appropriate, or target it to better reflect your suitability for the new JO. Your updates will not affect the content of Applications previously submitted against other JOs.
Q: Must I use up all the available characters in each section of my Application?
A: No. In fact, doing so may result in an unnecessary lengthy Application. Unless you have an enormous range of experiences, there is no reason to use up all the space given. Applicants are encouraged to list their duties and achievements in a clear and brief manner.

1. Which of the following descriptions best shows your achievements?

A．I’ve developed various interests, ranging from oil painting to designing model.

B．I’m good at creating proposals for new product ideas aimed at a specific market.

C．I’m in charge of the clearance, production and distribution of information material.

D．I succeeded in directing a video presentation, assisting our group to win the first prize.

2. If you want to apply for another JO, you’d better __________.

A．target your focus on your interest in the JO

B．save your latest application in Word format

C．prepare one application with all your competencies

D．update your application to match new requirements

3. Applicants are expected to __________ in their applications.

A．introduce what JOs they have previously applied to

B．list the greatest achievements they have made in detail

C．give key information about their experiences and achievements

D．provide the results of their tests, assessments and examinations

7 . Until we start to lose our balance, we barely notice that it’s there at all. “It starts for a lot of people with simple stuff,” says Dr Anna Lowe, an expert on healthy ageing and physical activity. “    1     It’s easy to either miss the signs or just put it down to ageing — but it really is something you can affect.”

The key, it is increasingly becoming clear, is to address the decline before it gets serious: and that can happen earlier than you might think.

What is balance? Technically, it’s the complex interaction of several different systems in your body — from muscles, nerves, eyesight and the inner ear to the sensory system that lets you recognise where your body is touching the ground, along with movement receptors within your joints that tell you where your body is in space.     2    

A lack of balance is, globally, associated with serious health problems. Earlier this year, the British Journal of Sports Medicine published the results of a decade-long study involving more than 1,700 middle-aged participants, which concluded that an inability to balance was associated with an almost twofold increase in risk of death.

“    3    ” agrees Lowe, an associate professor researching strength and balance in midlife. “Older women are far less active than older men, and general activity, just moving around and doing stuff, affects balance a lot. Single-legged movements, such as walking lunges, are a great test of dynamic (动态的) balance, but even bilateral movements, like squats (深蹲), can provide a challenge.”

    4     Resistance exercise, whether that means lifting weights or hiking with a backpack, comes with a host of other proven health benefits, from improved bone density to a reduced risk of Alzheimer’s. As Locker puts it: everyone’s told to save money for their retirement, and nobody’s taught to save their balance. But both are difficult to get back once they’re gone.

A．Early interventions are key, so you’ve got to stay active.

B．Perhaps surprisingly, those who deal with it have struggled to settle on a single definition.

C．It’s not something we’re born with, but also it’s not something we learn, but an ability that we gain early and lose over time.

D．For some people. just try to build in an element of balance and muscle strengthening.

E．Maybe you used to be able to quickly stand on one leg to put a shoe on, and you’ve stopped doing that at some point.

F．Whatever activity you choose, the lesson is to work on your balance before you need to, not when it becomes an issue.

8 .

IN CONTEXT BRANCH Geology BEFORE 6th century BCE The Greek thinker Thales of Miletus notes magnetic rocks, or lodestones (天然磁石). 1st century CE Chinese diviners make primitive compasses with iron spoon that can turn around to point south. 1269 French scholar Pierre de Maricourt sets out the basic laws of magnetic attraction, repulsion, and poles. AFTER 1824 French mathematician Siméon Poisson models the forces in a magnetic field. 1940s American physicist Walter Maurice Elsasser attributes Earth’s magnetic field to iron swirling in its outer core as the planet rotates. 1958 Explorer 1 space mission shows Earth’s magnetic field extending far out into space.

By the late 1500s, ships’ captains already relied on magnetic compasses to maintain their course across the oceans. Yet no one knew how they worked. Some thought the compass needle was attracted to the North Star, others that it was drawn to magnetic mountains in the Arctic. It was English physician William Gilbert who discovered that Earth itself is magnetic. Stronger reasons are obtained from sure experiments and demonstrated arguments than from probable conjectures (推测) and the opinions of philosophical speculators. William Gilbert Gilbert’s breakthrough came not from a flash of inspiration, but from 17 years of careful experiment. He learned all he could from ships’ captains and compass makers, and then he made a model globe, or “terrella,” out of the magnetic rock lodestone and tested compass needles against it. The needles reacted around the terrella just as ships’ compasses did on a larger scale—showing the same patterns of declination (pointing slightly away from true north at the geographic pole, which differs from magnetic north) and inclination (tilting down from the horizontal toward the globe). Gilbert concluded, rightly, that the entire planet is a magnet and has a core of iron. He published his ideas in the book De Magnete (On the Magnet) in 1600, causing a sensation. Johannes Kepler and Galileo, in particular, were inspired by his suggestion that Earth is not fixed to rotating celestial spheres, as most people still thought, but is made to spin by the invisible force of its own magnetism.

1. Before the 16^th century, how did captains navigate across oceans?

A．The North Star navigated their ships.

B．The magnetic mountains in the Arctic guided their journey.

C．Magnetic compasses helped them maintain the course.

D．The forces in a magnetic field attracted the ships.

2. How did William Gilbert find out the fact that Earth itself is magnetic?

A．Through trials and errors.

B．Through some personal philosophical speculation.

C．By acquiring some flash inspiration.

D．By studying the ideas of some philosophers.

3. Which of the following statement might Galileo agree with?

A．The earth stays still.

B．Gilbert successfully refuted the laws of magnetic attraction.

C．Gilbert’s findings and conclusions are sensational.

D．The earth has its own magnetic field.

9 . My husband and I live near San Luis Obispo, California, close to the beach. In November 2023, during the humpback whale migration, we kayaked (划皮划艇) out to watch the wildlife. We were in awe watching these graceful whales breach and spray through their blowholes.

At the time, my friend Liz was staying with us. Initially, she refused to join us on the water, fearing the kayak would overturn among the whales. After some cajoling (劝说) she finally agreed to join me. The following morning, we set out early and had our first whale sighting just past the pier: two humpbacks swimming toward us. How amazing to be that close to a creature that size, I thought as the whales dipped under the waterline.

When whales go down after breaching, they leave what looks like an oil slick on the water. I figured if we paddled toward that spot, we’d be safe from the whales, since they’d just left. We followed them at a distance — or what I thought was a distance. I later found out that it’s recommended to keep 300 feet away. We were more like 60 feet away.

Suddenly, we were surrounded by jumping silverfish fleeing from the whales. Before we could react, our kayak was lifted out of the water about six feet, bracketed by massive jaws. Liz and I slipped out of the kayak into the whale’s mouth. As the whale’s mouth closed, I felt the creature begin to dive and had no idea how deep we’d be dragged. Still, I didn’t panic. I just kept thinking. I’ve got to fight this. I’ve got to breathe.

Whales have enormous mouths but tiny throats. Anything they can’t swallow they spit right out. That included us. As soon as the whale dipped underwater, it ejected us, and we popped back up onto the surface about a foot apart. The entire ordeal lasted only about 10 seconds.

Other kayakers rushed to our aid, shocked to see us alive. But I am much more aware of the power of nature and the ocean than I was before. Liz was shaken up, comparing the ordeal to a near-death experience, and she says her whale-watching days are over. But even she had to laugh when she got home that afternoon and realized she’d brought back a souvenir. When she pulled off her shirt, six silverfish flopped out.

1. Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?

A．At first, Liz was hesitant to go on the kayaking trip because she was not interested in whale watching.

B．If Liz and I had maintained a distance of 300 feet from the whales, we might have avoided the subsequent danger.

C．Liz and I slipped into the whale’s mouth because jumping silverfish overturned our kayak.

D．Liz is likely to go on another whale-watching trip someday because she found a precious souvenir from this kayaking.

2. How did the narrator feel during the whale encounter?

A．Terrified and panicked.	B．Disoriented underwater
C．Calm and focused.	D．Regretful about going kayaking.

3. The underlined word “ordeal” in Paragraph 5 probably means____.

A．a challenging or difficult experience	B．a thrilling experience
C．a surprising encounter	D．a joyful adventure

4. What would be the best title of this passage?

A．How to Survive a Whale Attack	B．Respecting the Power of Nature
C．A Day at San Luis Obispo Beach	D．I Survived Being Swallowed By a Whale

10 . What can be done about mass unemployment? All the wise heads agree: there’re no quick or easy answers. There’s work to be done, but workers aren’t ready to do it — they’re in the wrong places, or they have the wrong skills. Our problems are structural, and will take many years to solve.

But don’t bother asking for evidence that justifies this bleak (暗淡的) view. There isn’t any. On the contrary, all the facts suggest that high unemployment in America is the result of inadequate demand. Saying that there’re no easy answers sounds wise, but it’s actually foolish: our unemployment crisis could be cured very quickly if we had the intellectual clarity and political will to act. In other words, structural unemployment is a fake problem, which mainly serves as an excuse for not pursuing real solutions.

The fact is job openings have plunged in every major sector, while the number of workers forced into part-time employment in almost all industries has soared. Unemployment has surged in every major occupational category. Only three states, with a combined population not much larger than that of Brooklyn, have unemployment rates below 5%. So the evidence contradicts the claim that we’re mainly suffering from structural unemployment. Why, then, has this claim become so popular?

Part of the answer is that this is what always happens during periods of high unemployment — in part because experts and analysts believe that declaring the problem deeply rooted, with no easy answers, makes them sound serious.

I’ve been looking at what self-proclaimed experts were saying about unemployment during the Great Depression; it was almost identical to what Very Serious People are saying now. Unemployment cannot be brought down rapidly, declared one 1935 analysis, because the workforce is “unadaptable and untrained. It cannot respond to the opportunities which industry may offer.” A few years later, a large defense buildup finally provided a financial stimulus adequate to the economy’s needs — and suddenly industry was eager to employ those “unadaptable and untrained” workers.

But now, as then, powerful forces are ideologically opposed to the whole idea of government action on a sufficient scale to jump-start the economy. And that, fundamentally, is why claims that we face huge structural problems have been multiplying: they offer a reason to do nothing about the mass unemployment that is crippling (损害) our economy and society.

So what you need to know is that there’s no evidence whatsoever to back these claims. We aren’t suffering from a shortage of needed skills; we’re suffering from a lack of policy resolve. As I said, structural unemployment isn’t a real problem, it’s an excuse — a reason not to act on America’s problems at a time when action is desperately needed.

1. What does the author think of the experts’ claim concerning unemployment?

A．Self-evident.

B．Thought-provoking.

C．Groundless.

D．Objective.

2. What does the author say helped bring down unemployment during the Great Depression?

A．The booming defense industry.	B．The wise heads’ benefit package.
C．Nationwide training of workers.	D．Thorough restructuring of industries.

3. What has caused claims of huge structural problems to multiply?

A．Economists, failure to detect the problems in time.

B．Very Serious People’s attempt to cripple the economy.

C．Evidence gathered from many sectors of the industries.

D．Powerful opposition to government’s stimulus efforts.

4. What is the author’s purpose in writing the passage?

A．To confirm the experts’ analysis of America’s problems.

B．To offer a feasible solution to the structural unemployment

C．To show the urgent need for the government to take action.

D．To alert American workers to the urgency for adaptation.