1 . Nowadays, body language has played a more and more important part in daily communication among people. To avoid confusion and embarrassment in cross-cultural communication, it’s necessary to have fluency in some common body language worldwide.

In Australia, it is very rude to wink (眨眼) at women.

In Brazil, pulling down the lower lid (眼睑) of the right eye means that the listener doesn’t believe what you’re saying. In India, holding your ear means either “honesty” or “I’m sorry”.

In Indonesia, hands on hips while talking means that you’re angry and it is also impolite.

In Japan, It’s unacceptable for two adults of the same sex to hold hands while walking together A smile can mean happiness, anger, or sadness. When someone praises you, respond by waving your hand back and forth in front of your face. Because it is considered impolite to show their teeth. women usually cover their mouths when they laugh. To make a promise, two people generally book their little fingers together.

In South Korea, when talking to someone, keep your hands in full view. It is rude to keep your hands behind your back or in your pockets.

In Spain, snapping the thumb and first finger together a few times is a form of applause. If you think the person you are talking about is mean, ta p your left elbow with your right hand. If you’ve heard the story that someone is telling before, put your right hand behind your head and pull your left ear.

In Sri Lanka, moving your head from side to side means “yes” and nodding your head up and down means “no”!

In Thailand, people point to an object with their chins, not their hands.

Have you learned the meanings of the above body languages in different countries? Keep these in mind and you’ll realize that they’re very helpful one day.

1. In which country do women cover their mouth while laughing?

A．In China.

B．In America.

C．In Africa.

D． In Japan.

2. What do people do when they make applause in Spain?

A．Wave their hands back and forth in front of their face.

B．Put their hands on haps all the time.

C．Snap the thumb and first finger together several minutes.

D．Clap their hands together for a few minutes.

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

A．Moving your head from side to side to means “yes” in Thailand.

B．When talking to someone, make sure others can see your both hands in South Korea.

C．Adult women in Japan of ten hold their hands when walking together.

D．In Indonesia, pulling down the lower lid of the left eye means the listener doesn’t believe what you’re saying.

4. What’s the main idea of this passage?

A．Body language is of great importance in daily communication.

B．Understanding the meaning of some gestures in foreign countries is helpful.

C．The same movement may deliver different meanings in different cultures.

D．We should use body language in daily communication with others.

2 . What My Year Abroad Taught Me About Cultural Differences

Imagine going to study abroad. You walk into the local shop and bam!, Golliwogs (黑面木偶) everywhere. I’m talking salespeople dressed as Golliwogs. Surprised, you go to the junk food section as that’s the only thing that will give your body the sugar rush it needs to shock your body out of the state of bewilderment (困惑). And there they were: Golliwog cookies.

I’m using the word “Golliwogs” because to a British person abroad that’s what they are. But in the Netherlands and Belgium the image is known as Zwarte Piet (Black Pete). There has been much discussion about whether or not it’s racist.     1     Zwarte Piet is understood by most in the Netherlands to be Santa’s helper whose black face was due to his delivering presents through the chimney.

Working as a trainee with the European Commission, I met people from all over the world, not just Europe. Working alongside my German, Spanish and Italian colleagues, I learned some valuable lessons.     2     You shouldn’t wait to say “excuse me,” or wait for a gap in the conversation to give your opinion, because you’ll walk out at the end of the meeting wondering how three hours have passed without you managing to say anything. I learned how to stop my colleagues and interject (插话) my thoughts.

Another lesson was the value of the coffee break. Coffee breaks in Brussels were not just time to get coffee. It was a chance to develop new ideas with colleagues in a more informal setting. At first I declined the invitation to attend, but after a while I began to notice that almost everyone went on these trips to the coffee machine and decided to join them.     3    

Graduates and students who have worked abroad gain an understanding of what it means to be truly European and how this can benefit you at work. Not only do you bring home experiences, skills and practices from other countries, but you also seek to take your work further afield (向远方).

    4     Remember the Golliwog cookies? All I really wanted were some Mr. Kipling’s cakes but they’re nearly impossible to find abroad. When I finished my trainee ship with the Commission, I came home and started a business called Packed Munches, a service sending boxes of British snacks to Britons all over the world. And to think, it all started with Zwarte Pict.

A．You might be amazed by the quantity of work and innovative concepts that can emerge during informal coffee breaks.

B．This marked my initial experience in comprehending diverse cultures.

C．As British people, we need to stay low-profile in what we do.

D．So, how did I apply these acquired abilities?

E．As individuals from Britain, we must produce more influence in our pursuits.

F．This was my first lesson in understanding British cultures.

3 . In the genetic age, ecologists’ jobs are made much easier by two things. One is that every organism carries its own chemical identity card, in the form of its genome (基因组). The second is that they drop these ID cards everywhere they go. Urine, bits of fur stuck to a hedge, even shed skin cells: all deposit DNA into the environment. Cheap gene sequencing allows scientists to harvest this “environmental DNA” (eDNA) from soil, sand, water and the like, and use it to keep track of which species are living where.

“Every organism,” of course, includes humans. In a paper published on May 15^th in Nature Ecology & Evolution, a group of researchers from America and Europe report that such eDNA surveys pick up large quantities of human DNA as well as the animal sort. That DNA can be read—and potentially matched with individuals—by anyone with the right equipment.   

The researchers did not set out to study “inadvertent human genetic bycatch”, as they call the phenomenon. The work began at the Witney Sea Turtle Hospital in Florida, during an investigation into a viral turtle disease. The researchers sampled water from the turtle’s tanks, as well as from ocean water and beaches upon which the creatures nested, looking for viral DNA.   

They expected to sweep up DNA from other species during their trawl (拖网). What was surprising, according to Jessica Farrell, a biologist at the Witney Hospital and one of the paper’s authors, was just how much human DNA they found. Even though many of their sampling sites were not near towns and cities, they found human genetic material in every sample they examined.   

Interested, they expanded their search. In both Florida and in Ireland they found human DNA in rivers, with concentrations especially high as they flowed through towns. They found it in beach sand, and even in air from rooms in which humans had been working. Human DNA is not quite everywhere: it was not detectable in deep ocean water, or on remote beaches closed to the public. But anywhere that humans are, their DNA appears to be as well.

In one sense, that is unsurprising. But advances in gene-sequencing meant there was enough information in the samples to deduce plenty of things about the humans in question. The researchers could pick out males thanks to DNA from the Y chromo some. They could infer an individual’s ancestry, and even spot mutations (突变) that affect a person’s disease risk. David Duffy, another of the paper’s authors, said the amount and quality of the DNA they recovered “far exceeded” the minimum necessary to be included in America’s database of missing people. Dr Duffy and his colleagues did not try to identify individuals in their study, for moral reasons. But they had no doubt it could be done.

1. Which of the following about eDNA is true according to the passage?

A．It provides a way to track the migration of animals.

B．It allows researchers to restore individual organisms.

C．It can be easily collected from all types of environments.

D．It contains a wealth of genetic information about various species.

2. In this passage, the word “inadvertent” (paragraph 3) is closest in meaning to “__________”.

A．familiar

B．accidental

C．insensitive

D．regular

3. What can be inferred from the passage?

A．The application of eDNA for identity confirmation has aroused concern.

B．As expected, the researchers detected much human eDNA in their search.

C．An individual’s gender and ancestry can be confirmed by means of eDNA.

D．eDNA is instrumental in upgrading America’s database of missing people.

4. Which of the following might be the best title for the passage?

A．Unintended Discoveries in Turtle Disease Research

B．The Ecological Significance of Environmental DNA

C．Human DNA’s Prevalence in Environmental Samples

D．Using Genetic Information to Identify Missing Persons

4 . On our 20^th anniversary, Susan and I headed off for a few days to a lovely valley about an hour away. We didn’t know much about the town, but that was fine. Our goal was really just to renew our faith in each other.

We began by stocking up at the quirky Village Market in Glen Ellen, California. Within minutes, friendly locals spotted us and started chatting in the aisles with charming tips. You gotta hike to Jack London’s house. Oh, dinner at the Fig Café. Hours later, having followed their yellow brick road all day, we walked, delirious, back from dinner to our creekside inn. “I think I could live here,” Susan said.

It turns out that Glen Ellen’s contagious spirit was not our passing illusion. In October 2017, the Nuns Fire bore down on this town near Santa Rosa. An astounding 183 of Glen Ellen’s 750 or so homes burned down. Among them was Jill Dawson’s place, just across the creek from the inn to which we had returned the next anniversary, and four more in turn. I called Jill after reading her family’s story. She sounded just like the spirited, generous type Susan and I have loved meeting in Glen Ellen.

After the fire, she told me, her family’s prospects for staying in the town looked bleak. But residents mobilized on Facebook and in the Village Market to brainstorm how to house one another.

Hearing of their plight, some neighbors who barely knew the Dawsons placed two new trailers next to their house, which hadn’t burned, for Jill’s family.

“Their name is the Fosters, and I tell them, ‘You just can’t help it,’” Jill says, laughing at her own pun. Jill and her husband, Art, have lived in one of the trailers for a year while sorting through how to rebuild. They are only two of the many residents who were able to remain close thanks to their neighbors’ selflessness. “I’m grateful for little Glen Ellen,” Jill says. “The amount of passionate people and grassroots efforts working to keep this place supportive is amazing. The kindness thing, it’s still huge here.”

In kicking off our annual Nicest Place in America search, let Glen Ellen be just one example. So many cities, workplaces, churches, schools, and other locations thrive because, well, “the kindness thing, it’s still huge.” Please take the time to go to RD.COM/NICEST to tell us about one you love. Thank you!

1. What did the author think of Glen Ellen during his several trips there?

A．He found Glen Ellen to be a dynamic town with rapid development.

B．He had mixed feelings about Glen Ellen, both positive and negative.

C．He thought Glen Ellen was a place which deepened faith in her wife.

D．He developed a positive impression of its welcoming community spirit.

2. How did the Glen Ellen community respond to the Nuns Fire in October 2017?

A．They relied solely on government aid for recovery efforts.

B．They spontaneously formed a neighborhood watch program.

C．They held a series of fundraisers to help the affected families.

D．They largely depended on assistance from distant communities.

3. Which of the following is the right understanding of ““Their name is the Fosters, and I tell them, ‘You just can’t help it,’” Jill says, laughing at her own pun.”?

A．Jim is making a lighthearted comment about the Fosters’ inborn generosity.

B．Jill is implying that Fosters lack competence to give a helping hand to others.

C．Jill is hinting that the Fosters might not always display the same level of kindness.

D．Jill is expressing his sincere gratitude for Fosters’ constant and generous assistance.

4. What is the writing purpose of the passage?

A．To highlight Glen Ellen’s tradition of community support and kindness.

B．To demonstrate the author’s personal perspectives in community building.

C．To present how people in Glen Ellen overcame difficulties with joint efforts.

D．To encourage readers to reflect on and share their own experiences of kindness.

5 . Children who spent more than two hours per day in front of a television or computer screen were more likely to report behavioral and social problems than kids who watched less, according to a University of Bristol study that will be published in Pediatrics.

Researchers recorded the playing, screen viewing and activity habits of 1,000 children aged 10 to 11. They also had the kids fill out questionnaires designed to estimate the kids’ emotional well-being and behavior.

The questionnaires contained 20 questions covering five sections—emotional difficulties, conduct problems, hyperactivity (活动过度), inattention, friendship and peer groups and problems relating to friends and peer groups.

The study found that those children who spent more than two hours per day watching TV or using a computer were at an increased risk of psychological difficulties. This risk increased if they also failed to meet the guidelines on physical activity.

While the risks for kids who spent a lot of time in front of a screen appeared to be increased by lack of physical activity, the opposite was not true: Increase in physical activity did not seem to decrease kids’ high scores in psychological difficulties if they spent a lot of time sedentary (久坐 的) in front of a screen. By contrast, sedentary time spent reading a book or working on a project corresponded to the highest scores of psychological well-being.

“While low levels of screen viewing may not be problematic, we cannot rely on physical activity to compensate for long hours of screen viewing,” lead author Dr. Angie Page said in a statement. “Watching TV or playing computer games for more than two hours a day is related to greater psychological difficulties regardless of how active children are.”

Although Page’s study doesn’t clarify the links between inactivity, screen time and psychological well-being, it’s true that kids in the United States are getting less exercise and more screen time than they should. In 2009, Page’s team found a connection between a child’s physical activity and independent mobility, the amount of space in which a child can play without the supervision of an adult. They concluded that, as play spaces have decreased in recent decades, childhood inactivity-and perhaps screen time—has increased.

1. What information can we get about the University of Bristol study?

A．It was done by an elementary school.

B．The results of it have been published.

C．All the kids studied had to fill out questionnaires.

D．The questionnaires of it contained five questions.

2. The researchers’ purpose of letting the kids fill out questionnaires was to________.

A．make a judgment about the kids’ behavior and how healthy they were emotionally

B．estimate the average time kids spent in front of a screen

C．infer whether the kids have psychological problems or not

D．get information about the psychological activity kids like

3. Why do more kids lack physical activities according to Page’s team?

A．More electronic products have poured into their world.

B．They have too much homework to do.

C．They have fewer spaces to play in.

D．They lack the supervision of their parents.

4. What does the passage mainly discuss?

A．A study shows more screen time and inactivity increase kids’ risks of psychological difficulties.

B．A study clarifies the links between inactivity, screen time and psychological well-being.

C．A study illustrates why childhood inactivity and screen time have increased.

D．A study demonstrates how to limit children’s TV and screen time at home.

6 . Water is a key ingredients in a healthy diet and lifestyle.There are many health benefits of drinking water. It helps flush impurities and toxins out of our systems.     1     In fact, nearly every system in our bodies relies on water for proper functioning. But what will happen if the water you drink every day is unhealthy?

In past decades, concerns about tap water and its impact on overall health led some people to tun to bottled waters. You could pay to have a company deliver large bulky plastic bottles of water for the water cooler. Or you could purchase gallon jugs of distilled or “drinking water” at the grocery store.

In recent years, there has been an explosion in the number of different bottled waters available, with big distributors such as Coke and Pepsi jumping on the bandwagon. But are bottled   drinking waters like Coke’s Dasani brand, Pepsi’s Aquafina, or Wal-Mart’s store brand really any healthier than your tap water?     2    

As we have learned more about the water we drink,the technology behind drinking water filters and purification systems has improved dramatically. There are filters to remove impurities, chemicals,heavy metals, bacteria and almost every contaminant you can think of.With the right size and filter combination for your specific home, your tap water can be exceptionally pure and healthy.

    3     Although the initial cost of a whole house system usually amounts to several hundred dollars,that cost is often less than $100 a year if spread out over the life of the system.

There may be additional expenses to replace carbon filters or lamps in an ultraviolet light water treatment device. These expenses can add another $100 or so to the annual cost of operating drinking water filters and purification systems.

While some people may hesitate to spend so much each year for clean, safe drinking water, they are probably paying more for bottled drinking water. They understand that it is more expensive, but they are still willing to pay the extra money because bottled water is thought to be safer and healthier than filtered drinking water.     4     In reality, however, few bottled waters come from natural springs,and most of them use municipal tap water.

A．Drinking water filtration systems have also become more affordable and easy to use.

B．After all, bottled water is often marketed as “natural spring water” or “pure glacier water.”

C．It aids in the delivery of oxygen and nutrients.

D．And with a water filter, you at least know where the water you drink came from.

E．Or would you be better off with a drinking water filtration system?

F．So how do you tell if the water you are drinking is safe?

7 . What Makes a Nobel Laureate?

Are there any predictors that point to who will be selected as Nobel laureates?

Is brilliance in childhood a predictor? When the 2006 chemistry laureate, Roger Kornberg, was asked what he wanted for Christmas, he said, “A week in the lab.”     1    . Mario Capecchi (medicine, 2007) was an abandoned child on the streets of wartime Italy.

    2    . Five of Enrico Fermi’s (physics, 1938) postdoctoral students went on to win the Nobel Prize. Otto Warburg (medicine, 1931) advised an American doctoral student, “If you wish to become a scientist, you must ask a successful scientist to accept you in his laboratory.”

Experts often recommend that people specialize in one field of work or research to maximize their chances of success.     3     If you look at the careers of Nobel Prize winners, you’ll find that they are unusually likely to be “creative polymaths.” That is, they purposely integrate formal and informal expertise from widely varied disciplines to yield new and useful ideas and practices.

There remains one quality that is essential. It is what Leon Lederman (physics, 1988) called “compulsive dedication.”     4    . Take Marie Curie (physics, 1903; chemistry, 1911) and her husband Pierre (physics, 1903). The Curies were assigned a shed with a leaking roof and a dirt floor, where they worked for years, freezing in winter and sweltering in summer. “And yet,” Marie Curie wrote in her biography of her husband, “it was in this miserable old shed that the best and happiest years of our life were spent, entirely dedicated to work.”

A．What distinguishes Nobel laureates is passion for their work, work that engages their hearts as well as their heads.

B．But early privilege is not essential.

C．The typical Nobel laureate in science is a male born into a middle-class family.

D．In many Nobel laureates’ autobiographies, they pay tribute to an outstanding mentor.

E．In fact, Nobel laureates are mostly down-to-earth and discreet.

F．Yet recently published researches indicate that successful innovators take a broader path.

8 . Our culture has caused most Americans to assume not only that our language is universal, but that the gestures we use are understood by everyone. We do not realize that waving good-bye is the way to ask a person from the Philippines to one’s side, or that in Italy and some Latin-American countries, curling the finger to oneself is a sign of farewell.

Those private citizens who sent packages to our troops occupying Germany after World War II and marked them GIFT to escape duty payments did not bother to find out that “Gift” means poison in German. Moreover, we like to think of ourselves as friendly, yet we prefer to be at least 3 feet or an arm’s length away from others. Latins and Middle Easterners like to come closer and touch, which makes Americans uncomfortable.

Our linguistic and cultural blindness and the informality with which we take notice of the developed tastes, gestures, customs and languages of other countries, are losing us friends, business and respect in the world.

Even here in the United States, we make few compromises to the needs of foreign visitors. There are no information signs in four languages on our public buildings or monuments; we do not have multilingual guided tours. Very few restaurant menus have translations, and multilingual waiters, bank clerks and policemen are rare. Our transportation systems have maps in English only and often we ourselves have difficulty understanding them.

When we go abroad, we tend to cluster in hotels and restaurants where English is spoken. The attitudes and information we pick up are conditioned by those natives—usually the richer—who speak English. Our business dealings, as well as the nation’s diplomacy, are conducted through interpreters.

For many years, America and Americans could get by with cultural blindness and linguistic ignorance. After all, America was the most powerful country of the free world, the distributor of needed funds and goods.

But all that is past. American dollars no longer buy all good things, and we are slowly beginning to realize that our proper role in the world is changing. A l979 Harris poll reported that 55 percent of Americans want this country to play a more significant role in world affairs; we want to have a hand in the important decisions of the next century, even though it may not always be the upper hand.

1. It can be inferred that Americans being approached too closely by Middle Easterners would most probably________.

A．stand still

B．scream out

C．step forward

D．draw back

2. The author gives many examples to criticize Americans for their ________.

A．cultural self-centeredness	B．casual manners
C．indifference towards foreign visitors	D．blindness to native culture

3. In countries other than their own, most Americans ________.

A．are isolated by the local people

B．are not well informed due to the language barrier

C．tend to get along well with the natives

D．need interpreters in hotels and restaurants

4. The author’s intention in writing this article is to make Americans realize that ________.

A．it is dangerous to ignore their foreign friends

B．it is important to maintain their leading role in world affairs

C．it is necessary to use several languages in public places

D．it is time to get acquainted with other cultures

9 . Dear boss — You have always tried to attract young and youngish consumers, and our consultants have always come up with new ways to label them. I don’t need to remind you that “millennials” and, increasingly, “Gen Z” are our most important markets. The trouble is that coming up with rules to define a swathe of humanity is more art than science. It is liable to apply stereotypes. Luckily you have me, and I’m here to tell you that much of what is written about marketing to today’s most prized consumers is a myth.

Social media has just changed the ways people discover brands from viewing television, newspapers and magazines to surfing Instagram and TikTok; it has weakened the power of marketing as a whole. Such is the ease with which digital natives can fact-check our tricky marketing claims that it is getting harder to build brand loyalty. Online, communication is cheap and prices are readily Googled.

There is a similar temptation to think that physical shops no longer matter. Young consumers love their Amazon deliveries. But what works best is the seamless combination of the digital and physical worlds. Remember those online-only influencer-backed beauty brands like Glossier, which took the world by storm during the pandemic? It turns out that they struggle to get repeat business and have had to pair up with physical retailers. If we want to succeed, we need to offer the best of both physical and virtual worlds.

Gen Z will consider a brand’s sustainability and social impact, but considering something isn’t surrendering to it. They are never brand-slaved. It is chiefly youngsters who buy cheap “fast-fashion” outfits to wear once and then send to landfill. Also, youngsters care less for consumer boycotts than its virtue-signaling parents, thus open to various brands. No wonder, most brands originate from youngsters with duel identities of producers and consumers.

What determines the shopping mode of a generation is their mindset. In Gen Z, lies are easily exposed online, where everyone loves a takedown and hates hypocrisy. We are people just as our young customers are and people will always buy sincerity.

1. What is the article primarily warning readers against in marketing?

A．The excessive use of digital advertising and ignoring traditional media.

B．The use of influencers and social media platforms for product promotion.

C．Focusing solely on Gen Z without considering other demographic groups.

D．Relying on outdated perceptions of young consumer behaviors.

2. Why is it challenging to build brand loyalty among younger consumers in the digital age?

A．Young consumers are less interested in brand loyalty.

B．Digital natives can check out marketing claims.

C．Young consumers prefer shopping in physical stores.

D．Social media platforms are misguiding in brand establishment.

3. What is suggested about the importance of physical stores in modern retailing?

A．Physical stores are becoming obsolete due to the rise of e-commerce.

B．Young consumers only prefer online shopping and home deliveries.

C．A combination of digital and physical retail experiences is most effective.

D．Physical stores should be completely replaced by digital marketing strategies.

4. What’s the attitude of young consumers towards brands?

A．They commit to social justice and boycott unethical brands.

B．They consider a brand’s sustainability but are not controlled by it.

C．They are indifferent to a brand’s quality and social influence.

D．They only support brands that are created by their peers.

10 . More Than a Feeling

Charles Darwin formulated the most successful theory in the history of biology: the theory of evolution. He was also responsible for another grand theory: the theory of emotion, which dominated his field for more than a century. Its core principle was that the mind consists of two competing forces: the rational and the emotional.     1    

We now know that, on the contrary, emotions enhance our process of reasoning and aid our decision-making. In fact, we can’t make decisions, or even think, without being influenced by our emotions.

    2     Perhaps the most important discovery regarding the role of emotion is that even when you believe you are exercising cold, logical reason, you are not. People are not usually aware of this, but the very framework (框架) of their thought process is highly influenced by what they are feeling at the time - sometimes subtly (细微地).

Consider anger, for example. Backed by the threat of attack, anger creates incentives (动机) for others to comfort the angry individual. Your mental calculations increase the importance you place on your own welfare and goals at the expense of others’. Coaches tap into anger as a motivational tool because the focus on the self encourages athletes to push themselves to achieve their goals. Anger also causes you to perceive less risk.     3    

The new view of emotion may not correspond to the way Darwin saw it, but it does support one of the basic conclusions of his theory of evolution. Humans are not as different from non-human animals as people believed. What can we learn from this? The first and most crucial step is self- awareness.     4     By studying our own emotions, we can read others’ better and communicate more effectively. Once we are in touch with our true feelings, we can take steps to manage them whenever it benefits.

A．Emotions play a critical role in shaping our thoughts and decisions, subtly influencing the framework of our reasoning even when we believe we are thinking rationally.

B．He believed that emotions played a constructive role in the lives of non-human animals, while the usefulness of emotions was largely replaced by the evolution of reason in humans.

C．That can produce better judgments in situations where risk aversion (厌恶) is inappropriate, as when you are analyzing stocks (股票) or playing poker.

D．Anger, while often perceived negatively, can sometimes fuel our motivation and reduce our perception of risk, enabling more decisive actions in certain situations.

E．Studies show that those with high levels of emotional intelligence fare better in their personal and professional lives.

F．If emotions aid rational reasoning, how does that work.