1 . Socially, few things are more annoying than someone repeatedly checking their phone in the middle of your conversation with them. Soon enough, you’re having unhappy thoughts, thinking of their way like, I’m boring you; you’re more concerned with whoever’s on that phone than me; you don’t care about me. None of that is necessarily true, but this is: “If someone is engaged in a great conversation, they wouldn’t care about their phones,” says Leslie, a psychologist and researcher at NYU.

Do you sometimes wonder: What should I have said to a rude person like this? What if we have to talk to such maddening persons? Experts have advice about how to deal with this.

Whether you say something or not, remember that the cell-addict’s annoying habits aren’t about you. “It’s rude, for sure, but sometimes we mistake the behavior for more than what it is,” says Leslie. “It’s possible that they are facing something tough and merely experiencing nervousness or anxiety,” he adds. It’s also possible that their partner is stuck with a flat tyre (轮胎) or their kid is sick in hospital. The point is that you don’t know.

So before you become angry at the cell-addict’s open rudeness, focus instead on building a better conversation than whatever’s going down on Instagram. You might never be able to achieve this, given the power of today’s social media, so if you’re close enough to a person, Leslie advises you to directly ask them: “What’s on that thing that’s so interesting?” Chances are that they will apologise at once and quickly put the phone away. But if the answer is something real, talk about it. Better yet, you can avoid the situation in advance by saying something like, “I’m really interested in catching up properly, so how about we leave our phones in the car?” If they indeed have that flat tyre or sick kid, at least you won’t have to assume that it’s because your stories are boring.

1. Why do people often check their phones according to Leslie?

A．They are anxious about something.

B．They are enjoying the conversation.

C．They are bored with the conversation.

D．They are interested in what’s on the phone.

2. What could be a reason for the cell-addicts’ annoying habits according to Leslie?

A．They may be nervous or anxious.

B．They are being rude intentionally.

C．They are avoiding the conversation.

D．They are disinterested in social interactions.

3. What is a better way to deal with the rudeness?

A．Talking about something real.

B．Asking the other person directly.

C．Avoiding the situation in advance.

D．Asking the other person for explanation.

4. What’s the main idea of the text?

A．What is a cell-addict.

B．How to deal with a cell-addict.

C．Why people repeatedly check their phones.

D．When to cut in appropriately during a conversation.

2 . When it comes to lowering blood pressure, studies have typically shown that aerobic (有氧的) exercises are best. Recent research suggests another type of physical activity is worth including as an effective tool to prevent and treat high blood pressure.

Exercises that engage muscles without movement, such as wall squats and planks, may be best for lowering blood pressure, according to a large study published in July, 2023 in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

This type of training is known as isometric exercise, according to the Mayo Clinic. Isometric muscle action happens when muscles contract but do not visibly change length, and the joints involved don’t move, facilitating stability of the body. Isometric exercises can be done with weights or without, just relying on the body’s own weight.

“These findings provide a comprehensive data-driven framework to support the development of new exercise guideline recommendations for the prevention and treatment of high blood pressure,” said study coauthor Dr. Jamie O’Driscoll in a news release.

The researchers looked into randomized controlled trials that had reported the effects of exercise interventions, lasting two or more weeks, on blood pressure between 1990 and February 2023. From a review of 270 trials with 15,827 participants, the researchers found that among HIIT (high intensity interval training), isometric exercise, aerobic exercise, dynamic resistance training and a combination of the latter two, isometric exercise led to the greatest reductions in blood pressure.

It’s also important to note that there are other lifestyle changes as well as exercise that can benefit your blood pressure. These include keeping to a healthy weight, eating a balanced diet, cutting down on salt, not drinking too much alcohol and ensuring that you continue to take any prescribed medication.

More research is needed to determine exactly why isometric exercises might be better for lowering blood pressure than other types of training, the authors said.

1. What does the underlined part “isometric exercise” in paragraph 3 refer to?

A．Exercise that is done with extra weights.

B．Exercise that involves visible muscle contraction.

C．Exercise that focuses on stability of the body.

D．Exercise that engages muscles without movement.

2. How did the researchers carry out the study?

A．By providing statistics.	B．By interviewing experts.
C．By doing experiments.	D．By making comparisons.

3. What does the author suggest the future studies about isometric exercise focus on?

A．Exploring the reasons for its effectiveness.

B．Demonstrating its influences on mental health.

C．Assessing its suitability for different populations.

D．Determining its long-term impacts on blood pressure.

4. What is the text mainly about?

A．The benefits of aerobic exercises.	B．The best exercise for blood pressure.
C．The effects of various types of exercises.	D．The importance of keeping a healthy lifestyle.

3 . Omar Vazquez grew up in poverty on Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula. He watched his single mother struggle to put food on the table, and today the memory inspires him to help those in need. When an invasive (入侵的) seaweed called sargassum showed up on Mexico’s Caribbean beaches, Omar looked past the matter of it all and saw an opportunity to help others.

Sargassum is not dangerous, but it has an unpleasant smell and can become so thick that it keeps people from entering the water. Mexico has experienced record-setting amounts of the seaweed in recent years, and it has made its way to Florida’s beaches as well. Experts say there could be as much as 100 tons of sargassum blocking Mexican shorelines in 2023.

With tourism dollars at risk, officials and locals alike were eager to remove the seaweed, but only Omar saw its true potential. The professional gardener organized a beach cleanup that provided jobs for about 300 local families, but he knew there was more to do. Since people’s attitude towards the seaweed reminded him of his own life experiences, he decided to become an agent (推动者) for change.

When sargassum started arriving, everyone was complaining. “I wanted to make something good out of something everyone saw as bad,” Omar explained.

In 2018, Omar found a way to turn sargassum into building blocks that he calls Sargablock. He creates these blocks by mixing 40% sargassum with other materials like clay, then putting them in a block-forming machine and baking them in the sun for days. The end result is an organic, sustainable, and ecologically friendly building material that experts say could last for 120 years.

To date, Omar’s company, Bluegreen Mexico, has used 700 tons of sargassum to build low-income housing for those in need. Omar said he would take on more projects, and donate more houses to single mothers like his own mom.

1. What can be learned from paragraph 1?

A．Omar’s family often assisted people in need.

B．Sargassum originated on the Caribbean beaches.

C．Omar’s experience in childhood has influenced him much.

D．Omar has met a lot of generous people since he was young.

2. How did most people react to the increasing sargassum?

A．They didn’t take it seriously.	B．They were anxious to clear it up.
C．They viewed it as new materials.	D．They were excited to see a grand scene.

3. Which words can best describe Omar?

A．Honest and ambitious.	B．Strong-willed and confident.
C．Quick-thinking and humorous.	D．Sympathetic and innovative.

4. What does the author mainly want to tell us through Omar’s success?

A．It’s never too old to learn.	B．Love shines every dark corner.
C．Solutions can be obtained from problems.	D．Heroes arise from humble beginnings.

4 . Are you ready to unlock your full career potential? Explore the details of each course below to find your right fit.

EliteOnline

Whether you’re exploring what to do next or you’ve already identified a role, this course is structured to help you take practical steps toward your career. It uses a design thinking approach to help people of any age and academic background. It consists of 5 career-oriented concepts, explained through videos, personal reflections, and exercises.

7 weeks:2-4 hours per week; self-paced

AUX

The course provides skill development for graduates as they prepare for their next career step. Participants will build skills to promote leadership, run a team, manage projects, apply teaching skills beyond the classroom, develop strategic communication skills and prepare successful job application materials.

·7 weeks:2-5 hours per week; instructor-led on a course schedule

BerkUX

This course provides tips and strategies for launching a successful music career as an artist. It covers developing your identity, leading a band, planning and recording your first independent record, building a brand, developing business partnerships, and understanding the business side of music production.

·4 weeks: 2-5 hours per week; self-paced

UXOnline

In this course, you will focus on the pathways to Internet security career success. You will determine your own incoming skills, talent, and deep interests to apply toward a meaningful exploration of 32 Digital Pathways of Cybersecurity. You will complete a self-assessment to determine the essential next steps.

·6 weeks:2-4 hours per week; self-paced

1. What is an advantage of EliteOnline?

A．It provides downloadable videos.	B．It offers the longest learning hours.
C．It focuses on trainings of design thinking.	D．It requires no specific academic background.

2. What do AUX and BerkUX have in common?

A．They allow a flexible learning pace.	B．They aim at specific professions.
C．They develop management skills.	D．They assess career potentials.

3. Which profession are participants in UXOnline most likely to pursue?

A．Network engineering.	B．Online teaching.
C．Career consulting.	D．Digital marketing.

5 . A new study involving nearly 50,000 people from four continents offers new insights into identifying the quantity of daily walking steps that will best improve adults’ health and longevity(长寿), and whether the ideal number of steps differs across people of different ages. The study represents an effort to develop an evidence-based public health message about the benefits of physical activity. The often-repeated 10,000-step-a-day saying grew out of a decades-old marketing activity for a Japanese pedometer(计步器), with no science to back it up.

Led by physical activity professor Amanda Paluch, an international group of scientists conducted an experiment among adults aged 18 and older. They grouped the nearly 50,000 participants into four comparative groups according to average steps per day. The lowest step group averaged 3,500 steps; the second, 5,800; the third, 7,800; and the fourth, 10,900 steps per day. Among the three higher active groups, there was a 40—53% lower risk of death, compared to the lowest step group.

More specifically, for adults 60 and older, the risk of early death leveled off at about 6,000—8,000 steps per day, meaning that more steps than that provided no additional benefit for longevity, while for adults younger than 60, about 8, 000—10,000 steps per day.

“So, what we saw was this continuing reduction in risk as the number of steps increases, until it levels off. Interestingly, the study found no definitive association with walking speed.” Paluch says.

The new study supports and expands findings from another study led by Paluch before, which found that walking at least 7,000 steps a day reduced middle-aged people’s risk of early death. “There’s a lot of evidence suggesting that moving even a little more is beneficial, particularly for those who are doing very little activity.” Paluch says. “More steps per day are better for your health.”

1. Why did the scientists carry out the new study?

A．To know about people’s health condition.

B．To explain the pedometer’s working principles.

C．To determine the best physical activity for people.

D．To provide a scientific guideline on daily walking.

2. What does the underlined phrase “leveled off” in paragraph 3 mean?

A．Turned higher.

B．Became stable.

C．Fell sharply.

D．Changed rapidly.

3. What does the experiment find?

A．The old should walk as much as possible.

B．Young people usually walk more than the old.

C．The most beneficial steps differ by age groups.

D．Walking pace is the key to avoiding early death.

4. What does Paluch advise people doing little activity to do?

A．To walk more steps.	B．To control walking speed.
C．To limit walking distance.	D．To track the number of steps.

6 . We’re looking at the best Italian countryside escapes to help you find the ideal spot for your real Italian holiday.

Basilicata

Located in southern Italy, bordering Puglia, Basilicata holidays are all about wonderful hilltop towns waiting to be explored. Since this area is relatively unexplored, you’re in for untouched history at your fingertips. If you’re looking for a countryside escape off the beaten track, Basilicata offers an impressive mountain landscape.

Tuscany Countryside

Tuscany countryside holidays are a once-in-a-lifetime experience. We’ve all seen photos of the rolling hills, vineyards, and hilltop towns, but believe us when we say that nothing prepares you for experiencing the unique beauty of the Italian countryside in Tuscany firsthand.

Umbria Countryside

For a true Italian countryside, a visit to Umbria is in order. The historic hill towns date back to the Etruscan era, with many structures remaining untouched and authentic. Umbria holidays offer smaller towns that hold tradition close to their hearts and long winding roads in between, where the silence of the countryside is unmatched in any other part of Italy.

Piedmont Countryside

Situated on the border of Switzerland and France, Piedmont is about as picturesque as the Italian countryside gets. It is surrounded by three sides of the Alps, proud of some of the biggest glaciers and highest peaks in Italy. The attractively vast vineyards and rolling green hills, as well as the luxurious lakes of Orta and Maggiore, Piedmont countryside holidays offer Italian beauty at its finest.

1. Which place best suits people who enjoy the scenery of ice?

A．Basilicata.

B．Tuscany Countryside.

C．Umbria Countryside.

D．Piedmont Countryside.

2. In both Basilicata and Umbria Countryside visitors can see ________.

A．something untouched for exploration.	B．large areas of vineyards.
C．rolling hills and hilltop towns.	D．the photos of small towns.

3. Whom is the passage mainly intended for?

A．Adventurers exploring the unknown.	B．Customers wanting to enjoy grape wine.
C．Tourists searching for countryside holidays.	D．Researchers digging for ancient architecture.

7 . How to Practice Gratitude (感激) in Your Daily Life

Gratitude is a positive emotion. Learning how to practice it is an effort to remind yourself of the good in life and to show an internal appreciation for yourself and others.     1    . Whichever exercise you do, it’s vital to remember the elements of gratitude: the awareness of the good things, expressing gratitude to yourself and giving thanks to people you’re grateful for.

Create a gratitude list. The intense stress of life can get you so caught up that we may fail to recognize the positive events or interactions we encounter on a daily basis.     2    . It can also help you picture the biggest and smallest moments that make your day.

    3    . Expressing your gratitude to those you’re grateful for strengthens your relationship with them. Plus, bonding with family and friends is a simple act that can help you feel gratitude for these relationships. Sharing kindness will make you feel happier and healthier. In turn, those benefits get passed along to those you most care about.

Make a gratitude jar (罐). Make the jar fun and personable by decorating it and placing it where you can always see it. Every day, write down what you’re grateful for on a slip of paper and put it in the jar.     4    . Whenever there’s a moment of doubt or sadness, return to the jar and read a few notes to remind yourself of who and what is good in your life.

In conclusion, engaging in daily gratitude exercises can make a great difference. Showing gratitude helps you connect with positive emotions, focus on acknowledging the good, and shift your focus to positive aspects of life.     5    .

A．Share your gratitude with others

B．Seek out opportunities to help others

C．There are several gratitude activities and exercises

D．As you fill it, it serves as a good reminder of good times

E．It is better to keep track of whatever happens in your life

F．You’ll also harvest the greatest rewards when it becomes a habit

G．Writing down the positive moments helps put life into a better perspective

8 . Most people have probably run into this problem. When you’re traveling, you want to take a photo to capture a moment, but you’re alone or your friend is a poor photographer. Now with the help of social media platforms, a “travel-along photographer” can take this worry off your list.

A travel-along photographer is like a travel companion who takes photos for you for an hour or two while accompanying you to the destination of your choice. Due to this year’s travel boom and social media, such photographers have grown in popularity.

“With social media platforms, every photographer can advertise for themselves and be seen,” said Shi Xinqi, a 22-year-old part-time photographer from Xiamen, Fujian province. In the past month, Shi has photographed over 30 clients. Rui Changchang, 27, agrees. Social media platforms help him be seen and find what he has been looking for over the years.

Rui used to be a fashion photographer for celebrities, but he didn’t feel the fundamental joy that he thought photography should create. From the lighting and clothing to the professional models, everything was from an assembly line. Now, he’s a full-time photographer who spends most of his time at Universal Studios in Beijing. “It’s very fascinating to help complete strangers become comfortable in front of the camera and capture a joyful moment for them.” Rui believes that capturing connections between people is what makes photos so touching.

But this is not a one-way service. When photographers capture these moments for their customers, they also learn something about themselves. “Most of my customers are women. I often describe them as the ‘beauty and power of women’,” said Shi, relating one experience with a customer in her 30s. Shi asked her if she had any regrets in her life—to which she replied that she had none. “That woman was so confident and determined. She helped relieve my anxiety about aging.” said Shi.

However, this booming industry also has a dark side. For travel-along photographers, there are no industry standards or measures to ensure the rights of all parties. Even though the photographers are from the same city, their pricing is dramatically different.

1. What does a travel-along photographer mainly do?

A．Run social media platforms.	B．Take worries off a traveler’s list.
C．Take pictures of a traveler along the way.	D．Accompany a traveler to the destination.

2. How is paragraph 4 developed?

A．By drawing conclusions.	B．By giving a definition.
C．By listing examples.	D．By making a contrast.

3. What does paragraph 5 intend to tell us?

A．The services offered by the photographers.	B．The benefits enjoyed by the photographers.
C．The moments captured by camera.	D．The communication promoted by customers

4. What is the author’s attitude towards the industry?

A．Favorable.

B．Objective.

C．Indifferent.

D．Negative.

9 . By flying in silence, the owl (猫头鹰) holds a deadly advantage over its prey (猎物), which is thought to have no idea of its hunter’s approach until its final moments.

Researchers have spent more than 80 years trying to solve the mystery of how owls, unique among birds, slice through the air creating just a whisper of audible (听觉的) disturbance. They hope to make use of the findings to reduce the noise generated by aircraft wings, fans and wind turbine blades (涡轮机叶片).

Extensive progress has been made, including developing innovations that have reduced noise from a wind turbine by as much as ten decibels (分贝), the difference between passing car and a passing truck, according to the authors of the study, Justin Jaworski and Nigel Peake.

However, in the study, published in the Annual Review of Fluid Mechanics, they conclude that “the primary barrier to the design of owl-inspired technologies remains the lack of understanding of the essential physics of silent owl flight”. The slight swoosh (嗖) made by an incoming barn owl is below the reach of human hearing until the bird is just under one metre away, laboratory measurements have shown.

In 1934, Robert Rule Graham, a British bird enthusiast and pilot, noted three structural aspects of owl wings that may help to explain their quiet approach: an unusual “comb” structure projecting from the wing’s leading edge, a soft layer of downy feathers that covers most of the wing and a ragged fringe (外围) of feathers that line the trailing wing edge. His theory is widely cited (引用).

Some researchers found that many larger owl species, such as the barn owl, can continuously track their prey in flight by hearing alone, meaning that any aerodynamic noise does not interfere with their tracking ability. When an aeroplane lands, much of the noise comes not from its engines but from the flow of air rushing around it. The ragged, feathered fringes of the owl’s wings may help to reduce the noise.

1. What is the purpose of the researchers’ study on owls?

A．To understand the flying techniques of owls.

B．To increase the flying speed of aircraft.

C．To help hunters catch their preys with ease.

D．To put the secret of owls’ quiet flight to use.

2. The underlined part in paragraph 3 is used to ______.

A．compare the noise of cars with that of trucks

B．illustrate the great achievements of the research

C．show the striking difference between trucks and cars

D．explain there is still a long way to go in reducing noise

3. What is the major difficulty in designing owl-inspired technologies?

A．Lacking the source of inspiration.

B．Limited sense of hearing of human beings.

C．Failing to understand how owls fly silently.

D．Blindness to the structure of owls’ wings.

4. What can we learn from the last paragraph?

A．Owls don’t move their wings when hunting for their prey.

B．The flying barn owl can follow their prey just by hearing.

C．Much of the plane’s noise comes from its engines when landing.

D．The feathered fringes of the owl’s wings generate the flow of air.

10 . Visitors won’t find many straight rows in the organic garden at Martin Luther King Middle School in Berkeley, California. Sometimes the beds look like hearts, eyes, question marks or a rainbow. And then there’s the lovely drainage ditch (水沟), called the “Middle River,” which laughing, muddy students carved right down the center of their one-acre land.

As he looks around, Kelsey Siegel, the young teacher in charge of the garden, can’t help but smile. “So many of the youth we work with have grown up in front of TV and video games; they haven’t really had this experience of playing in the mud and water,” he notes. The schoolyard farm “fills in something that’s missing in their lives.”

Before they planted their garden five years ago with the help of highly-praised chef Alice Waters, few of the students at this multicultural Northern California school had even tasted vine-ripened (藤熟的) tomatoes, let alone raised them seedlings. Teachers worried that some children weren’t eating enough fresh fruits and vegetables at home, and the school wasn’t much help either: Like many state campuses, King replaced its hot-meal cafeteria years ago with a more cost-effective outdoor “snack-shack (小吃棚).”

For Waters, the founder of Berkeley’s Chez Panisse restaurant, the thought of children having to rely on such reheated junk — right in her own backyard — was too much to stomach. The small, visionary (有远见卓识的) woman is widely regarded as the Julia Child of organic cuisine in America, the person who’s taught millions the joy of cooking simple dishes with locally grown, chemical-free produce. Waters remembers poking (戳) at mystery food in her school cafeteria as a kid. But today, she says, the spread of vending machines and fast food in America’s schools has become downright evil. “What is it, one in three kids is overweight now? It’s just horrifying,” she sighs, drinking mineral water at a quiet table downstairs in her hugely popular restaurant, about a mile from the King campus “I don’t know what has to happen before we wake up.”

1. What does paragraph 1 highlight?

A．Students’ creativity in farming the schoolyard.

B．Students’ knowledge of building the schoolyard.

C．The strange look of the organic garden.

D．The nice environment of the organic garden.

2. The garden has a(n)______ impact on students.

A．unnoticeable

B．predictable

C．modest

D．far-reaching

3. What can we infer from the last paragraph?

A．Waters preferred fast-food to her school’s mystery food.

B．Waters is indifferent to what is happening to children.

C．Waters has taught people to grow organic plants.

D．Waters is deeply concerned about students’ diet and health.

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

A．Field of dreams	B．Garden of pleasure
C．Junk-free restaurant	D．Cost-effective campus