1 . 20-year-old Colen Nulgit and his girlfriend, Shantelle Johnson, had gone out for a daytime fishing trip at Keep River National Park in Australia last week when their car became stuck in some mud (淤泥). When they were unable to free the car from the mud, they began to worry. The park’s waterways are usually full of crocodiles (鳄鱼), and the couple had already seen plenty of crocodile tracks running through the mud. Not only that, they had only brought a few bottles of water and little food for the trip.
Nulgit and Johnson tried to fall asleep in their car—but as the sun set and the nearby water levels began to rise, they feared that the high water would bring the crocodiles closer to their car. The young couple then moved towards dry land and hoped for rescue. They even used a piece of wood to write the word “HELP” into the mud along with a line pointing towards their car.
Thankfully, the couple had told Nulgit’s parents where they were going and when they expected to be home before they left. So when they failed to return the very same night, his worried mother called the police. Rescuers began searching the area by airplane the next morning. Upon hearing the sound of the plane, the couple started a fire so the rescuers would see the smoke. As the plane drew closer to the smoke, the rescuers successfully located the couple after they caught sight of the “HELP” sign pointing towards the car.
Nulgit and Johnson were very thankful for the rescue. They now plan on putting together a set of emergency survival tools for the car.
1. Why did the young couple move to dry land?| A．Because their car became stuck in some mud. |
| B．Because they wanted to fall asleep in their car that night. |
| C．Because they were afraid the crocodiles would come to their car. |
| D．Because they only brought a few bottles of water and little food. |
| A．They wrote a sign for help. | B．They went fishing for food. |
| C．They started a fire for warmth. | D．They called their parents for help. |
| A．The evening when they should have arrived home. | B．The moment their car became stuck in some mud. |
| C．The minute she received their call for help. | D．Upon hearing the sound of the plane. |
| A．At the sight of the rescuers, the couple brought into tears. |
| B．The couple successfully caught the rescuers’ attention by smoke. |
| C．The rescuers began searching the area the moment they received the call. |
| D．After being rescued, the couple bought some survival tools for car at once. |
2 . The Nobel economics prize was awarded on Monday to Harvard University professor Claudia Goldin for research that has advanced the understanding of the gender (性别) gap in the labor market.
The announcement went a tiny step to closing the Nobel committee’s own gender gap: Goldin is just the third woman to win the prize out of 93 economics laureates (获奖者). She has studied 200 years of women’s participation in the workplace, showing that despite continued economic growth, women’s pay did not continuously catch up to men’s and a divide still exists despite women gaining higher levels of education than men. “I’ve always been an optimist. But when I looked at the numbers, I found in the 1990s, our labor force participation rate for women was the highest in the world, and now it isn’t the highest in the world,” Goldin told The Associated Press.
“Although Goldin’s research does not offer solutions, it allows policymakers to deal with the problem,” said Randi Hjalmarsson, a member of the Nobel committee. “She explains the source of the gap, and how it’s changed over time and how it changes with the stage of development. By finally understanding the problem and calling it by the right name, we will find a solution.”
Goldin, 77, told AP that what happens in people’s homes reflects what happens in the workplace. Women often have to take jobs that allow them to be on call at home—work that often pays less.
“Goldin tried to fill in missing data for her research,” Hjalmarsson said. For parts of history, systematic labor market records did not exist, and, if they did, information about women was missing. “So Goldin had to be a detective to find novel data sources and creative ways to use them to measure these unknowns.”
1. What can we infer from the second paragraph?| A．Men gained higher levels of education than women. |
| B．The women’s pay caught up to men’s 200 hundreds years ago. |
| C．Many women scientists have won the Nobel economics prize these years. |
| D．At the late 20th century, American women labor force participation rate was the top. |
| A．Randi Hjalmarsson didn’t agree with Goldin. |
| B．Most of the women usually prefer to be housewives. |
| C．What happens in family life often mirrors that in the workplace. |
| D．Goldin’s research offered the policymakers solutions to the problem. |
| A．Lack of experience. | B．Lack of support. |
| C．Lack of money. | D．Lack of data. |
| A．A Solution to the Gender Gap in the Labor Market |
| B．Claudia Goldin—a Great Economics Data Detective |
| C．The Third Woman Who Wins the Nobel Prize in the World |
| D．Nobel Economics Prize Goes to Harvard University Woman Professor |
3 . You may have heard video game characters deliver lines like “Shatter (击碎) the darkness with thunder!” But it’s refreshing to hear it in an unexpected place — the classroom. Xia Zhendong is a physics teacher working at a senior high school in south China. Now in his 30s, Xia has won the hearts of millions of online viewers with his classroom experiments.
In one video, Xia pointed a self-made “thunderbolt wand (魔杖)” toward a hanging light tube in his classroom and said, “Shatter the darkness with thunder.” Suddenly, an electric arc (弧线) emerged from the tip of the wand, illuminating the tube. After the cheers from his students, he went on to explain the science behind it—static electricity (静电) and point discharge (尖端放电).
“The idea came when I enjoyed playing a popular game on my smart phone,” he said. In his spare time, he likes to try out what students are interested in to get closer to them. Apart from the “thunderbolt wand”, Xia has done many other creative experiments. Once, he lit steel wool with a battery to show the heating effect of electric current. Another time, he used a “laser weapon” to pop balloons while explaining the principles of lasers.
For Xia, physics is supposed to be fun. So, when he saw his students struggle with physics, he decided to make a change. “Circuit diagrams (电路图) are abstract, and I want them to actually see the electricity through lightning to realize that knowledge is not just on paper. You can see it and even touch it,” Xia said. Now, Xia has also started free live classes online. “I hope that through online classes, more students can also have access to fun physics lessons. And their parents can also join in. I hope that physics could make them feel happier,” Xia said.
1. What does the underlined word “illuminating” mean in paragraph 2?| A．Shining light on. | B．Cutting down on. |
| C．Getting stuck in. | D．Taking advantage of. |
| A．The effect of acting a video game character. | B．Online viewers of his videos. |
| C．The pleasure in playing an online game . | D．Wild cheers from his students. |
| A．Because he hopes to get more students to have his classes. |
| B．Because he wishes to get more parents involved in his lessons. |
| C．Because he expects more students to have fun in learning physics. |
| D．Because he wants to win more hearts of online viewers of his videos. |
| A．What makes a fun teacher. | B．Bringing magic to school. |
| C．How to make physics fun. | D．Getting students to learn physics. |
4 . Friends always ask why I, a middle-aged woman with no athletic (运动) talent (天赋), travel to perilous places — the jungles (丛林) of Thailand or Borneo, for example, where the water is often unsafe and the food risky; places with infectious diseases, poisonous snakes and the wildest animals.
I never know how to answer. Nine years ago I suffered a stroke (中风). To prevent another stroke, my doctors told me, I’d have to take dangerously high levels of blood thinner (血液稀释剂) for the rest of my life and any travel would be risky (冒险的).
I had to think about what was important to me: family, of course, and friends. But then what? No matter how many times I thought about it, I could not be happy without travel. Then I had to decide how I might manage the risk.
The first real test of my travel courage came nine months after my stroke when I joined my husband, Jack, on a business trip to China. After we’d toured the remains of a Tang dynasty temple on a high mountain, Jack wanted to ride down on a toboggan (长雪橇).
Before the stroke it would’ve seemed like fun. But now? I hesitated. My mental klaxon (高音喇叭) screamed warnings about the consequences of a cut, a fall, and a crash. Then, gaining confidence from who knew where, I lowered myself carefully into the toboggan, which marked my adventure (冒险) travel come back.
In the years since then, I’ve traveled about twenty-five percent of the time. Through it all, my lucks held out — no deadly falls, no car accidents or serious infections. For me, adventure travel is a risk worth taking. Travel broadens my world and keeps me connected to nature. What’s more, saying “yes” to travel keeps me connected to myself.
1. What does the underlined word “perilous” in Paragraph 1 probably mean?| A．Energetic. | B．Dangerous. | C．Romantic | D．Famous. |
| A．Do proper exercise. | B．Enjoy the rest of her life. |
| C．Spend more time with her family | D．Keep away (远离) from traveling |
| A．It was her last adventure. | B．She recovered (恢复) her courage (勇气) through it. |
| C．She liked the beautiful scenery in China. | D．It was the most dangerous experience in her life. |
| A．A business trip to China | B．Stroke, a dangerous disease |
| C．How I overcame the fear of disease | D．Why I still travel to the wild |
5 . For people suffering from depression, there’s an all-natural treatment they should use — getting more exercise. It could help fight depression, even if people have a genetic risk, new research shows.
For the study, researchers collected information from nearly 8,000 people and found those with related genes were more likely to have depression over the next two years after examining them. But that was less likely for people who were more active at the study’s start, even if they had a family history of depression. Higher levels of physical activity helped protect even those with the highest genetic risk of depression.
Both high-intensity (高强度) exercise and low-intensity activities were associated with a reduced risk of depression. Adding four hours of exercise a week could lower the risk of a new episode (一段经历) of depression by 17%, according to the study. “Our findings strongly suggest that, when it comes to depression, being physically active has the potential to remove the added risk of future episodes in individuals who are genetically risky,” said lead author Karmel Choi. “On average, about 35 additional minutes of physical activity each day may help people to reduce their risk and protect against future depression episodes.”
Depression is a common mental illness globally, with more than 264 million people affected. “Depression is so ubiquitous, and that underlines the need for effective approaches that can impact as many people as possible,” Choi said. And mental health and primary care providers can use the findings to advise patients that there’s something meaningful they can do to lower their risk of depression.
1. How did the researchers reach their conclusion?| A．By analyzing a mass of data. |
| B．By conducting genetic research. |
| C．By comparing various levels of activity. |
| D．By tracking the subjects for many years. |
| A．Physical activity betters medical treatment. |
| B．Exercise is able to decrease and prevent it. |
| C．Different levels of exercise intensity matter the same. |
| D．Exercising 35 minutes daily is the most effective treatment. |
| A．Harmful. | B．Complex. |
| C．Unusual. | D．Common. |
| A．To discuss a disease. |
| B．To introduce a method. |
| C．To analyze a genetic risk. |
| D．To explain a phenomenon. |
6 . Microsoft has announced the general availability of its Azure AI Content Safety, a new service that helps users detect and filter harmful AI — and user-generated content across applications and services.
The service, designed to reduce negative information in community environments, includes text and image detection and identifies content that Microsoft terms “offensive, risky, or undesirable,” including hate, bias, adult content, violence and self-harm.
“By focusing on content safety, we can create a safer digital environment that promotes responsible use of AI and safeguards the well-being of individuals and society as a whole,” wrote Louise Han, product manager for Azure Anomaly Detector, in a blog post announcing the launch.
Azure AI Content Safety has the ability to handle various content categories, languages, and threats to moderate both text and visual content. It also offers image features that use AI algorithms to scan, analyze, and moderate visual content, ensuring what Microsoft terms 360-degree comprehensive safety measures. The service is also equipped to moderate content across multiple languages and it can rate the severity of specific content on a scale ranging from 0 to 7. Then it instructs human detectors to take action.
“When it comes to online safety, it is crucial to consider more than just human-generated content, especially as AI-generated content becomes prevalent,” Han wrote. “To make sure that AI-generated outputs are accurate, reliable, or appropriate materials is essential. Content safety not only protects users from misinformation and potential harm but also upholds moral standards and builds trust in AI technologies.”
Azure AI Content Safety has a better understanding of textual content and cultural context and are more precise in processing data and content than other products in their category.
Azure AI Content Safety is mainly priced on a pay-as-you-go basis. Interested users can checkout pricing options on the Azure AI Content Safety pricing page.
1. What’s the main idea of the passage?| A．Microsoft makes AI technologies popular. |
| B．Microsoft guarantees trust in AI technologies. |
| C．Microsoft launches AI Content Safety service. |
| D．Microsoft puts forward a term about AI Content Safety. |
| A．Hatred speeches. | B．Nursery rhymes. | C．Peaceful protests. | D．Defensive postures. |
| A．It deals only with visual information to guarantee a secure digital world. |
| B．It is the best product created to prevent misleading information in history. |
| C．It assesses the seriousness of specific information by using different languages. |
| D．It’s committed to accuracy, reliability and appropriateness of AI-generated contents. |
| A．the application of Azure AI Content Safety to users’ language learning. |
| B．the details of price choices when purchasing Azure AI Content Safety. |
| C．the comparison of Azure AI Content Safety and other similar products. |
| D．the examples of Azure AI Content Safety to solve technical problems. |
7 . I first realized that plastic was a serious matter for our planet during my travel in Western Australia. One day about 12 years ago, I stopped at a supermarket along the Coral Bay coast ta buy some groceries. But the lady at the counter told me that the supermarket didn’t sell any shopping bags to prevent plastic in the ocean and help preserve the endangered turtles(海龟) living in that area. After a first reaction of surprise, I gathered all purchases in my arms and left, reflecting on what I had been told.
The experience in that trip made me more conscious about my impact and pushed me to adopt various habits to travel and live more sustainably. For example, I always carried a cotton bag when I went shopping.
My travel to Indonesia was another life-changing experience that strengthened my determination to turn to a zero-waste lifestyle. In Indonesia, finding safe drinkable water was always a challenge, so I traveled with my water bottle, managing to avoid almost entirely the use of plastic during my trip.
However, I was seriously struck by my stay on the Libaran Island, where a sustainable and turtle conservation project was launched 10 years ago. Despite the big efforts by the project staff and the community in cleaning up the beaches and creatively reusing plastic, the shore was washed daily with tons of plastic coming from the tides. Walking on a carpet of plastic that almost prevented me from seeing the beach underneath was quite shocking.
Facing this global issue in person, I felt a sense of sadness and anger that soon turned into determination: to do as much as possible to reduce plastic in my life. Sometimes we might feel helpless in front of big problems, but we should be aware that small changes could actually make a difference step by step!
1. How does the author lead in the topic of the text?| A．By reflecting on the present life. |
| B．By looking into the future environment. |
| C．By introducing the previous achievements. |
| D．By recalling the past shopping experience. |
| A．Cut back on travel. | B．Shop less frequently. |
| C．Lead a green life. | D．Rurify drinking water |
| A．It had no clear goal. | B．It didn’t work out very well. |
| C．It met the islanders’ needs. | D．It was aimed to prevent turtle attacks. |
| A．It is demanding | B．It is manageable. |
| C．It is easy to solve. | D．It’s lacking in attention. |
8 . In 1867, Caroline Shawk Brooks and her husband, Samuel, had a farm in Arkansas. Life on the farm was not easy. From sunrise to sunset, Caroline and Samuel milked cows, gardened, and picked cotton. This left Caroline no time for her dream of becoming an artist.
Time was not the only problem. Money was a worry too. The cotton crops were failing. What could Caroline and Samuel do?
Caroline decided to make butter (黄油) from their cows’milk and sell it at market. But other farms also made and sold butter. How would Caroline set her butter apart from the rest? This is where Caroline’s artistic talent came in. To draw attention to her butter, she began making small butter sculptures (雕塑). She used many different tools, such as butter paddles (搅拌器的浆叶), broom straws, and tree sticks. She also put the butter in a shallow tin pan, which sat in a larger tin pan filled with ice to stop the butter sculpture from melting.
Caroline’s butter sculptures were a hit. Before long, she was displaying them at fairs and exhibitions. One of her largest butter sculptures was a life-size statue called A Study in Butter. It was transported all the way to Paris for the 1878 world’s fair.
Caroline also made sculptures using marble (大理石). She eventually opened a studio in New York City where she created many marble sculptures, some of which were shown at the 1893 world’s fair in Chicago.
But Caroline never stopped making butter art. She considered butter a superior material to work with. At the 1893 fair, she also displayed her butter techniques with a sculpture of Christopher Columbus.
Caroline Shawk Brooks died in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1913. She is remembered as the first known American butter sculptor.
1. Why did Caroline make butter sculptures?| A．To realize her dream. | B．To make her butter stand out. |
| C．To make her farm famous. | D．To display her sculptures at the fair. |
| A．Caroline made her art works all by machine. |
| B．The sculptures were all made from cow's milk. |
| C．Ice was used to keep the butter sculptures in shape. |
| D．Caroline stopped making sculptures after being world-famous. |
| A．Talented and successful. | B．Confident and caring. |
| C．Creative and rich. | D．Brave and famous. |
| A．A Farming Pioneer. | B．A Great Sculptor. |
| C．The Butter Sculptures. | D．The Butter Artist. |
9 . It’s 1: 45 a.m, and 21-year-old Thomas Murphy is studying for an important exam. To stay awake, he’s had two cups of coffee in the last three hours and is now downing a popular energy drink which also has caffeine.
Caffeine is present in many of the foods and drinks we consume (消耗), but is it good for us? Charles Czeisler, a scientist and sleep expert at Harvard Medical School, believes that caffeine causes us to lose sleep. “Without enough sleep — the typical eight hours -the human body will not work at its best, physically, mentally, or emotionally.” Too often, Czeisler says, we consume caffeine to stay awake, which later makes it impossible for us to get the rest we need.
A number of scientists believe that regular caffeine use causes physical dependence. Heavy caffeine users show similar behaviors. For example, they get mild to severe headaches, or they feel tired or sad when they can’t have a caffeinated drink. To reduce or stop these feelings, users must consume caffeine, which is characteristic of drug addiction.
Despite these concerns, the general opinion in the scientific field is that caffeine is not dangerous when one or two small cups of coffee per day are consumed. Furthermore, a lot of current research goes against long-held negative beliefs about caffeine, and suggests that it may, in fact, have health benefits. For example, studies have shown that caffeine can help ease pain and help improve one’s mood. Research has also shown that some caffeinated drinks can help the body fight a number of illnesses, including certain types of cancer.
Caffeine’s behavioral effects are real, but most often mild. Getting that burst of energy, of course, is why many of the world’s most popular drinks contain caffeine. Whether it’s a student drinking coffee before class or a businessperson enjoying tea with lunch, humankind’s favorite stimulant (兴奋剂) is at work every day, all over the world.
1. Which of the following can replace the underlined word “downing” in paragraph 1?| A．Holding. | B．Decreasing. | C．Drinking. | D．Waking. |
| A．The type of caffeine will affect people’s sleep. |
| B．Heavy caffeine consumption will cause drug addiction. |
| C．It’s a good idea to consume caffeine if people want to stay energetic. |
| D．Regular caffeine use will make it difficult for people to get enough sleep. |
| A．The risks of caffeine intake. | B．The effects of consuming caffeine. |
| C．Healthy and unhealthy caffeine products. | D．Recent changes in caffeine consumption. |
| A．Worried. | B．Doubtful. | C．Objective. | D．Unconcerned. |
10 . Various sports attract fans for different reasons: Spectator sports draw even more fans who just love to watch. Here are some of the most beloved sports worldwide.
Hockey-2 billion fans
Hockey, both on ice and on a field, wins a following of two billion enthusiastic fans worldwide. Field hockey is mainly played in Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia, while ice hockey is particularly popular in Canada and the US, where kids grow up playing pond hockey. Unlike ice hockey, field hockey usually does not involve body contact in the form of checking and hitting.
Football-4 billion fans
Football, better known as soccer in the US, is by far the most popular sport in the world. Experts estimate that the origin (起源) of football may go as far back as two thousand years, beginning in ancient China during the Han Dynasty. One major reason for football’s global popularity is that unlike other sports that require expensive equipment, all you need to play football is a ball and your feet.
Volleyball-900 million fans
Volleyball pits two teams across a high net, each attempting to smash the ball onto the opponent’s floor. A popular variant, beach volleyball, is competed on sand by pairs rather than the regular six players per team. The crowd appeal of beach volleyball has grown greatly in recent years.
Tennis-1 billion fans
An estimated one billion people worldwide follow professional tennis tournaments and matches. In tennis, players on both sides of a net try to hit a ball with a racket so that it either goes past their opponent (对手) or bounces twice on their opponent’s side of the court to score points. Tennis superstars like Rafael Nadal, and Serena Williams are now household names around the world, with huge international fan bases.
1. Which sport attracts the most fans according to the text?| A．Volleyball. | B．Hockey. | C．Football. | D．Tennis. |
| A．Its long history. | B．Its great convenience. |
| C．Its unique origin. | D．Its huge fan bases. |
| A．Playing ice hockey involves body contact. |
| B．Soccer is American people's favorite sport. |
| C．Beach volleyball has attracted the most sports fans recently. |
| D．A tennis player loses one point if his ball goes past his opponent. |
