1 . The holidays can be a difficult time to stay on track with your fitness goals.     1    . Even the most disciplined people can find it difficult to stick to their fitness routines during the holiday season. Here are some expert-recommended tips that can help you stay on track.

    2    .

Planning is the best way to make sure you don’t lose track of your goals. Plan your workouts for the week and mark them in your schedule to assure they are a part of your day.

Exercise early.

    3    . Make sure workouts are in the morning and you’ll set yourself up for a productive day. Then you can enjoy holiday activities and time with family without worrying about when you’ll have time to exercise.

Keep moving.

Research shows that getting up for just five minutes every 30 to 60 minutes and performing light activities reduces the risk of heart disease risk factors. Small efforts to get moving can help your overall health during the holidays. In addition to staying active, try to avoid sitting for long periods of time, such as when watching football games or eating.     4    .

Think out of the box.

The holidays are busy, but do your best to avoid the “all or nothing” mentality when it comes to physical activity.     5     — like taking a family walk around the neighborhood before opening Christmas presents.

A．Plan ahead

B．Plan out your route before you go

C．Exercising in the morning is one of the biggest tips

D．Remember: too much sitting is harmful to your health

E．Your schedule will be filled with family gatherings and celebrations

F．Get creative with exercise and make physical activity a family affair

G．Rather than skipping the gym altogether, make time for a quick workout

2 . New research shows that removing black rhinos’ horns (犀牛角) to make them less attractive to illegal hunters is reducing their territory (领地) sizes and making them less sociable with each other.

The study, published in the journal PNAS, found that de­horned South African rhinos have home ranges that are 45 per cent smaller than those of complete animals, and that they were 37 percent less likely to engage in social interactions.

“The big, dominant bulls that used to have very large territories that overlapped with a lot of females may now have much less territory and much less reproductive (繁殖的) success,” says Vanessa Duthé, who led the work at Switzerland’s University of Neuchâtel.

“It’s really hard to predict the effects of this,” she says. “It doesn’t mean that population success will necessarily decline, because it might open up gaps for younger males that would not have had the space or the means before.” Indeed, a University of Bristol study published last year showed that de­horning (去角) does not negatively affect populations overall.

But such unintended behavioral consequences necessarily feed into judgments about whether this highly invasive procedure is worthwhile. Remarkably, perhaps, there is little hard evidence either way. “No one’s put all the data together to say whether it’s a really effective measure,” says Duthé.

“What is clear is that the introduction of de­horning and a decline in illegal hunting has occurred at the same time,” she adds. “But de­horning has been accompanied by other conservation measures that may be more effective.”

“It’s incredibly complicated,” says Lucy Chimes, a member of the Bristol team. “There are so many other factors involved. You have to consider what other security measures are being carried out — fencing, patrols, staff numbers — and poverty levels surrounding parks, their nearness to national borders and whether there is community engagement.” Chimes is currently planning a project that aims to separate these and other factors. In the meantime, Duthé believes that de­horning is a worthwhile tool of last course of action. “A rhino that is behaving a little bit strangely is better than a dead rhino.”

1. What is the purpose of removing the horns of black rhinos?

A．To make them less sociable.	B．To protect them from being hunted.
C．To reduce their home ranges.	D．To affect their reproductive success.

2. What does the underlined phrase “invasive procedure” in paragraph 5 refer to?

A．The removal of rhino horns.	B．The loss of rhino territories.
C．The impact on rhino population.	D．The change of rhino behavior.

3. What is Chimes’ attitude toward the de­horning of black rhinos?

A．Supportive.

B．Opposed.

C．Unconcerned.

D．Uncertain.

4. What can we learn from the last paragraph?

A．De­horning rhinos shows satisfying effects.

B．Various factors lead to the decline in illegal hunting.

C．De­horning is the last action researchers will take.

D．Rhinos are supposed to behave a little bit strangely.

3 . More than half of the world’s population are city residents, and, by 2050, the United Nations predicts that seven in ten people will be. Architects are having to consider how architecture influences our emotional well-being in urban settings.

According to Colin Ellard, a research psychologist at Waterloo University, Canada, there is a lot of evidence which shows “the profound impact that the design of buildings has on how we feel, how we treat one another, and our overall psychological well-being”. A study from the University of Heidelberg concluded that people raised in the countryside are less likely to have mental disorders than those raised in the city. The city of Vancouver in Canada, which is surrounded by mountains and ocean, recognises the need to connect with nature. It has included protecting ocean and mountain views in its urban planning guidelines. For example, tall buildings are set up in strategic locations that don’t block scenic views for downtown residents.

The British designer Thomas Heatherwick wants to make architecture less soulless and boring. He told The Guardian, “We need to fearlessly demand interestingness and make buildings that enrich our senses.” He has listed seven characteristics of a boring building. These include being too flat and straight. He says lack of depth means light and shadow cannot play on surfaces, while straight lines are at odds with nature and make buildings dull.

However, making buildings interesting is not always easy, as architect Rafael Vinoly found out in 2013 when he created the 37-store y skyscraper in London. The building was admired for its curved exterior walls covered in reflective glass. However, it acted like a magnifying glass and reflected light which melted nearby cars and almost set fire to a carpet. A screen had to be added to prevent the building causing further damage.

So, for your own well-being, surround yourself with buildings that bring you joy, and ideally a view of nature.

1. Why are tall buildings located in certain places in Vancouver?

A．To protect people’s mental health.	B．To follow the tradition of the city.
C．To caution people against disorder.	D．To reveal the prosperity of the area.

2. Which kind of building is Thomas’ preference?

A．One with straight lines.	B．One having flat surfaces.
C．One having a security system.	D．One with innovative patterns.

3. What did Rafael Vinoly fail to consider in his design?

A．Boldness.

B．Creativity.

C．Practicality.

D．Flexibility.

4. What is the purpose of the passage?

A．To call on people to live in big cities.

B．To compare buildings in different cities.

C．To stress the importance of healthy emotion.

D．To convince people of emotional impact by buildings.

4 . When it comes to tricks in life, the following will be of great help, which might surprisingly end up working the magic.

Hooks that help

There’s nothing worse than throwing something into the trash bin and watching the garbage bag fall in with it. To prevent this, stick two wall hooks onto the outside of your bin(one on either side), positioned so they face downward. The next time you replace the grocery bag, loop its handles through the hooks and no matter how full the bag gets, it’ll never drop to the bottom of the bin again.

Easier garbage storage

You have probably encountered this: after filling the bag with trash, it forms a vacuum (真空) seal so tight that it’s a struggle to lift the bag out once it’s full. What to do? Punch a couple of small holes in the sides, a few centimeters above its base. The holes will allow just enough airflow to make lifting out the trash a piece of cake.

Instant bottle brush

If you have an ordinary kitchen sponge (海绵) and a fork, then you have everything you need for a DIY bottle brush. Pierce the narrowest edge of the sponge with the fork and slide the sponge down until the points of the fork are fully covered. You can now clean out the skinniest bottle with ease.

Express drying

Need washed load of laundry dried in a flash? Toss a clean, dry towel into the dryer along with all the wet stuff for the first 15 minutes of the cycle. It’ll absorb some of the moisture and speed up the overall drying time.

1. What is the key to lifting trash bags?

A．The fork.

B．The hook.

C．The brush.

D．The holes.

2. Why is a dry towel used in the laundry?

A．To take in water.	B．To tidy the dryer.
C．To clean the clothes.	D．To distinguish the wet stuff.

3. What does the passage mainly talk about?

A．Various means of saving money.	B．Creative ideas on making life fun.
C．DIY solutions for life’s little dilemmas.	D．Different ways to promote cooking skills.

5 . The maker of ChatGPT recently announced its next move into generative artificial intelligence. San Francisco-based OpenAI’s new text-to-video generator, called Sora, is a tool that instantly makes short videos based on written commands, called prompts.

Sora is not the first of its kind. Google, Meta and Runway ML are among the other companies to have developed similar technology. But the high quality of videos displayed by OpenAI — some released after CEO Sam Altman asked social media users to send in ideas for written prompts-surprised observers.

A photographer from New Hampshire posted one suggestion, or prompt, on X. The prompt gave details about a kind of food to be cooked, gnocchi (意大利团子), as well as the setting — an old Italian country kitchen. The prompt said: “An instructional cooking session for homemade gnocchi, hosted by a grandmother — a social media influencer, set in a rustic (土气的) Tuscan country kitchen.” Altman answered a short time later with a realistic video that showed what the prompt described.

The tool is not yet publicly available. OpenAI has given limited information about how it was built. The company also has not stated what imagery and video sources were used to train Sora. At the same time, the video results led to fears about the possible ethical and societal effects.

The New York Times and some writers have taken legal actions against OpenAI for its use of copyrighted works of writing to train ChatGPT. And OpenAI pays a fee to The Associated Press, the source of this report, to license its text news archive (档案) . OpenAI said in a blog post that it is communicating with artists, policymakers and others before releasing the new tool to the public.

The company added that it is working with “red teamers” — people who try to find problems and give helpful suggestions — to develop Sora. “We are working with red teamers-express in areas like misinformation, hateful content, and bias — who will be adversarially testing the model,” the company said. “We’re also building tools to help detect misleading content such as a detection classifier that can tell when a video was generated by Sora.”

1. What makes Sora impressive?

A．Its extraordinary video quality.	B．Its ethical and societal influence.
C．Its artificial intelligence history.	D．Its written commands and prompts.

2. What can we infer from the text?

A．Some disagreements over Sora have arisen.

B．Sora is the first text-to-video generator in history.

C．OpenAI CEO Altman wrote a prompt as an example.

D．All the details about how Sora was built have been shared.

3. What is the main idea of Paragraph 6?

A．The company’s current challenge.

B．The company’s advanced technology.

C．The company’s problems in management.

D．The company’s efforts for Sora’s improvement.

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

A．Neutral.

B．Optimistic.

C．Pessimistic.

D．Cautious.

6 . Discovering Your True Self Is Vital to Happiness!

Have you found focusing on yourself is at the bottom of the to-do list, because you feel everyone else in your life comes first?    1     Now is exactly the perfect time to get to know yourself in order to understand yourself.

This isn’t just about identifying your favorite outfit, haircut or flavor of ice cream.    2     It’s an opportunity for personal growth that can help you make better choices for your wellbeing and lifelong happiness.

There are many tools to help you develop a deeper sense of yourself, including journaling and other forms of creative expression. You can use a guided journal to explore your thoughts and feelings or just free write whatever comes to mind. It’s up to you what you want to do.    3    .

    4     Take note of how you respond to people, what makes you happy, and what makes you unhappy. This can help you identify patterns that are holding you back, such as feeling insecure or being easily angered. Once you’ve identified these patterns, you can work to change them.

An often overlooked yet very important factor in self-discovery is having healthy boundaries in your personal life.    5     Clearly communicating your boundaries is also a way to show others that you are in control of your own behavior and can expect the same from them. This is a sign of maturity and respect, two characteristics that are key to having healthy relationships.

A．It’s one thing to know your personality type.

B．It’s a great way to show that you care about others.

C．Taking time for ourselves has been looked down upon.

D．Another way is to observe your behavior in different situations.

E．It allows you to focus on the needs of yourself without ignoring others.

F．But try not to get caught up in the criticism or judgment of your writing.

G．It’s about understanding your inner world and how you fit into the outer world.

7 . I’m a layperson with a love of science who occasionally reads science magazines. My approach was from an author’s angle, spending months on research before writing a single word for Pig Heart Boy.

So where did I get the idea? Whenever I attend a school event, that question is asked. The answer is simple. Back in the mid 1990s, I read a newspaper article written by a doctor who guessed that we would eventually have to turn to xenotransplantation (异种器官移植) as a possible solution to the lack of human organ donors. It left my mind filled with questions. What are the consequences? Do we really have the right to treat animals as me re organ sources for humans? So I headed to my nearest bookshop and bought all the books I could on heart transplants in particular.

I’ve found questions are one of the best places to start from when writing a novel. In my story Cameron, who needs a heart transplant, knows he is unlikely to see his next birthday unless he receives one, but he is a long way down the waiting list. When a genetically modified (GM) pig’s heart is offered by a pioneering doctor, Cameron decides to go for it —and his new heart completely changes his life in unexpected ways.

Now some people think that the subject matter is not suitable for children, criticizing the cruel and inhuman ways of xenotransplantation. I completely disagree. As a children’s author, it never ceases to amaze me how some adults underestimate what subject matter will interest and stimulate children. I wanted to write a story that provided no right or wrong answers, a story that would allow the reader to walk in Cameron’s shoes for a while and think about what decisions they would make and how they would react if they too were faced with his situation.

Fictional stories that explore new ideas when it comes to STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) subjects also have a part to play in enriching our children’s reading and learning. Various studies have shown that reading fiction enhances our children’s ability to grasp new concepts. Pig Heart Boy was my attempt to incorporate science possible into a believable, thought-provoking (令人深思的) story.

1. Where did the author get inspiration from to write Pig Heart Boy?

A．A school event.	B．A news item.
C．Science magazines.	D．Books on heart transplants.

2. What might be a major concern of those who disagree with Pig Heart Boy?

A．Animal rights.	B．GM technology.
C．Organ transplant risks.	D．Organ shortage crisis.

3. What are the last two paragraphs of the text mainly about?

A．Ways of tapping children ‘s intelligence.	B．Potential application of fictional stories.
C．Supporting evidence for justifying the book.	D．Influence of fictional stories on STEM subjects.

4. What is Pig Heart Boy?

A．An author profile.	B．A science fiction novel.
C．A guidebook to xenotransplantation.	D．An essay on writing children’s literature.

8 . The science of why insects gather around lights at night has never been nailed down. Popular theories propose that moths and other insects navigate (导航) by the moon and mistake lamps for moonlight, or that the insects fly towards light to escape coming danger. Now researchers believe they have a more convincing answer: contrary to current theories, insects are not attracted to light from far away, but become trapped if they fly close to an artificial light source.

According to Dr Sam Fabian, study co-author and Imperial College London entomologist, moths and many other insects that fly at night evolved to tilt (倾斜) their backs to wherever is brightest. For hundreds of millions of years, this was the sky rather than the ground. The trick told insects which way was up and ensured they flew level. But then came artificial lighting. Moths found themselves tilting their backs to street lamps. This caused them to circle around the lamps endlessly, the insects trapped by their evolution.

Fabian and his colleagues filmed insect flight paths around lights in the lab. The videos reveal that time and again, moths and dragonflies turned their backs to artificial lights, which appeared to greatly change their flight paths. If the light is above them, they might start orbiting it, but if it’s behind them, they start tilting backwards and end up flying in circles or diving toward the ground.

Researchers have long warned that light pollution is a big driving force in the dramatic decline in insect populations. Moths and other insects that become trapped around lamps become easily caught by bats. The artificial lighting can also fool them into thinking it is daytime, causing them to bed down and skip a night’s feeding.

There are, Fabian believes, helpful lessons from the research. “What this tells us is that the direction of artificial light matters. Could we change lighting environments to not trap insects? For we’re facing a massive decline in insects around the world, and artificial light at night is one of the factors that could potentially be leading to this decline,” Fabian said.

1. What do the underlined words “nailed down” in paragraph 1 mean?

A．Popularized widely.	B．Discussed openly.
C．Defined accurately.	D．Explored academically.

2. Fabian’s study found that moths circle around the lamps endlessly because ______.

A．they can’t keep their balance.

B．they use improper flight attitude.

C．they lose track of which way is up.

D．they are attracted to lights from far away.

3. What is the significance of the research finding?

A．It may lead to better conservation of insects.

B．Natural enemies of insects will be got rid of.

C．Artificial lighting will be greatly reduced at night.

D．It may raise concerns for insects’ eating behavior.

4. What is the text mainly about?

A．Why insects lose their ability to fly at night.

B．Why artificial light and evolution trap insects.

C．How artificial light impacts insect populations.

D．How insects evolved distinct strategies of flight.

9 . Art Gallery of NSW(New South Wales) Exhibition

Louise Bourgeois: Has the Day Invaded the Night or Has the Night Invaded the Day?

25 November 2023-28 April 2024

Day and night, love and rage, calm and chaos. Enter a world of emotional extremes in this exhibition of the art of Louise Bourgeois, one of the most influential artists of the past century. Born in Paris in 1911 and living and working in New York until her death in 2010, Bourgeois is well-known for her fearless exploration of human relationships across a seven-decade career.

Louise Bourgeois: Has the Day Invaded the Night or Has the Night Invaded the Day? reveals the extraordinary reach and intensity of Bourgeois’ art, from unforgettable sculptures of the 1940s to her tough yet tender weaving works of the 1990s and 2000s. It also reveals the psychological tensions that powered her search, through a dramatic presentation in two contrasting exhibition spaces. Moving from the well-lit rooms of “Day” to the darkened area of “Night”, viewers will encounter more than 120 works, including many never seen before in Australia.

Tickets can be booked online via the exhibition or event page on our website, or in person at the welcome desk at the Art Gallery. Tickets cannot be exchanged, but if something unexpected happens that prevents you from attending, you can change the date of your reservation in your confirmation email.

1. What do we know about Louise Bourgeois?

A．Her art is conservative.	B．She was an emotional artist.
C．She was raised in Paris.	D．Her art explores human relationships.

2. What does the exhibition feature?

A．Various themes.	B．Contrasting layout.
C．Intensive colors.	D．Extraordinary paintings.

3. What can you do if you can’t attend the exhibition?

A．Reschedule the date.	B．Cancel the booking.
C．Claim the money back.	D．Exchange the event.

10 . Aesthetic (审美) education aims to enhance aesthetic perception, experience aesthetic qualities, stimulate aesthetic creativity, and promote aesthetic judgement.

In order for kids to be able to appreciate natural wonders, shapes and pictures, they must be able to first notice them. This is why the development of the ability to notice the beautiful is the primary task of aesthetic education.     1     Kids are incapable of noticing particular shapes if their ability to notice object s and forms is undeveloped. The aesthetic relationship begins with the noticing of aesthetic qualities.

    2     This means that they generate emotional responses like excitement and joy, enriching individuals’ emotional lives and inspiring artistic expression. The ability to experience aesthetically must also be developed. The cognitive (认知的) elements of the processes that we experience during noticing must also include emotional tones with which we form impressions.     3     The aim of this task is, with the aid of aesthetic qualities, to enrich the emotional life of children and young people and the development of a sense for aesthetic values.

It is essential to allow children to participate in activities that will develop their creative abilities.     4     Instead, it is about creativity in the creation of aesthetic values in everyday life. We are not simply born with creative abilities which have to be developed.

Judging or evaluating aesthetic qualities demands formed evaluation criteria. In order for beauty to reveal its true value, we must be familiar with its particularities. Throughout the process of aesthetic education, various types of knowledge, abilities and evaluation criteria must be applied.     5    

A．Aesthetic qualities have to be felt.

B．Beauty can be found all around us.

C．The beautiful will be likely to be created.

D．And it is these that the aesthetic experience is built upon.

E．In some way, this is the ability to perceive aesthetic qualities.

F．This way, the child will develop the foundations for assessing the beautiful.

G．This is not so much about creating aesthetic abilities in the sense of training artists.