1 . The sun is about to set when we reach our destination, the home of a nomadic (游牧的) herder (牧民) family. My host, Batbayer, has a cheerful face, with deep wrinkles and a color from long hours working outdoors, giving him the look of a sailor from an Ernest Hemingway novel. We have pre-arranged our visit but travellers in Mongolia can drive up to pretty much any ger and feel welcomed to stay. You don’t knock on the door: when you approach a nomadic family, a customary greeting is to say a kindly “Hold your dog,” even if you don’t see a dog.

We feast at the family home on one of the country’s most distinct and tasty dishes: khorkhog, or mutton cooked using hot rocks. This comes served with onions, a variety of berries, and milk — besides more plates of meat, all from the family’s own livestock (家畜).

Mongolia is home to one of the world’s few remaining truly nomadic cultures. About a fifth of the population are herders, and nomadism is complicatedly woven into the country’s spirit. But modern life is catching up with the people on the grassland at rapid speed. This is in large part what my book is about: an outsider’s exploration of a society undergoing modernisation while trying to hold fast to its deeply rooted traditional values.

Many of the livestock here, especially the more valuable breeds such as horses, camels and   cattle, are implanted with microchips that can be monitored via satellite-based services. “I would like to use the internet more because it’s fun and useful; but the animals like it here. This is a good place for them,” Batbayer says when I ask if better internet connectivity might influence where to move his livestock next. “I would never choose Facebook over the wellbeing of the animals.”

1. Which aspect of the herders does the author focus on in paragraph 1?

A．Living conditions.

B．Pet preference.

C．Reading habits.

D．Friendliness.

2. What do we know about nomadic culture?

A．Herders’ life is being modernized.

B．It is the world’s dominant culture.

C．The majority of Mongolians are herders.

D．Herders have no access to fruits and vegetables

3. What can we infer from Batbayer’s words in the last paragraph?

A．He refuses to use social media.	B．He will no longer employ microchips.
C．He will introduce more valuable breeds.	D．He prioritizes the welfare of livestock.

4. What is the text?

A．A travel journal.

B．A folk tale.

C．A book review.

D．A field report.

2 . Why is a compliment so impactful? One of the most important things to humans is to feel valued and respected by others, says Vanessa Bohns, a social psychologist, who has researched compliments. According to her research, people feel “significantly better” after both giving and receiving a compliment.     1    

“You handled that situation so well.”

Bohns recently used her favorite compliment when she saw a server address a difficult situation with a customer at the bar. “I like it so much because you use it in anxious moments where the other person is often unsure of whether they handled a situation OK,” she says. In situations that call for a compliment, don’t second-guess yourself. Give your compliments generously.     2     That concern is unfounded.

“    3    ”

This compliment — one of Bohns’ favorites — works well among romantic partners and close family members. “It’s a beautiful way to highlight how their presence turns life into something meaningful, despite boring routines of our everyday lives,” she says. If you’re afraid that giving a compliment like this will feel strange, you’re not alone.     4     If it makes you personally feel like the bar is lowered for you to give a compliment if you write it down, or if you practice saying it out loud or giving your pet cat the compliment first, do that.

“Hey, great dress!”

Feel free to compliment strangers. In Bohns’ research, students on a college campus were told to approach a stranger of the same gender and compliment them-about, for example, their nice shirt. Before heading out, the study participants tended to underestimate their positive effect while overestimating how annoying it would be. Across all contexts, strangers are more likely to be pleased than confused. Plus, who knows?     5    

A．I love the way you bring out the best in people.

B．Respect is essential when you deliver compliments.

C．One way to overcome this fear is to do a practice run.

D．You make even ordinary moments feel extraordinary.

E．You might make a new friend in addition to making someone’s day.

F．With that in mind, we asked her to share some of her favorite compliments.

G．People sometimes worry that they’re going over and will start to sound insincere.

3 . Silent reading is far from silent in your brain. Deep within your head there is a voice reading aloud each word as your eyes pass over it.

Let’s do a seemingly unrelated experiment first. Turn on your television and radio. Try to understand both the words from the television and the radio simultaneously. You might have noticed understanding one source required ignoring the other, and you could feel your attention shifting between the two voices. Although we can listen to multiple people speaking at the same time, we can only truly understand one person speaking at a time.

There are three major areas that allow you to understand spoken word. The first is the Auditory Cortex (听觉皮层), which processes the pure characteristics of incoming sounds. Both sides of your brain contain this region. The next area is the Broca/Wernicke (B/W) network, which makes sense of the spoken word. This network exists in only one side of your brain. This means that, although the sounds of language are initially processed in both sides of the brain, spoken word must eventually be funneled (流经漏斗) into this single network. This quickly leads to a bottleneck, which is controlled by the third area: the left Inferior Frontal Gyrus (IFG, 额下回). When you try to understand two people speaking at the same time, this region effectively blocks one voice while it allows the other to pass through the B/W bottleneck. Any information that does not immediately make it through the B/W network disappears completely — there is no waitlist.

Now, let’s bring all the pieces together to see why it’s related to your silent reading. When you read, the first region to demonstrate activation is the Visual Cortex, which processes the pure visual characteristics of incoming sights. Immediately after the visual cortex activates, the speech areas of the brain fire up because your brain processes your silent reading in a manner almost identical to the way in which it processes an actual, out-loud speaking voice. For this reason, attempting to read while listening to someone speak is the same as trying to understand two people speaking at the same time—it can’t be done!

1. What does the underlined word “simultaneously” in paragraph 2 mean?

A．At the same time.	B．One at a time.
C．On the whole.	D．Through comparison.

2. Which of the following best illustrates paragraph 3?

Note: disappear; wait

A．	B．
C．	D．

3. What may the author agree with?

A．Professors give a speech with a text-heavy PowerPoint slide.

B．Teachers keep silent when students are reading attentively.

C．Students solve math problem when following a lecture.

D．Students practice listening skills while reading novels.

4. Which of the following sentences can best serve as an introduction to the text?

A．The art of conversation lies in listening.

B．What is reading, but a silent conversation.

C．We hear and understand only what we already know half.

D．Once an idea gets into your head, it’s probably going to stay there.

4 . Cordero is the farm manager at Ollin Farms, not far from Boulder, Colorado. The locally grown vegetables on the farm aren’t just pretty. “We play an important role in public health nutrition programs,” says Cordero’s dad, Mark Guttridge, who started this farm with his wife, Kena, 17 years ago.

At a meeting with about a dozen local farmers, two state representatives, and the Colorado officials of agriculture, Guttridge explains how Boulder county has made creative investments in his farm that could be spread to the state or even national level. Before the meeting, Guttridge shows them one of those investments.

A dozen sheep, which Guttridge raises for wool, feed on root vegetables like radishes that have been leftover for them. “So these guys are out fertilizing the vegetable field,” Guttridge laughs. “They’ll be out here a couple more weeks, and then we’ll get our next summer vegetables planted right there.” Around the field is a special moveable type of fencing that Ollin Farms bought using financial aid from the Boulder County Sustainability Office. It allows them to move the sheep from one field to another, fertilizing as they go. The goal of these investments is “really building up our soil health,” he explains. “That relates directly to the nutrient quality of the food-healthy soil grows healthy food.”

The county also makes an effort to get that healthy food out to different communities to boost public health. That’s where the Boulder County Public Health department comes in. It created a coupon program to give discounts to people buying fruits and vegetables from Ollin Farms. Nutrition incentive programs, like those public health fruit and vegetable coupons, are spreading all over the country, and most are funded through the federal farm bill. Amy Yaroch, executive director at the Gretchen Swanson Center for Nutrition, says “It’s a trip le win. It’s basically good for the consumers who live in that particular community because they’re getting the healthy food, it’s good for the farmer, and then it’s good for the economy.”

1. What does Ollin Farms do?

A．It makes public nutrition health plans.

B．It offers financial aid to other farms.

C．It provides cheap food to the local community.

D．It grows fruits and vegetables rich in nutrition.

2. How does Boulder county support sustainable farming practices at Ollin Farms?

A．By raising sheep on radishes.	B．By buying fences for farmhouses.
C．By funding the farm’s soil health.	D．By giving advice about fertilizing fields.

3. What is Amy’s attitude towards “nutrition incentive programs”?

A．Cautious.

B．Dismissive.

C．Unclear.

D．Approving.

4. Which is the most suitable title for the text?

A．Couponing for Health: Stimulating Nutrition Choices

B．Growing Health: Innovations in Farm and Public Health Initiatives

C．Fertile Fields and Furry Friends: A Farming Fairy Tale

D．Local Produce, Global Impact: The Nutrition Choices of Ollin Farms

5 . Creating once-in-a-lifetime moments for you is at the heart of everything we do. The following are some tour suggestions handpicked by the WILDFOOT experts.

ICELANDIC WINTER SELF-DRIVE

September to April|4 Nights; £1,529 per person.

HIGHLIGHTS

· Discover Iceland at your leisure, with included car hire and good standard   accommodation.

· Hunt for the awe-inspiring northern lights.

· Enjoy incredible landscapes, and natural wonders including waterfalls, hot springs and beautiful National Parks.

CLASSIC SPITSBERGEN EXPLORER

May to July |11 Nights; £8,200 per person.

HIGHLIGHTS

· Observe spectacular wildlife, including the iconic polar bears and whales.

· Enjoy amazing polar scenery and midnight sun.

· Experience exciting Zodiac cruises and shore excursions.

10 DAYS PANTANAL AND AMAZON

June to October|9 Nights; £6,256 per person.

HIGHLIGHTS

· Immerse yourself in the birding paradise of the Amazon Rainforest.

· Have a great chance of spotting the majestic jaguar as it patrols the banks of the Cuiaba River.

· Encounter the wonderful wildlife of the Pantanal including the Brazilian tapir, giant anteaters, capybaras, monkeys, giant river otters, caiman, anacondas and much more.

HWANGE & VICTORIA FALLS FAMILY SAFARI

November to March|11 Nights;

Adults: £3,245 per person; Children: £1,064 per person.

HIGHLIGHTS

· Start your Africa experience with a visit to the iconic Victoria Falls.

· Observe an abundance of iconic wildlife including elephants, lions, buffaloes, wild-dogs, cheetahs, a myriad of birds, and much more.

· Visit the Painted Dog Research Centre to learn about the endangered African Wild-Dog and the conservation efforts in place to protect them.

1. What is special about ICELANDIC WINTER SELF-DRIVE?

A．Northern lights.	B．Polar bears and whales.
C．Midnight sun.	D．Victoria Falls.

2. Which option is available for tourists to travel in August?

A．ICELANDIC WINTER SELF-DRIVE.

B．CLASSIC SPITSBERGEN EXPLORER.

C．10 DAYS PANTANAL AND AMAZON.

D．HWANGE & VICTORIA FALLS FAMILY SAFARI.

3. How much does it cost a couple with two children for a Family Safari?

A．£5,373.

B．£6,437.

C．£8,618.

D．£10,799.

6 . The process of sorting through my childhood stuff started out easy. At first, I was excited to toss everything out. But as the bedroom emptied out, I felt a creeping sense of sadness. My childhood was over, and I entered full-fledged (成熟的) adulthood. And I wondered:     1     In short, yes.

    2     That’s because going through your old stuff can possibly stir up difficult emotions or sweet memories. Whatever emotions pop up, accept them, and it will help you process it faster.

Before you start sorting, determine how much storage space you’re willing to devote to your childhood items.    3     You may have limited space for old stuff. But listen to your heart. If you’re sentimental and you want to hold on to stuff, hold on to it. You canal ways get rid of it later.

During this process, it can be useful to have someone you trust by your side. They can help you honor the memories associated with each object and let go.     4     They know which life experiences mean the most to you.

And you don’t have to pile your childhood stuff in the attic (阁楼).     5     You can take photos, which you can revisit any time on your phone or computer. Or you can turn them into an art project and display it in a shadow box.

Remember, there is someone who care enough to hold on all old stuff for you. This is a value of all of the time and effort and money your parents have poured into you. This has been saved in love.

A．Get creative and think outside the box.

B．Could my childhood memories be regained?

C．You can find meaning in your life experiences.

D．Loved ones can also help you decide what to save.

E．But it will probably still be a bittersweet experience.

F．That will help you figure out how much stuff you can keep.

G．Was there a less heartbreaking, more strategic way to do this?

7 . The best way to really see a city is to explore it slowly by walking around. It’s easy, healthy, and also benefits the environment. When on foot, you can do as the locals do. Here’s what you can find under your own steam.

Best for families: Planetenweg, Zurich

The 2,854 ft-tall, forest-covered peak that towers from Zurich’s doorstep is the envy of every European city. To get there, try the four-mile, two-hour-long route on Planetenweg. This family-friendly wander cuts in and out of spruce forests and gives you a proper flavour of being up in the mountains without ever actually leaving the city.

Best for arty vistas: Ekebergparken, Oslo

Come at sunrise or sunset, when the sky blazes above shining fjords (峡湾) and transforms the dark, rocky islands into shadows, and you can see why Oslo’s Ekebergparken inspired Munch to paint The Scream. Starting at the Ekebergparken Museum, the two-mile sculpture trail (小道) winds through pine, fir and ash forest, where plenty of phenomenal works of art await — Dalí’s surrealist Venus de Milo with Drawers and Damien Hirst’s Anatomy of an Angel among them.

Best for getting off the beaten track: Vienna Ugly, Vienna

The guided walks led by locals across Vienna dive into neighbourhoods that are off the usual tourist trail. Among them is Vienna Ugly, a 2.5-hour wander through Leopoldstadt and Innere Stadt. At the end of the tour, you’ll vote on which of the city’s buildings are the ugliest. Tours from £9.

Best for architecture: Ørestad, Copenhagen

Copenhagen rode high as World Capital of Architecture 2023. A guided walk with the Danish Architecture Center throw you in at the architectural deep end for 2.5 hours, taking you to Copenhagen’s Ørestad neighbourhood on the island of Amager. From £18.

1. What attracts travelers to Planetenweg?

A．Mountains.

B．Local flavour.

C．Art works.

D．Architecture.

2. Which of the following best suits sculpture-lovers?

A．Planetenweg, Zurich,	B．Ekebergparken, Oslo.
C．Vienna Ugly, Vienna.	D．Ørestad, Copenhagen.

3. What do the walks in Vienna and Copenhagen have in common?

A．They are free of charge.	B．They feature a voting activity.
C．They are guided tours.	D．They go deep into the forests.

8 . A new drug-delivery system could replace needles with puffs (股) of air. Gassensmith studies bioengineering at the University of Texas. His team’s new tech goes beyond patient comfort, though. The device quickly delivers drugs without touching the bloodstream. And that could reduce the risk of spreading disease. He tested it out on his own arm. “I could feel it, but it wasn’t painful,” he reports.

The technology works by blowing in a puff of air through the skin. That gas carries a powder made of tiny bits of vaccine (疫苗) wrapped in metallic crystals (晶体). The crystal coating is really strong, Gassensmith says. As a result, the vaccine powder does not have to be refrigerated while stored. The air contains carbon dioxide, or CO₂. Once in the body, the CO₂ that carries the powder will mix with water. It creates a weak acid that breaks down the crystal cover. Released, the vaccine bits are then able to enter the bloodstream.

This gas-based drug-delivery system is an upgrade over previous ones. For instance, adjusting the gas that carries the vaccine powder can customize how fast the tiny crystal capsules release the drug. Testing showed that the drug released fastest when delivered with carbon dioxide. Plain air led to a slower, gentler release. Vaccines work best when released slowly. That allows them longer contact with the immune(免疫) system. But the team hopes the device could work for other medicines too. And some medicines must be released quickly. One such example is insulin, a crucial drug for many people with diabetes.

Fear of needles keeps many people from getting vaccinations. Gassensmith is optimistic that this new system might get around that. Future research must ensure that gas-delivered vaccines build immunity to disease as expected, said Weniger, a doctor, who studied vaccine technology for 30 years for the U. S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

1. What can we learn about the new drug-delivery system from paragraph 1?

A．It causes the loss of feeling.	B．It improves the use of needle.
C．It cares about patient comfort.	D．It blocks the spread of disease.

2. What is the function of the crystals?

A．To create a weak acid.	B．To absorb carbon dioxide.
C．To clean the bloodstream.	D．To contain the vaccine.

3. What is the advantage of the upgraded drug-delivery system?

A．Flexibility.

B．Durability.

C．High speed.

D．Gentle release.

4. What should the future study focus on according to Weniger?

A．The effectiveness of gas-based vaccines.	B．The acceptance of getting vaccinations.
C．The influence of vaccine on disease control.	D．The operation of the new drug-delivery system.

9 . The Surprising Strength of “Weak” Social Ties

It’s long been known that a community of supportive relationships improves our quality of life and can even help us recover from illness.     1    . Regularly interacting with a wide variety of social ties, both “weak” and “strong”, enhances our satisfaction. A rich diversity of ties provides more significant benefits to well-being, and “weak” social ties can prove just as important to life satisfaction as core, or “strong” ties.     2    . There you can find the people who cheer, serve, support, comfort, educate, motivate, and entertain you.

Claire gets cheered up by going to the library and chatting with her favorite librarian every week. Sherry gets great joy from her Sunday breakfasts at a local diner because the manager and her favorite waitress are nice to her.     3    . I remember discussing Anna Karenina on an airplane with a wise economics professor, and finding meaningful moments of joy with street musicians and performers.

    4    . When you show kindness to a stranger, your seemingly small act might stay in their memory as a source of support and positivity. Everyone needs to feel significant in the eyes of another. You could be that person for someone in your extended circle. That’s why it’s so important to reach out to people around you, especially when they’re going through hard times.

When we feel blue or lonely, we tend to turn down social engagements, either to avoid the imagined embarrassment of being the only sad person in a group or because socializing with people we don’t know well can be awkward at first.     5    . Being open to both our strong and weak ties allows us to benefit from the comfort, connection, and community they provide.

A．All of those connections matter — and so do you

B．Harvard researcher Hanne Collins discovered something new

C．Even those we meet only once can leave a lasting impression

D．Our shared kindness and familiarity offer me a sense of community

E．Interacting with the weak ties encourages us to behave more professionally

F．But saying yes, despite the hesitation, offers an opportunity to feel less lonely

G．So notice, pay attention to, and be grateful for your big, wide world of loose social ties

10 . When you try a new restaurant or book a hotel, do you consider the online reviews? Do you submit online reviews yourself? Do you pay attention if they are filtered (过滤)? Does that impact your own online review submissions?

In 2010, Yelp shared a video to help users understand how its review filter works and why it was necessary. In recently published research, T. Ravichandran, Ph. D. from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and his team compared reviews of over 1,000 restaurants on Yelp to those same restaurants on TripAdvisor, which did not openly share its review filter policies. They found that the number of reviews submitted to Yelp decreased. Those submissions were increasingly negative and shorter in length compared to TripAdvisor. Also, the more positive a review, the shorter it was.

“Platforms are pressured to have content guidelines and take measures to prevent fraud (欺诈) and ensure that reviews are reliable and helpful,” said Ravichandran. Platforms use advanced software to flag and filter reviews. Once a review is flagged, it is filtered out and not displayed, and it is not factored into the overall rating for a business. “However, most platforms do not openly disclose their policies, leading consumers to suspect that reviews are controlled to increase profit by filtering so-called dishonest content,” Ravichandran added.

Whether or not to disclose review filters is a critical decision for platforms with many considerations. Users may put less time and effort into their reviews if they suspect that they have a significant chance of being filtered, or they may do the opposite to make their reviews less likely to be filtered. Since most false reviews are overly positive, users may assume that positive reviews are most likely to be filtered and act accordingly.

“Review moderation(审核) openness comes at a cost,”said Ravichandran. “Although openness helps to position a platform as fair toward advertisers, the resultant decrease in the number of reviews submitted impacts the platform’s usefulness to consumers.” Online reviews pose great opportunity for firms, but also raise complex questions. Platforms must earn the trust of users without sacrificing engagement.

1. What did Ravichandran’s research find?

A．Positive submissions to Yelp went up.

B．TripAdvisor adopted better filter policies.

C．Reviews on TripAdvisor dropped in number.

D．Yelp’s practice discouraged longer reviews.

2. Why do platforms use advanced software for reviews?

A．To increase net profit.	B．To protect user privacy.
C．To guarantee review reliability.	D．To improve business reputation.

3. What does the underlined word “they” in paragraph 4 refer to?

A．Users.

B．Reviews.

C．Considerations.

D．Platforms.

4. What is the best title for the text?

A．Enhance User Trust Through Review Moderation

B．To Filter Online Reviews? Think Before You Start

C．How Review Moderation Openness Shapes User Conduct

D．Online Reviews: Filter the Fraud, But Don’t Tell Us How