1 . The Top 100 City Destinations (目的地) Index 2023, produced by company Lighthouse, looked at leading cities from around the world and ranked (排名) them on standards including tourism, sustainability (可持续性), economic performance and health and safety. Paris has once again been named the world’s most attractive city destination.
Europe took the lead, with seven out of the top 10 cities and 63 countries in the top 100. The only non-European cities in the top 10 were Dubai at No.2, Tokyo at No.4 and New York at No.8. Madrid came third, while Amsterdam, Berlin and Rome were at Nos.5, 6 and 7 respectively. Barcelona and then London rounded out the top 10. Asia did well in the top 20 as Singapore (11). Seoul (14). Osaka (16) and Hong Kong (17) all made the list.
According to the report, the secret of Europe’s success is “fast-paced urbanization (城市化) and widespread technology adoption”. Travellers now focus on high-speed Internet, flexible booking choices and spaces for teleworking. The report said, “Improving sustainability, transportation networks and social influence are some of the key goals cities are achieving today to increase competitiveness, improve their tourism offer and deliver a perfect customer journey.”
Istanbul topped the list for the number of international arrivals in 2023, followed by London and then Dubai. The cities with the biggest year-on-year growth were Hong Kong (2, 495%) and Bangkok (142%).
However, growing visitor numbers can be a mixed blessing, with bad influence on the local communities and the environment. Nadejda Popova, a manager at Euromonitor International, discussed in a report the ways cities are facing up to the challenge of overtourism.
1. Which is the most attractive city in 2023 according to the report?| A．Dubai. | B．New York. | C．Paris. | D．Berlin. |
| A．The influence of European cities. | B．Advantages of big cities. |
| C．The secret of tourism development. | D．Advice for young travellers. |
| A．Istanbul. | B．Hong Kong. | C．Bangkok. | D．London. |
| A．System. | B．Story. | C．Feeling. | D．Favour. |
2 . Seven Bays Rock Climbing Gym is owned by Richard Avenz, the world-class rock climber who also owns the famous Climbing Gym—Subway. Seven Bays Rock Climbing Gym is a 6, 000-square-foot gym on Gothelm Street that hosts a 200-foot-long climbing wall and a cafe, where you can relax before or after climbing, or simply sit and watch your friends go for it.
Rock Climbing is also about the people you meet, as much as the climbing itself. The gym is the perfect place for climbers to meet and share experiences. There are lessons seven days a week on the smaller wall and when someone is ready, they are let loose(放松)on the main wall, but always under observation(观察). The gym has a great safety record and plans to keep it that way.
The gym is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, but lessons are between 12 to 6 p. m. You can get a student package for 700 pounds a month and there are also yearly deals, but daily or weekly deals are not provided.
Probably one of the best things the gym offers is weekend trips for many experienced climbers. You can get out and try a real rock face at the cost of 150 pounds. We arrange hotel accommodation(住宿) for overnight and it’s free of charge. It’s a lot of fun. It’s a great way to meet people, strengthen your body and become part of the rock climbing community.
1. What can the climbers do in the gym?| A．Watch a movie. | B．Drink some coffee. |
| C．Take swimming lessons. | D．Climb a mountain. |
| A．At 2 p. m. on Tuesday. | B．At 7 p. m. on Thursday. |
| C．At 6 a, m. on Friday. | D．At 10 a. m. on Sunday. |
| A．Sports fans. | B．Music lovers. | C．Scientists. | D．Geographers. |
| A．A textbook. | B．A magazine. | C．A diary. | D．A travel guide. |
3 . On a busy Saturday, I was at the mall with my mum. The mall was alive with the chatter (喋喋不休) of people and the sound of music. Everywhere I looked, there were people dressed in nice clothes, laughing and chatting with their friends.
My mum, on the other hand, wore a simple dress and old shoes. Her clothes looked worn out compared to the others. As we walked past store windows. I couldn’t help but notice the difference, I saw young girls in bright dresses and boys in tidy shirts. They looked so modern and confident.
Feeling a bit out of place, I tried to pull my mum towards less busy areas. I didn’t want anyone to notice us or, more specifically, notice her. It wasn’t because I wasn’t proud of my mum. I just felt she deserved (值得) better.
As we walked around, we entered a store with beautiful clothes. The fabrics (面料) felt soft, and the designs were fashionable. My mun’s eyes lit up when she saw a lovely sweater. “This would look great on you,” she said with a smile.
I checked the price and was shocked, It was much too expensive for us. I knew my mum worked hard to make ends meet. Every penny was made use of in our life. Yet, here she was, willing to spend on a sweater for me.
Looking at her, I realised something. My mum might not have the beautiful clothes or the latest accessories (配饰), but she had a heart of gold. She always put me first, even if it meant giving up her own wants.
Suddenly, I felt a wave of warmth. I hugged her and said to her softly, “Mum, I don’t need the sweater. I just need you.” She smiled, “I know, dear. But it’s nice to have dreams sometimes, right?” We left the store, hand in hand, feeling wealthier than ever.
1. What can we say about the shopping mall?| A．It is busy. | B．It is the biggest. |
| C．It is for young girls only. | D．It is newly-built. |
| A．She feels sad about her old shoes. | B．She doesn’t like the shopping mall. |
| C．She doesn’t want anyone to notice them. | D．She is angry with her mum for her clothes. |
| A．She bought the sweater. | B．She dislikes new shoes. |
| C．She can afford accessories. | D．She works hard to support her family. |
| A．Hardworking and modern. | B．Selfless and caring. |
| C．Humorous and outgoing. | D．Rich and friendly. |
When you enter into your new school, the first thing is that you need to know the escape (逃跑) map well.
You may find the escape map in every classroom. Please go over it and remember the closest exit (出口) and right way to the exit. What you should do:
*If you see a fire or smell smoke, don’t wait. Every room in the school has got a fire alarm (报警器). Use something hard, like a shoe, to break the glass and start the alarm system.
*If you hear the fire alarm, move quickly. Don’t stop to get your textbooks and notes. Leave your things in the classroom.
*Don’t run! Walk quickly to the playground. Remember to follow the arrows (箭头) on the fire escape map.
*Don’t go home! Wait for your teacher to call your name and be sure that you are safe. Be careful. Don’t go back into the school buildings until a teacher has told you that it is safe.
1. How many Computer rooms do the school have?| A．2. | B．4. | C．6. | D．8. |
| A．Check the map first. | B．Shout loudly. |
| C．Break the window glass. | D．Push down the fire alarm. |
| A．Run out of the Music room, then turn left. |
| B．Run out of the Music room, then turn right. |
| C．Walk out of the Music room quickly, then turn left. |
| D．Walk out of the Music room quickly, then turn right. |
5 . There's another universe not far from land. It lacks buildings, trees, cars, cellphones and the Internet. Seemingly limitless water extends uninterruptedly in all directions. Civilization goes away, along with any sign of humanity. And it is why I’m really interested in sailing. I grew up around boats. My father liked sailing and built them.
My older sister and I were stuffed into a car nearly every summer weekend until my late teens to make the trip from northeast Indiana to the south shore of Lake Erie in Ohio, where Talisman built by my father waited patiently through the week.
As a kid, I read the adventures of Robin Lee Graham, a traveller exploring the sea alone, in the pages of National Geographic and, later, in Graham’s book, Dove. However, it wasn’t until about 20 years ago, well into my adulthood, that I took up sailing in a serious way. I’ve made voyages in fair and stormy weather, on my own boats and those of my friends, and ranging from nearshore day sails to blue-water passages.
Still, I’ve made plenty of mistakes. While living in Asia, a sailing friend and I set off across the South China Sea and intended to get to Thailand, only to be pushed by a late-season typhoon that forced us to make landfall in Vietnam, glad to be alive.
Years later, my wife and I lived aboard our 37-foot ship, Symbiosis, while we saved enough to take a two-year leave from our jobs to journey down the U. S. Atlantic coast and through the Bahamas and the Caribbean. We visited many places that never see ships or airplanes and that are nearly impossible to reach anyway other than at the helm (舵柄) of a small boat. But boats are expensive and time-consuming.
After returning from the Caribbean a few years ago, we decided to sell Symbiosis, determining to sail only “other people’s boats”. It didn’t last, though. A few months ago, we found a good deal on a smaller sailboat — easier to maintain but still capable of some short offshore journeys. I think we’ll name her Talisman.
1. What would the author do on summer weekends as a kid?| A．He would explore the lost civilization. |
| B．He would tour northeast Indiana by car. |
| C．He would patiently wait for his father. |
| D．He would sail with his father and his sister. |
| A．It is the most famous work by Graham. |
| B．It was published in National Geographic. |
| C．It has something to do with exploring the sea. |
| D．It was an inspiration for the author’s writing. |
| A．It didn’t function well. | B．He couldn’t afford to maintain it. |
| C．He was tired of sailing. | D．He assumed others’ boats were better. |
| A．To show his passion for sailing boats. |
| B．To stress the influence of adventures on him. |
| C．To discuss the problems of sailing on the sea. |
| D．To share his success in exploring the world. |
6 . Minu Pauline is the owner of Pappadavada Restaurant in Kochi, India. Late one night, as she watched a homeless woman searching through the garbage bin outside her house, a realization hit her with full force — she had been abandoning perfectly good leftover food while someone in need was looking for food.
Touched by this sad sight, Pauline knew she had to find a solution to this problem. That woman had been sleeping and was woken up by her hunger, so she had to go in search of food instead of sleeping.
Inspired by her desire to make a difference, she decided to take action. The idea was simple but mighty: She placed a refrigerator at the entrance of her restaurant, stored with leftover food that anyone could take for free. This refrigerator became a beacon (灯塔) of hope for the hungry and the homeless.
Each day, Pauline fills the refrigerator with 75 to 80 packets of leftovers, carefully labeling each one with the date it was cooked. And there are days when she goes above and beyond, putting in 100 packets to ensure no one leaves hungry. The self-service refrigerator is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, allowing anyone in need to access a warm meal whenever they require it. It's about recognizing the value of resources and combating food waste.
In an interview with The Huffington Post, she passionately emphasized that while money may belong to individuals, resources are a communal asset. She believes that wasting resources, especially food, is not only a loss for individuals but also a disservice to society as a whole.
Through her selfless act. Pauline has sparked a ripple (涟漪) of kindness and compassion in her community.
1. What happened to Minu Pauline in paragraph 1?| A．She got to know a homeless woman. | B．She received a very strange customer. |
| C．She saw the struggle of a poor woman. | D．She met with a lady collecting garbage. |
| A．Powerful. | B．Demanding. | C．Ridiculous. | D．Interesting. |
| A．Why Pauline set up the free refrigerator. | B．How Pauline operates her free refrigerator. |
| C．Who can take food from the refrigerator. | D．When more free refrigerators are available. |
| A．People's reaction to Pauline's free refrigerator. |
| B．The spread of Pauline's charity in her neighborhood. |
| C．The praise from the community to Pauline's action. |
| D．The challenges for Pauline to run her charity group. |
7 . When adult humans meet a baby, many can't help speaking in a higher-pitched (更高音的) and sing-songy voice. This shift, known as parentese, is not unique to humans. It has also been observed in animals like monkeys and gorillas. Now, scientists are adding one more species to that list: bottle-nose dolphins.
Dolphins are intelligent animals that live and hunt in groups. They communicate in a unique way: Every individual produces its own signature sound that acts much like an ID card, usually by its first birthday. But how does each come up with its distinctive whistle? For babies, it might have something to do with listening to Mum. To solve this mystery, researchers examined the sounds mother dolphins make.
Scientists studied 34 years’ worth of recordings of sounds made by 19 female bottle-nose dolphins. When the mother dolphins were near their young, they continued to make their signature sounds, but at a higher frequency. They also used a wider range of frequencies than they did when their babies were not nearby.
This discovery suggests that using these modifications, mother dolphins assist their young in learning how to produce these calls themselves. Since baby dolphins often spend some years with their mothers before living on their own, it makes sense that this adaptation would help them learn to communicate. At the very least, the higher-pitched whistle likely gets the babies' attention. “It's important for a baby to know, ‘Oh, Mum's talking to me now,’ ” says marine biologist Janet Mann.
This kind of research could help us understand how language developed in humans. “It is absolutely essential to have basic knowledge about other species and how they communicate,” says Mann. “I would be really interested to see whether dolphins also change their sounds when interacting with babies of others, which is what happens in humans.”
1. What do the underlined words “this mystery” refer to in paragraph 2?| A．How dolphins develop their unique sounds. |
| B．Why dolphins live and play in groups. |
| C．What aspects of intelligence dolphins possess. |
| D．Whether dolphins can use parentese like humans. |
| A．By recording parent-child interaction frequency. |
| B．By analyzing mother dolphins' sound features. |
| C．By measuring the distance between parents and children. |
| D．By examining the speech organs of mother dolphins. |
| A．To express worry and care. | B．To teach them hunting skills. |
| C．To help them learn to talk. | D．To distract their attention. |
| A．Some new findings about dolphin communication |
| B．The value of studying dolphins' language |
| C．A comparison of the parentese of humans and dolphins |
| D．An introduction to the development of dolphin intelligence |
8 . For the history of life on Earth, organisms have relied on the light of the sun, moon, and stars to find their way and schedule their lives. While the beginning of electric lighting in the late 19th century may have benefited humans, it has caused problems in the natural world. Among the impacts of artificial light at night(ALAN), light pollution lures migrating birds to cities with shocking consequences, contributes to the alarming decline in insect populations, and convinces sea turtle babies to amble(缓行)away from the water instead of towards it.
Now, a new study from the University of Plymouth adds another disappointing finding about how ALAN is affecting the creatures with whom we share the planet: Light pollution from coastal cities can trick corals(珊瑚)into reproducing outside of the optimum times when they would normally reproduce.
Using a combination of light pollution data and spawning(产卵)observations, researchers were able to show for the first time that corals exposed to ALAN are spawning one to three days earlier and closer to the full moon compared to those on unlit corals. “That shift may reduce the survival and fertilization success of gametes(配子)and genetic connectivity between nearby lit and unlit coral systems,” they explain.
“Corals are among the most biodiverse, economically important, and threatened ecosystems on the planet,” write the authors of the study.
“Climate change has led to mass bleaching(褪色)events. Habitat destruction, fisheries, and pollution have reduced corals substantially since the 1950s,” they write, adding, “The complete loss of corals is anticipated over the next 100 years.”
If we want to reduce the harm ALAN is causing, we could perhaps look to delay the switching-on of night-time lighting in coastal regions to ensure the natural dark period between sunset and moonrise when coral reproduction remains undisturbed.
1. Why is the first paragraph written?| A．To present the topic of the text. | B．To advocate energy conservation. |
| C．To explain a natural phenomenon. | D．To provide background information. |
| A．Possible. | B．Appropriate. | C．Flexible. | D．Sensitive. |
| A．Extinction. | B．Losing value. |
| C．Terrible diseases. | D．Exposure to moonlight. |
| A．Creatures Rely on Natural Lights to Schedule Their Life |
| B．Night-time Lighting Shortens Natural Dark Period |
| C．Coastal Lights Trick Corals into Early Spawning |
| D．Light Pollution Leads to Serious Consequences |
9 . Physicist and Nobel Prize winner Richard Feynman developed a clever learning method known as the Feynman Technique. It involves explaining what you're learning to others. By teaching what you’ve learned from memory, you engage in active recall.
To begin, choose a concept or topic you wish to fully understand.
While teaching you may discover gaps in your understanding.
Now that you fully grasp the concept, test your understanding by trying to teach it to another person. This will help you identify any remaining areas of uncertainty you need to revisit.
The Feynman Technique is a great way for kids and grown-ups to learn.
| A．It is mentally demanding. |
| B．This helps the information stick in your mind better. |
| C．Teach it to a five-year-old, who would give you direct feedback. |
| D．Your curiosity about it will determine the pace of your learning. |
| E．Once you have chosen a topic, you can teach it to someone else. |
| F．Active engagement plays a key role in promoting deeper learning. |
| G．When this happens, refer back to the original material for the missing pieces. |
10 . We’re growing more used to chatting to our computers, phones and smart speakers through voice assistants. Out of these assistants, Siri is the most well-known spoken web. Blind people have been using text-to-speech assistant for decades.
Some think voice could soon take over from clicking as the main way to interact online. They believe online interaction would soon depend mainly on voice.
Building the spoken web—web-to-voice and voice-to-web—is by no means an easy task. For software to answer simple questions about the weather and play music for us is easy.
Using voice interaction feels far closer than surfing the net the old-fashioned way.
| A．Spoken web requires more personality to become popular. |
| B．But what are the challenges of moving to ”the spoken web“? |
| C．It is also possible to search for different information you need. |
| D．The benefits of using voice obviously depend on the context. |
| E．The informal tone of the assistant helps create an emotional attachment. |
| F．But to have a conversation with users on diverse topics is a long way off. |
| G．People who can’t read can also obtain information using the spoken web. |
