1 . You really can make free phone calls using the Internet.

Google Meet

Google Meet is an app-to-app calling service that works across desktop and mobile platforms. Video meetings are encrypted (加密), it also supports audio calls, and you can form massive group calls with up to 100 people. What’s more appealing is that Google Meet display s real-time captions (字幕) as the other person is speaking.

Signal

Signal lets you send and receive texts, make voice and video calls (including group calls), and share your location and files. It was developed with a focus on privacy and security; it uses end-to-end encryption to protect your messages and calls, so only you and the recipient can see or hear what you’re exchanging.

Google Voice

Google Voice is one of the best ways to make a call over the Internet. You get a real phone number, so you can make free calls to an actual phone number. Free calls you make with Google Voice must be to numbers in the United States or Canada, and they’re limited to three hours. However, you can continue to make a free call to the same number over and over again.

WhatsApp

Meta-owned WhatsApp is a popular texting app with hundreds of millions of users. However, you can also call your WhatsApp friends right from the app using only your Internet connection. You just need to confirm your phone number to get started. Once you’re using the app, you can start a new conversation to clearly see which of your contacts are also using WhatsApp, and then you can call them for free no matter where in the world they’re located. Group calls can include as many as 32 people.

1. What is a feature of Google Meet?

A．You can see what the speaker says.

B．It can be used for free anywhere in the world.

C．No password is needed to attend online meetings.

D．Over 100 people can attend online meetings meantime.

2. Which of the following apps is limited to certain areas?

A．Google Meet.

B．Signal.

C．Google Voice.

D．WhatsApp.

3. In what section of a newspaper will the text probably appear?

A．Health.

B．Environment.

C．Education.

D．Technology.

2 . Top 3 Best Museums in the World

Whether you are a fine art or historylover, the following three museums are sure to take your breath away.

Le Louvre, Paris, France

A visit to the Louvre and its collections lets visitors discover Western art from the Middle Ages to 1848 as well as a large number of ancient civilizations. The grand palace that houses the museum. which dates back to the late twelfth century, is a true lesson in architecture: from 1200 to 2011, the most innovative architects have in turn built and developed the Louvre.

●Official website: Louvre

●Highlight: Leonardo da Vinci`s “Mona Lisa.”

The British Museum, London, UK

The British Museum in London was founded in 1753 and opened its doors six years later. It was the first national museum to cover all fields of human knowledge, open to visitors from across the world. No other museum is responsible for collections of the same depth and breadth, beauty and significance.

●Official website: British Museum

●Highlight: the Rosetta Stone.

The State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg, Russia

The second-largest art museum in the world, the State Hermitage Museum was founded in 1764(200 years later than The Uffizi Galleries, Florence, Italy), when Empress Catherine the Great acquired an impressive collection of works from the Berlin merchant Johann Ernst Gotzkowsky. Today, the collection of art works contains paintings, sculptures and so on.

●Official website: State Hermitage Museum

●Highlight: Golden masterpieces from Eurasia.

1. When was the British Museum, London, UK opened to the public?

A．1564.

B．1753.

C．1759.

D．1848.

2. What do the Top 3 best museums have in common?

A．They have exhibits from the Middle Ages.	B．They feature exhibits from ancient times.
C．They have exhibits concerned with kings.	D．They have both fine art and history exhibits.

3. Which is the largest art museum but one in the world?

A．Le Louvre, Paris, France.	B．The State Hermitage Museum, Russia.
C．The British Museum, London, UK.	D．The Uffizi Galleries, Florence, Italy.

3 . Like working out or eating healthily, being happy is something you have to work on.     1     The good news is that a growing body of research shows there are simple things you can do to help you learn how to be happy at work, and they don’t require huge changes.

    2     It affects how you feel at work for the rest of the day. In one study, researchers analyzed the moods and performance of customer service representatives. Those who were in a good mood in the morning were more productive during the day and reported having more positive interactions with customers.     3     You can take a few minutes to enjoy your morning coffee and you can get some fresh air.

One of the hardest aspects of your job is making dozens of decisions daily, often with little or incomplete information. So how can you make fewer decisions? You can do something of your day without thinking about it. For example, have the same thing for lunch or breakfast for a week. Then you can change it up the following week.     4     Steve Jobs said that he wore the same clothes daily so that he wouldn’t have to spend energy deciding what to wear.

Helping others makes you happier.     5     Helping your co-workers seems to create a virtuous (良性的) cycle. Another study says happier workers are 33% more likely to help their colleagues than those who aren’t happy.

A．It’s a skill that takes practice.

B．How you feel in the morning really matters a lot.

C．Give your colleagues a hand when it is possible.

D．You’ve just removed a bunch of decisions from your day.

E．You can write down three small things you will get done.

F．So do something in the morning that makes you feel good.

G．One simple way to do this is put a reminder on your calendar.

4 . The argument over video games has been ongoing for decades. While some argue that e-sports require skill, there is disagreement over whether they meet the standards of a traditional sport. According to the dictionary, a sport is a physical activity for pleasure. While playing video games requires skill and coordination (协调), it lacks the physicality associated with traditional sports. Strategy is also present in board games like chess or card games like solitaire, but these activities are not classified as sports. Similarly, playing a musical instrument requires practice and training, yet it is not considered a sport.

Sports require full-body movements and coordination while video games mainly involve finger and hand movements. Although it is possible to include physical movement while playing, it is not a requirement for success. Many e-sports enthusiasts sit in front of their screens, filling themselves with snacks while controlling the game. This lack of physicality not only sets video games apart from sports but can also have negative effects on health. Unlike traditional sports, which have been shown to improve well-being, too much video gaming can lead to headaches and anger.

While e-sports and competitive gaming may be comparable to activities like chess in terms of competition, they do not possess the physical effort and health benefits associated with traditional sports. However, as the industry continues to develop, the idea of e-sports is evolving. Studies have stressed the demanding motor skills and reaction times required in e-sports. Professor Ingo Frobose conducted a study that demonstrated the impressive motor skills of e-sports “athletes”, with up to 400 movements per minute on the keyboard and mouse. The strategic aspect of e-sports, including team planning, is also often ignored. Games such as League of Legends, Dota 2, and Honor of Kings have attracted large audiences and showed the skills of players.

While some argue against the classification (分类) of e-sports as real sports, evidence suggests that they possess unique skills and abilities. As the industry grows, the understanding and recognition of e-sports as a lawful competitive activity are gradually changing.

1. Why don’t some people think of video games as a sport?

A．They lack full-body movements.	B．They stress teamwork mostly.
C．They have no influence on health.	D．They require no strategy and training.

2. What will be a result of playing video games too much according to the text?

A．Better relationship with friends.	B．Bad performance in study.
C．Poor health condition.	D．Lack of coordination.

3. Which supports the classification of e-sports as real sports?

A．The fast development of traditional sports.

B．The benefits for health brought by video gaming.

C．The comparison of e-sports to chess.

D．The strategic aspect involved in e-sports.

4. Which of the following can be the best title for the text?

A．Do e-sports require teamwork and skills?

B．Should video games be considered a sport?

C．Do e-sports have negative effects on health?

D．Should e-sports players concentrate more when playing?

5 . Making a to-do list is a powerful way to reduce your stress at work.     1     There are a few steps that will make your to-do list much more effective.

• Don’t randomly (随机地) date tasks.

Some people usually add a date to every task they write. They end up with a list of tasks that do not need to be done on the day. You will break the schedule.     2     Instead, only put a date on the task which you intend to do on that day.

• Keep your daily list to no more than ten tasks.

    3     They believe they are much busier than that and must have at least twenty tasks on their lists. In fact they are not going to get them done. They will get frustrated at the end of the day. So pick the ten most important tasks on your list.

• Group similar tasks together.

Call your customers, for example. If you have two or three such tasks on your daily list, put these together and do them at the same time.     4     Then do them one after another.

•     5    

It puts you in complete control. It allows you to stay on top of your work and decide what needs to be done next and what can be postponed to a later time. It’s the best way of starting the week with a plan and a direction. It is a way to make sure you are doing the right things.

A．Do a weekly review.

B．Or you will just ignore them.

C．Some people often laugh at my advice.

D．Write clearly about what you need to do.

E．Arrange thirty minutes or so to do your calls.

F．If you are away on a business trip, reduce the number of tasks.

G．However, getting all those things out of your head is just the first step. Do a weekly review.

6 . Generative AI must seem like a superweapon to people who aim to cause disagreement and argument online. Deep-fake videos imitate public figures. Crowds of conversational chatbots worsen conflict, and efforts to detect and relieve such campaigns remain in their early period.

But can Generative AI also negotiate confict? Chris Bail, a leading expert on artificial intelligence and human behavior, and his colleagues have conducted research indicating that Large Language Models such as ChatGPT can make online conversations more productive, reduce incivility, and increase willingness to have difficult conversations across social disagreements. What’s more, they’re already seeing practical applications. Inspired by such research, Nextdoor, a community-based social-media platform that has struggled to boycott online poison, recently launched a successful, large-scale (大规模的) effort to reduce incivility.

In a study recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Chris Bail and his team examined whether Large Language Models can teach people conflict-negotiation techniques on a large scale. They enlisted a large group of people with different opinions about gun control and paired them to discuss this topic with someone who does not share their view on an online chat platform the team built.

After exchanging several messages on their platform, half of the research participants began to receive pop-up messages suggesting alternative phrasings for the messages they were about to send to their chat partner. These pop-ups employed GPT-3 to rephrase each post using conflict negotiation principles — without changing the opinion expressed within them. Participants had the option to send these rephrased versions of their message or ignore them.

The researchers found that GPT-3 is surprisingly good at processing difficult conversations. People whose partner used the AI-generated re-phrasings described the conversations as more productive, less stressful, and expressed greater willingness to consider alternative viewpoints.

1. What can we infer from the first two paragraphs?

A．GenAI can be used in wars.

B．GenAI can stop online incivility.

C．GenAI can be used to deal with conflict online.

D．GenAI can make conversations more difficult.

2. What did Chris Bail’s team aim to do in a recent study?

A．To build their online chat platform.

B．To share ideas on their own platform.

C．To collect different ideas about gun control.

D．To test the function of Large Language Models.

3. How does GPT-3 help process difficult conversations?

A．By ignoring rephrased messages.

B．By making choices for the participants.

C．By changing the opinions of participants.

D．By expressing the messages in a different way.

4. Which of the following is the best title for the text?

A．People Share Ideas on Gun Control

B．A New Study About Practical Applications

C．GenAI Cause Disagreement And Argument Online

D．GenAI Could Make Online Conversations More Civil

7 . Rewards at West Exe School

West Exe School is a fully inclusive comprehensive secondary school. Listed below are the ways the school celebrate success with students, parents and staff during the academic year.

Merit Badges

Merit badges are awarded in line with the student qualities. E.g., when a student reaches 200 merits in a semester for being kind, they receive their kind merit badge. The West Exe shield is awarded to students who have achieved all six merit badges.

The Golden Ticket

Every two weeks, all members of staff have a ‘Golden Ticket’ which they can award to any student who has displayed what the student qualities stand for. There will be a bi-weekly focus on one of the student qualities as positive reinforcement. The golden tickets awarded are then placed in a prize draw, for prizes suggested by the student body.

Punctuality Award

Students who are on time for every lesson across the week will be entered into a prize draw. This is to promote the importance of punctuality in school and in life.

Headteacher Reward

Headteacher’s Reward is given to students who have been nominated (提名) by staff members every month for demonstrating the qualities, behaviors and values of what it means to be an exceptional West Exe Student. They are also awarded to students who have shown exceptional achievement, either in school or as part of an extracurricular activity. This includes a certificate and pen, with a letter going home to parents to share news of the young person’s achievement.

1. Which of the following rewards is given most frequently?

A．Merit Badges.	B．The Golden Ticket.
C．Punctuality Award.	D．Headteacher Reward.

2. What do we know about Headteacher Reward?

A．All staff members can be nominated for the award.

B．Students rewarded will receive a certificate and a letter.

C．Parents of the students awarded will be honored with a letter.

D．Only students making outstanding achievements in school can be awarded.

3. Where is the text probably taken from?

A．A school website.	B．A news report.
C．A travel leaflet.	D．A book review.

8 . How to keep your heart young

Clearly, it is important to take control of your heart health no matter your age. Regular exercise and a proper diet can help make your heart healthy and strong.     1    

Manage stress and anxiety.

Stress plays a role in 77 percent of all health concerns, including digestive trouble, an inability to lose weight, and heart disease.     2     Try taking a deep breath, taking a walk, or simply spacing out for a few minutes.

Open the windows in your house.

There are dozens of possible sources, including hair spray, candles, or smoke from a woodstove or fireplace.     3     But the chemical mixtures they create when mixed together can cause infection, raise blood pressure, and harden arteries (动脉). Open windows and use a fan to circulate the air and reduce indoor pollution levels.

    4    

A sound sleep is good for your heart, but as you age, your brain and neurons begin to change and your “sleep architecture” suffers. Shorter sleep duration and poorer quality of sleep seem to be associated with increased heart diseases. A few classic tips for a better night’s sleep: Avoid afternoon naps and caffeine within six hours of your bedtime.

Be active and be kind.

    5     Meanwhile, a study found that those who spent money on other people had lower blood pressure than those who spent money on themselves. Do something physically active on behalf of someone else. While you’re out removing snow, clear your neighbor’s walkway too.

A．Give priority to sleep.

B．Stress relief can come in many forms.

C．However, we have more ways to keep slim.

D．Any of these might be harmless in small amounts.

E．People who always sit tend to develop some heart problems.

F．But these tips from heart specialists offer surprisingly helpful additions to you.

G．Try to embrace nature to enjoy and play instead of staying at home doing nothing.

9 . Cycling for charity is a good way to raise money for worthy causes. There are several approaches to getting started.

Popular international social websites have cycling-for- charity pages where it is possible to find upcoming events and sponsors (赞助商). Many international organizations can also be located online that organize regular cycling for charity events. An example of this is Best Buddies International, founded in 1989 and existing in all 50 US states and in 50 countries around the world. Best Buddies International sponsors cycling events to raise money for people with developmental disabilities.

Research organizations mainly dedicated to curing diseases and groups like the National Multiple Sclerosis Society in the US, with similar MS associations in Canada and Australia, arrange cycling for-charity events on a frequent basis. Other common diseases and medical conditions, such as heart disease, Parkinson’s, and cancer, also have national and international organizations that regularly arrange cycling for-charity events. Social movement nonprofits also are involved in cycling for charity, based around such issues as poverty and regional disasters, like earthquakes and hurricanes, which inspire cycling fundraisers around the globe.

Local community groups are another avenue towards forming a cycling group and sponsoring charity rides and charity races. Bicycle clubs and retailers (零售商) are often connected to community outreach groups that arrange such events, and are a good source of information on how to get involved in one. Some of these groups go beyond traditional street cycling and sponsor cross country trail courses. Indoor cycling-for- charity events have also become popular in areas where the weather and season or urban environment may not lend itself to outdoor cycling activities.

Arranging your own cycling-for-charity event is also a possibility. Finding ways to publicize the event and gain sponsors can be done through various local or regional cycling clubs, through employers, local churches, and other groups interested in promoting charitable activities.

1. Which of the following organizes cycling for the disabled?

A．A bicycle club.	B．A local community group.
C．Best Buddies International.	D．National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

2. What is the main function of the research organizations?

A．To study how to treat diseases.	B．To spread how to face diseases.
C．To publicize the benefits of cycling.	D．To inspire the fundraisers globally.

3. Why do some areas choose indoor cycling for charity?

A．For the public’s preference.	B．To provide cycling courses.
C．To attract more participants.	D．For unfavorable conditions.

4. What is the best title for the passage?

A．How can I start cycling for charity?	B．How can I avoid hurt during cycling?
C．Why must I advocate charity events?	D．What should I do for a proper cycling?

10 . Rich variety exists in primates (灵长目动物). Monkeys roll on snowy Japanese mountains, gorillas chew fruit on Sumatra, lemurs jump between trees in Madagascar, and the naked apes—humans—walk proudly on two legs worldwide. Scientists can now study the DNA differences beyond that diversity, thanks to a databank of genomes (基因组) from 233 species.

To understand the good and bad of human evolution—both our extraordinary adaptations and disease-causing changes—scientists must compare the genomes of Homo sapiens (智人) to our closest evolutionary relatives, the primates. But researchers investigating diverse topics, from contemporary genetic diseases to human origins, have long faced a roadblock when pursuing this approach: While genomic data exists from millions of people, most of the 500-plus primate species never had their genomes read. So, in 2019, Tomàs Marquès-Bonet at the Institute of Evolutionary Biology, in Barcelona, Spain, and other biologists teamed up with disease researchers at the company Illumina, determined to obtain as many primate genomes as possible.

Navigating wilderness and local permitting laws, the international researchers obtained hundreds of blood samples from wild and caged animals in South America, Africa, and Asia. Arranging DNA from these samples and adding data from previous studies, the team built a bank of 809 genomes from individual baboons, gorillas, gibbons, and more, representing nearly half the known primate species.

The data revealed insights about human origins and health, as well as primate conservation, published by more than 100 scientists across 10 papers in Science and Science Advances in June 2023. One study trained artificial intelligence to search human genomes for DNA differences likely to cause disease, based on whether nonhuman primates can live with those variants. According to Marquès-Bonet, “We now have a really good list of the foundations of our species” and a “good idea of the kind of variations that are tolerated in any primate”—including humans.

1. What can we learn from paragraph 1?

A．Primates vary mainly in habitats.

B．Scientists focus on the diversity of primates.

C．There are 233 species of primates in the world.

D．Primate genomes are important for studying the DNA differences.

2. Why did the scientists build the databank of genomes?

A．To cure human’s various genetic diseases.

B．To help human adapt to the environment.

C．To investigate the process of human evolution.

D．To understand the strength and drawback of human evolution.

3. What is paragraph 3 mainly about?

A．The reasons for building the databank.

B．The process of building the databank.

C．The impacts of building the databank.

D．The difficulties in building the databank.

4. What does Marquès-Bonet think of the databank?

A．It still needs to be improved.

B．It is of great value to future research.

C．It is of little help to future research.

D．It is unclear whether it’s of help to future research.