1 . Compared with Americans, people in Okinawa, 1, 000 miles south of Tokyo, are three times more likely to become centenarians (百岁老人) , according to professor Dan Buettner’s research. The centenarians garden, sing, laugh and play. For most of the city dwellers (居民) who are busy working, it’s not possible to live like that.     1     Here are some ways that Buettner find those centenarians keep.

    2       

For those who don’t like the gym, you may be inspired by the way the centenarians bring movement into their everyday routines.     3     “A garden pushes you to weed, water and harvest almost every day, which keeps you moving,” Buettner says. “I also talked with a 104-year-old woman who got up and down the floor 30 times, making for better balance and flexibility,” Buettner recalls.

They reduce meat for a plant-forward approach.

The typical diet in America includes 220 pounds of meat per year. per person.     4     “About 1/10th of what we eat,” Buettner says. In Okinawa, tofu is often eaten twice a day, mixed with vegetables. And a key principle of eating there is to stop when you’re 80% full. Mindful eating has been shown to help people have moderate intake.

They give loneliness the boot and become joiners.

Buettner describes a woman named Panchita who was well over 100 years old. She didn’t feel lonely at all because, her 85-year-old son biked to her house to help feed the chickens each day. In return, she cooked him some beans and some rice. They both found happiness in doing so. “There’s this beautiful symbiosis (共生) .     5     ” Buettner says.

A．They depend on each other.

B．They eat as little as they can.

C．They build movement into their days.

D．They plant a garden in their backyard.

E．But we can learn from their simple habits.

F．Those centenarians only consume 20 pounds a year.

G．Much of their intake is from whole plant-based foods.

2 . The “Got Talent” crew is one of the pioneers in finding and publicizing music talents and has been giving the world some of its most favorite artists for almost two decades. This year “Britain’s Got Talent” (BGT) uncovered a musical genius named Malakai Bayoh who amazed the audience with perfect high-note singing. The London-based 13-year-old boy appeared for the show’s audition (试镜) in April, 2023 and was accompanied by his mom and sister. “My big dream is to be a singer. I started singing at 7,” said Bayoh to the BGT team and added jokingly, “My mom made me join the choir (合唱团) because she’s very bossy.” The teenager mentioned she’s his biggest fan.

Bayoh’s mom was shocked as he was about to perform and said, “It scares me because, on his first show, somebody heckled (对……起哄) him. It was bad to think that someone would boo (喝倒彩) a child on stage because it could’ve knocked his confidence completely.” Contrary to his mom’s fear, Bayoh set the stage on fire singing the song “Pie Jesu” and the entire crowd were struck by his beautiful voice. As he ended his song, the audience and the judges gave him a standing applause. Simon Cowell, a judge, had just one word to say and it was “Golden Buzzer”, sending him straight to the semi-finals of the show.

Cowell and the other judges called Bayoh’s performance “flawless” and “heavenly”. His angelic voice made the audience tear up and the judges thanked the teen for coming on the show. Bayoh went on to become one of the finalists of the show.

Bayoh’s audition at the BGT became popular on social media. People loved the boy’s impeccable singing and some musicians even commented on how perfectly he hit the high notes. “I’m a trained singer and a music teacher by profession, and sang this song as a young performer myself. I can say with absolute certainty that this song is most beautifully sung this time. With proper technique and breathing, this boy sang really well,” posted @mayacorinne878.

1. What can be learned about Bayoh from paragraph 2?

A．He comes from a single-parent family.	B．He is humorous in speech.
C．His dream was inspired by his fans.	D．His mom used to be a singer.

2. What made Bayoh’s mom worried?

A．Bayoh’s difficulty in singing.	B．The judges’ attitudes to his son.
C．Bayoh’s performance on stage.	D．Some audiences’ initial responses.

3. How did the audience probably feel after hearing the boy’s song?

A．Touched.

B．Annoyed.

C．Relieved.

D．Amused.

4. Why does the author mention a music teacher?

A．To uncover more musical geniuses.	B．To show musicians’ ability to sing well.
C．To stress Bayoh’s excellent singing.	D．To contradict some audiences’ comments.

3 . Thanks to the 1999 Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act, 26 endangered species in Australia have seen their populations recover.

It seems like that we're always hearing about new animals that have become endangered, but there's some good news in Australia: 26 animal species no longer meet the criteria to be listed as threatened. Australia’s biodiversity has been in decline, with more than 1, 700 species and ecological communities known to be on the line. In 1999, the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act was passed to introduce protections for endangered animals. The burrowing bettong is one of 26 Australian species that have returned from the edge of extinction.

Seemingly these are working, as a recent study published in the journal Biological Conservation reviewed the animals that were previously or currently listed as threatened between 2000 and December 2022, and discovered that 26 species had recovered to no longer meet the criteria. Species that have seen improvement include the charmingly named burrowing bettong, the golden bandicoot and the bulloo grey grasswren.

Factors behind this improvement include habitat management, control of introduced predators (捕食者) and translocation of endangered animals to predator-free islands. However, the species have not been officially delisted at this time. The EPBC Act only allows species to be delisted if doing so will not have a negative effect on their survival, and researchers believe that conservation gains could be lost should management efforts be stopped.

Dr Michelle Ward, a conservation scientist at WWF Australia, told The Guardian, “The key problem with delisting species is that then they no longer have monitoring and no longer need certain funding plans.”

However, it is promising that researchers have found signs of improvement. Hopefully this will continue among these and other species!

1. What do the underlined words “on the line” in paragraph 2 probably mean?

A．Out of place.	B．At risk.
C．Under control.	D．On the increase.

2. What did a recent study find?

A．Some animals are facing extinction.

B．Burrowing bettong is a charming species.

C．The criteria to be delisted were hard to meet.

D．26 endangered species’ populations are recovering.

3. The species haven’t been delisted officially because ________.

A．their living situation is severe	B．the delisting consequences are uncertain
C．the conservation gains are short	D．the habitat management level is poor

4. What is the author’s attitude towards the researchers’ discovery?

A．Unconcerned.

B．Doubtful.

C．Positive.

D．Worried.

4 . Robotics/Artificial Intelligence (AI) Competitions for High School Students

Robotics and AI competitions are a great way for high schoolers to dive into modern technologies. Here are four of them.

MATE ROV Competition

Location: Houston, Texas

Awards: VR headsets

Competition Date: March to June

MATE ROV Competition challenges students to design and build remotely operated vehicles, and its purpose is to see who can design a vehicle that will help monitor ocean health, provide clean energy, or just help keep our oceans healthy for the future.

RoboRave

Location: Lorrach, Germany

Awards: Small cash prizes

Competition Date: November

RoboRave is a robotics competition that welcomes participants to compete in various challenges like firefighting. The competition’s unique aspect lies in its international reach, bringing together enthusiasts from around the world to celebrate robotics education and hands-on learning.

Agorize AI Challenge

Location: Virtual for initial phases, then in Paris, France for the final award ceremony

Awards: A trip to the destination of your choice, iPad, Apple TV

Competition Date: September

In this project, you can work in teams of 2-5 people to present an idea for how we can use AI-technologies to impact a specific field, like marketing, healthcare, etc. You’ll send in your initial application in a 3-5 slides presentation, and if your team makes it pass this phase, you’ll have the opportunity to include more information about your product features.

OpenCV AI Competition

Location: Online

Awards: Certificates, cash, free courses

Competition Date: December

In your project, you can either work individually or in teams of three using computer vision technologies. OpenCV AI Competition suggests project ideas related to robotics, agriculture or education, but you’re not limited to these areas.

1. Which of the following mainly welcomes the entries for oceanic conditions?

A．RoboRave.	B．MATE ROV Competition.
C．Agorize AI Challenge.	D．OpenCV AI Competition.

2. What is the unique feature of RoboRave?

A．It is held every month.	B．It offers online training.
C．It is a global competition.	D．It promises a national tour.

3. What do Agorize AI Challenge and OpenCV AI Competition have in common?

A．They allow teamwork.	B．They provide free courses.
C．They fund their winners.	D．They need presentations at first.

5 . I didn’t quite know what I was looking for when I flew to Mongolia for a term abroad. I just needed something different, far from the late-night libraries of my college town. Most different, I hoped, would be my rural homestay: two weeks in central Mongolia with a family of nomadic(游牧的) herders.

I was studying Mongolian at the time, but still, there was so much I couldn’t say or understand. As we walked in the snow behind the goats, my host mom would ask me if I was cold, then giggle (咯咯地笑) and copy a big shiver to make sure I understood. In the evenings, she showed me how to make dumplings with her fingers. My host siblings would talk with me, speaking too fast for me to understand, as we explored the rocks around our tent; I’d listen and nod.

This verbal(言语的) barrier was strangely freeing. In the crowded dining hall at home, meeting new people made me anxious. I’d stay quiet, measuring out my words, struggling for something to say that wouldn’t expose me as unfunny or boring. In Mongolia, I couldn’t perfect my words. I could only smile, and try out one of the phrases I’d mastered: “May I help?” “Where is the dog?” “Are you tired?” My host family laughed at my pronunciation, at the way I threw up my hands and eyebrows in a frequent gesture of confusion. But in their laughter, I felt safe, unembarrassed.

With my Mongolian family on the grassland, I found a feeling of ease I’d never felt before. We were so different, they and I, and not just in language. Their skin was hardened and darkened by sun; I’d been hidden under hats and sunscreen since birth. My host siblings(兄弟姐妹) grew up drawing water from frozen streams and jogging behind herds of sheep; I spent summers at tennis camp.

For me, these gaps made all the difference. Without shared social measures, I wasted no time wondering how I was measuring up. Only real things—kindness, helpfulness—mattered.

1. Why did the author go to Mongolia for a term abroad?

A．She dreamed of living a nomadic life.	B．She was tired of studying late at night.
C．She had to study Mongolians’ normal life.	D．She was collecting information for libraries.

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

A．Hug.

B．Smile.

C．Attack.

D．Shake.

3. How did the author behave at the dining hall in her home country?

A．She felt at ease in the crowd.	B．She usually weighed her words.
C．She asked a lot of funny questions.	D．She often made others laugh with jokes.

4. What did the author learn from her life in Mongolia?

A．You are judged wherever you go.	B．Nature makes humans feel insignificant.
C．Appearance reflects one’s standard of life.	D．Being kind is the common social standard.

6 . It is difficult to name a female architect more iconic than Zaha Hadid, whose name can be translated from Arabic as glorious. She passed away five years ago at the age of 65, but the impact she has left on the world of architecture is profound.

Hadid was born into an upper-class Iraqi family in 1950. At the very beginning, she wanted to become a mathematician and studied science at the American University of Beirut, But at some point she realized that she preferred shapes to numbers. And she turned her concentration to architecture and went to London where she met the famous Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas.

“There are 360 degrees, so why stick to one?” Hadid once said. Despite her abundance of amazing ideas, before the beginning of the 90s, not a single building based on her blueprints had been built. Her highly expressive style, while initially criticized and believed to be crazy, is now regarded as pioneering work. Her striking contemporary architecture, inspired by natural landforms, has graced the skylines of major metropolitan cities.

“Women are always being told, ‘you’re not going to make it; It’s too difficult. You can’t do that Don’t enter this competition; You’ll never win it’,” Hadid said. “They need confidence in themselves and people around them for support.”

Never one to be boxed in by conventions, Hadid proved society wrong. She received her first prize, the “Gold Medal Architectural Design” for her British Architecture in 1982. From then on, the awards kept rolling in. But the true triumph for Hadid came in 2004. Her project for the London Olympics Aquatic Center won her the Pritzker Architecture Prize. She became the first woman and first Muslim to earn the award, making a name for herself and paving the way for female architects.

Hadid’s genius lives on in the array of many other spectacular buildings she has left behind in the world. Among them are the Guangzhou Opera House, the Beijing Daxing International Airport, as well as the Al Wakrah Stadium in Qatar where the 2022 FIFA World Cup will be held.

Hadid may be gone, but her global influence on a new generation of female architects is here to stay.

1. What made Hadid quit science to learn architecture?

A．Her talent in architecture.

B．Her interest in architecture.

C．Her difficulty in learning science.

D．Her encounter with Rem Koolhaas.

2. What can we learn about Hadid’s works?

A．Her architecture was inspired by mathematics

B．Her British Architecture won her the Pritzker Architecture Prize.

C．Her architecture style was too bold to be accepted at the very beginning.

D．Her works can only be found in European countries and the Middle East.

3. What does paragraph 4 mainly about?

A．The talk between Hadid and her colleague.

B．The reason why women fail to be architects.

C．The prejudice from society against women.

D．The difficulty Hadid faced being an architect.

4. What is the most profound impact Hadid has left on the world?

A．She formed a unique style.

B．She broke away from the convention.

C．She received various architecture awards

D．She encouraged other women architects.

7 . It takes a lot of courage to make a painting or drawing. All your skills, or lack of them, are plain to see and open to praise or criticism. It’s hard and takes persistent courage to keep going when things are not going your way.

Everyone knows that it is a good thing to practice drawing and painting every day.     1     Daily drawing can easily become a repeated and boring activity that needs great effort it, it simply occupies the busy life without any reflection or sense of purpose. If you can practice frequently with an air of relaxation and small achievable goal, you will find it more rewarding and enjoyable.

If you produce frequent small-scale paintings, you will learn much faster.     2     Of course, when you are producing so much work, the odd failure doesn’t matter nearly as much either. Alongside developing your technical skills I would encourage you to study as much art as you can. Learn as much as you can about the paintings and artists that inspire you.     3    

It is likely that the paintings which inspire you will have qualities that you feel are lacking from your own.     4     All these make a difference to leading you forwards. This journey is never-ending and a large part of what makes it all so richly interesting.

    5     This helps in several ways:   firstly you’ll know better when the work is finished, secondly it helps you keep clarity of purpose and thirdly, you can judge its success against your original aim. Of course, wonderful and unexpected things will occur as you paint, but these can throw you off course too. Thus do keep your focus as you go.

A．However, how many of us actually do it?

B．Produce works that are in line with people’s taste.

C．It’s a good idea to start by defining a clear achievable goal.

D．In this way, you clearly know what you like and what you don’t.

E．Imagine how much more you can learn from ten paintings than one.

F．Drawing has many benefits and can improve our lives in a variety of ways.

G．Besides, while learning, you will naturally seek out new artists and artworks.

8 . Types Of Students You Will Meet In College

There are thousands of universities around the world, and each school boasts its own traditions and slogans. Some schools pride themselves on sports, while others emphasize their research facilities. While there are a myriad of differences among each and every school, there will always be these three types of students in class.

The one who sits in the front row

There’s at least one of these people in every single class,whether it’s a required General Education class or an upper division major course. These students always sit in the front row and ask at least five questions every lecture.

They attend all the discussions and office hours, and try to turn in homework at least a week in advance. These are also the people who remind professors about assigned homework and upcoming exams. Nothing bad about being studious, but are they even human?

The one who never studies (but still aces the class)

Standing as probably the most frustrating category of people in this list, these students won’t know about a midterm until two days before. They go to class every once in a while when the class time doesn’t clash with one of their many elaborate social plans, but never pay attention. Somehow, they still ace all their exams and end up with the top grade in the class.

The one who always falls asleep

This person comes to class every day, but somehow never stays awake for more than 20 minutes. You can sometimes hear the occasional snore from a corner of a large lecture hall, or catch their heads nodding like a pendulum near the front of the class if they’re the studious type. But let’s be real here: we’ve all been one of those students at some point.

1. Who always sit in the front row?

A．The studious students.

B．The sleepy students.

C．The smart students.

D．The frustrated students.

2. We can know that       from paragraph 4.

A．Some students never go to classes but still get top grades.

B．Some students never go to classes and get bad grades.

C．Some students go to lectures occasionally but still ace the class.

D．Some students go to lectures everyday and still ace the class.

3. From this article, most of us have been         .

A．The one who always falls asleep

B．The one who sits in the front row

C．The one who never falls asleep

D．The one who never studies (but still aces the class)

9 . ChatGPT is a prototype (原型) dialogue-based AI chatbot (聊天 机 器人 ) which can understand natural human language and creating impressively detailed human-like written text. The new AI was created by OpenAI, a research center founded by Elon Musk. Musk co-founded the new company with other bosses. The research centre aims to advance digital intelligence in a way that benefits humans.

ChatGPT works by being trained on a large amount of text from the Internet using AI and machine learning. The system is designed to provide information and answer questions through a traditional interface (界面) .

Early users have described the technology as a tool to replace to Google because it can provide descriptions, answers, and solutions to different kinds of questions. Real-world applications could include producing content for websites, answering customer questions, providing recommendations (推荐) , and creating automated (自动化的) chatbots. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said the system is “an early model of what’s possible.” He hopes to produce helpful assistants that talk to users, answer questions, and give advice. In the future, these assistants could periorm tasks for users and even discover new knowledge.

There has been prediction that jobs dependent on content production, such as playwrights, protessors, programmers, and journalists, could be obsolete because of ChatGPT. However, at its current stage, the chatbot lacks slight differences, critical thinking skills, and ethical (道德的) decision-making ability which are necessary for successful journalism. In addition, its knowledge base ends in 2021, which means that some questions and searches are useless now. ChatGPT can also provide incorrect or misleading answers, because it is short of a source of truth in the data used to train the model.

In short, ChatGPT is a powerful AI chatbot and it may be used in various industries, but it is still in its early stages and has limitations. As AI technology continues to evolve, we can expect more advanced chatbots like ChatGPT in the future.

1. What is the purpose of OpenAI?

A．To produce content for giving advice.

B．To train ChatGPT as a super computer.

C．To use ChatGPT as a tool to replace Google.

D．To improve digital intelligence that can benefit humans.

2. How does ChatGPT work according to the text?

A．By answering questions for websites.

B．By being trained on a large amount of text.

C．By providing information and giving advice.

D．By producing detailed human-like written text.

3. Which of the following statements of future AI assistants will Sam Altman agree on?

A．They will only answer questions and give advice.

B．They will replace jobs dependent on content production.

C．They will have slight differences and critical thinking skills.

D．They will perform tasks for users and discover new knowledge.

4. What does the underlined word “obsolete” mean in paragraph 4?

A．Curious.

B．Responsible.

C．Outdated.

D．Humorous.

5. Where is the text probably taken from?

A．A health article.	B．A science fiction.
C．A nature magazine.	D．A science website.

10 . A badly-injured fox spent two weeks recovering in a garden tent after attaching itself to a family in Glasgow, Scotland.

Liz Wink said the fox followed her home before they noticed a bad wound on its side. “My son Andrew came running in and said ‘there’s a fox following me’,” Wink said. “We opened the door and it was just standing there.”

“I have three dogs and they were barking (吠叫)but it was still trying to come in —its nose was going through the letterbox. We noticed the wound. We put food in the back garden and it made the back garden its home. There was also a chair in the back.” The fox was fed food including cooked chicken. “We also bought a tent, with an old quit cover in it.”

Wink said antibiotics(抗生素)were given after contacting a vet, and the fox finally left their garden with the wound healed after a fortnight. “It was here day and night,” Wink said. “My daughter Lucy is good with animals and would pat it. It was so quiet.”

“Clearly, when foxes are injured they take a thing called a rescue nap(抢救性小睡)and I think that’s what it has done with us,” Wink said. “They nap for however long it takes , and it completely healed. Then it was up and away and we never saw that fox again. We still have foxes but that one was so friendly, the other ones do run away. Maybe it will come back with babies one day.”

Although it’s great that the fox appeared to make a full recovery, we wouldn’t advise members of the public to attempt to treat sick or injured wild animals themselves. If people find a wounded wild animal in trouble, they should call animal helpline.

1. Why did the fox follow the son Andrew to his home?

A．To make friends with Andrew.	B．To feed its babies.
C．To turned to the family for help.	D．To cure its injured back.

2. What can we learn about the family from paragraph 3?

A．They treated the fox carefully.	B．They fed the dog with chicken.
C．They thought the fox was noisy.	D．They put the fox into the letterbox.

3. What did the fox do for its own recovery?

A．It rested for as long as it would take.	B．It went for a vet to have a check-up.
C．It killed animals nearby for food.	D．It went into forests to heal itself.

4. What does the author suggest people do to help injured wild animals?

A．Treat them under the guidance of vets.

B．Search the wild and look for more of them.

C．Contact animal experts for advice and information.

D．Learn more about them. and offer proper treatment.

5. Which can be a suitable title for the text?

A．A Garden Tent and a Kind Fox	B．An Injured Fox and a Kind Family
C．A Badly-injured Fox and Its Travel	D．A Family Travel and an Injured Fox