1 . This past summer in the Arctic was the warmest since 1900, contributing to disasters across the wider region, recorded in National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s annual Arctic Report Card. The Arctic is warming nearly four times faster than the global average as a result of human-caused climate change, driven primarily by burning fossil fuels. Researchers say changes in the Arctic can directly influence worldwide changes across ecosystems, from sea-level rise and new weather patterns, to altered wildlife migrations.
Another surprise in this year’s report card is salmon, the key to many of the region’s ecosystems, economies, and cultures. In western Alaska, chinook and chum salmon hit record low levels this year, but sockeye (红鲑鱼) salmon in Bristol Bay hit record highs. The abundance of sockeye had an unexpected downside for commercial fishermen —a price crash. “There’re so many salmon, and they can barely make a profit,” Thoman said. It’s unclear exactly why the salmon species are responding differently to climate change, but researchers say it’s likely linked to changing conditions in both the ocean and freshwater ecosystems central to the salmon life-cycle.
In order to address the issue, researchers started constantly monitoring these ecological changes across the Arctic, and the response of wildlife, founding a program aiming to draw upon the expertise of the region’s local residents: the Alaska Arctic Observatory and Knowledge Hub (AAOKH). The group works with a network of coastal local observers to document long-term environmental change and impacts in northern Alaska. Roberta Tuurraq Glenn-Borade, a community contact for AAOKH, said local observers often provide context beyond simple data collection that can better scientists’ understanding of the environmental factors driving animal behavior—like how shifting winds and sea-ice drew a surprising number of ringed seals and polar bears to Utqiaġvik in January.
Roberta expressed optimism that AAOKH can help communities adapt to the altered environment.
1. What can we learn about climate changes in Arctic?| A．They will be limited in Arctic. |
| B．They are caused by human activities. |
| C．They can hardly impact global ecosystems. |
| D．The Arctic is warming as fast as the global average. |
| A．The water pollution impacted salmon’s population. |
| B．The impact of climate change on salmon species varies. |
| C．Fishermen can gain profit because of abundant sockeye. |
| D．Salmon is important in almost every aspect of many regions. |
| A．By collecting and analyzing data from the locals. |
| B．By tracking climate changes and wildlife’s response. |
| C．By improving scientists’ grasp of the natural element. |
| D．By studying environmental changes and consequences. |
| A．Global Heatwaves: the Warmest Summer in a Century. |
| B．Local Wisdom: Arctic Residents’ Assistance in Arctic. |
| C．Arctic Report Card: Dramatic Impacts of Climate Change. |
| D．Salmon Surprises: Economic Impacts and Climate Change. |
2 . Have you ever felt numb, overwhelmed, or excessively anxious after seeing the flooding of suffering shown on the news, Internet, and social media? I know I have — and I recently learned that this feeling has a name: compassion fatigue (疲劳).
For decades, researchers have studied compassion fatigue among health care workers, therapists, social workers, vets, and other people who are frequently exposed to other people’s trauma at work. Over time, they can develop emotional exhaustion or even PTSD-like (类创伤后应激障碍) symptoms—including difficulty sleeping, anxiety, and feeling triggered by troubling stories or memories—as a result of immersing themselves in the problems of others, studies show.
While compassion fatigue hasn’t been widely studied among the general population, experts agreed that it can affect anyone, even those who are witnessing trauma from afar. That means almost everyone is at risk these days, because of ongoing conflicts even wars between countries, frequent gun violence, and other difficult world events that are all over the news and social media. Triggers (诱因) vary from person to person, experts say, so there’s no way to know for sure what will cause compassion fatigue. If you are reacting more strongly than usual to difficult situations—perhaps by yelling at others or growing angry when you’re usually level, you may be experiencing compassion fatigue.
To protect yourself from compassion fatigue, the experts recommended taking purposeful breaks from the news to focus on personal wellnes — such as by spending time outdoors and with loved ones — and finding ways to give back to your community and remember the good in humanity.
1. What does the underlined word "trauma" mean?| A．Dilemma. | B．Fear. | C．Embarrassment. | D．Injury. |
| A．Being lost in the possible failures. |
| B．Having difficulty in sleeping well. |
| C．Involving themselves in others’ pain. |
| D．Feeling much worried about something. |
| A．Everyone is possibly affected by compassion fatigue. |
| B．Compassion fatigue has been researched worldwide. |
| C．Social media is the main cause of compassion fatigue. |
| D．Bad-tempered people are easier to experience compassion fatigue. |
| A．Pay more attention to good news. |
| B．Read plenty of books on humanity. |
| C．Stay with the ones like parents and friends. |
| D．Make every effort to build a better community. |
3 . Plan a day-trip to Little Switzerland for some wintertime fun
Jim Thorpe, about 30 miles from Allentown, will hold its annual Winter Fest from Thursday, Feb. 15, through Sunday, Feb. 18. The celebration will feature ice carvings, live entertainment, train rides, horse-drawn carriage rides and a luminaria walk through its downtown area.
In honor of an Olympic gold medalist, who is buried in a grave on North Street, the mountain town changed its name to Jim Thorpe in 1954. Whichever side you land on, Jim Thorpe — known for whitewater rafting, cycling and music festivals — is a unique destination any time of year, with winter bringing its own unique pleasures.
The festival features concerts, yoga and horse and buggy rides. Mauch Chunk Opera House, 14 W. Broadway, will hold a Rush Experience tribute concert at 8 p. m. Friday. Tickets cost $ 24. On Saturday, an ELO and Jeff Lynne tribute concert will begin at 8 p. m. Tickets cost $ 37.
You can check out the yoga class at 10 a. m. Saturday with Stacey Valdez of Fairy Moon Yoga at 41 W. Broadway. Admission is $ 20. The class, suitable for all levels, is one hour and bring your own mat.
Also Saturday: various bands performing in Josiah White Park along with a live ice carving at 5 W. Broadway. The Jim Thorpe Trolley Company will offer trolley rides (weather permitting) on Saturday and Sunday. Or you can horse around on a carriage ride by Crystal View Carriage Company on Friday through Sunday. No reservations are being taken, so arrive early.
For something more scenic, catch a train ride on the Lehigh Gorge Scenic Railway Thursday-Monday. Advanced tickets are highly recommended.
1. What do we know about the town Jim Thorpe?| A．It is located by the seaside. | B．It is named after an athlete. |
| C．It holds the festival twice a year. | D．It is a good tourist attraction only in winter. |
| A．$61. | B．$40. | C．$48. | D．$74. |
| A．To ride a horse to wander around. | B．To book train tickets ahead of time. |
| C．To reserve seats in Josiah White Park. | D．To take a taxi for something more scenic. |
4 . My obsession with literature exploded in my early teens. Back then, my reading consisted mostly of whatever classics I could find, novels by Jules Verne, poetry by Mario Benedetti, and a lot of horror novels by Stephen King, Richard Laymon, and Bentley Little — all of which I was too young to read. When I heard John O’Connor’s The Secret History of Bigfoot: Field Notes on a North American Monster was coming, I knew I had to read it.
Fascinated by Bigfoot, he spent a year tracking Bigfoot in the untamed region of the Pacific Northwest. The Secret History of Bigfoot is a wonderfully immersive journey not only into the history of Bigfoot in North America and the culture around but also a deep look at the people who obsess about it. The result is one of the most attractive nonfiction books you’ll read this year.
There are two elements that make this is fantastic read. The first is O’Connor’s voice. Knowledgeable and funny, O’Connor quickly turns into the perfect narrator for this adventure. His pursuit for understanding is powerful, and he presents every person in this book with the same gravitas (庄严).
The second element is the scope of this book. This is about Bigfoot, about its history and the people trying to find him, but O’Connor somehow manages to take the discussion into unexpected places but still leave the creature at the core of the narrative. You’ll learn things reading this book, but you’ll never feel like he’s trying to teach you something or preaching about his own beliefs.
The Secret History of Bigfoot is a wonderful book about one of the most ubiquitous myths in the U.S. and around the world: a wild man, a hair y beast stalking the woods, a magic al creature that remains untouched by the mess we’ve made. It fully embraces the fact that we sometimes need to believe in something bigger and freer than us. Bigfoot is all of that and more. Bigfoot might be out there, but its presence is all over this book. I assure you it’s an amazing adventure you can start without leaving your house.
1. Why does the author mention the names of some writers in the first paragraph?| A．To show his passion for literature. | B．To introduce the main topic: Bigfoot. |
| C．To encourage readers to read more books. | D．To introduce some famous writers he knows. |
| A．He presents the core of the narrative in a funny voice. |
| B．O’Connor’s book is in fact a wonderfully immersive journey. |
| C．He describes every person in the book with the same gravitas. |
| D．You can find out he tries to teach you something about his own beliefs. |
| A．Ambiguous. | B．Indifferent. | C．Universal. | D．Impressive. |
| A．Bigfoot just exists in writer O’Connor’s books. |
| B．The habitat of Bigfoot is influenced by humans. |
| C．Believing in something stronger is sometimes essential. |
| D．We all should have an adventure to seek the Bigfoot. |
5 . Polar bears normally feed on ringed seals that they catch on ice floes (浮冰) offshore. But as the ice disappears in a warming world, many bears are spending greater amounts of time on shore, eating birds’ eggs, berries and grass. However the animals rapidly lose weight on land, increasing the risk of death. The polar bear has become the victims for global climate change, but the reality of the impact on this species is complicated.
Increasing global temperatures are now seen as their biggest threat. That’s because the frozen Arctic seas are key to their survival. The animals use the sea ice as a platform to hunt ringed seals, mostly in late spring and early summer. But during the warmer months many parts of the Arctic are now increasingly ice-free.
To understand how the animals survive as the ice disappears, researchers carried out a study, where they followed the activities of 20 polar bears during the summer months over a three-year period. As well as taking blood samples, and weighing the bears, the animals were fitted with GPS-equipped video camera collars. This allowed the scientists to record the animals’ movements, their activities and what they ate.
In the ice-free summer months, the bears adopted different strategies to survive, with some essentially resting and conserving their energy. The majority tried to search for vegetation or berries or swam to see if they could find food. Both approaches failed, with 19 of the 20 bears in the study losing body mass, by up to 11% in some cases. On average they lost one kilogramme per day. “Regardless of which strategy they were trying to use, there was no real benefit to either approach as far as being able to prolong the period that they could survive on land,” according to lead author Dr Anthony Pagano, from the US Geological Survey in Alaska.
“It is likely that polar bears will disappear from areas where sea ice will be lost in future, but difficult to say just when and where,” said Jon Aars from the Norwegian Polar Institute who was not involved in the study.
1. Why is global warming seen as the biggest threat to polar bears?| A．Polar bears can not survive in warm environment. |
| B．Polar bears can not find bird’s eggs, berries, and grass. |
| C．There are fewer ringed seals in warm environment. |
| D．There are fewer ice floes for polar bears to hunt for food. |
| A．To record the polar bears’ health condition. |
| B．To figure out how the bears survive without sea ice. |
| C．To observe the daily activities of these polar bears. |
| D．To fit the bears with GPS-equipped video camera collars. |
| A．The bears haven’t found ways to live on land. |
| B．It’s efficient for the bears to rest and conserve energy. |
| C．All the bears in the study lose weight greatly. |
| D．The bears can not survive without ice floes. |
| A．A science fiction. | B．A book review. |
| C．An entertainment magazine. | D．An environmental journal. |
6 . Self-learning can help you develop important skills and gain valuable knowledge. Understanding strategies for self-learning is important. They can help you study new concepts with ease.
Determine your learning style. People often prefer to learn new information or a new skill using varied approaches.
Find a purpose. Determine what you want to learn about and why you want to be a self-learner.
Determine a schedule. To create an effective plan, it may be helpful to create an agenda for your self-learning sessions.
| A．Assess your strengths |
| B．Be sure to set reasonable goals |
| C．Identify a skill set you’re interested in learning |
| D．Here’re some tips for effective self-learning practices |
| E．Consider giving yourself a set of achievable deadlines |
| F．You can find the most useful methods and techniques for yourself |
| G．Having a specific goal can also help you set accurate self-learning sessions |
7 . Lamar Giles is the author of several praised novels and short stories for young adults. His most recent novel is called The Getaway (Scholastic Press, 2022).
I recently spoke with Giles via video. Born and raised in Virginia, he has had a passion for writing, he told me, since he was a child. “It was just amusing to me,” he said.
Growing up in Hopewell, Giles experienced poverty and racism. He recalled a frightening moment when he and his friends were stopped by police officers. “They were pulling out really big, scary weapons,” Giles recalled, “threatening us for no reason, other than the fact that we were young, Black children.”
When Giles was in his early 20s, he met professional authors who showed him that he could make a living doing what he loved. At age 21, he saw one of his stories published in a little-known magazine. It took another decade for Giles to write and publish his first novel.
The challenges Giles met with when growing up proved to be a catalyst (催化剂) for his writing. “When something scares me, I’ll write about it,” he said. “If I write a story around it, it makes me feel better about the fear and anxiety.”
The author’s thriller (惊险小说) for young adults, Fake ID (Amistad Books for Young Readers, 2015), tells the story of Nick Pearson. The character, who is Black, faces racial profiling in his hometown, as Giles did. Nick is suspected of committing a crime because of his race and his “shady” neighborhood. In one scene, he is held at the county jail after being falsely accused by a governor of a state.
Giles is also a co-founder of We Need Diverse Books. The nonprofit organization promotes diversity initiatives in the publishing industry, supporting authors whose stories are often ignored. The goal, Giles said, is to enable all kids to see themselves in the books they read.
1. What does the underlined word “It” in paragraph 2 refer to?| A．Video. | B．Novel. | C．Passion. | D．Writing. |
| A．He tried his best to write books. | B．He lived in poverty and horror. |
| C．He lived under police protection. | D．He got along well with his friends. |
| A．They inspired him to write. | B．They changed his attitude to life. |
| C．They prevented him turning a writer. | D．They made him become strong-willed. |
| A．He was Giles’ best friend. | B．He devoted himself to writing. |
| C．He was wrongly imprisoned. | D．He founded a nonprofit organization. |
8 . The glass armonica (玻璃琴), also known as a glass harmonica or simply armonica, is a musical instrument that produces sound by rubbing glass with wet fingers. It was invented by Benjamin Franklin in 1761.
The instrument consists of a series of glass bowls of varying sizes, fixed straight on a spindle (轴). The glass bowls are arranged in order of size, with the largest bowl on one end and the smallest on the other.
Franklin came up with the idea after attending a concert in Cambridge. The performer was rubbing wine glasses to produce musical notes. Franklin thought that was not efficient. He decided to invent a set of musical instruments made of glass.
So, he hired a London glassmaker to construct 36 bowls to specific thicknesses and sizes. He fixed the bowls horizontally on a spindle with the largest bowl on one end and the smallest on the other. In this way the musician can play the glass bowls like a keyboard.
The glass armonica became prevalent during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Mozart and Beethoven both composed chamber pieces for it.
But by the 1820s, it was nearly a forgotten instrument in fears that it had the power to drive the listener mad. Some armonica players became ill and had to stop playing the instrument. They complained of muscle spasms (痉挛), nervousness, cramps, and dizziness. A few listeners were also affected. The instrument was actually banned in a few towns. “The armonica too inspires the nerves, drives the player into a troublesome depression and later into a dark and sad mood that is a method for slow self-destroying.”
However, no explanation or proof was ever really given to any of these claims. Franklin himself ignored all of the argument and continued to play the instrument until the end of his life.
1. How are the glass bowls arranged to form this instrument?| A．By their thickness. | B．By their shapes. | C．By their weight. | D．By their sizes. |
| A．A failed performance. | B．An unsuccessful concert. |
| C．An unusual performer. | D．A couple glasses of wine. |
| A．Fearful. | B．Popular. | C．Strange. | D．Tiresome. |
| A．Bad remarks about the instrument. | B．Terrible sounds made by the instrument. |
| C．Bans on this instrument everywhere. | D．This instrument’s great appeal to people. |
9 . Imagine getting ready for bed, brushing your teeth, setting your alarm and then putting a device on your head that allows you to control your dreams. It might sound like something unfeasible, but it’s the real-life promise of a new futuristic-looking headband called Halo, at present in development by US tech company Prophetic.
Expected to be released in 2025, Halo aims to allow you to have more lucid dreams (清醒梦). In some cases, you might also exercise a degree of control over what happens in these dreams, perhaps in ways that benefit your waking life, such as solving work problems, practicing guitar and more.
Earlier research has shown lucid dreams could be used for real-life benefits. For example, one study carried out by researchers at the University of Bern, Switzerland showed that participants who practised casting coins into a cup in their lucid dreams showed superior performance the next day.
The team behind Halo are using technologies like EEG (脑电图) to collect vast amounts of brain data from volunteers experiencing lucid dreams. The idea is to build a detailed map of what’s happening in the brain during different types of lucid dreams. This information will be key for the second main area of investigation, which involves using TUS (delivered via the headband) to control brain activity. TUS, a non-invasive brain stimulation technique, can change brain function by using high-frequency sound.
“It’s seemingly true that the sound stimulation could contribute to the high-frequency brain activity that’s associated with lucidity,” says Professor Mark Blagrove, a sleep scientist based at Swansea University. “Sound stimulation has been used to cause low-frequency slow waves in slow wave sleep, so the method suggested is believable.”
However, TUS is a relatively new approach to brain stimulation and it’s not entirely clear what the long-term results of stimulating your brain with high-frequency sounds might be. Moreover, some sleep scientists believe dreams have basic functions, including processing emotional experiences. By using a device to change the nature of your dreams, maybe you risk interrupting the usual purpose of your dreams.
1. What does the underlined word “unfeasible” in paragraph 1 probably mean?| A．Impossible. | B．Significant. | C．Logical. | D．Meaningless. |
| A．To suggest a way to dream a dream. | B．To provide a theory for developing Halo. |
| C．To prove the benefits of lucid dreams. | D．To indicate the meaning of being awake. |
| A．The way in which EEG works. | B．The reason for designing Halo. |
| C．The changes brought by Halo. | D．The methods used by the team. |
| A．Hal o has got widespread recognition. | B．There may be some side effects about Halo. |
| C．Dreaming doesn’t have any functions. | D．Lucid dreams cause emotional experiences. |
10 . Jokes and humor are often thought of as unimportant. If the lawyer defending you in court couldn’t stop joking, you’d be understandably alarmed.
However, regarding humour as insignificant is a mistake. Humour, jokes and laughter, have a vital role to play in human behaviour and interaction. They are a powerful part of social bonding and are genuinely beneficial for health via their stress-relieving properties.
Why do we respond, in such powerful and rewarding ways, to things that objectively make little sense? A substantial amount of data has been generated regarding how humour works in the brain and on the various types of recognisable jokes that trigger it.
Verbal puns, the most familiar type of joke, involve words that convey two meanings at once. For example, “Why did the golfer wear two pairs of trousers? In case he got a hole in one.” Here “hole in one” has two possible interpretations. Their simplicity and familiarity mean most people recognise the humour in puns. So, the brain’s humour processes are still engaged.
But where does humour arise from in the brain? Considerable research points towards a specific system in the brain for recognizing humour. This system seemingly detects and resolves incongruity (不和谐). Our brains know how things, like language and behaviors, should work. But, in the real world, many things don’t match our expectations. It seems our brains have evolved a system to recognise when this happens.
If normality is subverted, it means we don’t know what’s going to happen, which creates cognitive (认知) tension. However, the system that recognises incongruity seemingly also resolves it, by providing an explanation, or at least a confirmation that the incongruity has no negative consequences. This removes the uncertainty, relieving the tension. So, we experience a rewarding feeling. If the incongruity is not resolved, however, humour is absent. If the answer to “Why did the golfer wear two pairs of trousers?” is “in case the metal owl that lives in his gold bag attacks him”, that’s not funny. There’s unresolved incongruity.
Humour is essentially our brain going, “This isn’t how things usually work... but I’m okay with it!”
1. What does the author say about humor in the first two paragraphs?| A．Its positive role is often underrated. | B．It mainly serves to entertain and amuse. |
| C．Its harmful effects shouldn’t be ignored. | D．It is essential for professional communication. |
| A．To prove a theory. | B．To draw a conclusion. |
| C．To illustrate a concept. | D．To make a comparison. |
| A．Detected. | B．Overturned. | C．Established. | D．Repeated. |
| A．How Jokes Affect Brain Structures | B．Using Humor to Boost Brain Power |
| C．Jokes and the Brain’s Reward System | D．Unlocking Brain Secrets Behind Humor |
