1 . For many visitors to Peru, Machu Picchu is the No.1 attraction. But it'd be a waste without spending an extra day or two to appreciate some of the country's other wonders.
The Andes
The area near Machu Picchu is perfect for mountain biking. Some of the best trips include the peaceful Lares Valley, the popular Sacred Valley and Abra Malaga Pass. All these biking trips are within shouting distance of Machu Picchu.
The Colca Canyon
No one's entirely sure how deep the Colca Canyo n is, but scientists have determined that the distance from its edge to its bottom measures more than 10,000 feet — twice the depth of the Grand Canyon. The huge space within those towering walls in the canyon is filled with some of South America's prettiest scenery: untouched valleys, pre-Columbian agricultural lands still in use and dead volcanoes.
The Manu National Park
The park is well known for diverse ecosystems. Most travel within the park is done by boat, which allows for eye-level views of more than 15,000 species of plants in one of the world's greatest preserved rain forests. Manu is best known, though, for its variety of animal life: at least a million different insect species.
The Nasca Lines
A trip to Machu Picchu almost always requires connections in Lima, Peru's coastal capital, while arriving and departing. While there, a short flight can be easily arranged to view the Nasca Lines, which rival (与······相匹敌) Machu Picchu as Peru's greatest ancient wonder. Why the need for a view from planes? Because of the huge size of the geoglyphs (地质遗迹) that have been carved into the desert: spiders, fish, monkeys, and more. Some of them stretch more than 600 feet across.
1. Which place should a visitor select if he dislikes crowds?| A．Sacred Valley. | B．Lares Valley. |
| C．Abra Malaga Pass. | D．Machu Picchu. |
| A．by plane | B．by bike | C．by boat | D．on foot |
| A．They are ancient wonders. |
| B．They are located in the same city. |
| C．They are known for their biodiversity. |
| D．They are surrounded by similar environments. |
2 . For any little girl of energy and spirit, to be ladylike is painful. To sit up straight, wear gloves and speak only when spoken to is pure torture. Fortunately, that was not a difficulty Jane Withers faced. From the age of six she was paid to talk loud, walk awkwardly and answer back directly. She could blow out her cheeks until her eyes disappeared almost into her head.
Her films had titles like Always in Trouble, Arizona Wildcat, The Holy Terror and Rascals. She played characters called Ginger, Pepper. Corky and Peg Gurgle, usually orphans (孤儿), who were forced into over-fancy schools, criminals’ hideouts or desert islands, but would take charge and, after a struggle, come up winning. Her mother worried that people would hate her for playing such bad-mannered characters.
But the opposite happened. She became wildly popular. Shops were filled with Jane Withers shoes, dresses and dolls. Like many child stars, she made far more from such goods than from her 38 films.
She might not be as pretty as Nancy Drew, the top girl detective of the age, but like her she could ride a horse, ice skate and speak French. And, better than her, she could mimic (模仿) anyone. Another pleasant surprise she gave the studio was that away from filming she was very well behaved. If she liked a role, she went for it politely, and said thank you.
She was expected to be an actress even in the womb and was sent to the Atlanta radio shows at the age of three. She was just given $5 a week as pocket money. For every two dolls she was sent, one had to be given to a needy child. Her parents insisted that they should live only on the money they brought home.
Of course, the Hollywood dream didn’t last long. She got so sick of playing child parts that at 15 she published her own story, Small Tor um Deb and retired completely from Hollywood in 1947 at 21.
1. What does the underlined word "torture" in paragraph 1 mean?| A．Suffering. | B．Joy. | C．Luck. | D．Entertainment. |
| A．Talented. | B．Handsome. | C．Polite. | D．Troublesome. |
| A．They don’t love their daughter. | B．They are very strict. |
| C．They don’t want her to be an actress. | D．They are really selfish. |
| A．In 1926. | B．In 1932. | C．In 1941. | D．In 1947. |
3 . John Nichols was born in 1940 in Berkeley and raised in New York. Nichols began writing stories when he was 10 years old. By the time he entered college, he was writing at least one novel a year. “Never for credit, never for a class,” he said. “It was just one of the things that I did to interest and please myself.”
When he was 24 years old, he published his eighth novel, The Sterile Cuckoo, which was about a college student. After he wrote the novel, Nichols took a trip to Guatemala, and was shocked by the poverty (贫困) there. He returned from his trip really heartbroken.
Nichols went on to create more than 20 works, most centred around his adopted home of Northern New Mexico. He is best known for The Milagro Beanfield War and The Sterile Cuckoo, both of which were adapted into films.
Nichols moved from New York to Taos, New Mexico in 1969 where he went to work at a newspaper. In 1974, he published his best-known novel, The Milagro Beanfield War, which was turned into a film by Robert Redford in 1988.
“Nichols will be remembered for his clear-eyed view of human nature,” said Bill Nevins, a professor of Literature at the University of New Mexico. “I think people continue to go back to his books... to get a sense of what it's like to live in a multi-cultural nation.”
In 1992, Nichols said he wanted to create literature with a social conscience (良知), but he also wanted to create art. “I think that we live in such a culture where anyone can act positively, even if they're only painting pictures of sunflowers,” he said. It was the beauty and the wonder of our lives that he wanted to show in his work.
1. Why did Nichols love writing?| A．For his study. | B．For credit. | C．For pleasure. | D．For his living. |
| A．Satisfied. | B．Down. | C．Positive. | D．Moved. |
| A．His unique view on human nature. | B．His work experience at a newspaper. |
| C．His focus on poverty-stricken areas. | D．His abilities to make great films. |
| A．Sunflowers can leave us energetic. | B．It's our conscience to help each other. |
| C．It's difficult to get free from hardship. | D．We should look for the positive in life. |
4 . Four Computer Science Summer Programs in 2024
Wolfram High School Summer Research Program
The program aims to introduce high schoolers to programming, computational thinking and technology. Students participate in lectures and activities led by Wolfram instructors and build hands-on experience developing a project from ideation (构思) to completed products. About 50 students are admitted to the program annually.
Dates: June 25—July 13
Location: Bentley University
Cost: $4, 200
UC Santa Barbara Research Mentorship Program
The program enables participants to do hands-on experience, university-level research in various fields, including computer science. Students work with a teacher to learn about research techniques and grow their academic goals. The program concludes with participants reporting their findings in a technical research paper and presenting them at a formal academic meeting.
Dates: June 17-August 2
Location: UC Santa Barbara
Cost: $4, 975-$11, 874
Terp Young Scholars
This program, offered through the University of Maryland, allows students to learn college level coursework, earn college credits and learn on a college campus. Participants choose one course to explore, where they attend classes, work on projects, take exams and cooperate with each other.
Dates: July 8-26
Location: University of Maryland
Cost: $1, 500-$2, 500
UT Computer Science Summer Academy
This week-long summer program is open to students of all skill levels in grades 10-12. Participants will learn about C++, project management and careers in technology. In University of Texas, Austin, all of them will share a room in a dormitory hall with a roommate, eat in the dining hall and deal with college-level coursework.
Dates: July 7-13
Location: University of Texas, Austin
Cost: Free
1. How much should a student pay for the program in Bentley University?| A．$2, 500. | B．$4, 200. | C．$4, 975. | D．$11, 874. |
| A．Terp Young Scholars. |
| B．UT Computer Science Summer Academy. |
| C．UC Santa Barbara Research Mentorship Program. |
| D．Wolfram High School Summer Research Program. |
| A．They focus on career choices. | B．They require students to live together. |
| C．They last for more than one month. | D．They involve the same level coursework. |
5 . Large earthquakes could be identified months or even years in advance by finding unique signals, according to a new research from a team of German researchers.
The research suggests more exact earthquake warning systems require more local and regional sites that can find underground signals. Along with this, finding second faults(断层)after the main rupturing (断裂) fault would further increase the exactness of these readings.
To find this out, the team led by Dr Patricia Martinez-Garzon studied the Kahramanamras earthquake that shook Turkey in early 2023. They found that there was an increase in the earthshaking event rates and larger energy release starting around eight months before the earthquakes.
These signals were found within 65 km of the epicenter (震中). Although the main rupture occurred on a fault line and in an area that was known to be the cause of earthquakes, signals before the event took place both on the main and secondary faults, which hadn’t received much attention from scientists in the past.
Now, short-term prediction (预测) of earthquake size, time and location is just possible. The scientists behind this study believe that long-term finding is seminal to help build our understanding of earthquakes and future events.
But not everyone, including Bill McGuire, professor at UCL, agrees with how useful this could be. “While this is interesting from a scientific viewpoint, it is unlikely that knowing a big earthquake might be on the way within months or years really gets us any further forward in preparing for them,” he says. “The only useful prediction of future earthquakes is arguably the one that exactly fixes the location of a coming quake and its timing to within a few weeks, so as to move people to a safe place.”
1. Why did Patricia’s team carry out the study?| A．To find more exact signals before earthquakes. | B．To help the Turks in the earthquake-stricken area. |
| C．To build the modern earthquake warning system. | D．To attract the attention of scientists worldwide. |
| A．Wasteful. | B．Difficult. | C．Annoying. | D．Important. |
| A．It will be put into practice soon. | B．It could tell a quake a year in advance. |
| C．It can buy us time to move safely. | D．It doesn’t make any sense in reality. |
| A．Scientists Work Hard to Figure Out Disasters | B．Hidden Signals Could Show Future Earthquakes |
| C．German Researchers Stand Out in Natural Science | D．A Deadly Earthquake Shook Turkey This Year |
6 . Recently a report was made public by NatureServe, a Virginia-based environmental group, which said 40 percent of animals and 34 percent of plants in the United States are at risk of disappearing.
The group examined data from over 1,000 scientists in the United States and Canada, using 50 years of information on the health of animals, plants and ecosystems. The report provided pictures and maps of areas that are unprotected and where animals and plants are most threatened.
Sean O’Brien, president of NatureServe, said what the report showed was dreadful. For example, among the species (物种) at risk of extinction is the Venus flytrap, a plant that “eats” insects. The report said it is only found in the wild in a few places in the states of North and South Carolina. The report also said 200 species of trees might die out and that America’s large northern grasslands are among the ecosystems most threatened. The main threats to plants, animals and ecosystems include environmental destruction (破坏), land-use change, river pollution, and climate change, according to the report.
California, Texas and the southeastern United States are where the highest percentages of plants, animals and ecosystems are at risk. Those areas have many different forms of life. Wesley Knapp, head plant scientist at NatureServe, said those parts of America haven’t seen much population growth in recent years. Knapp said lawmakers usually do not provide as much money for protecting plants as they do for animals. He hoped the data could guide state and area officials in creating effective State Wildlife Action Plan (SWAP) to protect endangered species.
Now $50 million nationwide is shared among all states to carry out their SWAP. If the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act was passed, it would increase that amount to $ 1.4 billion. Knapp said the bill would have better served the protection of plants and animals.
1. What can we infer about the environmental group?| A．It has been running for 50 years. | B．It has saved 40 kinds of animals. |
| C．It put much effort into the report. | D．It just protects threatened plants. |
| A．Pleasant. | B．Similar. | C．Common. | D．Terrible. |
| A．It could play an active role. | B．It may cover all the species. |
| C．It might help reduce the cost. | D．It will take the place of SWAP. |
| A．The Protection by Law Making Sense | B．Many US Animals and Plants at Risk |
| C．State Wildlife Action Plan on the Way | D．NatureServe Working for a Green World |
7 . Save the rice for cooking, says the phone company, which has finally acknowledged the longstanding “trick” could do more damage.
You know the nightmare situation: You dropped your phone in water — be it pool, ocean, or toilet, your worries get the best of you, although iPhone 12’s and onwards are designed to survive 30 minutes of aquatic submersion. In the urgent need of saving your expensive device from potential damage, you remember your friend’s suggestion to throw it in a bag of rice overnight. Supposedly, the grain draws out any remaining water droplets from the smartphone’s tiny crevices, saving its precious circuitry in the process. They swore by it, after all. What is there to lose?
Well, as the phone company spotted earlier today, a recently updated document states that this “trick” could actually cause further issues in your phone. “Don’t put your wet phone in a bag of rice,” the company warns in the revised article on its dreaded Liquid Detection Alert, “For doing so could allow small particles of rice to damage your phone,” while the rice starch (淀粉) can block the innards through the device’s small cracks. Besides all that, rice simply isn’t as effective as other materials, such as those silica packets you already should be recycling, anyway.
Among the other rumored solutions to avoid, the company advises phone owners not to use an “external heat source” such as a blow dryer, as well as leave the compressed air can in the utility closet. Similarly, trying to stuff cotton swabs, napkins, paper towels, or any other “foreign object” into charging ports could make things worse.
So, what should you do if your phone takes a plunge? The company advises a gentle approach in such situations, such as simply tapping the device against your hand “with the connector facing down” to dislodge liquid, then leaving it in an open, dry space with decent airflow for at least 30 minutes. From there, try connecting it to a cable charger. Yes. They really did pull out the trusty “Have you tried turning it on and off again?” line for this one.
1. Which is closest in meaning to “get the best of” in paragraph 2?| A．Make full of. | B．Make fun of. | C．Take care of. | D．Take control of. |
| A．Because the rice will damage the inner parts of the phone. |
| B．Because the rice is cheaper and more effective than other materials. |
| C．Because the rice will stick to the phone. |
| D．Because the rice will be wet. |
| A．Stuffing cotton swabs to absorb the water. |
| B．Leaving it in an open, dry place with constant flowing air. |
| C．Using a blow dryer to heat up the inside. |
| D．Using napkins to dry up the surface. |
| A．Placing wet phone in rice may hurt. | B．Rice is a good choice for drying up wet phone. |
| C．Phone 12 is designed water-proof. | D．Approaches to dry up your wet phone. |
8 . Experts continue to learn new things about the 600-year-old Machu Picchu. Last year, researchers discovered that the ancient Incan city is at least 30 years older than previously thought. Now, it turns out that we may be calling it by the wrong name.
A recent paper by Amado Gonzalez and Brian Bauer concludes that the Incas who built the city in the clouds actually called it Huayna Picchu — or simply just Picchu — the name of a mountain overlooking the ruins.
When Hiram Bingham first discovered the place in 1911 and asked what it was called, the report found, he was initially told it was known as Huayna Picchu. But days later, he was told by a different guide that the site was called Machu Picchu. It appears that’s the name that stuck.
“It’s true that at the time it was not so well-known to people, but there is a lot of evidence suggesting that those who did know it did not call it Machu Picchu,” said Amado Gonzalez. “Even more importantly, the research is based on centuries of documents, including some of the region’s first maps, land records, and even Bingham’s own notes and letters. An official record dating back to 1539 refers to the area as Picchu. Another, dated 1568, specifically mentions a city of the same name. We also have a clear reference to the ancient Inca town of Huayna Picchu’ from a 1715 document.”
But that doesn’t mean that there are any plans in the report to change the name of one of South America’s most popular tourist destinations. More than 7,000 feet above sea level in the Andes Mountains, the UNESCO World Heritage site has drawn about 1 million visitors every year.
“It may not have been Machu Picchu to the Incas but now it’s Machu Picchu to the world,” Amado Gonzalez said.
1. What was Machu Picchu most probably named after?| A．The builders. | B．A nearby village. |
| C．A mountain. | D．The first discoverer. |
| A．Machu. | B．Picchu. |
| C．Huayna Picchu. | D．Machu Picchu. |
| A．Supportive. | B．Unconcerned. | C．Interested. | D．Disapproving. |
| A．Historians May Get a Wrong Name for Machu Picchu |
| B．Machu Picchu Is 30 Years Older Than Previously Thought |
| C．The 600-year-old Machu Picchu Keeps Making Headlines |
| D．Experts Have Decided to Learn More About Machu Picchu |
9 . Internet Explorer (IE) is nearing the end of its long and slow death, Microsoft announced this week. In the browser’s (浏览器) death notice, the company said, “The future of IE on Windows is in Microsoft Edge, which is faster and more secure.”
Though it might seem strange to young people who are not familiar with the blue “e” icon, IE was once seen as the most successful browser in the world. When Windows introduced IE in 1995, it killed off the earlier and once-leading Netscape Navigator in less than three years. At its height in the early 2000s, IE controlled 95% of the browser market.
But Microsoft failed to keep pace with the later comers, losing respect among users for its poor security and speed. Disappointed users began turning to Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome. Google Chrome is now the leading browser, holding a 64% share of the global market, while IE sits at under 4%.
“The brand is so damaged,” wrote Adriana Figueroa who is very familiar with IE. “When you think of IE, the first thing that comes to your mind is its speed. It will be very easy for Microsoft Edge, even though it’s new, to be stuck with the brand, so Microsoft has to work extra hard to prove that Microsoft Edge is really different. It shouldn’t give people the impression that it is just putting lipstick on the pig.”
But another user Kim Song, who runs a small business in China, said, “It’s all I have used and I’m used to it!”
Even though IE will still be available to him for some time, Kim said it will take a little time for him to mourn (哀悼) IE’s death. “I’m thinking that a cup of Shaojiu will be appropriate. I’ll hang on to my old friend, as long as possible,” he said. “I’ll put off upgrading software or buying new devices, if it means I can keep my IE.”
1. Which browser is the earliest one?| A．Mozilla Firefox. | B．Google Chrome. |
| C．Internet Explorer. | D．Netscape Navigator. |
| A．Less than 4%. | B．Around 36%. |
| C．About 64%. | D．More than 95%. |
| A．A pig. | B．A company. | C．A lipstick. | D．A browser. |
| A．He likes Shaojiu. | B．He cannot afford new software. |
| C．He is a big IE fan. | D．He thinks IE’s death is natural. |
10 . Wondering what you can do to celebrate Earth Day on April 22? You’ve come to the right place. We’ve gathered a comprehensive list of Earth Day activities, both fun and environmentally-conscious, to help raise awareness and make a difference. If you’re ready to learn more about joining the global celebration, initiating real change, and doing your part to save our planet, read on!
·Walk or ride your bike.
·Use a refillable water bottle.
Consider going with a stainless-steel refillable bottle for a super long-lasting option.
·Plant a tree.
Pick a tree species that’s native to where you live. If you’re unsure, ask an employee at your local nursery or garden department. Choose the best planting spot to meet the tree’s needs, dig a properly sized hole, and water the tree well to give it a good start.
·Visit a local farmer’s market.
Eating locally grown food is much better for the environment. For example, locally-grown food doesn’t have to be transported long distances to end up on grocery store shelves.
·
See if your community is holding an environmental fair. If your community doesn’t have one planned, consider starting one yourself! It’s the perfect day to get together for a fun and educational celebration of the Earth. Any money raised can go towards a local environmental restoration project or group.
| A．Attend a local Earth Day event. |
| B．Educate your community on environmental awareness. |
| C．Going car-free for the day will reduce harmful carbon emissions. |
| D．That means your money won’t be wasted on unnecessary spending. |
| E．If physically doing this is unrealistic for you, there are other choices! |
| F．Normally, plastic water bottles end up in garbage cans after a single use. |
| G．You’ll also be giving back to your community by supporting local farmers. |
