1 . A Chicago resident didn’t know riding the local train would unexpectedly turn him into a hero.
It was a typical day for Anthony Perry, 20, who got off the train at Chicago’s 69th Street station. Since Perry was interested in purchasing a car, he was on his way to meet his grandfather, who had agreed to accompany him to view one he had been eyeing.
Suddenly, a physical fight erupted between two men at the station, which led to the two falling onto the train tracks. Although one of the men landed on his back, they continued to fight. This caused the other guy to fell on the third rail, which passes electric current to the train. The man was lying on the tracks and appearing to convulse (抽搐) as a result of hundreds of volts of electric current shooting through his body. It looked like the unnamed man lost his life. However, Perry refused to let him lie on the tracks. He jumped down from the platform and quickly crossed the tracks in front of a train that had managed to stop a few feet away.
Perry said “I was hoping I could just grab him and not feel nothing, but I felt a little shock. I felt it all through my body actually. I didn’t let that stop me.” Perry administered CPR to the man after he’d pulled him from the tracks. Then the man was taken to hospital and survived finally.
As planned, Perry went to look at the car he wanted to buy, but it had been sold. Just days after the incident, Early Walker, founder of an anti-violence organization, rewarded him with the car. “We need more Anthonys in the world,” Walker said.
Also, there to thank Perry was the Chicago police department. District Commander Roderick Watson said “So many times people think these young men are out here doing the wrong thing, but this is just a typical example of how a young man took it upon himself to jump in and do the right thing, and it should be recognized.”
1. What caused the unnamed man to fall on the third rail?| A．Carelessness of the man. | B．The emergency stop of the train. |
| C．An unintentional push from Perry. | D．The fight between him and another man. |
| A．Gentle and considerate. | B．Courageous and kind-hearted. |
| C．Energetic and ambitious. | D．Strong-willed and conservative. |
| A．He received it as a reward. | B．He purchased it at a discount. |
| C．The man rescued by Perry donated it. | D．His grandfather gave it to him as a gift. |
| A．Every man has its faults. |
| B．Parents have a high expectation for their children. |
| C．The young need to be evaluated objectively. |
| D．Most teenagers need to be inspired by model education. |
2 . On the rocky beach, Shiwak butchers the seal with precision, turning the water red as crow flew overhead. As a boy, he learned to hunt and fish with his father and grandfather, who had learned from their elders. It is also how Shiwak learned the core Inuit (因纽特人的) values of taking only what is needed, sharing, sustainability and respect for nature—values he is passing down to his children.
Shiwak has hunted for years in the waters of Lake Melville, close to the Inuit community of Rigolet in Nunatsiavut, an autonomous area in Canada. But while traditional knowledge has allowed Inuit to survive in this severe environment for a long time, the climatic conditions are changing quickly. Since 1950, Nunatsiavut has lost 40 days of ground snow a year. Its sea ice is disappearing faster than anywhere in the Canadian Arctic. By November, the shoreline would usually be covered in ice, and people would be putting away their boats and dusting off their snowmobiles. In his lifetime, Shiwak has witnessed the winters becoming warmer, wetter, and shorter.
There is very little local people can do about that: although the region is roughly the size of the Republic of Ireland, Nunatsiavut’s population is less than 3,000, spread among five small towns. What they can do, however, is working to protect what they have. That’s why Nunatsiavut is partnering with the Canadian government to co-develop the world’s first Inuit protected area. Built on Inuit values and culture, this new type of conservation area would allow local people to continue traditional practices of hunting and fishing.
“Just that we’re small doesn’t mean we can’t do something,” says James Goudie, deputy minister of lands and natural resources in the Nunatsiavut government. “We can show the world that a small region can protect a massive amount of biodiversity.” The Inuit protected area would only cover about a third of Nunatsiavut’s offshore waters, but the region is home to important populations of fish, the breeding grounds for many migratory birds, and the habitat of Arctic marine mammals.
1. How do Inuit people learn their core values?| A．By enhancing their hunting skills. |
| B．By receiving general school education. |
| C．By appreciating the gifts of nature. |
| D．By passing them down from generation to generation. |
| A．Their small population. | B．The climate change. |
| C．Their conventional knowledge. | D．The overuse of resources. |
| A．The Inuit knowledge of surviving is disappearing |
| B．The number of Canadian Inuit has dramatically increased |
| C．The region is too large in comparison with the Republic of Ireland. |
| D．The new protected area will help maintain the traditional Inuit way of life. |
| A．The Inuit knowledge of surviving is disappearing |
| B．The number of Canadian Inuit has dramatically increased |
| C．Nunatsiavut plans to create a conservation area for the Inuit |
| D．Nunatsiavut contributes a lot to the diverse culture in Canada |
3 . Plenty of past research has found that late-night eating is linked to weight gain, but most studies are observational, and few explain why eating later might have anything to do with why people put on pounds. A recent study, published in Cell Metabolism, sought to address the question by controlling the calories participants ate, how much they slept, and how much physical activity they got so researchers could learn how and why eating later might affect weight.
One of the most significant findings from this report is that “a calorie is a calorie, but the response of your body to that calorie is different in the morning versus in the evening,” said Frank A. J. L. Scheer, the senior author and a scientist at Harvard Medical School.
That finding matches past research showing that the glycemic index (升糖指数) of a food—how it affects the body's blood sugar following a meal—varies depending on the time of day that food is consumed, said Nina Vujovic, who led this study. In the study, Vujovic found that eating within four hours of bedtime affects two hormones (激素) related to hunger.
On days participants ate closer to sleep, they also burned fewer calories and showed molecular changes in fat tissue suggesting their body converted calories into fat storage more easily.
What surprised Scheer most was that eating closer to bedtime affected all the factors they measured rather than just one or two of them. “In the nutrition field, I think the longest resistance against the idea that timing of food matters is based on this simplistic view of‘a calorie is a calorie,’ meaning that it shouldn't matter when someone eats it,” Scheer said, “yet it does.”
But the authors also acknowledged that their study was not designed to determine whether eating dinner closer to bedtime long-term would lead to weight gain over time or whether the body might instead adapt to such a schedule.
1. What did the researchers do in the study?| A．They asked the participants to sleep more. |
| B．They recorded the participants' daily routines. |
| C．They gave the participants calorie-controlled diet. |
| D．They encouraged the participants to work out regularly. |
| A．Late supper is connected to weight gain. |
| B．Nutritious food contains more calories. |
| C．Different foods have different glycemic indexes. |
| D．Late-night eating affects hormones about hunger. |
| A．Transformed. | B．Buried. | C．Absorbed. | D．Broke. |
| A．The study aims to warn people. |
| B．The time people eat food matters. |
| C．Eating late is the key factor to overweight. |
| D．Our body is designed to adapt to various foods. |
4 . How to spot misinformation online
We’ve all seen a lot of misinformation that seems absolutely crazy or unbelievable online these days.
Pause and be skeptical about new information.
Whenever you come across an article or post sharing information that you haven’t seen before, take a second to consider it. Don’t just scroll by accepting it as a fact or share the information without exercising some skepticism first. It’s okay to be doubtful!
Confirm the source and date of the information.
Look up the information at the source to see if it was actually published there. Double-check the date of the article to make sure it’s current and still accurate. Usually, the date is located next to the author of the article. The date can be a really big deal.
Check to see if you can tell who the original author is.
Misinformation is often designed to make you feel angry, sad, scared, or just plain old upset. If you spot a claim, article, headline or any other information that causes you to feel a super-strong emotion, be cautious. It could be a sign that it’s fake and designed to get a reaction out of you. If you come across a headline that says, “NEW LAW TAKES AWAY PET DOGS,” it’s most likely false or at least misleading.
Misinformation isn’t just annoying, it can be dangerous. But by identifying it, you can help stop the spread of it.
| A．But there’s good news |
| B．Whenever you come across new information |
| C．Evaluate how the information fits into your own belief system |
| D．Watch out for information that causes a strong emotional response |
| E．It’s better to investigate information to make sure it’s real before spreading it around |
| F．Find out who wrote the information by looking up the article or searching for their name |
| G．For instance, an article about new corona-virus cases from 6 months ago may not be accurate right now |
5 . Polly Arrowsmith is a clever bargain shopper, and knows exactly when her three local supermarkets make their daily price down. She estimates that hunting out food with yellow discounted labels saves her hundreds of pounds a year. But all this could soon be coming to an end. That’s because supermarkets are adopting dynamic pricing, controlled by artificial intelligence (AI) software.
It involves digital price tags that are displayed either on the shelf below the food items, or on high-tech labels attached the product itself. These prices are automatically, and wirelessly, updated by the AI when a particular item approaches its sell-by date. The AI also examines how much stock (库存) the store is holding of that item and makes the decision as to whether a markdown is requiredor not. Besides, it can help supermarkets better understand how to manage stock supply and avoid over-ordering. So we’re actually turning the current food waste problem into an opportunity and can help cut supermarkets’ food waste by more than a third.
Matt Wills, the co-founder of a firm called Acumen, warns that there are potential disadvantages to dynamic pricing. “Not knowing what the reference price is, consumers might not realise they are getting a deal at all,” he says. “This could also cause added complications for people who retired, if items are seen to be continually changing in price.”
The key, Mr. Wills believes, will be for supermarkets to have strict guidelines to ensure they can offer the benefits that dynamic pricing can bring, while ensuring AI doesn’t create unintended negative consequences for shoppers. Whether shoppers will welcome the change is another question, but Mr. Wills believes they’ll be won over by the price reductions they receive.
Ms. Arrowsmith admits she will miss the yellow discount stickers that have become part of her shopping routine. However, she also says she wants to see less food going to waste. “I’m happy to forgo really cheap pricing,” she says.
1. Why are yellow discount labels disappearing?| A．They are easy to hunt out. |
| B．They expose some safety issues. |
| C．They cause great damage to shoppers. |
| D．They are replaced with digital pricing. |
| A．The advantages of using the AI. |
| B．The display of digital price tags. |
| C．The management of stock supply. |
| D．The problem of current food waste. |
| A．It offers the cheapest price. | B．It greatly reduces food stock. |
| C．It has side effect on retirees. | D．It gives rise to legal problems. |
| A．Pay off. | B．Give up. | C．Agree on. | D．Cut down. |
6 . Mr. Riccardi was working for an Italian university at the time, 10 years ago, and had to go to the city of Potenza in the south of the country for a conference. He wanted to book an environmentally-friendly hotel, but it was not so easy to find one online and book.
So it gave him the idea for a business — a website called Ecobnb, where people can search for sustainable accommodation. When someone finds a place that they would like to book, Ecobn b does not take the payment. Rather it contacts the property, which then emails the person directly. Ecobnb makes its money by charging the accommodation providers a monthly subscription to list on its website.
Today Ecobnb, based in Trento, in northern Italy, lists more than 3,000 properties worldwide, from an organic farmhouse in Tuscany, to an eco-mountain cottage in Costa Rica. 2.8 million travellers now use Ecobnb per year, up from 780,000 in 2018. Mr. Riccardi says the number is still rising. Some accommodation providers offer discounts for guests arriving by bicycle, or those not using a car during the trip.
“Holidaymakers are rethinking their relationship with planet Earth,” Mr. Riccardi says. “Thereis a new awareness, especially in young people, about our responsibility for our future and for the planet.” Statistics appear to back this up. A study has found that 69% of travellers are now actively seeking sustainable travel options.
Although Ecobnb is focused on sustainability, how sustainable is it when many people might be flying to arrive at the accommodations it lists? “The impact of the travel of the flights is very big,” agrees Mr. Riccardi. “We are pushing the staycation (就近旅游) model a lot, inviting people to discover their own countries and to avoid the flights when it’s possible.”
“More people are interested in green lifestyles every day,” he says. “And now they are looking for the same green choices also during their holidays. These little choices can come together, and we can change things and make something different. We can be the change we want to see in the world.”
1. What inspired Mr. Riccardi to start the website Ecobnb?| A．His pursuit for a better future. | B．His motivation to find a green hotel. |
| C．His teaching experience in an university. | D．His desire to invest in sustainable tourism. |
| A．It enjoys great popularity. | B．It owns 3,000 properties in Italy. |
| C．It offers discounts to all visitors. | D．It charges payment from customers. |
| A．To promote sustainable travel. | B．To attract more young travelers. |
| C．To reduce the accommodation list. | D．To make flights available for others. |
| A．Discouraged. | B．Tolerant. | C．Uncertain. | D．Optimistic. |
7 . It’s Community Day again!
The event that Map le Estate residents are eagerly looking forward to is just around the corner! As usual, the Map le Residents’ Committee has planned a programme that is designed to promote community spirit. Maple Estate has been celebrating Community Day every month for more than a year. By now, we hope all our residents understand the importance of forming strong bonds with our neighbours. If you have just moved to our lovely estate and have not had the opportunity to know your neighbours, you can do so by joining at Community Day!
August Highlight: Map le Estate Chefs Call all residents who are keen to practice your cooking skills and let your neighbours sample your cooking! You will be the stars of the upcoming event! Visit www.maplerc.sg for more information and to register for this activity. Kitchen equipment and basic ingredients will be provided. You will receive a $50 shopping voucher that you can use to purchase other ingredients from MapleMart the day before the event. Remember to register before 21 July, 2024! We are sure everyone will enjoy the delicious dishes! Time: From 10 a.m.to 6 p.m,6 Aug.,2024 Place: Maple Community Club Entry: Flash your Maple Resident Card |
“My wife and I moved to Maple Estate when we got married. For a few months, we spent all our free time after work doing up our house. Even though we knew that our neighbours were friendly and would sometimes invite us for their gatherings, we were occupied with getting things ready. However, it wasn’t long before we grew curious about the Community Day celebrations. After we started attending them regularly, we met many neighbours. The first time we invited some of them over, we played games that helped us to get to know one another better!”
—Mr. Wang, a Maple Estate resident since 2022
1. What do the Community Day events aim to do?| A．To teach how to cook meals. | B．To develop community spirit. |
| C．To meet diverse needs of neighbours. | D．To make the community cleaner. |
| A．To sign up before 21 July , 2024. | B．To provide basic ingredients. |
| C．To use your own kitchen equipment. | D．To pay a registration fee of $50. |
| A．they spent all their time at work |
| B．they weren’t invited for the gatherings |
| C．they were busy beautifying their home |
| D．they lacked information about the community |
8 . In the scenic coastal city of Cornwall, Lizzi Larbalestier has become a beacon of hope for marine (海洋的) wildlife. As a committed volunteer for British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR), her journey began with transforming her Airbnb, an online platform that allows people to rent out their homes or accommodations to travelers, into a temporary haven for injured seals. This effort came as the result of the increasing incidents of marine animals suffering from human-related injuries and the lack of specialized care facilities in the region.
Recognizing the urgent need for a more permanent solution, Lizzi, alongside her husband and a team of committed volunteers, established a fully equipped seal hospital. This facility, now in its third year of operation, has expanded its capacity to ten pens and is prepared to recover around 100 seals annually. The hospital caters to a variety of cases: seals injured by boats or caught in fishing gear (用具), young pups separated from their mothers, and young seals weakened by poor nutrition. Each animal receives personalized care, ranging from basic first aid to extensive recovery programs. After initial treatment, seals are often moved to larger recovery centers for further care before their release back into the wild.
Lizzi’s commitment to marine conservation extends beyond seal rescue. She is an active participant in environmental campaigns like Surfers Against Sewage and Ghostnetbuster. Her tireless efforts were recognized when she received the Animal Action Award from the International Fund for Animal Welfare. Lizzi owes the success of BDMLR’s operations to the collective effort of all volunteers, emphasizing the importance of teamwork in achieving their conservation goals.
The BDMLR team also responds to emergencies involving other marine wildlife, like whales and dolphins. Lizzi recalls several successful operations, including the rescue of stranded (搁浅的) dolphins and a turtle that required specialized care.
Lizzi’s story is not just about rescuing marine animals; it’s a proof of the power of community involvement and the impact of individuals on environmental conservation.
1. What inspired Lizzi to protect the marine wildlife?| A．One of her trips to the seaside. | B．Increasing profits from her Airbnb. |
| C．Her love for the marine creatures. | D．More and more injured marine animals. |
| A．It has been in operation for five years. |
| B．It provides a separate space for each seal. |
| C．It is the largest recovery center in the area. |
| D．It offers temporary help to injured animals. |
| A．All roads lead to Rome. | B．Many hands make light work. |
| C．Every cloud has a silver lining. | D．Actions speak louder than words. |
| A．A professional guide to seal rescue. |
| B．Challenges of marine wildlife recovery. |
| C．The journey of a marine life rescuer in Cornwall. |
| D．The impact of human activities on marine ecosystems. |
9 . Mixing concrete and carbon powder (粉末) could enable houses to store an entire day’s worth of energy in their concrete foundations. This innovative method of creating a super capacitor (电容器) — an alternative to batteries — can be used to construct the foundations of buildings. When combined with renewable energy sources, it even could wirelessly recharge electric vehicles as they drive along.
“The materials are available to everyone all over the place, all over the world,” says Franz-Josef Ulm at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He and his colleagues showed how the super capacitor can be mixed with water to form a solid block with carbon-filled wire-like structures. When the concrete is placed in an electrolyte solution (电解液), it will serve as a capacitor, enabling energy storage.
The researchers say that the next step might be to create 12-volt super capacitors that can be connected to provide more charging power for large devices. They calculated that a concrete block similar to a cube 3.5 metres on each side could store 10 kilowatt-hours of energy. That is about a third of the average daily household electricity use in the US and about 1.25 times the average in the UK. The material could maintain its charging and discharging capabilities beyond 10,000 cycles, which means, in theory, that it could provide energy storage for a solar-powered home for more than 27 years.
Viable as it sounds, Yury Gogotsi at Drexel University in Pennsylvania notes that one engineering challenge is to replace conventional concrete with materials built with the super capacitors, and that keeping the super capacitor wetted with the conductive salt solution for the lifetime of the building or road would be challenging.
Still, the MIT team expressed optimism about how many people worldwide could start experimenting with this relatively simple blueprint for a low-cost super capacitor. “The fundamental aspect of this technology is that it’s two historical, ancient materials that come together, that we have known for thousands of years,” says Admir Masic at MIT.
1. What is the innovative method intended for?| A．Serving as a battery to store energy. |
| B．Enhancing the strength of the concrete. |
| C．Reducing the cost of constructing buildings. |
| D．Improving the material for electric vehicles. |
| A．By explaining principles. | B．By giving a definition. |
| C．By making a comparison | D．By listing numbers. |
| A．Important. | B．Practicable. | C．Unusual. | D．Difficult. |
| A．The new technology is promising. |
| B．He draws a blueprint for the new method. |
| C．Super capacitors still have a long way to go. |
| D．Natural materials are vital to the technology. |
10 . People who have a diet rich in flavanols (黄烷醇), which are found in tea, apples and berries, may be less likely to develop age-related memory loss, research suggests. A three-year study of 3,562 people aged about 71 found those with high regular flavanol consumption had better hippocampal (海马的) memory function, which includes short-term memory-making, than those who didn’t.
Lead scientist Scott Small said the findings formed part of a growing body of research that is “starting to reveal that different nutrients are needed to strengthen our ageing minds”.
The scientists randomly assigned healthy adults to receive either a daily 500mg flavanol supplement or an artificial pill for three years. The participants took several memory tests during the study period and filled in surveys that assessed their diet. The researchers said memory scores improved only slightly for the group taking the flavanol pill, but that within that group some people who had poor diet and low flavanol consumption at the beginning of the study, saw their memory scores increase by 16% compared with the start of the study.
Prof Aedin Cassidy, an expert from Queen’s University Belfast, said it was a “really important study”, especially since the amount required for brain health improvement was “readily achievable”. “For example, one cup of tea, six squares of dark chocolate, a couple of servings of berries and apples would together provide about 500mg of flavanols,” he said.
However, David Curtis, an honorary professor at the UCL Genetics Institute, said, “The study fails to provide evidence that increasing flavanol intake is beneficial and there is no need for anybody to consider changing their diet in the light of its findings.”
Carl Hodgetts from University of London, said research into the relationship between nutrition and the brain could help with the fight against dementia (痴呆). He said it was “an interesting study that starts to address such questions” but disagreed with the conclusion that flavanol supplements affect hippocampal function, as MRI scans would be needed to establish this.
1. What can we learn about the flavanol?| A．It can lead to our ageing mind. |
| B．It can be acquired easily in our daily life. |
| C．It hardly affects long-term memory-making. |
| D．It can limit hippocampal memory function. |
| A．People taking artificial pills. |
| B．People controlling their diet. |
| C．People taking more flavanols than others. |
| D．People lacking flavanols before the study. |
| A．Divided. | B．Carefree. | C．Doubtful. | D．Opposed. |
| A．Balanced Diet: Necessary for Old People |
| B．Different Nutrients Affect People’s Memories |
| C．Flavanols: A Way to Reduce Memory Loss of the Elder |
| D．Flavanol Supplements Can Help Prevent Certain Diseases |
