1 . In a highly technical world, there is something quite magical about the timelessness of the public library. And the impact and importance of libraries extends across decades, centuries even, dating back to 4th century BC in Athens.
A study by Pew Research Center found that 94% of Americans agreed that having a public library improves the quality of life in a community, and 95% said that libraries give everyone a chance to succeed and promote a love for reading.
Libraries promote education.
Beyond the free access to books and computers, many libraries also offer valuable services including tutoring, learning camps, and homeschooling resources. Many libraries host STEAM events for kids where they get to experience life as an astronaut, learning about the solar system and working together to build robotic, space-related projects.
Libraries build a sense of community.
Original documents are digitized and maintained at libraries. This helps preserve the nation’s cultural heritage, as well as provide an opportunity to better understand others’ points of view. If you ever get the chance, visit the New York Public Library to explore its database of over 1,800 newspapers, magazines, and journals, all published between 1740 and 1940.
| A．Libraries preserve history. |
| B．Libraries restore valuable documents. |
| C．Also they can work well for homeschooling families. |
| D．But the impact of public libraries is greater than expected. |
| E．Libraries are gaining popularity among young people today. |
| F．Libraries can break down barriers and bring people together. |
| G．Over time, libraries have developed into what we know them as today. |
2 . I love watching football games and couldn’t help but notice how many footballers chew gum while playing! I always thought of it as a choking danger, so why would they risk it?
When we chew something, the receptors in our mouth that sense taste and pressure from the jaw movements start firing and sending electrical signals to the brain. These electrical nervous system signals move to the brain, which works to understand these signals. This added brain activity places the mind in a more attentive state, which is why focus and concentration are improved.
Additionally, chewing gum has been reported to decrease stress and anxiety levels. The brain activity stimulated (刺激) by chewing gum occurs mainly in the prefrontal cortex, the front part of the brain responsible for decision-making and emotional regulation. When chewing gum, the prefrontal cortex is activated, leading to the release of a “feel-good” neurotransmitter called dopamine (多巴胺). Dopamine is known to promote a sense of pleasure and reward, helping to relieve feelings of stress and anxiety.
So does this mean that the harder you chew, the better the focus levels? Yes…to an extent. Chewing harder gum does boost attention more than softer gum. Similarly, chewing flavored gum is better for cognitive (认知) functioning, as it activates more receptors in the mouth than chewing flavorless gum.
With lower stress levels and better focus, athletes have better decision-making abilities in the middle of the game. It also helps them keep their anxiety levels in check during big games. Chewing gum does give your body a little boost, lifting up your spirits. That explains why athletes prefer chewing gum while playing a sport. But for the sake of safety, you’d better chew just one piece to reduce the choking risk.
1. What does the underlined word “it” in paragraph 1 probably refer to?| A．Chewing gum during games. |
| B．Suffering from sports injuries. |
| C．Swallowing gum for pleasure. |
| D．Choking while watching games. |
| A．By affecting digestive system. |
| B．By releasing high pressure. |
| C．By adding muscle strength. |
| D．By stimulating the brain. |
| A．Gum proves a healthy snack for athletes. |
| B．Chewing gum benefits mental health. |
| C．Dopamine contributes to better focus. |
| D．Brain activity helps relieve anxiety. |
| A．Hopeful. | B．Supportive. | C．Doubtful. | D．Uncaring. |
3 . Barbara Spiecke, now a research scientist at the University of New Hampshire, is deaf. As an undergraduate, she was surrounded by a mix of deaf and hearing colleagues. Luckily, she could use American Sign Language (ASL) - English interpreters provided by the university. It was a crucial support, but not without its challenges. ASL signs for complicated scientific topics don’t exist or haven’t yet been widely adopted. So, during her presentation, a large part of her focus was devoted to signing in a way that was most likely to avoid translation errors. The result was an accurate but awkward presentation.
Spiecker hopes other deaf scientists won’t have to go through the same thing. So, she co-founded an organization, Atomic Hands, in 2018 to light “wonder and curiosity” in STEM. She had a goal: to create videos teaching scientific concepts using both ASL signs and English closed captioning (字幕). Along the way, Atomic Hands and other organizations have boosted the visibility (可见度) of STEM-related signs, promoting community involvement to improve, and standardize them.
Since the foundation of Atomic Hands, a newer set of ASL signs for states of matter that visually explain the connections between them has gained broader acceptance. Atomic Hands did not create the signs—they came from the community—but the organization is sharing them via its online videos.
Spiecker encourages other scientists to experiment with new signs and to offer feedback, good and bad. “When I teach, I constantly remind them that the new signs I show them are not concrete,” Spiecker says. “If they don’t like it, let me know, and I’ll use a different sign.”
Spiecker’s goals also go beyond ASL. At last year’s Ecological Society of America conference, she presented a lecture on opportunities to diversify science communication, such as improving virtual access to conferences or creating audiobooks alongside printed products. Too often, she said, organizers only offer accommodations when it benefits the majority.
1. What troubled Spiecke as an undergraduate?| A．How to communicate with her deaf colleagues. |
| B．How to find a good ASL-English interpreter. |
| C．How to understand those complicated topics. |
| D．How to make her presentations get across. |
| A．Create accessible STEM content. |
| B．Promote the quality of education. |
| C．Involve people in scientific research. |
| D．Invent a sign language for STEM study. |
| A．She is open to advice on the signs. |
| B．She loves teaching the deaf STEM. |
| C．She is doubtful about her present work. |
| D．She plans to adopt a new sign language. |
| A．Caring and creative. | B．Humorous and ambitious. |
| C．Generous and smart. | D．Determined and proud. |
4 . Lce Hui Ling was exposed to environmental and social issues at a young age. Born into a family of artists, she was impressed by the environmental subjects of her mother’s art works and thus developed a pasion for the environment. “As a child, would worry about the ozone layer (臭氧层) expanding, rubbish pollution, and animals going extinct. Very serious topics for a little girl!”
After graduating from the Sarah Lawrence College in New York and moving back to Malaysia, Hui Ling’s conceras for the environment grew. She set up a Greenpeace Malaysia online community on various social media platforms. This was instrumental in the eventual setting up of the Malaysian office in 2017.
Hui Ling helped to organise and lead at meet-ups, as well as run workshops and training. An artist and educator, Hui Ling organised participatory art projects in line with Greenpeace Malaysia campaigns on deforestation, plastic pollution and consumerism. One of them was the Wings of Paradise project, where she led a team of 30 youth volunteers in creating a 64-meter long mural (壁画), showing the essence of the brightly coloured feathers, crazy dances and fantastic behaviours of birds of paradise (天堂鸟). The project aimed to remind the public of the constant threat to this Indonesian wildlife, and inspire people to act to protect it.
“Environmental activism has taught me that doing good is not a sprint, but a marathon, and we need to make ourselves tougher and stronger to keep going through the difficult times,” Hui Ling said. “There is a ray of hope in the youth activism of the last few years. The youths of today are well organised and passionate in expressing their desire for positive change and a green and sustainable future for all.” said Hui Ling.
1. What do we know about Lee Hui Ling?| A．She grew up in a family of educators. |
| B．She joined Greenpeace out of curiosity. |
| C．She studied environmental science in college. |
| D．She was environmentally aware since childhood. |
| A．Beautifying local city streets. |
| B．Furthering researches on the local wildlife. |
| C．Preserving the beauty of birds of paradise. |
| D．Training young artists of bird paintings. |
| A．It is a long-term commitment. |
| B．It lacks involvement from the youth. |
| C．It is a reflection of social well-being. |
| D．It allows free expressions about future. |
| A．Journey to the Wild |
| B．Art for Change |
| C．The Founding of Greenpeace Malaysia |
| D．A Green and Sustainable Future |
5 . Subscribe to Reader’s Digest Magazine
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1. What features Readers Digest?| A．The flexible sizes. | B．A wide variety of topics. |
| C．Its imaginary stories. | D．Its longest history in the UK. |
| A．£ 13.5. | B．£ 22.99. | C．£ 23.99. | D．£ 34.99. |
| A．By clicking the link. | B．By phoning the service. |
| C．By contacting the deliveryman. | D．By visiting the magazine office. |
Four Colombian children survived a plane crash only to be lost deep in the Amazon rainforest for well over a month. This is how they survived this horrifying situation.
It’s most people’s nightmare: surviving a plane crash only to be trapped in a jungle with no way of contacting the outside world. But they survived. The children, aged 13, nine and four, as well as an 11-month-old baby, were flying with their mother from their village in the Amazon to visit their father in San José del Guaviare. The single-engine Cessna on which they were flying experienced engine problems and disappeared on May 1, 2023.
Bad weather prevented the army from finding the crash site for two weeks, where they then found the dead bodies of three adults, including the children’s mother. How did these children survive conditions that would be an unimaginable struggle for most adults? They are members of the Huitoto Indigenous group and were raised in the jungle. As such, they have an intimate understanding of the rainforest. They know which fruits are safe to eat and which plants should be avoided.
Working with, rather than against, the Amazon, they survived on fruits and seeds, while feeding the baby water mixed with yucca flour that they found on the plane. While the children got on with the business of surviving, the Colombian army worked with Indigenous volunteers to find them. After 40 days of searching, the children were found and taken to recover at a military hospital in Bogota.
While many around the world have taken this survival story to be a miracle, others point out that it is the result of an ancient and intimate knowledge of the rainforest that has been passed down through Indigenous communities over the generations. Indigenous tribes have a close relationship to the Amazon, marked by a deep respect for the forest that provides them with shelter and nutritious ingredients. It is their close connection to and understanding of the rainforest that undoubtedly helped the children to survive.
1. What made the plane on which they were flying crash?2. Why did it take the army so long to find the children after the accident?
3. Please decide which part is false in the following statement, then underline it and explain why.
The children survived the horrifying situation by fighting against the Amazon rainforest.
4. What lesson can you learn from the story? (In about 40 words)
7 . Want to write better? There’s a new book that says simple writing is best.
Do you check your text messages before sending?
This book argues that it’s important to write carefully, even for quick messages. Todd Rogers and Jessica Lasky Fink, from Harvard, wrote “Writing For Busy Readers”. It’s smartly named because everyone’s busy today. People get lots of messages every day, from emails to texts.
The authors share good writing tips, like cutting unnecessary words and using simple words everyone knows. They say it’s important to keep sentences simple. They tested the idea that less is more. For example, they sent an email to thousands of school-board members asking them to take a survey. They made the email shorter, from 127 to 49 words, and got double the responses (from 2.7% to 4.8%).
The same is true for text messages. In another test, they sent a short message asking parents to take a survey. It got more responses than a longer, more sympathetic one. Sometimes, being short and clear works better than being kind but ignored. It’s not just what you say, but how quickly you say it that matters.
It’s not just about word count.
From posts to online reviews, following these rules gets more likes and shares. Serious writers should pay attention too. A study found that companies using long sentences and complicated words were seen as less moral and trustworthy.
| A．If everyone is a busy reader, everyone is a busy writer too. |
| B．They can also get puzzled by social media platforms. |
| C．If you do, you probably like making even the simplest messages perfect. |
| D．They found that longer messages make people think the task will take longer. |
| E．Keeping messages to one idea, or as few as possible, helps make sure they’re read, remembered, and acted on. |
| F．Your goal is to convey enough passion that your readers think the issue in your message is worth caring about. |
| G．Explaining the thinking behind your messages will allow readers to see that you know what you’re talking about. |
8 . In the state of Georgia, one farmer has made it his mission not only to feed the hungry but to help them grow their own food in their own backyard.
“My main goal is to make sure that underserved communities that have been excluded or overlooked have access to locally grown food,” said Bobby Wilson, who operates the nonprofit Metro Atlanta Urban Farm. Since 2009, Wilson has taught thousands of people how to plant and grow their own vegetables and prepare meals with them, including onions, garlic, cucumbers, tomatoes, collard greens, squash, and eggplant.
“Not only can you learn from my 35 years of doing this type of work,” Wilson said, “but you can learn from our community gardeners who are growing food in a natural way.”
Wilson, the first college graduate in his family, worked with the University of Georgia for more than 20 years, bringing gardening education and programs to public housing complexes, schools and churches throughout Metro Atlanta. Through his work, he saw a great need for fresh, healthy food in low-income urban communities.
When he retired in 2009, he used a portion of his retirement savings to purchase the farm and help fill the gap.
“I saw the need,” Wilson said. “Plus, when you retire, you should do something you really enjoy.”
He estimates with the rising price of food, people could save thousands yearly by growing their own fruits and vegetables. He also points out the health benefits that fresh produce brings.
Millions of households in the US are struggling to feed their families. And this is what motivates Wilson’s efforts.
“When small and disadvantaged farmers didn’t have the avenue to get rid of that produce because people were not coming out to buy, we had an opportunity to help keep them alive,” Wilson said. “We were buying food from African American farmers who did not have outlets and giving it away.”
Wilson continues to offer free food to those in need at a drive-through giveaway every week, where families can secure healthy produce.
Over the years, Wilson says he has hosted a lot of students in grades K-12 for farm tours and agricultural S.T.E.M. field trips. He works with farmers and gardeners of all ages and skill levels, from preschoolers to seniors, to provide education and access to affordable produce.
“We’re more than just a farm,” he said. “We’re about justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion, because at the end of the day, I want my grandchildren to have it better than what I have it today.”
1. Wilson started the Metro Atlanta Urban Farm mainly to ______.| A．make a living | B．pursue his career |
| C．promote health awareness | D．help the communities |
| A．Wilson’s farm has been around for over 30 years |
| B．Wilson undertakes some educational initiatives at the farm |
| C．some small and disadvantaged farmers joined Wilson’s farm |
| D．thousands of students have attended Wilson’s classes on farming |
| A．Underestimated. | B．Unexpected. |
| C．Imperfect. | D．Promising. |
9 . Museum Tours
There are many ways to visit SAAM and the Renwick Gallery and they’re all free!Gallery Tours for All Ages
Group Tours
Group tours are available by request for adult groups of eight or more. Choose from a variety of themes, including current special exhibitions. Request 3 to 4 weeks in advance. Walk-in Tours
Walk-in tours are sometimes available. Check with the Information Desk when you arrive. If a walk-in tour is scheduled for that day:SAAM walk-in tours start at 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. and 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. every day of the week and 4:00 to 5:00 p.m. Thursday through Sunday.
Renwick walk-in tours start at 12:00 to 1:00 p.m. every day except Sunday. There are no tours on Sundays.
Self-guided Tours
Self-guided tours using your smartphone are available throughout SAAM. Scan the QR codes to bring lots of information to your fingertips!Access Programs
Free tours are available online and in our galleries at SAAM or the Renwick Gallery:
–in American Sign Language (ASL);
–for people with low vision;
–for people with mental disorders and their care partners.
There is no minimum group size for Access tours.
School Tours
We welcome learners of all abilities and from all settings. School tours at SAAM and the Renwick Gallery are:
–for kindergarten through college;
–in line with national curriculum standards;
–interactive and interdisciplinary.
School tours last 60 minutes. Want more time in the galleries? Ask about additional activities. Request 4 to 6 weeks in advance.
Virtual Programs
Online School Tours:
–for 3rd grade through 12th grade;–in line with national curriculum standards;
–40 to 60 minutes long.
Request 4 to 6 weeks in advance.
Online Adult Tours:
–available by request;–45 to 60 minutes long;
–focus on a variety of themes, including highlights and special exhibitions;
–interactive and conversational.
Request 4 to 6 weeks in advance.
1. If you want to take a walk-in tour, you can visit the SAAM Gallery at ______.
| A．12:00 pm on Monday | B．4:30 pm on Wednesday |
| C．1:00 pm on Sunday | D．3:30 pm on Tuesday |
| A．Tours are available in English only. |
| B．There is a minimum group size of 8 for Access tours. |
| C．People with mental illness can visit the galleries with their care partners. |
| D．People with poor sight cannot have access to the free tours in the galleries. |
| A．SAAM and the Renwick Gallery offer paid tours for adult groups |
| B．school tours are consistent with educational curriculum standards |
| C．requests for online tours should be made at least 3 weeks in advance |
| D．visitors can use smartphones to enjoy self-guided tours in Renwick Gallery |
10 . In my last semester of college in the US, I struggled with the decision to move to New York to pursue an advertising career, or to stay in Florida to be near my loved ones. While I preferred the latter, everyone kept telling me if I didn’t go to New York, I would never make anything of myself — I would not make achievements in career. Although those statements made my blood boil, I still decided to stay in Florida.
I accepted a marketing coordinator (协调员) position with Coton Colors. I knew the company was growing fast, so it felt like a great place to begin my career. In Coton Colors, I tried to establish myself. I took on basic marketing tasks like helping with small campaigns or simple design. I started undertaking more tasks and discovering things I liked and excelled in. I continued to ask for more responsibilities, and before I knew it, I was leading meetings, directing support staff and taking off in my position.
I started getting in contact with some of my New York classmates. It seemed that most of them were still assistants, running to get coffee and make copies, without getting any useful experience. Those conversations helped me realize that I was in control of my own career. I didn’t need to move to a big city to become an important part of a successful team — I was already part of one. I went to the CEO and asked to create and lead an events team. After only a few months, I worked around the clock to grow this branch while also continuing to maintain my regular job duties. In the end, all of my hard work and devotion paid off. I have watched myself grow from an entry-level college student to a valued member of a powerful management team. I have overcome many stereotypes (刻板印象) of my generation with my hard work and positive attitude.
1. What does the underlined phrase “make anything of myself” in paragraph 1 mean?| A．Help a person find a job. | B．Help a person reach a place. |
| C．Make a person feel excited. | D．Make oneself succeed in one’s career. |
| A．Promising | B．Stressful. | C．Peaceful. | D．Well-paid. |
| A．Her talent in marketing. | B．Her good luck in the work. |
| C．Her devotion to all her tasks. | D．Her help with complex designs. |
| A．Make decisions suitable for yourselves. |
| B．Stay positive despite difficulties we meet. |
| C．Working hard helps you get more famous. |
| D．Starting a career in small cities is the best choice. |
