1 . Tailor your own summer break in Chengdu! This tour includes close contact with the giant pandas.
DAY 1 ChengduTransfer via: plane—your arrangement
Activities for today: Airport to hotel transfer
Upon arrival at Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport, you’ll be warmly greeted and escorted to your hotel. The rest of the day is at leisure.
DAY 2 ChengduTransfer via: private vehicle
Morning 7: 30 pick you up from your hotel and drive to Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding. Later, watch the film at Panda Museum to know the pandas’ daily life, baby pandas getting birth, etc. After a happy time with the pandas, drive back to Chengdu downtown area for a leisure walking in the Jinli Old Street, where you can enjoy all kinds of local snacks and the traditional artifacts (手工制品). Then visit Wuhou Temple to learn some stories about the Three Kingdoms.
DAY 3 ChengduTransfer via: private vehicle Morning around 8: 30 pick you up from your hotel, and drive to visit Qingyang Palace which is a Taoism temple with a history of more than 1, 000 years. Then visit Du Fu Thatched Cottage, the former residence of the Tang Dynasty poet Du Fu (712—770 AD), now a park and museum in honour of him. After a hearty Sichuan-style lunch, drive to visit Chengdu Songxianqiao Art Market, where you will find Chinese old paintings, unique Shu Brocade and Embroidery (刺绣), bamboo products and antique stuff, etc. Have the wonderful taste of the vegetarian dishes near the Wenshu Temple for dinner. Then drive back to your hotel.
DAY 4 Chengdu/ExitTransfer via: plane—your arrangement
Activities for today: Hotel to airport transfer
1. Where can you learn about history on Day 2?| A．At Wuhou Temple. | B．On Jinli Old Street. |
| C．At Giant Panda Breeding Base. | D．In Qingyang Palace. |
| A．Chengdu Songxianqiao Art Market. | B．Wuhou Temple. |
| C．Qingyang Palace. | D．Du Fu Thatched Cottage. |
| A．With a temple visit. | B．With a museum tour. |
| C．With airport transfers. | D．With art market shopping. |
| A．A reminder. | B．A report. | C．A test. | D．An advertisement. |
2 . Imagine you’re in a sci-fi (科幻小说) world, and you video-call your friends. You might see them in a three-dimensional(3D) way or in holograms (全息影像). Although this isn’t possible in real life yet, researchers recently made holograms easier to create, said a new study.
To take a 3D photo of a person, most hologram technologies need special cameras. They record how the person looks from different angles under different lights. This information makes the hologram look lifelike. However, holograms can’t be widely used because they are difficult to make.
The researchers from Chiba University in Japan made a new computer program. It can turn normal pictures we take into 3D holograms.
Their program used a technology called deep neural networks (深度神经网络). First, it receives information from an image taken by a normal camera. It then predicts the depth of things in the image. For example, in a 3D photo, the background should be deeper than the person.
With all the information, the program creates a 3D hologram. But it can look strange at first. The program will then check the hologram to fix problems and make it look more real.
The program can be used to create holograms in VR headsets (头显设备). For example, a user sends a picture, and the other user can see the “real” look of it in 3D. If it’s used in cars, drivers can see information, such as road signs, in 3D. This makes it easier for the drivers to see and thus makes sure that they won’t miss important information.
In the future, when holograms become more common, they can also help doctors. Medical students can learn quickly by looking at 3D images of the human body, and doctors can better understand a patient’s illness.
1. What does the new program make use of to create a hologram?| A．A normal picture. | B．A special camera. |
| C．Recordings from different angles. | D．Recordings under different lights. |
| A．more natural | B．more expensive | C．easier | D．more predictable |
| A．They make driving more enjoyable. |
| B．Drivers will find road information easily. |
| C．They will help predict dangers and traffic. |
| D．Drivers needn’t mind the cars behind. |
| A．Doctors make no mistakes with holograms. |
| B．Patients won’t suffer with holograms. |
| C．We can live in a 3D world. |
| D．Holograms might be used in the medical field. |
3 . Eleven-year-old Australian girl Tilly Williams has broken a world distance running record, beating other girls who were eight years older than her to run 5,000m in just 17 minutes and 22.7 seconds. The primary schoolgirl beat the previous record by 19 seconds, making her the fastest distance runner under the age of 19 across 60 countries.
Tilly started running just two years ago and has already shot straight to the top. When some of her friends told her about the international record, she decided to give it a go. “Some of my running friends told me about it and I said, wow, it would be crazy if I got that and here I am,” Tilly said.
Tilly has always loved keeping active, alongside her twin brother Henry and little sister Rosie. “I am the kind of person who really enjoys the challenge,” Tilly said. “I really love surfing and I love bike riding and hiking — all different kinds of adventures and sports.” She started running in 2021 when she joined her school’s cross-country team. Since then, she has run two to three times a week with her dad, Mark Williams, or at the Adelaide Harriers Athletics Club. “Everyone is really supportive and it really encourages me,” Tilly said.
Tilly said she has been inspired by runners Caitlin Adams, Tara Palm, and her favourite book character, Roald Dahl’s Matilda. “I could really relate to the main character Matilda because she set herself goals and really had to work hard to achieve them,” she said. Tilly has a dream of competing in the 2032 Brisbane Olympics. By the way, Tilly doesn’t follow a strict diet, so her favourite food is still on the menu-her dad’s home-cooked pizza.
1. What is the new world record set by Tilly Williams?| A．17 minutes and 22.7 seconds. | B．17 minutes and 41. 7 seconds. |
| C．17 minutes and 3.7 seconds. | D．18 minutes and 1.7 seconds. |
| A．For two years. | B．For five years. | C．For ten years. | D．For one year. |
| A．Tilly’s family is poor. | B．Tilly’s father is generous. |
| C．Tilly’s brother and sister love running. | D．Tilly started running in her school team. |
| A．Tilly Williams’s family supports her. | B．Tilly Williams is outgoing. |
| C．Tilly Williams is going on diet. | D．Tilly Williams loves writing. |
4 . There are many places to see lovely giant pandas in China. But where is the best place for you to go for a special panda trip? What is the best time to go? Here are some recommendations.
If you just want to see giant pandas, we recommend you to go to Chengdu Panda Breeding and Research Base. It is the most easily accessible panda base. You can see pandas at different ages. This base is huge but usually crowded.
If you are looking for a deeper panda experience, you can join a panda volunteer program. Giant panda volunteer programs are available in three panda bases: Dujiangyan, Wolong, and Bifengxia. They take about 1 to 3 days or longer. Dujiangyan is the best place for a one-day program. If you want a less-crowded environment, consider Wolong and Bifengxia, though they require 2 or more days. Your work would include weighing and cleaning bamboo, making panda cakes, watching pandas being fed, and cleaning pandas’ enclosures (围场). At the end of the program, you will receive a panda keeper certificate.
Giant pandas don’t go into winter sleep. You can visit them in all four seasons. Spring and autumn are the best times to see pandas when they are most active and temperatures are most comfortable. If you visit between August and November, you will probably see lovely panda babies.
Giant pandas spend almost half their time sleeping. Grown-up giant pandas in captivity (圈养) usually eat twice a day: early in the morning and late in the afternoon. They usually sleep around noon, any time from around 10:00 a. m. to around 2:00 p. m. We recommend you to get to a panda base as early as possible, when it is less crowded and the pandas are at their most active.
1. How can you get your best experience for your panda trip?| A．Visiting it during Chinese holidays. | B．Joining a volunteer program. |
| C．Taking a private tour in the afternoon. | D．Participating in Dujiangyan’s one-day program. |
| A．Preparing bamboo. | B．Feeding pandas. |
| C．Cleaning pandas. | D．Witnessing new pandas’ birth. |
| A．Winter and spring. | B．Spring and autumn. |
| C．Summer and autumn. | D．Any season is suitable. |
| A．To record pandas’ daily routine. | B．To receive a panda keeper certificate. |
| C．To avoid crowds and witness active pandas. | D．To observe feeding sessions and bamboo weighing. |
5 . New scientific research has found that attending live sporting events improves levels of well-being and reduces feelings of loneliness. The study used data from 7,209 adults, aged 16—85, living in England who joined in the Taking Part Survey, carried out by the British Government.
The study found that attending sporting events results in higher scores of two major aspects of subjective well-being—life satisfaction and a sense of “life being worthwhile” —as well as lower levels of loneliness.
Nowadays many initiatives (倡议) promote the benefits of physical participation in sport, but the researchers believe that watching live sporting events can also offer an accessible and effective public health tool for improving well-being and reducing loneliness.
Lead author Dr. Helen Keyes said, “Previous research has focused on specific sports or small population samples, such as college students in the United States. Ours is the first study to look at the benefits of attending any sporting event across an adult population, and therefore our findings could be useful for shaping future public health strategies, such as offering reduced ticket prices for certain groups.”
“The live events covered by the survey ranged from free amateur events to Premier League football matches. Therefore, further research needs to be done to see whether these benefits are more noticeable for high level sport.”
“However, we do know that watching live sport of all kinds provides many opportunities for social interaction and this helps to establish group identity and belonging, which in turn reduces loneliness and makes a difference to levels of well-being.”
1. The new research focused on whether attending live sporting events ______.| A．benefits people of different ages | B．results in higher scores of study |
| C．improves levels of happiness | D．reduces the harm of working alone |
| A．promote the benefits of physical participation in sport |
| B．believe watching live sporting events helps reduce pressure |
| C．offer reduced ticket prices for a certain group of people |
| D．study how attending sporting events benefits adults |
| A．Easy to see. | B．Hard to change. | C．Possible to lose. | D．True to believe. |
| A．Useless. | B．Helpful. | C．Funny. | D．Tiring. |
6 . There were two fishermen named Tom and Jack. They were close friends. One day they went out to catch fish together and have a fish meal in the field. They sat at a distance and started hunting for fish. Tom got a big and beautiful fish in a few minutes. He was so happy and placed the fish in the ice box. He decided to cook the fish at noon. He spent some more time and caught a few more fish. He decided to make a grand meal with the fish. Also, he froze a few fish to take them back home.
After an hour or so, Tom went to Jack to see if he needed any help. Jack said no. In a few minutes, Jack caught a large fish. However, he put it back into the lake. Tom was surprised at his act, but he remained silent. Jack caught more big fish, and put them all back into the lake. Very frustrated, Tom angrily asked him, “Are you mad? Why do you put your fish back into the water? They are beautiful and big!” Jack replied, “I know they are big, but I don’t have the big pan to cook the big fish! So I’m looking for a smaller fish that fits my cooking pan! God is troubling me today.”
1. What did Tom and Jack go out for?| A．To catch fish. | B．To have a joy ride. |
| C．To eat out together. | D．To feed the fish in the lake. |
| A．To give him some fish. | B．To see if he needed some help. |
| C．To ask him to cook his fish. | D．To take some of Jack’s fish for himself. |
| A．He couldn’t understand his act. | B．He was fond of eating big fish. |
| C．He thought it was unfair for small fish. | D．He didn’t catch any big fish himself. |
| A．Asking God to send him only small fish. | B．Taking a bigger pan with him next time. |
| C．Changing his fishing pole to catch small fish. | D．Cutting the big fish into small pieces to fit his pan. |
7 . Are you troubled by housework, such as cleaning tables or tidying your room? Do you need a helping hand? Recently, the robot Mobile Aloha made by scientists at Stanford University in the US became popular online. In the videos posted, we can see the robot preparing dishes on its own. It’s also good at watering plants, petting cats, cleaning the floor and washing clothes.
Sounds good? Well, another video posted by researchers may disappoint some people. Mobile Aloha isn’t good at doing housework on its own. Instead, it learns from human actions before doing each kind of housework. When the situation changes, it can’t work well without a human “teaching” it. So it may break dishes, bump into (撞上) things and even burn a pot.
The robot can successfully move chairs 80 percent of the time, said the team after they did more research on it. For cooking dishes, it’s only 40 percent. In short, it’s far from perfect.
In fact, AI robots are good at tasks such as math and playing chess, but they face challenges when it comes to simpler actions like cleaning. And it’s the same for Mobile Aloha. For example, if its body doesn’t move correctly — even just with a small mistake, its arm may move too far to pick up a glass.
“Robots are not ready to take over the world,” the team posted online.1. How does the writer begin the passage?
| A．By making a comparison. | B．By asking questions. |
| C．By showing a finding. | D．By imagining a scene. |
| A．To show the latest findings of the team. |
| B．To prove that robots can do nothing right. |
| C．To support an opinion that robots are far from perfect. |
| D．To explain the main function of Mobile Aloha is moving chairs. |
| A．The importance of robots to the world. | B．The latest research on robots. |
| C．Some disadvantages of robots. | D．Some ways to produce perfect robots. |
| A．EDUCATION. | B．CULTURE. | C．PEOPLE. | D．TECHNOLOGY. |
8 . Johnson arrived at the Aconcagua, the highest mountain in the Argentine Andes. He began his climb to achieve his dream after years of preparation. But he went up alone. He started climbing and it was becoming later and later. He did not prepare for camping, so he had to keep on climbing.
Soon night fell and Johnson could not see anything. Everything was black. There was no moon, and the stars were covered by clouds. As he was climbing only about 10 feet away from the top, he slipped and fell. He could only see darkness passing at a great speed. He kept falling… He thought certainly he would die.
But then Johnson felt the long rope tied to his waist (腰部) pull very hard. His body was hanging in the air. He had no other choice but to shout, “Help! Help me!”
Suddenly he heard a deep voice, “What do you want me to do?”
“Save me!”
“Do you really think that I can save you?”
“Of course.”
“Then cut the rope.” However, Johnson just held tighter (更紧地) to the rope.
The next day Johnson was found hanging strongly to a rope…TWO FEET OFF THE GROUND!!!
How much do you believe in some “rope”? Sometimes you have to dare to cut the rope and let go. The results might be out of your expectation.
1. From Paragraph 1, we can get the ________ of the story.| A．background | B．development |
| C． climax (the most exciting part) | D．ending |
| A．went to the Aconcagua for camping |
| B．was very frightened when he fell |
| C．fell down to the ground heavily |
| D．reached the top successfully |
| A．Unbelievable. | B．Interesting. |
| C．Embarrassing. | D．Boring. |
| A．Pride Comes Before Fall | B．It Serves You Right |
| C．Never Stop! Never Give Up! | D．Dare You Let “Rope” Go? |
9 . The summer vacation is coming. It’s time to relax. Come to join us!
World Youth Alliance (青年联盟) Asia Pacific SUMMER CAMPJUNE 30~JULY 4,2024 Subic Park Hotel, Zambales, the Philippines (菲律宾) | |
| WHAT TO EXPECT ·Develop your leadership and social skills through our all kinds of team-building activities. ·Have the chance to communicate with other young people and make new friends from different Asia-Pacific countries. ·Get the chances to take part in other WYA interational acivities. ·Understand that you have your own importance and value through our WAY training program, | HOW MUCH TO PAY ·Local teenagers: $125 each person ·Teenagers from other Asia-Pacific countries: $170 each person HOW TO APPLY (申请) ·Download the application form on our website wya, net/apsummercamp and email your form to wyaap. summercamp @ gmail, com. ·Please apply before April 30, 2024. CONTACT US FOR MORE INFORMATION wуаар.summercamp@gmail.com +639210890 |
1. How long will the summer camp last?
| A．For four days. | B．For five days. |
| C．For a week. | D．For a month. |
| A．125. | B．170. |
| C．1,020. | D．750. |
| A．People of all ages can take part in the summer camp. |
| B．People from any country can apply for the summer camp. |
| C．People can only call to learn more about the summer camp. |
| D．People should apply two months before the summer camp starts. |
| A．A geography magazine. | B．A research paper. |
| C．A travel guide. | D．A sports magazine. |
10 . Birds usually build their nests with sticks, leaves or grass. But do you know that birds are also building their nests with rubbish these years? The rubbish includes cigarette butts（烟头）and plastic bags.
A group of European scientists looked into（调查）about 35,000 studies on bird nests. They found that birds have used man-made things in nests almost everywhere on Earth except Antarctica. Some rubbish seems to be helpful. This is why birds “like” putting it in their nests. For example, cigarette butts have a special smell, so they can keep insects away and protect the baby birds. Plastic bags are useful in keeping the animals warm, and other hard things, such as paper cards, can make nests stronger.
However, in the end, human rubbish may only bring more harm to birds. The toxic（有毒的）chemicals in cigarettes hurt the baby birds. They may get sick or have shorter lives, according to a study.
To make matters worse, if the cigarette still burns when the bird brings it back to its home, it may set fire to the nest. Pieces of fishing net may also trap birds, and it’s impossible for them to get out by themselves. If the baby birds eat other kinds of rubbish by accident, they will also get hurt. Our bird friends in the air are feeling the bad effects of humans polluting the environment.
1. What did the European scientists find?| A．Some people help birds build their nests. |
| B．There is rubbish in the nests of many birds. |
| C．There is almost no bird living in Antarctica. |
| D．Birds can help clean the environment. |
| A．Paper cards. | B．Cigarette butts. |
| C．Plastic bags. | D．Wooden boards. |
| A．They can burn other harmful rubbish. |
| B．They can make nests stronger. |
| C．They can keep insects away. |
| D．They can keep birds warm. |
| A．Human rubbish may bring more harm to birds. |
| B．The harm that the environment brings to the wild animals. |
| C．The reason why birds like using rubbish to build their nests. |
| D．The harmful activities that humans have done to the environment. |
