1 . When it comes to happiness, our present selves habitually get deprived (剥夺).     1     In the middle of a busy workday, you think, “I’ll be happy when I get this done.” When you get the task done, you think, “I’ll be happy when I’m on vacation…”

When we are doing these, it’s as if we put true happiness in a package addressed to us at some future time when circumstances will be just right for it to happen. Yet, the package keeps getting lost.     2    

What causes this? How can we avoid this result? We should know the reason why we make such choices and why our future selves seem like strangers to us is partially due to the abstractness of tomorrow. The solution is to make the future more vivid and create an emotional connection between the present and future selves. Here are several ways to strengthen the connection.

    3     Write a letter to your future self and send back a reply. Then you may gain insights into your future self’s needs that would get you to take helpful action now.

Visualize the best version of yourself.     4     Importantly, focus on the contrast between now and later. What are the barriers that stand in the way of turning into that ideal future later? Once you recognize them, you could start working on them now.

Imagine yourself in old age. Looking back at now, what do you wish you would have done more or differently with your time?     5     And how can you prioritize the future now, so that when you look back on it later, you think of it fondly?

Once you do such things, you will make choices that will benefit both your present self and future self.

A．Start a conversation between the selves.

B．What will your future self thank you for?

C．We often put feeling happy to the future us.

D．Learn to communicate with others through letters.

E．What impression did you leave on those around you?

F．This can make what you do today for the future more worthwhile.

G．As a result, we are left without enjoyment of the moment in front of us.

2 . Chinese researchers have revealed the anti-cancer characteristic of neutrophils (中性粒细胞) — a type of white blood cells—and the related molecular regulation mechanism, providing new insights into cancer diagnosis and treatment. The discovery, made by researchers at the Shanghai Institute of Immunity and Infection under the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Fudan University, was published in Cell on Tuesday.

Neutrophils are the most abundant white blood cells in the human body. As the first line of defence against infections, they play a key role in anti-infection immunity. The researchers collected neutrophils from 143 patients with 17 different types of cancer and analyzed them. They revealed that neutrophils can adopt at least 10 highly specialized and distinct functional states related to inflammation (炎症) , blood vessel formation and—most excitingly—presenting antigens (抗体) to activate powerful cancer-killing T cells.

“We were surprised to find such complexity and different roles within neutrophils, which have been ignored for so long,” said Zhang Xiaoming, a researcher at the Institute. “What is especially remarkable is their newly discovered capacity to act as antigen-presenting cells, gathering T cells against cancer. In addition, the abundance of antigen-presenting neutrophils is associated with improved condition across many cancer types revealed in this study,” he said.

“This completely changes how we perceive neutrophils in the context of cancer,” said Gao Qiang, a professor at Fudan University. “Now we know we could employ the diverse hidden identities of neutrophils to strengthen the effectiveness of immunotherapy (免疫疗法). We’re thrilled to further explore the potential benefits of these newly uncovered mechanisms in clines.”

The study emphasizes the value of single-cell sequencing approaches to reveal new functional dimension even within seemingly well-understood immune cells. Tapping into the hidden potential of neutrophils may provide new insights into cancer diagnosis and treatment.

1. How was the anti-cancer function of neutrophils discovered?

A．By referring to previous research.

B．By collecting and analyzing data.

C．By seeking guidance from experts.

D．By observing patients with inflammation.

2. Which of the following is a function of neutrophils?

A．Getting together T cells when needed.

B．Preventing the formation of antigens.

C．Speeding up the blood flow.

D．Distinguishing different types of cancer.

3. What’s Gao Qiang’s attitude towards the new research?

A．Positive.

B．Doubtful.

C．Worried.

D．Unclear.

4. What can be the best title for the text?

A．Blood Cells Successfully Fight Against Severe Cancer

B．China Makes Great Progress in Fighting Against Diseases

C．Further Research Is Needed to Fight Against Cancer

D．Researchers Discover New Cancer-fighting Mechanism

3 . Top Family Vacation Destinations Everyone Will Love

Think of taking a vacation and need some inspiration for where to travel? We have you covered. Here are some of our top picks for kid-friendly destinations.

Anaheim, California

California is a great family vacation destination that you will remember forever. Additionally, there are many other places to visit around the Anaheim area besides Disneyland Park. Other attractions like Knott’s Berry Farm, a water park and museums are close by as well, so you are sure to have lots of family adventures.

Panama City, Florida

If you’re looking for some family beach fun, why not try Panama City in Florida? You’ll find white sand and a beautiful tropical climate. It is the perfect place to relax and enjoy yourself.

Salzburg, Austrian Alps, Austria

One of our top family vacation destinations outside of the United States is Salzburg. You can visit Mozart’s home and catch a concert show. Or, if you’re looking for a snowy outdoor adventure, then Austria is also a great place to go during the right time of year. Austria has some great family hotels. Some even offer baby monitors and child care available.

Dublin, Ireland

If you’re looking for peace and quiet, and beautiful surroundings, why not go to Dublin? It’s a place where your kids can run around wild and free and it also has a romantic feel. There are attractions to visit as well, such as Clara Lara Amusement Park, located in the Wicklow mountains and many other outdoor activities kids can take part in.
1. Which of the following destinations is suitable for kids fond of coastal life?

A．Anaheim, California.	B．Panama City, Florida.
C．Salzburg, Austrian Alps, Austria.	D．Dublin, Ireland.

2. What makes Salzburg, Austrian Alps, Austria special?

A．White sand.

B．Wildlife.

C．Music.

D．Water.

3. What do Anaheim and Dublin have in common?

A．They both feature theme parks.

B．They both offer child care service.

C．They are both perfect places for museum lovers.

D．They both provide visitors with a romantic feeling.

4 . During the last week of Fu Bao’s public viewing earlier this month, visitors endured waiting for 5—6 hours just to give a glance at the panda for only five minutes, as Everland Panda World restricted viewing time to manage the flood of visitors.

Born to parents Ai Bao and Le Bao in July 2020, Fu Bao is South Korea’s first naturally-born panda. In the days following her birth, Everland’s social media channels offered fans a steady diet of Fu Bao videos, pulling in more than 1.2 million subscribers and, as of February, over 500 million accumulated views. The most recent videos are now filled with warm and sincere messages from viewers.

Thanks to Fu Bao’s widespread popularity, her zookeeper has also found himself in the spotlight, becoming a bit of a social media star himself. Often referred to as her grandpa, Kang Chul-won offered hi own farewell message to Fu Bao, noting that the South Koreans’ special love for her all began with social media videos shared during the pandemic when the zoo was closed. She brought help and happiness to a society in many ways that was having a difficult time due to the virus. He said people visited the social media sites every day so it felt like he was raising her together with them. They cared so much for her and shared the same emotions of raising a baby panda together during such difficult times.

Fu Bao will be transferred to China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda in Sichuan Province. Everland says that she will be kept alone at Everland Panda World for a month to prepare her to adjust to her new environment before her overseas transfer, which will be carried out in accordance with international rules.

1. What can we learn about Fu Bao from the first two paragraphs?

A．She has a balanced diet.	B．She is five years old.
C．She is very popular in South Korea.	D．She came from Sichuan, China.

2. What do South Koreans think of Fu Bao?

A．She is a live symbol of luck and fortune.

B．She is an animal who can resist any virus.

C．She is an inspiration to overcome difficulties.

D．She is their common possession and business.

3. What will Fu Bao do a month before leaving South Korea?

A．She will go on show in Everland.	B．She will be separated for adjustment.
C．She will leave Everland Panda World.	D．She will be moved to a research center.

4. What does the underlined phrase “in accordance with” in the last paragraph probably mean?

A．On behalf of.	B．In terms of.
C．In company with.	D．In agreement with.

5 . Imagine a horizontal line. The very left is marked one thousand and the very right is marked one billion. On this line, where would you add a marker to represent one million? If you said somewhere in the middle, you answered the same as the roughly 50 percent of people who have done this exercise in a number line study. But the answer is actually much closer to one thousand since there are one thousand millions in one billion.

This error makes sense because “our human brains are pretty bad at comprehending large numbers,” says Elizabeth Toomarian, an educational neuroscientist at Stanford University. Our brain is built to understand how much of something is in its environment. But comprehending the national debt or imagining the size of our universe? “We certainly can use our brains in that way, but we’re recycling these sorts of evolutionarily (进化地) old brain architectures to do something really new,” she says. In other words, it’s not our fault that we have trouble wrapping our heads around big numbers.

So what can we do about the struggle to understand big numbers? It is suggested to use metaphors, analogies (类比) and visualizations. These techniques bring big numbers down to a more comprehensible scale (比例) and ideally make it relevant to something in our daily lives. For example, it may be difficult for most people to accurately place the extinction of the dinosaurs on a timeline between the Big Bang and humans because the first two both seem to be placed to the distant path. But when conceptualizing (概念化) these events using a “calendar”, it becomes easier. The Big Bang occurred at 12 a.m. on January 1st on the calendar. Dinosaurs were only present for roughly the last week of the year. And humans only emerged in the last eight sends December 31st, at 12:59:52 p.m. It’s clear now that dinosaurs are much closer to humans than the Big Bang on a timeline.

These metaphors and analogies are important if people are to really weigh the costs and benefits of events in their lives. The concept not only applies to long-term decisions, but public policies.

1. Why does the author mention the example in the first paragraph?

A．To introduce the topic.	B．To explain the main idea.
C．To make a summary of the text.	D．To make comparisons with other topics.

2. According to Toomarian, what’s to blame for being unable to work out big numbers?

A．The lack of conceptual techniques.

B．The unwillingness to learn something new.

C．Our low ability to evaluate and compare.

D．Our inborn nature due to evolutionary factors.

3. What is recommended for the understanding of big numbers?

A．Making them related to each other.

B．Wrapping our heads around them.

C．Using techniques to put them to a smaller scale.

D．Applying a calendar to present them.

4. What will probably be further discussed in the following paragraph?

A．How to make long-term decisions.

B．How metaphors and analogies help solve public problems.

C．How to weigh the costs and benefits in our life.

D．How important public policies are in our life

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.

2. What did Tom want to do when he went to his friend?

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.

3. Why was Tom angry with his friend?

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.

4. What would be Tom’s advice for his friend at the end of the story?

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.

2. What is the function of the numbers in Paragraph 3?

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.

3. What does the passage mainly talk about?

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.

4. In which part of the newspaper can we read the passage?

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

2. It’s clear that Johnson ________.

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

3. What did Johnson think of the deep voice’s advice?

A．Unbelievable.	B．Interesting.
C．Embarrassing.	D．Boring.

4. What’s the best title for this passage?

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.

2. How much should a group of 6 local teenagers pay for the summer camp?

A．125.	B．170.
C．1,020.	D．750.

3. What can we know from the poster?

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.

4. Where is the text mostly from?

A．A geography magazine.	B．A research paper.
C．A travel guide.	D．A sports magazine.

10 . Do Animals Have Friends?

When you see little animals playing together around a tree, or a cat and dog sleeping together in the living room, do you ever think — are they friends? One expert, Mike, believes that many animals do have friends. If they’re in the same group, they greet one another, travel together, play together and even share food with each other.     1    

Playing together helps animals keep them close to the group. Wild dogs who don’t play much are more likely to leave the group on their own.     2     If an animal has a special friend, both friends benefit by having someone to watch out for them. In the case of a young rhino (犀牛) going on its first journey, it may look for an older travel friend.     3    

Sharing is another important part of friendship. For all animals, finding food is a matter of life and death. For some bats in Central and South America, if they don’t get a blood meal every three days, they die of hunger.     4     If a bat doesn’t find food, a full bat will throw up some blood from its stomach into the mouth of the hungry friend.

But sometimes members of a group also compete for food and mates, which can lead to fights. So making up after fights is a key skill. Sometimes after two male monkeys have a fight, they will sit apart, avoiding each other.     5     An older female monkey may need to step in to play peace-maker. She will walk up to one of them, kiss or touch him, then slowly walk toward the other. Then she sits close to the second male. Both start grooming (梳毛) her. When she leaves, they continue to groom each other, as if to say, “We’re cool now.”

A．Each wants the other to make the first move.

B．Young animals often team up for protection.

C．But hungry bats don’t need to worry if they have friends.

D．And leaving the protection of the group can be dangerous.

E．These friendly behaviors can be important for an animal to survive.

F．The friend helps to find food and water, and avoid dangerous animals.

G．Bats take blood from sleeping animals, but they are surprisingly good friends.