1 . J. K. Rowling frequently shows there is magic every day. Her Harry Potter series has helped people through times of stress and depression and she is always there to deliver wise words of encouragement.
She is one celebrity who is very active on Twitter. So when a single dad named Matt Burke sent her a message thanking her for the series, she noticed. Her series had helped strengthen his relationship with his 9yearold daughter Bailey.
He included a link to his article titled Being a Broke Parent. He explained how he hadn’t found a level of financial stability that allowed him to pay bills on time and take his daughter on more activities and events. The family also doesn’t have the Internet or TV, which means there’s no “digital babysitter” and he has to rely on his own creative ways to bond with his daughter. Since he received the series, the main thing that has occupied them these days is reading books together.
Burke admits that he thought he was “too cool” for the books when they first came out and he was in his twenties, but he’s loving reading them now. “We switch off chapter by chapter reading them out loud，“Burke explains.” This not only allows her to get more used to reading aloud in front of someone, but it gets me directly involved in something she loves, and it gives me the chance to be very dramatic when I read my chapters and bring myself into the characters in the book, which has proven to be a ton of fun.”
After hearing Burke’s story, Rowling said how honored she was when Harry Potter was a part of his family’s life and offered Burke more books. Besides, people are also offering to send Burke more books as gifts. For Burke, this experience, far more than gifts, will be what he treasures.
1. Why did Burke thank J. K. Rowling according to the text?| A．She guided him how to write a good story. |
| B．She encouraged him when he was in trouble. |
| C．Her books helped him through times of confusion. |
| D．Her books helped him improve his bond with his daughter. |
| A．He has found it interesting to read the series. | B．He was too old to understand the series better. |
| C．He has chosen a better way of reading the series. | D．He hopes to play a role in the drama in the future. |
| A．Useless. | B．Normal. | C．Valuable. | D．Boring. |
| A．J. K. Rowling chooses to help improve kids’ health. |
| B．J. K. Rowling gives a magical gift to a single father. |
| C．J. K. Rowling has a deep influence on others’ growth. |
| D．Burke comes to know J. K. Rowling through her series. |
2 . The world’s most famous tire (轮胎) graveyard (坟地) of 42 million tires in the sands of Kuwait is finally being cleaned up and recycled. This news in itself would be a major relief to locals who have to suffer from the clouds of black smoke arising during fires. But the government isn’t stopping there. They are aiming to create a green city of 25,000 homes in line with a post-oil Persian Gulf, with a focus on sustainability and tourism.
The first step is to clear the ground. The Salmiya area, nicknamed “Rubber (橡胶) Mountain”, is formed from hundreds of small mountains of spent tires — a reaction from the one million cars which were added to Kuwait’s roads over the decade.
EPSCO Global General Trading recycling company has opened a recycling plant for the tires, where they’ve been collected, sorted, cut up, and pressed into other materials like rubbery coloured flooring tiles (铺地砖). The plant opened in January of 2021, and can recycle up to 3 million tires a year. The recycled material is then exported out to nearby gulf neighbours and Asia. In the place of the tires will be South Saad Al-Abdullah City, a green city characterizing a new era in the Middle-Eastern country.
Spent tires are a major environmental problem worldwide due to the room they take up and the chemicals they can release.
“We have moved from a difficult stage that was characterized by great environmental risk,” says Oil Minister Mohammed al-Fares. “Today the area is becoming clean and all tires are being removed to begin the launch of the project of Saad Al-Abdullah city.”
Expected to cost €3.3 billion and require 30 years to complete, the city hopes to feature green technology, probably like the kind one can see in other cities on the Persian Gulf, both existing and not. Saudi Arabia is planning to build a zero-emissions, car-less future city that’s centered around access to big data rather than water or crops.
1. Why is the Salmiya area called “Rubber Mountain”?| A．It is rich in rubber. | B．It has too many waste tires. |
| C．It used to be a mountain. | D．It has been a tradition. |
| A．A recycling company. | B．The purpose for removing tires. |
| C．How to build a green city. | D．What is done with the spent tires. |
| A．To make a prediction. | B．To explain an idea. | C．To present a fact. | D．To analyze a cause. |
| A．The Transformation of a Huge Landfill | B．Spent Tires, a Big Threat to the Environment |
| C．The Salmiya Area’s Measures to Kick Pollution | D．Kuwait Tire Mountain to Be into a Green City |
3 . We’ve all been there: in a lift, in line at the bank or on an airplane, surrounded by people who are, like us, deeply focused on their smartphones or, worse, struggling with the uncomfortable silence.
What’s the problem? It’s possible that we all don’t have enough conversational ability. It’s more likely that none of us start a conversation because it’s embarrassing and challenging, or we think it’s annoying and unnecessary. But the next time you find yourself among strangers, consider that small talk is worth the trouble. Experts say it’s a valuable social practice that leads to big benefits.
It is easy to consider small talk as unimportant, but we can’t forget that deep relationships wouldn’t even exist (存在) if there weren’t casual conversations. Small talk is the grease (润滑剂) for social communication, says Bernardo Carducci, director of the Shyness Research Institute at Indiana University Southeast. “Almost every great love story and each big business deal begins with small talk,” he explains. “The secret to successful small talk is learning how to connect with others, not just communicate with them.”
In a 2014 study, Elizabeth Dunn, professor of psychology at UBC, invited people to a coffee shop. One group was asked to interact with its waiter, the other, to speak only when necessary. The results showed that those who chatted with their server reported obviously higher positive feelings and a better coffee shop experience. “It’s not that talking to the waiter is better than talking to your husband,” says Dunn. “But interactions with peripheral (边缘的) members of our social network is important for our happiness and health.”
Dunn believes that people who reach out to strangers feel a greater sense of belonging, a link with others. Carducci believes developing such a sense of belonging starts with small talk. “Small talk is the basis of good manners,” he says.
1. What does the underline word “casual” in paragraph 3mean?| A．Addictive | B．Public | C．Personal | D．Informal |
| A．Showing good manners. | B．Making business deals. |
| C．Focusing on a topic. | D．Keeping in contact with other people. |
| A．It raises people’s confidence. | B．It makes people feel good. |
| C．It improves family relationships. | D．It matters as much as a formal talk. |
| A．Conversation Counts | B．Ways of Making Small Talk |
| C．Importance of Small Talk | D．Uncomfortable Silence |
4 . We often think about relationships on a scale from positive to negative. We are drawn to loving family members, caring classmates and supportive mentors. We do our best to avoid the cruel uncle, the playground bully and the jerk boss.
But the most harmful relationships aren’t the purely negative ones. They’re the ones that are a mix of positive and negative. We often call them frenemies, supposed friends who sometimes help you and sometimes hurt you. But it’s not just friends. It’s the in-laws who volunteer to watch your kids but devalue your parenting. The manager who praises your work but denies you a promotion.
Groundbreaking research led by the psychologists Bert Uchino and Julianne Holt-Lunstad shows that ambivalent (矛盾情绪的) relationships can be damaging to your health — even more than purely negative relationships.
Even a single ambivalent interaction can cause harm. In one experiment, people talked about controversial (具有争议性的) topics in front of a friend who offered feedback. The researchers had randomly assigned the friend to give ambivalent or negative comments. Receiving mixed feedback caused higher blood pressure than pure criticism. “I would have gone about the topic differently, but you’re doing fine” proved to be more distressing than “I totally disagree with everything you’ve said.”
The evidence that ambivalent relationships can be bad for us is obvious, but the reasons can be harder to read — just like the relationships themselves.
One reason is that ambivalent relationships are unpredictable. With a clear enemy, you put up a shield when you cross paths. With a frenemy, you never know whether Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Hyde is going to show up. Feeling unsure can break the body’s calming system and activate a fight-or-flight response. It’s unsettling to hope for a hug while also preparing for a likely quarrel.
Another factor is that unpleasant interactions are more painful in an ambivalent relationship. It’s more distressing to be let down by people you like sometimes than by people you dislike all the time. When someone stabs you in the back, it stings more if he’s been friendly to your face.
1. Which of the following can be considered as a frenemy?| A．Your neighbor’s kid who advises you to study hard but kill his own time. |
| B．Your classmate who admires your hard work at first, but doubts your intelligence later. |
| C．Your mother’s friend who encourages you to spend more time on homework but less on smart phones. |
| D．Your father’s colleague who proposes you to do a reasonable amount of homework while ensuring enough sleep. |
| A．Upsetting. | B．Satisfying. | C．Inspiring. | D．Confusing. |
| A．The negative impact of ambivalent interactions is strong. |
| B．Ambivalent relationships have a long-lasting effect on your well-being. |
| C．The common cause of high blood pressure is ambivalent relationship. |
| D．Interactions in ambivalent relationships are more painful than those in negative ones. |
| A．Negative relationships are bad for health. | B．Ambivalent relationships are unpredictable. |
| C．Ambivalent Relationships are the most harmful. | D．Positive relationships are better than negative ones. |
5 . Tropical cyclones(热带气旋), including hurricanes and typhoons, are now moving at a slower speed than they did decades ago, new research shows.
While having a cyclone travel with less speed may seem like a good thing, it’s actually just the opposite. Wind speeds within the storm remain high, but the whole system itself moves slower, allowing punishing rains to stay longer over communities. “Nothing good comes out of a slowing storm,” says James Kossin, author of the paper. “It can increase the amount of time that buildings suffered from strong wind. And it increases rainfall.”
In his paper, Kossin showed that from 1949 to 2016, tropical cyclones across the globe slowed their movement by 10 percent on average. In some regions (地区), the speed of those storms slowed even more as they hit land. In the western North Pacific, the decrease was much more manifest—almost a third. That means a storm that may already hold more moisture (水分)will have time to drop more of it in each spot.
Kossin’s work was based on details of almost 70 years’ worth of storms, but he didn’t try to determine what was causing the slowdown. Still, the change is exactly what he and other cyclone experts said, which would be expected from climate change. With the polar regions warming faster than other parts of the globe, that is changing the pressure and reducing the winds that push these storms.
Christina Patricola, a scientist, called Kossin’s work important and new and said she found it reliable. “I was not surprised by his findings,” she says. “But I was surprised by the speed of the slowdown.”
Kossin hopes that scientists will begin building models that show which places are likely to face the most risk. Given that storms in some regions are moving towards polar regions and already increasing in intensity(强度), cyclones causing unusually powerful rain may threaten places not normally in their paths. Scientists must take action to make those places suffer less from the disasters.
1. Why is the decrease in cyclones’ speed a bad thing?| A．It leads the cyclones to move faster on the ground. |
| B．It causes the cyclones to have higher wind speed outside. |
| C．It makes hard rains and strong wind last longer in one place. |
| D．It results in more typhoons taking place in some communities. |
| A．Obvious. | B．Satisfying. | C．Confusing. | D．Impossible. |
| A．Climate change in the polar regions is under control. |
| B．Scientists find it hard to understand the slower cyclones. |
| C．Scientists should do further experiments in polar regions. |
| D．Climate change may be the cause of the slowdown of the cyclones. |
| A．To find out the normal paths of serious cyclones. |
| B．To prove the speed of the cyclones can be controlled. |
| C．To reduce the damage from cyclones to possible areas. |
| D．To call on scientists to focus on the danger of climate change. |
6 . While scientists have many ideas, they are not certain why humans yawn(打哈欠). Still, there is one thing experts know—yawns seem to be contagious(传染)!
Have you ever caught a yawn from someone else? Most people have. In fact, a person is six times more likely to yawn after seeing someone else do so. Experts have done many studies into why yawns seem to pass from person to person. As a result, they have a few theories(理论) for the reason behind it.
One possible explanation has something to do with social mirroring, which is caused by mirror neurons(镜像神经元) in the brain. These mirror neurons help the brain notice useful behavior of others and then copy it. When one person sees another yawn, his mirror neurons observe the action and consider it to be beneficial. That may cause him to yawn, too.
Another popular theory is that yawns are contagious because of social relationships. Being social creatures, humans form friendships, families and live together in groups. That’s why many people mirror others, such as smiling when another person smiles. Yawning may be just another example of this. In fact, research has shown that one is most likely to catch yawns from another person if the two share a social relationship.
The answer could even be that yawns aren’t truly contagious at all. Instead, people yawn together simply because they’re in the same environment. Experts say many things may cause yawning, including temperature and time of day. Whatever the explanation is, experts do know that contagious yawns aren’t limited to humans. One study found that lions in South Africa also caught each other’s yawns.
1. What kind of behavior may be copied by mirror neurons?| A．Important and attractive. | B．Useful and beneficial. |
| C．Hard to understand. | D．Easy to copy. |
| A．Those who yawn a lot. | B．Those who like smiling. |
| C．Those closely connected with them. | D．Those sharing the same interest with them. |
| A．Tips on how to avoid yawning in public. |
| B．A real explanation for contagious yawning. |
| C．Other examples of animals yawning together. |
| D．Things that may cause yawning among humans. |
| A．Why yawns are contagious | B．What causes people to yawn |
| C．Who yawns more than others | D．Why humans yawn now and then |
7 . When I was nine years old, I loved to go fishing with my dad. But the only thing that wasn’t very fun about it was that he could catch many fish while I couldn’t catch anything. I usually got pretty upset and kept asking him why. He always answered, “Son, if you want to catch a fish, you have to think like a fish.” I remember being even more upset then, because “I’m not a fish!” I didn’t know how to think like a fish. Besides, I reasoned, how could what I think influence what a fish does?
As I got a little older, I began to understand what my dad really meant. So, I read some books on fish. And I even joined the local fishing club and started attending the monthly meetings. I learned that a fish is a cold-blooded animal and therefore is very sensitive to water temperature. That is why fish prefer shallow water to deep water because the former is warmer. Besides, water is usually warmer in direct sunlight than in the shade. The more I understood fish, the more I became effective at finding and catching them.
When I grew up and entered the business world, I remember hearing my first boss say, “We all need to think like sales people.” But it didn’t completely make sense. My dad never once said, “If you want to catch a fish, you need to think like a fisherman.” What he said was, “You need to think like a fish.” Years later, with great efforts to promote long-term services to people much older and richer than me, I gradually learned what we all need is to think more like customers. It is not an easy job. I will show you how in the following chapters.
1. What did the writer’s father really mean?| A．To read about fish. | B．To learn fishing by oneself. |
| C．To understand what fish think. | D．To study fishing in many ways. |
| A．in deep water on sunny days | B．in deep water on cloudy days |
| C．in shallow water under sunlight | D．in shallow water under waterside trees |
| A．it easy to think like a customer |
| B．his father’s fishing advice inspiring |
| C．his first boss’s sales ideas reasonable |
| D．it difficult to sell services to poor people |
| A．a popular sales book | B．a fishing magazine |
| C．a novel on childhood | D．a text book about fish |
8 . Sounds from human activity flood across the oceans, causing trouble to ocean creatures. And climate (气候) change may make some places even louder.
Researchers have expected the oceans to get noisier because of increasing human activity. “The more goods you buy, the more shipping you have, so the more noise you have.” says Luca Possenti, a scientist studying sound in the ocean at the Royal Netherlands Institute. But Possenti and his co-worker realized that climate change might also influence how sound travels through the water.
Human-caused climate change is changing ocean temperatures, salt levels and acidity (酸度). So Possenti’s team used computers to model how those factors (因素) influence noise levels across the world’s oceans.
When waters become more acidic, they can’t take in sound at some wavelengths as well, so those sounds can travel further, adding to the noise in some areas. This effect is relatively small. Other changes impact the sound level more, the researchers found. Changes to temperature and salt levels can change how well different layers (层) of the ocean mix, which, in turn, impacts how sound travels.
The team predicted (预测) models of the world in about 70 years if climate change continues. And then they compared them with models of the world now. In the North Atlantic, they saw an increase in sound levels in the upper 125 meters of the ocean. This was caused mostly by ice melting (融化) off of Greenland, forming a cold layer of water near the ocean’s surface. Sound traveling through water tends to go toward the coldest area. As a result, sound waves tended to get stuck in the cold top layer-spreading further out across the water, instead of traveling deeper. That increased the noisiness at this depth in the North Atlantic. The models suggested that a single ship could sound about five times as loud underwater because of this. Considering all the ship traffic between Europe and North America, that may stress animals, many of which communicate, and catch food with sound.
1. How is paragraph 2 developed?| A．By quoting an expert. | B．By using examples. |
| C．By making comparisons. | D．By presenting research findings. |
| A．Effects of temperature changes. | B．Some risk factors for a nosier sea. |
| C．Impacts of acidity on wavelengths. | D．Ways oceans mix and sound travels. |
| A．Sea animals will be protected from noises. |
| B．Added meltwater does more harm than good. |
| C．Greenland is hit the hardest by climate change. |
| D．The result of the research is based on prediction. |
| A．Increase in salt levels. | B．Failure of acidity control. |
| C．Change in the ocean depths. | D．Formation of a cold water layer. |
9 . Study Abroad Scholarships to Apply for in 2024
Found the perfect study abroad program, but don’t know how to pay for it? Fortunately, here are some study abroad scholarship opportunities for students looking to take their studies overseas!
Trenchard Cox ScholarshipAll you have to do is write two 400-word reasoned descriptions: one on a work of art you love and one that you hate. The scholarship, established in memory of Sir Trenchard Cox, awards the winner an Art History Abroad 2-week summer course in Venice.
Requirement: At least 16 and no older than 18 years of age
Deadline: March 1, 2024
Arcadia Abroad Scholarships & Financial AidDid you know that Arcadia Abroad provides financial aid to around 70% of students who apply for it? It values equity, diversity, and inclusivity when awarding scholarships. Students who apply for scholarships will need to write a 300-word essay.
Requirement: Must be included in an Arcadia Abroad program
Award: $ 500-$ 2,500
Deadline: February 1, 2024
AIFS Study Abroad Scholarships, Grants & Financial SupportWe believe a study abroad experience is an important part of well-rounded university education and we are committed to providing financial help to as many students as possible. AIFS also offers internship (实习期) and study abroad + internship mixed programs to support the development of personal and professional skills.
Award: $ 500- $ 5,000
Deadline: June 1, 2024
American Association of University Women(AAUW) Fellowships & GrantsThe AAUW supports women searching for a variety of graduate academic opportunities. There are no barriers (障碍) to full participation in this organization. Preference is given to those who show great interest in the advancement of girls and women.
Requirement: Women only
Award:$ 2,000- $ 50,000
Deadline: November 15, 2024
1. What is required to apply for Trenchard Cox Scholarship?| A．Being over 18 years of age. | B．Fluency in English and Italian. |
| C．Two 400-word essays on artworks. | D．A member of the Art History Abroad summer course. |
| A．Trenchard Cox Scholarship. |
| B．Arcadia Abroad Scholarships & Financial Aid. |
| C．AIFS Study Abroad Scholarships, Grants & Financial Support. |
| D．American Association of University Women(AAUW)Fellowships & Grants. |
| A．A freshman suffering economically. | B．A graduate needing internship abroad. |
| C．An art student from a developing country. | D．A female student devoted to women education. |
10 . Resting her phone on a stand and making the light more suitable, 49-year-old Lyu Min started her livestreaming session — her daily job during the COVID-19 outbreak. Dressed in a qipao, a traditional Chinese dress, Lyu started the livestreaming session from her workshop at 10 in the morning, sharing the art of making Chinese knots with many handicraft (手工艺) lovers. Lyu, an inheritor (继承人) of the art of making Chinese knots, which is listed as an intangible (非物质) cultural heritage, became a livestreaming host.
“Though the sales of Chinese knots have dropped a lot, I’m still confident that I can get out of the trouble brought by the outbreak. I can make full use of this period to improve my skills and develop this traditional handicraft online,” she said. Lyu is quite new to the world of livestreaming, having bought all the necessary equipment (设备) after following her friends advice. She practises livestreaming every day and records a large number of educational videos. As face-to-face interaction is still impractical for many, even as the outbreak has been largely brought under control in China, she thinks livestreaming classes can meet more Chinese knot lovers’ needs to learn the handicraft.
She has integrated the anti-epidemic spirit into her works, expressing the determination (决心) and confidence of the Chinese people to win against the COVID-19. “I love Wuhan, where I showed my works in 2019. Chinese knots are popular among many local people, and I made lots of friends there,” Lyu said. She designed a special Chinese knot to express her thanks to the medics who were sent to support Wuhan several months ago.
She has more than 200 followers right now. There are more and more Chinese knot lovers on her online platform. She is using a length of colored string and determination to keep this traditional art of Chinese knots alive online and help more people understand the culture.
1. The underlined word “livestreaming” in Paragraph 1 is close to “_______”.| A．sending out while happening | B．equipment for recording videos |
| C．sending out after recording | D．equipment for making handicrafts |
| A．Lyu Min advised her friends to livestream traditional handicraft online. |
| B．Lyu Min’s friends provided the necessary equipment for her to livestream. |
| C．Chinese knots sell very well in Lyu Min’s workshop through the Internet. |
| D．More Chinese knot lovers want to learn the handicraft because of Lyu Min. |
| A．Unexpected. | B．Hopeful. | C．Difficult | D．Doubtful. |
| A．Having online classes during the outbreak | B．Introducing an intangible cultural heritage |
| C．Livestreaming the art of making Chinese knots | D．Expressing thanks to the doctors and nurses |
