1 . With 11 foreign languages under her belt, 68-year-old villager-turned tour guide Xu Xiuzhen has become a celebrity in the town of Yangshuo.
Xu was born in a poor family at the base of Moon Hill. In the late 1970s, Yangshuo became one of the country’s first tourist destinations to welcome foreign visitors after China’s reform and opening up in 1978. “I began to see more foreign faces near Mt. Moon, and locals who spoke some English sold more bottled water than me,” said Xu. “No English, no money.” With the influx of foreign guests in Yangshuo, a large number of villagers sought opportunities to learn English given the booming tourism market. Xu eagerly joined the craze. At that time, she made a living on farming and occasionally sold bottled water to tourists near Mt. Moon.
Over the past 16 years, Xu never stops learning and has taught herself 11 foreign languages, including English, Spanish, Japanese and Korean. But the polyglot farmer’s success has been hard-won. She started learning simple English phrases 16 years ago. “I used Pinyin to memorize the pronunciation of English words, but my strong southern accent made it quite difficult to understand,” said Xu. So, “I turned to foreign visitors for help, and I always appreciate their feedback because they have helped me correct my word choices and pronunciation.”
Not content to simply serve as a tour guide, she now owns a popular restaurant and operates a reputable hotel. Huang Yongzhong, director of Yangshuo’s tourism bureau, said Xu’s success has encouraged many farmers to follow suit. He added that the government supports local tour guides by providing frequent training on the laws and regulations of the tourism industry. Farmers in Yangshuo are passionate, sincere and hard-working, and this spirit will lead to more success stories like that of her, he said.
1. What does the underlined word “craze” in Paragraph 2 refer to?A.Learning English. | B.Living by farming. |
C.Selling bottled water. | D.Welcoming foreign visitors. |
A.making use of Pinyin | B.imitating southern accent |
C.learning from foreigners’ feedback | D.polishing the pronunciation of words |
A.Neutral. | B.Skeptical. | C.Positive. | D.Cautious. |
A.Practice makes perfect | B.One who fails to reach the Great Wall is not a hero |
C.Don’t judge a book by its cover | D.The “late” bird strives to catch the worm |
2 . A phrase “less screen time and more green time” is popular now. A study from the University of Adelaide found that more time outside and less time spent watching TV is connected with better psychological (心理的) results and school achievements among teenagers. Gardening is a great way to do so.
Jim Carter, a psychologist of America, is asking for teenagers’ return to traditional values of gardening, and thinks that they need to turn off the TV and go outside to do something healthier instead. Carter even considers it important to put gardening as a usual course because it is proven to be good for mental health.
“It’s physical exercise, and it teaches patience,” Carter explains. “The wait for a small sunflower seed (葵花籽) to become a six-foot plant is long.”
“I’m hearing that teenagers are struggling to deal with stress, and every time they open Gardeners’ World, they talk about how gardening helps them deal with stress. They learn so much about life, and so much about themselves through gardening,” said Lee Connelly, a teacher who is carrying out his own green school programme—Gardeners’ World. “The join of gardening into the class course for schools presents a remarkable chance to change education and the benefits are far beyond the classroom, influencing mental health, behavior and developing a lifelong love for horticulture (园艺).”
1. What does Carter suggest teenagers do?A.Do exercise at home. | B.Go back to gardening. |
C.Turn on the TV at night. | D.Pay attention to psychological courses. |
A.To prove gardening is easy. | B.To say dealing with stress is difficult. |
C.To show green time is hard to find. | D.To explain gardening develops patience. |
A.It is meaningful. | B.It is useless. | C.It is costly. | D.It is challenging. |
A.Time to Get Close to TV |
B.Being Sporty, Being Healthy |
C.Less Screen Time, Better School Achievements |
D.Gardening: A Good Green Moment for Teenagers |
3 . If you are crazy about paintings, you shouldn’t miss the following four famous masterpieces which have stood the test of time.
The Arnolfini Portrait
Jan van Eyck’s Arnolfini Portrait, an oil painting on wood produced in 1434, in which a man and a woman hold hands with a window behind him and a bed behind her, is undoubtedly one of the masterpieces in the National Gallery, London. This painting is as visually interesting as it is famed. It is also an informative document in fifteenth-century society, through Van Eyck’s heavy use of symbolism—while husbands went out to engage in business, wives concerned themselves with domestic duties.
The Starry Night
Vincent van Gogh painted The Starry Night, oil on canvas, a moderately abstract landscape painting of an expressive night sky over a small hillside village, during his 12-month stay at the mental hospital near Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, France between 1889 and 1890. When the Museum of Modern Art in New York City purchased the painting from a private collector in 1941, it was not well known, but it has since become one of Van Gogh’s most famous works.
The Harvesters
The Harvesters is an oil painting on wood completed by Pieter Bruegel the Elder in 1565. It depicts the harvest time which most commonly occurs within the months of August and September. Nicolaes Jonghelinck, a merchant banker and art collector from Antwerp, commissioned this painting. The painting has been at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City since 1919.
Guernica
Guernica, a large black-and-white oil painting, was painted by the Cubist Spanish painter, Pablo Picasso in 1937. The title “Guernica” refers to the city that was bombed by Nazi planes during the Spanish Civil War. The painting depicts the horrors of war and as a result, has come to be an anti-war symbol and a reminder of the tragedies of war. Today, the painting is housed at the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofaí in Madrid.
1. Which of the following paintings was produced earliest?A.The Arnolfini Portrait. | B.The Starry Night. |
C.The Harvesters. | D.Guernica. |
A.It was painted on wood in oil. |
B.It wasn’t widely recognized before 1940s. |
C.It described the painter’s life in hospital. |
D.It was given away to the museum by a private collector. |
A.Pieter Bruegel the Elder. | B.Vincent van Gogh. |
C.Jan van Eyck. | D.Pablo Picasso. |
4 . When Hurricane Ian hit Florida, Karen Lauder refused to leave her home because she was wrong about the intensity(强度) of the storm. Karen is 84 years old and depends on a wheelchair to get around because she is missing a leg. Her son, Johnny Lauder, tried repeatedly to get her to leave, but she refused.
Johnny and his whole family live within a few blocks of one another. They kept in touch with Karen as the storm continued violently(猛烈地) outside, watching the water rising dangerously all around them. When Karen reported that the water in her house had reached her bottom, Johnny knew he had to take action.
First, Johnny ensured his sons and their pets were taken care of. Then, he jumped out of a window and began to swim. Johnny used to work as a rescue swimmer. He is obviously a strong swimmer, but the flood water was filled with dangerous materials. There was also a strong current (水流), and he had to swim against it for most of his trip to Karen’s. As he made his way through the water, Johnny stopped periodically to snap selfies(自拍) to show his worried family that he was okay.
Johnny was racing against the clock. He knew he only had a short period of time to get there before the water rose above Karen’s head. It took him 40 minutes to swim four blocks. The sound of Karen shouting inside was music to his ears!
“If it would’ve been 20 minutes later, she wouldn’t be here,” Johnny said.“She’s never been happier to see me.”
Karen is now safe, although she is in the hospital being treated for infections(感染) she got in the water. The family have all lost everything they owned, including their houses, but they’re grateful just to be here.
1. Why did Karen decide to stay in her house when Hurricane Ian came?A.She had nowhere to go. |
B.She was too old to move. |
C.She thought the storm was not violent. |
D.She lost her wheelchair and was unable to leave. |
A.To record his swimming trip. | B.To show off his swimming skills. |
C.To warn other rescuers of danger. | D.To report his safety to his family. |
A.By shouting. | B.Over the phone. |
C.Through e-mail. | D.With other’s help. |
A.Curious. | B.Frightened. | C.Confused. | D.Relieved. |
5 . Enveloped by history, style and culture, the City of Light has more than enough to draw visitors all year around. But there are certain times of year when a trip to Paris can be extra-special.
Paris Fashion Week
When: Men June/July; women March and September/October
In 1943 the world’s first “fashion week” took place in New York. The idea? To offer the Big Apple’s fashion buyers alternatives to the French dresses they were missing out on during the war. Today Paris can claim to be the world’s style capital, with people pouring to its annual fashion weeks. Wear your best dress around the Tuileries Garden and a street-style photographer may even stop you for a shot.
Music Festival
When: June
The streets of Paris come alive with the sound of music every June as free parties and concerts ring throughout the city. The Arab World Institute, the Louvre and Place Denfert-Rochereau are among the best party spots-though we recommend simply wandering. Expect surprises around every corner.
Bastille Day
When: July
On July 14 France marks the storming of the Bastille prison — a turning point in the French Revolution. In the morning crowds gather to watch a military parade along the Champs Elysees. Come evening, up to a million people gather as fireworks are set off from the base of the Eiffel Tower. Advantageous position? The top of the Belville Park. Get down early and bring a picnic chair.
Grape Harvest Festival
When: October
You may have dropped by the Montmartre Museum. But what about the private grape plantation around the back of Paris’s hilliest neighborhood? Every year locals come together to celebrate the distinctive grape wine produced here. There’s a charity wine sale, dance parties and, of course, plenty of tasting.
1. What was the purpose of the world’s first “fashion week” in New York?A.To promote American fashion designers. | B.To display the upcoming fashion collections. |
C.To satisfy the fashion needs of New Yorkers. | D.To show the development of fashion industry. |
A.Raise funds for charity. | B.Join mask dancing parties. |
C.Appreciate local artwork. | D.Try different kinds of wine. |
A.The Tuileries Garden. | B.Place Denfert-Rochereau. |
C.The Champs Elysees. | D.The Belville Park. |
6 . “The Worthington Christian defeated the Westerville North by 2—1 in an Ohio boys’ soccer game on Saturday.” That’s according to a story that appeared last month in The Columbus Dispatch. That lead was written not by a sportswriter, but by an artificial intelligence (AI) tool.
Many news organizations are now examining how AI might be used in their work. But if they begin their “experimenting” with high school sports because they are less momentous than war, peace, climate change and politics, they may miss something crucial. Nothing may be more important to the students who play high school sports, and to their families, neighborhoods, and sometimes, the whole town. That next game is what the students train for, work toward, and dream about. Someday, almost all student athletes will go on to have jobs in front of screens, in office parks, at schools, in hospitals or on construction sites. They may suffer blows and setbacks. But the high school games they played and watched, as well as their hopes and cheers, will stay vivid in their memories.
I have a small idea. If newspapers will no longer send staff reporters to cover high school games, why not hire high school student journalists? News organizations can pay students an hourly wage to cover high school games. The young reporters might learn how to be fair to all sides, write vividly, and attract readers. That’s what some celebrities in sports did, and do.
And think of the great writers who were inspired by sports: Hemingway on fishing, Bernard Malamud and Marianne Moore on baseball, Chen Zhongshi on football, and CLR James on cricket, who said, “There can be raw pain and bleeding where so many thousands see the inevitable (不可避免的) ups and downs of only a game.” A good high school writer, unlike a robot, could tell readers not just the score, but the stories of the game.
1. Why is the lead mentioned in the first paragraph?A.To introduce an original idea. | B.To show AI’s wide application. |
C.To bring in the opinion about AI. | D.To stress AI’s importance to news. |
A.Hopeful. | B.Eye-catching. | C.Competitive. | D.Far-reaching. |
A.Rich in contents. | B.Fair in comments. |
C.Centered on results. | D.Targeted on readers. |
A.News Organizations Are Abusing AI | B.High Schoolers Can Do What AI Can’t |
C.Great Writers Are Crazy About Sports | D.AI Ruins High School Students’ Memory |
7 . For decades sleep scientists have thought over the link between dreaming and creative inspiration. They have long thought the insight came from the stage of rapid eye movement sleep, which is rich with dreams and begins around 90 minutes after one falling asleep. But new evidence puts the spotlight on a much earlier phase — the period that separates sleep and wakefulness. In a study by MIT, researchers show that people who take brief naps (小睡) that bring about the beginning of sleep score higher on several measures of creativity than those who undertake the tasks after staying awake.
The findings suggest researchers could even exercise some measure of control over the dreaming process by directing people's dreams toward a specific topic. The more frequently people dreamed about that, the more creative they were on tasks related to it. “We can come to the conclusion that dreaming about a topic enhances your subsequent creativity on it,” says Robert Stickgold, a member of the study team.
The experiment took advantage of a glovelike sleep detector, which charts sleep by monitoring one's muscle tone, skin conductance and heart rate through contacts on the wrist and hand. It communicates with an app that issues voice prompts (提示) for dreams and records dream reports.
More than one famous thinker has capitalized on the phase called non-rapid eye movement sleep stage 1,or N1, illustrating the point about generating creative insights. The painter Salvador Dalí would deliberately nap, holding a set of keys above a metal plate, when thinking over an idea for a painting. As he nodded off, he'd drop the keys, which would hit the plate and wake him up, and he'd hold onto the image from his dream. Thomas Alva Edison is said to have used a similar technique with metal balls to gain insights.
“It's exciting because, in principle, people could use the technology themselves to develop creativity,” says Jonathan Schooler, a professor of psychological and brain sciences at the University of California. There seems to be no shortage of folks coming to try it. “So many different kinds of people have visited, knocking on the lab door and asking to have dreams,” co-lead investigator Haar Horowitz says.
1. Which phase boosts creative ideas according to the study?A.The initial sleep stage. | B.The middle of the sleep cycle. |
C.The wakefulness after sleep. | D.The rapid eye movement sleep stage. |
A.Physical changes reflect the sleep phase. | B.Dream contents re late to real life. |
C.Creativity levels vary with the nap length. | D.The theme of the dream can be guided. |
A.Encourages. | B.Improves. | C.Tracks. | D.Influences. |
A.To prove the effect of dreams. | B.To provide support for the findings. |
C.To interpret the benefits of N1. | D.To give examples of fueling creativity. |
8 . Laughter comes in many forms, from a polite and quiet laugh to a great hearty laugh. Scientists are now developing an AI system to recreate different laughs in proper social contexts. The team behind the laughing robot Erica said that the system could improve natural conversations between people and an AI robot. “We think that one of the important functions of conversational AI is empathy(共情),” said Dr Koji Inoue, the lead author of the research. “So we decided that one way a robot can empathize with its users is to share their laughter.”
The team have set out to teach their AI system the art of conversational laughter. They gathered training data from more than 80 daily dialogues between male subjects and the robot that was initially operated by four actresses remotely. The dialogue data was grouped into social laughs (where polite or embarrassed laughter isn’t involved) and laughter of joy. Based on the audio files, the algorithm(算法) learned the basic characteristics of social laughs, which tend to be softer, and merry laughs, with the aim of mirroring these inappropriate situations.
“Our biggest obstructor in the work was identifying the actual cases of shared laughter because as you know, most laughter is actually not shared at all,” said Inoue. “We had to carefully decide exactly which laughs we could use for our analysis and we couldn’t just assume that any laugh can be responded to. It was really not easy work.” The team said laughter could help create robots with their own distinct character although it could take more than 20 years before it would be possible to have a casual chat with a robot like we would with a friend.
“One of the things we’d keep in mind is that a laughing robot or algorithm will never be able to understand you or the meaning of laughter,” points out Prof. Sandra Wachter of the Oxford Internet Institute. “But with their development, they might get very good at tricking you into believing they understand what’s going on.”
1. Why did Inoue’s team develop the AI system?A.To better understand human empathy. |
B.To promote the social skills of robots. |
C.To explore the differences between laughs. |
D.To assist robots in identifying people's moods. |
A.Repeat the details of the 80 dialogues |
B.Distinguish people by hearing their laughs |
C.Recreate a scene played by the four actresses |
D.Master the features of laughs provided by data. |
A.Potential. | B.Barrier. | C.Alternative. | D.Division. |
A.Are AI systems going beyond human ability? |
B.Can conversational AI really understand us? |
C.Laughing robots are round the conner. |
D.Robots become laughing masters. |
9 . Spain is a country that lies in southwestern Europe. It’s surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea on the south and the east, while to the north and northeast of Spain lie France, Andorra and the Bay of Biscay. The west and northwest of Spain are surrounded by Portugal and the Atlantic Ocean.
The official name of the state is the Kingdom of Spain. Madrid is the capital city, which is also one of the famous places in Spain. Spain, which covers 505,925 square kilometres, is one of the largest countries in Europe.
The weather in Spain differs from one area to another. Most of the rain that happens in Spain is in the mountainous areas. The plains hardly receive any rainfall.
Soccer is an important part of life in Spain. It’s said that Spanish children learn to walk and play soccer at exactly the same time. Real Madrid and FC Barcelona are two Spanish soccer teams, which are respected by soccer fans not only in Spain, but all over the world. The popularity of the sport can be judged from the fact that three major soccer teams, which are Real Madrid, Atletico de Madrid, and Rayo Vallecano, were born in Madrid.
If you are a tourist, then you will want to know about the driving rules in Spain. If you’re not from the European Union, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, or Liechtenstein, then for you to drive you’ll have to carry your international driver’s license. Bad news if you haven’t celebrated your 18th birthday. If you want to rent a car, then you must have completed 21 years of age. If you’re driving, make sure you take all the documents at all times during your stay in Spain.
1. Paragraph 1 is mainly about .A.the history of Spain | B.the location of Spain |
C.famous cities in Spain | D.neighbouring countries of Spain |
A.Three major soccer teams were born in Madrid. |
B.Spanish people enjoy watching soccer matches. |
C.Spanish people play soccer when they are walking. |
D.Spanish soccer teams have fans all over the world. |
A.Tom who is 17 years old. | B.Jenny who is 19 years old. |
C.Mike who is 20 years old. | D.Bruce who is 22 years old. |
A.explain how to enjoy life in Spain | B.prove Spain is a beautiful country |
C.make readers know more about Spain | D.attract more people to pay a visit to Spain |
10 . The Monarch butterfly (帝王蝶) population has dropped to its second-lowest number on record in Mexican forests this winter. The forests are the insects’ winter home. The population decrease is worrying as the butterfly group is already considered at risk of disappearance.
Mexico’s government and the non-profit World Wildlife Fund (WWF) recently issued findings of their yearly joint study on the butterflies. The research shows that the Monarch butterfly presence has decreased to less than a hectare (公顷) of forest area. In the mid-1990s, Monarch butterflies could be found on around 18 hectares of the forests. The findings represent an almost 60 percent decrease in the Monarch butterfly population compared to last year’s study. It is also the second-lowest population finding since the first study took place more than thirty years ago.
Biologists blame the drop on higher-than-usual temperatures and dry conditions in the northwestern U. S. where the butterflies lay eggs. The weather conditions affect the growth of milkweed, the plant where the butterflies lay their eggs. When the young arrive, milkweed is their food for a time. In one of the planet’s famous wildlife migrations (迁徙), the butterflies travel south as many as 4,500 kilometers from places as far north as Canada. They spend the winter in warmer Mexico, where millions of the insects stay in trees that protect them from the rain and cold.
Monarch butterfly populations change year to year. As recently as 2021, the same study showed a 35 percent increase to cover around 2.8 hectares. Officials and activists called for more action to help the species. Such calls include the need to reduce threats of destroying milkweed and the need to protect forests. “We can’t lower our guard,” Jorge Rickards, head of WWF’s Mexico office, told reporters after releasing the latest data.
1. What can be learned from the second paragraph?A.The reasons for the Monarch butterfly population decrease. |
B.The findings of the research on the Monarch butterfly population. |
C.The efforts Mexico’s government and World Wildlife Fund have made. |
D.The effects of the Monarch butterfly population decrease on the environment. |
A.Habitat loss. | B.Human hunting. |
C.Weather conditions. | D.Their natural enemies. |
A.Plant milkweed. | B.Keep the species in a reserve. |
C.Promote public education. | D.Watch over the forests. |
A.The Monarch Butterflies Are a Threat to Other Insects |
B.The Monarch Butterfly Population Decrease Is a Concern |
C.Mexican Forests Are the Winter Home of the Monarch Butterflies |
D.The Monarch Butterflies Often Suffer When Travelling to Spend Winter |