1 . Improved mental health is on the agenda for many people in 2024 and being organized is the preferred method of realizing it.
Disorganization is often considered to have a negative impact on the way we see ourselves and the lives we lead. The studied downsides of living in a disorganized environment include memory problems, poor eating habits, and decreased self-control. “There’s an obvious link between increased stress and anxiety disorders and living in a messy space,” says Daniel Levitin, a behavioral neuroscientist (行为神经科学家) at McGill University.
“Disorganization brings a loss of productivity that is difficult to quantify (量化),” says Levitin. He points to the amount of time people lose looking for lost items, missing appointments, or falling behind at work or school because of disordered living. “The average person likely loses 5 percent of their time due to disorganization,” he says. “Take your annual salary, multiply that by 5 percent, and you can measure what disorganization may be costing you.”
Joseph Ferrari, one of the most recognized scholars on disorganization research, says that nearly every mental health downside that comes from disorganization can be improved by getting organized. “You’ll feel more energetic, enhance your productivity in the office, and greatly improve the quality of your life,” he says.
Tidy homes have been found to be a predictor of physical health. “Those whose houses are cleaner are more active and physically healthy,” says Libby Sander, an assistant professor of organizational behavior. Part of this is due to organized people being better at managing their time, but it’s also because research demonstrates that less clutter can help improve one’s diet. “Studies show an association between clutter and overweight,” says Libby.
Getting organized has also been shown to decrease one’s stress levels, increase personal efficiency, and even improve sleep. Another studied advantage of getting organized may be improving the quality of one’s relationships. Libby explains that relationships can be negatively impacted when too much clutter affects communication or distracts one’s brain from noticing important message from their partner. Research shows this can cause others to feel ignored, misunderstood, or unimportant.
1. What does Levitin say concerning living a disorganized life?| A．It has been well realized by people. |
| B．It’s many people’s New Year resolution. |
| C．It has an obvious impact on mental state. |
| D．It’s closely related to the living environment. |
| A．By giving examples. | B．By making comparisons. |
| C．By repeating other experts’ words. | D．By referring to previous studies. |
| A．decoration. | B．mess. | C．furniture. | D．light. |
| A．The Neuroscience Behind Healthy Minds |
| B．The Cost of Chaos — How Disorganization Affects Your Life |
| C．Mental Health in 2024 — Self-control as a Priority |
| D．Organize for Success — Boosting Health and Productivity |
2 . The maker of ChatGPT recently announced its next move into generative(有生产力的)artificial intelligence. San Francisco-based OpenAI’s new text-to-video generator, called Sora, is a tool that instantly makes short videos based on written commands, called prompts.
Sora is not the first of its kind. Google, Meta and Runway ML are among the other companies to have developed similar technology. But the high quality of videos displayed by OpenAI —some released after CEO Sam Altman asked social media users to send in ideas for written prompts —surprised observers.
A photographer from New Hampshire posted one suggestion, or prompt, on X. The prompt gave details about a kind of food to be cooked, gnocchi(意大利团子), as well as the setting —an old Italian country kitchen. The prompt said: “An instructional cooking session for homemade gnocchi, hosted by a grandmother —a social media influencer, set in a rustic(土气的)Tuscan country kitchen.” Altman answered a short time later with a realistic video that showed what the prompt described.
The tool is not yet publicly available. OpenAI has given limited information about how it was built. The company also has not stated what imagery and video sources were used to train Sora. At the same time, the video results led to fears about the possible ethical and societal effects.
The New York Times and some writers have taken legal actions against OpenAI for its use of copyrighted works of writing to train ChatGPT. And OpenAI pays a fee to The Associated Press, the source of this report, to license its text news archive(档案). OpenAI said in a blog post that it is communicating with artists, policymakers and others before releasing the new tool to the public.
The company added that it is working with “red teamers” — people who try to find problems and give helpful suggestions — to develop Sora. “We are working with red teamers who will be adversarially(对立地)testing the model,” the company said. “We’re also building tools to help detect misleading content such as a detection classifier that can tell when a video was generated by Sora.”
1. What makes Sora impressive?| A．Its artificial intelligence history. |
| B．Its extraordinary video quality. |
| C．Its ethical and societal influence. |
| D．Its written commands and prompts. |
| A．The company’s current challenge. |
| B．The company’s advanced technology. |
| C．The company’s problems in management. |
| D．The company’s efforts for Sora’s improvement. |
| A．Some disagreements over Sora have arisen. |
| B．Sora is the first text-to-video generator in history. |
| C．OpenAI CEO Altman wrote a prompt as an example. |
| D．All the details about how Sora was built have been shared. |
| A．Pessimistic. | B．Optimistic. | C．Neutral. | D．Cautious. |
3 . 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 (环境). 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 robot 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 (认为) 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 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．difficulty | C．choice | D．mistake |
| A．Are AI systems going beyond human ability? |
| B．Can conversational AI really understand us? |
| C．Laughing robots are round the corner |
| D．Robots become laughing masters |
4 . Tours & Admission ｜Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens
Explore the former estate (庄园) of F. A. Seiberling, co-founder of The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company.
Guided Manor House TourExperience the Manor House through the eyes of a trained tour guide and learn more about what life was like at the estate when the Seiberling family lived here. This tour lasts about 75 minutes.
Non-member Adult 18 +: $21 Non-member Youth（ages 3-17）: $10Children 2 & under: Free Stan Hywet Members: 50% off the non-member price
Nooks & Crannies Tour
Take this tour to learn more about the domestic staff who worked and lived at the estate. This tour lasts about 90 minutes. It includes several flights of stairs and narrow passageways and is not recommended for guests who are unable to stand or walk for long distances.
Non-member Adult 18+: $ 30 Non-member Youth（ages 3-17）: $ 15Children 2 & under: Free Stan Hywet Members: 50% off the non-member price
Gardens, Gate Lodge & Corbin Conservatory
Enjoy Stan Hywet's historic gardens and grounds at your own pace on this self-guided grounds tour. Purchase the ticket upon arrival.
Non-member Adult 18+: $ 15 Non-member Youth（ages 3-17）: $7Children 2 & under: Free Stan Hywet Members: Free
Guided Garden Tour
The Guided Garden Tour takes guests around the estate and focuses on how the Seiberlings worked closely with their landscape architect on the overall design of the property. This tour is offered at 11:30 am & 2:30 pm, May through September.
Non-member Adult 18+: $ 21 Non-member Youth（ages 3-17）: $ 10Children 2 & under: Free Stan Hywet Members: 50% off the non-member price
1. How much should a non-member married couple pay to explore the Manor House?
| A．$ 10. | B．$ 20. | C．$ 21. | D．$ 42. |
| A．It runs seasonally. | B．It is physically demanding. |
| C．It offers a trained tour guide. | D．It is only targeted at members. |
| A．Guided Garden Tour. | B．Nooks & Crannies Tour. |
| C．Guided Manor House Tour. | D．Gardens, Gate Lodge & Corbin Conservatory. |
5 . Newly published Federal Trade Commission data shows that consumers reported losing more than $5.8 billion to scams (欺诈) in 2021, an increase of more than 70 percent over the previous year.
Of the losses reported by consumers, more than $2.3 billion of losses reported were due to imposter (假冒者) scams—up from $1.2 billion in 2020, while online shopping accounted for about $392 million in reported losses from consumers—up from $246 million in 2020. Prizes, internet services and job chances followed closely behind.
The FTC’s Consumer Sentinel Network (Sentinel ) is a database that receives reports directly from consumers, as well as from federal, state, and local law enforcement(执行) agencies, industry members, and non-profit organizations. It received more than 5.7 million reports in 2021; these include the scam reports detailed above, as well as identity theft reports and complaints related to other consumer problems, such as problems with banks and lenders. These reports are a key resource for FTC studies that stop illegal activities and, when possible, provide aids to consumers.
The FTC uses the reports it receives through Sentinel as the starting point for many of its law enforcement studies, and the agency also shares these reports with approximately 2, 800 federal, state, local, and international law enforcement professionals.
The Federal Trade Commission works to promote competition and protect and educate consumers. The FTC will never demand money, make threats, tell you to transfer money, or promise you a prize. Learn more about consumer topics at consumer.ftc.gov, or report scams, and bad business practices at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. Follow the FTC on social media, read consumer warnings and the business blog, and sign up to get the latest FTC news and warnings.
1. How much was lost to scams in 2020?| A．About $3.4 billion. | B．About $ 4.1 billion. |
| C．About $5.8 billion. | D．About $9.8 billion. |
| A．Prize scams. | B．Imposter scams. |
| C．Online shopping scams. | D．Internet service scams. |
| A．Relations between the FTC and Sentinel. | B．Introductions to Sentinel’s primary work. |
| C．Problems to be worked out by Sentinel. | D．Expectations for setting up Sentinel. |
| A．Make donations to the FTC. | B．Educate consumers with the FTC. |
| C．Publicize the FTC on social media. | D．Value the FTC warning information. |
6 . In much of the western United States, drought and access to fresh water is a critical issue. However, recently California came up with a novel solution. The state approved regulations that allow agencies to purify wastewater for drinking. This recycled wastewater may be consumed in homes, schools, and businesses.
As the population in California has exploded in recent decades, the state has struggled to meet demands for fresh water. Recycled wastewater will allow the state to increase access to the precious resource.
Recycled wastewater is not new to the state. It has previously been used in ice hockey rinks (冰球场), for crops, and to generate artificial snow. But now, water agencies will have the option to put recycled wastewater back into pipes for drinking. California is only the second state to allow purified wastewater to be consumed. The first was Colorado in 2022.
While the idea of drinking recycled wastewater may be off-putting, regulators spent more than a decade developing rules and regulations to ensure safety. Independent panels of scientists also reviewed the state’s rules around recycled wastewater consumption. All water will be treated for pathogens (病原体) and viruses before being available for consumption.
So far, the state’s plan has been met with approval from large water agencies. Many of them have plans to construct wastewater recycling plans over the next few years. In Southern California, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California has set a goal aiming to produce 150 million gallons of direct and indirect recycled water per day. This water will be in the pipes of the 19 million people throughout the six counties that the agency serves.
Officials are aware that a certain amount of public convincing may still be necessary. However, they remain optimistic about the future of the project, reminding consumers that the water is safe, and that recycled water is already in use in California.
1. Why does California pass new regulations about recycled wastewater?| A．To ease the pressure of drought. | B．To increase the supply of fresh water. |
| C．To recycle the wastewater for industry. | D．To reduce the pollution of the wastewater. |
| A．Surprising. | B．Necessary. | C．Funny. | D．Awful. |
| A．The goal of wastewater recycling is hard to achieve. |
| B．The state’s plan will be conducted by water agencies. |
| C．Southern California will reduce its water production. |
| D．People in California tend to prefer recycled water. |
| A．Many people still disapprove of the project. |
| B．The public are optimistic about the project. |
| C．It will never be suitable to use recycled water. |
| D．The project is the only solution to water shortage. |
7 . Time is a valuable resource, especially for those who need to deal with academic demands, personal growth, and social activities at the same time. Effective time management not only leads to increased productivity, but reduces stress.
Setting clear and achievable short-term and long-term goals is essential for youth.
Furthermore, learning to say no is a valuable skill for youth. With numerous opportunities and interests, it’s easy to become overwhelmed. By being selective about commitments, young adults can arrange their time and energy wisely. Saying no to non-essential activities frees up time for important tasks.
In the pursuit of personal success, young adults often find themselves caught up in a series of responsibilities and commitments. However, it’s essential for them to recognize that life shouldn’t be like this. Self-care plays a vital role in time management.
| A．That actually prevents over-commitment. |
| B．One should constantly review how time is spent. |
| C．It creates opportunities for personal development as well. |
| D．Developing a daily schedule helps young adults stay organized. |
| E．Putting things off constantly is a common time management project. |
| F．By knowing what they want to accomplish, they can prioritize their tasks. |
| G．Youth should value adequate rest and activities that promote their well-being. |
8 . A self-repairing material made from a protein in spider silk works as an electrical circuit when graphene (石墨烯) is added to it.
Hsuan-Chen Wu at the Taiwan University and his colleagues collected silk from giant golden orb-weaver spiders and dissolved it in a chemical called hexafluoroisopropanol. They dried the solution to create a thin film and made a small cut in it, about 30 micrometers wide, with a razor blade. When they added a few drops of water to the site of damage, it started to heal. After 20 minutes, the scar width had reduced to just 2.4 micrometers.
“This is the first time silk materials from this spider have been shown to have self-healing ability,” says Wu. “We think adding water may make the proteins more flexible at the cut site, which helps them form networks to heal the material more quickly.”
The researchers identified a protein called R2 as the source of this ability. They modified E. coli bacterial cells to produce the protein, and then connected the ends of thin strips of it so that they self-healed to form a ring.
Next, the researchers laced another strip with graphene, allowing it to conduct electricity. They fused a layer of this to the ring using water and connected the ring to a circuit board with a display screen. The system could distinguish whether it was being worn on a finger, over nitrile gloves or in contact with aluminum foil based on the flow of electrical current.
It is a breakthrough in self-healing biomaterials, says Michael Kessler at Johns Hopkins University in Maryland. “They have created a new class of materials that could have a wide range of applications in fields such as biomedicine, electronics and textiles.”
1. What happened to the cut in the film?| A．It grew stronger. | B．Its damage furthered. |
| C．Its length had shortened. | D．It largely recovered by itself. |
| A．Water helps produce the silk protein. |
| B．The silk material has never been created before. |
| C．Water improves the performance of the silk. |
| D．The spider producing the silk material is a new species. |
| A．A ring. | B．A protein. | C．A bacterial cell. | D．Silk material. |
| A．It has a promising market. | B．It improves patients’ healing ability. |
| C．It is a game change r in material industry. | D．It performs better in material development. |
9 . One cold morning in early 2015, Lauren Passell was on her way to work. She’d been training hard for an upcoming marathon, and was limping slightly from a pain in her hip. She figured it was nothing serious. But it turned out to be a hairline stress fracture (发际应力性骨折).
So, when Passell slipped on the icy New York City sidewalk, she broke her hip. As she tried to get her bearings, a stranger emerged from the crowd and knelt beside her.
“All I remember is seeing her kind face, all bundled up, with a big hat and scarf,” Passell recalled. “She pushed everyone out of the way and said, ‘I’ve got this.’”
The woman introduced herself as Sharon Evans. As Evans helped Passell up, all Passell could think about was that she needed to get to work. But she was in terrible pain, and could barely stand. Seeing this, Evans told Passell to stay put while she called a cab.
Once the cab arrived, Evans got in with her. Passell tried to tell her that it wasn’t necessary. But Evans insisted. When the cab pulled up to the hospital, Evans took charge again.
She said, “You know what, I’m going to get the wheelchair for you and I’ll wheel you in.”
Evans didn’t just go into the hospital with Passell. She helped her fill out the paperwork, and even took Passell to the bathroom. Each time, Passell tried to persuade Evans to leave, to get to work. And each time, Evans refused.
Once it was time for Passell to be seen by doctors, Evans left. It turned out that Passell’s condition was grave. The doctors told her that she could have suffered due to complications from blood clots if she had not been sent there earlier.
Passell not only recovered, but ran a half marathon the next year. She says she owes this to Evans and that she hopes one day she could pick someone off the sidewalk.
1. What caused Passell’s pain in the hip according to Paragraph 1?| A．The old injury. | B．The work stress. |
| C．The cold weather. | D．The intensive running. |
| A．Serious. | B．Complex. | C．Inspiring. | D．Stable. |
| A．Active and energetic. | B．Reliable and creative. |
| C．Persistent and kind-hearted. | D．Cooperative and professional. |
| A．Passell became a close friend with Evans. | B．Passell hoped to pass the kindness down. |
| C．Passell should pay Evans some money. | D．Passell won a medal in the half marathon. |
10 . Few people realize it, but glaciers (冰川) are full of tiny air bubbles (气泡). They form as snow, accumulating over thousands of years, slowly packs into ice under its own weight — squishing the air that was trapped between snowflakes into tiny holes. Erin Pettit, a scientist, and her colleagues had suspected that bubbles could be important. To test this idea, they undertook a series of laboratory experiments.
They find that as the ice melted, the resulting fresh water rose, because it was less dense than the surrounding sea water. This created a rising current along the vertical face of the ice — a proof of what occurs at the front of a real tidewater glacier. When the glacial ice melted, the current that it produced was six times faster than what was seen with the bubble-free ice because the rising bubbles pulled the water up more quickly. The glacial ice melted 2.25 times more quickly than the bubble-free ice. “That’s a very powerful effect. If that’s the reality in nature, then it’s quite serious.”
The newly discovered bubble effect could explain some of that extra melting, says Mathieu Morlighem, a scientist. “It’s improving our understanding, but it’s not painting a darker picture of what’s happening today,” he says.
Pettit notes that in Alaska, many bays with tidewater glaciers have large populations of harbor seals. The animals shelter there while molting and raising babies. But in Glacier Bay, where the tidewater glaciers retreated (后退) many miles inland, the seal populations have declined. Pettit now suspects that the roaring rhythm of exploding bubbles provides a hiding place where seals can avoid detection by killer whale, which often find their victim by listening. The bubbles may mask the seals’ sounds — at least until the ice retreats out of hearing. This may turn out to be yet another way in which these tiny bubbles have surprisingly large-scale effects.
1. What does the underlined word “squishing” in paragraph I mean?| A．Absorbing. | B．Pressing. | C．Adding. | D．Reducing. |
| A．They produce a warm current of water. |
| B．They result in releasing more fresh water. |
| C．They have formed for thousands of years slowly. |
| D．They cause the ice in glaciers to melt more quickly. |
| A．Doubtful. | B．Favorable. | C．Disapproving. | D．Cautious. |
| A．The frog effect. | B．The bucket effect. |
| C．The butterfly effect. | D．The broken windows effect. |
