1 . Chinese scientists have identified a new protein that restricts HIV infection, a discovery that could pave the way for the development of new drugs against the virus. The protein, P-selectin glycoprotein ligand 1 (PSGL-1), which exists in human cells, can inhibit (抑制) the process by which HIV reproduces, according to research published in the science journal Nature Microbiology this month.
However, the study also showed that PSGL-1 can be negatively affected by Vpu — an accessory (附属) protein of HIV — which can neutralize the ability of PSGL-1 to resist HIV. Further research is under way to develop a drug that can inhibit the HIV protein so that PSGL-1 can restrict HIV, according to Tan Xu, a researcher at Tsinghua University's School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, a leading author of the study.
Several other proteins in human cells that could resist HIV have been discovered over the past 10 years, but the virus can also evade (避开) them. PSGL-1 shows particular promise in that it can inhibit HIV in multiple ways — especially by blocking the infectiousness of virus offspring, Tan said.
“We are starting to research into small molecule (分子) compounds in the hope of finding one that can restore PSGL-1’s anti-HIV function. In this way, we can develop a very effective antiviral drug for people with HIV/AIDS,” he said. Tan said it will require at least three to five years for the research to reach the preclinical stage, and more time after that before a clinical trial is possible. The research was conducted by researchers at Tsinghua University in Beijing, Fudan University in Shanghai and George Mason University in the United States.
Existing treatment methods for people with HIV/AIDS, which mostly rely on a combination of different drugs, can prevent the disease from progressing but cannot cure it, and long-term use of drugs can result in drug resistance.
An estimated 37 million people in the world live with HIV, according to the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS. The study provides new leads to developing antiviral drugs, Tsinghua University said in a statement.
1. What can we learn about PSGL-1 from the passage?| A．Both the protein PSGL-1 and the protein Vpu are HIV proteins. |
| B．PSGL-1 can restrict the function of the protein Vpu. |
| C．PSGL-1’s molecule compounds have been identified. |
| D．The protein PSGL-1 functions better than others in resisting HIV. |
| A．The existing treatment for AIDS are far from perfect. |
| B．It will be a decade before the antiviral drugs is put on the market. |
| C．American scientists played a leading role in the research. |
| D．HIV/AIDS will no longer be a deadly problem owing to the new discovery. |
| A．There is a long way to go before curing AIDS. |
| B．More people are faced with the threat of HIV. |
| C．Chinese scientists are leading the way in curing AIDS. |
| D．A new protein to resist HIV was confirmed by scientists. |
| A．A guidebook. | B．A fiction. | C．A magazine. | D．A brochure. |
2 . With nations preparing to spend billions to redesign their cities with a new focus on cycling, it's worth remembering how the invention of the bicycle changed societies all over the world.
The person generally credited with inventing the modern bicycle was an Englishman named John Kemp Starley. In 1885, the 30⁃year⁃old inventor began experimenting in his workshop with a chain⁃driven bicycle featuring two much smaller wheels. When it first appeared at a bicycle show in 1886, his invention was regarded as a curiosity. But two years later, when the next model was paired with the newly invented rubber tire—which not only cushioned the ride but also made the new bicycle about 30 percent faster—the result was magic.
For a few years in the 1890s, almost anyone wanted to learn to ride, and almost everyone did. The sultan of Zanzibar took up cycling. So did the czar of Russia. But it was the middle and working classes around the globe that truly made the bicycle their own. For the first time in history, the masses were able to come and go as they pleased. No more need for expensive horses and carriages.
The rocketing demand led hundreds of new companies around the world to offer their own versions. At the Stanley Bicycle Show in London in 1895, about 200 bicycle makers exhibited 3,000 models. One of the biggest makers was Columbia Bicycles, whose factory in Hartford, Connecticut, could turn out a bicycle a minute thanks to its automated assembly line (流水线)—a pioneering technology that one day would become the backbone of the automobile industry. By 1898, a third of all patent applications in the US were bicycle⁃related.
The bicycle even improved the human gene (基因) pool. Newly liberated young people rode around the countryside at will, meeting up in distant villages. Women were especially enthusiastic. They abandoned their troublesome skirts and took to the road in groups. Marriage records in England show a marked rise in inter⁃village marriages during the bicycle craze of the 1890s.
1. What can we know about John Kemp Starley's first model?| A．It was invented in 1888. | B．It had two bigger wheels. |
| C．It did not have rubber tires. | D．It was accepted immediately. |
| A．In the 1860s. | B．In the 1870s. | C．In the 1880s. | D．In the 1890s. |
| A．The fast⁃growing demand for bicycles. |
| B．The huge success of the bicycle industry. |
| C．The great convenience offered by bicycles. |
| D．The popularity of the newly invented bicycles. |
3 . Many people think that the world is about to step into the fourth industrial revolution. This time, machines can do a lot of work in the charge of human beings, even better than human beings. In the future, the world can be more efficient and enjoy cheaper services, but unemployment will become more common.
It raises a troubling question for all of us — when will a machine be able to do my job? Katja Grace, a research associate at the University of Oxford’s Future of Humanity Institute, and her colleagues from the AI Impacts project and the Machine Intelligence Research Institute, have surveyed 352 scientists and compiled (汇编) their answers into predictions about how long it may take for machines to outperform humans on various tasks.
The good news is that many of us will probably be safe in our jobs for some time to come. The researchers predict there is a 50% chance that machines will be capable of taking over all human jobs in 120 years.
“One of the biggest surprises was the overall lateness of the predictions,” says Grace. “I expected the amazing progress in machine learning in recent years, plus the fact that we were only talking to machine learning researchers, to make the estimates earlier.”
“I am a bit sceptical of some of the timelines given for tasks that involve physical manipulation (操纵),” says Jeremy Wyatt, professor of robotics and artificial intelligence at the University of Birmingham. “It is one thing doing it in the lab, and quite another having a robot that can do a job reliably in the real world better than a human.”
Manipulating physical objects in the real world — figuring out what to manipulate, and how, in a random, changing environment — is an incredibly complex job for a machine. Tasks that don’t involve physical manipulation are easier to teach.
Perhaps the hardest jobs for machines to perform are those that take years of training for humans to excel at. These often involve intuitive (直觉的) decision making, complex physical environments or abstract thinking — all things that computers struggle with.
1. Why did the researchers conduct the survey on the future role of machines?| A．To make it clear how machines can replace humans. |
| B．To find why machines can take the place of humans. |
| C．To explain humans will be substituted by machines. |
| D．To learn when machines may be superior to humans on jobs. |
| A．She thought the time would be totally uncertain despite the survey. |
| B．She thought the time would be later than predicted. |
| C．She thought the time would be earlier than predicted. |
| D．She thought machines would take over all the jobs in 120 years. |
| A．A robot can do a job reliably in the real world better than a human. |
| B．Tasks that don’t involve physical manipulation are quite complicated. |
| C．It is difficult for robots to finish the jobs related to physical manipulation. |
| D．He is sure of the timelines given for tasks that involve physical manipulation. |
4 . Scientists regularly make vital new discoveries, but few can claim to have invented an entirely new field of science. Chemist Carolyn Bertozzi is one of them. Her discovery of biorthogonal chemistry (生物正交化学) in 2003 created a brand-new discipline of scientific investigation, which has enabled countless advances in medical science and led to a far greater understanding of biology at a molecular (分子的) level. On October 5, Bertozzi was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, jointly with two other professors. She is also the only woman to be awarded a Nobel Prize in science this year, after an all-male line-up in 2021.
Bertozzi was the middle daughter of an MIT physics professor and a secretary. Few predicted that Bertozzi would be the most famous person in the family. While her academic performance was not bad in high school, she was fond of playing soccer. She end ed up being admitted to Harvard University. Despite her talent in soccer, she found it too time-consuming and quit the sport to devote herself to academics.
But before becoming a rock star scientist, Bertozzi almost became an actual rock star. When she started at Harvard, she was tempted to major in music. That idea was “unpopular” with her parents, and she was timid about defying them. Instead, she chose the premed (医学预科的) track that included classes in math and sciences, and declared herself a biology major at the end of her first year of college.
Her interest in music did not completely fall by the wayside, however. Bertozzi played keyboards and sang backup vocals for a hair metal band. Bertozzi, however, did not play with the band for long. Once the band’s practices and performances conflicted with her labs and classes, there was only one outcome.
Plus, she’d soon have organic chemistry to think about a course which is infamous for weeding out pre-meds. Without any clear career ambitions up to that point, Bertozzi had been thinking about possibly becoming a doctor when, in her sophomore year (大二学年), she suddenly fell so head over heels in love with her chemistry course that she couldn’t tear herself away from her textbooks long enough to go out on Saturday nights. A torture to many was pure pleasure for her. Bertozzi changed her major from biology to chemistry a year later.
Bertozzi has sometimes joked about her having missed out on her chance to follow Morello to LosAngeles. “I didn’t get on that bus, and my playing is now limited to ‘The Wheel's on the Bus Go Round,’ I’m waiting for my sons to get old enough to appreciate 1980s heavy metal!”
1. Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?| A．Bertozzi is one of those scientists who made significant new discoveries. |
| B．Bertozzi was the only female to win a Nobel Prize in science in 2021. |
| C．Bertozzi played keyboards and sang backup vocals throughout her college years. |
| D．Bertozzi initially planned to become a doctor. |
| A．tell | B．disobey | C．approach | D．threaten |
| A．easy and enjoyable |
| B．difficult to pass for pre-med students |
| C．popular among hair metal band players |
| D．a required course for all college students |
| A．Brave and sympathetic. |
| B．Athletic and critical. |
| C．Humble and passionate. |
| D．Talented and creative. |
5 . Willie Sutton, a once celebrated American criminal, was partly famous for saying he robbed banks because “that’s where the money is.” Actually, museums are where the money is. In a single gallery there can be paintings worth more, taken together, than a whole fleet of jets. And while banks can hide their money in basements, museums have to put their valuables in plain sight.
Nothing could be worse than the thought of a painting as important as The Scream, Edvard Munch’s impressive image of a man screaming against the backdrop of a blood-red sky, disappearing into a criminal underworld that doesn’t care much about careful treatment of art works. Art theft is a vast problem around the world. As many as 10,000 precious items of all kinds disappear each year. And for smaller museums in particular, it may not be a problem they can afford to solve. The money for insurance on very famous pictures would be budget destroyers even for the largest museums.
Although large museums have had their share of embarrassing robberies, the greatest problem is small institutions. Neither can afford heavy security. Large museums attach alarms to their most valuable paintings, but a modest alarm system can cost $500,000 or more. Some museums are looking into tracking equipment that would allow them to follow stolen items once they leave the museums. But conservators are concerned that if they have to insert something, it might damage the object. Meanwhile, smaller museums can barely afford enough guards, relying instead on elderly staff.
Thieves sometimes try using artworks as money for other underworld deals. The planners of the 2006 robbery of Russborough House near Dublin, who stole 18 paintings, tried in vain to trade them for Irish Republican Army members held in British prison. Others demand a ransom (赎金) from the museum that owns the pictures. Once thieves in Frankfurt, Germany, made off with two major works by J.M.W. Turner from the Tate Gallery in London. The paintings, worth more than $80 million, were recovered in 2012 after the Tate paid more than $5 million to people having “information” about the paintings. Though ransom is illegal in Britain, money for looking into a case is not, provided that police agree the source of the information is unconnected to the crime. All the same, where information money end s and ransom begins is often a gray area.
1. Why do smaller museums face a greater challenge in preventing art theft?| A．They lack experienced staff. |
| B．They cannot afford high-tech security systems. |
| C．They do not have valuable artworks. |
| D．They lack interest in art conservation. |
| A．It might damage the artwork. |
| B．It is too expensive for smaller museums. |
| C．It is difficult to insert into the paintings. |
| D．It is ineffective for valuable paintings. |
| A．the thieves demanded a ransom from the Tate Gallery |
| B．the Tate Gallery regained the lost paintings illegally |
| C．the money paid was considered an information fee, not a ransom |
| D．the police requested the Tate Gallery to pay the money |
| A．to remind criminals to protect and preserve the painting |
| B．to give suggestions on how to avoid the crimes of art theft |
| C．to urge museums to set up more advanced security systems |
| D．to make people aware of art theft and the necessity of good security systems |
6 . There’s a Symphony Just Below the Surface — Can You Hear It?
Imagine it’s your birthday, and your friends and family pool their money to get you the best gift you can imagine: tickets for fabulous seats to see your favorite musical act. But what if you got to the venue and something terrible had just happened to you?
Life always has its music, and we don’t need to be front-row center at a concert to hear it. Throughout our lives, no matter what else is going on, a melody is present. But we are often so focused on the present moment that we fail to hear the melody.
We can become magnificent listeners to life, with enough practice. And let’s face it, this is something we were born to do, so the skill is there, waiting for us to employ it. We can tap into the music, and when we do find ourselves distracted from it, we can use consciousness to bring us right back. It is as simple as saying, “OK, I’m distracted again; I am going to start listening again.”
Life is always playing music, but we have to listen, and we listen by being present. We can do this.
| A．As humans, we have been given a wonderful gift |
| B．These feelings may last several minutes or even last several hours |
| C．In a word, wisdom and patience are the things that listening to the music of life requires |
| D．Soon, we will find that we have to redirect ourselves less and less, and we hear the music more and more |
| E．You’d broken your knees, say, or you learned of a failure of exam |
| F．The noise of our worry drowns out all the other things we might otherwise hear and enjoy |
| G．We just need to realize and engage with the music of life that is always playing |
7 . From hawk hikes to private sleepovers at the zoo, there is a great selection of animal-related experiences available to groups. Here are some top options to get closer to various wonderful wildlife.
Chester Zoo
The newest attractions here are the Madagascar Lemur Walkthrough experience, which gives visitors the opportunity to walk alongside ring-tailed and red-ruffed lemurs, and the interactive American Wetland Aviary, which is home to birds like scarlet ibises and flamingos. Group rates are available for parties of 15 or more and there are various catering options, including sit-down meals at the restaurant at the heart of the zoo.
ZSL Whipsnade Zoo
Until September 2022, it is offering groups of up to 60 the opportunity to experience a private Nature Night, on which they’ll get to explore the zoo privately after the public has left, take part in activities like quizzes, camp overnight, and get up early for a private tour along the green trail before it reopens to the public again.
West Midland Safari Park
The latest attraction at the park is the new African Walking Trail. Opened in May, the trail features three viewpoints that allow visitors to see the park’s African animals on foot. There’s also a four-mile drive-through safari area with red panda, penguin and lorikeet areas. Groups of ten plus, arriving in the same vehicle, can save more than 40%.
Knowsley Safari Park
The five-mile safari drive through the site takes you past free-roaming lions, rhinos and more than 100cheeky baboons. There’s a foot safari area, where the highlight is the Amur Tiger Trail with transparent walled viewing areas where you can get nose-to-nose with 450-pound tigers. Groups of 15 people and more, arriving in one vehicle, qualify for special ticket rates.
1. Who is the passage intended for?| A．Animal-loving students. |
| B．Forest hiking fans. |
| C．Group tour organizers. |
| D．Wildlife preservationists. |
| A．Chester Zoo |
| B．ZSL Whipsnade Zoo |
| C．West Midland Safari Park |
| D．Knowsley Safari Park |
| A．delicious meals are offered to tourists in the four parks |
| B．private tours are available in the four parks |
| C．all the parks can provide driving-through services |
| D．visitors can have access to walking trails in the four parks |
8 . Who cares if people think wrongly that the Internet has had more important influences than the washing machine? Why does it matter that people are more impressed by the most recent changes?
It would not matter if these misjudgments were just a matter of people’s opinions. However, they have real impacts, as they result in misguided use of scarce resources.
The fascination with the ICT(Information and Communication Technology) revolution, represented by the Internet, has made some rich countries wrongly conclude that making things is so “yesterday” that they should try to live on ideas. This belief in “post-industrial society” has led those countries to neglect their manufacturing sector (制造业) with negative consequences for their economies.
Even more worryingly, the fascination with the Internet by people in rich countries has moved the international community to worry about the “digital divide” between the rich countries and the poor countries. This has led companies and individuals to donate money to developing countries to buy computer equipment and Internet facilities. The question, however, is whether this is what the developing countries need the most. Perhaps giving money for those less fashionable things such as digging wells, extending electricity networks and making more affordable washing machines would have improved people’s lives more than giving every child a laptop computer or setting up Internet centres in rural villages, I am not saying that those things are necessarily more important, but many donators have rushed into fancy programmes without carefully assessing the relative long-term costs and benefits of alternative uses of their money.
In yet another example, a fascination with the new has led people to believe that the recent changes in the technologies of communications and transportation are so revolutionary that now we live in a “borderless world”. As a result, in the last twenty years or so, many people have come to believe that whatever change is happening today is the result of great technological progress, going against which will be like trying to turn the clock back. Believing in such a world, many governments have put an end to some of the very necessary regulations on cross-border flows of capital, labour and goods, with poor results.
Understanding technological trends is very important for correctly designing economic policies, both at the national and the international levels, and for making the right career choices at the individual level. However, our fascination with the latest, and our under valuation of what has already become common, can, and has, led us in all sorts of wrong directions.
1. What are the effects of people’ misjudgments on the influences of new technology?| A．It stimulates innovation. | B．It affects their personal opinions. |
| C．It influences their use of resources. | D．It leads to improved technology. |
| A．It leads to competition between rich and poor countries. |
| B．It results in a lack of access to technology in developing countries. |
| C．It increases the cost of computer equipment in rich countries. |
| D．It promotes global digital cooperation. |
| A．donating for technology is always the better option |
| B．the author does not provide opinions on this matter |
| C．donating for technology and basic needs should be balanced |
| D．donating for basic needs should be prioritized over technology |
| A．Significance of information and communication technology. |
| B．Serious consequences of over-emphasizing high technology. |
| C．Technological trends guiding economic policy making. |
| D．How to use donation money in the new age. |
9 . The Savitzs who move to Newton had found themselves welcomed into the neighborhood with truly open arms. Glenda was pregnant before the move and within three months, they gave birth to Samantha. About a week after Glenda and RaphiSavitz welcomed their daughter Samantha to the world, they learned that she was deaf. “We knew right away that we had to get involved in the deaf community, learn about the culture, and start getting fully lost in American Sign Language,” Glenda says. What the new parents didn’t know was that their neighbors in Newton, Mass., would decide they needed to start learning sign language, too.
“We really wanted to communicate with her and play with her,” says McNeil, who lives across the street from the Savitzs. “And since she couldn’t learn our language, we thought we wanted to learn hers.” McNeil and three other neighbors quietly signed up for local adult education classes in American Sign Language. “We met a teacher there that we really loved, and we asked him if he would come here and teach more neighbors,” McNeil explains. “So that’s how it started.” About 20 neighbors immediately signed up for the class. With the help of their instructor, Rhys McGovern, the neighbors are able to help Samantha feel like she belongs.
“We know how to say, ‘Are you riding your bike?’ or ‘You have pretty new pink sneakers.’ There’s a dog across the street that she loves to play with. So we all know the sign for ‘dog.’” McNeil adds, “Her parents translate for us because her fingers are very small right now and she signs very fast, so we’re trying and we’re getting better. ... Her first sign to all of us is ‘friend,’ which feels very good.”
The classes have been such a hit that there are now two offerings, on two different weeknights, bringing the number of neighbors learning the language to about 40. As a result of that neighborly effort, Samantha moves with ease where her family lives. She’ll stop in at neighbors’ homes just to draw pictures and chat.
1. When did Glenda and RaphiSavitz find Samantha deaf?| A．Within three months of her pregnancy. |
| B．About a week after their learning ASL. |
| C．When Samantha was about one week old. |
| D．Three months before their move to Newton. |
| A．A teacher who instructs Savitz’s neighbors to learn ASL. |
| B．A neighbor who helps Savitzinteract with her neighbors. |
| C．A neighbor hired an instructor for Savitz’s neighbors. |
| D．An organizer who calls on Savitz’s neighbors to help her. |
| A．Bike. | B．Sneakers. | C．Dog. | D．Friend. |
| A．Good neighbors, a piece of treasure. |
| B．Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst. |
| C．Better to be friendly with a neighbor than to wear a fur jacket. |
| D．Communication is one of the most efficient ways to understand. |
10 . When it comes to protecting your mental health, you can take steps to adjust your daily routine to be a bit kinder to yourself. Here’s some of the advice some experts offered.
Stephanie Roth-Goldberg, a licensed clinical social worker, says this could mean allowing time to relax with your coffee for a few minutes before leaving the house or getting some physical activity before work. See how long you need to accomplish something good for yourself.
Take breaks during the workday
Designate a screen-free time during the day
Goldberg explains that designating a time during the day when you completely disconnect from screens is “a great mental health tool that people don’t make use of.”
Set up a bedtime routine
Getting enough high-quality sleep is essential to our mental and physical health. Katie Leikam, a licensed clinical social worker, recommends setting up a nighttime routine to ensure you get the shut-eye you need.
| A．Start the day off on a positive note |
| B．Keep it cool for a good night’s sleep |
| C．Wash your face, put down your phone |
| D．It’s healthy to do this at any time of day |
| E．Dance around while you do your housework |
| F．Sometimes it’s just three to five minutes of letting your brain do nothing |
| G．Get away from your computer screen by stepping outside for some fresh air |
