1 . Some people may be picky eaters, but as a species we are not. Birds, bugs and whales, we’ll eat them all. Yet our reliance on wild animals goes far beyond just feeding ourselves. From agricultural feed to medicine to the pet trade, modern society exploits wild animals in a way that beats even the most aggressive wild predator (捕食者). Now, for the first time, researchers have tried to capture the full picture of how we use wildlife, including how many, and for what purposes. The research showcases just how broad our influence on wild animals is.

In the study, researchers have found that humans kill, collect or otherwise use about 15,000 species. That’s up to 300 times more than the next top predator in any ecosystem.

Yet according to Chris Darimont, a co-author of the study, the biggest shock isn’t how many species we affect but why we take them. “The result,” he says, “is that we remove, or essentially prey on, more species of animals for non-food reasons than for food reasons.”And the biggest non-food use is as pets and pet food. “That’s where things have gone off the rails (轨道),” he says. The problem is especially serious for tropical birds. The helmeted hornbill, for example, is captured mainly for the pe trade, or for its beak to be used as medicine or to be carved like ivory. Their disappearance limits seed dispersal and the spread of trees around the forest.

Another big difference between humans’ influence on wild animals and that of other predators is that we tend to favor rare and exotic (外来的) species in a way other animals do not. Most predators target common species, since they are easier to find and catch. Humans, nowever, tend to covet the novel. “The more rare it is,” say scientists, “the more that drives up the price, and therefore it may go into extinction.”

If we want wild species to survive, we need to reestablish our relationship with them, perhaps from predator to caretaker.

1. What role do humans play in their present relationship with wildlife according to the author?

A．Picky predators.	B．Protectors of biodiversity.
C．Greedy predators.	D．Caretakers of the environment.

2. What shocked scientists most according to Chris Darimont?

A．More species hunted for non-food use.

B．The impact of pet industries on wildlife.

C．The number of species affected by humans.

D．The consequences caused by species extinction.

3. Which can best explain the underlined “cover the novel” in paragraph 4?

A．Long for huge profits.

B．Favor domestic species.

C．Take interest in pet trade.

D．Seek after new and unique things.

4. What is the purpose of the text?

A．To promote stricter rules for hunting.

B．To advocate eco-friendly pet choices.

C．To reveal how humans affect biodiversity.

D．To highlight the need for wildlife conservation.

2 . The harsh winters and modern cities can make life tough for a wild animal, especially when they get lost and are outside their natural habitat for too long. Animal shelters are crowded with animals in desperate need of help, especially during the winter season.     1    

One day, a man found a small owl (猫头鹰) that was soaking wet and appeared to be struggling. He brought it into a local shelter.     2     The little owl was unable to fly, not because of an injury, but because it was too fat.

The owl weighed 245 grams, which was 33% more than the upper limit of what an owl that size should weigh. The reason for the weight gain was quite natural. The owl was eating too much. The winter had been unusually warm, and as a result, the area had a higher than normal population of mice.     3     So it got carried away.

The shelter staff put the owl on a systematic plan of diet and exercise, and it started to lose weight quickly. After some time, the owl was back to its normal health and was released back into the wild.

The question of whether this obesity issue is a strange result of climate change or just a coincidence (巧合) is difficult to say.     4     Wild animals are not used to living in modern cities, and they often struggle to survive. Luckily, there are many animal shelters that offer refuge for these animals. These shelters help restore them to their natural condition and put them back into the wild

    5     Some focus on specific animals, such as owls, while others focus on a particular region. However, they all have the same goal -to provide a safe have n for wild animals.

A．Different types of animal shelters have different purposes.

B．Animal shelters are not just a place for injured or sick animals.

C．This meant that it was like an all-you-can-eat buffet for the little owl.

D．They are really important when animals struggle to survive in cold weather.

E．After a thorough check-up, the shelter staff found out that it was not injured at all.

F．However, it is clear that it is vital to care for wild animals and to ensure their safety.

G．However, recently, a wild animal was brought to a shelter for a very different reason.

3 . How much water does the average adult need to drink every day? “Eight 8-ounce glasses” is common advice, but any truly serious answer to the how-much question will begin with some version of it depends.”

Researchers have long known that a region called SFO in the brain monitors the concentration (浓度) of water and salts in blood and triggers the urge to drink. But they failed to fully explain how we experience thirst. For example, when we gulp a drink, we feel almost instantly satisfied, and yet it takes 10 to 15minutes for a liquid to enter our bloodstream. Recently neuroscientists have gained other remarkable insights into how thirst is monitored in the body and controlled in the brain.

In a series of elegant experiments with mice, Zimmerman, a neuroscientist, and his associates measured the activity of neurons (神经元) in the SFO. “We saw that their activity changed very fast when the mouse drank water or drank saltwater and when it ate food,” he says. The researchers showed that signals gathered at the SFO from several places. “You get a signal from the blood that tells your current state of hydration (水平衡), a signal from the mouth that tells you how much fluid you drank, and a signal from the gut that tells you what was consumed —was it . water, was it something else?” The SFO neurons, he explains, “add these signals together” and then transmit the urge to drink or stop drinking.

The big takeaway of Zimmerman’s work is that for the most part you can trust your thirst system to tell you when you need to drink. But there are exceptions. Because the system’s sensitivity may decline with age. People with certain health conditions, including kidney stones and diarrhea, also need extra water.

Other parts of the brain — the ones used in planning —should help with hydration on hot days and when exercising. Thirsty or not, Zimmerman says, he drinks water before going for a run: “My thirst neurons don’t know I’m about to run 10 miles.”

1. What has long been known about thirst?

A．Thirst experience varies among individuals.

B．Thirst is controlled by the water-salt balance in blood.

C．Thirst satisfaction occurs with water entering bloodstream.

D．Thirst response is influenced by the type of liquid consumed.

2. What’s the main idea of paragraph 3?

A．Why we feel thirst.

B．Where SFO gets signals.

C．How we experience thirst.

D．When SFO neurons get active.

3. What’s the major conclusion from Zimmerman’s study?

A．Thirst system is generally reliable.

B．Illness might affect thirst sensation.

C．Brain areas for planning aid in hydration.

D．Brain adjusts to age-related thirst sensitivity.

4. What may be a suitable title for the text?

A．Drink Your Way to Health

B．Application of the Thirst Mechanisms

C．Misunderstanding of Daily Water Intake

D．Body Detects Daily Water Needs Cleverly

4 . As a child, I was keen on collecting moths（飞蛾）and butterflies. By adulthood, I could identify about 700 species by sight, recognizing the stripes, dots and colors on their wings and bodies.

In 1972, I moved to Australia and continued collecting. But I started to struggle: identifying them quickly became an impossible task. The species there were so different from those at home, and there was no space in my mind to recognize them all.

My crisis soon increased. Throughout the 1970s, I led expeditions to Papua New Guinea to collect moths. One night, we could collect more than twice as many as those I had memorized in my childhood. Identifying them felt overwhelming. I gave up and stopped working on moths. But my instinct to identify them never went away.

Two decades later, I was in a supermarket and an idea started to develop in my mind: what if a part of DNA could be used to differentiate between species Just 13 lines on. the supermarket barcodes（条形码）were being used to identify products What if we could identify species in the same way?

To test the idea, I began collecting the moths again. Each sample had to donate a leg to science. I believed that COI（a single segment of a rapidly evolving gene）present in almost all animals could be used to tell species. With their legs, we used the PCR method to focus in on their section of COI. One by one, it became clear: every single moth could be sorted using a tiny slice of their genome（基因组）DNA barcoding was 100% successful on its first test.

In our study paper, we claimed that we had discovered a reliable, inexpensive and accessible solution to identifying the millions of animal species waiting to be discovered. I believe DNA barcoding is humanity’s first shot at finally discovering all life on Earth. This technique has helped conservationists to fight against wildlife crime and monitor the impact of mining on bıodiversity. One day, I am confident it will form part of a system to monitor the biosphere the Same way we monitor the weather.

1. How did the author recognize moth species in his childhood?

A．By turning to books.

B．By using lab equipment.

C．By obseiving their behavior.

D．By distinguishing their appearance.

2. What does the underlined “My crisis” in paragraph 3 refer to?

A．The loss of interest in studying moths.

B．The impossibility of recognizing moths.

C．The pressure of discovering new moth species.

D．The challenge of collecting as many moth samples.

3. What inspired the author to use DNA for species identification?

A．The ease of using PCR to focus on COI.

B．The simplicity of supermarket barcodes.

C．The success of DNA barcoding on moths.

D．The availability of COI in almost all animals.

4. What might DNA barcoding be used for in the future according to the text?

A．Protecting wildlife habitats.

B．Tracking wildlife population.

C．Assisting in monitoring biodiversity.

D．Updating weather monitoring systems.

5 . A future where insects make up a large part of the world’s diet is on the horizon. Despite the unpleasant nature of such cuisine, insects have been considered a delicacy in some parts of world for centuries. Their being low-fat and high-protein makes them a perfect choice for reducing hunger.     1    

Animal protein from livestock (家畜), such as cows, chicken and pigs, takes up 80 percent of the entire world’s farmland, despite only making up less than one-fifth of calories consumed globally.    2    Thus it would support a variety of biodiversity as nature intended.

Insects such as grasshoppers, meal worms and crickets are packed full of protein with much higher vitamin levels than pork or beef.    3    Greenhouse gas emissions through this process are also very little, with insect waste making excellent fertilizer (肥料) for agricultural soil.

It seems that insects are an ideal solution for many issues the world today is faced with.    4    Urban areas of Asia, Europe and North America are most likely to associate insects with dirt instead of as a tasty meal.

Times are changing. The European Union last year declared that meal worms were safe for human consumption. Cricket protein powder is also increasing greatly in popularity, with Canada rapidly becoming the largest market for the product.

    5    As we explore our solar system, efficient means of producing animal based-proteins will become vital. None are more efficient space-wise than insects. And the colonies of the future could well find themselves enjoying fried crickets with a pint of beer while watching the Martian sunset.

A．They also have a host of environmental benefits.

B．Insects reproduce quickly and have high growth rates.

C．Unlike agriculture, insects produce far fewer greenhouse gases.

D．They require little space, water and technology to raise compared to livestock.

E．However, making them a delicious cuisine can be a challenge in several cultures.

F．By freeing up livestock space, huge expanses of land could be returned to nature.

G．A future where insects will become invaluable to space exploration is also upcoming.

6 . Network-based technologies have become increasingly widespread, and they are now being used by countless individuals, professionals, and businesses worldwide. Despite their advantages, most network-based systems are highly at risk of malicious (恶意的) attacks.

The consequences of a malicious attack on network-based systems can be extremely harmful. For instance, an attack on a power plant network could leave millions of individuals and offices without electricity, while attacks on social media networks can lead to exposure of user information.

To overcome the weaknesses of network-based systems, computer scientists worldwide have been trying to develop advanced intrusion detection systems (IDSs) (入侵检测系统) that could help to identify malicious attacks, increasing a network’s safety. In recent years, machine learning (ML) algorithms (机器学习算法) have been found to be particularly promising for automatically detecting attacks and intrusions on a network’s functioning.

An important step in the development and training of ML-based IDSs is the selection of data features that a model can rely or focus on when making predictions. Ideally, by analyzing large datasets, researchers should be able to identify the most suitable features for solving a given task using ML tools, and this can also be applied to intrusion detection.

Researchers at Canadian University Dubai in the UAE have recently developed a new feature selection method that could enable the development of more effective ML-based IDSs. This method was found to perform remarkably well when compared with other commonly employed feature selection techniques. Using the features they identified as most important for intrusion detection, the researchers created a highly efficient ML-based detection system. This system was found to be capable of distinguishing between DDoS attacks and harmless network signals with 99% accuracy.

In the future, the feature selection method developed by the researchers and their findings could help the development of new, highly effective IDSs. In addition, the system they created using the features they identified could be applied in real-world settings to detect malicious attacks on real networks.

1. What does paragraph 1 focus on about network-based technologies?

A．Their targeted users.	B．Their popularity.
C．Their potential risk.	D．Their advantages.

2. How can IDSs increase the safety of networks?

A．By tracking malicious attacks.

B．By starting anti-virus programs.

C．By sorting out user information.

D．By recognizing malicious attacks.

3. What is the key to the development of ML-based IDSs?

A．Solving given tasks.	B．Selecting reliable data features.
C．Making accurate predictions.	D．Analyzing large enough datasets.

4. What’s the purpose of the text?

A．To introduce a new technique for IDSs.

B．To promote network-based technologies.

C．To raise people’s awareness of network safety.

D．To discuss ways to deal with malicious attacks.

7 . Young and old alike can be crazy about a new finding by researchers at Ohio State University and the University of Chicago. There is hope for us all when it comes to creativity, they say.

According to the study, which focused on the 31 most notable Nobel Prize winners in economics, there are two types of creativity that can blossom at different points in a person’s life. Conceptual innovators tend to do their best work in their mid-twenties, while experimental innovators peak in their fifties.

They explain in the paper that there are conceptual thinkers, who seek to communicate specific ideas or emotions and have precise goals for their works, planning them carefully in advance, and carrying them out systematically. Pablo Picasso and Albert Einstein both did their greatest work in youth. However, experimental innovators build on their knowledge and accept theories throughout their careers and ultimately find new and innovative ways to analyze that knowledge. These thinkers tend to do their best work later in life. The paper cites Virginia Woolf and Charles Darwin as late bloomers.

The study states, “Many scholars believe that creativity is only associated with youth. Two 54-year-old Harvard scholars were denied offers of tenured professorships (终身教授) due to concerns of the so-called problem of “extinct volcanoes.”

Their findings suggest that this kind of biased (有偏见的) thinking leads to bad decisions. It ignores the fact that there are different types of innovators and that different problems demand different kinds of contributions and solutions. They hope their work will gradually remove the world’s favoritism for precocious geniuses(早熟的天才) and its ignorance of the creativity that comes with age. Weinberg, the co-author of the study, said,“We believe what we found in this study isn’t limited to economics, but could apply to creativity more generally.”

1. Which of the following can replace the underlined “blossom”?

A．Fully develop.	B．Suddenly change.
C．Gradually fade.	D．Repeatedly emerge.

2. What determines a person’s most creative period according to the study?

A．Age or career.	B．Education background.
C．Type of thinking.	D．Exposure to diverse ideas.

3. What does the writer want to stress in the last paragraph?

A．Creativity breeds success.

B．Creativity knows no age limit.

C．Solutions need diverse creativity.

D．Favoritism for geniuses limits creativity.

4. What’s the writer’s attitude to the new findings?

A．Doubtful.

B．Objective.

C．Positive.

D．Critical.

8 . Massimo Bottura, a three-Michelin-Starred chef, has extended his culinary(烹饪的) empire globally. However, he says that the peak of all of his achievements is Milan’s Refettorio Ambrosiano and the following 12 global branches.

At Refettorio Ambrosiano, dinner guests are greeted by name. They dine on fine china at tables created by the country’s most sought-after furniture designers. The waiters are polite, and the chefs have been trained under the finest restaurateurs in the world. The set menu changes every day, depending on what comes in with the morning’s delivery.

This morning’s delivery contains dry arugula(芝麻菜), chicken close to its sell-by date and too-ugly-to-be-sold oranges. By dinner, however, the supermarket castoffs have been transformed into a three-course meal. The 100 or so diners — refugees, the homeless, and the unemployed — enjoy the meal with obvious pleasure, laughing with the volunteer waiters, praising the volunteer chefs, and forgetting, at least for an hour, the challenges of a life lived on the streets.

The brightest gems in Bottura’s culinary empire are not restaurants at all. He thinks of them as spaces that shine a light on the dignity of their guests while focusing attention on the food-waste problem by turning foods that were otherwise going to be headed toward rubbish bins into Michelin Guide-worthy meals.

Botura first thought of Refettorio Ambrosiano as a pop-up concept for the 2015 World Expo in Milan. The organizers had invited him to cook for the grand opening. Bottura proposed something different. He wanted to invite the world’s best chefs to cook with him for the city’s homeless,using leftovers. That idea soon got supported and turned into something more permanent.

Today, the Refettorio is “a movement,” Bottura says. “It is a model for fighting food waste and isolation on the front lines. And it starts by looking at an old carrot or a piece of hard bread and catching sight of gold.”

1. How do the Refettorio Ambrosianos differ from Bottura’s other restaurants?

A．The waiters are well-trained.

B．The tables are custom-made.

C．They are three-Michelin-starred.

D．Daily delivery decides the set menu.

2. Which of the following best describes the event at Refettorio Ambrosiano?

A．An evening gathering for local chefs.	B．A charity sale of supermarket castoffs
C．A wealthy meal for the less-fortunate.	D．A volunteer training for the homeless

3. What does Bottura think of the Refettorio?

A．It’s his best profitable restaurant.

B．It’s a good project for food safety.

C．It’s a pop-up concept to extend his business.

D．It’s win-win for the environment and society.

4. Which can be a suitable title for the text?

A．Less Waste, More Taste.	B．A Dinner of Dignity
C．Best Restaurant, Best Service.	D．The Power of Food

9 . 2023 has arrived with a wealth of films scheduled to be released. Here are three of them that you might be interested in.

◆ Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Directed by: Joaquim Dos Santos

Opening in: June 2023

The original Oscar-winning animated (动画的) Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse was a big hit when released in 2018, and its sequel, Across the Spider-Verse is one of the most hoped-for films of 2023. The first trailer did not provide much insight into the story of the movie, but it did reveal the different Spider characters that Miles will be coming into contact with.

◆ Oppenheimer

Directed by: Christopher Nolan

Opening in: July 2023

Oppenheimer is a new biopic (传记电影) on physicist and “father of the atomic bomb”J.Robert Oppenheimer. The director claims that it was quite the challenge indeed to attempt to simulate (模拟) a nuclear explosion without the use of CGI animation during one of the crucial scenes from the film. Like virtually all of Nolan’s films, this IMAX-shot film should be seen on the biggest screen available.

◆Dune: Part Two

Directed by: Denis Villeneuve

Opening in: November 2023

After the success of Dune:Part One, Dune: Part Two has been officially green lit. Except for the Star Wars film series, no other work has continued to have a bigger influence over the world of science fiction than this series. Director Denis Villeneuve claims the film will cover the rest of the writer’s 1965 masterpiece.

As Denis Villeneuve once said, “I’ve lived with Dune for most of my life. Being patient is part of the journey.” That patience should pay off with the second part of his sci-fi epic.

1. What challenged the director most during filming Oppenheimer?

A．Filming in tough landscapes.

B．Finding the right leading actor.

C．Creating realistic special effects.

D．Shooting battle scenes with IMAX.

2. What type is the movie Dune: Part Two?

A．A cartoon.

B．A sci-fi.

C．A biopic.

D．A thriller.

3. What information is mentioned about all the movies above?

A．Film studio.

B．Main plot.

C．Running time.

D．Release time.

10 .

When it comes to debates over the Mona Lisa, most people tend to fall into conversation over whether the subject is pretending a smile.       1     — whether the painting shows an image of a woman who has eyebrows (眉毛), as her forehead seems strangely free of follicles (毛囊).

The answer? Perhaps. But not anymore.     2    . It was most stylish for women in l6th - century Italy to pull out or shave their eyebrows. It's within reason that Lisa Gherardini, who is the suspected model for the painting, may have been lacking in eyebrows for that reason.

In 2007, a French photographer and engineer named Pascal Cotte cast doubt on that idea. Using an advanced camera capable of capturing images of high quality, Cotte claimed he was able to visualize a faint eyebrow hair on her face.     3    .

If Cotte's observation is correct, why only one hair? It's possible, Cotte said, that Da Vinci painted a glaze (釉) over most of the piece and then added further detail on top of it.     4    . The restoration work applied to the painting over time may have accidentally erased her follicular features. Based on his analysis, Cotte visualized other layers of the painting. Da Vinci moved the two left fingers of his subject and had originally made her smile wider, according to the photographer.

Cotte's photos allow observers to make their own judgment about whether Mona Lisa's eyebrows were pulled out.     5    

A．A more careful analysis might raise another argument

B．No one will deny it's Leonardo Da Vinci's symbolic artwork

C．Perhaps Da Vinci had indeed intended to paint his subject with eyebrows

D．In painting the work, Da Vinci was likely to be recognizing the fashion trends

E．That may have created a situation where the topmost layer was easily damaged

F．It's another element that may make the painting appealing for another 500 years

G．It can clearly be seen that cracks (裂缝) around the eye have slightly disappeared