1 . We all have memories of what our fathers enjoyed, and all the fun we had with him: travelling, reading, or exploring the neighborhood hiking trail. Each of us has treasured stories and memories of times with dad.    1    

The charm of storytelling,the fun of traveling, the immersion in a book...these are the gifts of a lifetime my father helped me unwrap.    2    All the stories he narrated to engage us and all the travels we took with him opened up a whole new world to me which was like a breath of fresh air in my life.

My father, turning 75 this year, is still a storyteller, but his exploration of the world has turned virtual. Like almost all children, I spent my twenties walking away from his stories since I was always “occupied with my work.”    3     August all expectations, I hear the unsaid health concerns and the frustration at no being able to do everything the way he used to. In contrast, I have travelled farther than he could take us, and read books much more than he ever had time outside his working hours.

    4    That lies in the things he points at and in the activities he helps us manage. He gifts us expediences of strength and courage that power us forward into the big wide world — a world he walks with us so as to better assure that we will be able to explore and navigate its nettles (荨麻) without being held back by our fears or worries.

Have you ever put your ear to a seashell and heard the waves whooshing in there? On the outside, it is a hard shell — pitted, untidily edged and boldly patterned.    5    They seem to have a tough shell, and you have to put them to your heart and listen for the waves of what they feel and whatever it is that they have left unsaid.

A．I am no exception.

B．A father brings the world to us.

C．In some ways, this describes fathers.

D．However, a father can sometimes be hard on us.

E．Inside are some valuable contents that should be treasured.

F．Now older and wiser, I restarted listening attentively to his tales.

G．As I look back on my childhood, I see loads of books and miles of travel.

3 . In looking through your social media, there’s a good chance you’ve noticed pictures accompanied by texts. The pictures are likely made possible by a text-to-image program called DALL-E. For example, Twitter user posted a tweet with the text, “To be or not to be, rabbi holding avocado, marble sculpture.” Then a matching picture appears below.

The AI models come from Google’s Imagen software as well as OpenAI. a start-up backed by Microsoft. On its website, OpenAI calls DALL-E “a new Al system that can create realistic images and art from a description in natural language.” But most of what’s happening in this area is coming from a relatively small group of people sharing their pictures. That’s because Google and OpenAI have not made the technology broadly available to the public.

The text-to-picture services identify the most important parts of a user’s text and then guess the best way to picture those terms. There’s generally a text box, a button to start the generation process and an area below to display images. To indicate the source. Google and OpenAI add watermarks in the bottom right comer of images from DALL-E and Imagen.

Engineers trained the models on various collections of words and pictures from the web. OpenAI recognizes the potential for harm that could come from a model. To avoid the risk, employees removed violent content from training data, and there are filters（筛选）stopping DALL-E from producing images if users submit（提交）violent or illegal content.

Boris Dayma, a developer from Texas spelled out the problems in an explanation of their software. Despite the risks, Dhariwal, a research scientist at OpenAI, said it could open up creative opportunities for individuals and could help with commercial applications for dressing up websites. Results should continue to improve over time.

1. What is the function of the the AI system DALL-E?

A．Beautifying pictures at users’ request.

B．Producing pictures from human words.

C．Changing pictures into vivid descriptions.

D．Providing pictures for users to choose from.

2. What does paragraph 3 mainly talk about concerning DALL-E?

A．Its users’ rights.	B．Its operating conditions
C．Its working process.	D．Its company’s prospect.

3. How could DALL-E ensure the images it produces legal?

A．All images come from a unified model.

B．The training data is selected beforehand.

C．Improper requests can’t be submitted.

D．Filters remove the unhealthy description.

4. What is Dhariwal’s attitude to the future of DALL-E?

A．Positive.

B．Objective.

C．Uncertain.

D．Worried.

4 . Picture the scene: you’ve spent years working towards a very specific goal. You’ve put in countless hours of work and made many efforts along the way, but now that you’ve got there it doesn’t feel quite like you imagined. Instead of celebration, you feel emptiness, confusion and doubt.

Welcome to the anti-climax. The often-experienced but seldom-discussed downside of achieving life’s biggest milestones. Many of us work tirelessly towards our goals. We may spend our lives dreaming of the day we get married, publish our first hook or buy our first home. However, oftentimes, when we achieve these things it doesn’t feel quite as expected. In fact, the achievement of these goals feels a bit of a letdown.

So why do we often experience an anti-climax with big goals, even though we’re happy to achieve them? “An anti-climax can be an unexpected by-product of a milestone achievement. Usually, the more significant the milestone, the greater the anti-climax may be. The intensity（强度）of an anti-climax often relies on what we expect of this achievement.” says Rachel Vora. a psychotherapist（心理治疗师）.“The journey to achieving a milestone can he exciting and tiring in addition to giving us a sense of purpose and focus. Therefore, when this disappears overnight. we can often feel lost and confused, in spite of feeling proud of our achievement.

When this happens it can contribute to a mixture of emotions. We often falsely believe that we’ll feel completely different afterwards or that our feelings of low self-worth will disappear, but this is rarely the case. “Clients（客户）often present to me with an extremely great sense of ‘is this it?’ and ‘what now?’.” says Vora. “These feelings of confusion and disappointment, if let ignored, have the potential to cause clients to be in low spirits, or even worse.”

1. Why does the author mention the examples in paragraph 2?

A．To present a fact.	B．To prove a rule.
C．To explain a term.	D．To make a prediction.

2. What does Vora think is the leading cause of the anti-climax?

A．Low self-worth.	B．High expectations.
C．Sense of purpose.	D．Unexpected achievements.

3. Which of the following is a case of the anti-climax?

A．Amy felt empty before giving a speech.

B．Jack felt lost after his first novel came out.

C．Mary felt proud when she joined a ballet club.

D．Tom felt doubtful about taking further education.

4. What will the author probably talk about in the following text?

A．How to hold back feelings.

B．How to improve self-worth.

C．Hon to identify the anti-climax.

D．How to deal with the anti-climax.

5 . As more people move into their golden years, many families are welcoming their senior parents into their homes. While most seniors claim to prefer to age in their own homes, safety and health concerns don’t always make this possible.

If you are preparing to welcome a senior parent into your home, everyone will have an adjustment period. This type of move will have physical, emotional, and mental influences for the whole family. Here’re a few tips to help you open your heart and home to your senior parents.

You may be excited about having your senior parent move in, but that doesn’t mean they will share your enthusiasm. Being asked to move out of their own home can be very upsetting for your parents. So it’s important to be patient with them and allow them the time to adjust to their new environment.

It’s also important to give your parents a space of their own. Before you decide to bring a senior parent into your home, you need to consider if you have enough space for them.

Then, for adult children, offering a senior parent a safe home is a priority. Before moving, you will need to make some changes around your home to help your parents stay safe. For example, install grab bars in the bathroom, repair all stairways, add anti-slip mats to the kitchen and so on. And arm yourself with knowledge like First Aid courses.

In addition, your senior parent will be used to being in charge of their own home and is likely to feel like a bother as they begin to settle in your home. One effective way is to assign them a household responsibility. Ask your parents to look after the dog or cook a meal to make them feel like an active and important part of the family.

1. Who may be the intended readers of the text?

A．People moving into their golden years.

B．People having senior parents to take care of.

C．People wanting to age in their own homes.

D．Senior people having safety and health concerns.

2. Which is the most important to move your senior parents home?

A．Being patient with your parents.

B．Giving them enough space.

C．Making sure of their safety.

D．Assigning them a household responsibility.

3. Why should you give your parents housework to do?

A．To make them feel like a bother.

B．To make them think themselves useful.

C．To make them in charge of the family.

D．To encourage them to exercise actively.

4. Which of the following is the best title of the text?

A．Troubles to live with senior parents.

B．A good way to age for senior people.

C．Take your responsibility to adjust yourself.

D．Open your heart and home to your senior parents.

6 . Europe is the perfect place for a holiday. Every corner of the continent is bursting with history, culture and sights. The countries are so very close to one another, and yet so completely different.

Sweden

Sweden is a brilliant destination for a campervan (露营车) holiday, with hundreds of well-appointed camping sites suitable for vehicles. Head north to Lapland in the Arctic Circle and you’ll find true wildernesses where you can truly get close to nature. Head here between June and mid-July and you’ll be able to take in the midnight sunshine. If you’re looking for great nightlife, head to Gothenburg, Stockholm or Malmo.

Germany

There are massive industrial cities, rolling plains, towering mountains, deep forests and long, sparkling rivers. It’s not just what’s to see that makes Germany so great, but the ease of seeing everything. All these wonderful locations are all linked by one of the world’s best road systems.

Scotland

Scotland has something for everyone: cities with rich nightlife, incredible scenery, wonderful lochs and medieval (中世纪的) castles. If you want to get away from it all, then the Highlands are one of the least populated areas in the whole of Europe. Hikers will love the Cairngorms – the largest national park in the UK.

Spain

Spain’s famous for its beach holidays, but it offers so much more than that. With a lovely climate, rich history, excellent architecture, delicious cuisine and friendly locals, Spain has long been a favoured destination for holiday.

1. What is the purpose of this text?

A．To explain why the attractions in Europe are world-famous.

B．To show the rich history and culture of the European countries.

C．To tell about the differences between the European countries.

D．To introduce some great European holiday destinations.

2. What can you enjoy only in Sweden?

A．Beautiful scenery.	B．Midnight sunshine.
C．Medieval castles.	D．Great nightlife.

3. For a lover of seaside holiday, which country is a good choice?

A．Sweden.

B．Germany.

C．Scotland.

D．Spain.

7 . Humans have been living and working on the space station for 20 years. Their meals are packaged, though sometimes astronauts receive fresh treats from resupply missions. The longer that packaged food is stored, the more it loses nutrients like vitamin C and vitamin K.

Astronauts have successfully grown 10 different crops on the space station since 2015 and had the chance to sample each one. The International Space Station hosted a party for astronauts on Friday as they celebrated the harvest of the first Chili (辣椒) grown in space. The crew finally had a chance to taste the peppers after initially kicking off the plant experiment on the space station in July.

Plant Habitat-04 is one of the most complex plant experiments on the orbiting laboratory to date because peppers take much longer to grow than the previous experiment plants. After growing for four months, the peppers were harvested on Friday.

Peppers provide a great source of vitamin C, as well as other key nutrients. Pepper plants self-pollinate, so they are easy to grow, and they are a pick-and-eat crop that doesn’t have to be cooked. They are also safe to eat raw.

A side effect of life in zero gravity is that astronauts often lose some of their taste and smell, so spicy or well-seasoned foods are a favorite. Adding fresh greens or peppers to the menu allows astronauts to liven up their regular meals. But growing and tending to the plants can also produce other benefits.

Astronauts have described the joy from seeing—as well as smelling and caring for—leafy green plants on the space station that remind them of Earth.

“Growing colorful vegetables in space can have long-term benefits for physical and psychological health,” said Matt Romeyn, principal investigator for the experiment.” We are discovering that growing plants and vegetables with colors and smells helps to improve astronauts’ well-being.”

1. What does underlined “kicking off” in the 2nd paragraph mean?

A．Launch.

B．Complete.

C．Quit.

D．Announce.

2. What makes Plant Habitat-04 one of the most complex plant experiments?

A．The technology.	B．Growing process.
C．The varieties of plants.	D．Growing time required.

3. Why are peppers added to the menu for astronauts?

A．They are delicious.	B．They restore their appetite.
C．They help kill diseases.	D．They improve their memory.

4. What is the suitable title for the text ?

A．The Fun in the Space Life

B．The Common Goal in the Space Mission

C．The First Chili Peppers Grown in Space

D．A Research Finding from the Space Mission

8 . Scientists have discovered how plants manage to live alongside each other in places that are dark and shady. Plants in the deep darkness of a thick forest, where natural supplies are not very great in amount, won’t attempt to top their neighbors in growth as those in moderate (中度的) shade do. In deep shade conditions, it would be a waste of energy and harmful to survival because green shoots would never be able to top their larger neighbors in growth.

So how do plants prevent such growth in deep shade conditions? The secret lies in the clocks insides them, say scientists from the John Ines Centre and the University of Bristol.

They have discovered that when plants notice deep shade, this changes the expression of genes parts of the circadian clock (昼夜节律时钟) — the inner daily timer found in plants and other things. These clock parts perform an additional role in preventing plants from lengthening and overtopping neighbors.

The work identifies a previously unknown role of the circadian clock in controlling plant development and the findings may have possible effects on both natural plant populations and crops. Professor Antony Dodd of the John Innes Centre said, “The biological clock of plants plays a big part in their development and fitness. This work casts new light on a new role of the circadian clock in adapting plants to competition with other plants in their environments.” “It also gives us new insights into how plants adapt to very deep shade, where resources are very limited,” said Professor Kerry Franklin at the University of Bristol.

This work provides evidence for the firmness of the circadian clock in stressful environments, and information that may be useful in developing new generations of crops in a challenging climate.

1. What do plants normally do in moderate shade?

A．Struggle to preserve energy.	B．Compete for limited resources.
C．Try to outgrow their neighbors.	D．Depend on each other to survive.

2. How does the circadian clock affect plants?

A．By changing their gene expression.	B．By making them realize light change.
C．By helping them adapt to the darkness.	D．By controlling their growth in deep shade.

3. Why does the author write the text?

A．To share a new discovery about plants.	B．To introduce the role of the circadian clock.
C．To explain plants secret of living in forests.	D．To compare plants living in certain condition.

4. What is the best title for the text?

A．How plants face a challenging climate

B．Why plants respond to different shade levels

C．Why the circadian clock is vital to plants' growth

D．How plants become good neighbors in times of stress

9 . Most Famous Paintings in the World

Among the millions of paintings that are created and shown in galleries and museums all around the world, a very small number of them go beyond time and make history. Below are some examples.

The Persistence of Memory — Salvador Dali. Painted in 1931, The Persistence of Memory is one of the most recognizable pieces in art history. This work is known to make people reflect on their way of life and the way they spend their time, and it is also thought that Albert Einstein’s well-known Theory of Relativity gave Dali the idea for this wonderful painting.

Girl with a Pearl Earring — Johannes Vermeer. Considered by many to be “the Dutch Mona Lisa”, this beautiful painting features an unnamed young woman looking over her shoulder to stare directly at the viewer. It was completed in 1665 and is exhibited in the Mauritshuis in The Hague, the Netherlands.

Guernica — Pablo Picasso. The famous painting by Picasso was completed in 1937. It was painted in Paris following the bombing of Guernica during the Spanish Civil War. The painting is on permanent display in the Museo Reina Sofia, Madrid, Spain.

Starry Night — Vincent van Gogh. Painted in 1889, Starry Night is one of the most famous paintings in modern culture, which is part of the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York. It is based on van Gogh’s direct observations as well as his imagination, memories, and emotions and was the inspiration for the song Vincent (also known as Starry, Starry Night).

1. What do we know about The Persistence of Memory?

A．It was finished in the 1920s.	B．It centers on people’s lifestyle.
C．It reflects the painter’s memories.	D．It may be inspired by a famous theory.

2. Which painting is based on a true story?

A．The Persistence of Memory.	B．Starry Night.
C．Girl with a Pearl Earring.	D．Guernica.

3. What is the common feature of the listed paintings?

A．They are everlasting artworks.	B．They share the similar theme.
C．They are on permanent display.	D．They give ideas for music creation.