1 . Chinese Teapot Escaping from British Museum Goes Viral
Chinese state media has praised a viral video series, Escape from the British Museum, which tells the story of a jade teapot coming to life and escaping from the British Museum to make its way back home.
In the video series released online on Sept 5th, a female vlogger plays the role of an ancient Chinese jade teapot, while her male partner acts as a journalist who helps it return to China.
The plot line taps into growing criticism of the British Museum after reports last month that more than 1,500 priceless objects, including gold jewelry, gems and glass items, were missing, stolen or damaged, which made headlines around the world. Also, the jade teapot’s reaction reflected the “casual attitude of the British Museum toward Chinese cultural relics, as many of them are crammed into just one cabinet for exhibition”. Problems in the management and security of cultural objects in the British Museum exposed have led to the doubts about a long-standing and widely-spread claim that foreign cultural objects are better protected in the British Museum.
The video series stirred up the emotions of Chinese people after first being released by independent vloggers on Douyin by showing how the teapot experienced the happiness of returning to China to see pandas and watch a flag-raising ceremony on Tiananmen Square. Many netizens expressed their eagerness for cultural artifacts overseas to return home with dignity and honor.
In August the state media Global Times also called for the return of Chinese artifacts from the museum “free of charge” in the wake of the controversy. It strongly supported the video series for touching on a “powerful message” about the importance of cultural heritage and reflecting “Chinese people’s strong and emotional desire for the repatriation of the Chinese cultural relics”.
State broadcaster CCTV gave the short films a glowing review saying “We are very pleased to see Chinese young people are passionate about history and tradition. We are also looking forward to the early return of Chinese artifacts that have been displaced overseas.”
1. What is the writing purpose of paragraph 3?| A．To discuss the problem in management. | B．To introduce the content of the video series. |
| C．To express criticism to the British Museum. | D．To provide background of the video series. |
| A．Return. | B．Reserve | C．Repair | D．Reflection. |
| A．Chinese netizens expressed anger towards it. | B．The Chinese media showed appreciation for it. |
| C．The British Museum took it quite seriously. | D．The viewers were eager to learn history from it. |
| A．A guidebook. | B．A story book. |
| C．A news report. | D．A book review. |
2 . We’ve all been there: You check your phone and see over 100 unread texts thanks to a group chat. The more this happens, the more it can start to feel overwhelming. “When we see so much activity happening, it creates a sense of panic and often results in difficulty separating from the phone due to fear of missing out,” said therapist (治疗专家) Becky Stuempfig. But group texts don’t have to be a source of stress.
“I recommend choosing certain times of the day when you plan to catch up on texts,” Stuempfig said. “
“My advice is turning off all notification alerts. No sounds, no vibrating (震动) — nothing.” Stuempfig said. “
Even if you make some changes, you might still find yourself feeling overwhelmed at certain times. It can be helpful to try some mindfulness exercises.
| A．They can help you decrease biological stress and improve sleep quality |
| B．Many people find it helpful to choose three 20-minute windows per day |
| C．Below, Stuempfig shares his advice for making the experience less tiring |
| D．They can involve deep breathing, taking a walk, or otherwise shifting your focus |
| E．If you’re starting a new text chat, really think about how many people you’re inviting |
| F．Many experts do some corresponding research and give us some suggestions as follows |
| G．These alerts interrupt our work projects, homework, family time, relaxing time, and sleep |
3 . Researchers from University of Southern California (USC) may have found the biggest influencer in the spread of fake news: social platforms’ structure of rewarding users for habitually sharing information. The study involved 2,476 active Facebook users ranging in age from 18 to 89. They were asked to complete a decision-making survey about seven minutes long.
Surprisingly, the researchers found that users’ social media habits are closely related to the amount of fake news they shared. Frequent and habitual users spread six times more fake news than occasional or new users. Just 15% of the most habitual news sharers in the research were responsible for spreading about 30% to 40% of the fake news. Users’ habits were more influential in sharing fake news than other factors, including lack of critical reasoning.
The research team wondered: What motivates these users? As it turns out, much like any video game, social media has a reward system that encourages users to stay on their accounts and keep posting and sharing.
Users who post and share frequently, especially eye-catching information, are likely to attract attention. Due to the reward system of social media, users form habits of sharing information that gets recognition from others automatically, without considering consequences such as spreading misinformation.
Then, the team tested whether social media reward structures could be designed to promote sharing of true over false information. They found that incentives (鼓励) for accuracy rather than popularity doubled the amount of accurate news that users share on social platforms.
“We know from previous research that some people don’t process information critically, which influences their ability to recognize false stories online,” said Gizem Ceylan, who led the team. “However, our new study shows that the reward structure of social media platforms plays a bigger role when it comes to misinformation spread.”
1. What does the USC research mainly focus on concerning social media?| A．Its reward system. | B．The users’ age group. |
| C．Its attraction to users. | D．The reason fake news spreads on it. |
| A．A new user. | B．A heavy user. |
| C．An occasional user. | D．An uneducated user. |
| A．The popularity of their posts. |
| B．The easy access to information. |
| C．The encouragement from other users. |
| D．The immediate money reward from the platform. |
| A．Sharing of misinformation is unavoidable. |
| B．People shouldn’t use social media frequently. |
| C．Lack of critical reasoning is a common problem. |
| D．Social media reward structures should be improved. |
4 . These popular children’s stories all have important birthdays this year.
How to Train Your Dragonby Cressida Cowell
(Hachette Children’s)
Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III is a smallish Viking with a longish name. His Hairy Hooligan tribe thinks he’s useless but, with the help of a dragon, can Hiccup prove he’s a hero? Celebrate 20 years of a favourite story with this anniversary edition.
The Sheep-Pigby Dick King-Smith
(Puffin Books)
When Farmer Hogget brings Babe home, the little orphaned piglet (成为孤儿的小猪) is raised by a kind-hearted sheepdog called Fly. Babe knows he can never be a sheepdog like Fly but could he learn how to be a sheep-pig? Famously made into the film Babe, this much-loved animal story turns 40 this year.
Emily of New Moonby L. M. Montgomery
(Virago Books)
When Emily is sent to live at New Moon with relatives she’s never met, her imagination and ideas soon cause her to clash (争执) with her Aunt Elizabeth. Will New Moon ever feel like home? Written by the author of Anne of Green Gables, this story was first published in 1923 and is celebrating its 100th birthday this year.
The Dark is Risingby Susan Cooper
(Puffin Books)
It’s Midwinter’s Eve, the day before Will’s 11th birthday. Strange things are happening in the snowy countryside around him and Will soon realises this will be a birthday like no other. First published 50 years ago, this classic adventure remains as exciting and magical as ever.
1. Whose book was Babe adapted from?| A．Susan Cooper’s. | B．Cressida Cowell’s. |
| C．Dick King-Smith’s. | D．L. M. Montgomery’s. |
| A．How to Train Your Dragon. | B．Emily of New Moon. |
| C．The Dark is Rising. | D．The Sheep-Pig. |
| A．It is made up of several stories. |
| B．It is published by Virago Books. |
| C．It is set around the character’s birthday. |
| D．It is based on the author’s personal experience. |
5 . Beth Bonness talked into the mirror as her hairstylist cut her hair. Bonness was telling a funny story about a trip to Rome. Suddenly, the stylist started moving her hands around in the mirror. “Beth. Beth. Beth. Can you hear me? ” she said. Bonness asked her what was wrong. In her mind, the words were coming out of her mouth. But she could see in the mirror that her lips weren’t moving. She started seeing bursts of light in the sides of her vision (视野). Then suddenly, the sensations disappeared.
Tests indicated Bonness had a transient ischemic attack (短暂性脑缺血发作) (TlA). About a third of people who have a TIA go on to have a more serious stroke (中风) within a year.
Bonness said she was told it was a one-off incident, so she didn’t worry about future problems. Plus, only old people have strokes, she told herself. She was 49, healthy and fit. Even the doctors implied that she was too young to worry. But the same week, while having a meal with her family, she couldn’t speak clearly again.
Bonness went on disability for a few weeks, and returned to work full-time half a year later. In the beginning, she felt less confident about speaking. Later she threw herself into living as healthy as possible. In 2011, her doctor said she’d fully recovered. She stopped all stroke-related medication.
In 2014, Bonness retired. She ended up saving a historic craftsman-style home in her neighborhood by changing it into a small residential development. The process had so many twists and turns (意外的曲折变化) that Bonness began writing a book about her story.
Last year, she started sharing her writing. She also started a writing group for survivors of stroke and brain injury in the hope that they too might find the same insight (领悟) and comfort. “Maybe it’s about doing more talking and sharing,” she said. “Every experience you have, all that travels with you.”
1. What does paragraph 1 mainly tell us?| A．The reason for Bonness’ catching TIA. | B．The treatment course of Bonness’ TLA. |
| C．Bonness first experience of suffering TIA. | D．Bonness’ chat with her hairstylist about TIA. |
| A．It would harm her eyesight. | B．It was nothing to worry about. |
| C．It might be a deadly disease. | D．It needed further examination. |
| A．To buy her family a house. | B．To have an active retirement. |
| C．To record some events in her life. | D．To support a housing development. |
| A．She has traveled around the country. | B．She has gathered material for her book. |
| C．She has helped look after those with TIA. | D．She has encouraged survivors of TIA to write. |
6 . I went to South Africa for the first time as a lone travelling female with a love for wildlife when I just graduated from high school.
During my six-month stay there, I spent the last 4 weeks at GVI Karongwe. The GVI members were so helpful and were so kind and lovely too when I was there. It was one of the easiest and best-organised programs I spent my time on.
Every day we collected information on a variety of animals for research. I have to say it changed my life in so many ways and actually guided me on my path to the job I am doing now.
The first week was pretty busy with training to prepare us for our job in the bush (灌木) and teach us about mammals (哺乳动物), birds and other animals, tracks and signs as well as how to use the equipment (设备), take care of the cars and clean and cook for a house of more than 20 people. The training made a world of difference to anyone who was nervous about being new to the South African wilderness and wanted to do the job well. I also made friends with people from all over the world and they were of all ages and backgrounds, united by the common goal to contribute to wildlife protection in South Africa, which was so amazing!
GVI programs provide a fantastic way to learn and contribute to the community and wildlife in a hands-on way. It has put me on the path of wildlife research for the rest of my life!
1. Why did the author go to South Africa at first?| A．To do a voluntary job there. | B．To visit the wild animals there. |
| C．To join in the GVI program there. | D．To carry out research there. |
| A．It was necessary and important. | B．It was relaxing and creative. |
| C．It was difficult. | D．It was too long. |
| A．It offers free training and accommodation. | B．It helped the author choose her career. |
| C．Its members all have rich knowledge of wildlife. | D．Its purpose is to encourage visits to South Africa. |
| A．To give a positive review of the GVI program. | B．To tell us the importance of animal protection. |
| C．To tell us what she learned in South Africa. | D．To share her experiences in South Africa. |
7 . Imagine two applicants are in a job interview: one expresses a great passion for the work, while the other points to family encouragement to pursue that field. Which applicant has a better chance of succeeding? Conventional wisdom suggests it would be the one who has a strong personal passion.
Passion is not a universally powerful basis of achievement, but the culture a person grew up in matters a lot. That means universities and companies that frequently rely on passion in candidates are pretermitting talented students and employees.
It seems that passion is a much stronger predictor of achievement in certain societies than others. “This leads to a blind spot among interviewers and is unfair to people from diverse backgrounds,” said Xingyu Li, the lead author of a new study. As a person coming from a collectivist (集体主义的) society, he knows exactly how people feel when they are rejected just because they are seemingly not as passionate as others. This research is novel for its using big data to compare a wider range of culturally diverse societies.
The researchers collected the data including scores from 1.2 million high school students across 59 countries. They found those who felt passionate about science, reading, or other subjects were more likely to be given better scores. This is quite true in individualist societies such as the United States and Australia, compared with collectivist countries such as China, Thailand, and Colombia, where the students felt that having family support for their interest was important.
Individualist countries regard the self as the source of motivation. For example, in the United States, doing well because of what others expect might seem to be evidence of a lack of potential. In collectivist societies, the self is inter-dependent, part of a web of relations, roles, and responsibilities. For instance, in the movie The Grandmaster, the legendary martial arts teacher Ip Man never said that he had a personal passion for kung fu. Rather, his drive to attain mastery came from the desire to live up to what his belt symbolized to his teacher and society.
The findings open up the possibility of designing educational interventions that don’t rely only on the western idea of cultivating (培育) passion. That helps better unlock the potential of our students and workforce.
1. Who is more likely to succeed in a job interview according to most employers?| A．Those who have a web of relations. | B．Those who are familiar with the company. |
| C．Those who gain much family encouragement. | D．Those who have great enthusiasm for the position. |
| A．Neglecting. | B．Harvesting. | C．Exploring. | D．Defending. |
| A．To clarify the link between students’ passion and academic performance. |
| B．To encourage people to learn the cultures of different countries. |
| C．To win people from different cultural contexts more chances of admission |
| D．To show the importance of big data in culture-related studies at particular. |
| A．An American. | B．A Colombian. | C．An Australian. | D．A Canadian. |
| A．The model of motivation varies from culture to culture. |
| B．The negative effects of societal expectations on individuals. |
| C．The role of self-realization matters in a person’s success and well-being. |
| D．The typical personality types in individualist countries and collectivist ones. |
8 . Compared with Americans, people in Okinawa, 1, 000 miles south of Tokyo, are three times more likely to become centenarians (百岁老人) , according to professor Dan Buettner’s research. The centenarians garden, sing, laugh and play. For most of the city dwellers (居民) who are busy working, it’s not possible to live like that.
For those who don’t like the gym, you may be inspired by the way the centenarians bring movement into their everyday routines.
They reduce meat for a plant-forward approach.
The typical diet in America includes 220 pounds of meat per year. per person.
They give loneliness the boot and become joiners.
Buettner describes a woman named Panchita who was well over 100 years old. She didn’t feel lonely at all because, her 85-year-old son biked to her house to help feed the chickens each day. In return, she cooked him some beans and some rice. They both found happiness in doing so. “There’s this beautiful symbiosis (共生) .
| A．They depend on each other. |
| B．They eat as little as they can. |
| C．They build movement into their days. |
| D．They plant a garden in their backyard. |
| E．But we can learn from their simple habits. |
| F．Those centenarians only consume 20 pounds a year. |
| G．Much of their intake is from whole plant-based foods. |
9 . The “Got Talent” crew is one of the pioneers in finding and publicizing music talents and has been giving the world some of its most favorite artists for almost two decades. This year “Britain’s Got Talent” (BGT) uncovered a musical genius named Malakai Bayoh who amazed the audience with perfect high-note singing. The London-based 13-year-old boy appeared for the show’s audition (试镜) in April, 2023 and was accompanied by his mom and sister. “My big dream is to be a singer. I started singing at 7,” said Bayoh to the BGT team and added jokingly, “My mom made me join the choir (合唱团) because she’s very bossy.” The teenager mentioned she’s his biggest fan.
Bayoh’s mom was shocked as he was about to perform and said, “It scares me because, on his first show, somebody heckled (对……起哄) him. It was bad to think that someone would boo (喝倒彩) a child on stage because it could’ve knocked his confidence completely.” Contrary to his mom’s fear, Bayoh set the stage on fire singing the song “Pie Jesu” and the entire crowd were struck by his beautiful voice. As he ended his song, the audience and the judges gave him a standing applause. Simon Cowell, a judge, had just one word to say and it was “Golden Buzzer”, sending him straight to the semi-finals of the show.
Cowell and the other judges called Bayoh’s performance “flawless” and “heavenly”. His angelic voice made the audience tear up and the judges thanked the teen for coming on the show. Bayoh went on to become one of the finalists of the show.
Bayoh’s audition at the BGT became popular on social media. People loved the boy’s impeccable singing and some musicians even commented on how perfectly he hit the high notes. “I’m a trained singer and a music teacher by profession, and sang this song as a young performer myself. I can say with absolute certainty that this song is most beautifully sung this time. With proper technique and breathing, this boy sang really well,” posted @mayacorinne878.
1. What can be learned about Bayoh from paragraph 2?| A．He comes from a single-parent family. | B．He is humorous in speech. |
| C．His dream was inspired by his fans. | D．His mom used to be a singer. |
| A．Bayoh’s difficulty in singing. | B．The judges’ attitudes to his son. |
| C．Bayoh’s performance on stage. | D．Some audiences’ initial responses. |
| A．Touched. | B．Annoyed. | C．Relieved. | D．Amused. |
| A．To uncover more musical geniuses. | B．To show musicians’ ability to sing well. |
| C．To stress Bayoh’s excellent singing. | D．To contradict some audiences’ comments. |
10 . People who get a good workout almost daily can add nearly four years to their life spans, according to the first study to quantify the effect of physical activity this way.
The researchers looked at records of more than 5,000 middle-aged and elderly Americans and found that those who had moderate to high levels of activity lived1.3 to 3.7 years longer than those who got little exercise, with men and women benefiting about equally.
“This shows that physical activity really does make a difference — not only for how long you live but for how long you live a healthy life.” said Oscar H. Franco of the Erasmus M.C. University Medical Center in Rotterdam. “Being more physically active can give you more time.”
Previous studies have found that being physically active has a host of health benefits. It reduces the risk of being overweight and of developing many illnesses, improves overall quality of life, and lowers the death rate. But the new study is the first to directly calculate the effect on how long people live.
People who engaged in moderate activity — the equivalent of walking for 30minutes a day for five days a week — lived about 1.3 to 1.5 years longer than those who were less active. Those who took on more intense exercise—the equivalent of running half an hour a day five days every week—extended their lives by about3.5 to 3.7 years, the researchers found.
The findings show that even for people who are already middle-aged, exercising more can add years to their lives, Franco said.
Other experts said the study was consistent with the growing evidence that exercising on a regular basis is one of the most important things people can do for their health.
“At the end of the day, this is more evidence that the sitting lifestyle is the most damaging to health, longevity and chronic disease development,” said James O. Hill of the University of Colorado at Denver.
Hill and others said exercising regularly also enables people to live healthier lives, free from a host of chronic illnesses that can make it hard for people to enjoy their later years.
In addition, recent studies have also found that exercise has payoffs for the mind, too. It has been shown to improve overall well-being and reduce stress and depression.
“The benefits of physical activity extend well beyond the effects on longevity,” said Joann E. Manson of Harvard’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.
1. What would be the best title for this text?| A．A Daily Workout Add More Years to Life. | B．How A Daily Workout Is Good to Health. |
| C．Men Benefit More from A Daily Workout. | D．Middle-aged People Benefit from Workout. |
| A．It finds that men and women benefited about equally. |
| B．Being physically active has a host of health benefits. |
| C．It’s the first to calculate the effect on how long people live. |
| D．Being more physically active can give you more time to live. |
| A．describing successful cases. | B．presenting findings of research. |
| C．offering professional comments. | D．explaining a certain phenomenon (现象) . |
