1 . Directions: Fill in each blank with a proper phrase chosen from the box. Each phrase can be used only once. Note that there is one phrase more than you need.

A. hold you back   B. be torn between   C. participate in   D. in the context of   E. be involved in F. achieve fluency in   G. be likely to H. find fault with   I. fade away J. glance at K. concentrate on

1. When they feel tired and bored, students can’t ______ studies.
2. Terry can’t ______ the match because he has hurt his foot.
3. Poor health will ______ in study, so do regular exercise.
4. Cross-cultural communication requires us to ______ both the language and the culture.
5. The boss was in such a bad mood that he began to ______ his employees.
6. After graduation from college, one may ______ furthering his/her study or finding a job.
7. We should review what we have learned often, or it will ______ from our memory.
8. ______ the “double reduction” policy, students actually face increasing pressure.
9. We should reduce the number of people who are needed to ______ important decisions.
10. The two companies would ______ to achieve a win-win situation if they cooperate well.

2 . Directions: Fill in each blank with a proper word chosen from the box. Each word can be used only once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. reflect   B confusing   C . tempt   D. ignorance   E. shortage   F. context G. dramatically   H. fluency   I. literally   J. bear   K. concerns

1. I am beginning to feel embarrassed by my complete ______ of world history.
2. The meaning of “Ahorita” should not be taken ______. It changes with context.
3. The newspaper report seems to ______ the idea of most people of the public.
4. Can you imagine Africans facing such serious ______ of clean water.
5. Those advertisements try to ______ people into buying their products.
6. Health care, education, employment are usually the biggest ______ of citizens.
7. We have two people called Paul James working here, so it’s a bit ______.
8. You may not understand this story if you don’t know its historical ______.
9. Her health has improved ______ since she started on this new diet.
10. One of the requirements of the job is ______ in two or more African languages.

3 . Directions: Fill in each blank with a proper word chosen from the box. Each word can be used only once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. houses   B. approaching   C. appear   D. talent   E. exclusively F. lowered   G. hiding   H. limits   I. dramatically   J. natural   K. sensitive

Dolphin Senses

New research involving trained dolphins seems to further prove that these animals can sense electricity. The     1     may allow them to better lock onto hidden fish hunted and direct the path.

The ability to sense electric fields is known as electroreception(电感受). All animals produce a weak electric field, but electroreception has almost     2     been found in water creatures. About a decade ago, scientists published research suggesting that some dolphins have passive electroreception. And in 2021, researchers in Germany released their own study finding that dolphins likely have it, too.

This new research is a follow-up to that latter study by the same team—one intended to better describe the     3     of electroreception in bottlenose dolphins. The researchers teamed up with scientists from the Nuremberg Zoo, which currently     4     six dolphins. They specifically worked with two bottlenose dolphins named Donna and Dolly. They first trained them to rest their jaws on a metal bar in the water, and then to respond to an electric field     5     them by swimming away within five seconds. They then gradually     6     the strength of this field to test the dolphins’ sensitivity.

The findings further prove that bottlenose dolphins can indeed sense electricity, but suggest that some dolphins are better at it than others. Donna, for instance, was a bit more     7     and able to respond correctly to a weaker field than Dolly.

The electroreception found in dolphins doesn’t     8     to be as strong as it is in the typical shark, but it’s probably still useful enough for them to find fish     9     underneath sand, stones or mud within a few centimeters away. Other studies have suggested that dolphins also possess a sense that acts as a sort of     10     GPS for them. So these dolphins’ electroreception might provide an explanation for that ability as well, Huttner said.

4 . Direction: Fill in each blank with a proper word chosen from the box. Each word can be used only once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. auto-complete             B. determine             C. essentially             D. grammatical       E. grouped F. indicating                    G. instructions             H. likely                    I. resembles             J. rigidly K. simple

How do AI chatbots answer my questions

Chatbots might appear to be complex conversationalists that respond like real people. But if you take a closer look, they are     1     an advanced version of a program that finishes your sentences by predicting which words will come next. Bard, ChatGPT, and other AI technologies are large language models—a kind of algorithm (算法) trained on exercises similar to the Mad Libs-style questions found on elementary school quizzes. More simply put, they are human-written     2     that tell computers how to solve a problem or make a calculation. In this case, the algorithm uses your prompt and any sentences it comes across to     3     the answer.

Let’s pretend you plugged this sentence into an AI chatbot: “The cat sat on the ______.” First, the language model would have to know that the missing word needs to be a noun to make     4     sense. But it can’t be any noun—the cat can’t sit on the “democracy,” for one. So the algorithm searches texts written by humans to get a sense of what cats actually rest on and picks out the most probable answer. In this scenario, it might     5     the cat sits on the “laptop” 10 percent of the time, on the “table” 20 percent of the time, and on the “chair” 70 percent of the time. The model would then go with the most     6     answer: “chair.” The system is able to use this prediction process to respond with a full sentence. If you ask a chatbot, “How are you?” it will generate “I’m” based on the “you” from the question and then “good” based on what most people on the web reply when asked how they are.

The way these programs process information and arrive at a decision sort of     7     how the human brain behaves. “    8     as this task—predicting the most probable response—is, it actually requires an incredibly advanced knowledge of both how language works and how the world works,” says Yoon Kim, a researcher at MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory.

The beauty of language models is that researchers don’t have to     9     define any rules or grammar for them to follow. An AI chatbot learns how to form sentences that make sense by consuming textual elements, which are common sequences of characters     10     together taken from the raw text of books, articles, and websites. All it needs are the patterns and associations it finds among certain words or phrases.

5 . Directions: Complete the following passage by using the words in the box .Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. acquired     B. consistently     C. regained     D. nightmare     E. native     F. acceptance     G. effective     H. hid     I. distinguished     J. countless     K. recalled

When Roberto Feliz came to the United States from the Dominican Republic, he knew only a few words of English. Education soon became a(n)     1    . “I couldn’t understand anything,” he said. He     2    from his teachers, came home in tears, and thought about dropping out.

Then Mrs. Malave, a bilingual educator, began to work with him while teaching him math and science in his     3     Spanish. “She helped me stay smart while teaching me English,” he said. Given the chance to demonstrate his ability, he     4     confidence and began to succeed in school.

Today, he is a(n)     5    doctor, runs his own clinic, and works with several hospitals. Every day, he uses the language and academic skills he     6     through bilingual education to treat his patients.

Roberto’s story is just one of     7     success stories. Research has shown that bilingual education is the most     8     way both to teach children English and ensure that they succeed academically. In Arizona and Texas, bilingual students     9     outperform their peers in monolingual programs. Calexico, California, implemented bilingual education, and now has dropout rates that are less than half the state average and college     10     rates of more than 90%. In El Paso, bilingual education programs have helped raise student scores from the lowest in Texas to among the highest in the nation.

7 . Directions: Fill in each blank with a proper word chosen from the box. Each word can be used only once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. inky   B. ashore   C. facility   D. worldwide   E. female   F. conclusions   G. double    H. confused I. Talk   J. preservation   K. typically

Several deep-sea fish have been mysteriously washed up on California’s beaches this year, leaving marine biologists     1    .

The latest Pacific football fish to be washed     2     in the state was spotted near Encinitas last Friday. A surfer found the strange fish dead on Swami’s Beach and alerted lifeguards, who then notified scientists. Scientist Ben Frable then collected the unusual animal for research and     3     purposes.

The fish is black, almost spherical in shape and has sharp teeth. It has a strange external body sticking out from its head with multiple branches, used to attract prey in the     4     blackness of the deep ocean.

The fish found on Swami’s Beach is a mature     5     measuring nearly 13 inches in length and weighing around 5.5 pounds.

Pacific football fish are very rarely seen considering that they are     6     found at depths of between 650 and 2,600 feet. Only 31 known fish have ever been collected     7    and it has never been seen in the wild, so scientists know very little about the species.

Despite the fact that the fish are rarely seen, three of them have been washed up on California’s beaches this year —including one that was spotted last month at Black’s Beach, north of San Diego. The three sightings this year     8     the total number of sightings on record in California, and it’s the     9     of the town among the experts working at the Los Angeles County Natural History Museum, which has four fish in its collection.

Despite the series of recent sightings, experts said, it’s hard to jump to any     10    about why this is happening.

8 . Direction: Fill in each blank with a proper word chosen from the box, each word can be used only once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. basis       B. scene       C. routine       D. stressful       E. embarrassed       F. indicate G. acquire       H. deliver       L. tear       J. range       K. bear

1. A traditional Hebridean style cottage, constructed of stonewalls, offers a fantastic opportunity to ________ a unique holiday cottage which has excellent income producing potential.
2. Photos of the crime ________ began to arrive within twenty minutes.
3. She had decided she must go on as usual ________, follow her normal and hope and pray.
4. School children around the world are being exposed on a daily ________ to cigarette advertising and promotions by a tobacco industry that needs to recruit the young to maintain its vast profits.
5. The ________ of temperature during the day varied significantly, from a low of 10 degrees to a high of 25 degrees.
6. As we all know, ________ situations can lead to a variety of physical and emotional symptoms, such as increased heart rate, muscle tension, and anxiety.
7. He became ________ when a journalist asked him tricky questions about his finances.
8. The president will ________ a speech at the opening ceremony of the national park.
9. I can’t ________ people who make judgments and label me without really know what I am.
10. What was thought to be a slight pull (拉伤) is actually a full ________ and he will go into hospital on Monday.

9 . Directions: Complete the following passage by using the words in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. replace       B. trustworthy               C. apparently                    D. pick E. owe             AB. expressing        AC. land                    AD. ironically AE. version       BC. position               BD. challenging

What Is 2023’s Word of the Year, According to Dictionaries?

What word defined the past year for you? Find out if your answer matches the actual word of the year from four famous dictionaries.

Cambridge Dictionary’s     1     for 2023 is hallucinate. The common definition of hallucinate is “to see or hear things that are not really there because of illness or drugs.” In 2023, however, to hallucinate can mean something different, thanks to AI. According to Cambridge’s alternate definition of hallucinating, “when an artificial intelligence hallucinates, it produces false information.” Sure, using AI can be fun for creating dog selfies or could even help you     2     a job, but it’s likely to produce misleading or made-up facts — or “hallucinating.”

Those dictionary people are     3     all on the same page. Similar to Cambridge, Collins Dictionary’s word of the year is the broader term AI. ChatGPT was released in late 2022, with companies attempting to use it to cut costs, worrying employees that it would     4     their jobs. AI pioneers and creators began     5     concerns that AI could be “dangerous” and operated by “bad actors.” President Biden even issued an executive order on “safe, secure and     6     artificial intelligence.”

With Merriam-Webster’s word authentic, we have an AI trifecta (三连胜)! While its core meaning is the same — “not false or imitation” — it should     7     its popularity in 2023 to AI, with the rise in deepfake videos and the potential use of AI in entertainment. However, being authentic is also about being “true to one’s own personality, spirit or character.” Are the public figures you look up to being true to themselves? As people search for authenticity, Merriam-Webster notes, “    8    , with ‘authentic content creators’... authenticity has become a performance.”

Oxford slides in at the last minute with a totally different word of the year for 2023: rizz. This noun means “style, charm or attractiveness”. It’s believed to be a shortened     9     of the word charisma, a special magnetic charm or appeal. It also hints at a changing attitude in 2023. “It’s interesting to see a contrasting word like rizz come to the forefront, perhaps showing that this year more of us are opening ourselves after a few     10     years and finding confidence in who we are,” notes Casper Grathwohl, president of Oxford Languages.

10 . Directions: Complete the following passage by using the words in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. addressed        B. boast        C. approach        D. sense        E. wealthy F. glimpse        G. revealed        H. pushy        I. statistics        J. peers        K. motivation

College Rankings Are Something, but Not Everything

I am always confused when reading statements like “Princeton University is the number one college in the United States.” Are those who attend Princeton inherently brighter than their     1    ? Is Princeton able to produce more geniuses upon graduation?

High-ranking colleges in global education leagues attract greater talent in staff and students, and     2     better facilities, therefore generating more profits. In the United States, however, this virtuous cycle can turn vicious when financially-challenged parents end up spending their life savings on their children’s education, while     3     individuals can simply buy their way in. Besides, these rankings face criticism for potentially influencing colleges to make minor adjustments in     4     to improve their position on the table.

I didn’t care about college rankings for years until I recently saw something different. This past October, Shanghai Ranking Consultancy     5     the Global Ranking of Academic Subjects 2023, which assesses universities worldwide across 55 subjects in five disciplines. It is said to employ a more in-depth     6     to evaluate the performance of universities. And this makes it easier for prospective students to choose the best college for their specific subject. But how much weight should you give to these rankings?

In my opinion, college rankings can serve as a reference, offering a     7     into the reputation and strengths of institutions. However, they should not be the only determining factor for you. There are many aspects to a university education that can only be     8     when you are clear about your goals.

I once taught a three-month program to prepare university students for overseas exchange programs in England. But some of them displayed low     9    . It wasn’t merely due to a language barrier. These individuals seemed to lack communication skills, critical thinking and, more importantly, a     10     of purpose, which might help determine their future academic quality. After all, what lies in the heart of education is “U” .