1 . Children returned to school after a big wildfire in Northern California. But the influence is so huge that it will be some time before the life of students there returns to normal.
Eight schools were lost to the wildfire. Government officials were not sure how many of their nearly 3,500 students would report to temporary (临时的) schools. Some families have left California. Others are staying with friends. It is too far for some of them to drive to one of those schools every day.
There are not enough classrooms for middle and high schools. So for the l3 days before the start of the traditional winter break in the school year, students will learn through independent study. They will be given homework online and be able to visit a special drop-in center in Chico, California. Children going there can get help from teachers or visit other classmates.
Loren Lighthall, a spokesman for one school there, said studying will be less important than dealing with pain and reconnecting with friends. “They don’t have their school, they don’t have their work, they don’t have their friends, they don’t have books and we’re asking them to do homework?” Light hall said. “It’s less important at this point. We’re going to do it. But what is important now is to deal with the pain left.”
Search members have stopped looking for the lost in burned cars and houses. But they remain available whenever there is need for help.
1. What does the underlined “those schools” in the second paragraph refer to?| A．The schools being built. | B．The online schools. |
| C．The 8 schools lost to the fire | D．The temporary schools. |
| A．Because there aren’t enough classrooms for them. |
| B．Because the traditional winter break is coming soon. |
| C．Because the students want to start a new way of study. |
| D．Because the teachers ask them to do their homework online. |
| A．Students should go to school immediately. |
| B．It is important to deal with the pain. |
| C．Students should be given much homework. |
| D．It is not necessary to study after the fire. |
| A．Life of students in North California has come to normal. |
| B．Search members have not stopped looking for the missing. |
| C．The wildfire in North California influences students greatly. |
| D．Classrooms are prepared for students affected in the wildfire. |
1. In what way was the handshake impressing?
| A．Flexi shook hands with a human for the first time. |
| B．Flexi offered to shake hands with the woman. |
| C．Flexi moved his hand just as the woman did. |
| A．In his head. | B．In his hands. | C．In his chest. |
| A．In 1993. | B．In 2000. | C．In 2023. |
| A．He is used in special situations. |
| B．He is controlled by a computer system. |
| C．He doesn’t need human intervention at all. |
1. Why does the woman invite the man to the beach?
| A．To relax. | B．To see a whale. | C．To collect trash. |
| A．The community. | B．The government. | C．A recycling firm. |
| A．Generous. | B．Responsible. | C．Emotional. |
4 . Why Human Translation Is Better Than Machine?
Will AI take the place of human translators?
[1]. Machines cannot express feelings and emotions like humans
Nowadays, soft skills like communication and relationship building are more important at work than technical skills. AI systems are indeed fast, rational, and accurate.
[2].
Only a human translator can match and reproduce the style and tone of the source document accurately. With a machine translation, the intended tone and intricate nuances of the original document often get lost. This results in a rather flat and soulless end result. Translating some texts, such as poems and argumentative essays, is challenging for machines. Robots are unable to convey the feeling of the text, resulting in a flat translation.
[3]. Machines can’t keep up with language changes
Machine translation software has to be constantly updated to keep up with these changes. Updating these programs is challenging because they are based on a sophisticated algorithmic system. Human translators, on the other hand, do not have to deal with such difficulties. As we all know, humans are much more adaptable.
[4]. Machines don’t understand complex human cultures
When it comes to cultural translations, some words may have a specific meaning in one culture but a completely different meaning in another. In fact, in some occasions, even human translators have difficulty achieving a perfect translation, let alone a machine translator.
| A．Style and tone may be beyond a machine’s ability |
| B．A translation cannot be complete without the human touch |
| C．There’s no denying the importance of machine translation |
| D．Simply put, there is no replacement for human translation |
| E．Nevertheless, they are not insightful, empathetic, or culturally sensitive |
| F．A machine translator can never match the intelligence of a human being |
| G．Hence they can keep up with language changes faster than any AI program |
I have a confession (坦白) to make, and the sooner it gets out in the open, the better I’ll feel about it. I don’t drive a car.
Americans are broad-minded people. They will accept the fact that a person can be an alcoholic, a dope fiend (瘾君子), a wife beater, and even a newspaperman, but if a man does not drive, there is something wrong with him. Through the years I’ve found it very embarrassing to admit it to anyone and my best friends tend to view me with distrust and disapproval.
But where I really run into trouble is when I go into a store and try to make a purchase with a check.
It happened again last week when I went to a discount house at a large shopping center in Maryland. I wanted to buy a portable type writer, and the salesman was very helpful about showing me the different models. I decided on one, and then I said, “May I write out a personal check?”
“Naturally,” he said kindly. “Do you have any identification?”
“Of course,” I said. I produced an American express credit card, a Diner’s club credit card, a Bell telephone credit card, and my pass to the White House.
The man inspected them all and then said, “Where’s your driver’s license?”
“I don’t have one,” I replied.
“Did you lose it?”
“No, I didn’t lose it. I don’t drive a car.” He pushed a button under the cash register, and suddenly a floor manager came rushing over.
The salesman had now become surly. “This guy’s trying to cash a check, and he doesn’t have a driver’s license. Should I call the store detective?”
注意： 1. 续写词数应为 150 左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
“Wait a minute. I’ll talk to him,” the manager said.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
By this time the president of the store had arrived on the scene.
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6 . A few years ago, I was giving a presentation to the CEO of a financial services company, outlining a speech on “Leadership Presence”, which I was
Our meeting lasted thirty minutes, and through that entire time, the CEO sat at the conference table with his
I was sure that his nonverbal
I was shocked and asked how he would have
The
Just as I
| A．challenged | B．labeled | C．appealed | D．scheduled |
| A．arms | B．thumbs | C．heart | D．mind |
| A．ahead | B．through | C．in | D．down |
| A．warning | B．inquiry | C．communication | D．prohibition |
| A．rewarding | B．impressed | C．embarrassed | D．distracting |
| A．reacted | B．varied | C．witnessed | D．detected |
| A．sneezing | B．waving | C．smiling | D．weeping |
| A．climbed up | B．taken up | C．made up | D．gotten up |
| A．non-stop | B．non-native | C．nonsense | D．nonverbal |
| A．positive | B．negative | C．neutral | D．indifferent |
| A．normal | B．moral | C．model | D．noble |
| A．pirated | B．misread | C．revealed | D．employed |
| A．jump | B．support | C．approve | D．test |
| A．at table | B．on the move | C．for the first time | D．in this sense |
| A．slightly | B．instantly | C．habitually | D．ultimately |
7 . Some insects contain poisons that do not affect an insect-eating bird until after the bird has swallowed one of them. Being swallowed is almost always fatal for these insects. How does an insect benefit by containing a poison that is effective only after it has been killed and eaten?
This paradox (悖论) is resolved once we realize that birds, which are made ill by the poison but are rarely killed by it, soon learn to recognize the warning signals of poisonous insects and reject them on sight. Eating a poisonous insect is an educational experience for predators, and thus the death of the insect victim (受害者) serves to protect other members of its own species.
On one hand, if these other members of the species are relatives of the victim—perhaps its own offspring, siblings, or first cousins—their genetic makeup will be similar to the victim’s, and many of the victim’s genes will survive in them.
On the other hand, an insect’s survival fitness is not improved if it kills the bird that eats it. Indeed, the victim benefits if the bird survives after eating the victim and becoming aware of its poisonous properties.
How come? Most birds are territorial. They live in a small and delimited area from which they keep out members of their own species other than their mates. If the poisonous insect species does live within, or at least pass through, the territory of some bird, the bird will leave them alone because it has been taught not to attack them by the death of their relative. But if the territory-holding bird is killed, it will almost immediately be replaced by a wandering member of its own species, a floater that is still searching for a territory of its own. When an experienced predator (捕食者) that has learned not to attack the insects in question is replaced by a floater that happens to be inexperienced, the relatives of the insect victim do not benefit from its death. Thus protective systems based on benign poisons are far more likely to evolve and continue than systems based on deadly poisons.
1. What is the function of the opening paragraph?| A．To clarify a concept. | B．To provoke thinking. |
| C．To emphasis the topic. | D．To introduce a conclusion. |
| A．Birds will learn to avoid poisonous insects. |
| B．Birds will take in adequate nutrition afterwards. |
| C．Birds will warn their members of the potential danger. |
| D．Birds will adapt themselves to eating poisonous insects. |
| A．Birds would have wider territories. | B．Insects and birds would live in harmony. |
| C．Both insects and predators would suffer loss. | D．Insects would become the owner of the territory. |
| A．Like cures like. | B．Little things amuse little minds. |
| C．Live and let live. | D．A close mouth catches no flies. |
8 . 1 It is commonly believed that teens’ preference for waking up and staying up later was driven by social forces—the pressures of school, the pleasures of partying. Mary Carskadon at Brown University, Rhode Island, however, assumed that biological factors might be responsible.
2 To test that theory, she surveyed 2000 schoolchildren across the US on their preferred and actual bedtimes and wake times; the times of day when they felt most or least attentive and energetic; and their physical development. The results pointed to biology. Sixth-graders ( aged 11or 12) scored higher on “eveningness” and lower on “morningness” than younger children, even though they occupied the same social background—a tendency that connected with their stage of puberty (青春期). In earlier studies, Carskadon had shown adolescents need more sleep than younger kids to avoid daytime sleepiness. Therefore, she and her team concluded, the practice of ringing the morning bell earlier at middle schools (for 1 1 to 13-year-olds) and high schools (for ages 14 to 18) than at elementary schools “may run exactly oppose to children’s biological needs”.
3 Carskadon went on to confirm her findings using more direct methods, such as measuring levels of melatonin (褪黑激素) in teens’ saliva (唾液) round the clock. In response, a growing number of local governments in US began pushing back start times in middle and high schools. Further research linked such moves to higher test scores, as well as lower rates of depression, substance use, illness and vehicular accidents.
4 In 2014, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended that middle and high schools start the day no earlier than 8: 30 am. The American Psychological Association and the American Medical Association later followed suit. In 2019, California became the first US state to pass laws based on those guidelines. This May, Florida became the second. Meanwhile, school districts from Australia to South Korea have launched similar reforms.
1. What did Carskadon believe caused teenagers waking up and staying up later?| A．Social factors. | B．Academic burden. |
| C．Biological elements. | D．The pleasure of having parties. |
| A．Her assumption was totally baseless. | B．Younger children tended to stay up later. |
| C．Younger children and teens had a lot in common. | D．Physiological stage affected teen’s sleep behaviors. |
| A．Pushing back middle school start times is beneficial. | B．Direct methods are adopted in Carskadon’s research. |
| C．Carskadon’s research needed further improvements. | D．Some middle schools started their school later now. |
| A．Broke down barriers. | B．Acted in the same way. |
| C．Convinced the authority. | D．Raised people’s awareness. |
9 . “If you feel unloved, go mountain climbing, after which you will feel so exhausted that you won’t think about it.” Recently, a self-made sign post at Yuelu Mountain in Changsha, Hunan province has trended on social media platforms. Many people go to the mountain to take pictures with the sign. Mountain hiking has become a new trend for people looking for beautiful autumn views.
One can find the sign on a small road near the west gate of the mountain. The sign has also become a must visit for travelers. One netizen joked that it is vital to climb the mountain. Another said if you feel unloved, go working, and then you will also be exhausted and get paid.
A staff member from the Yuelu Mountain scenic spot management office said the office did not put up the sign, but it has become famous.
A milk tea store at the foot of the mountain has launched an “unloved” specialty and many travelers bring bumper stickers that say “unloved” while looking for the “unloved” sign, the staff said.
The sign was actually put up by mountain climbing lovers. The “heart-shaped track” on Yuelu Mountain has also trended at social media platforms recently, with netizens exploring a new track to climb the mountain, which forms the shape of a heart. While one can reach the mountain top, which is about 300 meters high, in about 30 minutes via a concrete road, the heart-shaped track is much longer and takes about three to four hours to complete.
ICE (pseudonym), 28, said she and her friends tried the heart-shaped track a few days ago and did not feel very tired. “Many people do not exercise often and are not in very good health, so the sign is a way to joke about mountain climbing,” she said.
1. Which word could best describe the milk tea store keeper?| A．Smart. | B．Committed. |
| C．Industrious. | D．Unrealistic. |
| A．Many people feel unloved nowadays. | B．Working is more rewarding than hiking. |
| C．Being exhausted is the best cure for a broken heart. | D．People have different interpretations of the sign post. |
| A．Whoever takes it could find true love. | B．It is more demanding than another route. |
| C．Both the sign and the track are practical jokes. | D．The management office designs the track this autumn. |
| A．A Signpost Shoot to Fame Online | B．Hiking is A Good Way to Find Love |
| C．Yuelu Mountain, A Famous Scenic Spot | D．Mountain Hiking, A Fashionable Trend |
10 . 2023 Youth Writing Contest: Competition Finals!
We received over 430 submissions from 30 cities across the Mainland for our 2023 Youth Writing Contest, exceeding all our expectations!
The next step? Having finalists read their work live at our Live Reading Party in Shanghai. Can’t make it to Shanghai? No problem! You can join us via Tencent Meeting to read your story to our audience and judges.
We’ve narrowed down the pack down to 35 finalists, who have been notified via email—so please look out for an email from That’s Marketing!
If you have not received an email, it means you have not been selected as a final ist this year, but some really good entries just missed out, so we encourage you to try again next year!
We’d like to invite everyone—those who submitted works, those who considered doing so and those who are simply interested to join us—from 2—6 pm on Sunday, November 19 at Lounge by Topgolf, Shanghai, to celebrate our country’s budding writers and poets.
Each finalist will read his or her piece aloud in front of an audience and panel of judges(in person or via Tencent Meeting). Our esteemed judges will then pick three winners in each of the three age categories, with the winning submissions to be published in the January 2024 issue of Urban Family magazine.
Finalists and one other family member will be given FREE tickets! If you’d like more, you can purchase them for just RMB 50 (which includes free flow soft drinks). Click below to purchase these very limited tickets.
If you have any questions, please contact us by scanning the QR code below or adding our marketing WeChat.
1. Who are the target audience of this article?
| A．35 finalists notified through email. | B．All competitors who submitted works. |
| C．Our country’s promising writers and poets. | D．Those who are interested in Youth Writing Contest. |
| A．Urban Family magazine will pick out winners. |
| B．Audience will vote for winners via Tencent Meeting. |
| C．Judges determine winners after listening to finalists. |
| D．Topgolf, Shanghai will select winners in each age group. |
| A．Nothing. | B．RMB 50. | C．RMB 100. | D．RMB150. |
