1 . Research spanning several decades demonstrates that you are more likely to think the information that is repeated to be true than the information you hear only once. You usually assume that if people put in effort to repeat a statement, this reflects the truth of the statement. This tendency-also called the truth effect-is a bias (偏见) that can lead you to draw incorrect conclusions.

To what degree are people aware of the truth effect? This question was addressed in a paper in the journal Cognition early this year.

In the critical study in this paper, participants did two sessions. In one session, they read about a hypothetical (虚构的) study in which they were exposed to some statements and then were asked whether both statements they had heard before as well as these new statements were true. They were asked to predict the proportion (比例) of each statement that would be judged as true. They did this both as a prediction of other people’s performance as well as a prediction of how they would do in this study.

At another session a few days later, participants actually performed this study, reading a set of 20 statements in the hypothetical study again and then judging the truth of altogether 40 statements, half of which were from the hypothetical study and the other half of which were new.

This study did replicate the well known truth effect. People were more likely to judge statements they had seen before as true than statements that were new. Two interesting findings emerged from the prediction. First, participants tended to underestimate the size of the truth effect for everyone. T hat is, while they did expect some difference in judgments between the statements seen before and those that were new, they thought this difference would be smaller than it actually was. Second, participants more significantly underpredicted the truth effect for themselves compared to that for other people.   

This study is particularly important in light of the amount of misinformation present in social media. Many people have the power to influence public opinion about important matters. Flooding social media feeds with misinformation will lead people to believe this information is true just because it is stated. Recognizing that we are all susceptible to this influence of repeated information should lead us to mistrust our intuition (直觉) about what is true and to look up important information prior to using it to make important judgments and decisions.

1. In the first paragraph, the author intends to ______.

A．clarify a misconception	B．present a phenomenon
C．challenge a statement	D．confirm a theory

2. What can we learn from the study?

A．Impacts of the truth effect require further studies.

B．Making predictions before judgments is significant.

C．People have hardly any awareness of the truth effect.

D．People tend to believe they can make wiser judgments.

3. What does the word “susceptible” underlined in the last paragraph most probably mean?

A．Critical.

B．Subject.

C．Opposed.

D．Adapted.

2 . Today, what we have, is an always-in-your-pocket, 24/7 news cycle. When you open a news app, you’ll notice a brief moment when the “old news” is still there. In a flash, the ancient history of a few hours ago is swept away for the next “breaking news”.     1     It’s endless, but you had better keep up.

Researchers introduce this world to the phrase, “noise bottleneck”. A noise bottleneck is where we are overwhelmed with so much information or noise that our cognitive (认知的) abilities can’t keep up.     2     Thus, while our attention can watch hours of videos, our long-term learning processes can’t.

    3     We watch TV holding our phones, and we listen to music while shopping. However, the human brain might have structural limitation rooted in the cognitive architecture which causes the slowing down that occurs when two tasks are performed at the same time.

In short, your brain is not as good as you think it is. You are a human being who can only take in so much a day. Understanding the noise bottleneck allows us to fix it. So, here are three tips to get you going:

Clear your content-set up a new account on social media and follow only accounts or people that you think are really valuable.   

Single-task — you don’t need to rid the phone but do rid the distractions.     4     Say, “I will only read this magazine after dinner.” Multitasking is for show; single-tasking is for pros.

Accept your limits — you’ll never read all the news. Accept you can only choose two or three and embrace that fact.     5     You’re getting more out of those few than that “super-productive” person on social media who says they read five books a week. After all, it’s better to have a little remembered than a lot forgotten.

A．Give yourself a time limit or restriction if it helps.

B．Don’t beat yourself up that you’re being unproductive.

C．Every second, you are presented with new information.

D．Breaking through the noise bottleneck is a legendary idea.

E．The matter is made worse by our modern addiction to multitasking.

F．Multitasking has dramatically changed the way we use information.

G．Our brains have limited resources, spread across numerous functions.

3 . Are you looking for teen volunteer opportunities for 2024 that provide a rewarding experience that will stay with you for life? Every year thousands of teens choose to volunteer abroad with International Volunteer HQ(IVHQ)-the world’s most trusted provider of safe and affordable volunteer programs for teens.

Service trips for teens are available in more than 50 destinations and there are 17 teen volunteer programs for 16 to 18 year-olds. Some of the best programs in 2024 include Turtle Conservation in Bali, Animal Care in Costa Rica and Childcare in Tanzania. Or, if you’re wanting to volunteer with a group of students from your high school, IVHQ can tailor a program for your group too!

Benefits for volunteers:

There is no doubt that volunteering as a teenager is a meaningful way to broaden your education and add experiences that will stand out on your college application.

Crossing boundaries to work with partners from different parts of the world fosters global understanding.

Living in a country different to your own means that you will be involved in a new culture, cuisine, and way of thinking.

Guaranteed support:

Chances are your parents will also want to learn more about IVHQ, whether or not they will go abroad with you. Having placed more than 130, 000 volunteers abroad, we’re always happy to speak with parents to ensure all their questions are fielded. Through our online safety training, comprehensive information brochures, on-going support from experienced program managers and round-the-clock support from our local teams, IVHQ volunteers are well supported to make the most of the time abroad.

If you’re ready to pack your bags and experience a completely different lifestyle and widen your global perspective, please contact us. IVHQ will be more than happy to offer a service.

1. What can IVHQ provide for a high school group?

A．Rewards for volunteering.	B．A free service trip.
C．An opportunity to study abroad.	D．A specialized program.

2. What does IVHQ promise to volunteers?

A．Local teams’ assistance.	B．Partners’ support.
C．College recommendation letters.	D．Parents’ company

3. The main purpose of the passage is to_____.

A．advocate volunteering	B．introduce requirements
C．advertise a service	D．suggest a lifestyle

4 . An Art Class

When Kelly was twelve, she started taking classes at Miss Grace’s School for Art. She didn’t like it at first: the “novice artists”—the kids who hadn’t really done art before-worked mostly with clay, and Kelly was a terrible sculptor.

It wasn’t until her third year that Kelly found something she was really good at-charcoal drawing (素描). She loved watching the lines spread unevenly across the page as she moved the bits of charcoal back and forth over the paper.

One day, Sophia, the best artist in her class, sat down and set up her easel (画架) next to Kelly. Kelly felt a sinking feeling in her stomach. She’d actually found an art form that she enjoyed and was good at-and now Sophia was going to outshine her again? Kelly fought back tears when Miss Grace entered the room.

“Hello class, Miss Grace said.” We’ll continue to work on the project today. What masterpiece would Sophia have come up with?

Kelly looked at Sophia’s easel and she couldn’t believe it-it was a mess! For a brief moment, Kelly couldn’t actually believe her drawing was better than Sophia’s.

But then she looked at Sophia, who was watching Kelly with an anxious expression. “I…. I couldn’t decide what to do,” Sophia said. “And you’re so good. Sometimes I feel like my stuff is just so bad in comparison.”

Kelly looked to see if Sophia was joking, but she seemed completely serious. Now Kelly was shocked. “I’m not talented ... Miss Grace seldom praises me. You’re the best one in our class!”

Sophia raised her eyebrows. “I might be a really good copier of the stuff, but I have no idea what to do when it comes to making up my own images. You are so great at making new things out of the old stuff. I’ve loved your works.”

“I’ve loved yours, too,” Kelly said.

“Well, definitely not this one,” Sophia said.

Kelly smiled. “Maybe not right now. But if you move these lines up...” she said, pointing her finger on Sophia’s paper.

Sophia was quiet for a moment. “That’s a great idea!” she said finally.

Kelly smiled and turned back to her drawing, looking every so often at Sophia’s work to see that she was taking her advice, down to the last line.

1. When Kelly started classes at the art school, she _____.

A．was not good at the course	B．lacked confidence in drawing
C．was often pushed by Miss Grace	D．did not get along with the other kids

2. How did Kelly feel when Sophia sat beside her?

A．Thrilled.

B．Confused.

C．Frustrated.

D．Relieved.

3. What did Kelly do in the art class?

A．She inspired Sophia.	B．She praised Sophia’s creativity.
C．She decided to outshine Sophia.	D．She finished the drawing for Sophia.

4. What can we learn from the passage?

A．Interest is the best teacher.	B．You are what you believe to be.
C．Everyone has their own strengths.	D．Hard work will eventually pay off.

5 . 语法填空

ChatGPT is a chatbot. Some schools     1     (ban) it since its birth. They need time to make rules about     2     it’s to be used properly in class. Some teachers see it as a     3     (cheat) tool. But many principals believe it’s too late to keep AI out of classrooms. A growing number of     4     (educate) say the panic about AI is a lot like the panic caused by the Internet when it was new. One of them says, “ChatGPT is to English and to writing what the calculator is to math.”

6 . When I teach research methods, a major focus is peer review. As a process, peer review evaluates academic papers for their quality, integrity and impact on a field, largely shaping what scientists accept as “knowledge”- By instinct, any academic follows up a new idea with the question, “Was that peer reviewed?”

Although I believe in the importance of peer review and I help do peer reviews for several academic journals-I know how vulnerable the process can be.

I had my first encounter with peer review during my first year as a Ph. D student. One day, my adviser handed me an essay and told me to have my -written review back to him in a week. But at the time, I certainly was not a “peer”-I was too new in my field. Manipulated data (不实的数据) or substandard methods could easily have gone undetected. Knowledge is not self-evident. Only experts would be able to notice them, and even then, experts do not always agree on what they notice.

Let’s say in my life I only see white swans. Maybe I write an essay, concluding that all swans are white. And a “peer” says, “Wait a minute, I’ve seen black swans.” I would have to refine my knowledge.

The peer plays a key role evaluating observations with the overall goal of advancing knowledge. For example, if the above story were reversed, and peer reviewers who all believed that all swans were white came across the first study observing a black swan, the study would receive a lot of attention.

So why was a first-year graduate student getting to stand in for an expert? Why would my review count the same as an expert’s review? One answer: The process relies almost entirely on unpaid labor.

Despite the fact that peers are professionals, peer review is not a profession. As a result, the same over-worked scholars often receive masses of the peer review requests. Besides the labor inequity, a small pool of experts can lead to a narrowed process of what is publishable or what counts as knowledge, directly threatening diversity of perspectives and scholars. Without a large enough reviewer pool, the process can easily fall victim to biases, arising from a small community recognizing each other’s work and compromising conflicts of interest.

Despite these challenges, I still tell my students that peer review offers the best method for evaluating studies aird advancing knowledge. As a process, peer review theoretically works. The question is whether the issues with peer review can be addressed by professionalizing the field.

1. What can we learn about peer review in the first paragraph?

A．It generates knowledge.	B．It is commonly practiced.
C．It is a major research method.	D．It is questioned by some scientists.

2. What can be inferred about the example of swans?

A．Complexity of peer review ensures its reliability.

B．Contradictions between scientists may be balanced.

C．Individuals can be limited by personal experiences.

D．Experts should detect unscientific observation methods.

3. What is the author’s major concern about peer review?

A．Workload for scholars.	B．Toughness of the process.
C．Diversification of publications.	D．Financial support to reviewers.

4. The passage is mainly about ______.

A．what fuels peer review	B．why peer review is imperfect
C．how new hands advance peer review	D．whether peer reviewers are underrated

7 . 语法填空

In early November in 2023, a diver, swimming off the coast of Sardinia,     1     (notice) pieces of metal on the ocean floor. He called the authorities and more divers were sent to look. The pieces turned out to be ancient Roman coins. The coins mostly lay     2     (bury) in sand and seagrass not far from the coast. It is said that more than 30, 000 coins have been found,     3     are close to 2, 000 years old. Experts call this a major historical discovery.

8 . 语法填空

When I lived in Boston, I taught English as a second language to adult students from around the world. On the last day, they threw a nice party. I was amazed they had learned enough English     1     (organize) such an event altogether. At the end of the party, they proudly handed me a gift box. After the box     2     (open), I gently lifted a beautiful coat from it. “We went shopping for a new coat!” they all shouted     3     wonderfully perfect English.

9 . In 2019, Thierry Henry, a bus driver, found there was a rise in bike thefts in his city, Reykjavik. Rather than ________ that the bike was gone forever, he decided to take matters into his own hands and started to track down the bikes and return them to their ________ owners.

The 44-year-old has helped return hundreds of stolen bikes in the past 4 years. His social media account has over 14, 500 members and helps people track down more than just lost bikes. His page ________ to people who have lost tools, cars and other items of high value. On top of his noble act, Henry has helped the bike ________ to reform in the process.

________, Henry would deal with the thieves with anger. However, over time, he realized that most of the thefts were driven out of poverty and other issues. He went from feeling ________ towards the thieves, to developing empathy (同理心) for their situations. It was very tough at first. But Henry decided to try to ________ them and just talk to them.

From this moment onward, he reached out to the thieves, offering help and guidance. After the change in his ________, Henry found that the bike thieves began to often hand back the bikes to him. Amazingly, some former thieves that Henry helped now ________ him in looking for the stolen bikes.

“It’s like a ________ that has got bigger and bigger, ” says Henry. “It’s not only me. Many times, someone spots a bike hidden in a bush and takes a picture. Then someone else comments, ‘hey, that’s my bike’”.

Thanks to Henry, everyone’s looking out.

1.

A．claim

B．expect

C．accept

D．realize

2.

A．new

B．honest

C．careless

D．rightful

3.

A．belongs

B．extends

C．returns

D．refers

4.

A．owners

B．makers

C．thieves

D．sellers

5.

A．Initially

B．Unknowingly

C．Incredibly

D．Unwillingly

6.

A．regretfully

B．negatively

C．guiltily

D．helplessly

7.

A．level with

B．reply to

C．side with

D．apologize to

8.

A．plan

B．occupation

C．habit

D．approach

9.

A．assist

B．trust

C．engage

D．drag

10.

A．dream

B．snowball

C．rainbow

D．balloon

10 . Scientists are poor forecasters of the future. But two trends can be confidently predicted. First, the world will get more crowded. There’ll be more than 9 billion people by 2050. Second, the world will get warmer and some governments won’t prioritise the long-term measures needed to deal with climate change, even though science offers us a roadmap to a low-carbon future.

That’s why we should be promoters of new technology—without it the world can’t provide the food and sustainable energy needed for an expanding population. But we should also be cautious, as new technologies, such as AI, may be hard to control.

AI will undoubtedly become more intrusive in the future. Records of our movements, health and financial transactions will be stored in the cloud. The data may be used for justifiable reasons, such as protein folding and drug development, or to warn us of initial health risks, but its availability to Internet companies is already shifting the balance of power from governments to global-scale corporations.

Actually, it’s beyond Earth that AI has the most enormous potential. Humans may have established bases beyond Earth by the year 2100．But don’t ever expect mass emigration (移民) from Earth. It’s a false belief that space offers an escape from our problems. Dealing with climate change on Earth is a piece of cake compared to terraforming Mars.

Nevertheless, we should cheer on these brave human space adventurers. They’ll be ill-adapted to a Martian habitat, so they’ll have a super motive to redesign themselves. It’s they, not those of us adapted to life on Earth, who will pioneer the post-human era (时代).

If post-humans make the shift from flesh and blood to fully artificial intelligences, they won’t need an atmosphere of even gravity, so it’s in deep space — not even on Mars that non biological “brains” may develop powers that we can’t imagine. They may end up being mentally different from us. AI could jump-start a huge emigration and thus even more complex intelligence spreads through the universe.

But let’s re focus from the science fiction of the far future. closer to the here and now. This century is special. It’s the first, in Earth’s 4.5-billion-year history where one species-ours—holds the planet’s future in its hands. Our intelligence could initiate billions of years of post-human evolution (演化), even more amazing than that which led to us. On the other hand, humans could cause biological, environmental or cyber catastrophes that foreclose all this potential.

If science is to save us, we need to think globally, sensibly and long-term—empowered by science, but guided by values that science alone can’t provide.

1. Why does the author mention the two trends in the first paragraph?

A．To reply to governments’ decisions.	B．To show scientists’ prediction ability.
C．To present a call for scientific advances.	D．To highlight the challenges to scientists.

2. According to this passage, AI can ______.

A．put an end to climate change	B．make mass human emigration possible
C．speed up the competition in medical fields	D．bring about potential threats from big companies

3. As for the future, what does the author agree with?

A．Post-humans will repeat the history of humans.

B．Complex intelligence will dominate the universe.

C．Fully artificial intelligences may inhabit outer space.

D．Non-biological brains may invite unforeseen disasters.

4. Which would be the best title for the passage?

A．Could AI Save Us?	B．Will Science Lead Evolution?
C．Arc Space Adventurers Pioneers?	D．Is Complex Intelligence Coming?