1 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入一个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

It is believed that Chinese knotting, also known as zhongguojie, originated for recording information and exchanging messages     1     writing was invented. Over the past thousands of years, knots     2     (play) an important part in the life of Chinese.    3     (initial), Chinese knots acted as good -luck charms to drive away evil spirits. Today, Chinese knots are widely used to decorate homes during festivities.

A major characteristic of Chinese knots is that they are often tied from a single continuous length of string. The knots are commonly named     4     the shape it takes. Chinese knots are created in a     5     (various) of colors such as gold, green, blue, or black, though the most commonly used color is red,    6     symbolizes good luck and prosperity.

Crafting the Chinese knot is a three-step process     7     (involve) tying knots, tightening them and adding the finishing touches. The knots     8     (pull) tightly together and are strong enough to be used for binding or wrapping, making them very practical.

Today, most of such knots are often mass manufactured in factories. Skilled knot artists weave complex knots that you might see     9     (sell) as souvenirs that you can take back with you. If you have time, why not try your hand at it? Perhaps these age-old charms can add     10     touch of good luck to your daily life?

2 . Ramirez Castañeda, a Colombian biologist, spends her time in the Amazon studying how snakes eat poisonous frogs without getting ill. Although her findings come in many shapes and sizes, she and her colleagues have struggled to get their biological discoveries out to the wider scientific community. With Spanish as her mother tongue, her research had to be translated into English to be published. That wasn’t always possible because of budget or time-and it means that some of her findings were never published.

“It’s not that I’m a bad scientist,” she says. “It’s just because of the language.”

Castañeda is not alone. There is plenty of research in non-English-language papers that gets lost in translation, or is never translated. A research looked through more than 400, 000 peer-reviewed papers in 16 different languages and found 1, 234 studies providing evidence on biodiversity conservation which, because they weren’t in English, may have been overlooked. These included Japanese-language findings on the effectiveness of relocating the endangered Blakiston’s fish owl, the largest owl species.

Some experts argue that for the sake of the bigger picture, scientific knowledge should converge (转换) into one common language. Science is very globalised and becoming more so, so the use of a global language is enormous for that.

Of course, scientists can work with an English partner, or use a translator-but this ultimately strengthens the cycle of dependency on the global north, leading to inequality in international influence. The specific meanings of words can also pose a problem in translation. For example, it is difficult to find in English one single word to describe forest snakes and frogs in the work Castafieda does with indigenous (土著的) communities in the Amazon.

“So we’re losing observations for science, too, ” says Castañeda. “For me, it’s not possible to just have everything translated into English. We need multilingual (多语种的) science, and we need people that feel comfortable doing science in their own languages. It could be possible to switch to a world where, say, Chinese, English and Spanish are the three languages of science, just as English, French and German were the languages of science in the 19th century.”

1. What prevented Castañeda’s discoveries from being more widely known?

A．Poor management.	B．Opposition from her colleagues.
C．Her bad reputation.	D．The language barrier.

2. What’s the consequence of the dominant focus on English in scientific research?

A．Inefficient wildlife conservation.

B．A knowledge gap in the scientific world.

C．A growing interest in non-English papers.

D．Inadequate job opportunities for translators.

3. What does the author want to illustrate by mentioning forest snakes and frogs?

A．The urgency to protect rare species.

B．The need to adopt one global language.

C．The challenges in translating scientific texts.

D．The biodiversity on the South American continent.

4. What is presented in the last paragraph of the text?

A．A potential solution.	B．A theoretical model.
C．A popular belief.	D．A global trend.

3 . Discovering Your True Self Is Vital to Happiness!

Have you found focusing on yourself is at the bottom of the to-do list, because you feel everyone else in your life comes first?    1     Now is exactly the perfect time to get to know yourself in order to understand yourself.

This isn’t just about identifying your favorite outfit, haircut or flavor of ice cream.    2     It’s an opportunity for personal growth that can help you make better choices for your wellbeing and lifelong happiness.

There are many tools to help you develop a deeper sense of yourself, including journaling and other forms of creative expression. You can use a guided journal to explore your thoughts and feelings or just free write whatever comes to mind. It’s up to you what you want to do.    3    .

    4     Take note of how you respond to people, what makes you happy, and what makes you unhappy. This can help you identify patterns that are holding you back, such as feeling insecure or being easily angered. Once you’ve identified these patterns, you can work to change them.

An often overlooked yet very important factor in self-discovery is having healthy boundaries in your personal life.    5     Clearly communicating your boundaries is also a way to show others that you are in control of your own behavior and can expect the same from them. This is a sign of maturity and respect, two characteristics that are key to having healthy relationships.

A．It’s one thing to know your personality type.

B．It’s a great way to show that you care about others.

C．Taking time for ourselves has been looked down upon.

D．Another way is to observe your behavior in different situations.

E．It allows you to focus on the needs of yourself without ignoring others.

F．But try not to get caught up in the criticism or judgment of your writing.

G．It’s about understanding your inner world and how you fit into the outer world.

4 . People have come to understand the enormous impacts-beneficial as well as harmful- plastics have on human lives and the environment. As polymer (聚合物) scientists committed to inventing sustainable solutions for real-world problems, we set out to tackle the issue of plastic waste by rethinking the way polymers are designed so we could make plastics with recyclability built right in.

Everyday items including milk jug, grocery bags, and takeout containers are made from a class of polymers called polyolefins. These plastics are really durable (耐用的) because the chemical bonds in those polymers are extremely stable. In a world set up for disposable (一次性的) items, durability is no longer a design feature but rather a design drawback. Imagine if half the plastics used today were recyclable through twice as many processes as they are now. Also conventional recycling requires careful sorting of all the collected materials, which can be challenging with so many different plastics. For example, separating paper from metal doesn’t require complex technology, but sorting a container from a milk jug of a different polyolefin is difficult to do without the occasional mistake.

In a study published in Science in October 2023, we described a series of polymers with only two building blocks-one soft polymer and one hard polymer-that behave like polyolefins but could be chemically recycled. Connecting two different polymers multiple times until they form a single, long molecule (分子) creates what’s called a multiblock polymer. By changing how much of each polymer type goes into the multiblock polymer, our team produced a wide range of materials with properties that covered all polyolefin types.

Using the same strategy but by adding hydrogen, we could disconnect the polymers back into their building blocks and easily separate them to use again. When we made new polymers out of these recycled plastics, they performed just as well as the original materials even after several rounds of chemical recycling. So we were able to create materials with similar properties of the plastics the world relies on. We believe this work is a step toward more sustainable plastics.

1. What is paragraph 2 mainly about concerning plastics?

A．Their multiple uses.	B．Their chemical properties.
C．Their recycling challenges.	D．Their classification criteria.

2. A key factor of producing diverse multiblock polymers is ______.

A．mixing building blocks with long molecules

B．integrating chemicals into the two polymers

C．combining two different multiblock polymers

D．adjusting the percentage of the two polymers

3. Which is a feature of multiblock polymers?

A．They are made from sustainable materials.

B．They can be recycled by adding hydrogen.

C．Their reliability outperforms traditional plastics.

D．Their properties change with rounds of recycling.

4. Which of the following might be the best title?

A．Designing for Recycling	B．Classifying Plastic Waste
C．Replace Plastics with Polymers	D．Technology Creates the Future

5 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入一个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

Tanghulu (also known as bingtang hulu) is a traditional Chinese snack consisting of hardened sugar coated fruits on a stick.     1    (classic), tanghulu is made of hawthorns that are rich     2     vitamin C. In recent times, tanghulu makers     3    (add)variety to this traditional snack by using other fruits such as cherries, strawberries, pineapples or grapes.

Tanghulu can taste sweet or sour, depending on your fruit. Traditional tanghulu using hawthorn berries is said to taste like a     4    (combine)of both. You can, of course, make your own Tanghulu using any fruit you desire.

Tanghulu is easier     5     (make)at home than you might think. The trick is to use the correct water to sugar ratio (比例) and boil the sugar water mixture     6     its temperature reaches 150 ℃. Then quickly dip your fruit skewer (扦) into the sugar mixture. This will result in fruit that’s coated in a thin layer of hard candy that cracks when     7    (bite)into.

Tanghulu is commonly eaten in the winter. You can find     8    (travel)traders roaming (游荡) in the streets, selling this unique snack. If you want to try the sticky treat     9     (you), you can find Tanghulu stands near most of the popular tourist attractions in China. Tanghulu isn’t expensive, as a skewer costs only $1. So, what could possibly stop you from giving one     10     try?

6 . Learning how to apologize is similar to learning any new behavior. It may feel awkward and may not be polished at first.     1     There are several tips that will help you as you learn how to apologize.

First of all, wait until the right time and you are in the right place. Although public apology is often appropriate, discretion (谨慎) should be used.     2     Remember, you will be raising a topic that may recall a bad experience or bad feelings. Be respectful as you approach this task.

Be direct and brief in your approach. Acknowledge the fact that injury has occurred and then take responsibility for what happened. Be sincere in expressing your regret and demonstrate your willingness to take ownership of the situation.     3    

Even if you follow these steps, be prepared for rejection. Sometimes, the person apologizing has an expectation that the apology will lead to immediate forgiveness and acceptance.     4     If you think of the offense (冒犯) as an emotional bruise (瘀伤), think of the healing process as the color changes we see as a bruise heals.

    5     Knowing when to keep one’s mouth shut is a virtue. Keeping quiet may be very difficult, as post-apology listening is not easy. We may hear unpleasant observations from another about our own shortcomings. We may hear the expression of anger. One of the ways we let others know we are truly responsible and accountable for our mistakes is by listening to the other party pour out the feelings associated with our actions.

A．Forgiveness and acceptance may take time.

B．To give or receive a good apology is an art.

C．But with practice, everyone can learn to do it.

D．Listening to the response to our apologies is important.

E．Most apologies can and should happen in a private setting.

F．In other words, avoid excuses and offer to repair the damage.

G．Taking responsibility doesn’t mean accepting blame for everything.

7 . Saving Us: A Climate Scientist’s Case for Hope and Healing in a Divided World is one of the more important books about climate change to have been written. Hayhoe is a gifted public speaker and Saving Us is a follow-up to her awesome TED talk in 2018, “The most important thing you can do to fight climate change: talk about it”.

One of the many refreshing aspects of this book is that Hayhoe recounts both her successes and her failures to communicate, through which she has gathered evidence about what works and what does not. Much of the book’s advice is common sense, all backed up not just by Hayhoe’s experience but also with convincing research by psychologists and social scientists.

Hayhoe advises against trying to engage with a small minority, the “Dismissives”, who “angrily reject the idea that human-caused climate change is a threat; they are most receptive to misinformation and conspiracy theories (阴谋论)”. There is a warning that offering up more facts about climate change can actually increase polarisation among them.

The book includes amusing examples of her encounters with the “Dismissives”, almost entirely older men-including an engineer who was unconvinced about the evidence but with whom she was able to establish mutual (相互的) respect through a shared passion for knitting (打毛线衣)—and is packed with inspiring accounts of how she has won over even the most suspicious of crowds. Her motto is “bond, connect and inspire”, which represents her approach of always looking for points of commonality.

She also tells of a man who approached her after an event in London in 2019. He had been so inspired by her TED talk that he had started to speak to everybody he could in his neighborhood of Wandsworth. He showed her details of 12, 000 conversations that had taken place as a result, claiming that they had helped to convince the council to declare a climate emergency and to switch investments from fossil fuels to renewable energy.

And so, while it may feel difficult to influence the outcome of the COP26, Hayhoe’s uplifting book makes a persuasive case that we can all do our bit to bring about success just by talking about the issue.

1. What does the book mainly focus on?

A．Sharing climate communication tips.

B．Teaching presentation skills with TED talks.

C．Exploring critical thinking through literature.

D．Promoting people’s insight into climate change.

2. Which of the following best describes the advice in the book?

A．Humorous but one-sided.	B．Novel but contradictory.
C．Serious and hard to follow.	D．Well-based and workable.

3. How did Hayhoe win over the “Dismissives”?

A．By changing their political identity.

B．By challenging their fundamental beliefs.

C．By offering more facts about climate change.

D．By seeking common ground built on a shared love.

4. What does the author want to say by telling the story in paragraph 5?

A．World shift to clean energy is unstoppable.

B．We should help people prepare for the climate crisis.

C．Policymakers are less responsive to market changes.

D．Conversations can influence climate decision-making.

8 . Where to Eat in Kuala Lumpur

Great restaurants in Kuala Lumpur offer a genuine global dining experience. Whether you are looking to enjoy hearty comfort food or some local delicacies, the city’s dining scene satisfies all comers.

Mum’s Place

Nothing brings more comfort than mom’s cooking. With recipes inspired by the owners’ mother, this restaurant brings you Nyonya dishes that are truly Malaysian. Located in the district of Damansara Perdana, Mum’s Place is a neighbourhood restaurant with its main customers from residents nearby. Some of the best dishes include cencaru fish, devil curry chicken and beef rendang.

Cantaloupe

Located about 20 minutes from downtown Malacca, it is a home-based eatery with about 10 tables manned by four operators. Unlike most restaurants, food is self-service here, with dishes placed on catering pans for customers to choose from. It serves traditional Malaysian dishes with distinct Chinese influences. You will find rice dumplings and chicken rendang among the offerings. It has two branches in the city. Their dishes sell out fast, so it’d be best to head there before lunch time.

YumYum Restaurant

Situated in the beautiful Shangri-La Hotel, Yum Yum Restaurant is among the locals’ many favourite spots to dine at. It offers an interesting Nyonya and Thai food with Chinese influences that make them stand out. The classic dishes include sambal petai prawns, assam fish head and Yum Yum egg. It can get crowded here, so it’d be best to head there early or call ahead for reservations.

Troika Sky Dining

Offering fine dining, the impressive Troika Sky Dining undoubtedly stands out from the pack. Set on the 23rd floor of Tower B of The Troika, it goes without saying that the cloud-skimming views here are something else entirely. The food is what helped it stand out. It serves award-winning French, Italian, Greek, and Spanish food and adventurous menu of high-end pizzas and pasta.

1. What do Mum’s Place and Yum Yum Restaurant have in common?

A．They are based in hotels.	B．They serve Nyonya dishes.
C．They need prior reservations.	D．They offer breathtaking views.

2. Which restaurant serves western food?

A．Mum’s Place.	B．Cantaloupe.
C．Yum Yum Restaurant.	D．Troika Sky Dining.

3. What’s special about Cantaloupe?

A．It is a buffet restaurant.	B．It serves hard-to-find dishes.
C．It has branches throughout Asia.	D．It opens for lunch earlier than others.

9 . Last year, my friend, Kydee Williams, and I started a non-profit project because we wanted to do charity work differently. Thus, The Pop-Up Care Shop was _________.

TPUCS is a traveling shop of _________ donated goods for people in need. During the holidays, we _________ clothing drives and then went to women’s shelters. Our main goal was to help inspire women who were _________ with hope as well as bring a little holiday cheer to our local communities. _________ any project or movement wasn’t easy. Brainstorming and coming up with cool ideas was the _________ part, but actually bringing those ideas to life can seem almost _________ at times. However, there were lessons about _________ that we didn’t fully realize until we started this journey.

From our experience, we learned smaller shelters, especially those in less-commercialized areas were often _________ when it came to getting community support. Actually, they were typically more __________ to new and creative ideas and would greatly welcome __________ who offered help. Under our inspiration, many __________ people devoted themselves to non-profit work. Many shelters are understaffed and the staff overworked. Working directly with them helped us __________ the specific needs of the shelter.

While material things like food, clothes, money, and shelter can help people survive, what __________ helps people live is the intangible (无形) necessities like love, presence, patience. Even though we can’t help every single person in the world, we can __________ a world of difference for at least one person.

1.

A．found

B．donated

C．born

D．purchased

2.

A．cheap

B．free

C．value

D．messy

3.

A．quit

B．chose

C．forbade

D．held

4.

A．homeless

B．fearless

C．guiltless

D．restless

5.

A．Ceasing

B．Highlighting

C．Starting

D．Monitoring

6.

A．hard

B．fun

C．odd

D．core

7.

A．crucial

B．unnecessary

C．impossible

D．logical

8.

A．breaking down

B．giving back

C．keeping up

D．pulling through

9.

A．ignored

B．emphasized

C．mentioned

D．estimated

10.

A．harmful

B．relevant

C．opposed

D．open

11.

A．shoppers

B．pioneers

C．officers

D．volunteers

12.

A．reliable

B．selfless

C．creative

D．courageous

13.

A．understand

B．satisfy

C．anticipate

D．illustrate

14.

A．originally

B．slightly

C．truly

D．barely

15.

A．identify

B．detect

C．reveal

D．make

10 . Last Christmas, I volunteered for WNWNB, a charity which takes surplus (剩余的) produce from New Covent Garden Market and ________ it to the local community.

The food was already in containers. So we set up the stand and got ready to distribute some Christmas ________. At first, it was ________. People seemed a bit suspicious of taking food for free. But they gradually ________ us and we had a fun afternoon singing carols and trying to ________ passersby to take our food.

It was then time to deliver meals to those who weren’t able to come. This is ________ things changed for me. The first door I knocked on was ________ by a woman in her 30s. She had children and looked absolutely worn out. I told her I was from WNWNB and gave her the ________ meals. It was probably only about two days’ worth of food but, the way she ________, I felt as if I was handing her gold.

I had similar responses to my next ________. In some cases, when people were elderly or alone, I’d go into their homes and have a brief ________ before heading off. Many felt ________, but I saw how happy they were to have another adult human to ________.

As a local politician I knock on doors and talk to people a lot, but there was something deeper about those ________ on Christmas Day. I finished my day at WNWNB a slightly different person from the one who ________.

1.

A．distributes

B．introduces

C．sells

D．exhibits

2.

A．forgiveness

B．images

C．recipes

D．cheer

3.

A．easy

B．nice

C．slow

D．safe

4.

A．broke away from

B．put up with

C．cut in on

D．warmed up to

5.

A．threaten

B．encourage

C．allow

D．command

6.

A．why

B．how

C．where

D．when

7.

A．opened

B．repaired

C．cleaned

D．guarded

8.

A．costly

B．unfinished

C．deserted

D．ready

9.

A．declined

B．reacted

C．argued

D．traded

10.

A．purchases

B．interviews

C．deliveries

D．schedules

11.

A．meal

B．chat

C．report

D．silence

12.

A．proud

B．free

C．lonely

D．content

13.

A．connect with

B．look after

C．turn to

D．rely on

14.

A．conversations

B．budgets

C．explanations

D．deals

15.

A．hesitated

B．started

C．ignored

D．struggled