1 . Old Town, New Feel
With cobblestone (鹅卵石) streets, the Old Town Alexandria’s historic district is growing to present new ways to connect with the past while preparing for the future. As it approaches its 275th yearly celebration, you’re welcome!
Where to Stay
First opened as the George Mason Hotel in 1926, Hotel Heron is among the many businesses looking to start fresh in a familiar space. Opening in June of this year, the hotel covers a vast land area and has 134 rooms, event and meeting spaces, a great restaurant and a rooftop bar. It’s a mixture of modern design and historic architecture.
What to See
The Old Town Farmers’ Market at King Street’s Market Square is the country’s oldest farmers market. Visit the market on Saturday mornings all the year round for fruits and vegetables, prepared foods, baked goods, flowers and plants, soaps, jewelry, and art.
Walk from the retail (零售) center on King Street to Waterfront Park, a green space with trails. The self-guided African American Waterfront Heritage Trail was built in 2023 to tell the stories of Africans and their future generations who lived and worked in the area. On show at Waterfront Park, the public art installation (装置) “Interstellar Influencer” uses metal, water and light in a description of a small planet that hit earth nearly 35 million years ago.
If you can’t get enough of the water, go on a tour along the Potomac River. You can enjoy views of Washington’s skyline and monuments.
Where to Eat
You can eat at Virtue Feed & Grain, which opened in the 1800s, located on the waterfront in a former feed house. Other spots don’t need to work as hard for a local feel. Gadsby’s Tavern on Royal Street has served customers in Old Town Alexandria since 1770. It offers a friendly atmosphere and personal service.
1. What do we know about Hotel Heron?| A．It is large in size. | B．It is historically famous. |
| C．It has modern architecture. | D．It is aimed at businessmen. |
| A．Pick fruits and vegetables. | B．Appreciate a unique artwork. |
| C．Learn about American lifestyle. | D．Watch skyline and monuments. |
| A．They are open all year round. | B．They serve local snacks. |
| C．They have a long history. | D．They promise a private atmosphere. |
2 . Imagine looking through TikTok and seeing famous MrBeast pop up. He says he’s giving away brand-new phones. “Click the link below to claim yours now!” Do you click? Maybe. It looks and sounds like MrBeast. But it’s actually a deepfake — a false clip (片段) created by artificial intelligence (AI). Last October, this video tricked fans into sharing personal details. But a new tool, AntiFake, could help prevent such scams (欺诈).
An AI model can learn to imitate someone’s voice based on about 30 seconds of speech. “It does this by creating something called an embedding. This is basically a series of numbers,” says Zhiyuan Yu, a PhD student in computer science at Washington University, whose team built AntiFake.
People recognize voices by paying more attention to some frequencies of sound waves and less attention to other frequencies, but the AI model uses all frequencies to create good embeddings. AntiFake protects voice recordings by adding some noise to the frequencies people pay less attention to. That noise can mess up an AI model’s ability to create a good embedding of the voice.
Yu’s team picked 600 deepfake clips that fooled both human listeners and voice- authentication (语音认证) systems, and then added AntiFake protection to the 600 voice clips those deepfakes had been based on. Next, the scientists sent the protected files back through the five deepfake AI models. This time, over 95% of the new deepfake samples no longer tricked people or machines.
“This is an interesting and great new tool to defend against deepfakes,” says Shimaa Ahmed, an expert who wasn’t involved in building AntiFake. “However, if my voice is my job, I’d like to have my voice as it is.”
“This is actually a problem we want to address in the future,” Yu notes. Instead of adding noise, he thinks AntiFake could change the rhythm or tone of a voice. The voice would sound clear and unchanged to listeners. But it would contain carefully-hidden signals to trick deepfake AI models.
1. How does AntiFake help prevent deep lake voice scams?| A．By making AI models’ embeddings damaged. | B．By making voices sound noisy and annoying. |
| C．By making voice recordings hard to imitate. | D．By making voices difficult to identify and record. |
| A．Its development. | B．Its effectiveness. |
| C．Its special design. | D．Its working principle. |
| A．Objective. | B．Disappointed. | C．Positive. | D．Unclear. |
| A．The role of AI models in scams. | B．A new tool to prevent voice scams. |
| C．Impacts of deepfake voice scams. | D．An innovation for identifying voice scams. |
3 . Western wellness influencers suggest that sleeping on the floor could help lessen lower back pain. But is there evidence to support the accolade given to floor sleeping? It turns out that resting on the floor may offer advantages for certain people in certain conditions. Some medical experts say that lying flat on your back with your arms and legs extending out takes pressure off the back and can stretch it out. Cooler temperatures near the floor may improve sleep quality and overall comfort.
“But most experts today agree that sleeping on the floor isn’t necessarily the best option for any type of back discomfort,” says Peter G. Whang, a professor at the Yale School of Medicine. “The floor is board-straight, while our spine (脊柱) has physiologic curves (生理性弯曲).” One such curve leaves space between the lower back and the floor. Lacking support, this curve flattens out over time, which can result in back pain. Moreover, without cushioning (缓冲) to support the shoulders, the upper back is often supported too high, which can cause joint rigidity (僵硬). Worse still, a hard floor create s pressure points in places like your hips and heels, which can restrict blood flow to those areas and potentially damage soft tissue.
So how did our ancestors maintain healthy backs while dreaming on the dirt for thousands of years? According to Daniel Lieberman, a Harvard University professor, hunter-gatherers slept on the ground from early childhood and may have built up a tolerance to its ill effects, unlike present-day people who try it for the first time as adults. Also ancient people got more physical activity throughout the day, which may have helped prevent pain despite ground sleeping.
So, if your back is giving you nightmares, the real solution could be replacing your worn-out mattress (床垫) instead of sleeping on the floor. The average American’s bed is 10 years old, equal to about three years of sleep time. “No furniture will sustain that type of weight and abuse,” says Bert Jacobson, a kinesiology professor at Oklahoma State University, whose research suggests that a new, firmer mattress reduced back pain by 47% — 63%.
1. What does the underlined word “accolade” in Paragraph 1 mean?| A．Credit. | B．Complaint. | C．Inspiration. | D．Debate. |
| A．Their shapes. | B．Their fitness. |
| C．Their lifestyle. | D．Their living conditions. |
| A．To come up with a new topic. | B．To present a significant finding. |
| C．To recommend the use of mattresses. | D．To make the author’s advice convincing. |
| A．By analyzing features of sleep. | B．By comparing different opinions. |
| C．By making a list of relevant findings. | D．By citing science-backed viewpoints. |
4 . The first love you ever know often comes from your mother and your immediate family members.
Family love is beneficial. When you feel safe, protected and cared in your family, you have a good framework for the world.
Given the power of family love, why not nurture (培养) it? To establish a supportive family network, make spending time with loved ones a priority, cook and eat meals together, be sensitive and caring, and tell your loved ones you love them. It’s also a good idea to express your gratitude to them.
Additionally, family love can be built with a group outside of your family. The relationships you form with neighbors, friends from work, or childhood friends who might be back in your life can serve extremely well as your family.
| A．This unconditional love seeks nothing in return. |
| B．Focus your time and attention on those you love. |
| C．A loving family is crucial for developing empathy for others. |
| D．Feeling loved by our families when you’re young is important. |
| E．This not only will make them happy but will make you happier. |
| F．The framework will make great improvements to your social life. |
| G．So establish your own close ties with people you choose to be with. |
5 . Last Sunday was a day I will never forget. It was a bright sunny morning, and I had planned to go to the library to return some books. As I was walking down the street, I noticed something shiny lying on the sidewalk. I approached and found a wallet. Curiosity got the better of me, and I opened it to find a few banknotes, some coins, and a student ID card of a local high school.
The ID belonged to a girl named Lily Chen. I decided to do the right thing and return it to her. Using the school’s name on the ID, I searched for the school’s contact information online and called them. The school staff were very helpful and connected me to Lily’s home phone number.
Lily was surprised and grateful when I explained the situation. She had lost her wallet on her way to school that morning and was worried about the loss of her ID card and money. We arranged to meet at a nearby café to return the wallet. When we met, Lily was overjoyed and thanked me profusely. She even offered to buy me a coffee as a token of her gratitude, which I gladly accepted.
After our encounter, I felt a sense of fulfillment and happiness that comes from helping someone in need. I shared the story on my social media, and it quickly spread among my friends and family. Many of them praised my actions and encouraged others to do good deeds as well.
This experience taught me that even small acts of kindness can make a big difference in someone’s life. It was a day to remember, not just for the good deed done, but also for the reminder that we all have the power to spread positivity in our own small ways.
1. How did the author find Lily’s contact information?| A．By calling the school. | B．By asking a passerby. |
| C．Through a friend. | D．From a social media post. |
| A．She was angry. | B．She was grateful. |
| C．She was indifferent. | D．She was confused. |
| A．He kept the wallet. | B．He shared the story on social media. |
| C．He forgot about the incident. | D．He asked for a reward. |
| A．Social media is a powerful tool. |
| B．Helping others is always rewarded. |
| C．Small acts of kindness can make a big difference. |
| D．One should always expect gratitude from other people. |
6 . Into the Wild, written by Jon Krakauer, is a wonderful non-fiction book about Christopher McCandless, a young man in his early twenties, who left behind his comfortable life and started his journey into the Alaskan wilderness in May 1990 after graduating from Emory University. Driven by a desire to break free from societal restrictions, McCandless donated his entire savings to charity and set out on a cross-country road trip.
“There’s no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun,” says McCandless in the book. As he traveled, he came across different individuals who left a lasting impact on his journey. From Wayne Westerberg, a kindly grain lift operator, to Jan Burres, who introduced him to the nomadic (游牧) lifestyle, these encounters shaped McCandless’s understanding of human connection and strengthened his belief.
After months of wandering. McCandless eventually arrived in Alaska in April 1992. He celebrated his new home “The Magic Bus” and began fighting the cruel realities of nature. Living off the land, McCandless pushed himself to the limits of physical endurance. He hunted, gathered eatable plants, and battled the unforgiving elements. Through his struggle, McCandless learnt about self- reliance and the satisfaction that came from overcoming challenges.
Despite his great adaptation, he gave in to starvation and was found dead in August 1992 in The Magic Bus by a group of hunters. While his death is undeniably heartbreaking, McCandless’s story continues to engage audiences worldwide, raising questions about the search for meaning and the pursuit of happiness.
While McCandless’s actions may seem extreme to some, his story reminds us to reflect on our own lives and question the choices we make in pursuit of happiness. Anyway, the book is a reflection on the human condition. It challenges us to examine our own values and the impact our decisions have on our well-being and the lives of those around us.
1. What made Christopher McCandless decide to travel to the Alaskan wilderness?| A．His passion for hunting. | B．His early graduation. |
| C．His pursuit of freedom. | D．His stressful life. |
| A．Living a simple life isn’t difficult for us to achieve. |
| B．Journey s awaken a sense of appreciation for the past. |
| C．We are closely connected with other people in daily life. |
| D．The joy of life is from our encounters with new experiences. |
| A．He tested his survival skills. | B．He turned to local residents. |
| C．He made a bus on his own. | D．He explored many mysteries. |
| A．In an art magazine. | B．In a book review. |
| C．In a non- fiction book. | D．In a biography. |
7 . I had just finished walking my dog as it got dark. We headed home and walked into the
Before I walked back in, I took the
Do your best to shine your light even if you think it is a mere flicker. You are a lot brighter than you think.
1.| A．forest | B．house | C．grassland | D．garden |
| A．kicked | B．repaired | C．touched | D．closed |
| A．blind | B．familiar | C．tiny | D．dangerous |
| A．cage | B．hand | C．door | D．sky |
| A．get out | B．fight back | C．speed up | D．stay on |
| A．gently | B．warmly | C．similarly | D．regularly |
| A．head | B．heart | C．skin | D．eye |
| A．escaped | B．stepped | C．survived | D．waited |
| A．trees | B．noise | C．crowds | D．darkness |
| A．wish | B．plan | C．time | D．promise |
| A．reflect | B．produce | C．stand | D．absorb |
| A．Watching | B．Catching | C．Guiding | D．Rescuing |
| A．misses | B．receives | C．blocks | D．carries |
| A．hide | B．share | C．avoid | D．understand |
| A．awaken | B．follow | C．request | D．permit |
The sun was setting, casting long shadows across the living room. Emily’s eyes focused on the pages of a book but her mind elsewhere. Her mother, Laura, entered with a cup of steaming hot chocolate, placing it gently on the coffee table. Emily was a tough girl. Laura had waited for Emily to share her “secrets”. However, Laura thought maybe it was time for her to start the conversation.
“Emily, honey,” Laura said softly, “you’ve been so quiet lately. Is everything alright?”
Emily looked up, her eyes reflecting a mixture of emotions. “I’m fine, Mom,” she replied, but the hesitation in her voice indicated that she was not OK.
Concerned, Laura sat down next to her daughter. She gently said, “You know you can tell me anything. right? We’ re not just mother and daughter. We’ re friends too.”
Emily hesitated, and then took a deep breath. Laura sensed Emily’s worry, so she gave her a hug and said, “It’s OK if you want more time for yourself. But remember, I’m always here for you.” Feeling warm in her heart, Emily decided to open up. “It’s about school, Mom. I’m struggling with my math, and I feel like I’m not good enough.” Hearing the words, Laura took Emily’s hand in hers and said, “You are more than enough, Emily. We all have our strengths and weaknesses. It’s okay to ask for help.”
The next day, Laura planned to arrange for a tutor (家教) to help Emily with her math in the evening. She remembered her own struggles with math when she was Emily’s age and how it had affected her confidence. At that time, she had dreamed to be supported by her parents. Unluckily, Laura’s parents had been too busy making money to notice Laura’s struggles and Laura had been feeling helpless and got less and less confident. Because of that, Laura hadn’t caught up on her math, which was still a regret for Laura. Now, Laura’s daughter was faced with the same challenge. Laura knew clearly how Emily was in desperate need of her support. So Laura decided to do something more herself besides asking for a tutor.
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。
That evening, Laura brought out her old high school math book with notes.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Over the next few weeks, Laura and Emily spent hours working through math problems together.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________9 . The growing presence of space debris (碎片) in low Earth orbit (LEO)poses a significant threat to satellites and other orbiting assets. Consequently, the concern about destructive collisions (碰撞) and the potential for debris reentry to Earth’s atmosphere has intensified. Researchers are turning to artificial intelligence (AI) techniques to address these challenges to enhance debris removal, collision prediction, and orbit management strategies.
One approach described in a paper presented at the 2nd near-Earth object (NEO) and Debris Detection Conference earlier this year, involves using a “genetic” algorithm (算法) to monitor the motion of space debris. Researchers aim to improve the capture and removal processes by focusing on slower-moving objects. Additionally, neural networks are being developed to predict and reduce collisions in LEO. These networks are trained on historical data to identify space debris Motion patterns and predict future paths, enabling effective collision-avoidance movements for active space missions and orbiting satellites.
Historical statistics and predictive modeling have shown that the risk of such collisions is significantly higher in LEO compared to medium Earth orbit (MEO). However, it is crucial to acknowledge the limitations of AI-based approaches, as they assume that future conditions are similar to present ones, potentially ignoring critical variables such as atmospheric density.
To address these limitations, constantly adding real-time information and updating is essential for improving the adaptability of AI models. By incorporating new debris detections and orbital changes, algorithms can better adapt to the ever-changing spatial environment. Balancing the use of AI with a comprehensive understanding of the uncertainties and challenges in space debris management will be vital for ensuring the long-term sustainability of LEO.
Overall, integrating AI into space debris monitoring, removal, and collision avoidance strategies holds promise for safeguarding satellite operations and maintaining the charming beauty of photos from LEO. However, it is essential to remain cautious of these technologies’ limitations and unknowns and continually improve and update them with real-world data to enhance their effectiveness.
1. What is one of the concerns regarding space debris in LEO?| A．The cost of debris removal. | B．The effect on space exploration. |
| C．The risk of disastrous collisions. | D．The damage to the space environment. |
| A．By creating predictive models. | B．By employing genetic algorithms. |
| C．By monitoring fast-moving objects. | D．By speeding up the capture process. |
| A．Regularly testing its adaptability. |
| B．Continuously integrating live data. |
| C．Studying past and present space conditions. |
| D．Reducing uncertainties in debris management. |
| A．Resistant. | B．Skeptical. | C．Dismissive. | D．Favorable. |
10 . The Best Exhibitions in 2024: North America
Ed Ruscha: Now ThenMuseum of Modern Art, New York
September 10, 2024 to January 13, 2025
Ed Ruscha’s use of language as an artistic tool changed the face of post-war art! The exhibition will track the full length of Ruscha’s career over 65 years, without narrowly defining him. Mirroring his own cross-disciplinary (跨界的) approach, it will feature over 250 works showing him as painter, bookmaker, filmmaker, and photographer.
Marisol Escobar: A RetrospectiveMontreal Museum of Fine Arts
October 7, 2024 to January 21, 2025
Marisol Escobar is best known for carved wooden sculptures that she decorated with drawings, fabric and found objects. Some critics characterized her as a folk artist. The show will feature all Marisol’s classical works, as well as source materials, studies and personal photographs to illustrate her working methods and life.
Homage to Carla Stellweg: CultivateMuseo Tamayo, Mexico City
Through August 6, 2024
Carla Stellweg has played a vital part in the development of a connection between Mexican art and the international art world. She co-founded Mexico’s first contemporary art magazine, which became a vital platform connecting Latin American artists. This exhibition brings together archival materials and the work of artists she’s cooperated with, and centers her as a crucial agent in Latin American contemporary art.
William Blake: VisionaryThe Getty Center, Los Angeles
October 17, 2024 to January 14, 2025
William Blake was a boundary-breaking English poet, painter and printmaker. By combining his poetry and imagery on the page through unique technique, he created some of the most striking imagery in British art and has since inspired countless artists including Walt Whitman and Jimi Hendrix. This exhibition will explore the artist-poet’s imaginative world through his most celebrated works.
1. Which of the following would you visit if you are fond of folk art?| A．Museo Tamayo. | B．The Getty Center. |
| C．Museum of Modern Art. | D．Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. |
| A．Ed Ruscha. | B．Carla Stellweg. |
| C．William Blake. | D．Marisol Escobar. |
| A．They will show cross-boundary art. |
| B．They will feature post-war artworks. |
| C．They will focus on the artist’s long career. |
| D．They will present the artist’s source materials. |
