1 . Recently, a group of stroke (中风) survivors in British Columbia will test a new technology designed to aid their recovery, and finally restore use of their arms and hands. Participants will wear a new groundbreaking “smart glove” capable of tracking their hand and finger movements during rehabilitation (康复) exercises supervised by Dr. Janice Eng, a professor of medicine at UBC.

“With this glove, we can monitor patients’ hand and finger movements without the need for cameras. We can then analyze and fine-tune their exercise programs for the best possible results, even remotely,” says Dr. Eng.

Peyman Servati, a UBC electrical and computer engineering professor and their team at their startup, Texavie, created the smart glove for collaboration on the stroke project. Dr. Servati described in a paper published in Nature Machine Intelligence, “This is the most accurate (精确的) glove we know of that can track hand and finger movements and grasping force without requiring motion-capture cameras. Thanks to machine learning models we developed, the glove can accurately determine the angles of all finger joints and the wrist as they move. The technology is highly precise and fast, capable of detecting small stretches and pressures and predicting movement with at least 99% accuracy—matching the performance of costly motion-capture cameras.”

Unlike other products in the market, the glove is wireless (无线的) and comfortable, and can be easily washed after removing the battery. Dr. Servati and his team have developed advanced methods to produce the smart glove at a relatively low cost locally.

Dr. Servati hopes that the smart glove can enter the market soon. He adds, “Imagine being able to accurately capture hand movements and interactions with objects and have it automatically display on a screen. There are endless applications. You can type text without needing a physical keyboard, control a robot, or translate American Sign Language into written speech in real time, providing easier communication for individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing.”

1. What’s the function of the “smart glove”?

A．Treating the stroke patients.	B．Keeping track of the cure.
C．Helping the patients to recover soon.	D．Taking control of a patient’s hands.

2. What does the third paragraph mainly talk about concerning the “smart glove”?

A．Its price.

B．Its advantages.

C．Its inspiration.

D．Its users.

3. What is unique about the “smart glove” compared with other similar products in the market?

A．It’s produced at quite a low price.	B．It’s light and warm.
C．It’s fashionable.	D．It’s easy to carry.

4. What is Dr. Servati’s attitude toward the “smart glove”?

A．Unclear.

B．Careless.

C．Doubtful.

D．Positive.

2 . This week I saw a video of a mountain climber lying on the back of the Sherpa guide who helped rescue him.

Gelje says he was_______a client toward the summit ofEverest last month when he noticed another climber_______a rope, alone, in what's called Everest's“death_______”.These are the highest_______, where temperatures can drop below minus 30 degrees Celsius, where human cells begin to________without oxygen.

Gelje stopped the climb of his own client. Then he rescued the________stranger, left hanging for his life,and________him for about six hours, to an area called theSouth Col, where another guide joined in the_______.

“We________the climber in a sleeping mat,”Gelje said,“dragged him on the snow, or carried him in______ on our backs to Camp Three, which is still more than 7,000 meters high.”

A helicopter met them to lift the________climber down to the base camp. He was taken to a hospital, and has since returned home to Malaysia.

We don't know how the Malaysian climber_______himself in danger. But the two guides who grow up in and know those________saw a stranger in danger, and risked their own lives to________him. As Gelje said,“Saving one life is more________than praying at the church.”

1.

A．urging

B．sponsoring

C．guiding

D．contacting

2.

A．hanging onto

B．spreading out

C．checking on

D．passing down

3.

A．foot

B．sea

C．climate

D．zone

4.

A．destinations

B．directions

C．reaches

D．ranges

5.

A．wander

B．die

C．multiply

D．dry

6.

A．freezing

B．missing

C．appealing

D．demanding

7.

A．supported

B．dragged

C．pressed

D．comforted

8.

A．conversation

B．activity

C．rescue

D．operation

9.

A．lied

B．relaxed

C．wrapped

D．lifted

10.

A．tears

B．pain

C．need

D．turns

11.

A．injured

B．frightened

C．committed

D．trapped

12.

A．found

B．ensured

C．exposed

D．behaved

13.

A．cliffs

B．caves

C．mountains

D．rivers

14.

A．protect

B．caution

C．approach

D．save

15.

A．extraordinary

B．important

C．selfless

D．available

3 . 听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。
1. What is the phone number of Greg Hunter?

A．555-1234.

B．555-2134.

C．555-1243.

2. What does the woman mainly worry about?

A．Her age.

B．Her health.

C．The cost.

3. What does the man suggest the woman do?

A．Walk faster.

B．Take the Subway.

C．Go swimming regularly.

4 . 听下面一段独白，回答以下小题。
1. Where did the speaker take the course?

A．In the mountains.

B．In the office.

C．In the forest.

2. How many people took the course with the speaker?

A．8.

B．9.

C．10.

3. What did the speaker learn from the course?

A．How to solve emergencies.

B．How to be an expert climber.

C．How to be more brave and confident.

5 . 阅读短文，在空白处填入适当的内容或括号内单词的正确形式。

Now Zack is bringing the broadcast from the largest museum on Earth—the Louvre,    1    (vivid) showing us some of the Louvre’s most amazing treasures.

    2    the top of these stone stairs is the Winged Victory of Samothrace. It looks like she has just    3     (fly) down out of the sky and is standing on a ship. Her head and arms are missing, but you can imagine her    4     (hold) her arms up high, celebrating the result of an ancient battle. Then he guides us to see the painting Mona Lisa.

    5     (protect) by glass, it looks smaller than we would expect. When you look into her eyes, she seems to have a mind     6    her own. Finally, the self-portrait of Rembrandt,     7    is one of history’s greatest artists, is shown to us. It     8    (paint) by Rembrandt himself about 400 years ago. Throughout his life, he made over 90 self-portraits. However, no one really knows the reasons.

In total there are about 35,000 works currently     9    (display) in the Louvre and it would take a lifetime to see everything. Zack recommends the fantastic place and hopes that we can visit it one day     10    (feel) the power of these great works of art for ourselves.

6 . 听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。
1. How did the man go to London?

A．By bus.

B．By car.

C．By underground.

2. What did the man and his friends have for the meal?

A．Spanish food.

B．Chinese food.

C．Mexican food.

3. What does the man say about the restaurant?

A．It was full.

B．It was quiet.

C．It was expensive.

7 . In America, the “Big Dig”, a highway project that resulted in a mess of traffic in the centre of Boston for years, came in five times over its initial budget. Even the Germans get huge projects wrong. Conception to operation of Berlin Brandenburg Airport has taken 30 years, with seven missed opening dates. The airport ended up costing $8.2 billion. However, the original estimate was about $2.7 billion.

Huge projects like Berlin Brandenburg Airport are the subject of an amusing new book called How Big Things Get Done by Bent Flyvbjerg and Dan Gardner. Mr. Flyvbjerg sets up a database of over 16, 000 projects and data analysis reveals that only 8.5% of the projects meet their initial estimates on cost and time, and 0.5% of them achieve what they set out to do on cost, time and benefits.

Over-optimistic time and cost estimates originate from both psychological and political perceptions: the reliance on intuition (直觉) rather than data, and a problem that Mr. Flyvbjerg calls “strategic misrepresentation”. This is when budgets are intentionally reduced in order to get things going. And once the projects are under way, they will not be stopped, because money spent on them will thus be wasted.

Mr. Flyvbjerg speaks highly of Pixar’s methodical approach to developing and testing films in great detail before they go into production. He also tells the story of how Frank Gehry’s well-developed architectural models helped ensure the success of the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao. Narrowing down the producing window of a project before it is actually carried out reduces the probability of unexpected events.

Big customized projects are particularly likely to run into trouble. However, the more a project can be divided into standardized processes, the better its prospects are. Projects run into problems for specific reasons as well as general ones: Britain’s trouble is not something that China has to worry about, for instance. But the iron law is that if you plan strictly and standardize where possible, you are less likely to dig yourself into a hole.

1. How does the author introduce the topic of the passage?

A．By making a contrast.	B．By giving an explanation.
C．By presenting examples.	D．By showing an experience.

2. What message does Bent Flyvbjerg’s data analysis convey?

A．Projects’ success rates can be estimated.

B．Projects’ desired outcome can’t be achieved.

C．Most projects suffer overspending and delays.

D．Most projects lack comprehensive data analysis.

3. What is paragraph 3 mainly about?

A．Failures in decision-making.	B．Methods of reducing massive costs.
C．Strategies for getting work done.	D．Reasons behind inaccurate estimates.

4. What is the key to preventing projects getting into trouble?

A．Planning thoroughly in advance.

B．Analyzing specific and general reasons.

C．Focusing on efficiency of projects.

D．Drawing lessons from former experiences.

8 . If you look at the dynamic “Global Temperatures” map on NASA’s website, you can see the historic temperature change over time across the planet as the timeline goes from 1880 to the modern day. By 2019, the entire planet is in red, orange, and yellow colors, indicating temperatures much higher than the historical average in every country and human inhabitance.

If the timeline went to 2023, the map would look even worse. That’s because the summer of 2023 was the hottest ever, according to ocean monitors. July was the hottest month in recorded history. Next July could be worse. Unless we do something quickly, we face dealing with more and more dangerous and expensive natural disasters in the future.

Forest fires sent smoke from Canada across the North American continent, causing New York City to have the worst air quality in its recorded history. Heavy rainstorms fell on Vermont and the Northeastern United States in just a couple of days in the middle of July, which exceeded the amount that area would usually receive in two months and caused extreme damage to homes and businesses. Around the same time, flash flooding in Bucks County, Pennsylvania — north of Philadelphia — killed nearly a dozen people.

Erich Fischer, a researcher specializing in climate studies at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, is concerned that natural disasters could get much worse in the future—and in ways we cannot predict. He called for a “strike for climate justice,” which actually took place on Sept. 15, 2023. “The strategy needs to be twofold (双重的) . We need to decrease carbon emissions as much as realistically possible. That is already happening with people using electric cars and other green technologies. At the same time, we also need to find ways to predict the risk of natural disasters ahead of time,” said Erich Fischer.

1. Why does the writer mention the data on NASA’s website in paragraph 1?

A．To explain a concept.	B．To introduce a topic.
C．To provide a solution.	D．To make a prediction.

2. What does the third paragraph mainly tell us?

A．The severity of natural disasters.	B．The worst air quality in New York City.
C．The extreme damage by flash flooding.	D．The cause of the forests fires in Canada.

3. What did Erich Fischer suggest to deal with the current situation?

A．He advocated a twofold strategy.

B．He suggested forbidding carbon emissions.

C．He required people to use more electric cars.

D．He emphasized the awareness of climate changes.

4. What is the best title for the text?

A．The Hottest Month in History	B．Natural Disasters in the World
C．Extreme Weather Could Get Worse	D．Green Technology Would be Needed

9 . Chinese researchers have revealed the anti-cancer characteristic of neutrophils (中性粒细胞) — a type of white blood cells—and the related molecular regulation mechanism, providing new insights into cancer diagnosis and treatment. The discovery, made by researchers at the Shanghai Institute of Immunity and Infection under the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Fudan University, was published in Cell on Tuesday.

Neutrophils are the most abundant white blood cells in the human body. As the first line of defence against infections, they play a key role in anti-infection immunity. The researchers collected neutrophils from 143 patients with 17 different types of cancer and analyzed them. They revealed that neutrophils can adopt at least 10 highly specialized and distinct functional states related to inflammation (炎症) , blood vessel formation and—most excitingly—presenting antigens (抗体) to activate powerful cancer-killing T cells.

“We were surprised to find such complexity and different roles within neutrophils, which have been ignored for so long,” said Zhang Xiaoming, a researcher at the Institute. “What is especially remarkable is their newly discovered capacity to act as antigen-presenting cells, gathering T cells against cancer. In addition, the abundance of antigen-presenting neutrophils is associated with improved condition across many cancer types revealed in this study,” he said.

“This completely changes how we perceive neutrophils in the context of cancer,” said Gao Qiang, a professor at Fudan University. “Now we know we could employ the diverse hidden identities of neutrophils to strengthen the effectiveness of immunotherapy (免疫疗法). We’re thrilled to further explore the potential benefits of these newly uncovered mechanisms in clines.”

The study emphasizes the value of single-cell sequencing approaches to reveal new functional dimension even within seemingly well-understood immune cells. Tapping into the hidden potential of neutrophils may provide new insights into cancer diagnosis and treatment.

1. How was the anti-cancer function of neutrophils discovered?

A．By referring to previous research.

B．By collecting and analyzing data.

C．By seeking guidance from experts.

D．By observing patients with inflammation.

2. Which of the following is a function of neutrophils?

A．Getting together T cells when needed.

B．Preventing the formation of antigens.

C．Speeding up the blood flow.

D．Distinguishing different types of cancer.

3. What’s Gao Qiang’s attitude towards the new research?

A．Positive.

B．Doubtful.

C．Worried.

D．Unclear.

4. What can be the best title for the text?

A．Blood Cells Successfully Fight Against Severe Cancer

B．China Makes Great Progress in Fighting Against Diseases

C．Further Research Is Needed to Fight Against Cancer

D．Researchers Discover New Cancer-fighting Mechanism

10 . Imagine a horizontal line. The very left is marked one thousand and the very right is marked one billion. On this line, where would you add a marker to represent one million? If you said somewhere in the middle, you answered the same as the roughly 50 percent of people who have done this exercise in a number line study. But the answer is actually much closer to one thousand since there are one thousand millions in one billion.

This error makes sense because “our human brains are pretty bad at comprehending large numbers,” says Elizabeth Toomarian, an educational neuroscientist at Stanford University. Our brain is built to understand how much of something is in its environment. But comprehending the national debt or imagining the size of our universe? “We certainly can use our brains in that way, but we’re recycling these sorts of evolutionarily (进化地) old brain architectures to do something really new,” she says. In other words, it’s not our fault that we have trouble wrapping our heads around big numbers.

So what can we do about the struggle to understand big numbers? It is suggested to use metaphors, analogies (类比) and visualizations. These techniques bring big numbers down to a more comprehensible scale (比例) and ideally make it relevant to something in our daily lives. For example, it may be difficult for most people to accurately place the extinction of the dinosaurs on a timeline between the Big Bang and humans because the first two both seem to be placed to the distant path. But when conceptualizing (概念化) these events using a “calendar”, it becomes easier. The Big Bang occurred at 12 a.m. on January 1st on the calendar. Dinosaurs were only present for roughly the last week of the year. And humans only emerged in the last eight sends December 31st, at 12:59:52 p.m. It’s clear now that dinosaurs are much closer to humans than the Big Bang on a timeline.

These metaphors and analogies are important if people are to really weigh the costs and benefits of events in their lives. The concept not only applies to long-term decisions, but public policies.

1. Why does the author mention the example in the first paragraph?

A．To introduce the topic.	B．To explain the main idea.
C．To make a summary of the text.	D．To make comparisons with other topics.

2. According to Toomarian, what’s to blame for being unable to work out big numbers?

A．The lack of conceptual techniques.

B．The unwillingness to learn something new.

C．Our low ability to evaluate and compare.

D．Our inborn nature due to evolutionary factors.

3. What is recommended for the understanding of big numbers?

A．Making them related to each other.

B．Wrapping our heads around them.

C．Using techniques to put them to a smaller scale.

D．Applying a calendar to present them.

4. What will probably be further discussed in the following paragraph?

A．How to make long-term decisions.

B．How metaphors and analogies help solve public problems.

C．How to weigh the costs and benefits in our life.

D．How important public policies are in our life