1 . More than 400 athletes across a variety of sports, ages and levels of experience were questioned for the study by sports psychology experts from Staffordshire University and Manchester Metropolitan University. The findings reveal that athletes’ belief systems — specifically irrational (非理性) beliefs — are related to poorer self-confidence, and in turn, greater competitive anxiety and depressive symptoms.

“Phrases that reflect self-depreciating (贬低) beliefs such as ‘If I lose, I’m a failure’ or ‘If I face setbacks, it shows how stupid I am’ are warning signs,” said the authors. Paul Mansell, Lecturer in Sport and Exercise Psychology at Staffordshire University, said, “Despite the psychological benefits of physical activity, studies frequently report poor mental health in athletes, which may be exacerbated by adversities, such as injury, de-selection, and performance pressure. We investigated athletes’ beliefs, how they view stress, their levels of self-confidence and put all this data together to work out what might predict psychological well-being. We found irrational beliefs to be a core reason for symptoms of poor mental health in athletes.”

This is the first known study that has examined irrational beliefs, self-confidence, and the psychological well-being of athletes all together. Irrational beliefs are extreme, rigid, and illogical ideas that people hold. For example, a person might believe that they “must” get what they want, or that just because they have failed, they are a “complete failure”.

“We can all work to help athletes develop mindsets that help them deal with the challenges of sport and life. By encouraging rational and logical beliefs about performance, we can help athletes to stay healthy amidst the high demands of competitive sport,” said Paul Mansell.

The author s propose Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) as an effective tool for protecting self-confidence. REBT helps athletes to challenge these self-depreciating beliefs and develop beliefs that are more helpful and healthy. For example, rather than believe “I am a failure if I fail”, this might be countered with “Failing is not ideal, but it does not mean that I am a failure”.

1. What did the study centre on?

A．Physical health of athletes.

B．The competition state of athletes.

C．Psychological health of athletes.

D．Competition habits of athletes.

2. Which can best replace the underlined word “exacerbated” in paragraph 2?

A．Worsened.

B．Examined.

C．Promoted.

D．Recognized.

3. Which of the following is a sign of irrational beliefs?

A．Setbacks won’t stop me.

B．If I fail, I will lose everything.

C．It is a world full of competition.

D．What doesn’t kill me makes me stronger.

4. What can be a suitable title for the text?

A．Psychological benefits of physical activity

B．Effective tools for protecting self-confidence

C．Rational and logical beliefs about performance

D．Warning signs of poor mental health in athletes

2 . On one side of the room sits the cutest life-size stuffed animal (填充玩具) you’ve ever seen. On the other side rests a real dog — the same size, shape and even the same name as the stuffed version. You get to sit next to both of these furry friends and pet their fur. Guess which one will make your brain light up?

If you guessed the real dog, you’re right. Stuffed animals, as cute and lovely as they may be, just don’t effectively activate our frontal cortex (额叶皮层), the part of the brain overseeing how we think and feel, according to a new study published in the journal PLOSONE. The study found an even stronger rise in brain activity when the person petted the fur of a real dog versus a stuffed animal.

“We chose to research the frontal cortex because this brain area is involved in several executive (执行) functions, such as attention, working memory, and problem-solving. But it is also involved in social and emotional processes,” said study lead author Rahel Marti, a doctoral student in the division of clinical psychology at the University of Basel in Switzerland.

Why is this finding important? It provides additional evidence that live human-animal interaction therapy (疗法) may promote cognitive and emotional activity in the brain. Marti said, “If patients with deficits in motivation, attention, and socioemotional functioning show higher emotional involvement in activities connected to a real dog, then such activities could increase the chance of learning and of achieving treatment aims.”

“This is an interesting, seriously conducted study that provides new insight into associations between human-animal interaction and regional prefrontal brain activity in healthy adults. We found that brain activity increased when the contact with a real dog or a stuffed animal became closer. This confirms previous studies relating closer contact with animals to increased brain activity,” Marti said.

1. How does the author introduce the subject of the text?

A．By listing some figures.	B．By giving an example.
C．By setting a situation.	D．By analyzing a phenomenon.

2. Why did the researchers choose to study frontal cortex?

A．It is involved in several body parts.

B．It is the most important part of the brain.

C．It plays a key part in performing functions.

D．It provides evidence for live human-animal therapy.

3. What does the underlined word “deficits” in paragraph 4 probably mean?

A．Styles.

B．Faults.

C．Adventures.

D．Sources.

4. What may be a suitable title for the text?

A．What Petting A Dog Can Do For Your Brain?

B．Why A Pet Dog Is Important To A Person?

C．Which Part Of The Brain Is Involved In Emotion?

D．How Can A Patient Benefit From Petting A Dog?

3 . What was your answer when you were asked to name the best university in the world? I can bet with almost 100% confidence that the universities you came up with included widely known institutions such as Oxford and Cambridge, Harvard, MIT, or Tsinghua University.

The medium through which they are known, other than word of mouth, is to a large extent attributed to various university rankings, some of which are considered to be more accurate and authoritative than others. Among all the organizations that produce global university rankings, the three most trusted and established ones are Shanghai Ranking Consultancy (SRC), Times Higher Education (THE), and Quacquarelli Symonds (QS).

Each year, they rank universities by assessing a combination of measures of their strengths. Since each organization prioritizes a different set of factors that make for a good university, the three organizations often yield different results. Take the year 2023 as an example: QS ranked MIT number one while THE assigned the honor to the University of Oxford. For SRC, the spot belonged to Harvard.

Thousands of students and parents refer to those rankings when they make college application decisions; academics also look to how their own universities measure up in this fiercely competitive race of academic competence.

However, there also exist skeptics who hesitate to hold these rankings in too high a regard. They argue each of the rankings emphasizes a criterion that is different from the other two, yet no criterion is completely free of prejudice.

SRC, for instance, values a university’s research performance the most, but ignores the level of diversity in terms of each university’s demographics (人员构成). The methods THE and QS use to rank universities have also been subject to questioning and criticism. They mostly ask scholars from a selected list of higher-education institutions to state their opinions about a certain university’s reputation, and they use these scholars’ opinions as their standard. Such methods sound subjective to many people.

As for the next time when someone asks you which university is the best in the world, you might not want to rush into a fixed answer.

1. What does the example in 2023 show?

A．Different criterion produces different result.

B．The best university varies from year to year.

C．SRC, THE and QS are more trustworthy organizations than others.

D．MIT, Oxford and Harvard are universally acknowledged as the best universities.

2. The underlined word “skeptics” in the fifth paragraph refers to people who are ______.

A．worried

B．doubtful

C．annoyed

D．careful

3. What is the sixth paragraph mainly about?

A．Explanation of the ranking process.

B．Impact of the rankings on the public.

C．Limitation of each of the three rankings.

D．Opinions of students on the three rankings.

4. What does the author suggest you do when choosing the best university?

A．Think twice before deciding.

B．Pay no attention to the rankings.

C．Just rely on your own judgement.

D．Take the research performance as a priority.

4 . Why are the two speakers running to the river?

A．Because they want to go swimming.

B．Because someone is calling for help.

C．Because they see someone swimming.

5 . Born and brought up in a small family in Kaliwal village, Veeranna Madiwalar’s childhood was full of struggle. Even as his parents struggled to ________, it was very difficult to pay his school fees. It was his uncle who supported his education. “He said he saw a ________ in me and he wanted me to ________ my education,” he says.

After receiving his master’s degree, he moved back to his hometown because he wanted to make ________ better for future generations. “I worked for four years before being made the headmaster of Nidagundi School in 2016,” he says, ________ that the old and poor building and lack of infrastructure (基础设施) made him think of his own school’s state.

Using his own money, he started ________ — he planted a few trees across the campus, and started repair work on the building. But he knew he could not ________ the repair of the school alone. So he used the ________ of social media to raise money. “I started posting pictures of the school with my repairs on Facebook. Word spread and, ________, many people came forward to ________ me,” he says.

Today, this ________ is a far cry from what it used to be. “The change is amazing,” says a(n) ________ from the school. “It didn’t happen overnight. It was a ________ journey, and everyone, even students, played a part in it. Today, the school stands ________, and the students have a place they truly ________ studying in.”

1.

A．find their match

B．keep a secret

C．make ends meet

D．strike a deal

2.

A．changemaker

B．troublemaker

C．fortuneteller

D．screenwriter

3.

A．pause

B．transform

C．afford

D．complete

4.

A．environment

B．entertainment

C．education

D．economy

5.

A．adding

B．imagining

C．meaning

D．regretting

6.

A．simple

B．small

C．fair

D．early

7.

A．require

B．need

C．fund

D．notice

8.

A．information

B．discussion

C．description

D．power

9.

A．anxiously

B．surprisingly

C．harmoniously

D．calmly

10.

A．comfort

B．challenge

C．help

D．protect

11.

A．village

B．family

C．boy

D．school

12.

A．guest

B．official

C．accountant

D．stranger

13.

A．slow

B．perfect

C．green

D．popular

14.

A．proudly

B．alone

C．straight

D．honestly

15.

A．escape

B．miss

C．allow

D．enjoy

6 . 听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。
1. Why does the man learn new languages?

A．For work.

B．For interest.

C．For travel.

2. Why does the woman recommend the show 3% to the man?

A．Because the show is helpful to him.

B．Because the woman likes the show.

C．Because the show is popular among people.

3. What is probably the woman?

A．A hostess.

B．An actress.

C．A nurse.

7 . 听下面一段独白，回答以下小题。
1. Which city did the speaker like best when the family visited China?

A．Xi’an.

B．Harbin.

C．Chengdu.

2. What does the speaker say about the weather in Alice Spring?

A．It was hot.

B．It was wet.

C．It was windy.

3. What did the speaker fail to do in Australia?

A．See Ayers Rock.

B．Visit the deserts.

C．Explore the sea coast.

4. How many countries did the family visit?

A．Three.

B．Four.

C．Five.

8 . 听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。
1. How long has the woman worked as a cashier?

A．For about 5 years.

B．For about 3 years.

C．For about 2 years.

2. Where did the woman get two years of working experience?

A．At the Century Mart.

B．At a drugstore.

C．At a bookstore.

3. How long is the vacation time after the second year in Sam Supermarket?

A．3 weeks.

B．2 weeks.

C．1 week.

9 . 听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。
1. Why did the woman change her major?

A．Because she didn’t like learning French.

B．Because she wanted to find a job more easily later.

C．Because she found it difficult to learn French.

2. How does the woman pay for college?

A．By doing a part-time job.

B．With the money from her parents.

C．With a four-year academic scholarship.

3. What can be learned about the man’s part-time job?

A．He’s a cook and is paid well.

B．He works three times a week at a campus.

C．His fellow workers are friendly, but the pay is bad.

10 . Steamed stuffed tofu is tofu stuffed with a mixture of beef, shrimps, and vegetables, which is then battered and deep-fried until crispy outside and finally steamed with lightly seasoned sauce. The tofu is snow white in color and tastes extremely smooth and tender. When you bite off the pastry outside, the tender and smooth filling inside slips into your mouth.

Here is how to cook it.

1. Rinse (清洗) the tofu. Cut horizontally and then cut into big cubes. Scoop out a hole in each tofu cube.

2. Rinse the dried shrimps in cold water. Soak in hot water for 10 mins and cut finely by scissors.

3. Add all marinade (腌泡汁) into the minced beef, stir well and marinate for 15 mins.

4. Cut out the root of the winter mushrooms. Soak in water for 20 mins. Tear into small bunches. Drain (排干) and set aside.

5. Stuff the marinated meat into the tofu cubes and wrap on heat resistant cling wrap.

6. Steam the tofu:

-using electric steamer: steam at 100℃ for 10 mins.

-on the stovetop: put in wok when the water boils, steam on high heat for 10 mins.

At the same time, heat up the cooking oil in a pan on high heat. Add the garlic, winter mushrooms and seasonings. Then add the water. Cook and stir for about 2 mins. Then add the corn starch mixture at this time. Stir well and turn off heat.

7. When the tofu is done, drain off the accumulated liquid. Put chopped scallion on top and pour the glaze together with the winter mushrooms on top of the tofu and serve. Enjoy!!!

Click here to know more about the dish.

1. Which of the following is true about the dish?

A．It stays fresh long enough.	B．It is rich in flavor.
C．It is a vegetarian dish.	D．It is stuffed and chewy.

2. What should be done after the tofu is steamed?

A．Stuffing the marinated meat into it.	B．Adding the corn starch mixture to it.
C．Draining off the accumulated liquid.	D．Stirring the garlic, winter mushrooms and seasonings.

3. Where can you probably read the text?

A．In a TV ad.	B．In a recipe book.
C．In a food magazine.	D．On a newspaper website.