Recently, a group of children from Nanning, Guangxi, wearing orange down jackets and blue pants, took
Each day, their attractive presence is trending on
To express gratitude for the hospitality (好客) received in Heilongjiang, a lot of tangerines from Lipu of Guangxi
2 . The Stanford marshmallow (棉花糖) test was originally conducted by psychologist Walter Mischel in the late 1960s. Children aged four to six at a nursery school were placed in a room. A single sugary treat, selected by the child, was placed on a table. Each child was told if they waited for 15 minutes before eating the treat, they would be given a second treat. Then they were left alone in the room. Follow-up studies with the children later in life showed a connection between an ability to wait long enough to obtain a second treat and various forms of success.
As adults we face a version of the marshmallow test every day. We’re not tempted by sugary treats, but by our computers, phones, and tablets — all the devices that connect us to the global delivery system for various types of information that do to us what marshmallows do to preschoolers.
We are tempted by sugary treats because our ancestors lived in a calorie-poor world, and our brains developed a response mechanism to these treats that reflected their value — a feeling of reward and satisfaction. But as we’ve reshaped the world around us, dramatically reducing the cost and effort involved in obtaining calories, we still have the same brains we had thousands of years ago, and this mismatch is at the heart of why so many of us struggle to resist tempting foods that we know we shouldn’t eat.
A similar process is at work in our response to information. Our formative environment as a species was information-poor, so our brains developed a mechanism that prized new information. But global connectivity has greatly changed our information environment. We are now ceaselessly bombarded (轰炸) with new information. Therefore, just as we need to be more thoughtful about our caloric consumption, we also need to be more thoughtful about our information consumption, resisting the temptation of the mental “junk food” in order to manage our time most effectively.
1. What did the children need to do to get a second treat in Mischel’s test?| A．Take an examination alone. | B．Share their treats with others. |
| C．Delay eating for fifteen minutes. | D．Show respect for the researchers. |
| A．the calorie-poor world and our good appetites | B．the shortage of sugar and our nutritional needs |
| C．the tempting foods and our efforts to keep fit | D．the rich food supply and our unchanged brains |
| A．Be selective information consumers. | B．Absorb new information readily. |
| C．Use diverse information sources. | D．Protect the information environment. |
| A．Eat Less, Read More | B．The Later, the Better |
| C．The Marshmallow Test for Grownups | D．The Bitter Truth about Early Humans |
3 . Strings of letters have recently been flooding the Chinese Internet. Netizens have embraced the MBTI (Myers-Briggs Type Indicator) personality test, using its distinctive combinations of letters to define and classify themselves and others, sparking the formation of active online communities. Initially designed as a self-assessment tool to outline personality types and preferences, the MBTI has found enormous popularity in China.
The MBTI categorizes individuals using four pairs of characteristics: introversion (I) (内向) or extroversion (E) (外向), sensing (S) or intuition (N), thinking (T) or feeling (F), and judging (J) or perceiving (P). This leads to distinct four-letter combinations, like “ISTJ” or “INFP.” The values “E” and “I” have especially attracted public interest. Those who exhibit extroversion (E) characteristics are now humorously described as outgoing, talkative, wild, and socially skilled. They are often playfully called “social gangsters” due to their strong social skills. In contrast, those with introversion (I) are shown as quiet, reserved, reflective, and socially anxious.
Among the playful teasing, these eight seemingly simple letters have promoted deeper self-awareness and even developed a sense of friendship on social media platforms. Individuals discover their strengths and humorously acknowledge their odd behavior. This newfound self-awareness not only aids in understanding their fundamental values but also offers a way to deal with the common unease that bothers today’s youth. Many find comfort in thinking, “My ongoing anxiety, over-sensitivity, and self-doubt come from being an INFP. Such characteristics are typical for this personality type; thus, I’m perfectly normal.”
Netizens often humorously note: “In everyday life, during social events, I switch between introversion and extroversion. At work, I initially act extroverted but gradually become more introverted. When I see someone I like, I’m extroverted in my head but in reality, I’m all introverted. Haidilao Hotpot restaurants, known for their fancy birthday celebrations, sometimes make customers feel awkward. Their typical birthday song goes, “Say goodbye to all worries, and embrace all joys.” It’s a show meant for the extra-social. So, if an extrovert is invited to such a celebration, they might humorously exclaim, “I can’t take it! I’ve become introverted in the face of even more extroverted individuals.”
1. What is the original function of the MBTI personality test?| A．To form active online communities. | B．To scientifically classify netizen behaviors. |
| C．To make a definition and classification of people. | D．To evaluate the types of character and preferences. |
| A．A timid person. | B．A shy person. | C．A daring person. | D．A humble person. |
| A．attracted public interest humorously | B．recognize and accept personal characters |
| C．comfort the people with personality shortages | D．know yourself better and correct odd behavior |
| A．To explain why an extrovert is often invited to their celebration. |
| B．To show people’s personalities can change on different occasions. |
| C．To indicate the birthday songs could make customers embarrassed. |
| D．To stress the popularity of birthday parties in Haidilao Hotpot restaurants. |
4 . Each year, more than 27 million U.S. and Canadian kids get to school by bus. Most of those buses run on diesel (柴油) fuel, which give out pollution that riders can take in. Pollution levels can be several times higher inside a diesel school bus than outside it. Why? Pollution can leak in from the floor or blow in through windows.
A U.S. government program started in 2012 offered schools’ money spent on cleaner school buses but not all schools could get it. Five years later, emissions from buses in the winning districts fell. And a year after getting new buses, student attendance had improved in those districts. For an average district of 10, 000 students, about six more students attended ‘school each day’ in the winning districts, compared to the losing districts. Winning schools with higher rates of bus-riding kids had an average of 14 more students in class each day. And winning districts that replaced the oldest school buses? They had an average of 45 more students in school each day.
Those numbers may sound small, but they add up. And school attendance matters for student achievement. Almost 3 million U. S. kids ride school buses more than 20 years old. If U. S. school districts had replaced all of those older buses, there would have been 1. 3 million fewer student absences each year.
There might be other reasons for better attendance. For example, maybe kids preferred new buses. However, the most-likely reason for fewer student absences was better health. A study done on adults showed that a brief exposure to diesel emissions reduced “network connectivity” in the brain. In other studies, such network-connectivity changes have been linked to worsened memory and mental tasks. A Washington State program upgraded pollution controls in old diesel buses. Afterward, fewer kids were hospitalized in those districts than in schools without bus upgrades.
Almost all U. S. school districts can apply for the program. But schools in low-income areas, in tribal areas and, in rural areas will get priority. Kids in these areas tend to face the most health risks from older buses.
1. What can we infer about diesel school buses from the first paragraph?| A．They have a short service life. |
| B．They operate cost-effectively. |
| C．They accommodate few passengers. |
| D．They do much harm to school children. |
| A．It is a long accumulation. | B．It is a winning condition. |
| C．It is a measuring standard. | D．It is a student achievement. |
| A．By reducing the network connectivity. |
| B．By bettering the health state of students. |
| C．By improving student satisfaction with schools. |
| D．By meeting students’ demand for school bus drivers. |
| A．The “network connectivity” in the brain. |
| B．The great work on cleaner school buses. |
| C．A U. S. government program for education. |
| D．Better attendance due to new school buses. |
1. 描述调查结果;
2. 分析其原因并给出建议。
1. 写作词数应为80左右;
2. 短文的题目和首句已为你写好。
Students’ Time Spent on Physical Exercise Weekly
Nowadays, many students are aware of the significance of physical exercise, although the time they spend on it varies.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________6 . On October 20th comes “Killers of the Flower Moon” from the director Martin Scorsese. At nearly three and a half hours, its length is nearly double that of the average film last year. Even movie fans struggle to concentrate for that long. During the premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in May, some viewers dozed off. Afterwards there was a mad dash (and long queue) for the toilets. When did watching a film become such a labor?
Film-makers started producing long-lasting movies at a rapid pace in the early 1960s. Cinema was booming and filmmakers wanted to distinguish their art from television. Epics surpassing the three-and-a-half hour mark graced the silver screen. Back then, audiences enjoyed an interval while the projectionist prepared the reels for the next act. Runtimes of popular films experienced ups and downs over subsequent decades. But they have ballooned since 2018.
Movie series is one driver of this trend. Studios want to squeeze the most out of their costly intellectual property, but they are competing with streaming platforms for eyeballs. The hope is that a spectacular, drawn-out blockbuster (大片) will tempt audiences away from the small screen and into cinemas. This approach has often paid off: “Avengers: Endgame” (2019), which showcased Marvel superheroes remarkably with a runtime of three hours, achieved the highest box office revenue among all films in that year.
Anything that attracts people away from their sofas to see a film in theatres is good news for cinemas. But lengthy runtimes also pose a “fundamental problem”, complains Clare Binns of Picturehouse, a British cinema group and film distributor. Long movies can mean abandoning two showings per night, which hurts ticket sales and profits.
Another explanation for longer films has to do with directors’ growing influence. Who would dare tell the likes of Mr Nolan to shorten his masterpieces? Streamers, which do not have to worry as much about concision because viewers can pause whenever they like, may attract big names with deep pockets and promises of creative freedom. “Killers of the Flower Moon” will debut on AppleTV+ after its theatrical release.
1. What can we learn from paragraph 1?| A．Movie fans tend to have a dislike for long movies. |
| B．Movie theaters should provide adequate restrooms. |
| C．The average movie fan cannot focus for over three hours. |
| D．Long movies affect audience engagement and physical comfort. |
| A．Expanded with air. | B．Made great profits. |
| C．Enjoyed great popularity | D．Increased rapidly in length. |
| A．To demonstrate the trend of longer movies. |
| B．To highlight the success of Marvel series. |
| C．To illustrate the strong appeal of movie series. |
| D．To emphasize the studio-streaming platform contest. |
| A．Movie Marathons: Past and Present | B．Long Movies: Impacts and Reasons |
| C．Filmmaking: Challenges and Rewards | D．Streaming Platforms: Promising and Profitable |
7 . A China plane struck a bird after taking off in Chengdu, Sichuan, and had to immediately return to the airport last October, and it wasn’t the first accident between an aircraft and a bird last year.
In fact, more than 20,000 wildlife strikes with aircraft were reported worldwide in 2023 — the vast majority of those animals being birds. The strikes can also include run-ins with bats or creatures on the ground, such as deer or turtles. Expanding wildlife populations, increases in number of aircraft movements, and a trend toward faster and quieter aircraft all have contributed to the increase in wildlife strikes.
Bird strikes are a hazard not just to commercial airplanes, but to all sorts of aircraft. However, historical data shows that damage is reported in a small percentage of incidents. Last year, 95% of the global strikes involved some kind of damage — and only 5% of those caused “substantial” damage.
Some of the most disturbing types of strikes can happen when one or more birds go into a plane’s engine, which might cause a lot of damage to the aircraft. The pilot would need to return to the airport or find a safe place to land.
In last October’s China plane incident, the Beijing-bound flight was able to land normally in Chengdu after taking into account what the airline described as security concerns. Senior captain Chen Jianguo said pilots are trained on how to respond if they have a bird strike in flight. The pilot in this case did exactly what he was trained to do.
“There are lots of things that are being used by airports to try to manage the habitat and birds around the airport,” said Chen Jianguo. Airports need to manage bird habitats to reduce or get rid of trees and plants that shelter birds, or address wetlands that can attract birds. Collecting data on what kinds of birds are involved in strikes is equally important so the risks can better be managed. Many airports also use audible signals to scare birds away, such as the sounds of fireworks.
1. What is a cause of the increase in wildlife strikes?| A．The poorly designed aircraft. |
| B．The growing number of birds. |
| C．The destruction of wildlife habitats. |
| D．The absence of environmental awareness. |
| A．Danger. | B．Delay. | C．Accident. | D．Reminder. |
| A．They are a rare occurrence. |
| B．They usually damage engines. |
| C．Most of them cause slight damage. |
| D．Most of them involve one single bird. |
| A．Ways to study bird behavior. |
| B．Measures to drive birds away. |
| C．Efforts to restore bird habitat. |
| D．Attempts to take care of birds. |
8 . While it’s true that introverts tend to enjoy alone time, it’s not true they dislike people or social environments. Just because you show more reservation than enthusiasm in these settings, it doesn’t mean you need to change or that you can’t make new friends. Kat Vellos, a speaker and connection coach, advises introverts to “Resist pressure from the outside world and don’t hide your true nature or force yourself to be extroverted.”
Danielle Bayard Jackson, a friendship coach, says that introverts can be good friends. “I think we sometimes joke about them being incapable or not knowing what to do…and they actually have a lot of superpowers that we don’t give credit(赞扬)to. They’re very observant. They’re really good listeners. And I think that makes for really good friends.” So, how can introverts use their strengths and make new friends in the process?
“One of my favorite ways to do this is by going to a social event, then camping out on the edge with other highly sensitive people who don’t want to be in the center of the action.” Vellos, who is an introvert herself, says. “The kitchen and the edge of the yard are where I’ve often found the best conversations and feelings of connection at an otherwise overwhelming(令人难以应对的)party.”
The key for introverts is to be mindful of how they spend their energy so that when they spend it, they spend it well. “If you know you have a small social battery and you can show up for one hour after which it’ll be overwhelming for you, make good use of that information about yourself.” Jackson says. “If you know you only have an hour to spend, choose carefully the things that you say yes to.”
As an introvert, you feel and think deeply, so this means that you have the rare(罕见的)ability to go deeper more quickly with someone new. An hour or two nay be just the amount of time you need.
1. What is Vellos’ suggestion for introverts?| A．Change yourself to make personal relationships better. | B．Make friends with more extroverts. |
| C．Organize various social events. | D．Accept who you really are. |
| A．They prefer to enjoy alone time. |
| B．They are incapable of making new friends. |
| C．They have many advantages that are often ignored. |
| D．They are more popular than extroverts in the workplace. |
| A．Stay with other introverts in less crowded places. |
| B．Invite other introverts to go camping with her. |
| C．Have conversations with sociable guests. |
| D．Give a hand in the kitchen. |
| A．Why we need introverted friends |
| B．How to make friends as an introvert |
| C．Ways of getting along with introverts |
| D．Differences between introverts and extroverts |
9 . Reducing food waste is easy — just ask the students at a school in Wood bridge, America, who have become experts at sorting their lunchtime trash (垃圾). Since the fall of 2019, they have actively participated in a successful food-waste diversion program that not only saves money but also contributes to reducing the amount of trash that heads to landfills.
Actually, this program plays a crucial role in facing up to the challenges of climate change. By reducing food waste,the school minimizes the amount of trash sent to landfills, thereby reducing harmful methane emissions (沼气排放). The school’s program is making a significant impact. Each month, it moves over 1,300 pounds of food waste, resulting in an estimated reduction of 772 pounds in CO, emissions and the production of 180 kilowatt-hours of energy, according to Blue Earth Compost in America.
At school, when students are done eating lunch, they head to an appointed section — a row of desks, garbage cans and containers — where they sort their trash. Leftover liquids, such as juice or milk,are emptied into a big basin on the floor. The juice containers and plastic water bottles are placed into another container to recycle. Additionally, prepackaged, unopened snacks such as bags of carrots as well as produce such as apples and bananas are “rescued” and placed into a big basket with a handwritten “Donations” sign taped to it to send to the town’s senior center.
The benefits extend beyond environmental awareness. The program reduces trash-carrying costs as less weight goes into the trash bins,making it easier for cleaners to manage. The students also find this planet-friendly practice enjoyable and meaningful, considering it a small game that contributes to a bigger cause. This initiative proves that collective efforts, even on a smaller scale, can lead to significant changes, not only in waste reduction but also in educating a generation committed to preserving our planet.
1. What does the food-waste reduction program focus on at the school in Wood bridge?| A．Saving school food. |
| B．Donating unopened snacks. |
| C．Fertilizing the school’s garden. |
| D．Minimizing harmful gases emissions. |
| A．It leads to food cost reducing. |
| B．It helps with energy production. |
| C．It improves waste management. |
| D．It addresses climate change effectively. |
| A．Saved. | B．Frozen. | C．Abandoned. | D．Repurposed |
| A．It is costly but highly effective. |
| B．It is easy to perform and cost-saving. |
| C．It is expensive and difficult to apply. |
| D．It is only accessible in large companies. |
Frugality Is Back In Fashion
“If you buy things you do not need, soon you will have to sell things you need.” This is a piece of advice from Warren Buffet, a great financial mind of the 21st century. Many young people today appear to be taking these words very much to heart,
While the idea of being frugal (节俭的) has long been a part of Eastern culture, the relatively recent growth of wealth in China as well as the case of purchasing
Despite the annoyances
Hopefully, we all fully understand at this point that the resources on this planet are indeed limited. The choice to be frugal is not only good for one’s wallet, but also
