1 . Olympian weight-lifter Thodoris Iakovidis shocked the public that he cannot continue with the multiple financial difficulties he faces.     1     In the meantime, he exposed the Greek state when he burst into tears on a live interview.

“    2    ” He said after competing in Tokyo Olympic Games. “I’m sorry if anyone thinks I’m running away.” He revealed that he receives 200 euros per month by the Greek Federation for his competing preparation. Iakovidis’parents told media that Thodoris sometimes has to stop his training in order to work and earn money to finance it.

Iakovidis’ statement shocked ordinary Greeks first of all. They launched a campaign on Twitter and Instagram to increase his followers and also attract sponsors.     3     Some sponsors reportedly got in contact with him saying they want to meet him when he returns from Tokyo.

Speaking to Open TV on Sunday, Iakovidis said thanking his new supporters: “The problem is not to fix my thing.     4     Numerous athletes need support. ”

Stressing that he will continue if the conditions change, he added, “But I do not think it’s moral to continue with sponsors for another three years. Many others have to go through the same difficulties as now. I want the state mechanism to help all the athletes.”     5    

A．I’m sorry for my failure.

B．Real actions are a necessity.

C．There are so many other Thodoris.

D．He announced that he would end his career.

E．Dozens of companies are sponsoring the event.

F．Overnight his followers rose from 3, 000 to 120, 000.

G．I’m not crying because I did not have a good performance.

2 . On June 6th Columbia University announced that it will no longer co-operate with US News & World Report’s undergraduate rankings. It is the first top-notch institution to do so. Might its departure be the start of a mass departure?

Columbia’s decision follows a rankings scandal last year. In February 2022 one of Columbia’s own maths professors accused the college of fudging its data in several areas. The university later admitted to having used “outdated and/or incorrect methodologies”.

In the 1980s prospective students started to expand their college search beyond their local area, and it was hard to learn about universities and compare them. Hence, US News began ranking America’s top universities in 1983, and has released its findings annually since 1988.

Colleges have gone to great lengths to move up in the ratings. Richard Freeland, Northeastern University’s former president, capped class sizes and hired faculty to improve its spot; it moved from 127th in 2003 to 44th this year. Others went too far. A dean at Temple University’s business school was sentenced to prison and was ordered to pay a $250,000 fine after being found guilty of fraud in relation to artificially inflating his programme’s rankings.

The ranking system used to seem unstoppable. Universities have tried to ditch it before, only to find that doing so can backfire badly. US News still ranks non-participating universities, using publicly available information, and the data often do not go in their favour. Reed College, a liberal-arts college, stopped taking part in 1995. It tumbled from the top quartile to the bottom. Columbia did not submit data for this year’s analysis, citing concerns about Dr Thaddeus’s claims, and its ranking fell from second in 2021-22 (tied with Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology) to 18th in 2022-23 (tied with the University of Notre Dame).

Recently the mood has begun to change, however, especially among graduate schools. In 2022, of the 15 highest-ranked law schools, only the University of Chicago submitted data. Some undergraduate schools have already opted out this year (Rhode Island School of Design, Colorado College, Stillman College), but none are as prestigious as Columbia.

In May US News announced changes to its ranking methodology. It is moving away from metrics that rely on reputation and towards student outcomes. One way or another, the rankings—and universities more broadly—are in a state of constant change.

1. What is true about the US News undergraduate rankings?

A．It faked the information for the ratings.	B．It filled an information gap at one time.
C．It promoted the quality of higher education.	D．It has been released every year for 40 years.

2. If a college does not cooperate with US News, ______.

A．it will be ordered to pay a fine	B．it will be excluded from the list
C．its ranking will suffer consequently	D．its spot in the ranking won’t be affected

3. The underlined word “capped” in the fourth paragraph is closest in meaning to ______.

A．limited

B．increased

C．inflated

D．maintained

4. It can be inferred from the passage that US News undergraduate rankings may focus more on ______ in the future.

A．scores given by former students	B．donations from all walks of life
C．evaluations from other colleges	D．earnings for college graduates

3 . 请以“Have a healthy life”为题用英语写一篇短文给杂志社投稿，主要内容包括：
1.健康的重要性；
2.青少年忽视健康的不良习惯和导致的危害；
3.你的看法和建议。
注意：
1.写作词数应为80左右；
2.短文标题已给出，不计入总词数。
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4 . The curb cut (下斜路缘). It’s a convenience that most of us rarely, if ever, notice. Yet, without it, daily life might be a lot harder—in more ways than one. Pushing a baby stroller onto the curb, skateboarding onto a sidewalk or taking a full grocery cart from the sidewalk to your car—all these tasks are easier because of the curb cut.

But it was created with a different purpose in mind.

It’s hard to imagine today, but back in the 1970s, most sidewalks in the United States ended with a sharp drop-off. That was a big deal for people in wheelchairs because there were no ramps (斜坡) to help them move along city blocks without assistance. According to one disability rights leader, a six-inch curb “might as well have been Mount Everest”. So, activists from Berkeley, California, who also needed wheelchairs, organized a campaign to create tiny ramps at intersections to help people dependent on wheels move up and down curbs independently.

I think about the “curb cut effect” a lot when working on issues around health equity (公平). The first time I even heard about the curb cut was in a 2017 Stanford Social Innovation Review piece by PolicyLink CEO Angela Blackwell. Blackwell rightly noted that many people see equity “as a zero-sum game.” Basically, that there is a “prejudiced societal suspicion that intentionally supporting one group hurts another.” What the curb cut effect shows though, Blackwell said, is that “when society creates the circumstances that allow those who have been left behind to participate and contribute fully, everyone wins.”

There are multiple examples of this principle at work. For example, investing in policies that create more living-wage jobs or increase the availability of affordable housing certainly benefits people in communities that have limited options. But, the action also empowers those people with opportunities for better health and the means to become contributing members of society—and that benefits everyone. Even the football huddle (围成一团以秘密商讨) was initially created to help deaf football players at Gallaudet College keep their game plans secret from opponents who could have read their sign language. Today, it’s used by every team to shield the opponent from learning about game-winning strategies.

So, next time you cross the street, or roll your suitcase through a crosswalk or ride your bike directly onto a sidewalk—think about how much the curb cut, that change in design that broke down walls of exclusion for one group of people at a disadvantage, has helped not just that group, but all of us.

1. By “might as well have been Mount Everest” (paragraph 3), the disability rights leader implies that a six-inch curb may become ________.

A．as famous as the world’s highest mountain

B．an almost impassable barrier

C．a connection between people

D．a most unforgettable matter

2. According to Angela Blackwell, many people believe that ________.

A．it’s fair to give the disadvantaged more help than others

B．it’s impossible to have everyone be treated equally

C．it’s necessary to go all out to help the disabled

D．it’s not worthwhile to promote health equity

3. Which of the following examples best illustrates the “curb cut effect” principle?

A．Spaceflight designs are applied to life on earth.

B．Four great inventions of China spread to the west.

C．Christopher Columbus discovered the new world.

D．Classic literature got translated into many languages.

4. What conclusion can be drawn from the passage?

A．Everyday items are originally invented for people with disabilities.

B．Everyone in a society should pursue what is in his or her interest.

C．A disability rights leader changed the life of his fellow men.

D．Caring for disadvantaged groups may finally benefit all.

5 . Data shows that Chinese brands are winning increasingly more consumers in recent years, especially among the younger generation. The trend is usually called “guochao”, or “Chinese fashion trend”, which has driven demand for domestic brands and products that often include Chinese traditional culture and style.

Its main followers are millennial born between 1980-1995 and Generation Z born between 19 2010. Unlike the older generations who could have attachment to Western culture and brands, Chinese youth were born and raised when the country’s economy and wealth were taking off. The younger generation tends to have strong and genuine confidence in their national identity and traditional culture.

To woo young customers, these domestic names are making products with high quality and appeal by strengthening research and marketing efforts. An often-cited case is Li-Ning, China’s homegrown sportswear brand that is named after one of the nation’s most famous athletes. The company almost broke up after a failed rebranding in 2011 when it went through three years of losses after losing older customers while failing to attract younger buyers. It was not until the 2018 New York Fashion Week that the brand made its huge comeback. Its trendy look, bold use of color and traditional Chinese culture elements were showcased on the stage so that it immediately grabbed attention at home and abroad.

The trend to embrace domestic brands has spread rapidly to various sectors and products as well, from food and drinks to clothing and electronic vehicles. While many Chinese brands have been gaining significant market share at home in recent years, Others are posting an increasingly stronger global presence. In 2020, China’s tech giant Xiaomi reported its most profitable year on the back of expanded sales and global market share. Revenues (零售) from Haier Smart Home’s overseas business last year also marked an all-time high, ranking top list in global market share for major home appliance. Although some brands still face plenty of challenges ahead to meet the sophisticated needs of customers and regulations in overseas markets, most domestic products are still quite competitive in the international market.

1. What does “guochao” refer to?

A．Domestic brands’ increase.

B．Chinese brands’ growing popularity.

C．Younger generations’ craze about fashion.

D．Fashion trend in Chinese traditional culture.

2. Why do domestic brands appeal to young generations?

A．Domestic products have a good quality.

B．Western products are out of date to the young.

C．Older generations influence the young to favor domestic products.

D．The economic development strengthens the young’s belief in domestic products.

3. Why is the case of Li-Ning mentioned in paragraph 3?

A．To introduce a new topic.

B．To advertise a domestic brand.

C．To present a convincing example.

D．To explain a complicated concept.

4. What’ s the author’ s attitude to the future of the domestic brands?

A．positive

B．concerned

C．indifferent

D．critical

6 . Summer vacation is over. How many of you have burned the midnight oil to finish your homework over the last few days?     1     Or do you start working on your homework right away when you get home from school?

It can be hard to be this responsible. A lot of people often put off difficult or big tasks until they absolutely must be done.     2     Procrastination is a common problem for many people, in fact. Sometimes it just feels easier to wait until the last minute to do certain things.

    3     That’s because you have to work harder and faster if you wait until there is little time left. This means your work will probably be of less quality.

I myself am a bit of a procrastinator. But most of the time, I try to finish my work earlier rather than later. It just makes more sense—if I finish my work now, I’ll have more time to relax or work on other projects later. It can be hard to encourage myself to get started sometimes.     4    

Everyone procrastinates from time to time. It’s a natural thing to do.     5     After all, we still need time to relax and take a break from our busy lives. Just make sure you still get your homework done on time!

A．But once I do, the work gets done quickly and with little stress.

B．One reason we procrastinate is that we are trying to do too many things at once.

C．Do you do your homework at the last minute before you need to hand it in?

D．However, this is usually not a good thing.

E．Most of the tasks we procrastinate on seem difficult or big at first.

F．They’re called procrastinators(拖延症患者).

G．You don’t have to beat yourself up over it.

7 . Handwritten thank-you letters are such a simple way of making other people feel good, it is strange that so few people write them anymore. At work, a thank-you letter to employees is unbelievably effective. It costs little and has no side effects. The effort involved in writing letters very low. The pleasure on receiving them is very high.     1    

Doug Conant, manager of Campbell’s Soup Company since 2001, knows the power of thank you letters. He said that every day he works with an assistant, searching the company for people deserving thanks.     2     Over the past 10 years he has sent 30, 000 thank-you letters to his employees — more than 10 each day. The reward is huge: his company has remained one of the most successful in its field for years.

    3     There seem to be three reasons. Firstly, chief executives (主管) running companies think their own work is more valuable than that of others.     4     Secondly, they aren’t close enough to the business to know who deserves thanks. Thirdly, they have forgotten the strange human truth that almost everyone would do almost anything in return for a few words of appreciation.

In these days of such busy schedules and people running all over the place and trying to get ahead, sometimes we forget the simplest things in life are the most powerful and rewarding. You need to think to yourself about a time someone sent you a thank-you and how much it meant to you.     5    

A．He then writes them a thank-you letter.

B．Why are thank-you letters so important?

C．You may ask what side effects exactly mean.

D．This makes them an excellent way to reward and motivate staff.

E．But if these letters are so inspiring, why don’t more managers write them?

F．Always remember to “Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you!”

G．Since no one ever writes them thank-you letters they don’t write any themselves.

8 . When parents ask, “What grade did you get?” there is a common follow-up question: “So who got the highest grade?” Many educators select and publicly announce “the best student” in a class or school. Adults praise children for outperforming others. Sports tournaments award those who surpass others. The practice of making social comparisons is so common in daily life that the negative effects caused by social comparisons are usually ignored.

One well-known strategy to get rid of social comparisons is to provide children with participation awards, which means children get the same prize despite their performance. Such awards, however, may not abolish social comparisons. High-performing children may feel unfairly treated and look down on the latter group. More generally, those who receive unwarranted rewards may come to believe they deserve to receive the recognition.

How, then, can we make children feel proud of themselves and motivate them without the unwanted side effects? A better approach is to use temporal comparisons — encouraging children to compare themselves with their past self rather than with others.

Researchers recently conducted a study, where 583 children were asked to do a reading and writing exercise designed to influence the kind of comparisons they would make: social comparisons or temporal compared. Results showed children who compared themselves with others said they wanted to be superior to such people, while those who compared themselves with their past self said they wanted to improve rather than be superior. Temporal comparisons changed children’s goals away from a desire for superiority and toward self-improvement.

What, then, can parents and teachers do with this knowledge? Parents and teachers can praise children’s improvement over time to let them know they are making progress. Also, teachers can create learning contexts that track children’s own progress over time, such as report cards that display their changes in learning and performance.

Of course, temporal comparisons are not a panacea; we should never push children too much to improve themselves. The road toward self-improvement is paved with struggles and setbacks. Rather than making children feel bad for those failures, we should encourage them to learn from their imperfect past self — and thus help youngsters become better than before.

1. What can be learned about the strategy mentioned in Paragraph 2?

A．It is in high-performing children’s favor.

B．It stresses the importance of good teamwork.

C．It may make high-performing children less confident.

D．It may discourage children from gaining great performances.

2. What does the research finding suggest?

A．Children have a desire to feel proud of themselves.

B．Temporal comparisons help self-improvement.

C．Children need to be exposed to various comparisons.

D．Social comparisons give children a sense of superiority.

3. What is Paragraph 5 intended to do?

A．To show the power of knowledge.	B．To assess children’s performance.
C．To list learning outcomes.	D．To provide practical ways.

4. Which of the following may the author agree with?

A．Life is full of horrible mistakes.	B．Comparisons may lead to failure.
C．Failure is an opportunity to learn.	D．Struggles are difficult to overcome.

9 . Magazine sales have generally been falling since the day the inventor of the Internet said, “Hey, why don’t I invent the Internet?”

But the latest ABC figures, released this week, show that sales of certain titles are actually going up. News and current affairs magazines are becoming more popular—but celebrity (名人), gossip and fashion publications are still struggling．

“Gossip and celebrity news is rarely something that requires detailed analysis—so it’s best suited to bite-sized content on social media,” says Ian Burrell, media columnist for The Drum. “Once it’s out there, it’s quickly shared and readers move on to the next star. No one wants to wait a week to read about it in a print magazine.”

Fraser Nelson, editor of The Spectator, wrote this week: “There’s now too much writing online, and in an era of fake news, where you get your analysis from has never been more important. As newspapers and magazines are finding out, if you can publish writing that is consistently better than what can be found online, people will pay.”

But many editors are struggling to strike the right balance between physical and digital content. They are faced with the choice of either posting all their articles online for free so the magazine stays relevant, or charging readers money to protect the financial future of the brand.

As Burrell points out, most readers are hungry for a deeper understanding of the fast-moving changes in global news and politics rather than seeking to escape from it by burying their heads in celebrity gossip and entertainment stories．

Serious times call for serious journalism. While general-interest daily news has been turned into an almost universally available commodity (商品) by the Internet, specialist journalism is still a service people value and think they can’t get elsewhere．

1. What does Ian Burrell think of celebrity news?

A．It should be read carefully.	B．It should appear on magazines.
C．It isn’t worth reading.	D．It isn’t worth analyzing．

2. What did Fraser Nelson mainly stress?

A．The value of newspapers and magazines.

B．The significance of current affairs．

C．The importance of news sources.

D．The balance between physical and digital content.

3. What can be inferred from Burrell’s opinion in Paragraph 6?

A．Most readers are fond of rapid changes．

B．Most readers tend to escape from reality．

C．Most readers like entertainment news best．

D．Most readers show great interest in global news and politics．

4. Which of the following can be the best title for the text?

A．What Makes Some Magazines Disappear

B．Where Magazines Will Go in the Future

C．How Magazines Are Surviving the Digital Age

D．Why People Are Still Reading Fashion Publications