1 . Being in green spaces and connecting with nature is good for your physical and mental health. In Japanese natural healing, forest bathing has been used to decrease stress, anxiety, and even to treat mild depression. Now, scientists have discovered that blue spaces — natural waterways — are also connected to better mental health. A population-based study found that approach to water increased positive feelings of wellbeing.
Being near water gives people a sense of awe, because it gives people a consciousness of something greater than themselves. The sounds and movement of water gets people to focus their attention — like meditation — and this invites calm, You do not have to go to the coast to experience this well-being. Any waterway will do, including lakes, rivers, canals, or ponds. Even a flowing fountain will work.
The study also found that urban waterways were superior to feelings of well-being than just being near the ocean. Canals and rivers contain not only water but also an abundance of trees and plants, which means their capacity to improvement al well-being is likely to be due to the multiple benefits associated with both green and blue spaces.
Canals and rivers also provide homes to a range of wildlife, and we know that there is a notable association between encountering wildlife and mental well-being. Taken collectively, these findings provide an evidence base for what we thought about water and well-being.
These results are very exciting for urban citizens who have access to rivers and canals. The study also found that there were continuous improvements to mental well-being for up to 24 hours after visiting urban waterways. This is all good news. The availability of spaces to be in nature — both green and blue — will help calm their anxiety, stress, and help boost mental health.
1. Why does the author mention green spaces in paragraph 1?| A．To introduce the topic about blue spaces. |
| B．To tell the great benefits of forest bathing. |
| C．To tell us what works best in reducing stress. |
| D．To explain green spaces are unpopular now. |
| A．Your moods in the woods work quite differently. |
| B．Being near the ocean has the best function to you. |
| C．Green spaces have no capacity to improve well-being. |
| D．Combinations of green and blue spaces are more effective. |
| A．Slight. | B．Rare. | C．Significant. | D．Indistinct. |
| A．Intolerant. | B．Favorable. | C．Doubtful. | D．Unclear. |
2 . As firefighters battled a five-alarm fire al a supermarket in the Bronx earlier this month, New York City officials gathered beside what they said was the cause of the fire: the blackened shell of what was once a sit-on electric scooter. The burning joined the more than 200 fires in New York City last year caused by batteries from e-bikes, electric scooters and similar devices. Lithium-ion (锂)battery explosions are now the third leading cause of fires in the city, the fire department says. In short, there are more fires because there are so many more e-bikes and scooters these days.
Lithium-ion batteries power many rechargeable devices that are part of our modern lives: cell phones, laptops, vapes, cordless power tools and electric vehicles of all kinds, from cars to scooters to e-bikes to hoverboards. They’re small, lightweight and powerful but they’re also prone to overheating and catching fire, said Michael Pecht, a professor of engineering at the University of Maryland. “Ever since lithium-ion batteries started to be popular in products, we’ve seen fires, ” he said.
At issue is the high density of the batteries, which is a double-edged sword, said Pecht, who also serves as director of the Center for Advanced Life Cycle Engineering, a university research center that consults with companies on reliability and safety issues, including batteries.
“They can provide a lot of power to our cell phones and to our computers for a relatively long period of time in a very small volume, ” he said. “But because we have so much energy packed in that small volume, if there is a problem, then they’re very flammable. ” Defects or contamination in the manufacturing process can eventually lead to short circuiting or other failures.
There’s not currently much regulation of e-bikes and scooters. But fire officials add that. you should charge your device away from flammable materials like furniture and pillows, and that you shouldn’t charge or store your device in a location that blocks your access to an exit. If your battery starts to fail, it may be safest to buy a new one. “Don’t repair anything yourself and buy from a company where you know that they’re using brand-name batteries,” Pecht said.
1. What can we learn about fires in paragraph 1?| A．They brought extraordinary damage. |
| B．They resulted from battery explosions. |
| C．They frequently broke out in the city. |
| D．They enveloped the supermarket soon. |
| A．They are commonly used by factories. |
| B．They have smaller size and lower cost. |
| C．They are associated with the rising number of fires. |
| D．They encounter reliability and safety issues for now. |
| A．Staying away from public area. |
| B．Keeping a close eye on device. |
| C．Using water to put out the flames. |
| D．Replacing an old battery if it starts to fail. |
| A．Reasons of Batteries’ Catching Fire. |
| B．Tips lo Keep Yourself Safe. |
| C．Popularity of Rechargeable Devices. |
| D．More Devices and More Fires. |
3 . Sometimes you just want to get away. Your older brother and his friends are constantly amped in front of the TV, your baby sister won’t stay out of your room, and you want some time for yourself.
But when you get it-maybe at a friend’s house for an all-weekend DVD marathon or on spring break at Disney World-you’re surprised to find yourself missing the chaos at home a bit.
What’s that all about?
When you’re homesick, you might feel nostalgic (怀念的) for familiar things like your family, friends, pets, house, or neighborhood. Homesickness isn’t only for kids.
Familiar surroundings, people, and routines provide people with a sense of security and comfort.
Almost everyone has felt homesick at some time.
| A．Practically everyone feels homesick from time to time, even adults. |
| B．In a new place, you may find yourself missing the comforts of home and loved ones. |
| C．Believe it or not, you’re feeling homesick. |
| D．Remember that there’s a good side to homesickness, too. |
| E．Luckily, homesickness is usually mild and doesn’t last long. |
| F．Some people may only feel a little loneliness, sadness, or anxiety. |
| G．And you can do some things to make sure it doesn’t spoil your fun. |
4 . British programmer Joshua Browder is helping people save much money on legal fees with his latest project-the world’s first robot lawyer. The 19-year-old first started the project last summer as a free website to help people appeal unfair parking tickets. He came up with the idea after getting a series of tickets himself for unimportant reasons. Having wasted hours writing appeals to these tickets, he realized that many people have no time or legal knowledge to appeal So he decided to create a robot lawyer, which he named DoNotPay.
DoNotPay was a success, and the tech genius has gone a step further with the website. converting(转变)it into a robot lawyer equipped to help with various legal issues. “The robot can handle parking ticket appeals and delayed flights/ trains. It can also answer some general legal questions like ‘ I can’t afford my ticket. What do I do?’” said Browder.
To use the service, users need to go to the website DoNotPay.co.uk and sign up for free. Once signed in, the robot will ask the user questions about their situation. When it has collected enough information, and if the person has legal grounds for an appeal, the robot will create a letter for the person to use.
Browder said he received good advice from his professors at Stanford University. “Initially, I thought the best way to go about it was to create many individual rules for it to follow,” he explained. “However, I quickly failed with this approach because there are thousands of ways to say the same thing and it would be impossible to catch everyone. The breakthrough came when I learned how to create a way for the robot to learn and compare phrases itself, so that it doesn’t matter how the user phrases his or her requests.”
So he programmed the robot to use text comparison that includes keywords, word order and pronouns. And the more people use the robot,the better the algorithm(演算法)gets. But here’re situations where the robot can’t help.” If the robot can’t answer, it provides helpful massage offering the user some sample phrases or the choice of contacting me directly,”
Browder said. “On the backend, whenever the robot can’t answer, I get noticed and work as quickly as possible to add functions for any future requests of a similar nature.”
“I think it does a reasonable job of replacing parking lawyers,” Browder told Tech Insider. “I know there are thousands of programmers with more experience than me working on similar issues. If it is one day possible for any citizen to get the same standard of legal representation as a billionaire, how can that not be a good thing?”
1. What made Joshua Browder decide to develop the robot lawyer?| A．His interest in law and robot. |
| B．Being often fined for serious reasons. |
| C．Realizing people’s need to write appeals. |
| D．A waste of much money in appealing. |
| A．Deal with some common legal issues. |
| B．Create a computer program to serve its users. |
| C．Recommend some useful legal websites to users. |
| D．Teach the users to write a letter of appeal. |
| A．Store enough legal knowledge in it. |
| B．Teach it to communicate with its users. |
| C．Create enough individual rules for it to follow. |
| D．Enable it to learn and compare phrases on its own. |
| A．Unclear. | B．Cautious. |
| C．Proud. | D．Negative. |
5 . Rocky Lyons was five years old when his mother, Kelly, was driving along the country road with him. He was asleep on the front seat of their truck, with his feet resting on her lap. As his mom drove carefully down the winding country road, she turned onto a narrow bridge. The truck hit a rock and slid off the road. She attempted to bring it back up onto the road by pressing hard on the gas pedal(踏板)and turning the steering wheel to the left. But Rocky's foot got caught between her leg and the steering wheel and she lost control of the truck.
The truck fell into a 20-foot ravine(峡谷). When it hit the bottom,Rocky woke up. “What happened, Mom?” he asked. “Our wheels are pointing toward the sky.”
Kelly was seriously wounded and blinded by blood. “I’ll get you out, Mom, ” announced Rocky, who had surprisingly escaped injury. He climbed out from under Kelly, slid through the open window and tried to yank his mother out. But she didn’t move.
“Just let me sleep,” begged Kelly,who was out of consciousness(意识). Rocky insisted,“Mom, you can’t go to sleep.”
Rocky managed to push Kelly out of the truck and told her he’d climb up to the road and stop a car to get help. Fearing that no one would be able to see her little boy in the dark, Kelly refused to let him go alone. Instead they slowly moved up to the road. The pain was so great that Kelly wanted to give up, but Rocky wouldn’t let her.
Rocky kept repeating the inspirational phrase, “I know you can. I know you can.” When they finally reached the road, Rocky broke into tears seeing his mother’s torn face clearly for the first time. Waving his arms and shouting, “Please stop!” the boy stopped a truck. His mother was sent to hospital.
It took eight hours to rebuild Kelly’s face. She looks quite different today-she has a few scars but has recovered from her injuries.
Rocky’s heroics were big news. Everyone was surprised at this little boy’s power. “It’s not like I wanted it to happen,” the boy explained. “I just did what anyone would have done.” “If it weren’t for Rocky, I’d have died,” said his mother.
1. What do we know about Rocky and Kelly?| A．They were lost on a country road. |
| B．They were involved in a truck accident. |
| C．They had limited time to find their way. |
| D．They knew little of what happened to them. |
| A．The truck had turned over. |
| B．He couldn’t find his mother. |
| C．He had been stuck in the truck. |
| D．His mother had passed out. |
| A．Pull. | B．Drive. |
| C．Follow. | D．Carry. |
| A．Enthusiastic and kind. |
| B．Courageous and calm. |
| C．Cooperative and generous |
| D．Adventurous and energetic. |
6 . The topic “slash youth”, referring to those refusing to be defined or bound by just one personal identity and choosing to undertake multiple careers, has fueled heated debate on social media. On Douban, a Chinese social networking platform, the topic has attracted about 11,000posts and has been viewed over 400 million times. China’s young people are keen to share their slash youth stories online, presenting themselves as multiple and sometimes distinct identities, such as a nurse and model, a teacher and stand-up comedian, and an engineer and musician.
Xing Eryang, a 31-year-old female resident in Beijing, founded the Douban topic in 2021.While staying diligent about her daytime work, she is developing her hobbies, including stand-up comedy and vlogging, into secondary careers during her spare time. And she is amazed to find her “slash life” philosophy followed by so many of her peers.
Weiheng, a 26-year-old woman in Guangzhou, and Tang Yuhan, a 27-year-old man in Xuancheng city, Anhui province, are both participants in the topic, with their stories earning thousands of likes so far. The two are both musicians in their spare time, even though they are thousands of miles apart and have different jobs in media and finance. Their passion for music has grown since college and they didn’t abandon their enthusiasm, even after entering the workplace.
Their reaction showed the gap between the young and former generations. “My parents used to say, ‘music cannot earn you money’, so the band thing was regarded as a waste of time. However, we want to pursue whatever we love and are willing to pay for it.” says Weiheng.
“The ‘slash life’ mania(狂热)shows that, along with China’s economic development, our society is becoming more and more diversified and inclusive, and it welcomes everyone’s self-fulfillment,” says Shi Yanrong, an associate researcher from Tianjin Academy of Social Sciences. “Young people no longer have to rely on work and money for their sense of self-worth. They tend to practice a carpe diem(活在当下)philosophy and create their own identities.”
1. What are “slash youth” more likely to do?| A．Create a topic on Douban. |
| B．Take diverse occupations. |
| C．Become a stand-up comedian. |
| D．Share their own stories online. |
| A．Other young people’s positive response. |
| B．Hobbies developed while working. |
| C．The growing social networking platform. |
| D．Thousands of likes earned on Douban. |
| A．They sent their stories online to gain more funds. |
| B．They shared similar interests in both their hobbies and jobs. |
| C．They never lost passion for music even if they had to quit college. |
| D．They stuck with their dream despite the older generation’s opinion. |
| A．Doubtful. | B．Supportive. |
| C．Unfavorable. | D．Indifferent. |
7 . Activities such as art classes could be recommended as an alternative to medication for patients in England as part of a major initiative to reduce the number of people becoming dependent on prescription drugs.
The Times newspaper quotes figures showing that in the past 12 months,8.4 million adults in England were taking antidepressants(抗抑郁药)，which is 8 percent higher than 2019,which has resulted in the new advice.Around 23 percent of women are on antidepressants, and 12 percent of men.
“Medicines offer a fantastic range of tools for NHS staff to provide care that can be positively life-changing,” said Tony Avery, the national clinical director for prescribing at NHS England. “However, we need to be alert to the risks of some medicines, and the framework we are publishing today empowers local services to work with people to ensure they are being effectively supported when a medicine is no longer providing overall benefit.”
The NHS report drew particular attention to projects carried out in the county of Glouc-ester shire. One service, called Art on Prescription, was described as “a form of social prescription and is a non-clinical intervention delivered by art practitioners for therapeutic benefit”. Another, a course called Artlift, begins with “a personalized ‘What Matters To You’ conversation prior to the start of the program and (we) agree a personalized support plan and goals with each participant”. They all reported improvement in participants’ mental well-being.
Actually, as long ago as September 2018, then health secretary Matt Hancock said, “The evidence increasingly shows that activities like social clubs, art, ballroom dancing, and gardening can be more effective than medicines for some people and I want to see an increase in that sort of social prescribing.”
1. Why does activities such as art classes are recommended for patients in England?| A．Because they are more effective than medicines. |
| B．Because people in England prefer to attend art classes. |
| C．Because they can replace medication for patients in England. |
| D．Because they may help reduce the people’s dependence on certain drugs. |
| A．Medicines can provide life-changing effects all the time. |
| B．We need to be cautious about the dangers of some medicines. |
| C．The framework published is greatly supported by the local people. |
| D．Local services can work with patients to provide them with overall benefit. |
| A．The two projects were carried out in the rural areas of Gloucester-shire. |
| B．Art on Prescription was a clinical intervention delivered by art practitioners. |
| C．The patients’ mental health in the two projects were both reported to be improved. |
| D．A personalized “What Matters To You” conversation started after the start of the program Artlift. |
| A．To persuade people to stop taking medicine. |
| B．To introduce a new kind of life-changing medicine. |
| C．To appeal to the government to organize more social activities. |
| D．To recommend a way to reduce patients’ dependence on prescribed drugs. |
8 . Science reporting on climate change does lead Americans to adopt more accurate beliefs and support government action on the issue, but these gains are fragile, a new study suggests. Researchers found that these accurate beliefs fade quickly when people are exposed to coverage skeptical of climate change.
“It is not the case that the American public does not respond to scientifically informed reporting when they are exposed to it,” said Thomas Wood, associate professor of political science at the Ohio State University. “But even truly accurate science reporting recedes from people’s frame of reference very quickly.”
Results showed that accurate science reporting didn’t persuade only politicians and people who initially rejected human-caused climate change also had their opinions shifted by reading accurate articles. The study involved 2,898 online participants who participated in four waves of the experiment during the fall of 2020.
In the first wave, they all read authentic articles in the popular media that provided information reflecting the seientifie views on climate change. In the second and third waves, they read either another scientific article, an opinion article that was skeptical of climate science, or an article on an unrelated subjeet. In the fourth wave, the participants simply were asked their beliefs about the science of climate change and their policy attitudes.
To rate participants’ scientific understanding. the researchers asked after each wave if they believed that climate change is happening and has a human cause. To measure their attitudes, researchers asked participants if they favored government action on climate change and if they favored renewable energy.
“What we found suggests that people need to hear the same accurate messages about climate change again and again. If they only hear it once, it recedes very quickly,” Wood said. It was significant that accurate reporting had positive effects on all groups, including those who originally rejected climate change. But it was even more encouraging that it affected attitudes.
1. What does the underlined word “recedes” in paragraph 2 mean?| A．Increases. | B．Graduates. | C．Disappears. | D．Strikes. |
| A．The research object. | B．The research result. |
| C．The research purpose. | D．The research procedure. |
| A．To survey the government’s satisfaction rate. |
| B．To make an assessment on their attitudes. |
| C．To teach them scientific understanding. |
| D．To measure action on climate change. |
| A．Science Report Of Climate Change Can Affect Minds |
| B．Online Participants Joined In A Four-Wave Experiment |
| C．Accurate Science Reporting Don’t Persuade Only Politicians |
| D．People Should Hear Accurate Messages About Climate Change |
9 . Neuroscientists (神经科学家) now know that brain maturation (成熟) occurs far later than previously thought. Great changes in brain are still taking place during young adulthood, especially in the regions that are important for planning ahead, expecting the future results of one’s decisions, and comparing risk and reward. Indeed, some brain regions do not reach full maturity until the early 20s. Should this new knowledge make us rethink where we draw legal boundaries between kids and adults?
Maybe. But it’s not as simple as it seems for two reasons.
First, different brain regions mature along with different timetables. There is no single age at which the adolescent brain becomes an adult brain. Systems responsible for logical reasoning mature when people are 16, but those involved in self-regulation are still developing in young adulthood. This is why 16-year-olds are just as capable as adults when it comes to permitting informed medical papers, but are still immature in ways that reduce their criminal responsibility, as the Supreme Court has noted in several recent cases. Using different ages for different legal boundaries seems strange, but it would make neuro- scientific sense if we did it reasonably.
Second, science has never had much influence on these decisions. If it did, we wouldn’t have lived in a society that allows teenagers to drive before they can buy beer. Age boundaries are drawn mainly for political reasons, not scientific ones. It’s a pity that Neuroscience won’t have much of an impact on politics although it is always correct.
Children are so changeable in their growth and how cultures understand child development is so different. It is pointless to try to determine the “right” age of maturation. The Dutch, for example, allow children to drink alcohol at the age of 16 but not to drive until they are 19. Even if I firmly believe legal decisions should refer to Neuroscience seriously and it’s a good idea to lower the drinking age and raise the driving age in the US, I recognize that the government might never accept it.
1. What can we learn about brain maturation according to the passage?| A．All the brain areas become mature at the same time. |
| B．Scientists’ brain matures much earlier than politicians’. |
| C．The region in charge of logical reasoning isn’t mature until 18. |
| D．The time of brain maturation is not as early as thought before. |
| A．Favorable. | B．Skeptical. | C．Indifferent. | D．Intolerant. |
| A．It’s illegal for a Dutch boy to drive at the age of 16. |
| B．The culture of the Dutch is much better than the USA. |
| C．It’s of great value to determine the right age of maturation. |
| D．The influence of science on law and policy making is very big. |
| A．Should Children Learn from Capable Adults? |
| B．Can Neuroscience Create Mature Scientists? |
| C．Should Neuroscience Affect Law Decisions? |
| D．Can Children Drive and Drink Beer Like Adults? |
1. Who is Anna?
| A．An operator. | B．An assistant. | C．A rider. |
| A．What a ride operator should do. |
| B．How they should take a picture on the ride. |
| C．What rules they are for the ride. |
| A．His safety belt broke. |
| B．He lost his phone on the ride. |
| C．He was removed from the park for spitting. |
| A．Board the car. |
| B．Ask Anna some questions. |
| C．Get some food and drinks. |
