1 . Directions: Complete the following passage by using the words in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. addressed        B. boast        C. approach        D. sense        E. wealthy F. glimpse        G. revealed        H. pushy        I. statistics        J. peers        K. motivation

College Rankings Are Something, but Not Everything

I am always confused when reading statements like “Princeton University is the number one college in the United States.” Are those who attend Princeton inherently brighter than their     1    ? Is Princeton able to produce more geniuses upon graduation?

High-ranking colleges in global education leagues attract greater talent in staff and students, and     2     better facilities, therefore generating more profits. In the United States, however, this virtuous cycle can turn vicious when financially-challenged parents end up spending their life savings on their children’s education, while     3     individuals can simply buy their way in. Besides, these rankings face criticism for potentially influencing colleges to make minor adjustments in     4     to improve their position on the table.

I didn’t care about college rankings for years until I recently saw something different. This past October, Shanghai Ranking Consultancy     5     the Global Ranking of Academic Subjects 2023, which assesses universities worldwide across 55 subjects in five disciplines. It is said to employ a more in-depth     6     to evaluate the performance of universities. And this makes it easier for prospective students to choose the best college for their specific subject. But how much weight should you give to these rankings?

In my opinion, college rankings can serve as a reference, offering a     7     into the reputation and strengths of institutions. However, they should not be the only determining factor for you. There are many aspects to a university education that can only be     8     when you are clear about your goals.

I once taught a three-month program to prepare university students for overseas exchange programs in England. But some of them displayed low     9    . It wasn’t merely due to a language barrier. These individuals seemed to lack communication skills, critical thinking and, more importantly, a     10     of purpose, which might help determine their future academic quality. After all, what lies in the heart of education is “U” .

3 . Directions: Complete the following passage by using the words in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. amused       B. common       C. complete       D. disconnecting       E. means F. mission       G. perform       H. positive       I. prepared       J. spreading K. struggle

The world of live action role-playing

For many people, the days of playing make-believe (假扮) ended in childhood. But for some, the game of make-believe lives on in Live Action Role-Playing, or LARP. This is a game where people act out characters in a(n)     1     plot. A gamemaster creates the plot and then puts together an event where people     2     the story. Those who find a particular plot interesting sign up for the event. Then the gamemaster, or the players themselves, make up their characters for the story. At the event, each person comes in costume and behaves as their character.

Although pretty much anything goes in LARP, nearly every event involves players completing a(n)     3     together. A gamemaster writes a goal into the plot and usually prepares challenges for the players. For example, a character may hold up the mission, making it hard to     4     the goal. LARP events can be as long as the gamemasters want them to be. They can last anywhere from a few hours to several days.

The genius of LARP is that each event can be any kind of story. The most     5     ones come from fantasy, historical, horror or science fiction genres (体裁). With such a variety of story types, LARP attracts all kinds of people. Some players enjoy LARP as a(n)     6     to practice creating or costume-making. Other players enjoy the challenge of going into different worlds and using their brains to solve puzzles. There are also those who simply want to have fun and make friends.

One     7     LARP players have is coming out of their LARP experiences and returning to the real world. This is especially common after a long event. Most players experience a “bleed,” which describes parts of their LARP experience     8     into their everyday life. Since all the senses — seeing, hearing, touching, smelling and tasting — are at work,     9     becomes difficult. However, researchers agree that the overall effects of LARP are     10    . People of different backgrounds come together to grow their skills, play and express creativity.

4 . Directions: Fill in each blank with a proper word chosen from the box. Each word can be used only once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. distributed     B. localize       C. broadcast     D. briefing       E. attached       F. existing       G. boost H. emerging       I. involved       J. crack            K. response

Chip flow interrupted

A stable global supply chain of chips had been maintained before disruptive moves by the US.

Two of the US’ top chipmakers—NVIDIA and AMD-were ordered to stop exports of two high-end chips to China on Aug 31. The ban     1     sophisticated (精密的) chips for graphics processing units (GPUs); which have been widely used in applications including AI and creative production.

This came after US President Joe Biden signed an order to pass the $52.7 billion (about 369.5 billion yuan) semiconductor chip manufacturing subsidy (补贴) and research law on Aug 25.

It aims to     2     efforts to “make the United States more competitive with China’s science and technology efforts”, Reuters noted.

Biden also signed the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 into law on Aug 9. According to the act, chip makers that shift their factories to the US can receive subsidies and tax benefits with     3     conditions that restrict US companies from increasing investments in China for 10 years.

“The US and its allies,” Eric Schmidt, former CEO of Google and a financier for the Bill Clinton, Obama and Biden presidential campaigns, said in March, “should utilize targeted export controls on high-end semiconductor manufacturing equipment... to protect     4     technical advantages and slow the advancement of China’s semiconductor industry”.

In     5     to the US latest act, Woo Jin-hoon, a guest professor at Beijing Foreign Studies University, wrote for China Daily, this is “a move that can be profitable for the US in the short term, but harmful in the long run”.

The design, manufacturing and even raw materials of a complete and complex product like semiconductors (especially chips) are usually     6     across many different countries and regions, forming a huge trade network.

No matter how hard countries or regions try to support their own manufacturing bases and     7     their production, a certain degree of interdependence among countries and regions is unavoidable, China Daily commented.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said on Sept 1 at a press     8     that the US move is typical “sci-tech hegemony (霸权)”.

“With its technological advantages, the US has abused the concept of national security and its state power to     9     down on the development of     10     economies and developing countries,” said Wang. “The move violates market economy principles, harms international economic and trade orders and disrupts the stability of global industrial and supply chains.”

5 . Directions: Complete the following passage by using the words in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. access       B. balance       C. device       D. issues       E. pursuits       F. review       G. separate       H. signs I. social          J. staying        K. waking

Why taking a phone break is so good for you

You are probably too attached to that needy black rectangle you carry around everywhere you go. Although it’s not formally recognized as an addiction—yet— “problematic smartphone use” interferes with many aspects in life, say Jay Olsen, a postdoctoral scholar in psychology at McGill University who has researched the topic. “It could be interfering with your concentration. It could be that you feel less     1     when using your phone. It could be that you’re sleeping less well, because you’re     2     up late scrolling.”

Those     3     likely sound familiar, because smartphone overuse “affects almost anybody who has a     4     at this point,” says Dr. Anna Lembke, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford University. “The digital content is just so appealing, and we have such easy     5    .” Smartphone use also intensified during the pandemic’s first lonely years.

But failing to     6     from your screen could have harmful implications. Research links smartphone overuse to a wide variety of physical and mental-health     7    . People who are glued to their phones tend to get worse sleep and less of it. And according to a     8     published in Frontiers in Psychology in August, smartphone overuse can lead to anxiety, stress, and depression. All that scrolling also consumes your time and attention, leaving less to spend on healthy     9     like exercise and spending time with loved ones.

Take some space from your phone—even for short amounts of time—can help restore your     10    , attention, and even faith in humanity. “I think disconnecting matters to everyone,” says Adam Alter, a professor of marketing at NYU.

6 . Directions: Fill in each blank with a proper word chosen from the box. Each word can be used only once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. inhabit F. fascinating K. agonizing

B. interact G. finalist

C. exhausted H. settled

D. reshape I. productivity

E. state J. extreme

Picking Up the Word of the Year

The story of a year is sometimes easy to identify: the financial crisis of 2008, the Brexit Trump populist wave of 2016 or the pandemic of 2020. The most     1     event of 2022 has been the war in Ukraine, yet those earlier stories have lingered in the headlines. For language-watchers, all that meant much new vocabulary to consider.

Facebook renamed itself Meta in 2021 and spent vast sums in 2022 trying to activate metaverse, an online world in which people can     2     via avatars and virtual-reality goggles. Instead profits dropped as the company struggled even to get its employees to     3     its metaverse. The word was a(n)     4     in Oxford Dictionaries’ Word of the Year contest, but was not selected. Perhaps another year. This is still a word (and a world) looking for users.

Instead, Oxford’s choice this year—based on a public vote—was goblin mode, a(n)     5     in which people indulge their laziest or most selfish habit. After years of covid, recession and inflation, people are tired and     6     and finding it harder to keep up appearances. But another product of the Covid era is Johnson’s word of the year.

After, the lockouts of 2020, followed, in 2021, by a low return to the office, 2022 was the year that hybrid work     7     in. Working at home some of the time has advantages of decongesting cities and fewer painful commutes, and disadvantages like fears of lower     8     combined with a sense of never being off duty. In the spring Twitter a policy of unlimited working form home for those who wanted it. When Elon Musk bought the company he promptly decreed the opposite. But most firms have not gone to either     9     instead trying to find the best of both worlds.

As a coinage, hybrid work is no beauty. But it will     10     cities, careers, family life and free time. That is sufficient qualification for a word of the year.

7 . Directions: Complete the following passage by using the words in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. serve       B. shape       C. sharing     D. released   E. spread F. willingly   G. questioned   H. separately   I. practice   J. preparing K.creating

Communal Eating?

In China, communal eating (合餐共食) is considered very important for forming a close relationship. In the memories of most Chinese, one of the happiest moments in their lives was seated around a table with families or friends,     1     dishes and chatting over wine.

In the campaign against the COVID-19 outbreak, this dining tradition has been greatly     2    . Since each diner picks food out of the communal plates on a bite-by-bite basis with their chopsticks, the virus can be transferred from saliva (唾液) to chopsticks to the dish. What’s worse, diners often     3     others with their own utensils, such as chopsticks or spoons, to express friendliness and care. Several cases of coronavirus are thought to have     4     through families when sharing food during the Chinese New Year period.

Communal eating has thus become a target of both governments and restaurants. Posters have been     5     by local governments to encourage people to use serving utensils. Concerned about customers being very careful about returning to restaurants, the catering industry (餐饮业) has     6     joined the campaign. For example, many restaurants, once allowed to reopen, have immediately sprung into action, particularly offering set meals for one single person.

These changes are likely to continue and could be encouraged by local regulations, as eating together     7     can always protect the public health. The measures will     8     the traditional mealtime manners.

The move away from a traditional cultural     9     is ongoing. But as an expert said, “In modern times to eat individually may lose some tradition, but it can also mean more opportunities for     10     something new in Chinese food and eating habits.”

9 . Directions: Complete the following passage by using the words in the box. Each word can only be used once.

A. physical   B. practical   C. popular   D. capable   AB. range   AC. blame AD. return   BC. concerns   BD. dropped   CD. shared   ABC. improvements

Born and raised in a digital age, today’s young people are generally tech savvy （技术娴熟的). But when it comes to basic life skills, they are less     1     than the older generation.

According to a recent study by YouGov, a UK-based market research firm, 69 percent of 18-24-olds in the UK have no idea how to bleed a radiator (暖气片换水). About 35 percent of them don’t know how to sew on a button, while about 11 percent don’t understand how to change a light bulb or iron clothes.

In fact, the problem is     2    by young people in the United States. According to a report by Forbes in 2014, most millennial (千禧一代) drivers don’t know how to check their tire pressure. Cooking is another basic life skill that has been     3     as millennials are much more likely to order food deliveries than previous generations.

Technology may be to     4     for this generational gap. “Skills at using phones and computers are the ones valued these days, and the     5     hands-on skills of yesteryear are now seen as functions that can be easily outsourced (外包),” Sandi Mann, senior lecturer in psychology at the University of Central Lancashire, UK, told the Mirror.

Indeed,     6     in technology have made young people unfamiliar with many basic life skills. For example, with GPS always at hand, young people have had no need to learn how to read     7     maps,

However, this change has raised     8     among many people. “If you have your master’s degree and you can’t live within your means or go home from your job and feed yourself a nutritious meal, you’re not a complete graduate,” Chris Moore, a professor from Brigham Young University, US, told HuffPost.

That’s why there’s an increasing call for the     9     of “home ec” in the US, short for home economics, which teaches basic life skills like cooking and how to do laundry. It was very     10    in the early 20^th century, but was later taken out of schools and universities because of budget cuts. But recently, home ec was reintroduced in a small number of schools and universities.