1 . Should we allow modern buildings to be built next to older buildings in a historic area of a city? In order to answer this question, we must first examine whether people really want to preserve the historic feel of an area. Not all historical buildings are attractive. However, there may be other reasons —for example, economic reasons —why they should be preserved. So, let us suppose that historical buildings are both attractive and important to the majority of people. What should we do then if a new building is needed?
In my view, new architectural styles can exist perfectly well alongside an older style. Indeed, there are many examples in my own hometown of Tours where modern designs have been placed very successfully next to old buildings. As long as the building in question is pleasing and does not dominate (影响) its surroundings too much, it often improves the attractiveness of the area.
It is true that there are examples of new buildings which have spoilt the area they are in, but the same can be said of some old buildings too. Yet people still speak against new buildings in historic areas. I think this is simply because people are naturally conservative (保守的) and do not like change.
Although we have to respect people’s feelings as fellow users of the buildings, I believe that it is the duty of the architect and planner to move things forward. If we always reproduced what was there before, we would all still be living in caves. Thus, I would argue against copying previous architectural styles and choose something fresh and different, even though that might be the more risky choice.
1. What does the author say about historical buildings in the first paragraph?| A．They are more pleasing than modern buildings. |
| B．Most of them are too expensive to preserve. |
| C．Some of them are not attractive. |
| D．They have nothing to do with the historic feel of an area. |
| A．Some old buildings have spoilt the area they are in. |
| B．Buildings that affect their surroundings are attractive. |
| C．People should protest against new buildings. |
| D．We should reproduce the same old buildings. |
| A．destroy old buildings |
| B．respect people’s feelings for historical buildings |
| C．put things in a different place |
| D．choose new architectural style |
| A．To explain why people dislike change. |
| B．To argue that modern buildings can be built in historic areas. |
| C．To warn that we could end up living in caves. |
| D．To make a comparison between modern buildings and historic buildings. |
2 . The U. S. is in the midst of a “loneliness epidemic”. For a lot of people, the feeling is even more noticeable during the holidays. In addition to the emotional impact of chronic loneliness, it has some dramatic health consequences: increased risk of heart disease and stroke, infections, cancer, even death.
People may feel lonely when their social needs are not met by the people around them. Laetitia Mwilambwe-Tshilobo, a social cognitive neuroscientist at Princeton University, says loneliness epidemic captures two distinct groups: first, people with a low number of social connections; second, people who feel they have poor quality existing relationships.
Elisa Baek, a social neuroscientist at the University of Southern California, co-authored a study that looked at whether lonely people view the world differently than non-lonely people, specifically among college freshmen. Baek found that while non-lonely people were all similar in their neural responses, lonely people had responses that were really different — not just from the non-lonely group, but also from each other. Baek says that these idiosyncrasies (特性) in how lonely participants process the world, “may pose challenges in how these people are able to achieve social connection and feel connected with others.”
To study these changes to the brain, Baek’s team collected fMRI data — a measure of blood flow changes in the brain — while first-year college students watched short videos to measure how similarly participants’ brains responded to the videos. The videos ranged from dramatic and comedic clips to instructional demonstrations in order to reproduce experiences participants might have in daily life. She says it’s the closest they could get to study people’s brain activity — and how they process the world — while they were going about their lives.
Mwilambwe-Tshilobo, who is not involved in the study, says the research accurately highlights how individual differences affect people in experiencing loneliness. “Trying to connect more deeply with one or two or three other people may be more important than to try to get to know everybody and being on good terms with everybody. It doesn’t have to be someone who is like-minded. It’s more like: How can we get on the same page with people who we might not start off on the same page with, but that might form deeper connections afterwards?” she adds.
1. Which description best characterizes the “loneliness epidemic”?| A．Harmful mentally and physically. | B．Exclusive to people with few friends. |
| C．Striking throughout the year. | D．Spreading between people. |
| A．Its findings focus on the differences between lonely and non-lonely people. |
| B．It targets freshman students at the University of Southern California. |
| C．It casts light on how lonely people perceive the world. |
| D．It challenges lonely people to be more social. |
| A．To monitor the response speed. | B．To model everyday situations. |
| C．To study the recreational activities. | D．To look into the brain structures. |
| A．Expand the social network. | B．Befriend with those in high places. |
| C．Seek out friends who think alike. | D．Deepen connections with patience. |
3 . The first wave of concerns over artificial intelligence(AI)in 2023 appeared soon after New Year’s Day when classrooms reopened and schools from Seattle to Paris started blocking ChatGPT, a powerful software based on AI large language models, because teenagers were using it to do their homework.
The AI large language models behind such products as ChatGPT work by repeatedly guessing the next word in a sentence after having “learned” the rules from a huge amount of/human-written works. Although they often get facts wrong, their answers appear so natural that Keven, their inventors begin to worry about their possible use for spreading false information.
People became more worried when various AI products started to create not just texts but novel images, music and human voices, which threatened the livelihoods of anyone who writes, draws or sings for a living. It led to strikes by Hollywood writers and actors and legal challenges from artists and bestselling authors. Some of the most respected scientists even warned that the technology’s unchecked progress was possibly threatening human existence. “In the longer term, they might manage our attention,” pioneering AI scientist Fei Fei Lisaid. “They would tell us which video to watch, which book to read or whose communication to respond as AI technology’s abilities improve rapidly. They could be a very good assistant, but also with really big risks.”
Li hoped that 2023 is going to be a year for people to think about what Al is, how to use it and what the effects are — all the good, the bad and the ugly.
“It’s easy to forget that they are not the first wave of AI products. Computer vision techniques developed by Li and other scientists have helped sort through a huge database of photos to recognize objects and individual faces and guide self-driving cars. Speech recognition advances have made voice assistants like Siri and Alexa a normal thing in many people’s lives,” said Tom Gruber, co-founder of Siri Inc.
1. Why did schools try to stop their students from using ChatGPT?| A．ChatGPT often got facts wrong in the class. |
| B．Students spent too much time on the software. |
| C．ChatGPT helped students spread false information. |
| D．Students used the software to cheat at their homework. |
| A．AI’s training costs. | B．ATs amazing abilities. |
| C．AI’s possible threats. | D．AI’s fast developments. |
| A．Think carefully about AI’s impact. | B．Welcome AI technology |
| C．Do use ChatGPT more carefully. | D．Upgrade ChatGPT in time. |
| A．A news report. | B．A guide book to a software. |
| C．A product review. | D．An introduction to a person. |
4 . Santosh Jadhav, a 28-year-old farmer from Maharashtra’s Sangli district, had never dreamed he would be trending on YouTube tending to his land. But as you watch his videos on Indian Farmer—the channel he runs with his friend, Akash Jadhav, 27—you quickly understand why he is attracting millions of views.
Set up in 2018, Indian Farmer was a result of the two friends’ love of farming, technology and filmmaking. Their videos offer tips, advice and information on various aspects of agriculture, including direct-farming techniques, agriculture-related activities, new farming tools, and agricultural apps. In addition to explaining how agricultural markets function, the channel shares success stories from across the country. A section that draws the most attention features workable solutions to everyday problems and do-it-yourself mechanical quick-fixes.
“We were looking to do something together. Agriculture was something we had in common. Plus, we were young and idealistic—we wanted to do something with a social impact,” says Santosh.
The channel has certainly made a mark, as the numbers show. Since 2018, their channel has built a user base of 21.5 million, thanks to the affordable mobile data revolution and the increasing popularity of smartphones in India. While Akash takes charge of the production side of things, Santosh offers his hands-on knowledge obtained from running his family farm. According to them, the Indian Farmer channel adds an average of 60,000 subscribers and earns between 70,000 and 100,000 in revenue every month.
“Knowledge in this sector is often inter-generational: a farmer is limited to what the others nearby know and do. There was very little by way of books or culture channels that addressed the needs, mistakes and scarcities of farmers. Social media has changed things, enabling cross-sharing of knowledge, all for free,” Akash says.
1. What’s the channel’s most popular section?| A．Inspiring stories. | B．Advanced tools. |
| C．Practical solutions. | D．Agricultural activities. |
| A．Experienced and sociable. | B．Cooperative and devoted. |
| C．Conservative and diligent. | D．Courageous and humorous. |
| A．To show the economic gains. | B．To imply the cooperation relationship. |
| C．To highlight social media engagement. | D．To indicate the success of the channel. |
| A．Resources were available to address farmers’ needs. |
| B．Farming knowledge relies on books and the Internet. |
| C．Agricultural modernization is dependent on technology. |
| D．Social media facilitates free knowledge exchange in agriculture. |
A dance called “Subject Three” performed by waiters at the hot pot chain Haidilao in Shandong province has become an internet sensation .
The dance,
In Wuhan, Hubei province, customers can now request the dance by
However, the widespread adoption of the “Subject Three” dance has ignited debates on Sina Weibo. While many find it
Amid the fervor, concerns about potential health risks have also surfaced. In Huzhou, Zhejiang province, a young man
6 . Creative people are more likely to make the most of their idle (空闲的) time during a typical day by exploring their mind, a new study by University of Arizona researchers suggests.
In the study, the researchers divided the study into two parts. For the first experiment, the researchers asked each participant to sit alone in a room for 10 minutes without any access to digital devices. In the absence of any particular prompt (提示), the participants were asked to speak out their thoughts aloud in real time. The recorded files from 81 participants were then analyzed.
The researchers assessed the participants’ creativity through a thinking test, a lab-based verbal test that measures a person’s ability to think outside of the box. Participants who performed well in the thinking test had thoughts that flowed freely and were associated with one another, often indicated by phrases such as “this reminds me of” or “speaking of which”.
“While many participants had a tendency to jump between seemingly unrelated thoughts, creative individuals showed signs of thinking more associatively,” Raffaeli said, who was a senior author of the paper.
The first experiment also found that creative people were more engaged in their thoughts when they were left alone without distractions (干扰), such as the cellphone and Internet. “Creative people rated themselves as being less bored, even over those 10 minutes. They also spoke more words overall, which indicated that their thoughts were more likely to move freely,” Raffaeli said.
To further prove their initial findings, the researchers extended their study in the context of a much larger span of time—from 2020 to 2023 when many people were alone with their thoughts more often. For the second experiment, over 2,600 adults answered questions through a smartphone app called Mind Window. Participants who self-identified as being creative reported being less bored and more engaged in their thoughts during that period.
The researchers are continuing this line of work using their Mind Window app. They encourage people to download and use the app to help scientists understand how people across the world think in their everyday lives. “Understanding why different people think the way they do may lead to promising interventions to improve health and well-being,” Raffaeli said.
1. What were the participants asked to do in the first experiment?| A．Play digital devices for just 10 minutes. |
| B．Voice their thoughts quickly when asked. |
| C．Observe and record each other’s performance. |
| D．Make self-assessment in a thinking test. |
| A．They often had associated ideas. |
| B．They thought of anything as a reminder. |
| C．They preferred to sit alone without being distracted. |
| D．They tended to jump between unrelated thoughts. |
| A．To analyze their own thoughts. | B．To try out the function of the app. |
| C．To keep track of their thinking. | D．To improve their own mental well-being. |
| A．Idle Time Makes Creative People |
| B．Creative Thoughts Appear in Idle Time |
| C．Creative People Are Less Affected by Distraction |
| D．Creative People Enjoy Idle Time More Than Others |
7 . Want to know what is coming soon to a cinema near you? Probably not a 1.5-hour-long movie, as in the old days. On October 20th comes Killers of the Flower Moon. 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 and some viewers even nod off. Afterwards there is a mad dash for the toilets. When does watching a film become such a slog?
The Economist analyzed over 100,000 feature films released internationally since the 1930s, the start of Hollywood’s golden age, using data from IMDb, a movie database. The average length of productions rose by around 24%, from one hour and 21 minutes in the 1930s to one hour and 47 minutes in 2022. For the ten most-popular titles, the average length grew to around two and a half hours in 2022, nearly 50% higher than in the 1930s.
One driver of this trend is that studios want to squeeze the most out of their costly intellectual property (知识产权), but they are competing with streaming platforms for eyeballs. The hope is that a spectacular, drawn-out “event” movie will draw audiences away from the small screen and into cinemas. This approach has often paid off: Avengers: Endgame Marvel’s three-hour superhero masterpieces, was the highest-grossing (票房最高的) film in 2019. Last year long movies series made up most of the highest-grossing films in America.
Another explanation for longer films has to do with directors’ growing influence. Who would dare tell the likes of Mr. Nolan to cut out his masterpieces? Moreover, streaming platforms, which do not have to worry as much about the length because viewers can pause whenever they like, may attract big names by promising them sufficient fund and creative freedom. Netflix funded and released three-hour The Irishman in 2019, a film that would have benefited from a decisive editor, Irish or otherwise.
1. The underlined part “a slog” in paragraph 1 refers to a(n)___.| A．pleasure | B．effort | C．conflict | D．feast |
| A．The average length affects the popularity of films. |
| B．Great advances have been made in film industry. |
| C．Hollywood starts a golden age of feature films. |
| D．The average duration of movies has stretched. |
| A．Competition for the target audience. | B．Thirst for more classic productions. |
| C．Influence of streaming platforms. | D．Preference for decisive editors. |
| A．Movie Enthusiasts | B．Movie Marathons |
| C．Movie Production | D．Movie Influence |
8 . Today, there are more humans on Earth than ever and nature is in freefall. In just 50 years, wildlife populations have dropped on average by 69 percent. In the same period, our population has doubled, and demand for non-living and living material from Earth has grown six times. The biggest contributors to biodiversity (生物多样性) loss are habitat destruction and over-development of species, both driven by completely unsustainable consumption (不可持续的消耗) and caused by increasing human numbers. It is important that we address this over-consumption, and that means thinking seriously the influence our species’ population growth is having on the breakdown of the natural world.
December’s biodiversity summit (峰会) in Canada didn’t meet the challenges we face. Only two of the 23 topics are intended to address consumption and speak of “greatly reducing overconsumption”. But the message is unclearly defined and unquantified (未被量化的), short of necessary facts for any real application. Given all the goals of the former biodiversity protection plan were missed, it is truly impossible to imagine that governments will gather the bravery to catch the chance.
In November last year, our population reached 8 billion and there are predictions that it will reach 10.4 billion in the 2080s. The goal of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity is for us to live “in harmony (和谐) with nature” by 2050. Let me make it clear: there is no doubt that the 1.7 billion more people predicted will make this greatly harder to achieve. However much we try to reduce our consumption and our influence, every plan and rule that moves us forward will have a gradually lower influence.
And let me say it again: it isn’t about any particular humans among those billions, this is about us as a species of resource-consuming organism.
We must now ensure governments deal with their tasks with great efforts instead of any short-sighted, short-term solutions. Tolerating (忍受) the cruel idea that economic growth is the answer to our problems, and totally ignoring unsustainable population growth, must end. Or we all die.
1. What’s the function for the first paragraph?| A．To conduct a survey. | B．To explore the reason. |
| C．To introduce the topic. | D．To discuss a problem. |
| A．It is far from contenting the author. | B．It has pointed the way to our future. |
| C．It clears up many people’s confusion. | D．It helps deal with the consumption issues. |
| A．By giving examples. | B．By showing data. |
| C．By making comparisons. | D．By defining a concept. |
| A．Tolerate existing issues and wait. |
| B．Put population growth in second place. |
| C．Expect economic growth to solve the problem. |
| D．Let governments adopt effective solutions wisely. |
9 . We, modern humans, spend 90% of our time inside, traveling between homes and offices, schools and apartments, restaurants and gyms. I’ve been hearing this statistic so much that I started to wonder if it was an urban legend. It’s not! The best reference for the statistic appears to be The National Human Activity Pattern Survey (NHAPS).
The survey was funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). “EPA’s main purpose for collecting the NHAPS data was to provide diary records that could be used as inputs for computer-based human exposure models,” says the study. In other words, in order to understand how humans might be impacted by pollutants in our various indoor and outdoor environments, scientists needed to know how much time we spend in different locations.
The survey was conducted by the University of Maryland’s Survey Research Center. The survey used telephone interviews to collect 24-hour retrospective (回顾的) diaries from each respondent (调查对象). Between 340 and 1,713 respondents were interviewed in each of the ten EPA regions across the 48 neighboring states. Respondents were generally representative of the whole nation for gender, age, race, and educational attainment.
Americans spend 87% of their time indoors and an additional 6% in an enclosed vehicle. These proportions (比例) are also fairly constant across various regions of the United States and Canada. The finding that emerges is that we are basically an indoor species. In a modern society, total time outdoors is the most negligible part of the day, often so small that it barely shows up in the total.
Is the study accurate? Probably not. It may not take into account some populations that spend a high proportion of time outside. As the study states, “Those who were away from a home for extended periods were not included in the survey. These individuals may be more likely than those who were at home to spend large quantities of time outdoors.” Also, the survey methodology also doesn’t account well for bits of time spent taking out the trash, walking to the car, or taking a smoke break outside.
1. What can we learn about modern humans according to NHAPS?| A．They’re an indoor species. | B．They’re an urban legend. |
| C．They enjoy a leisurely life. | D．They like living in modern cities. |
| A．Humans’ different living habits. | B．Humans’ way of keeping a diary. |
| C．Humans’ time spent in various locations. | D．Humans’ attitude towards the researchers. |
| A．Fixed. | B．Noticeable. | C．Rewarding. | D．Insignificant. |
| A．A suggestion for further studies. | B．A possible reason for the finding. |
| C．An explanation of the research method. | D．A major limitation of the study. |
10 . As night falls on the streets of Shanghai, Mikiko Chen can often be found pacing up and down through the winding narrow streets of the city hunting for discarded items.
“I pick up all sorts of things, chairs, wine boxes, bowls and cups. . . it’s like treasure hunting for me, “she says. The 27-year-old digital marketer is among the first adopters of “stooping” in China, a practice that refers to picking up discarded furniture and other goods on the streets for re-use. She says the concept “stooping” was inspired by New Yorkers who often leave unwanted things on the “stoops” —or doorsteps—leading up to the entrances of buildings.
“The core concept of stooping for me is to make the best use of things,” Ms. Chen says. “It can help you to save money, but it’s not just about lowering consumption.” “It’s wasteful to throw away something that’s still usable; it’s better to share it with others who need it.”
Ms. Chen says she was among the first to use the hashtag (话题标签) #stooping on Xiaohongshu. “I initially started with posting items that people no longer used and wanted to throw away or exchange . . gradually I’m receiving hundreds of messages each day,” she says. Since then, the trend has become increasingly popular.
Ms. Chen says she is “very surprised” the concept has become a hit on social media, as older generations often stigmatize picking up things from the street or using second-hand goods. “People like my mum consider stooping as ‘rubbish picking’ and ‘scavenging’ (拾荒),” she says. “She thinks that people will look down on you for doing this.”
For Nan Zheng, an environmentalist and advocate, stooping is more than the physical act of picking up things from the streets. He created an app called “Grecycle” where people can give away or take unwanted items for free. “I think we can let more people know about the concept of stooping as an interesting and fun thing to do,” Mr. Nan says. “But then, gradually we can let people know this can also be about charity and helping others.”
1. What can we learn about Mikiko Chen from paragraph 2 and 3?| A．She is hunting for costly treasures. |
| B．She just wants to reduce consumption. |
| C．She got inspiration from New Yorkers. |
| D．She intends to make the most of throwaway items. |
| A．To collect varieties of messages. |
| B．To go viral on social media. |
| C．To share something still usable with others. |
| D．To throw away unwanted things on the “stoops”. |
| A．The older are ashamed of stooping. | B．The older are skilled at stooping. |
| C．The older are exposed to stooping. | D．The older are addicted to stooping |
| A．Recycling discarded things from the streets. |
| B．Getting unwanted items for free on “Grecycle”. |
| C．Exchanging items through “Grecycle”. |
| D．Enhancing people’s awareness of charity. |
