1 . Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in the blanks to make the passage coherent and grammatically correct. For the blanks with a given word, fill in each blank with the proper form of the given word; for the other blanks, use one word that best fits each blank.

Talking With — Not Just to — Kids Powers How They Learn Language

Children from the poorer families begin life not only with material disadvantages but cognitive ones. Research for decades    1     (confirm) this, including a famous 1995 finding by psychologists Betty Hart and Todd Risley: By age four children raised in poverty have heard 30 million fewer words, on average, than their peers from wealthier families. That gap has been linked to shakier language skills at the start of school,     2    , in turn, predicts weaker academic performance.

But just the quantity of words a child hears is not the most significant influence on language acquisition. Growing evidence has led researchers     3     (conclude) quality matters more than quantity, and the most valuable quality seems to be back-and-forth communication — what researchers call conversational turns.

A paper     4     (publish) last week in Psychological Science brings a new kind of support to this idea, offering the first evidence that these exchanges play a vital role in the development of Broca’s area, the brain region most closely associated with     5    (produce) speech. Further, the amount of conversational turns a child experiences daily outweighs socioeconomic status in predicting both the activity in Broca’s area and the child’s language skills.

The researchers confirmed the classic 1995 finding that, overall, kids from wealthier families hear more words. And small     6     their sample was, they even confirmed the 30-million-word gap between the poorest and richest children. But they found that “by far     7     (big) driver for brain development was not the number of words spoken but the conversations,” Gabrieli says.

The researchers calculated that a child’s verbal ability score increased     8     one point for every additional 11 conversational exchanges per hour.

The study is a “very, very important” addition to a growing body of work, says developmental psychologist Kathryn Hirsh-Pasek, director of the Infant Language Laboratory at Temple University. “We have known for quite a while that conversational turns — or     9     in my work we call conversational duets — are very important for building a foundation for language and maybe for learning generally. What remains to be done is to link it     10     we know it has to be linked.”

2 . Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in the blanks to make the passage coherent and grammatically correct. For the blanks with a given word, fill in each blank with the proper form of the given word; for the other blanks, use one word that best fits each blank.

What If You’re Not Good at English?

Researchers whose first language is not English can spend around twice as long reading an English scientific journal article as native speakers. For a PhD student, that can mean     1     (spend) up to 19 additional working days per year just reading papers.

These statistics,     2     (publish) today in PLOS Biology, might not be shocking, researchers say, but it’s important to measure the effects of language barriers on the careers of academics       3     are not fluent in English. “It is the first step for the scientific community       4     (make) more efforts to solve this problem”, says Tatsuya Amano, a biodiversity researcher at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia, and a co-author of the study.

The team found that among scientists who had published only one paper in English, scientists from countries       5     English is generally poor spent 29.8 percent more time writing papers than native English speakers;     6     from countries with moderate English proficiency (能力) spent 50.6% more time. Similarly, the researchers found that people from countries with low English proficiency spent an average of 90.8 percent more time reading scientific articles       7     native English speakers.

At conferences, even those who overcome obstacles face difficulties in presenting their work in English. Germana Barata, a researcher who     8     (specialize) in science communication at the State University of Campinas in Brazil, says that despite being fluent in English, she still feels uncomfortable at times. “We       9     (give) the same amount of time to present, but all that we can say in 10 minutes is different from       10     a native speaker can say,” she points out.

3 . Directions: After reading the passages below, fill in the blanks to make the passages coherent and grammatically correct. For the blanks with a given word, fil in each blank with the proper form of the given word; for the other blanks, use one word that best fits each blank.

Buzzwords (流行词) Capture How We Lived in 2023

While walking along Suzhou Creek to gather material for my latest “Shanghai Expression” column, I was wondering     1    Shanghai’s modem skylines match the historical aspects of the area so effortlessly. The old and the new create a unique ambience (格调) .

Near the creek, I encountered Uncle Chen, fishing in a tranquil spot.

“Nice day for fishing,” I said in greeting him.

He looked up with a smile. “Yes, it’s a break from the mobile phono world.”

It     2     (strike) me that American publisher Merriam-Webster included “authentic” on its list of the year 2023’s top words. It reflects a growing focus on genuineness in an era     3       (dominate) by AI, celebrity culture and social media.

As I talked with Uncle Chen, the bustle of the city     4     (continue) around us. Food deliverymen buzzed past. Online celebrities in dopamine dresses held selfie sticks for livestreaming,     5     (highlight) the rise of a breed of “new professionals.”

Tourists and locals alike strolled through the area, some engaged in     6     appeared to be a “citywalk” —a wander     7     a clear destination.

Office workers walked by holding fancy coffee cups, a sign of the evolving coffee trends     8     have swept the city, like the “Moutai-flavored latte.”

Watching Uncle Chen, tourists, online celebrities, office workers and delivery people, I saw a changing city in a realm of constant change, summarized by a variety of contemporary buzzwords.

    9     2023 winds down, it’s interesting to note that buzzwords aren’t just words. Rather, they are markers of the dynamic, ever-changing aspects of life.

Each buzzword has its own story. Each popular phrase offers a peek into the hearts and minds of people, especially the younger generation. Let’s pause     10     (look) at some of them more closely.

4 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

Have you ever wondered how people type Chinese characters? The answer lies in the wonderfully useful phonetic system     1     (call) pinyin. It's the most commonly used system for spelling out the Chinese sounds, and it uses the letters in the Latin alphabet that you are already familiar       2     .

Pinyin is     3     extremely useful tool and should be the foundation of your Chinese learning. Besides, it's not just for Chinese learners like yourself.     4     (actual), all native Chinese speakers know pinyin,     5     is the first thing Chinese children learn at school before learning characters. So even if you don't know Chinese characters, you can type in pinyin and make     6     (you)understood.

Every single sound that exists in Chinese can     7     (display) easily in a pinyin chart. Once you master these 409 sounds along with the tones, you'll have practically mastered the pronunciation of every single word in the Chinese language. We've also created a series of video     8     (lesson)with practice tools that enable you to record yourself and listen back to it to     9     (sure) that your pronunciation matches the examples. Combined with our Tone Pairs practice tool, you now have everything you need     10     (master)pinyin, tones, and Chinese pronunciation.

6 . 阅读短文，在空白处填入适当的内容或括号内单词的正确形式。

Being able to understand local jokes is often seen as a great icebreaker for a foreign language learner    1    tries to start friendships with native speakers. However,when     2     (study)a foreign language,a beginner always considers jokes hard to understand.Most of the time,jokes are only funny for people who share acultural background or understand humor in the same way.And there is    3     (much) to understanding a joke in a foreign language than understanding vocabulary and   grammar.

8 . 阅读下面短文,在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号肉单词的正确形式。

Oracle bone script (or jiaguwen), the earliest-known Chinese characters     1     (carve) on tortoise shells (龟壳) and animal bones, today has made its way into modern life. Chen Nan, an     2     (enthusiast) professor with the Academy of Arts and Design at Tsinghua University, is among those responsible for its resuscitation (复兴).

The protection of Chinese character culture     3     (achieve) good progress in recent years. And the ancient characters have also gained growing global influence. In 2017, the script     4     (official) entered the UNESCO Memory of the World Register. Oracle bone script calligraphy exhibitions even took place in Morocco and Japan in 2018-19. International experts, too, have participated     5     the research on and promotion of the characters. One such expert is Adam D. Smith from the U.S., who said he once visited Anyang     6     (see) the unearthed script and further introduced the ancient characters through lectures and workshops abroad. He suggested     7     (take) the research online so     8     more people can better understand the roots of Chinese culture.

For Chen, the global promotion of oracle bone script culture is far from sufficient, given people from other cultural     9     (background) may still consider it mysterious and abstract. “I hope modern designs can break down cultural barriers,” said Chen,     10     newly made designs have been published and exhibited overseas.

10 . 阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容(1个单词)或括号内单词的正确形式。

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Based on the ancient Silk Road trade route,     1     (it) reach has since expanded to involve regions     2     approximately 60 different languages are spoken. On Oct 16, language educators from BRI countries formed a network in Beijing     3     (help) remove language barriers and address cultural misunderstandings.

The Belt and Road Languages and Cultures Network (BRLCN) is a non-governmental organization tasked with enhancing language education and promoting linguistic connectivity among BRI     4     (participant). The organization’s inaugural meeting was held in the lead-up to the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation,       5     two-day event that opened in Beijing on Oct 17.

The inaugural council of the network     6     (compose)of nearly 60 language education and cultural organizations from more than 50 countries, with China Daily     7     (serve)as its chair. The network’s secretariat is located in China Daily Media Group’s language-education branch, 21st Century English Education.

The BRLCN plans to attract more than 100 members by the end of 2024. The BRLCN     8     (host) the Belt and Road Forum for Language and Culture Collaboration     9     (annual), and support its members in organizing international     10     (academy)conferences to improve its international impact.