1 . Rome — Doctors and medical groups around the world last weekend reacted with strong opposition to the news that an Italian specialist is on the brink of cloning the first human baby.

Dr. Severino Antinori, who is the head of a hospital in Rome, has been referred to in an Arab newspaper as claiming that one of his patients is eight weeks pregnant (怀孕) with a cloned baby.

Antinori refused to comment on the reports, but in March 2001 he said he hoped to produce a cloned embryo (卵) for implantation within two years. So far seven different kinds of mammals have already successfully cloned, including sheep, cats and most recently rabbits.

Doctors showed their doubt and were strongly opposed although they admit that human cloning would finally come true unless there was a world wide ban on the practice.

Professor Rudolf Jaenisch of the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology: “I find it astonishing that people do this where the result can be foretold that it will not be a normal baby. It is using humans as guinea pigs. It makes people feel sick.”

But Ronald Green, director of the Ethics Institute at Darmouth College in the US, said it is unlikely that an eight-week-old pregnancy would lead to a birth.

So far all cloned animals have suffered from some different serious disorders, many of them dying soon after their births.

Doctors are opposed to human cloning because they are worried about the welfare of the cloned child if there is one.

“There are no benefits of cloned human beings, just harm,” said Dr .Michael Wilks of the UK.

1. What is the doctors’ general attitude to cloning of humans according to the passage?

A．They are against it.	B．They support it.
C．They welcome it.	D．They pay no attention to it.

2. What does the underlined word “ban” in the third paragraph mean most probably?

A．order that forbids cloning.	B．suggestion to carrying on cloning.
C．anger at cloning.	D．cheer for cloning.

3. Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?

A．Dcotor Severino Antinori is strongly opposed to cloning human beings.

B．Up to now, seven kinds of animals have been cloned, including sheep, cats humans and rabbits.

C．Professor Rudolf Jaenisch is carrying on an experiment on cloning an eight-week-old embryo.

D．Ronald Green doubts about the future successful birth of the so-called cloned embryo.

4. Which is the best title for the passage?

A．The Success of Cloning Humans	B．The Anger at Cloning Humans
C．Failure of Cloning Humans	D．First Cloned Human

2 . Nowadays, body language has played a more and more important part in daily communication among people. To avoid confusion and embarrassment in cross-cultural communication, it’s necessary to have fluency in some common body language worldwide.

In Australia, it is very rude to wink (眨眼) at women.

In Brazil, pulling down the lower lid (眼睑) of the right eye means that the listener doesn’t believe what you’re saying. In India, holding your ear means either “honesty” or “I’m sorry”.

In Indonesia, hands on hips while talking means that you’re angry and it is also impolite.

In Japan, It’s unacceptable for two adults of the same sex to hold hands while walking together A smile can mean happiness, anger, or sadness. When someone praises you, respond by waving your hand back and forth in front of your face. Because it is considered impolite to show their teeth. women usually cover their mouths when they laugh. To make a promise, two people generally book their little fingers together.

In South Korea, when talking to someone, keep your hands in full view. It is rude to keep your hands behind your back or in your pockets.

In Spain, snapping the thumb and first finger together a few times is a form of applause. If you think the person you are talking about is mean, ta p your left elbow with your right hand. If you’ve heard the story that someone is telling before, put your right hand behind your head and pull your left ear.

In Sri Lanka, moving your head from side to side means “yes” and nodding your head up and down means “no”!

In Thailand, people point to an object with their chins, not their hands.

Have you learned the meanings of the above body languages in different countries? Keep these in mind and you’ll realize that they’re very helpful one day.

1. In which country do women cover their mouth while laughing?

A．In China.

B．In America.

C．In Africa.

D． In Japan.

2. What do people do when they make applause in Spain?

A．Wave their hands back and forth in front of their face.

B．Put their hands on haps all the time.

C．Snap the thumb and first finger together several minutes.

D．Clap their hands together for a few minutes.

3. Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?

A．Moving your head from side to side to means “yes” in Thailand.

B．When talking to someone, make sure others can see your both hands in South Korea.

C．Adult women in Japan of ten hold their hands when walking together.

D．In Indonesia, pulling down the lower lid of the left eye means the listener doesn’t believe what you’re saying.

4. What’s the main idea of this passage?

A．Body language is of great importance in daily communication.

B．Understanding the meaning of some gestures in foreign countries is helpful.

C．The same movement may deliver different meanings in different cultures.

D．We should use body language in daily communication with others.

3 . Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD, 创伤后应激障碍) is a mental disorder that develops among people who have experienced or observed traumatic things such as wars, disasters or other violent events. At the heart of PTSD is a memory that cannot be controlled. It can affect the everyday lives of its sufferers in forms such as flashbacks, nightmares and anxiety.

A new study done by researchers from Yale University and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City suggests that patients with PTSD process their traumatic memories differently than regular memories.

The researchers did brain scans of 28 PTSD patients. I hey asked the patients to listen to recorded narrations of their own memories. Some of the recorded memories were neutral, some were simply “sad”, and some were traumatic.

They found that when the patients listened to the sad memories, the hippocampus (海马体), which is responsible for forming memories, was activatea. But when they listened to the traumatic memories, a different area, called the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC. 后扣带回皮质), was engaged. The PCC is not a memory region. Instead, it regulates internal experiences, such as daydreaming.

The more severe PTSD symptoms are, the more active the PCC is. “The brain doesn’t look like it’s in a state of memory; it looks like it is a state of present experience.” Daniela Schiller, one of the authors of the study, told The New York Times. “That means people with PTSD feel as though they’re experiencing the traumatic event again in the present moment, rather than thinking back on it like atypical memory.”

The new finding might hold hope for new PTSD therapies (治疗). Future therapies are expected to focus on helping PTSD patients return their traumatic memories to the hippocampus so that they can treat them as regular and non-disruptive (非破坏性的) memories. Changing the ways of thinking could help the brain reduce the feeling of immediate threat caused by trauma, according to Ilan HarRaz-Rotem, one of the paper’s authors.

1. What is the core issue regarding PTSD according to the text?

A．An uncontrollable memory.	B．Brain damage.
C．Anxiety disorders.	D．Nightmares.

2. What happened when PTSD patients listened to their traumatic memories, according to the study?

A．Their hippocampus was closed.

B．Their internal experiences were blocked.

C．Their PCC area became active.

D．Their regular memory function improved.

3. According to Schiller when individuals with severe PTSD listen to traumatic memories, their brains will be in a state of ________.

A．memory recall	B．daydreaming
C．current experience	D．boredom

4. What could be a possible future therapy for PTSD patients based on the study’s findings?

A．Controlling the hippocampus.

B．Removing the feeling of threat.

C．Normalizing their traumatic memories.

D．Changing their brain structure.

4 . In recent studies we have been investigating mirror writing by typical 4- to 6-year-old children. The term is used because the characters — numbers and capital letters — are reversed (反向), yet are correct when looked at in a mirror.

Mirror writing entered the scientific literature in 1878. The explanations for the phenomenon were not only insufficient but also often wrong. One of them is — writing with the left hand. Throughout the 20th century, scientific journals have published mirror writing mostly produced by left-handed children. Even today, left-handedness is often the favorite explanation of teachers when children produce mirror writing.

The explanation we find for the phenomenon of mirror writing of characters works on two successive levels, the first cerebral and the second behavioral. The cerebral level shows that the brain removes orientation (left or right) when storing images, a process called symmetrisation or mirror generalization. This mirror-generalization process leads children aged 5 to know, from memory, the shape of the characters, but not their left/right orientation. Given the features of the process — horizontal mirror in the visual modality (视觉模式) — it is important to note that the initial learning of the form of the characters by the children is mainly visual, and that the children only produce horizontal mirror writing.

At the behavioral level, when children write the characters from memory, they must give them an orientation. In countries whose primary languages are written in Latin characters — written from left to right — children most often point them toward the right. This leads them to reverse mainly the left-oriented characters: J, Z, 1, 2, 3, 7, and 9. However, when spatial constraints cause them to write from right to left, the children instead reverse the right-oriented letters.

Since this explanation has nothing to do with the handedness of the children, it can be predicted that right-handed children will reverse characters almost often as left-handed children, and that – left-handed or right-handed – children will primarily reverse left-oriented characters in Western culture. This is because they strictly orient the characters in the direction of writing.

1. What aspect of a character does mirror generalization help children to know?

A．Its form.	B．Its pronunciation.
C．Its meaning.	D．Its orientation.

2. Which paragraph shows why mirror writing is reversed horizontally rather than vertically (垂直)?

A．Paragraph 2.	B．Paragraph 3.
C．Paragraph 4.	D．Paragraph 5.

3. Which of the following is likely to be reversed by a child writing from right to left?

A．M.

B．C.

C．8.

D．9.

4. What can we learn from the study?

A．Handedness is the main reason for mirror writing.

B．Right-handed children won’t write reversed characters.

C．Left-handed children reverse right-oriented characters more often.

D．Children in the US tend to primarily reverse left-oriented characters.

5 . Vitamins, minerals, and multivitamin supplements won’t protect you from cancer, heart disease, or help you live longer, the US preventive Services Task Force said in the new guidelines released Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association on June 21.

Following the release of the previous guidelines in 2014, the Task Force reviewed 84 studies testing vitamins in almost 700,000 people, including 52 new studies.

However, the conclusion is still the same as that of 2014: If you are a healthy adult who is not pregnant, there is not enough evidence of benefits to expand one’s life in taking vitamin E, vitamin D, vitamin A, calcium tablets, carotene (胡萝卜素), vitamin B3, vitamin B6, vitamin C and other supplements. The Task Force does not recommend taking carotene supplements to prevent cardiovascular (心血管) disease or cancer, with enough evidence that it “may increase the risk of death, the death rate of cardiovascular disease and the risk of lung cancer”. Nor should people take vitamin E, “because vitamin E is not likely to be beneficial in reducing death, cardiovascular disease or cancer risk,” the Task Force said.

“Lifestyle recommendations for preventing chronic diseases (慢性病) should continue to focus on evidence-based methods, including balanced meals rich in fruits and vegetables and physical activity,” Dr. Jeffrey Linder, Director of General Internal Medicine at the Feinberg School of Medicine of Northwestern University in Chicago, wrote in an additional commentary.

Take the Mediterranean diet for example. Eating the Mediterranean way, which focuses on a plant-based diet, physical activity and social engagement, can reduce the risk for high cholesterol, dementia (痴呆), memory loss, depression and breast cancer. And numerous studies found meals from the sunny Mediterranean region have also been linked to weight loss, stronger bones, a healthier heart and longer life.

Another evidence-based approach is the DASH diet, which stands for “dietary approaches to stop hypertension (高血压)”. Many studies have shown that this diet successfully reduces hypertension. Both the Mediterranean and DASH diets avoid processed foods and focus on fruits, vegetables, beans, whole grains, nuts and seeds.

“Rather than focusing money, time, and attention on supplements, it would be better to emphasize lower-risk, higher-benefit activities...following a healthy diet, getting exercise, maintaining a health y weight, and avoiding smoking,” Linder and his colleagues wrote.

However, certain groups of people do need to take specific vitamins. Some seniors may need vitamin B12 and vitamin B6 supplements because they absorb fewer vitamins from food as they age. Because the elderly often have less sun exposure than younger people, they may need vitamin D supplements, but the dosage must be checked by the doctor, as too much vitamin D intake can be harmful.

1. What can we learn from the Task Force?

A．Vitamins must be useful to prevent cardiovascular disease or cancer.

B．Doctors want to control cardiovascular disease.

C．It’s necessary for all people to take vitamins.

D．In some regard, taking vitamins is not beneficial.

2. How many kinds of diets are mentioned to reduce death, cardiovascular disease or cancer risk?

A．One

B．Two.

C．Three.

D．Four.

3. According to the passage, who can take vitamins regularly?

A．A 40-year-old healthy worker.	B．A 15-year old healthy boy.
C．A 34-year-old healthy lady.	D．A 69-year-old healthy man.

4. What’s the main idea for the text?

A．The history of vitamins.

B．The functions of vitamins.

C．Taking vitamins to prevent diseases may fail.

D．People’s attitudes towards vitamins.

6 . Millions of years ago dinosaurs lived on the earth. In the days of dinosaurs the whole earth was warm and wet. There were green forests and they could find enough to eat. Later, parts of the earth became cold and dry, and the forests there died. Then dinosaurs could not find enough to eat. This must be one reason why dinosaurs died out.

We can guess another reason. New kinds of animals came on the earth. Some had big brains and were fast and strong. They could kill dinosaurs.

There may be other reasons that we don’t know about yet. Scientists are trying to make more discoveries about dinosaurs.

Dinosaurs have many sizes and shapes (形状). Some were as small as chickens, while some were about 90 feet long.

There were also terrible fights between dinosaurs. They might have happened more than 100 million years ago. Though there was no man to see any of the fights, we can be told by the footprints (足迹) that fights did take place.

1. According to the passage, dinosaurs did exist only________on the earth.

A．for millions of years

B．millions of years ago

C．more than 100 million years ago

D．when it was warm and wet somewhere

2. One reason why dinosaurs died out is that________.

A．there were too many dinosaurs

B．parts of the earth became warm and wet

C．there were many green forests

D．they couldn’t find enough to eat

3. We can see from this passage________.

A．scientists are trying to make some dinosaurs

B．dinosaurs are dangerous enough

C．dinosaurs are worth studying further

D．scientists know nothing about dinosaurs

4. Those terrible fights can be explained by________.

A．footprints

B．imagination

C．rocks and forests

D．dinosaurs’ eggs

7 . When I was a child, I always wanted to be a superhero. I wanted to save the world and make everyone happy. But I knew that I’d need superpowers to make my dreams come true. So I used to embark on these imaginary journeys to find intergalactic (星系之间的) objects from planet Krypton, but didn’t yield much result. When I grew up and realized that science fiction was not a good source for superpowers, I decided instead to embark on a journey of real science, to find a more useful truth.

I started my journey in California, with a UC Berkeley 30-year longitudinal study that examined the photos of students in an old yearbook, and tried to measure their success and well-being throughout their life.By measuring the students’ smiles, researchers were able to predict how fulfilling and long-lasting a subject’s marriage would be, how well they would score on standardized tests of well-being, and how inspiring they would be to others.

Another aha moment came from a 2010 Wayne State University span research project that looked into pre-1950s baseball cards of Major League players. The researchers found that the span of a player’s smile could actually assist to predict the span of his life. Players who didn’t smile in their pictures lived an average of only 72.9 years, while players with beaming smiles lived an average of almost 80 years.

British researchers found that one smile can generate the same level of brain stimulation as up to 2,000 bars of chocolate. Wait — The same study found that smiling is as stimulating as receiving up to £16,000 in cash. That’s like $25,000 a smile. It’s not bad. And think about it this way: 25,000 times 400 — children smile as many as 400 times per day — quite a few kids out there feel like Mark Zuckerberg every day.

So whenever you want to tap into a superpower that will help you and everyone around you live a longer, healthier, happier life, smile.

1. Why did the author shift to pursuing scientific research?

A．Because he discovered galactic objects during childhood.

B．Because he realized sci-fi couldn’t bring superpowers.

C．Because he dreamed of global happiness since youth.

D．Because he embarked on these fictional journeys.

2. What can we infer from Paragraph 4?

A．Every child smiles 400 times per day.

B．Kids who smile are as rich as Zukerberg.

C．Smiling is equal to eating 2,000 bars of chocolate.

D．Smiling can gain stimulation alike receiving cash.

3. What’s the author’s attitude towards the effect of smiles on people?

A．Positive.

B．Doubtful.

C．Neutral.

D．Indifferent.

4. What is the text mainly about?

A．The journey to find the truth.

B．The hidden power of smiling.

C．The secret to a long and healthy life.

D．The significance of superhero studies.

8 . Erin Alexander, who was suffering from the loss of her relative, was having a hard day. However, her day took an unexpected turn when she picked up her order and noticed a message on the cup: “Madam,” the waitress had written next to a heart, “your heart is golden.” The small and unexpected act moved her deeply, brightening the rest of her day.

New research confirms the great influence of experiences like Ms. Alexander’s. Researchers found people who perform an unplanned act of kindness tend to undervalue how much the receiver will appreciate it. This could hold many of us back from doing nice things for others more often.

In a recent experiment, 84 participants (参与者) were given a hot chocolate on two cold weekends at a park and were told they could keep it or give it to a stranger. The 75 participants who gave away their drink were asked to guess how “big” their kind act would feel to the receiver on a scale (等级) from 0 to 10, and how the receiver would rate their feelings upon receiving it. The receivers were then asked to report how they actually felt using the same scale.

It turned out that the people doing the kind thing always undervalued the importance of their actions. While they thought they were offering something small, the receivers considered it more meaningful because someone had done something nice for them.

Despite longing for kindness, many people feel awkward at the thought of being kind. The “little inner voice” often leads them to question whether their behavior might be misunderstood or whether it will make the receiver feel pressured to pay it back.

But an act of kindness is unlikely to have unintended results; it can lead to even more kindness. If you are not already in the habit of performing unplanned kind acts, start by thinking about what you are interested in and how you can turn that into an offering for others.

1. How did Erin Alexander feel after reading the message?

A．Calm.

B．Puzzled.

C．Warmed.

D．Anxious.

2. Paragraph 3 is mainly about the ______ of the experiment.

A．rule

B．process

C．purpose

D．result

3. What may prevent people performing kindness according to the text?

A．A mix of fears.	B．Coldness from others.
C．High expectations of others.	D．Voices from the public.

4. What does the author suggest readers do?

A．Think twice before helping.	B．Value kindness from others.
C．Find ways to change habits.	D．Take action to offer kindness.

9 . 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. houses   B. approaching   C. appear   D. talent   E. exclusively F. lowered   G. hiding   H. limits   I. dramatically   J. natural   K. sensitive

Dolphin Senses

New research involving trained dolphins seems to further prove that these animals can sense electricity. The     1     may allow them to better lock onto hidden fish hunted and direct the path.

The ability to sense electric fields is known as electroreception(电感受). All animals produce a weak electric field, but electroreception has almost     2     been found in water creatures. About a decade ago, scientists published research suggesting that some dolphins have passive electroreception. And in 2021, researchers in Germany released their own study finding that dolphins likely have it, too.

This new research is a follow-up to that latter study by the same team—one intended to better describe the     3     of electroreception in bottlenose dolphins. The researchers teamed up with scientists from the Nuremberg Zoo, which currently     4     six dolphins. They specifically worked with two bottlenose dolphins named Donna and Dolly. They first trained them to rest their jaws on a metal bar in the water, and then to respond to an electric field     5     them by swimming away within five seconds. They then gradually     6     the strength of this field to test the dolphins’ sensitivity.

The findings further prove that bottlenose dolphins can indeed sense electricity, but suggest that some dolphins are better at it than others. Donna, for instance, was a bit more     7     and able to respond correctly to a weaker field than Dolly.

The electroreception found in dolphins doesn’t     8     to be as strong as it is in the typical shark, but it’s probably still useful enough for them to find fish     9     underneath sand, stones or mud within a few centimeters away. Other studies have suggested that dolphins also possess a sense that acts as a sort of     10     GPS for them. So these dolphins’ electroreception might provide an explanation for that ability as well, Huttner said.

10 . Chips, cookies and ice cream... These tasty foods, which are ultra-processed, may literally make you an “addict”, as shown in a recent report in the British Medical Journal.

Simply put, ultra-processed foods (UPFs) are the foods that you can’t re-create in your kitchen, according to the BBC. Produced in factories, they often have long lists of ingredients that you don’t recognize, such as additives (添加剂), and are ready to eat or simply need to be heated.

The study’s researchers linked UPFs to addiction which includes behaviors like strong desire and negative experiences when trying to stop eating. They analyzed 281 studies from 36 different countries and regions. The findings showed that 14 percent of adults and 12 percent of children have ultra-processed food addiction.

UPFs deliver carbohydrates and fat to the gut (肠) faster. Although nuts are high in fat, the fat can’t be digested (消化) in the early stages. The fat in UPFs, however, is broken down before entering the first part of the small gut, which signals the brain to produce more dopamine-the “happy” chemical.

The additives in UPFs also impact the way the gut absorbs calories. To improve the flavor of the food or drink, man-made sugar is widely used in UPFs. However, it may combine with receptors in the gut, which makes it more sensitive to sweet food, eventually increasing the gut’s ability to absorb sugar.

By considering that certain UPFs are “addictive”, similar to cigarettes or alcohol, “We may be able to help improve global health,” one of the study’s authors, Ashley Gearhardt, said in a press release. They are also calling for more action to fight against such an addiction.

1. What is paragraph 2 mainly about?

A．Additives in UPFs.	B．The explanation of UPFs.
C．The production process of UPFs.	D．Differences between UPFs and natural foods.

2. According to the study, what is the typical behavior of people addicted to UPFs?

A．Feelings of guilt when eating them.	B．Loss of interest in other types of food.
C．Difficulty in fighting the desire to eat them.	D．Increased need for carbohydrates and fat.

3. Why are UPFs more likely to lead to addiction?

A．They contain more nutrients than eaters’ needs.

B．They are lower in carbohydrates and fat digestion.

C．They prevent the gut from burning calories and fat.

D．They help produce a chemical that makes eaters happy.

4. Which of the following is the best title for the text?

A．The Significance of UPF Additives	B．The Danger of UPFs
C．The Benefits of Factory-Produced Food	D．The Global Impact of UPF Addiction