1 . Digital art is becoming increasingly popular among many artists.     1     Then, after learning the basics of digital art and getting plenty of practice, you’ll be well on your way to excelling at digital drawing.

    2     Don’t add too much detail such as fur or clothing texture. Place your drawing face down on the scanner (扫描仪). Close the scanner and then start the scan. Name the file once it’s finished scanning and save it as a PNG or JPEG for the highest quality.

Then make layers (图层).     3     So first, create a background layer by hitting the new layer button, and using the fill-in tool to fill the transparent layer in white. Then drag that layer to the bottom, so that it’s the first layer of the drawing. Multiple layers allow for more detail and flexibility without the risk of messing up the entire piece.

On each layer you’ve created, start outlining the sketch (草图) with the brush tool.    4     In this step you can also fix any mistakes that you made while sketching. After you’ve outlined your drawing, you’ll need to sketch out the colors of your drawing. Use brushes of varying sizes, depending on how big of an area you’re filling in, and color in all the different sections of your drawing. Just use a single color for each area, like the face, hair, and each article of clothing.    5     When finished, be sure to merge (合并) all the layers. Save a copy of the file so that you can go back and work on it later if you choose.

A．Draw your idea on paper.

B．Right now your draft is the only layer in the file.

C．The outline will make things easier to color later on.

D．Think about what you want to create before you work on it.

E．The more layers you add, the better the drawing will look.

F．Besides, you can add more layers and have more detail polished.

G．To make digital art, you first need a computer and a program for digital drawing.

3 . For decades, scientists thought of the brain as the most closely guarded organ. Locked safely behind a biological barrier, away from the disorder of the rest of the body, it was broadly free of destruction of germs (病菌) and the battles started by the immune system.

Then, 20-odd years ago, some researchers began to ask a question: is the brain really so separate? The answer, according to a growing body of evidence, is no — and has important effects on both science and health care.

The list of brain conditions that have been associated with changes elsewhere in the body is long and growing. Changes in the make-up of the microorganisms resident in the gut (肠道), for example, have been linked to disorders like Parkinson’s disease. Some researchers think that certain infections could provoke Alzheimer’s disease and some could lead to emotional disorder in babies.

The effect is two-way. There is a lengthening list of symptoms (症状) not typically viewed as disorders of the nervous system in which the brain and the neural processes that connect it to the body play a large part. For example, the development of a fever is influenced by a population of neurons (神经元) that control body temperature and appetite. The effect of brain on body is underlined by the finding that stimulating a particular brain region in mice can ‘remind’ the body of previous inflammation (炎症) — and reproduce them.

These findings and others mark a complete shift in our view of the interconnectedness of brain and body, and could help us both understand and treat illness. If some brain conditions start outside the brain, then perhaps cures for them could also reach in from outside. Treatments that take effect through the digestive system, heart or other organs, for instance, would be much easier and less striking to give than those that must cross the blood-brain barrier, the brain’s first line of defence.

In the opposite direction, the effects of our emotions or mood on our capacity to recover from illness could also be used. There is an opening work under way testing whether stimulating certain areas of the brain that respond to reward and produce feelings of positivity could enhance recovery from conditions such as heart attacks. Perhaps even more exciting is the possibility that making changes to our behaviour — to reduce stress, say — could have similar benefits.

For neuroscientists, it’s time to look beyond the brain. And clinicians treating the body mustn’t assume the brain is above getting involved — its activity could be influencing a wide range of conditions, from mild infections to long-time fatness.

1. The author writes paragraph 1 mainly to ______.

A．evaluate an argument

B．present an assumption

C．summarize the structure

D．provide the background

2. What does the underlined word “provoke” mean in Paragraph 3?

A．Delay.

B．Cure.

C．Cause.

D．Disturb.

3. What can we learn from the passage?

A．Treatments that cross brain-blood barrier are less used.

B．Previous diseases could cause the production of new ones.

C．Emotions could affect the capacity to fight against diseases.

D．Treatment of the brain takes priority over other treatments.

4. Which of the following shows the development of ideas in the passage?
I: Introduction P: Point Sp: Sub-point (次要点) C: Conclusion

A．	B．
C．	D．

4 . As biologist Nicola Foster and her colleagues guided a remote-controlled monitor through the coral reefs (珊瑚礁) of the Indian Ocean’s Chagos Archipelago, they saw corals full of color near the surface. But nearly 300 feet below, in the darker and colder waters of what oceanographers call the “twilight zone,” some corals had turned terrible white, leaving them vulnerable (脆弱的) to disease and death.

“It wasn’t something we were expecting to see,” says Foster, who studies deeperwater coral ecosystems called mesophotic reefs. Mesophotic reefs would seem to be protected from rising sea-surface temperatures that white n higher-up corals. But this team’s 2019 observations show the deepest instance of bleaching (变白) ever recorded — suggesting similar reefs are more vulnerable than previously believed.

Bleaching often happens when warming water boosts corals to remove the colorful algae (水藻) that live in their tissues and help to sustain them. Although surface waters weren’t typically warm when Foster and her team took their measurements, the twilight zone waters neared 84 degrees Fahrenheit (华氏度) — far above the 68-to 75-degree range in which mesophotic corals are used to.

The researchers realized that bleaching is related to the timing of the Indian Ocean Dipole. This phenomenon shifts the region’s surface winds and ocean currents, says study co-author Phil Hosegood. Wind and waves shake the upper ocean, keeping it relatively warm and uniform in temperature. But the 2019 dipole deepened this well-mixed upper layer; the thermocline (the slice of ocean that separates warm upper waters from the cold depths) had become deeper than normal. Then, those corals were exposed to temperatures that are normally found at the surface.

This observation suggests mesophotic reefs elsewhere could also be bleaching. Fortunately, the corals in this study had largely recovered their color by 2022, Foster notes. But each bleaching stresses the corals and, if extended, can starve them. Future Indian Ocean Dipole patterns are likely to be more severe, Hosegood says, noting that data suggest “that these natural cycles are becoming increased with climate change.”

1. What are the first two paragraphs mainly about?

A．Corals in twilight zone become vulnerable because of bleaching.

B．Corals normally found at the surface were found in twilight zone.

C．Mesophotic reefs are much more vulnerable than higher-up reefs.

D．Mesophotic reefs and higher-up reefs need different temperature.

2. According to the passage, which group of pictures can describe the changes caused by the Indian Ocean Dipole?

A．	B．
C．	D．

3. Regarding the future of mesophotic reefs, Hosegood probably feels ______.

A．excited

B．worried

C．curious

D．hopeful

5 . A recent study conducted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has discovered that river erosion (侵蚀) can lead to increased biodiversity in areas with minimal tectonic (地壳构造的) activity. The researchers focused their attention on the Tennessee River Basin and examined how the erosion of various rock types by the river had led to the separation and diversification of a type of fish called the greenfin darter. As time passed, these separate fish populations evolved into distinct families with genetic differences.

Scientist Thomas Near observed that the greenfin darter was exclusively found in the southern half of the Tennessee River Basin. The researchers analyzed the genes of each fish in Near’s data set and constructed an evolutionary tree. This tree helped them comprehend the evolution and differences of the greenfin darter species. They discovered that the fish within the same branch of the river were more closely related to each other than to the fish in other branches.

This study provides evidence that river erosion significantly impacts biodiversity in regions with low tectonic activity. It illustrates how changes in the landscape caused by river erosion can lead to the division and diversification of species over time, even in peaceful environments. These findings enhance our understanding of the mechanisms (机制) that drive biodiversity and evolution, even in areas that are not typically associated with intense tectonic activity.

Subsequently, the team discovered a strong correlation between the habitats of the greenfin darter and the type of rocks present. The southern half of the Tennessee River Basin consists of hard, tightly packed rocks, resulting in turbulent (湍急的) waves in the rivers that flow through it. This characteristic may be favored by the greenfin darter. As a result, the team assumed whether the distribution of greenfin darter habitats had been influenced by the changing rock types, as the rivers eroded the land over time. To test this assumption, the researchers developed a simulation model. Remarkably, the results confirmed their assumption.

1. What is new about the MIT study?

A．It finds river erosion can enhance biodiversity.

B．It further proves the mechanisms of river erosion.

C．It proves the geographical features of biodiversity.

D．It classifies a type of fish called the greenfin darter.

2. What can we learn about the greenfin darter?

A．Their appearances vary between families.	B．Their genetic constitutions have diversified.
C．They prefer the deep and slow-flowing river.	D．They go extinct in the changing landscape of rivers.

3. How did Near help the researchers reach their conclusion?

A．By creating an evolutionary tree of the fish.

B．By offering the fish’s genetic data.

C．By reasoning out the time the fish evolve and separate.

D．By analyzing the genetic similarity between different fish.

4. What is the best title for the text?

A．River Erosion Can Shape Fish Evolution	B．Genetic Change in the Greenfin Darter
C．Evolutionary Tree Analysis of the Greenfin Darter	D．The Impact of Climate Change on Fish Diversity

6 . At the end of the day, most of us find ourselves on the couch, eyes glued to the television or to our smartphones, doing everything we can to conserve energy.     1     But are we hardwired (本能的) for it?

According to Michael Inzlicht, a social psychologist at the University of Toronto, we’re lazy and also, we’re not.

All humans, given equal options, will take the easy way out. Does it mean we’re lazy? Maybe.     2     We always minimize our effort and, at the same time, maximize the amount of reward we get for that effort. A study published in the journal Neuropsychologia found that our brains may be hardwired for laziness. Even though we know the benefits of exercise, we stay glued to the couch.

    3     We can’t know for sure whether there is an evolutionary (进化的) purpose to it. But that would make sense. After all, before we were able to go to the grocery store, calories were much more directly linked to effort. Every calorie we burned meant more hunting, fishing, or gathering.

But there are the times when humans are the opposite of lazy and do very difficult things for no apparent reason. Some rewards only come from extensive effort.     4     Running this far might even cause more harm than good in terms of running injuries like stress fractures, back pain and so on. But we do it anyway because putting in the effort makes us feel good, says Inzlicht.     5    

So, in that sense, effort is worth the effort. While humans are economically aware of effort most of the time, “in some cases, the effort itself is rewarding,” says Inzlicht.

A．Think about things like running a marathon.

B．It’s not completely clear why humans behave this way.

C．It seems that we humans are gifted in the way of laziness.

D．We similarly love to space out, our brain tired of focusing.

E．But it certainly means that we’re economic with our effort.

F．Some people who appear to be lazy are suffering from much more serious problems.

G．Likewise, we might get a sense of pleasure or mastery from doing a crossword puzzle.

7 . When we’re on the treadmill (跑步机), we’re more likely to bethinking about whether we’re going to make it another mile than’what’s in our workout clothing. But our favorite sports club are likely to be made from synthetic (合成的) fabrics, all of which are essentially plastic often created with harmful chemical additives. Now, a study conducted by the University of Birmingham shows the chemical additives from our workout clothing are available to be absorbed through our skin.

Previously, researchers have tended to focus on our exposure to plastic through diet,but the new study raises awareness that humans can be expesed to plastic chemicals through our skin, too. And because harmful chemicals accumulate lowly and stick around in our bodies, repeared and multi-source exposure can result in having high concentrations of chemicals inside us, potentially contributing to health effects.

The Birmingham study focused on a class of compounds (化合物) called brominated flame retardants (BFRs), which are used to prevent burning in a wide range of consumer products including fabrics, and are linked to adverse health effects such as hormonal disorders and mental problems.

It’s known that sweat contains oil. Researchers found the oil has a chemical nature that encourages the chemicals in plastic to dissolve and spread.“In short, oil substances in our sweat help the bad chemicals to come out of the microplastic fibers and become available for human absorption,”says Dr. Abdallah of the Urnversity of Birmingham. An easy way to avoid exposure to these chemicals is to wear clothing made of sustainably produced textiles, which dont contain the bad chemicals associated with plastic materials. Check fabric labels for items that are mostly organic cotton, he mp or merino wool. Visit brand websites to see if they make an effort to list their suppliers, and where their products come from, including their dye houses and mills. Abdallah says he minimizes synthetic fabrics in his home, meanwhile wearing natural fibers like cotton. “Why be exposed to these chemicals even at low levels?”he says.“Why not avoid the risks?”

1. What is found in the study by the Birmingham University?

A．Sports clothes are fit for treadmill exercise.

B．Plastic produces harmful chemical additives.

C．Gym clothes may release poisonous chemicals.

D．People are exposed to chemicals through plastic.

2. What does the underlined word“adverse in paragraph 3 probably mean?

A．Unknown.

B．Harmful.

C．Similar.

D．Beneficial.

3. What role does the oil in sweat play in the absorption of chemicals?

A．It frees bad chemicals out of clothes.

B．It produces bad chemicals with plastic.

C．It prevents harmful chemicals spreading.

D．It keeps chemicals in the fibers of clothes.

4. What does the author suggest about our workout clothing?

A．Choosing famous brands.	B．Contacting the suppliers.
C．Visiting the chemical plants.	D．Wearing pure cotton clothes.

8 . Birders get nervous when they see landscapes covered in wind turbines (涡轮机). When the wind gets going, their blades (叶片) can turn around at well over 200km per hour. It is easy to imagine careless birds getting cut into pieces and wind turbines do indeed kill at least some birds. But a new analysis of American data suggests the numbers are negligible, and have little impact on bird populations.

Erik Katovich, an economist at the University of Geneva, made use of the Christmas BirdCount, a citizen-science project run by the National Audubon Society. Volunteers count birds they spot over Christmas, and the society gathers the numbers. He assumed, reasonably, that if wind turbines harmed bird populations, the numbers seen in the Christmas Bird Count would drop in places where new turbines had been built. Combining bird population and species maps with the locations and construction dates of all wind turbines, he found building turbines had no noticeable effect on bird populations.

Instead of limiting his analysis to wind power alone, he also examined oil-and-gas extraction (开采), which has boomed in America over the past couple of decades. Comparing bird populations to the locations of new gas wells revealed an average 15% drop in bird numbers when new wells were drilled, probably due to a combination of noise, air pollution and the disturbance of rivers and ponds that many birds rely upon. When drilling happened in migration centers, feeding grounds or breeding locations, bird numbers instead dropped by 25%.

Wind power, in other words, not only produces far less planet-heating carbon dioxide and methane than do fossil fuels. It appears to be significantly less damaging to wildlife, too. Yet that is not the impression you would get from reading the news. Dr Katovich found 173 stories in major American news media reporting the supposed negative effects that wind turbines had on birds in 2020, compared with only 46 stories discussing the effects of oil-and-gas wells.

1. What does the underlined word“negligible”in paragraph 1 mean?

A．Insignificant.

B．Inaccurate.

C．Inconsistent.

D．Indefinite.

2. What is Dr Katovich's conclusion based on?

A．Previous studies.	B．Relevant data.
C．Reasonable prediction.	D．Experiment results.

3. What message does paragraph 3 mainly try to convey?

A．Oil-and-gas extraction has expanded in America.

B．Birds are heavily dependent on rivers and ponds.

C．Many factors lead to the decline of bird populations.

D．Well drilling poses a serious threat to birds' survival.

4. Which of the following may Dr Katovich agree with?

A．Wind turbines could share the sky with wildlife.

B．More evidence is needed to confirm the finding.

C．Wind power will be substituted for fossil fuels.

D．Wind turbines deserve wider media coverage.

9 . When fighting sugar dependence, avoiding added sugar in the diet is key, which sounds simple — right? It certainly does, but things become a bit more complicated once we introduce alternative sweeteners into the mix.

    1     Many people think that if they replace the sugar in their diet with alternative sweeteners, they’ll be good to go, but this isn’t necessarily the case.

Alternative sweeteners are everywhere.     2     For example, Stevia is a popular sugar substitute (代替者) because it is up to 200 times sweeter than sugar and provides fewer calories. Mon k fruit is another example that is free from calories, sweeter than table sugar, and gained from the juice of monk fruit.     3     Sugar alcohols provide fewer calories than regular sugar because they are not fully absorbed by the body.

Now that we know some of the common types of alternative sweeteners, let’s take a deeper dive into the problem with them. Research in animals has shown that removing calories from foods that taste sweet can interrupt the ability to control energy intake.     4     If we consume high amounts of alternative sweeteners, it may heighten our preference for sweetness, resulting in the overuse of sugar-sweetened foods and drinks.

The other interesting thing about alternative sweeteners is that our brains don’t recognize them as “fake (假的)” sugar.     5     Whenever a food tastes sweet, a message is sent to the brain that communicates we are tasting a sweet food — which can further feed into the sugar dependence cycle.

So what do I recommend? In order to fully put a definite end to sugar dependence, reducing your intake of alternative sweeteners should be the goal.

A．The taste profile of alternative sweeteners varies.

B．We can’t forget about the ever-so-popular sugar alcohols.

C．There are countless alternative sweeteners on the market.

D．Our brain senses something sweet and thinks it is real sugar.

E．They may help reduce the calorie content of good-tasting foods and drinks.

F．Artificial sweeteners may also cause one’s body to prefer sweeter-tasting foods.

G．Alternative sweeteners are referred to as “low-calorie” or “no-calorie” sweeteners.

10 . A shopkeeper’s son breaks a window, causing a crowd to gather. They tell the shopkeeper not to be angry: actually, the broken window is a reason to celebrate, since it will create work for the glazier (装玻璃的工人). In the story, written by a 19th-century economist, the crowd envisions the work involved in repairing the window, but not that   involved in everything else on which the shopkeeper could have spent his money — unseen possibilities that would have brought him greater happiness.

If that window were to be broken these days, people might have a different reaction, especially if they were NIMBYs (Not In My Back Yard) who oppose any local construction that affects their quality of life. Their concern might be with the “embodied carbon”. The production of a piece of glass would carry a sizeable carbon cost. Similarly, the bricks and concrete in a building are relics of past emissions. They are, the logic goes, embodied carbon.

Conserving what already exists, rather than adding to the building stock, will avoid increasing these embodied emissions — or so NIMBYs often suggest. At its worst, this idea is based on a warped logic. Greenhouse gases released by the construction of an existing building will heat the planet whether the building is repaired or knocked down. The emissions have been taken out of the world’s “carbon budget”, so treating them as anew debit means double counting. The right question to ask is whether it is worth using the remaining carbon budget to repair a building or it is better to knock it down.

Choosing between these possibilities requires thinking about the unseen. It used to be said that construction emitted two types of emissions. Besides the embodied sort, there were operational ones from cooling, heating and providing electricity to residents. Around the world, buildings account for 39% of annual emissions, according to the World Green Building Council, of which 28% come from operational carbon.

These two types of emissions might be enough for the architects designing an individual building. But when it comes to broader questions, economists ought also to consider how the placement of buildings affects the manner in which people work, shop and travel. Density (密度) lowers the per-person cost of public transport, and this reduces car use. Research by Green Alliance, a pressure group, suggests that in Britain a policy of “demolish (拆除) and densify” — replacing semi-detached housing near public transport with blocks of flats — would save substantial emissions. Without such demolition, potential residents would typically have to move to the suburbs instead, saving money on rent but consuming more energy.

Targeted subsidies (补贴), especially for research and development into construction materials, could speed up the pace at which the built environment decarbonises. What will never work, however, is allowing the loudest voices to decide how to use land and ignoring the carbon emissions of their would-be neighbours once they are out of sight.

1. The first two paragraphs are written to ________.

A．exemplify an outlook on energy conservation

B．present a new way of relieving energy crisis

C．explain people’s reaction to a broken window

D．introduce an argument on carbon emission

2. What does the underlined word “warped” in Paragraph 3 probably mean?

A．Unsound.

B．Complicated.

C．Distinctive.

D．Underlying.

3. What can be learnt from the passage?

A．Operational carbon accounts for a larger share of carbon emission.

B．Repairing old buildings outweighs demolition in energy conservation.

C．Higher residential density near public transport may help reduce emission.

D．Stopping residents from living in new buildings is sensible to energy saving.

4. As for decarbonization of the built environment, which would the author agree with?

A．Interests of NIMBYs are worthy of consideration.

B．A comprehensive insight into emission is essential.

C．Upgrading construction materials should be prioritized.

D．Every resident should do their bit in reducing carbon emission.