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 . A Day in My Wheel Chair

Alex Johnson was born with a rare disorder and got his first wheelchair when he was 7 years old. When he was 11, he arranged to get a bunch of borrowed wheelchairs and then invited his teachers and fellow students to spend a day in them.

Dozens of volunteers quickly learned how complicated it was for Alex to get around the school. Balancing a lunch tray while also rolling down the cafeteria line? Super tricky. Those who participated also learned about the aches and pains Alex struggles with daily. There’s also the arduous, if not impossible, task of rolling a manual wheelchair up and down slopes.

Doors are the worst, they said, because they’re heavy and difficult to pull open from a rolling chair. And although the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) specifies that doorways need to be wide enough to allow a wheelchair and the person’s hands to pass through safely, but many doors in older buildings are just too narrow.

But making the world more accessible for wheelchair users is a public policy issue controlled by government officials, so Alex recently challenged the Tennessee House of Representatives to spend a day in wheelchairs. And 10 men and women took him up on it! For a full day, they worked at their desks and attended all their regular meetings in wheelchairs. The lawmakers had the same eye-opening experiences that Alex’s school pals had.

State Representative Clark Boyd said, “I expected it to be difficult, but I had no idea how frustrating it could be to just simply get around.”

Thanks to comparable wheelchair challenges around the world, more lawmakers are getting the opportunity to learn more about what it’s like for the millions of people living with a mobility disability. “My hope is that through my challenge we can make the world more accessible,” Alex said. “Together, we can change the world, one challenge at a time.”

1. In what way were the students’ experiences of spending a day in wheelchairs and the lawmakers’ experiences similar?

A．Gaining a better understanding of what life is like for disabled people.

B．Learning that making the world more accessible is government officials’ work.

C．Learning how tiring it is to roll a wheelchair to move around the school building.

D．Understanding what it’s like for Alex to balance a lunch tray while in a wheelchair.

2. In paragraph 3, the word “arduous” is closest in the meaning to “_________”.

A．compulsory

B．fruitless

C．ridiculous

D．challenging

3. Why did the writer quote Clark Boyd’s remark?

A．To criticize the ADA for the narrow doors in buildings.

B．To show that Clark felt sympathy for wheelchair users.

C．To demonstrate that he had decided to change the public policy issues.

D．To convince the reader that lawmakers can make the world more accessible.

4 . Directions: Read the following passage. Summarize the main idea and the main point(s) of the passage in no more than 60 words. Use your own words as far as possible.

Living in the countryside?

Rolling hills and endless green pastures — those images are easy to conjure when thinking of the peaceful country lifestyle.

When lockdowns descended upon many countries across the world during the pandemic, social media seemed to be dominated by pictures of cottages and village life. So, why is living in the countryside becoming a modern fantasy — and are there benefits to considering a slower pace of life?

It makes sense that some people would want to give up the crowded and noisy city streets for the perceived tranquility of the traditional country life — especially during an event like a pandemic. The lockdowns and extensive periods of working from home have given people time to think about what they want from life. But it’s not just about having a greener place to look at out your window.

There is more evidence that relates to the benefits of rural living. Villages aren’t normally subject to the stop-go traffic we see in city centres, the buses fighting with taxis for dominance, or metro systems with trains that scream from one station to the next. In short, there’s less air pollution in your country retreat — a thing which increases the chances of developing respiratory conditions or heart disease. You also get more opportunities to take long walks and see the sights, meaning you can get more exercise. Less noise, more walks and better air can also lead to less stress and an increased life expectancy, according to studies such as one conducted by the British government in 2012.

However, there are some things that need to be considered.

Weather can be a large drawback when it comes to moving to the countryside. In some parts of the country, the winters bring blizzards and the spring brings torrential rains and flooding.

Living .far from the hustle and bustle of the city means that some, people may feel isolated or even lonely. And as people get older, life far from doctors or public transport could become a bit of a challenge.

So, if you’re considering a change of pace and moving to a picturesque village, there is a range of pros and cons to consider before taking the plunge.

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5 . AI In the Future Workplace

Artificial Intelligence is making its way into business. As our special report this week explains, firms of all types are exploiting AI to forecast demand, hire workers and deal with customers. In 2017 companies spent around $22 billion on AI-related mergers and acquisitions, about 26 times more than in 2015. The McKinsey Global Institute, a think-tank within a consultancy, claims that just applying AI to marketing, sales and supply chains could create economic value, including profits and efficiencies, of $2.7 billion over the next 20 years.     1    .

Such forecasts fuel anxiety as well as hope. Start with the benefits. AI ought to improve productivity. Humanyze collects data from employees' calendars and e-mails to work out, say, whether office layouts favor teamwork.     2     Employees will gain, too. Thanks to the progress in computer vision. AI can check that workers are wearing safety equipment and that no one has been harmed on the factory floor. Some will appreciate more feedback on their work and welcome a sense of how to do better.

Yet AI's benefits will come with many potential drawbacks. Algorithms (计算程序) may not be free of the prejudices of their programmers.     3     The length of a commute (通勤) may predict whether an employee will quit a job, but this focus may harm poorer applicants. Older staff might work more slowly than younger ones and could risk losing their positions if all AI looks for is efficiency.

    4     If your skills are in demand, you are more likely to be able to resist than if you are easy to replace. Paid-by-the-hour workers in low-wage industries such as retailing will be especially subject to harm. That could fuel protest of labor unions seeking to represent employees' interests and to set regulations. Even then, the choice in some jobs will be between being replaced by a robot or being treated like one.

A．They can also have unintended consequences.

B．Some people are better placed than others to stop employers going too far.

C．These numbers are so impressive that we can't help feeling afraid of the power of AI.

D．However, some small companies may not have enough money to be equipped with AI technology.

E．Slack, a workplace messaging app, helps managers assess how quickly employees accomplish tasks.

F．Google's boss has gone so far as to declare that AI will do more for humanity than fire or electricity.

6 . Directions: Read the following three passages. Summarize the main idea and the main point(s) of the passage in no more than 60 words. Use your own words as far as possible.

American College of Physicians 'stepped out of its lane" by placing gun control in medical education. Stanley Gold-farb, formerly the associate dean of curriculum at the University of Pennsylvania's Perelman School of Medicine, argued that teaching social justice issues and population health comes "at the expense of strict training in medical science" at a time when sub-specialists are in short supply. But many physicians, ourselves included, think social issues should be at the heart of medical education.

Formal medical school typically takes four years, followed by several years of residency（住院医生实习期）and often a fellowship（研究员职位）, and during that short time students have a wide range of competing requirements. They must learn complex biological and chemical pathways that explain diseases and health. They must be educated on how to read the the scientific literature and apply it to their patients. They must master many therapies and know how to adapt them to patients' varied diseases states. On top of all this, they must learn to communicate effectively and compassionately with patients and colleagues.

Being a good doctor also demands that we understand the reasons behind poor health. Our mission is not simply to diagnose, manage and treat. Physicians should act to prevent the root causes of illness and improve well-being. Physicians are trained to tackle problems at their root. System and structural-level social issues are also drivers of poor health, and it is our duty to address them. Medical training must evolve to produce doctors who are able to not only treat the individual but also understand the larger influencers of health -- of which gun violence is most emphatically one. As medical professors, we would fail our students -- and our patients - if we expected any less.

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