1. Who are the target customers of Bill Bird’s workshop?
| A．Those who prefer fashionable shoes. |
| B．Those who need unusual-sized shoes. |
| C．Those who like to order shoes quickly. |
| A．The lack of computer technology. |
| B．The shortage of skilled workers. |
| C．His outdated shoe-making skills. |
| A．Fashionable. | B．Interesting. | C．Devoted. |
2 . Are you one of those people who like spending time alone? If so, you probably already know that there are some people who will scold you for it. They think you are alone because you are anxious around other people and just don’t have very positive relationships with humans.
This is a common phenomenon of being alone for too long. Recently, scholars have increasingly recognized the value of spending time alone.
As important as that distinction is, some scholars believe it is not enough. Even people who choose to be alone, they point out, can do so for different reasons.
For young people, spending time al one for positive reasons is associated with a number of healthy psychological experiences. Those who are alone for negative reasons are worrying. However, wanting to be alone for positive reasons and wanting to be alone for negative reasons are not completely separate.
| A．They have even documented it. |
| B．They are forced to spend much time alone. |
| C．There is a small relevance between the two. |
| D．They assume you are lonely and depressed. |
| E．The two have nothing to do with each other. |
| F．Some reasons for being alone are likely to cause trouble. |
| G．How do you decide whether being alone is good or bad? |
(1) 分析可能的原因；
(2) 给出你的观点；
(3) 期待回信。
注意：1. 写作词数80左右；
2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
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4 . The Ministry of Public Security has exposed a video that sparked a nationwide search after it was universally viewed on social media.
The video, describing homework booklets supposedly lost by a Chinese first grader in Paris, was revealed to be a carefully crafted play for online attention. The local ministry also presented details of 10 relevant highly-concerned cases, highlighting the Paris homework incident as a typical example.
The video was uploaded in February by a blogger surnamed Xu, from Zhejiang province. It showed a Parisian restaurant worker supposedly returning homework found in a restroom. The video said the homework belonged to Qin Lang from Class Eight, without specifying the school. That sparked a social media craze, with many netizens attempting to locate the child.
However, the narrative quickly unfolded. A user claiming to be Qin Lang’s uncle appeared in the comments section. Following investigations revealed the person making the comment, a person surnamed Yang from Jiangsu province, was another participant in the play to gain online attention and was not related to Xu.
Further investigation by authorities exposed the entire act. Police discovered that Xu, along with her company director scripted the video, purchased a homework booklet online and staged the entire scene.
Facing administrative punishments and demands for public apologies, Xu admitted her initial lack of “legal awareness” but expressed regret for the widespread attention and disturbance caused by the video. Her social media accounts, with millions of followers across many platforms, have been canceled.
In December, the ministry launched a nationwide campaign against online rumors, targeting individuals who spread rumors, fake news or utilize trending topics for personal gain. Law enforcement authorities will increasingly monitor major social media, live-streaming and short video platforms to identify and address malicious(恶意的) online activity.
1. What do we learn about the video?| A．It received fairly limited views. |
| B．It recorded a genuine incident happened in Paris. |
| C．It was a rare case that showed little relevance to others. |
| D．It was uploaded mainly for widespread online attention. |
| A．They showed no interest in it. |
| B．They paid enthusiastic attention to it. |
| C．They accused the blogger of her inappropriate behavior. |
| D．They made fun of Qin Lang and located him immediately. |
| A．She canceled all her social media accounts actively. |
| B．She admitted her mistake and expressed sincere regret. |
| C．She apologized to Qin Lang and sent his homework back. |
| D．She cooperated with another member to comment on the video. |
| A．Many activities will be launched to resist online rumors. |
| B．Spreading rumors online emerges as a universal phenomenon recently. |
| C．Many people follow the trend blindly for entertainment and personal gain. |
| D．Relevant administrations will strengthen their efforts to control the spread of online rumors. |
5 . You’ve probably followed a few cute dogs and cats on social media. However, are you aware that Ai-generated pets are also gaining popularity nowadays? They are just as adorable as real dogs and cats but also exhibit human-like characteristics.
Chai Dada, 21, runs an AI-generated dog account called “Shizhuangzhuangya” on Xiaohongshu and has already got more than 10,000 followers. Her AI-generated pet Zhuangzhuang is a fluffy Shiba Inu with a big belly who likes to eat and work out. “Zhuangzhuang is actually a reflection of me,” Chai said. “Its life and mood basically reflect my own.”
To personify the character more, the young content maker places Zhuangzhuang in various daily life scenarios. For instance, responding to the recent increase of “hui nan tian”— the super humid (潮湿的) weather in southern China in spring — Chai posted images of Zhuangzhuangmopping a wet floor, with the caption. “It’s wet everywhere at home”; vividly capturing the mood. In the comments section, many have expressed sympathy (同情), for the poor dog.
“Many scenes may seem ordinary, but when a very lifelike and adorable human-like pet appears in these familiar scenes, it looks interesting,” Chai said. Since Zhuangzhuang closely resembles a human in a dog’s body, many followers have come to believe in its real existence. This has provided Chai with opportunities to monetize by partnering with brands for product advertisements. Aiming to expand her reach, Chai expressed a desire to dive deeper into AI to bring her AI pet to life not just in pictures but also in videos.
She also observed that more and more people like her are becoming AI pet bloggers, which has intensified competition in this industry. To attract more fans, bloggers are constantly learning more AI skills and brainstorming to create more interesting storylines. “I want to develop Zhuangzhuang into an intellectual property and create related cultural and creative products such as dolls and stickers,” said Chai.
1. What do we know about the AI pet Zhuangzhuang?| A．It is a digital recreation of Chai’s childhood pet. |
| B．It has gained over one million followers online. |
| C．It is a virtual representation of a real Shiba Inu. |
| D．It mirrors the life and personality of its creator. |
| A．To show the fun Zhuangzhuang brings Chai. |
| B．To illustrate how Chai humanizes Zhuangzhuang. |
| C．To describe Zhuangzhuang’s daily struggles. |
| D．To suggest Zhuangzhuang’s growing fan base. |
| A．Commercialize. | B．Promote. | C．Maximize. | D．Monitor. |
| A．Perfect Zhuangzhuang’s features. | B．Cooperate with other AI pet creators. |
| C．Create lifelike videos of Zhuangzhuang. | D．Write a book featuring Zhuangzhuang. |
6 . The standard public health threats are all-too familiar: smoking, high blood pressure, cancer. But a new government advisory made headlines in 2023 by adding an unexpected major to that list. Loneliness, stated the report from Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, is a widely under recognized U.S. health crisis. In recent years, about 50 percent of Americans have experienced loneliness, which results in adverse effects. Lonely people, as Murthy’s report warns, run the same mortality (死亡) risk as people who smoke 15 cigarettes a day.
On its face, Murthy’s warning sounds awfully alarmist. It’s hard to understand how a lack of companionship could be as threatening as an addiction or global pandemic. But humans are so biologically wired to be social that isolation damages our systems. People who lack social support have a 29 percent higher risk of heart disease, a 32 percent higher risk of stroke, and a 26 to 29 percent higher risk of premature death, according to the report. What’s more, such health effects in isolated older adults have led to about $6.7 billion in Medicare spending each year.
Scientists now know that loneliness can cause lots of health problems. That may be because our ancestors thrived (繁荣) in supportive communities. “Our brains function more efficiently when we are with others.” Says Julianne Holt Lunstad, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Brigham Young University.
Since loneliness can feel so much like personal failure, it’s easy to assume people should just try to handle it on their own. But in reality, many of the factors that promote social isolation are structural ones. “It could be workplace policies that don’t allow flexibility to support personal relationships.” Holt Lunstad says. “It might be busy or unsafe streets that are barriers to getting to know your neighbors.”
1. What does the underlined word “adverse” in paragraph 1 probably mean?| A．Slight. | B．Negative. | C．Indirect. | D．Immediate. |
| A．Loneliness is a great health threat to people. | B．Loneliness does more harm than a pandemic. |
| C．Lonely people run the same risk as the smokers. | D．Loneliness is a well-recognized health problem. |
| A．Social isolation can be solved on one’s own. |
| B．Social anxiety holds back personal interactions. |
| C．The absence of social support worsens loneliness. |
| D．Tight working schedules lead to tense relationships. |
| A．The causes of loneliness. | B．The effects of loneliness. |
| C．The definition of loneliness. | D．The solutions to the loneliness. |
7 . Unlike Special Forces tourism, where the aim is to hit as many famous spots as possible in the
In some cases, Citywalk is much like a food tour, with walkers carefully planning out
On Gen Z trend bible Xiaohongshu, hashtags “Citywalk” and “Day off Citywalk” have 14.2 million and 411.5 million views
While Citywalk can work as an
| A．largest | B．hugest | C．shortest | D．quickest |
| A．figuring | B．measuring | C．admiring | D．sensing |
| A．offline | B．local | C．internet | D．nearby |
| A．instead | B．however | C．meanwhile | D．furthermore |
| A．paths | B．routes | C．ways | D．directions |
| A．trend | B．taste | C．flow | D．trick |
| A．on | B．at | C．by | D．via |
| A．installed | B．launched | C．set | D．downloaded |
| A．easily | B．possibly | C．luckily | D．randomly |
| A．totally | B．particularly | C．visually | D．respectively |
| A．read | B．named | C．said | D．noticed |
| A．searching | B．leaving | C．longing | D．allowing |
| A．inspiration | B．expression | C．anticipation | D．approach |
| A．are keen to | B．are approved to | C．are bound to | D．are determined to |
| A．discovers | B．observes | C．sees | D．views |
8 . It is now possible to generate fake but realistic content with little more than the click of a mouse. This can be fun: a TikTok account on which an artificial Tom Cruise wearing a purple robe sings Tiny Dancer of Paris Hilton holding a toy dog has attracted 5.1 million followers. However, this technology also causes challenges. Cheaters can copy loved ones’ voices with just ten seconds, and AI-generated celebrities advertise questionable products online. Fake videos of politicians are also spreading rapidly.
The fundamental problem is an old one. From the printing press to the internet, new technologies have often made it easier to spread untruths or pretend to be the trustworthy. While humans have traditionally relied on shortcuts to detect fakes, such as spelling mistakes or strangely rendered (渲染的) hands in AI-generated images, these signs are becoming less reliable as AI continues to improve. The arms race between generating and detecting fakes currently favors the former, and it seems that eventually, AI models will be able to produce perfect fakes.
This rapid advancement in AI technology raises serious concerns. For example, it could lead to a world where any photograph of a person can be used for blackmail (敲诈). Additionally, anyone could create a video of a political leader announcing a nuclear first strike, causing widespread panic.
Despite these awful possibilities, societies will adapt to the rise of fake content. People will learn to distrust images, audio, or video as proof of events, similar to how they view drawings. Instead, the focus will shift to identifying the source of content, with reliable sources becoming increasingly important.
It may sound strange, but this was true for most of history. While AI technology presents significant challenges, it is not the end of the marketplace of ideas. Over time, the fakes that rise will mostly be the funny ones.
1. What is the main concern over the ability of AI to generate realistic fake content?| A．It makes people pretend to be someone else. |
| B．It enables cheaters to promote fake products online. |
| C．It causes arms race between generating and detecting fakes. |
| D．It makes it difficult to distinguish the real content from the fake. |
| A．Its source. | B．Its visual quality. | C．Its popularity. | D．Its emotional impact. |
| A．Funny fakes will be the only one that rise in the future. |
| B．The rise of fakes content will not destroy the exchange of ideas. |
| C．People will find it necessary to distinguish AI-made content from reality. |
| D．People will no longer trust any form of media owing to the flood of fakes. |
| A．Fun and Fear of Videos: AI is Changing Our World |
| B．AI-Generated Fakes: A Challenge to Truth and Trust |
| C．From Laughs to Lies: The Impact of AI-Created Videos |
| D．Dawn for Digital Art: Welcoming the Era of AI-Made Content |
9 . Just by typing a few keywords and waiting a few seconds, a picture comparable to that painted by a human artist appears on screen.
AI art generators have seemingly swept the Chinese Internet. In some paintings created by AI, an elderly man can be shown as a young animated image, and pets can be turned into adorable cartoon girls or boys.
Huang Ge, an illustrator from Shanghai, said that it usually takes him several hours or days to complete one illustration. But with AI art generators, the efficiency is greatly improved. “Also, the generators have many modification (修改) modes, and the picture can be modified directly in the painting software,” he added. Ding Jiao, a comic artist, considers the popularity of AI art generator s reasonable as many people who are not good at drawing can create great works through them.
So is Al painting gradually replacing human painting? In the hot topic “Using a picture to prove that human artists will never be replaced by Al” online, many netizens uploaded their paintings to prove that humans are better than AI. “Though Al technology has developed rapidly, AI cannot fully replace humans. The warmth and inspiration in human creations are irreplaceable,” said Ding Daoshi, an independent analyst.
Another controversial issue is that there is no consensus (共识) of who owns the copyright of AI art. Some users have openly sold their AI paintings and earned money, but it is still a gray area about whether these artworks belong to users, the digital tool developers or even AI.
Ding Daoshi noted that the various sides should get together to debate the issue and come up with some accepted rules as soon as possible because AI is already penetrating deeply into the lives of human beings.
1. Why does the author mention “an elderly man” and “pets” in Paragraph 2?| A．To show the popularity of AI art generators. |
| B．To illustrate the disadvantage of AI art generators. |
| C．To prove the significance of AI art generators. |
| D．To present the powerful function of AI art generators. |
| A．The efficiency of AI art generators. | B．The benefits of AI art generators. |
| C．The popularity of AI art generators. | D．The functions of AI art generators. |
| A．Whether human artworks will be replaced by AI artworks. |
| B．Who AI artworks will really belong to. |
| C．Whether human artists are better than AI art generators. |
| D．How AI painting can play a supportive role. |
| A．A done deal. | B．A give-and-take attitude. |
| C．An ill-defined situation. | D．A hard-to-get game. |
10 . As kids’ behaviour reaches crisis points after the pandemic, many schools are facing pressure from critics to rethink their approaches to discipline.
Approaches such as “restorative justice” were adopted widely in recent decades as educators updated the policies that cut off students’ access to learning, such as suspensions and expulsions (停学和开除). But more students have been acting out, and some school systems have faced questions from teachers, parents and lawmakers about whether a gentle approach can effectively solve problems that disrupt (扰乱) classrooms.
According to federal data, instances of misbehavior have been increasing since students returned to classrooms from the pandemic. A National Center for Education Statistics survey found 56% of respondents said the pandemic led to increased classroom disruptions from students’ misbehavior and 48%said it led to more acts of disrespect toward teachers and staff.
Rachel Perera studies education at the Brookings Institution. “There’s a lot of pressure on schools right now,” she said. “Schools also say they don’t have the resources to address more behavioral problems, and I worry that that will cause schools to fall back on old practices that are not effective in terms of supporting students in the way they need.”
Using restorative justice does not mean a school cannot remove a disruptive student from the classroom, said Thalia González, a professor at the UC College of the Law. But unlike other forms of discipline, restorative practices aim to deal with the root cause of students’ behavior and reintegrated them into classroom.
“That’s the problem with punitive discipline such as suspensions and expulsions,” González said. “You get removed and then you just come back. There’s nothing done to reintegrate into the community and rebuild the climate, the sense of safety, all the things that we know are so important to young people learning.”
1. What do we learn about “restorative justice” according to Paragraph 2?| A．It cuts off students’ access to learning. |
| B．It’s favored by both teachers and parents. |
| C．It’s less serious than suspensions and expulsions. |
| D．It’s more effective than suspensions and expulsions. |
| A．An increase in students’ misbehavior. | B．Ways to deal with students’ misbehavior. |
| C．An improvement on students’ performance. | D．Resources to address behavioral problems. |
| A．Negative. | B．Doubtful. | C．Confused. | D．Supportive. |
| A．Why are schools relying on restorative justice? |
| B．Is restorative justice an effective problem-solving approach? |
| C．How do schools make use of restorative justice? |
| D．What sets restorative justice apart from other discipline methods? |
