1 . In the last few months, companies, often backed by governments, have raced to launch or begin building AIs for their native languages including Indonesian, Japanese, Chinese, Korean and multiple Indian languages. But will they ever be able to compete or offer a solid alternative to Silicon Valley’s AI bots like ChatGPT?

Machine learning engineer Yennie Jun started noticing the problem when she was testing ChatGPT-4 in different languages. “I saw that it was slower, and just not as good when using it in Korean and Chinese which usually have good quality training data to draw on,” she said.

Earlier this month Yennie decided to test GPT-4 — the latest AI model from Open AI — with some tricky maths problems. She asked the same maths questions in 16 different languages and found it much better at solving problems in certain languages like English, German and Spanish. In fact, GPT-4 was able to correctly solve the maths problems in English more than three times as often compared to other languages, such as Armenian or Farsi. It wasn’t able to solve any of the tough questions in Burmese or Amharic.

“I think the current state of AI will accelerate inequality. Emerging markets just don’t have the computing power, data sets or the AI resources to compete with the western world’s models,” said Nick Adams, founding partner at Differential Ventures.

However, one promising project launched by India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology aims to improve the amount of training data in low-resourced languages by crowd sourcing. The project invites people to “make your own AI language models better by confirming data”. Participants are played audio from podcasts or shows in different Indian languages and then given digital medals in reward for translating them in their own languages. But there is a mountain to climb. Despite the huge populations of native speakers, only a few thousand people have so far got involved.

1. Why does the author ask the question in paragraph 1?

A．To present an argument.	B．To question building AIs.
C．To introduce the topic.	D．To showcase expectations.

2. What do the underlined words “draw on” in paragraph 2 mean?

A．Turn on.

B．Keep on.

C．Focus on.

D．Depend on.

3. What’s Nick’s attitude towards the present situation of AI?

A．Negative.

B．Hopeful.

C．Ambiguous.

D．Tolerant.

4. What is the last paragraph mainly about?

A．An AI language model.	B．An approach to training data.
C．A language to translate.	D．A plan launched by India.

2 . At the 1976 Olympics in Montreal, Romanian gymnast Nadia Comǎneci made history. She performed a routine ______ on the uneven bars (高低杠), scoring a perfect 10. She pursued perfection in her practice, which led to remarkable ______ in the game.

Perfectionism is generally appreciated as a good quality. Therefore, it’s not ______ that perfectionism in society has been on the rise for years. And it is more common in certain ______ like top athletes and medical specialists. Perfectionism can be seen as a behavioral ______. Perfectionists usually set extremely high standards for themselves and others. According to researchers, such behavior is rooted in insecurity. Many perfectionists ______ that if they don’t pay enough attention to ______, it will hurt their performance. So they ______ their perfectionism even when it’s self-defeating.

Aiming for a high degree of success isn’t necessarily ______ as long as you behave reasonably. People with adaptive perfectionism work hard to meet ambitious goals, but are also able to ______ mistakes, changes, and problems that they didn’t anticipate. When encountering barriers, they stay flexible.

Maladaptive perfectionism, which involves an intense ______ for others’ approval, and a high level of concern over mistakes, is unhealthy. It tends to ______ individual confidence and affects relationships and overall well-being. To overcome it, it’s crucial to ______ your mindset. Start by being ______ and gaining a broader perspective. Give yourself permission to loosen up a bit on certain matters, enabling you to ______ what truly matters. Transformation can be challenging, but it is indeed attainable.

1.

A．randomly

B．temporarily

C．faultlessly

D．repeatedly

2.

A．talent

B．discoveries

C．transformation

D．achievements

3.

A．interesting

B．necessary

C．apparent

D．surprising

4.

A．professions

B．experiences

C．advertisements

D．agreements

5.

A．theory

B．tendency

C．measure

D．difficulty

6.

A．insist

B．confirm

C．worry

D．regret

7.

A．detail

B．interaction

C．instruction

D．recognition

8.

A．miss out

B．hold onto

C．set aside

D．rely on

9.

A．beneficial

B．reliable

C．harmful

D．significant

10.

A．avoid

B．tolerate

C．identify

D．forget

11.

A．argument

B．competition

C．desire

D．strategy

12.

A．indicate

B．weaken

C．stress

D．inspire

13.

A．shift

B．adopt

C．accept

D．strengthen

14.

A．realistic

B．cautious

C．decisive

D．helpful

15.

A．challenge

B．mention

C．evaluate

D．prioritize

3 . In recent years, aggression on social media have become commonplace. More than half of the victims said they didn’t know the identity of the perpetrator (作恶者). Most people agreed that the anonymity (匿名) of the Internet provides cover for nasty and harassing (骚扰) behavior.

Does this growing aggression on social media give us a glimpse of our real human nature? Are we-at our core-aggressive beasts? It’s true that hate crimes are on the rise, and political divisions app ear to be growing. The level of public bitterness-especially online-is substantial. But I don’t believe that’s because social media has unlocked our cruel human nature.

As an evolutionary anthropologist, I have spent years researching our transformation as a species. Over the past two million years, we have evolved from groups of apelike beings armed with sticks and stones to the creators of cars, rockets, and nations. Our bigger brains have allowed us to bond and cooperate in more complex and diverse ways than any other animal. Meanwhile, “you are whom you meet.” How we perceive, experience, and act in the world is shaped by who and what surround us on a daily basis. This process has deep evolutionary roots and gives humans what we call a shared reality.

I would argue that the rise in online aggression is a product of our evolutionary social skills, the social media boom, and the specific political, economic and social context where we find ourselves. This explosive combination has opened up a space for increasingly more people to fan the flames of aggression and insult online. Aggressive behavior-especially to those you don’t have to confront face-to-face-is easier than it’s ever been. And for the aggressor, there are often no consequences.

Yes, it seems that the world is getting more aggressive, but that’s not because we are more aggressive at our core. It’s because we haven’t been standing up against bullying, abuse, and aggressive harassment, and promoting pro-social attitudes and actions our contemporary world demands. In person and on social media, we must do both.

1. What does the underlined word “that” in paragraph two refer to?

A．Hate crimes on the rise.	B．Growing political divisions.
C．Considerable online bitterness.	D．The transformation of humans.

2. What’s the author’s attitude toward social media?

A．Critical.

B．Objective.

C．Approving.

D．Ironic.

3. What does the author propose to address the issue of growing aggression?

A．Embracing our aggressive nature to compete in today’s world.

B．Strengthening laws to hold perpetrators responsible for their online actions.

C．Promoting positive behaviors and interactions in both real-life and digital spaces.

D．Focusing only on reducing anonymity on the internet to reduce offensive behavior.

4. What is mainly discussed in this passage?

A．The impact of social media on society.

B．The influence of evolution on our behavior.

C．The reasons behind rising online aggression.

D．The factors in the social media development.

4 . I’m always cautious of the tired saying, “If it doesn’t kill you, it’ll make you stronger.” I mean, what about polio (小儿麻痹症)? Or loads of other horrible things that if you survive, you’re left scarred in one way or another.

For many years I worked in a specialist NHS clinic for people with eating disorders, which are greatly misunderstood and connected with vanity (虚荣) when instead it’s usually about control or even profound trauma (精神创伤). Eating disorders have the highest mortality of any mental illness, with one in five of those with an eating disorder dying from it. Treatment for it is long, tough and tiring. So, it’s fair to say it’s not something to be taken lightly.

Yet I was often surprised by how many patients-patients with all sorts of other conditions too, from depression to cancer -would tell me how the experience had changed them for the better after receiving treatment. It’s not so much that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger; more, it might make you more understanding of yourself and more sensitive to the battles and struggles of others. It can also give people a sense of determination and perseverance they never had before.

I had one patient who was an addict and alcoholic besides suffering eating disorder. She was frequently rushed into hospital and was sometimes at a real risk of dying. However, after years of hard work, she stopped drinking, stopped using drugs and her eating disorder improved. She got back into work and started doing several courses to get promoted. Actually, she had gone through numerous intense and exhausting interviews before landing a job, but she said whenever she felt she couldn’t handle it or doubted her capabilities, she reminded herself that nothing would ever be worse or harder than what she had already gone through. She managed to make the most of her life and turn her life around.

1. What does the author think of the old mantra?

A．Always applicable.	B．Totally absurd.
C．Partially right.	D．Quite misleading.

2. What does the underlined word in paragraph 2 possibly mean?

A．The number of deaths.

B．The possibility of being cured.

C．The rate of getting mentally hurt.

D．The chance of having mental illness.

3. How does the experience influence patients according to paragraph 3?

A．It leads to a changeable attitude.

B．It makes no noticeable difference.

C．It builds up their physical strength.

D．It fosters self-awareness and sympathy.

4. What can we learn about the patient mentioned in the last paragraph?

A．She continued harmful habits.	B．She relied only on medication.
C．She always believed in herself.	D．She became stronger and tougher.

5 . 学校学生会为6月6 日全国爱眼日（National Eye Caring Day）征集倡议书，以“照顾好眼睛，避免近视”为题，根据图表中的调查结果对同学发出倡议。内容要点：

1. 简述青少年近视现状；
2. 提出护眼建议；
3. 发出倡议。
注意：
1. 词数80左右；
2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。

Take Care of our Eyes and Avoid Myopia

Dear fellow students,

We are living in an era of rapid technological development, where electronic products have become an indispensable part of our daily lives.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The Students’ Union

8 . It’s no secret that reading good news feels a lot better than reading bad news. Like, would you rather bite into a lemon, or sip on a fresh glass of lemonade?

    1    The world is full of problems and conflicts and we need to stay informed and alert (警觉的) to what’s going on around us. While reading traditional, more negative news is important, consuming good news is also part of staying informed.     2    And it also brings meaningful benefits, like reduced stress and anxiety, higher rates of engagement, community building skills, and inspiration for creating a better world. Plus, knowing what to look for in the good news landscape is a key part of improving our media literacy skills and being thoughtful news consumers.

In fact, good news, known as solutions journalism, is becoming more popular, as publishers and news stations discover the benefits of sharing positive stories. Good Good Good is one of them.     3     A team of reporters and editors there work daily to deliver stories that make readers feel hopeful and equipped to do more good with possible solutions.

“If it bleeds, it leads.” has long been a saying used in the media to describe how news stories about violence, death and destruction draw readers’ attention.       4     The thing is, however, there’s also good stuff out there—the delightful and kind parts of humanity. “Beautiful stories are happening worldwide.    5    When you do find them, the world can suddenly feel like a very different place. Good news is a vital part of how we learn about the world and solving the world’s problems.” Hervey, one of Good Good Good’s editors said.

A．Share good news with people around you.

B．It’s just that we don’t hear as much about them.

C．But the “bad news” has its place in the world.

D．It provides a more balanced view of the world.

E．And so, negative news stories are everywhere on news media.

F．Heartwarming stories make you cry and feel good.

G．The news media company is devoted to providing good news intentionally.

10 . 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。

Forget about Military-style Travel during which people tend to visit as many famous spots as possible in the     1     (little) amount of time. A more relaxed alternative, Citywalk, has emerged     2     a phenomenal hit.

Unlike Military-style Travel, Citywalk is about wandering around a city on foot and finding unusual things     3     even a local might not have noticed before. Citywalkers get away from hot tourist     4     (attract) and shopping centers, instead     5     (leisure) seeking out interactions with the natives, authentic snacks, and a deeper appreciation for the history and culture of the city.

Various videos about Citywalk     6     (post) over Chinese multiple social media platforms in recent months. On Instagram-like Xiaohongshu, a search for “citywalk” turns up over 600,000 posts and tens of millions of views. Citywalkers have shared their carefully     7     (plan) routes on social media platforms, generating thousands of followers. Their posts usually include how long the walk is going to take, and interesting places along the way.

Some regions, such as Beijing, have included Citywalk in their plans     8     (promote) cultural tourism and leisure tours. While Citywalk can work as     9     approach to tourism, this trend sees Gen Z seek pleasure more through connection than consumption and     10     (imply) a deep cultural curiosity.