1 . Recently, I was walking with some parents when we came across a five-pound note lying on the ground. We stood around it for a moment, a bit awkwardly, until someone suggested putting it on a nearby bench. Then one of the parents remarked that we’d probably have behaved differently — that is, we would have just taken the money — had we been alone.

This relates to a classic question in studies of human generosity: do we behave more selfishly when we aren’t being observed? The debate goes on across the psychological and biological sciences, as well as in popular culture, about whether kindness can exist in a competitive world.

Yom Kippur is a Jewish (犹太人的) religious holiday when Jewish people fast and ask for forgiveness for the wrongs they’ve committed. One of the points of Yom Kippur is to behave better regardless of who is watching. There’s an evolutionary beauty to the teachings of Yom Kippur, which are the products of thousands of years of cultural changes and evolution.

The Maasai people of Kenya practice osotua: relationships between people that operate based on need. When someone forms an osotua relationship with another, they enter into an unwritten contract to help their partner in times of need. And hunter-gatherer groups, which can represent the circumstances our species evolved in, have many similar examples.

Cultural evolution helps to explain the existence and complexity of these systems. Cultural changes are far faster than biological evolution, allowing intelligent species like humans to develop behavioral adaptations for managing complex social environments. Osotua, or any other practice that helps to maintain good treatment of others in society, is the result of tens of thousands of years of cultural trial and error. The customs passed down over time are those that help us to develop as cultural groups.

The study of those changes has helped us to understand how we successfully spread around the world as cooperative groups. Biological evolution has helped humans be more cooperative, but cultural changes have accelerated this process.

Cultural evolution helps us to overcome our selfish natures. Try to understand rules before you ignore them — and next time you find a fiver on the ground, you might think about the awkward situation your discovery represents.

1. What made the parents feel a bit awkward?

A．The difficulty sharing the money.

B．The difficulty finding the owner of the money.

C．The thought of putting the money on the bench.

D．The thought of keeping the money for themselves.

2. Why is “Yom Kippur” talked about in the text?

A．To highlight a fact.	B．To draw a conclusion.
C．To make a comparison.	D．To support an argument.

3. How is biological evolution different from cultural evolution?

A．It evolves much slower.	B．It takes much less time.
C．It is a more complex process.	D．It makes humans more cooperative.

4. What does the author intend to explain in the text?

A．How cultural evolution takes place.	B．Why people sometimes behave selfishly.
C．Why kindness exists in a competitive world.	D．How kindness spreads throughout the world.

2 . What comes to mind when you think about chocolate? A candy bar at Halloween? Ice cream on a hot day?

For Ibrahim, a 12-year-old boy from the West African country of Ghana, chocolate is not about sweet treats; it is about bitter work.     1     But if they did, we would learn that Ibrahim spends his days growing and harvesting cocoa beans, from which chocolate is made. We would also learn that he is just one of more than two million children who perform this difficult labour instead of attending school.

To change the harmful practices like this, some farms use an approach called Fairtrade.     2     It aims to create a different relationship between buyers (chocolate companies) and sellers (cocoa farmers) by encouraging farmers to join together to form a shared business called a cooperative. Because farmers work together instead of competing with each other, they can demand a higher price from the buyers.     3    

Consumers like you can play a role as well. You can buy Fairtrade chocolate if possible, pressure candy companies to change their labour practices, or ask local stores to sell Fairtrade products.     4     It is a programme recognizing schools that provide Fairtrade products in cafeterias or include related lessons in curriculum (课程).

Chocolate has a hidden story that affects children like Ibrahim—children who want a happy future just like you do.     5     By enjoying Fairtrade products or simply spreading the word, you can make chocolate as sweet for all children as it is for you.

A．You have the power to change the story.

B．The labels on chocolate do not tell his story.

C．Fairtrade is a way of doing business that prohibits child labour.

D．You can also take action through the Fairtrade Schools network.

E．On many farms, children like Ibrahim perform difficult farming tasks.

F．Cocoa trees grow in the tropical climates of Africa, Latin America and South-East Asia.

G．With more income, farmers can pay adult workers and can send their children to school.

3 . Parents have been urged to stop pretending Father Christmas is real in case the “lie” damages relations with their children. Making up stories about Santa risks destroying a child’s trust and is morally unbelievable, according to two experts.

Psychologist Professor Christopher Boyle and social scientist Dr. Kathy McKay also criticize the idea employed by parents—Santa Claus judges children to be nice or naughty. Writing in a well-known journal, they argue, “If they are capable of lying about something so special and magical, can they be relied upon to continue as the guardians of wisdom and truth?”

Defending the claims, Prof Boyle said, “The morality of making children believe in such myths has to be questioned. All children will eventually find out they’ve been consistently lied to for years, and this might make them wonder what other lies they’ve been told. Whether it’s right to make children believe in Father Christmas is an interesting question, and it’s also interesting to ask whether lying in this way will affect children in ways that have not been considered.”

Dr. McKay, from the University of New England in Australia, said there was clear evidence from the world of make-believe in movies and TV that adults looked for a chance to be children again. “The persistence of fandom(影迷) in stories like Harry Potter and Star Wars indicates their desire to briefly re-enter childhood,” she said. “However,” she added, “if adults have been lying about Santa, even though it has usually been well intentioned, what else is a lie? If Santa isn’t real, are fairies real? Is magic? Is God?”

They conclude, “Many people may long for a time when imagination was accepted and encouraged, which may not be the case in adult life. Might it be the case that the harshness of real life requires the creation of something better, something to believe in, something to hope for in the future or to return to a long-lost childhood a long time ago in a galaxy far far away?”

1. What did parents do that drew criticism from Dr. Kathy McKay?

A．They were fond of Harry Potter and Star Wars.

B．They acted as the guardians of wisdom and truth.

C．They said Santa Claus could judge a kid to be good or bad.

D．They have told many lies to their children besides Santa Claus.

2. What can be implied in the passage?

A．Parents are capable of making up stories about Santa Claus.

B．Lies about Santa Claus can have a negative impact upon children.

C．Stories about Santa Claus develop children’s trust in their parents.

D．Experts think it right to make children believe in Father Christmas.

3. Why are adults fond of watching fictional movies?

A．They desire to return to the long-lost childhood.

B．Everything will become better in movies than in real life.

C．They want to get away from pressure from life and work.

D．They didn’t watch such exciting movies when they were young.

4. What is the author’s attitude toward parents’ lying about Santa Claus?

A．Positive.

B．Indifferent.

C．Disappointed.

D．Concerned.

4 . A human head will set you back about $640. An arm is less: that costs roughly $ 430. A leg, by contrast, is $1,600. But overall, human body parts come surprisingly cheap: getting an arm and a leg rarely costs an arm and a leg. There exists a surprisingly lively international trade in dead bodies for medical dissection(解剖). This trade is rarely discussed and relatively lightly regulated: there is no one head, or body, that directly oversees the imports of heads and bodies. This trade is also important, for it allows doctors to practise on real, dead humans before they practise on real, live ones.

It is not essential to use dead bodies to teach medical students: computer models exist. But for all the digital brilliance there are still things that flesh and blood can do that computers cannot—such as making these medics faint and offering more muted feelings. Looking at a model “isn’t quite the same as seeing the real thing in front of you”, says Dangerfield, the president of the British Association of Clinical Dissection. To hold a human skull in your hands is, Hamlet-like, to be unexcited rather than awed. A head, emptied of human, is surprisingly small; the bowl you use is more substantially sized.

Bodies help with practical considerations as well as emotional ones. Textbooks tend to offer knowledge that is just that. Similarly, computer models, like the human kind, tend to have square jaws and broad shoulders. Reality is much messier. Textbooks will tell you that there are three branches coming off the aorta(主动脉) but, says Dangerfield, it is “really common to see four or to see two branches”.

The demand for bodies, then, is there—but in many countries it is not matched by supply. There are American companies providing bodies trade services. But to use their services is, for British doctors “a last-resort sort of situation”. Until recently, however, they had little alternative. That is changing. In Nottingham City Hospital, there is a centre, created in 2011 by a shoulder surgeon, Angus Wallace.

1. According to Paragraph 1, the international trade in dead bodies is ___________

A．surprisingly expensive	B．based on medical research
C．loosely supervised	D．banned by regulations

2. Why Hamlet is mentioned in Paragraph 2?

A．To distinguish between digital and real skulls.

B．To describe the size of an emptied skull model.

C．To put medical research results in literature.

D．To emphasize the emotional value of dissection.

3. What’s the problem with dissection textbooks according to Dangerfield?

A．Inflexibility.	B．Overstatement.
C．Costliness.	D．Computerization.

4. What will be most probably talked about next?

A．The unfavourable status of bodies trade in Britain.

B．The solution to limited source of bodies in Britain.

C．The necessity of international bodies trade in Britain.

D．The consistent trade between America and Britain.

5 . My grandparents were always busy with food. My grandmother could pull out the feathers of a chicken in less than half an hour. They picked vegetables from their garden. Animal fat was saved.     1     Nearly a decade after my grandmother died, I found myself in a kitchen, pulling out the feathers of a chicken.

It took hours and made my fingers hurt. After an adult life spent buying rather than growing food, as a so-called new farmer, I finally began to understand my grandparents.     2    

My grandparents’ generation spent a third of their income on food.     3     Food is no longer seen as public goods, but as public given resources. The ecological cost of this progress is now clear. The health costs are starting to be noticed.

But until I began talking to the farmers around me, I had not understood the human costs faced by those asked to produce milk sold for less than bottled water.     4     Called “ regenerative farming”, it was being driven by a new generation of farmers trying to find a new kind of power in the face of loss of climate change and rising fuel and transport costs.

    5     Those plants and animals worked together to help the soil become rich again. They kept living roots in the ground all year round, building up the soil’s biology and taking in carbon.

Research has found that regenerative farming not only benefits the land, but profits can be 78% higher than conventional farms.

A．We spend less than a tenth.

B．And any leftover meat was cut up for pies.

C．Regenerative farming is welcomed by thousands of farmers now.

D．I began to understand the work that we took for granted.

E．I realized that keeping a big family was really a big burden for them.

F．New technology helped these farmers raise a diversity of crops and farm animals.

G．Then I came across a farming reform that sought to change this traditional system.

6 . The Global Food Donation Policy Atlas has issued a recent report in order to recommend ways to increase food donations, reduce food waste, and fight hunger, which may help Kenyan leaders meet 2030 food waste reduction goals.

Food donation can reroute eatable food—that would otherwise give off greenhouse gasses in a landfill—to those experiencing hunger. According to the Famine Early Warning Systems Network, 3.5 million Kenyans, roughly 37 percent of the population, face severe hunger. At the same time, the Policy Atlas reports roughly 40 percent of food produced within Kenya goes to waste. But Broad Leib, Deputy Director of Harvard Law School Food Law and Policy Clinic (FLPC), sees some promising changes. “While progress is not happening as quickly as needed, Kenya’s food loss index has been steadily reduced from 1,744 metric tons in 2017, to 1,531 in 2018, to 1,446 metric tons in 2019, indicating a steady improvement and national commitment to food loss reduction,” reports Broad Leib.

According to the Policy Atlas, motivating food donation with rewards is particularly important, which helps food donors and food recovery organizations make up for costs necessary for recovery, storing, processing, and transporting food for donation.

“A major driver of food waste is inconsistent or unclear date labels that cause confusion among all actors along the value chain and limit the ability of businesses to donate food. This increases the likelihood that much safe food will go to waste,” Broad Leib tells Food Tank. However, he acknowledges Kenya’s current dual (双的) date labeling laws. While food may lose its freshness over time, it is still eatable before expiration (到期). Dual date labeling on packaged foods reduces bewilderment by defining dates for both safety and quality. This helps reduce considerable waste and responsibility for donors.

Broad Leib believes that the private sector can also play a significant role in decreasing food waste in Kenya. It is vital for consumer education campaigns. FLPC’s research shows that public-private initiatives can help raise awareness among consumers and donors around issues of food waste and food donation.

1. What changes does Broad Leib see?

A．People in Kenya no longer suffer hunger.

B．Kenya has gradually reduced its food waste.

C．Kenya is not committed to reducing food loss.

D．Progress in reducing food waste is happening quickly.

2. What does the underlined word “bewilderment” mean in Paragraph 4?

A．Sadness.

B．Convenience.

C．Confusion.

D．Emotion.

3. How can Kenya reduce food waste according to Broad Leib?

A．By increasing storehouses.

B．By fighting hunger with rewards.

C．By reducing food produced within the country.

D．By using double date labeling on packaged food.

4. What can we learn from the last paragraph?

A．Consumer education campaigns are the most important.

B．Only the private sector is helpful in reducing food waste.

C．Private and public joint efforts matter around food issues.

D．Broad Leib doesn’t agree with FLPC on food waste reduction.

7 . 下面的图表是近五年青少年网络使用情况的调查结果，请你根据图表提供的信息写一篇调查报告，反映近五年来青少年使用网络的变化情况(列出至少两点)，并分析其原因。
   
注意:
1.报告内容必须根据图表来写；
2.写作词数应为100左右；
3.请按如下格式在答题卡相应位置作答。

Report on Internet use of teenagers

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8 . Imagine that as you are boarding an airplane, half the engineers who built the plane tell you there is a 10 percent chance the plane will crash, killing you and everyone else on board. Would you still board?

In 2022, over 700 top academics and researchers behind the leading artificial intelligence companies were asked in a survey about future AI risk. Half of those surveyed stated that there was a 10 percent or greater chance of human extinction from future AI systems.     1    

The fear of AI has haunted humanity since the mid-20th century, yet until recently it has remained a distant prospect, something that belongs in sci-fi more than in serious scientific and political debates.     2     It is even harder to grasp the speed at which these tools are developing even more advanced and powerful capabilities. But most of the key skills boil down to one thing: the ability to manipulate (操纵) and generate language, whether with words, sounds or images.

In the beginning was the word.     3     From language emerges myth and law, goods and money, art and science, friendships and nations—even computer code. AI’s new mastery of language means it can now hack and manipulate the operating system of civilization. What would it mean for humans to live in a world where a large percentage of stories, melodies, images, laws, policies and tools are shaped by non-human intelligence?     4    What happens when the same thing occurs in art, politics, and even religion?

    5    We are surrounded by culture, experiencing reality through a cultural prism (棱镜). Our views are shaped by the reports of journalists and the accounts of friends. What will it be like to experience reality through a prism produced by non-human intelligence? The time to reckon with AI is before our politics, our economy and our daily life become dependent on it.

A．Humans often don’t have direct access to reality.

B．Language is the operating system of human culture.

C．In games like chess, no human can hope to beat a computer.

D．By gaining mastery of language, AI is seizing the master key to civilization.

E．Technology companies are caught in a race to put all of humanity on that plane.

F．For thousands of years we humans have lived inside the dreams of other humans.

G．It’s difficult for human minds to grasp the capabilities of GPT-4 and similar tools.

9 . Fragile. Oversensitive. Glued to their phones. Is this what comes to mind when we think of the teens of this generation? While this may be true, there might be more to this generation of teens than what is generally perceived.

Never before have the lives of any generation of teens been as flooded with mobile technology and social media as the teens of this generation. The popularity of social media has led to a world in which teens have to participate in Instagram, TikTok and Twitter, or else cause the social anger of their friends, some of whom communicate primarily via those online platforms. As compared to their parents or grandparents who were likely less connected and more isolated, these teens are constantly exposed to the highlight reels (高光时刻) of many in their social circles and beyond. It is no wonder that the self-esteem and mental health of this generation’s teens have taken a hit.

Moreover, the teens today are more individualistic. This is in contrast to the kampong spirit of their parents’ and grandparents’ days. Gone is the friendship among neighbours who are friendly with one another and quick to offer a helping hand when they see another in need. In its place, we have teens who may not even have a clue as to who lives in the unit next to theirs, much less offer a friendly nod or wave when they happen to cross paths with a neighbour.

Yet, the effects of technology on this generation of teens are not all bad. Arguably, the very connectedness that social media brings about has led to being more progressive. Logging onto platforms where people of all walks of life gather means that one is exposed to those people and their distinctive ways of life. In comparison, the parents or grandparents of this generation of tens probably did not have the same opportunity to get to know people outside of their social circles at their age, and are thus more likely to have fixed, stereotypical (刻板的) opinions of people different from them. This generation of teens, on the other hand, has the chance to use this technology to understand the variety and diversity out there.

1. What does the underlined phrase “have taken a hit” mean in Paragraph 2?

A．Have been terribly hurt.	B．Have improved a lot.
C．Have recovered soon.	D．Have been ignored.

2. Which belongs to the kampong spirit according to Paragraph 3?

A．Telephone your parents regularly.	B．Never say Hi to your classmates.
C．Share your food with neighbours.	D．Borrow money from your teacher.

3. What good effect does social media have on the teens?

A．They are more ambitious and active.

B．They are more friendly and generous.

C．They are more independent of their parents.

D．They are more open-minded and better informed.

4. How is the text developed?

A．By giving examples.	B．By showing statistics.
C．By making comparisons.	D．By providing instructions.

10 . The Financial Times app urged me to read the latest headlines. More disturbing, Google News installed itself and did the same thing. Most absurd of all, every single incoming email announced itself with a beep.

This was all simple enough to fix. Text messages and phone calls are now the only apps allowed to interrupt me. Still, it was annoying. I wondered: surely everyone switches off most notifications, right?

Perhaps not, I stumbled upon an essay by Guardian columnist Coco Khan marveling at how much calmer she felt after turning off notifications. She explained that WhatsApp alone had sent her over 100 notifications a day and that she had only silenced the apps because she’d been on holiday, and the phone was buzzing all night.

I read Khan’s account as a cautionary tale for all of us. Humans can adapt to a lot; it’s easy to sleepwalk into a state of chronic stress and distraction without ever reflecting that things could be different.

This seems common. One of the most important findings in behavioral science is that default(默认) settings have an outsize influence over our choices. App makers clearly believe we’ll put up with it, and they may be right.

One study, published in 2015 by researchers at the Technical University of Berlin, found that on average six out of seven smartphone apps were left in their default notification settings. Given how many notifications are valueless, this suggests that in the face of endless notifications, many smartphone users have learnt helplessness.

Of course we sometimes want to know immediately when something has happened. As I am fond of saying, a doorbell is more convenient than going to the door every 90 seconds to see if anyone is there. Although that trade-off would change if the doorbell itself were sounding every few minutes, day and night.

But most of us have too many notifications enabled. “ Notification” is a dishonest euphemism(委婉说法)，anyway. The correct word is “interruption”.

Oliver Burkeman puts it in his book Four Thousand Weeks: our attention is not just a scarce resource; it is life itself.“At the end of your life, looking back, whatever caught your attention from moment to moment is simply what your life will have been.“ Glance at yet another notification, and you are literally paying with your life.

1. How does the author introduce the topic?

A．By providing data.	B．By posing a contrast.
C．By making a comparison.	D．By describing personal experience.

2. What can we learn about the author and Coco Khan?

A．They preferred a peaceful life to a busy life.

B．They simply turned off their phones to keep themselves calm.

C．Both of them weren’t happy with default settings on smartphones.

D．They were often troubled by unnecessary notifications on their phones.

3. Which is one of the reasons why people live with annoying notifications?

A．Because they are used to them.

B．Because they are under too much stress.

C．Because most of the notifications are valuable.

D．Because they forget to deal with their messages constantly.

4. What can we infer from Oliver Burkeman’s words?

A．It is advisable to live a life without smartphones.

B．Being interrupted by useless notifications is a waste of life.

C．People need to reflect on their choices of smartphone apps.

D．People who have adapted to endless notifications are hopeless.