1 . Directions: Complete the following passage by using the words in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. addressed        B. boast        C. approach        D. sense        E. wealthy F. glimpse        G. revealed        H. pushy        I. statistics        J. peers        K. motivation

College Rankings Are Something, but Not Everything

I am always confused when reading statements like “Princeton University is the number one college in the United States.” Are those who attend Princeton inherently brighter than their     1    ? Is Princeton able to produce more geniuses upon graduation?

High-ranking colleges in global education leagues attract greater talent in staff and students, and     2     better facilities, therefore generating more profits. In the United States, however, this virtuous cycle can turn vicious when financially-challenged parents end up spending their life savings on their children’s education, while     3     individuals can simply buy their way in. Besides, these rankings face criticism for potentially influencing colleges to make minor adjustments in     4     to improve their position on the table.

I didn’t care about college rankings for years until I recently saw something different. This past October, Shanghai Ranking Consultancy     5     the Global Ranking of Academic Subjects 2023, which assesses universities worldwide across 55 subjects in five disciplines. It is said to employ a more in-depth     6     to evaluate the performance of universities. And this makes it easier for prospective students to choose the best college for their specific subject. But how much weight should you give to these rankings?

In my opinion, college rankings can serve as a reference, offering a     7     into the reputation and strengths of institutions. However, they should not be the only determining factor for you. There are many aspects to a university education that can only be     8     when you are clear about your goals.

I once taught a three-month program to prepare university students for overseas exchange programs in England. But some of them displayed low     9    . It wasn’t merely due to a language barrier. These individuals seemed to lack communication skills, critical thinking and, more importantly, a     10     of purpose, which might help determine their future academic quality. After all, what lies in the heart of education is “U” .

2 . Directions: Fill in each blank with a proper word chosen from the box. Each word can be used only once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. numerous            B. regulations        C. compared   D. elaborate     E. advantage       F. adopted G. previously       H. additionally             I. estimated             J. ranging     K. innovation

Live Shows are back, and so are street stalls

With the revival of live music gigs in China this year, stalls outside of concert venues have become increasingly popular again across the country.

Vendors offer goods     1     from essentials like water and raincoats to fan merchandise such as bracelets (手镯) and tattoo stickers. They aim to attract the large groups of fans going to the concerts.

The China Association of Performing Arts (CAPA, 中国演出行业协会) reported that in the first half of 2023, the country hosted over 190,000 performances. The number increased by 400.86%     2     with the previous year. These performances have attracted over 60 million music enthusiasts. Another report     3     that China’s performance market would reach 90.3 billion yuan by the end of this year.

“Where there are business opportunities, there is potential for stalls,” said Hu Xiaowu, an expert on urban science. “As more concerts are organized in different cities, many young people have found the chance to sell goods related to the events.“

Zeng Dexiong, a professor of social sciences, believed more people would take     4     of this new wave. This, he said, would probably bring about fierce competition, which in turn would lead to more creativity and     5    .

Sun Ximin,25, set up a stall as a side hustle when a large venue near her home in Guangzhou hosted its first concert in April. There weren’t many stalls back then, and she sold simple hair accessories (配饰).When more vendors gathered outside, Sun had to offer more     6     services, like braiding (编发), to stand out. To attract more customers, she styled her own hair in complex braids.    7    , she offered free Polaroid photos.

For Li Zhenzhen, a 23-year-old citizen of Xi’an in Shaanxi province, success lies in seeking the best location. She found it was more beneficial to locate her stall near a subway station rather than the concert venue’s entrance. She explained that concertgoers are likely to buy the goods on impulse (一时冲动) as they get out of the station. However, as they walk past     8     stalls on the way to the entrance, their desire to purchase wanes.

The rapid development of the street stall economy offers young people flexible opportunities to earn money, Hu noted.

Recognizing this, local governments are now easing     9     to encourage the entrepreneurial spirit. Cities like Beijing and Shenzhen have already     10     policies to support stall operations, setting aside specific areas for vendors.

3 . Directions: Complete the following passage by using the words in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. defined             B. popularized             C. wordlessly             D. alarming            E. proposing F. nonexistent          G. withdrawn             H. springing               I. assumed             J. seriously K. seeking

A growing number of Japanese have become recluses（隐居者）. Pressure from work and society is causing some to escape.

About a year ago, Mika Shibata's youngest son returned to the family home and went     1    upstairs. He has yet to emerge from his bedroom. At the age of 26, he sleeps during the day and stays awake at night. His mother feeds and shelters him, hoping he will recover from this state.

The Shibata family's pain is shared by many others in Japan. The government says there are more than 1 million hikikomori, or recluses,       2    as people who have played no part in society for at least six months. Many have barely stepped outside their homes for decades.

A handful of     3    crimes have pushed them back into public view. In Maya recluse, aged 51, killed two people, including a child, in the city of Kawasaki before committing suicide.

When the phenomenon became widely noticed over a generation ago, few understood it. Recluses were considered lazy or odd. Mental-health care was scarce and official support     4    

Parents felt responsible and were too embarrassed to look for help. But even now, occasional crimes involved recluses cause concerns that they are dangerous, says Morito Ishizaki, a recovered hikikomori who runs a magazine for sufferers.

In fact, he explains, they are rarely criminals. Many have just collapsed under pressure at school or work and have     5    to their childhood sanctuaries（避难所）.

Support groups are     6    up around the country. Tokyo is among several cities with helplines and websites that try to reach shut-ins, who range from teenage school dropouts to salarymen who have lost their jobs.

Ageing parents often come     7    help, says Ichiro of Tokyo's metropolitan government. He says they worry that after they die, their hikikomori children will not be able to survive.

More than half of Japan's recluses are now aged over 40, according to a Cabinet Office survey this year. That shocked the government, which had     8    the condition mainly affected the young.

Tamaki Saito, a psychiatrist who     9    the term hikikomori, says the government is partly to blame for turning a blind eye. Now the problem has grown. If it is not taken     10    , many more might become recluses, he says.

4 . 选词填空

place   ride   however   with   after   deal   bravely   better   feel   remind   different

Located in one of Beijing’s most active art communities, the Loneliness (孤独) Museum is always very crowded.     1    , everyone who visits the museum says that they are lonely. Divided into 13 parts including an office at night, the last subway and a hospital, the museum displays (展出) over 1000 lonely stories from     2     people. There are many notes with words of encouragement and ways     3     with solitude (孤独) on the walls and the stairs. They may feel     4     after seeing them. One of the museum’s owners Fang Fang says that people who come to work in big cities like Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou may     5     lonely every now and then. So she wants to provide a     6     for them to relax. It     7     them that even though life is hard, there are lots of people like them. They are not alone.

    8     the development of technology, it is easier for people to get in touch with old friends and make new friends. However, young people are likely to feel lonely.

People may get used to loneliness as they get older     9     they experience important life events and life changes.

Luckily, our society is more tolerant (宽容的) towards this kind of young group, often encouraging them to face this crazy changing world     10    . In a room of the museum, with three bicycles, strangers can     11     together to light up the lights on the wall, which forms a sentence- “Loneliness comes together with love”.

6 . Direction: Fill in each blank with a proper word chosen from the box. Each word can be used only once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. prevent            B. colour             C. threatened       D. discrimination       E. demand       F. nonviolent G. armed             H. equally            I. rapidly             J. race                    K. detailed

The Civil Rights Act of 1964: A Long Struggle for Freedom

In the spring of 1941, hundreds of thousands of whites were employed in industries mobilizing for the possible entry of the United States into World War II. Black labour leader A. Philip Randolph     1     a mass march on Washington unless blacks were hired     2     for those jobs, stating: “It is time to wake up Washington as it has never been shocked before.” To     3     the march, which many feared would result in     4     riots and international embarrassment, President Franklin Roosevelt issued an executive order that banned     5     in defence industries. His Executive Order 8802, June 25, 1941, established the Committee on Fair Employment Practices(known as FEPC) to receive and investigate discrimination complaints and take appropriate steps to redress valid grievances.

The fight against fascism during World War II brought to the forefront the contradictions between America’s ideals of democracy and equality and its treatment of racial minorities. Throughout the war, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People(NAACP) and other civil rights organizations worked to end discrimination in the     6     forces. During this time African Americans became more assertive in their     7     for equality in civilian life as well. The Congress of Racial Equality(CORE), an interracial organization founded to seek change through     8     means, conducted the first sit-ins to challenge the South’s Jim Crow laws.

After the war, and with the onset of the Cold War, segregation and inequality within the US were brought into sharp focus on the world stage, prompting federal and judicial action. President Harry Truman appointed a special committee to investigate racial conditions that     9     a civil rights agenda in its report, To Secure These Rights. Truman later issued an executive order that abolished racial discrimination in the military.

The NAACP won important Supreme Court victories and mobilized a mass lobby of organizations to press Congress to pass civil rights legislation. African Americans achieved notable firsts — Jackie Robinson broke the     10     barrier in major league baseball and civil rights activists Bayard Rustin and George Houser led black and white riders on a “Journey of Reconciliation” to challenge racial segregation on interstate buses.

7 . Direction: Fill in each blank with a proper word chosen from the box. Each word can be used only once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. recorded            B. roughly            C. especially            D. narrow            E. advocate F. transformation       G. challenge       H. emitting               I. changing          J. address          K. strive

“Climate change is moving faster than we are,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said back in 2018 in his     1     to the UN General Assembly — a statement that in hindsight now rings     2     true.

The essential goal of the Paris agreement of 2015 has been to limit the rise in average global temperatures to no more than 2℃ above pre-industrial levels — a time period centered     3     on the mid-19th century. The aspirational or wished — for objective of the agreement is to     4     for a rise in temperatures that doesn’t exceed 1.5℃.

But with carbon dioxide levels in the global atmosphere topping 420 parts per million — the highest level in     5     history — the 1.5℃ target appears to many experts to be out of reach. A United Nations report in 2018 concluded as much, saying back then that average global temperatures will likely reach 1.5℃ above pre-industrial levels sometime between 2030 and 2052 if emissions continue rising as they have been.

With a 1.5℃ rise, about 4% of Earth’s terrestrial land area is projected to undergo a     6     of ecosystems from one type to another. With a 2℃ global temperature rise, about 13% is projected to undergo a shift. Across the American West, ecosystems stressed by diminished snow-melt, drought, insect infestations, and wildfire are     7     forests from the Rockies to the Sierra Nevada. Ten percent of iconic Giant Sequoia trees died in wildfires in the Sierra Nevada in 2020.

According to the UN’s 1.5℃ report, the world’s countries     8     the largest amounts of carbon dioxide have to turn things around soon: to limit warming to 1.5℃, global net greenhouse gas emissions from human activity must decline by about 45% from 2010 levels by 2030, and reach net zero by 2050. To limit warming to 2℃, emissions must decline by about 25% by 2030 and reach net zero by about 2070.

Despite the great     9     ahead, IEA chief Fatih Birol remarked recently that clean energy investments can still “shift the world on to a pathway to net-zero emissions by 2050”.

The path “is     10     but still achievable”, he said, “if we act now.”

8 . Directions: Complete the following passage by using the words in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. published               B. weight               C. obesity               D. beginning        E. less        F. vulnerable G. admissions             H. rise                  I. reduction               J. Globally          K. impacts

The climate crisis is damaging the health of fetuses (胎儿), babies and infants across the world, six new studies have found.

Scientists discovered increased heat was linked to fast weight gain in babies, which increases the risk of    1    in later life. Higher temperatures were also linked to premature birth, which can have lifelong health effects, and to increased hospital    2    of young children.

The studies,    3    in a special issue of the journal Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology, spanned the globe from the US to Denmark, Israel and Australia.

“From the very    4    , from preconception, through early childhood into adolescence, we’re starting to see important    5    of climate hazards on health,” said Prof Gregory Wellenius, who edited the issue with Amelia Wesselink, both at the Boston University school of public health, in the US.

The link between heat and rapid    6    gain in the first year of life was found by scientists in Israel. They analysed 200,000 births and found that babies exposed to the highest 20% of night-time temperatures had a 5% higher risk of fast weight gain.

    7    , 18% of children are now overweight or obese. A possible mechanism for the rapid infant weight gain is that    8    fat is burned to maintain body temperature when the ambient temperature is higher.

Hotter temperatures also increased the number of admissions of young children to emergency departments in New York City, another new study found. The scientists looked at 2.5m admissions over eight years and found that a 7℃    9    in maximum temperature led to a 2.4% increase in admissions in under-fives. Young children lose proportionally more fluids than adults and their ability to regulate their body temperature is immature, the researchers said.

The burning of fossil fuels drives the climate crisis but also causes air pollution and a new study in Denmark assessed the impact of dirty air on 10,000 couples trying to conceive naturally. It found that increases in particle pollution of a few units during a menstrual cycle led to a decrease in conception of about 8%.

Wellenius said an important aspect of the studies was that they showed that    10    people often suffered the worst effects, for example people of colour and those on low incomes who did not have air conditioning or lived in areas with higher air pollution. “This is absolutely a health equity and justice issue,” he said.

9 . Directions: Complete the following passage by using the words in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. unique                 B. proud                 C. well off                 D. poverty               E. shoeshine F. selected                 G. stand                 H. Unfortunately        I. Currently             J. digital            K. earn

Staying Connected Far from Home

In Chad, the refugee camp of Danamadja stands in the midst of a forest. Here, staying connected is a challenge. “Most of the young people who want to use the Internet have to walk long distances to connect to the network,” says Mahamat Djida, 25, who owns a phone-charging     1     . “People here have really weak and unstable service but they have no option, compared with those who are     2     in the world.”

In addition to helping stay in touch with families and friends, mobile phones and the Internet offer young people opportunities to cope with life in the camp. Adam Souleymane, a 16-year-old     3     boy, said, “I bought a phone and now I use the Internet to do research, especially in biology. There is no library in the camp.” He is very     4     of his new smartphone.

It is vital to advocate for improved access to     5     technologies and support for youth seeking to use them to solve the issues that affect their lives.     6     some plans made by several mobile applications can help children and young people born of     7     be more independent. They can be used for instant communication and activities that address     8     needs. These plans allow customers to access     9     content for free or at low cost when they sign up with certain service providers. As children reach adulthood and enter the world of work, connectivity will increasingly mean the difference between their ability to       10     a decent living or not. Those with access to digital technologies and the skills to make the best use of them will have the advantage over those who are unconnected and unskilled.

10 . Directions: Complete the following passage by using the words in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. defined                 B. aiding                 C. trends                 D. dominate          E. typical        F. loss G. necessities               H. featured            I. mark                  J. survive             K. appliances

American Decoration in the Middle of the 20th Century

Home decorating has come a long way over the decades. Certain elements that began as     1    for survival—like fireplaces—have transformed into decorative elements in the modern age. Some styles are still massively popular, inspiring copycat furniture that sells for thousands. Other     2    are ignored or even ridiculed.

No one knows what home decoration of the future will look like. But if we look back through history, we can guess which design elements will come back—and which will disappear forever.

The Great Depression affected every aspect of American life—including decoration.   People were just trying to     3    during the 1930s, which didn’t leave a lot of room for non-essentials. But that doesn’t mean everyone gave up on making their homes look beautiful. A     4    living room would have a few throw rugs in interesting patterns, too. There was no one type of furniture that     5    the 1930s—curved and straight line furniture still     6    as the Art Deco style from the previous era was still popular. Plastic chairs and wingback chairs all had a place in the 1930s home. People were also likely to use what they had and not care so much about matching a certain taste.

It’s impossible to describe the 1940s without mentioning World War II. During the first half of the decade, home design took a backseat to     7    the war effort. The second half was much different. Returning soldiers had something new to look forward to: new kitchens with     8    such as refrigerators, freezers, and dishwashers. Traditional wood furniture in dark or blonde tones graced every room of the home.

Post-war America was a lot happier and shinier than recent decades. With a prospering middle class and a healthy economy, people had more time and money to devote to new pursuits—like decorating their houses.

The unfussy furniture made popular by Charles Eames started to     9    the American household. Everything was simple and uncomplicated. Wall to wall carpeting became the most desirable type of flooring, especially in unique colours.

The 60s brought about many changes to American culture and home design was no exception. People wanted to show off their unique sense of style more than ever before. Homes weren’t just seen as a     10    of how successful you were—they were also a chance to let your personality shine through home decoration.