1 . The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2023 was awarded to three American scientists Moungi G. Bawendi, Louis E. Brus and Alexei I. Ekimov “for the discovery and development of quantum (量子) dots”. They are so tiny that their size determines their properties. These smallest components of nano (纳米) technology now spread their light from televisions and LED lamps, and can also guide surgeons when they remove cancer tissue, among many other things.

Everyone who studies chemistry learns that an element’s properties are governed by how many electrons (电子) it has. However, when matter contracts to nano-dimensions quantum phenomena arise; these are governed by the size of the matter. The Nobel winners in Chemistry 2023 have succeeded in producing particles so small that their properties are determined by quantum phenomena. The particles, which are generally known as quantum dots by scientists, are now of great importance in nanotechnology.

“Quantum dots have many fascinating and unusual properties. Importantly, they have different colours depending on their size,” says Johan Åqvist, Chai r of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry.

Physicists had long known that in theory size-dependent quantum effects could arise in nanoparticles, but at that time it was almost impossible to sculpture in nanodimensions. Therefore, few people believed that this knowledge would be put to practical use.

However, in the early 1980s, Alexei Ekimov succeeded in creating size-dependent quantum effects in coloured glass. The colour came from nanoparticles of copper chloride (氯化铜) and Ekimov demonstrated that the particle size affected the colour of the glass via quantum effects. A few years later, Louis Brus was the first scientist in the world to prove size-dependent quantum effects in particles floating freely in a liquid. In 1993, Moungi Bawendi revolutionised the chemical production of quantum dots, resulting in almost perfect particles. This high quality was necessary for them to be used in applications.

Quantum dots are thus bringing the greatest benefit to humankind. Researchers believe that in the future they could contribute to flexible electronics, tiny sensors, thinner solar cells and quantum communication — so we have just started exploring the potential of these tiny particles.

1. Why was the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2023 awarded to 3 American scientists?

A．They discovered quantum size.	B．They discovered nanotechnology.
C．They discovered quantum effects.	D．They discovered and improved quantum dots.

2. What does the underlined word “particles” in paragraph 2 probably refer to?

A．Quantum dots.

B．Spots.

C．Atoms.

D．Grains.

3. Who discovered nearly faultless quantum dots?

A．Moungi Bawendi.

B．Louis Brus.

C．Alexei Ekimov.

D．Johan Åqvist.

4. What can we infer from the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2023?

A．Innovation is the most important thing.

B．Practice is the only criterion for testing truth.

C．The development of science and technology is endless.

D．Technology from quantum dots is constantly improving.

2 . Workers at the National Galleries of Scotland recently experienced quite a surprise after they X-rayed a painting by Vincent van Gogh. Hidden on the back of the painting Head of a Peasant Woman, which Van Gogh completed in 1885, was a self-portrait (自画像) of the Dutch painter. No one had ever found it.

The hidden self-portrait had been covered by glue and cardboard that had been attached to the back of the painting. “It was absolutely exciting,” Lesley Stevenson, the museum’s worker, said about the discovery. “We weren’t expecting much of the little painting when we performed the scans,” she said. But museum experts quickly changed their expectations when they looked at the X-rays. “We didn’t see much of the peasant woman, but we saw the lead white that Van Gogh used for his face showing up after the X-ray went through the cardboard,” she added.

Van Gogh painted Head of a Peasant Woman as part of a series of works focused on the working-class residents of Nuenen, a small farming community in the southern part of the Netherlands where he lived briefly in the 1880s. The woman in the painting is Gordina de Groot, a farm worker. She wears a white headpiece. In a letter that Van Gogh penned about the series in 1885 to Anton Kerssemakers, a friend, he described his excitement at his working-class subjects. “I’m working with great pleasure these days, for I would rather paint people than paint anything else,” he wrote.

Van Gogh also loved creating self-portraits, producing about 20 paintings of himself by the end of his life while he was living in Paris. Recreating his own image was a cheap way for him to practice portraiture as he didn’t have to spend money hiring models, according to a report.

Art historians at the National Galleries hope that the hidden self-portrait may help us understand the life of the artist. The museum is currently considering how to best remove the unwanted protective materials without harming the painting.

1. What can be learned about the self-portrait on the back of the painting?

A．It isn’t in very good condition.	B．It describes a well-known woman.
C．It wasn’t known to exist for a long time.	D．It was sold to another artist by Van Gogh.

2. What do Stevenson’s words mainly show about the discovery?

A．It was a wonderful surprise.	B．It failed to meet her expectations.
C．It was the result of her great efforts.	D．It deepened her understanding of Van Gogh’s life.

3. What did Van Gogh tell his friend in the letter?

A．He was encouraged to try different subjects.

B．He was glad to find his love for figure paintings.

C．He was attracted by the lifestyle of people in Nuenen.

D．He wanted to improve the living conditions of the farmers.

4. What would be the best title for the text?

A．X-rays can do harm to artworks

B．Van Gogh sent a secret message to his friend

C．Modern technology has a great influence on art

D．Van Gogh’s hidden self-portrait draws public attention

3 . 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。

Xu Xiake was born in 1587.     1     (he) parents were rich landowners. Yet he gave up a     2     (comfort) life, and decided to explore the mountains and rivers on foot.

China has more famous explorers. There was: Zhang Qian, who traveled into Central Asia during the second century BC, opening a trade road that became     3     is known as the Silk Road. Or Zheng He, the sailor who in the 15th century sailed as far away as Africa. Yet these explorations     4     (support) by governments. Xu was totally different.

“On the surface, Xu’s travels can neither be classified as great affairs of state     5     great adventures that changed the course of history,” writes cultural historian Cheng Pei-kai. “Xu travelled to satisfy his own     6     (curious).”

Scholar Julian Ward agrees, describing the lonely Chinese wanderer like the Middle Kingdom’s version of John Muir: “Deep in love with nature and eager to find freedom     7     worldly concerns, Xu was a man addicted to     8     (see) and describing the landscape.”

“The few coins     9     (slip) from a hole in my pocket while I was climbing a mountain in Yunnan. When I finally managed to the town, I sold all my clothes, bought myself a bottle of wine and a good dinner     10     (celebrate) my survival,” the dreamy explorer wrote in his diaries, which mix details of geology, geography and botany with such personal travel experiences.

4 . 阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容（1个单词）或括号内单词的正确形式。

At first glance, the words alligator, bedroom, eyeball, gossip, hurry, and kissing may not have anything obvious in common,     1     they do — William Shakespeare. They are among up to 1,700 words     2     first recorded use is in the collected     3     (work) of the most important writer in the history of the English language.

More than four centuries after his death in 1616, Shakespeare’s plays remain     4     unique source of artistic inspiration far beyond the land of his birth,     5     (endless) performed, studied, and adapted for countless languages and audiences. From Disney’s The Lion King to Feng Xiaogang’s film The Banquet, the story of a young man     6     (face) the challenge of growing up to seek revenge for his murdered father, is one of his most famous works. The     7     (forbid) love of Romeo and Juliet has been the inspiration for everything from Oscar-winning musical West Side Story to Chloe Gong’s novel series These Violent Delights, and Macbeth, with its tale of a man destined for greatness ruined by ambition,     8     (adapt) into Li Jianwu’s play Wang Deming in 1944, and classic Japanese film Throne of Blood in 1957.

The collection of Shakespeare’s plays     9     (remain) at the heart of the study of English literature worldwide, and also provides the backbone of the tourist industry in Stratford-upon-Avon, his birthplace in England’s West Midlands, which is also home     10     the Royal Shakespeare Company theater.

5 . A NASA climate research scientist, Cynthia Rosenzweig, who has spent much of her career explaining how global food production must adapt to a changing climate, was awarded the World Food Prize on Thursday.

“We basically cannot solve climate change unless we address the issues of the greenhouse gas emissions from the food system, and we cannot provide food security for all unless we work really hard to develop adaptable agricultural systems,” she told The Associated Press in an interview.

Rosenzweig, who describes herself as a climate impact scientist, grew up in Scarsdale, New York, a suburban area that she said led her to seek out life in the country. Later, she moved to Italy, and developed a passion for agriculture. After returning to the United States, she focused her education on agronomy (农学).

She worked as a graduate student at the Goddard Institute for Space Studies in the early 1980s, when global climate models were beginning to show the effects of human-generated carbon dioxide on the global climate. As the only team member studying agronomy, she researched the impact on food production and has been working since then to answer those questions.

Rosenzweig’s work led to the Environmental Protection Agency’s first prediction of the effects of climate change on the nation’s agricultural regions in the agency’s assessment of the potential effects of climate change on the United States in 1988. She was the first to bring climate change to the attention of the American Society of Agronomy and she organized the first sessions on the issue in the 1980s. The research organization she founded, AgMIP, develops adaptation packages, which could include the use of more drought-tolerant seeds and improved water management practices.

Even the largest agribusiness corporations have shown a willingness to listen. Some models her colleagues have developed show how businesses could be effected by climate change and how they have a role to play in reducing the impact on climate.

“It’s really a global partnership of all the global food systems to come together to restrain climate change and maintain the food security for the planet,” she said.

1. What can we learn from paragraph 2?

A．Plants can hardly cause greenhouse gas emissions.

B．Issues of food security will result in climate change.

C．Improving food systems will help address climate change.

D．Some adaptable agricultural systems have been put into use.

2. Which of the following can best describe Rosenzweig?

A．Modest.

B．Devoted.

C．Adaptable.

D．Warm-hearted.

3. What is paragraph 5 mainly about?

A．Rosenzweig’s contributions.	B．Rosenzweig’s challenges.
C．Rosenzweig’s expectations.	D．Rosenzweig’s backgrounds.

4. What does the underlined word “they” in paragraph 6 refer to?

A．The models.	B．The practices.
C．The colleagues.	D．The businesses.

6 . 听下面一段独白，回答以下小题。1.

A．She was born in a poor family.

B．She worked as a doctor in her early life.

C．She spent her whole life in London.

D．She decided to help the poor when she was young.

2.

A．Because of the poor living conditions.	B．Because she was sent to a settlement house.
C．Because of her health problem.	D．Because her family moved to another city.

3.

A．She founded the first settlement house in America.

B．She wrote books about the problems faced by the poor.

C．She introduced laws to help workers, women, and children.

D．She helped those who had come to America from other countries.

7 . Taylor Swift showed very early promise as a singer of country songs, performing from the age of nine. She learned the guitar and persuaded her family to move to Tennessee so she could further her career. She holds numerous records for achievements in music, has been named among the top 100 most influential people on more than one occasion and was named as Woman of the Decade and Artist of the Decade in the 2010s. Swift’s musical style has evolved from country to pop and her fans number in the millions.

Taylor Swift has a firm belief that we should all be ourselves. She tempers this by saying that we must be respectful of others, honest and strong-willed. Strength of purpose will carry a person through life and see them achieve great things. Do not, she says, be average. Stand out and be the best person that you can.

Her view of life is simple. We each have one life, and we must make sure we do not waste it. Life is there to be enjoyed and to be fulfilled. Only we can control what happens in our lives, and must not allow others to judge us or create false opinions of us.

To live a life that has meaning, we must be prepared to learn from mistakes and failures and deal with them without getting discouraged or distracted from our path. No one should tell you what you can’t do, and you must not let a mistake tell you that either. When someone tries to stop you from doing something, be eager to prove them wrong. Be keen, too, to show that your mistakes won’t hold you back.

Taylor Swift puts great store in happiness. Seeking happiness is a wonderful ambition, and everyone should see it as an aim. Success without happiness is a meaningless achievement. Aiming for happiness can go along with other goals too. Swift doesn’t rest when she has achieved one goal, but picks up another and pursues that with the same vigor and determination.

1. What can we learn from paragraph 1?

A．She moved to Tennessee to get a degree.

B．She has been named among the top 100 most influential people once.

C．Her musical style is single.

D．She has had a talent in music since childhood.

2. In the following statements, which one will Taylor Swift NOT agree with ?

A．We should accept that we are only ordinary people.

B．We are masters of our life.

C．Never let mistakes block our moving-forward way.

D．Without happiness, success equals zero.

3. Which words can best describe Taylor Swift?

A．Patient and passionate	B．Positive and ambitious
C．Hard-working and optimistic	D．Intelligent and humorous

4. Which is the text mainly about?

A．A brief introduction to Taylor Swift.	B．Taylor Swift’s autobiography.
C．Taylor Swift’s influence.	D．Taylor Swift’s childhood and dream.

8 . 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。

Actress Jia Ling topped the social media topics on the second consecutive day of the Chinese Lunar New Year as her great weight     1     (lose) of 50 kilograms during the shooting of her movie Yolo triggered heated discussions over healthy lifestyle and allowed some viewers     2     (draw) aspirations from her arduous weight-loss journey.

The     3     (high) anticipated comedy Yolo hit theaters across China on Feb 10, the first day of the Lunar New Year. It is now leading the domestic movie box office. According to Douban, “YOLO”     4     (adapt) from the 2014 Japanese movie “100 Yen Love”. This movie is comedian-actress-director Jia Ling’s sophomore feature, three years after her 2021 directorial debut box-office blockbuster “Hi, Mom” for which she holds the record as the world’s highest grossing female movie director.

Topics related     5     Jia’s stunning weight loss were dominating Weibo such as “full record of Jia’s losing weight journey” and “Jia Ling totally shocked me,” as netizens discuss     6     it is time to develop a more balanced habit starting from the Spring Festival.

“Her achievement is quite     7     (inspire) and     8     deserves a movie ticket,” moviegoer Li Qiaoya,     9       regularly visits the gym to lose weight, told the Global Times on Sunday. “I feel     10     (guilt) for eating too much during the Spring Festival already.”

9 . 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。

In the mid-19th century, the world     1     (destroy) by cholera, a disease that killed thousands. In London, the epidemic (流行病) was particularly severe, with bodies piling up and fear running wild. In this chaos, a man name d John Snow rose     2       (challenge) the invisible enemy.

John Snow,     3     medical doctor, had a keen interest in finding the source of cholera. He was not convinced by the then-common belief       4     cholera was spread through bad air. His suspicions were aroused     5     he noticed that most cases were concentrated around a single water pump in Soho. He investigated deeper, mapping the pumps and     6       (associate) them with cholera cases.

With detailed observation and courageous experimentation, John Snow identified the polluted water     7     the “criminal” behind the epidemic. He convinced authorities to remove the handle of the pump,     8     (effective) stopping the spread of cholera. His actions saved     9       (count) lives and marked a significant turning point in public health history.

John Snow’s lasting impact serves as a     10     (remind) of the strength of observation, logical reasoning, and decisive action in the face of challenges.

10 . At 102 years old, toy inventor Eddy Goldfarb is still going like freshly wound Yakity-Yak Talking Teeth, one of his more than 800 creations. Goldfarb also dreamed up the Bubble Gun, battery-powered Stomper vehicles and KerPlunk, in which hopeful players hold their breath as they strategically remove sticks without disturbing the marbles above.

“Being active and being creative is my secret, and I think it could apply to a lot of people,” the Toy Industry Hall of Fame inductee (新成员) says in an interview before singing the praises of his pair of 3D printers. “That’s the most wonderful machine because you start with nothing, and it goes layer by layer and builds something.”

The Chicago native still creates in his workshop and is the focus of Eddy’s World, a documentary that aired on TV. The 28-minute film is directed by his daughter, Lyn Goldfarb.

Goldfarb knew he was going to be a creator at 5 when his father invited an inventor to dinner. “That’s when I learned the meaning of the word,” he says, “and I knew from then on that I was going to be an inventor.” The designer couldn’t afford college and joined the Navy during World War II. He thought of the ideas for his first three toys while serving on the USS Batfish.

Goldfarb feels “very lucky” to still be alive at his age. He owes his longevity (长寿) to being creative and his optimistic personality. “During the war, I was on the submarine (潜艇) and saw a lot of action, and I think I realized what’s important and what’s not,” he says. “I found out that most things aren’t that important. I can overlook a lot.”

What’s next for the centenarian (百岁老人)? He’d fancy another milestone birthday. “Oh, I’d like to turn 105,” he says. “I’m fortunate that I’m healthy. I don’t have any of the aches and pains that I heard about all my life. So life is worth living. At 105, we’ll start thinking about what we should do.”

1. What does the first paragraph tell us about Goldfarb?

A．He is a highly respected toy inventor.

B．He is one of the oldest toy inventors.

C．He has invented less than 800 toys.

D．He is still active in toy invention.

2. What can we know about Eddy Goldfarb from the text?

A．He directed a short film.

B．He once dropped out of college.

C．He was not famous until he was 102.

D．He became the focus of a documentary.

3. When did Goldfarb get the idea of his first three toys?

A．At the age of five.	B．While serving in the Navy.
C．When dining with an inventor.	D．During his stay with his daughter.

4. Which of the following can best describe Eddy Goldfarb?

A．Lucky and wealthy.	B．Greative and positive.
C．Determined and generous.	D．Ambitious and hardworking.