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. |
| A．Quantum dots. | B．Spots. | C．Atoms. | D．Grains. |
| A．Moungi Bawendi. | B．Louis Brus. | C．Alexei Ekimov. | D．Johan Åqvist. |
| 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 . 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,
More than four centuries after his death in 1616, Shakespeare’s plays remain
The collection of Shakespeare’s plays
3 . 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. |
| A．Modest. | B．Devoted. | C．Adaptable. | D．Warm-hearted. |
| A．Rosenzweig’s contributions. | B．Rosenzweig’s challenges. |
| C．Rosenzweig’s expectations. | D．Rosenzweig’s backgrounds. |
| A．The models. | B．The practices. |
| C．The colleagues. | D．The businesses. |
1. How did Sharapova tell the world she would leave her sporting world?
| A．Through a friend. | B．Through an interview. | C．Through a magazine. |
| A．Her physical condition. | B．Her business. | C．Her age. |
| A．In 2004. | B．In 2006. | C．In 2012. |
| A．She’s humorous. | B．She’s self-centered. | C．She’s hard-working. |
5 . A former starchitect (明星建筑师) who designed villas for Pakistan’s celebrities now rebuilds villages completely destroyed by natural disasters.
October 2005, a catastrophic earthquake claiming some 79, 000 people in Pakistan reduced the villages to ruins in mud. Yasmeen Lari, a then-65-year-old architect was there to help lead the reconstruction of settlements. Working with volunteer architects and engineers from Pakistan and abroad, she started drawing plans for earthquake-resistant homes.
Over the following decades, Lari designed various houses and devices inside. Lari’s shelters, inspired by traditional designs and made with sustainable materials such as bamboo, mud and lime (石灰) that are sourced locally first, can better withstand disasters. Bamboo homes on stilts (柱子) allow water to flow through, while cross-bracing (交叉支撑) provides strength and flexibility during earthquakes. Lari’s insistence on low-cost, zero-waste and zero-carbon buildings reflects her commitment to the planet.
This sustainable inspiration has fuelled many of Lari’s designs, which now include household innovations. For instance, more than 80, 000 of her well-received limecrete and smokeless cookstoves were built. The device, which won a UN World Habitat Prize in 2018, costs about E8 to make and is fuelled with agricultural waste. The stoves stand higher than flood levels, making them safer than smoky, open cooking fires on the ground.
Now at age 83, Lari is still fizzing with ideas about zero-carbon designs, skills building and self-sustaining villages.
1. Which can best describe Yasmeen Lari?| A．Insistent and conventional. | B．Productive and stubborn. |
| C．Innovative and committed. | D．Economical and academic. |
| A．They accommodate homeless villagers. | B．They are all made of local materials. |
| C．They follow traditional designs. | D．They are resistant to earthquakes. |
| A．It costs a lot. | B．It generates smoke. |
| C．It gains popularity. | D．It burns animal waste. |
| A．From architect to humanitarian | B．The greatest architect ever |
| C．Rebuilding destroyed villages | D．Designing household devices |
6 . Look, I’m not a happy crier. I might cry at songs about leaving and missing someone; I might cry at books where things don’t work out; I might cry at movies where someone dies. I’ve just never really understood why people get all choked up over happy, inspirational things. But Michelle Obama’s kindness and empathy (同情) changed that. This book had me in tears for all the right reasons.
This is not really a book about politics, though political experiences obviously do come into it. It’s a shame that some will dismiss this book because of a difference in political opinion, when it is really about a woman’s life. About growing up poor and black on the South Side of Chicago; about getting married and struggling to maintain that marriage; about motherhood; about being thrown into an amazing and terrifying position.
I hate words like “inspirational” because they’ve become so overdone and cheese (俗气的), but I just have to say it — Michelle Obama is an inspiration. I had the privilege of seeing her speak at The Forum in Inglewood, and she is one of the warmest, funniest, smartest, down-to-earth people I have ever seen in this world.
And yes, I know we present what we want the world to see, but I truly do think it’s genuine. I think she is someone who really cares about people — especially kids — and wants to give them better lives and opportunities.
She’s obviously intelligent, but she also doesn’t gussy up her words. She talks straight, with an openness and honesty rarely seen. She’s been one of the most powerful women in the world, she’s been a graduate of Princeton and Harvard Law School, she’s had her own successful career, and yet she has remained throughout that same girl — Michelle Robinson — from a working class family in Chicago.
I don’t think there’s anyone who wouldn’t benefit from reading this book.
1. What is the main focus of Michelle’s book?| A．Her political experiences and opinions. | B．Her personal life and experiences. |
| C．Her achievements as a powerful woman. | D．Her efforts to motivate others. |
| A．It is overused and insincere. | B．It reminds them of cheese books. |
| C．It is associated with political opinions. | D．It is inapplicable to Michelle Obama. |
| A．Forgets. | B．Regret. | C．Beautify. | D．Swallow. |
| A．Bossy and aggressive | B．Humble and honest. |
| C．Distant and image-loving. | D．Ambitious and career-driven. |
7 . The 19th Asian Games begin in Hangzhou, People’s Republic of China, on 23 September 2023, with Asia’s top athletes back in action representing their nations. Olympics.com picks 10 stars to keep an eye on. Malaysia’s diving queen Pandelela is one of them.
Pandelela has had a difficult year with injury and health issues. She will be looking to Hangzhou to turn her 2023 season — during which she has only competed twice — around. Pandelela made her season debut (首秀)in May at the 2023 Diving World Cup stop in Montreal, finishing ninth in both the individual 10m platform and mixed team events.
However, at a training camp in China in June ahead of July’s World Championships in Japan, she picked up both illness and injury again, which hampered her in Fukuoka. There, she unfortunately finished 24th in the individual platform event — missing out on the semi-finals for the first time in her career.
“Despite the setback, I will keep showing up and never give up. Because the lesson in the pool here may just be the perfect potion (解药) for what’s going to happen in the future,” she wrote on Facebook following that disappointment. Her first chance to right that wrong will come in China.
The Asian Games 2022 were postponed by a year due to pandemic, but now Asian best athletes are ready to represent their nations, five years after they last did so at the 2018. We are looking forward to witnessing more athletes like Pandelela to do their best in this Games.
1. What does the underlined word “hampered” refer to?| A．inspired | B．encouraged | C．stopped | D．destroyed |
| A．Pandelela has already overcome these difficulties. |
| B．Hangzhou Asian Games will be a good chance for her. |
| C．Pandelela’s skills are impressive but dangerous. |
| D．Pandelela cannot represent her nation in diving. |
| A．Determined. | B．Kind-hearted. | C．Negative. | D．Curious. |
| A．Popular Athletes Around the World | B．The Hangzhou Asian Games |
| C．Diving World Cup in Montreal | D．Malaysia’s Diving Queen Pandelela |
8 . From her classroom window, Aynagul Bagjuli noticed the blooming flowers under the clear blue sky and had an idea. Out in the spring air, Aynagul Bagjuli taught her students “Late Spring,” a classic poem from the Tang Dynasty. The 27-year-old teaches literature at Jamatirki Middle School in Akto County.
Less than three years into her teaching job, Aynagul Bagjuli has won widespread recognition from her colleagues and students for her passion and extraordinary teaching skills. Aynagul Bagjuli is a native of Akto, where over 90 percent of the land is mountainous. Life there is tough.
Aynagul Bagjuli spent her high school years in Wenzhou. Later, she studied at the Capital Normal University in Beijing. She is among more than 100,000 students from Xinjiang’s remote areas to have received better education in the central and eastern regions of China, under a program financed by the central government since 2000. The program, aiming at cultivating (培养) professionals among ethnic groups in Xinjiang, covers part of their tuition and living expenses.
Aynagul Bagjuli’s father died when she was three, leaving her mother to raise three children. “Without the government-sponsored program, I would not have even dreamed of going anywhere outside Xinjiang, let alone attending university in the capital,” she said.
Aynagul Bagjuli gave up several employment opportunities in cities to return to her hometown. Before securing a teaching job in her hometown, she traveled to several cities and villages in different provinces, learning about diverse cultures. She loves sharing her experience with her students and believes this is an effective way to arouse their interest.
1. Where did Aynagul Bagjuli receive her college education?| A．In Urumqi. | B．In Wenzhou. | C．In Akto. | D．In Beijing. |
| A．Doubtful. | B．Grateful. | C．Critical. | D．Disappointed. |
| A．To raise her students’ interest. |
| B．To show her learning experience. |
| C．To encourage her students to travel. |
| D．To find a way to communicate with her students. |
| A．Aynagul Bagjuli’s Learning Experience |
| B．Aynagul Bagjuli’s Excellent Teaching Skills |
| C．Aynagul Bagjuli Teaching in Her Hometown after College |
| D．A Government-sponsored Program Supporting Poor Students |
9 . Architecture is among the most valuable and respected careers in India. We’ve all heard stories about the great architectural designs, but behind these huge and artistic designs is the workmanship and crafted skills of amazing architects who are not appreciated enough. And below is a list mentioning the most notable Indian architects of all time.
Hafeez Contractor
The man responsible for the three tallest buildings in India, The 42 in Kolkata, The Imperial twin-towers of Mumbai, and Hafeez Contractor, is a recipient of the 2016 Padma Bhushan. He completed his master’s degree in Columbia after winning a scholarship for Columbia University and later designed several skyscrapers in India.
Chitra Vishwanath
The Principal Architect and MD of Biome Environment Solutions, this Bangalore based architecture is a conservationist whose works are based on ecology. Chitra is recognised for over 500 projects, she also built her own mud house in Bangalore which includes unique features such as rain-water harvesting well and is ventilated naturally with the help of trees.
Bijoy Jain
After working in Los Angeles and London, Bijoy came to Mumbai and opened his architectural firm, Studio Mumbai. He also received the Global Award for Sustainable Architecture in 2009 and is a Professor of architecture at Yale University.
Nariman Gandhi
He is considered a legend for his unconventional architectural creations which specialised in organic architecture. His ideologies and philosophies deviated (偏离) from the mainstream architectural thought. Nariman is notable for making exceptional use of rock, brick, wood, glass and leather in his works, for instance, the famous Dawood Shoe House in Mumbai.
1. What do Hafeez Contractor and Bijoy Jain have in common?| A．They designed skyscrapers in India. |
| B．They were recipients of Padma Bhushan. |
| C．They had experiences of going abroad. |
| D．They opened their own architectural firms. |
| A．Hafeez. | B．Chitra. |
| C．Bijoy. | D．Nariman. |
| A．His design breaks tradition. |
| B．He follows the trendy ideas. |
| C．He receives various awards. |
| D．His works are controversial. |
In Japan, Chen Jianyi was a household name. He devoted his life to cooking and adapting the hot and spicy Chinese dish for Japanese
In 1952, Chen’s father moved to Japan. 6 years
In 1990, Chen took over the Sichuan restaurant at
Sadly, chef Chen passed away in March, 2023. The news of his death made media headlines in Japan. It shows just how much the Japanese love the dish he cooked and Chinese cuisine, and how food culture has played an important role in promoting communication and
