1 . Can you live without technology for a week? Teenager Jackson writes about his experience in his diaries.

Day 1

Most mornings, I check my phone for messages, read quickly through WeChat and have a look at QQ. Not this morning! And surprisingly, I was ready for school much earlier than usual. On the way to school, I began to count the number of people on their phones—my dad, some young kids, my friends. I was green with envy to them, so I was missing mine. This was going to be a long week.

Day 2

I set my alarm (闹钟) for later than usual, but I was still out of the house before my brother. When I got to school, my friends told me about some news that had been posted the night before. I really enjoyed hearing all about it. This conversation was unexpected. We don’t usually talk to each other first thing in the morning because we usually send each other messages the night before.

Day 3

I woke up feeling good until I remembered that I had sports practice that afternoon and I didn’t have a lift (搭便车). Usually, I can make it quickly by posting a message. I spent an hour organizing transport. It was stressful but I learned that I needed to plan if I wanted to live without my phone.

Day 4

I felt more prepared today. My friends and I had planned to meet at Jason’s house after school to work on a project and I managed to get a lift there. We started well by talking about the project. However, fifteen minutes later, we were all siting in silence. Everyone was checking their phone.

Day 5

On Friday evening, I was at home. I’d just watched my favourite series and I wanted to talk about it. I could imagine the messages my friends would post about the show. I wanted my phone back but I knew I would hate myself if I gave up.

1. What does “mine” in Paragraph 1 refer to (指的是)?

A．My phone.

B．My series.

C．My parents.

D．My friends.

2. What does the writer learn from the five-day experience?
① Not using phones makes life easier.
② Setting the alarm early is important.
③ Living without a phone needs planning.
④ Phones help face-to-face communication.
⑤Don’t give up challenges too quickly.

A．③-⑤

B．②-④

C．②-③

D．①-③

3. What is the text mainly about?

A．Enjoying time with friends at school.

B．Improving our lives with technology.

C．The challenges of living without a phone.

D．The importance of planning daily activities.

2 . 先通读下面的短文，然后根据短文内容，在文章后表格的空格内填入一个最恰当的单词。每个空格只能填一个单词。

From TV to New Media

A recent report said that China’s TV usage dropped from 70 percent to less than 30 percent in 2022. Also, TV sales dropped from 48.94 million in 2019 to 36.34 million in 2022. So why do we watch less TV? Here are some interviews with some students.

“I seldom watch TV mainly because of the boring advertisements.” Song Ruiqi from Zhejiang said, “They always show up when a show or a movie is halfway through its run. So my family and I hardly turn on the TV at home.”

He Liyan from Jiangsu believes that mobile phones or computers can easily meet our needs for watching videos. TVs often have hidden fees and complex (复杂的) interfaces. These problems have led to situations where young people aren’t interested in them, while the elderly find them difficult to use.

“We have a busy day, leaving us with little time to watch TV. Also, the TV shows we enjoy are different from the ones our parents like. In my family, I can hardly get a chance to control the remote when they sit on the sofa.” said Zhang Linhui, Guangdong.

“Different from traditional TVs, which require us to be at home to watch, video websites can be seen anytime and anywhere.” Wang Hexuan, Sichuan, added, “Besides, their bullet-screen (弹幕) function allows people to express their opinions. This experience is a pleasure that traditional TV watching cannot provide.”

Title: From TV to New Media
Since fewer people in China are watching TV at home, the TV sales number is     1     than before.
2	The advertisements that     3     halfway make people bored. The problems like hidden fees and complex interfaces reduce people’s interest. Different viewing habits may     4     to the loss of TV viewers. TVs require people to be at home to watch and have no bullet-screen function.
Conclusion	New media are becoming more popular in China. Unlike traditional TVs, they have many     5     over TVs. They are not limited by time and place. Moreover, they have better interactivity to express their opinions.

3 . 阅读下面短文，根据所读内容在文章后表格中的空格里填入一个最恰当的单词，每个空格只填1个单词。

Helpful Hotline

A telephone hotline has recently gone viral (走红). It was created by students at West Side Elementary School in Healdsburg, California. People can call to get cheerful advice from students.

The hotline is in English and Spanish. Children with happy voices share positive (积极的) messages with callers. For example, by pressing “3”, you can hear a group of kids say, “You can do it! Keep trying! Don’t give up!” Pressing “4” triggers the sounds of children giggling (咯咯笑) and laughing—a sound certain to bring a smile to anyone’s face.

Most people agree that with concerns (担心) like COVID-19 and extreme (极端的) weather, recent years have been stressful (令人有压力的). “To hear the pure joy from kids is comforting,” Jessica Martin told local news website 10TV News. She teaches art at West Side Elementary School and worked with the students on this project.

The basic question she had for them was: “What could you say to help or encourage someone else?” Students thought of what they would like to say. Then Martin recorded each one and sorted out (分类) the recordings into different parts of the telephone hotline.

Pressing “1” brings up ideas for people who feel upset or nervous. Helpful suggestions include punching (击打) your pillow, doing flips (翻转) on a trampoline (蹦床) or getting a cookie.

Pressing “2” results in “words of encouragement and life advice”, like “The world is a better place with you in it.”

The hotline soon got thousands of calls an hour. Words of the hotline spread on social media. The hotline is popular with stressed adults, hospital patients, older people in nursing homes and others who just want to hear some happy voices.

Title: Helpful Hotline
Introduction	Students from California created the project to give cheerful advice to people. It is both in English and Spanish. By     1     different numbers, callers can hear children’s encouraged words and sounds which make them     2    .
Background of the project	Worrying about COVID-19 and extreme weather, people face a lot of     3    . With the help of hotline, they can feel     4     from sounds of kids.
The process of making the hotline	Think of what they would like to say to help     5    .     6     each one. Put the recordings into different parts.
7     to use the hotline	If you press “1”, you can get helpful suggestions,     8     punching your pillow, doing flips on a trampoline or getting a cookie. If you Press “2”, you can hear children encourage or     9     you to face life bravely.
Influence of the hotline	The spread on social media     10     to its popularity among different kinds of people who wants to get happiness.

4 . Cell phones and smartphones are a big part of modern life. Many people use them every day, including kids and teens. Now a lot of people are talking about if phones should be allowed in school.

Let’s get a clear picture of the situation first. 53% of children will own a smartphone by the age of 11 in the US. That number rises up to 95% in teenagers. Surveys show that as well as passing the time, 83% of kids use their phones to learn. Teens can spend over 7 hours a day looking at screens.

These are just some of the many, many statistics about cell phones among teens. From this, we can see that mobile technology is a big part of life for today’s teenagers.

Cell phones in school do have the power of providing super educational help. Cell phones can be used for education through the many educational apps and games out there. Mobile app stores are filled with educational materials for children of all ages. Students can also surf the Internet on their phone. There are plenty of educational resources online, from scientific research papers to exam tips and more.

At the same time, with so many kids spending hours a day looking at their phone screens, there may be problems. One of the big problems that many people talk about with phones in school is the risk of them becoming a distraction (分散注意). Kids could start looking at their phones while the teacher is talking and miss out on key information, for example. There’s also a risk of kids being unwilling to go out with friends or communicate with other people if they’re too distracted by their screens. It’s even possible for children of different ages to develop addictions (瘾) on their phones. Some studies have shown that phones could cause mental (精神的) illness.

This means that the government needs to weigh up the fors and againsts before deciding about stopping or allowing phones in school.

1. What does the underlined word statistics mean? ________

A．Problems.

B．Stories.

C．Facts.

D．Events.

2. What is the reason for using phones in school according to the article? ________
①Phones can be used by people of all ages.
②Phones have apps to help with kids’ study.
③Phones allow students to play video games safely.
④Phones can help students know how to do well in exams.

A．①②

B．③④

C．②④

D．①③

3. Which of the following may the writer agree with? ________

A．Nearly all the children have phones in the USA.

B．Phones in school can greatly improve the students’ learning.

C．Teachers fully support the children in using phones in school.

D．The government should think twice about using phones in school.

5 . 阅读下面的短文，并根据所读内容在文章后表格中的空格里填入一个最恰当的单词，每个空格只填一个单词。

The typical cellphone user touches his or her phone 2,617 times every day. Most people spend 3 hours on their phones each day. The influences of this usage (用法，用量) are shocking: reducing the quality of conversations and influencing short-term memory and problem solving. And the relation between phone addiction (成瘾) and mental (精神) illness is alarming. How can you cut down on your usage of cellphones? The following are some methods suggested by experts.

Keep to your timetable.

You could set alarms (闹钟) to make sure how often you can check your phone. For example, every half-hour, every 45 minutes or every hour. When your alarm sounds, read and deal with the messages and then put down the phone. To reduce response anxiety (反应焦虑), tell your friends or family that you may not answer their messages as quickly as you used to.

Create no-phone time zones (时区).

During working hours, if you’re upset from time to time by the ringing of your phone, you won’t remain careful with the work. Therefore, you could create a no-phone time zone. Shut your phone for at least 2 hours of your day, when you’re very busy with your work. So you can pay great attention to the work in front of you.

Reduce your reliance (依赖).

One idea is to replace some smartphone functions (功能) with real objects. For example, buy a radio alarm clock instead of depending on your phone to wake you up, and start your new year by buying a new notebook. So you can write your daily activities and to-do list not in your phone but in the notebook.

Put a hairband (发带) around your phone.

When placed in the middle of the phone, the hairband allows users to answer phone calls easily, but makes other uses of the phone more difficult. No matter when you want to use your phone, this brings about a mindfulness exercise and makes you ask yourself what your intention (意图) is. If you really want to use the phone, set your intention for why and remove the hairband. The practice helps avoid mindlessly unlocking your phone every 3 minutes.

Choose the methods most suitable for your situation and make efforts to avoid too much use of cellphones.

How to reduce your usage of cellphones

Some facts about the usage of cellphones	Cellphone users use their phone much more     1     than they thought every day. Using cellphones too much can     2     the quality of conversations and have influences on short-term memory and problem solving.
3     on the usage of cellphones from experts	Keeping to your timetable	Set alarms to make sure how often you can check your phone. When hearing the sound of your phone, read and deal with the messages and then put the phone down. Tell others that you may not answer their messages as quickly as     4    .
	Creating no-phone time zones	Create a no-phone time zone,    5     you will be upset and won’t remain careful with the work if your phone rings. Leave your phone     6     for at least 2 hours of your day, when you’re very busy with your work.
	Reducing your reliance	It is a good idea to use real objects to take the place of some smartphone functions. Never depend on your phone to wake you up. Buy a radio alarm clock instead. Write your daily activities and to-do list in the new notebook     7     of in your phone.
	Putting a hairband around your phone	Placing the hairband in the middle of the phone, users are     8     to easily answer phone calls except other smartphone functions.     9     you want to use your phone, ask yourself what your intention is. This can help you     10     mindlessly unlocking your phone every 3 minutes.

6 . 根据短文内容及首字母提示，填写所缺单词。

With social development, many people don’t stay in the same place forever. So many things can k    1     you from seeing your loved ones in person, from busy schedules to long distances (距离) to a rather unexpected pandemic COVID-19. Fortunately, thanks to modern technology, the people we miss are o    2     only a phone call or text message away. But if you’re someone who p    3     typed-out messages, you may want to think twice. A new study found that communication that i    4     voice, like a phone call or video chat, created s    5     social connections than communication through typing, like text messaging or email.

Researchers found that although people thought that a phone call with an old friend would be less comfortable, h    6     someone’s voice actually made the experience better. In an experiment, the researchers had strangers connect by e    7     texting, talking over video chat or talking using only audio (语音). They found that both forms of voice c    8    —whether video or audio only—made the strangers feel more connected than when they communicated through texting. Sabrina Romanoff, a doctor from New York, says texting can make it hard to get the t    9     meaning behind a conversation. “While making a voice or audio phone call, each party is there, so the speakers are able to understand the meaning behind the content (内容) w    10     thinking over the endless possible meanings behind words.”

7 . 根据短文内容及首字母提示，写出所缺单词，使短文完整、通顺。

In North Carolina, b    1     the invention of the telephone, people often sent messages by shouting. If they w    2     to say something to a friend on the next farm, perhaps a mile away, they would stand upon a hill and give the l    3     shouts they could. And different kinds of shouts meant different things. One shout might mean, “There’s t    4    . Come and help?” Another might mean, “Everything is fine here.” Then, when the telephone wires were put up, making i    5     easier to talk, the art of shouts died out.

8 . For the last few years, we have been able to communicate easily with people all over the world. The world has had satellites since 1957 and phone lines have carried our messages all over the world for over 100 years. Today we can send text messages to our friends and even play computer games with people in other countries. Communication was never this easy before!

In the past, different cultures and countries used different methods for communication. In Africa, people used drums to send messages from one place to another. In China, on the Great Wall, people used smoke clouds from fires to pass information along great distances.

In 1588, soldiers in England used signal fires to warn the Queen of England that her country was being attacked by Spanish ships. In big countries like the USA and Russia, horses were used to carry messages. Pigeons, birds with special skills for finding their way, were also used.

Of course, these systems could only send simple messages. The telegraph was invented in 1837. People could now send longer letters. One of the most important inventions for communication, the telephone, was invented by Alexander Craham Bell a few years later. In 1876, Mr Bell called a friend on his telephone to test it—his friend was in a room next door. But now we can call people on the other side of the world.

1. How long has the world had satellites?

A．For over 100 years.	B．For less than 70 years.
C．For about 200 years.	D．For more than 70 years.

2. What can we know about communication in the past from paragraph 2 &3?

A．Australians used horses to carry messages.

B．African people used drums to send messages.

C．Chinese used signal fires to pass information.

D．Spanish ships used signal fires to warn the queen!

3. What’s the right order of these inventions according to the article?

A．satellites—telephone—telegraph—mobile

B．telegraph—satellites—telephone—mobile

C．telegraph—telephone—satellites—mobile

D．satellites—telegraph—telephone—mobile

4. What is the article mainly about?

A．The cultures of communication.	B．The differences of communication.
C．The importance of communication.	D．The development of communication.

9 . What makes smartphones fun and useful? The apps, of course. Besides popular ones like WeChat, QQ and Tik Tok, what other apps do you know? In fact, there are many apps that you can have fun with. Check out some of them here.

Vocabulary. com——iOS

Whether you are a linguist (语言学家)or a beginner looking to improve your English language skills, Vocabulary. com has something to offer. What makes Vocabulary. com special is that it is much more than just a dictionary. It has the basic features of a dictionary app—explanations, pronunciations and grammar tips—but it also has a word learning system. This means that you get to practise the words you learn through a fun point—based game. The game will help you remember words more quickly. The app knows that even if you look up a word, you might still forget it soon. So it helps you remember words by repeating them in the game. It’s like carrying your English teacher in your pocket!

Prisma—Android/iOS

Are you a fan of art? Here’s an app created just for you. Prisma is a photo—editing (图片编辑) app unlike any other. The photo filters (滤镜)on the app can make your pictures look like works of art.

What’s more, the filters on Prisma never get old. Prisma offers a new photo filter every day. However, it also gives you the freedom to change the filters with its image—enhancing (图像增强)tools. Let your imagination go wild! You can have a portrait (肖像)painted by Picasso, too!

1. Compared with other dictionaries, what’s the main difference of Vocabulary. com?

A．It helps you improve English.

B．It can explain the words better.

C．The tips in it are more accurate.

D．You can learn English by playing games.

2. A mobile phone user who loves art can download Prisma to _________.

A．take photos

B．edit pictures

C．record videos

D．draw paintings

3. Why do the filters on Prisma never get old?

A．Prisma updates (更新) their filters daily.

B．The imagine-enhancing tools are out of date.

C．The filters in Prisma never change.

D．You cannot have a portrait of yourself.

4. What can we learn from the passage?

A．Prisma fails to improve your imagination.

B．All of us can remember words in a short time.

C．Smartphones are useful with all kinds of interesting apps.

D．Android users can download Vocabulary. com.

10 . SCREENTIME SURVEY

Do you use tech too much?

Yes   No

☑ □ I check my phone every few minutes.

☑ □ I often get nervous or angry if I can’t use my phone or computer.

□ ☑ Once I start playing video games, I have a hard time stopping.

□ ☑ I like reading e-books on my mobile phone.

□ ☑ I check my social media all the time.

☑ □ I often stay up too late using my phone.

☑ □ I feel nervous or upset when my phone is dying.

□ ☑ I check the same app over and over again.

□ ☑ I often use my phone when I’m not supposed to.

□ ☑ Family members often get angry with me for spending too much time on my phone.

Give yourself 1 point for every Yes.

YOUR SCORE: ______

0-3 points: Not bad. Stay tech smart.

4-5 points: You should really try to cut down on your tech use.

6-10 points: Your tech habits are heavily influencing your life.

Think about how you can change and be more present in the real world.

1. How many points does the person get?

A．1.

B．4.

C．5.

D．6.

2. The person who is answering the questions in this survey ______.

A．gets nervous while talking to others

B．often checks the phone

C．usually goes to bed early

D．doesn’t feel unhappy when his/her phone is running out of battery

3. What should the person do according to the results?

A．Spend more time with family.	B．Learn to be more present.
C．Stop using electronic products.	D．Spend less time on the mobile phone.