1 . Living without Wi-fi
Can you imagine life without phones and Wi-fi? Most of us think it is difficult. However, in Green Bank, a small town in the U.S.A., people are living such a life.
Green Bank is home to a large radio telescope (射电望远镜). It is used to study the universe. Radio waves from the ground can affect (影响) the work of the telescope. For this reason, people there can’t have smartphones or Wi-fi ,etc. They can only use a pay phone when they need to make phone calls.
Today, there are about 180 people in Green Bank. Many of them don’t find life inconvenient. A boy said he liked going to his friends’ houses to talk to them. They can quickly find each other somewhere in this small town.
Jenny said she likes to talk to people face-to-face. This gives her the chance to shake their hands. She really enjoys living without Wi-fi.
1. Where is Green Bank?2. Why can’t people in Green Bank use smartphones or Wi-fi?
3. What can people do when they need to make phone calls?
4. Do you like to live in Green Bank? Why or why not?
SEVEN-YEAR-OLD Ryan, a Chinese-American boy, spends his days in primary school and his evenings as an online celebrity. Ryan is a toy tester who unboxes new toys and shares his opinion with millions of his followers on his YouTube channel, “RyanToysReview.” Last year, the cute, bubbly (活泼的) — and enterprising (有创业精神的) — kid made $11 million.
Ryan is just one of the many thousands of young people who have discovered that the internet and its various platforms can provide plenty of money-making opportunities. All that is needed is a good idea and an internet connection.
Young Chinese are also being drawn to the internet as a possible career, or as an easy way to make a lot of money. In 2017, a survey of 13,000 Chinese college students found that 54% wanted to become internet celebrities. No doubt they see it as a good alternative to spending their lives working in an office cubicle (小隔间), but becoming an online celebrity isn’t as easy or as profitable as it may seem. According to the same survey, 80% of aspiring (有抱负的) online celebrities can’t make enough money to support themselves, and 15% make only a modest white-collar salary. That means you have to be one of the lucky or talented 5% to become rich and famous.
Zhang Kaiyi is one of the 5%. She started posting video clips (短视频) in 2017 and quickly attracted 4.8 million followers on Weibo. Zhang says, “It is content that can create value, and it is also content that can possibly reshape business.” Zhang’s advice was to keep your content fun, life-oriented, creative and positive.
What you also need is good communication skills and a good education. Most of the online celebrities you see have at least a college degree. They are smart, creative people. They also have good communication skills which enable them to connect with their audiences. Such things as eye contact and a fluent, direct speaking style are essential. It also helps to have an interesting personality, but that is a gift, not something that can be learned.
Little Ryan was lucky enough to have acquired all those good qualities (personality and communication skills) naturally. But his online celebrity may fade(消退) as he becomes a teenager and is still playing with children’s toys. Stay in school, Ryan, and get a good education ... just in case.
1. What job does Ryan do that enables him to make a large amount of money?2. What do you need if you want to find opportunities to make money like Ryan?
3. Becoming an online celebrity isn’t as easy or as profitable as it may seem, is it?
4. How many percent of online celebrities can become rich and famous, according to a survey in 2017?
5. Why does the author suggest that Ryan should stay in school and get a good education?
6. Would you like to be such an online celebrity as Ryan? Why or why not?
3 . FOMO
Posted 2 hours ago by Grade teacher
Everybody knows how important it is for students to get a good night’s sleep every night. You aren’t able to do your best and keep up with all of your responsibilities unless you sleep well. I’m sure you already know that you should go to bed at a reasonable hour. Most experts agree that the ideal number of hours is eight and this has been accepted as common sense for as long as I can remember. However, I was young once and I know that most of you get much less sleep than that–and in some cases it will be affecting your school work.
I read an interesting article in a teachers’ magazine recently. They did a study of 848 students in Wales Worryingly, the results showed that teenagers are facing a new problem. They may go to bed and get up at appropriate ate times but a growing number are waking up in the middle of the night not to use the bathroom or have a snack but because of a new phenomenon FOMO –fear of missing out.
According to the article, school are suffering because of growing trend（趋势）to wake up during the night to check social medial. Afraid of missing a reply or opportunity to take part in a chat, teenagers are waking at all times of the night, going online and getting involved. All this takes place when they should be sound asleep.
Experts are worried about this growing trend and the report shows some worrying statistics that I’d like to share with you. 23% of 12 to 15-year-olds wake up nearly every night to use social media. Another 15% wake up at night once a week for the same reason. One in three students are tired all the time and unable to do the work to the best of their ability. Students who use social media during the night are more likely to feel extremely anxious.
So, I’d like to ask you to
2. How much time should schoolchildren spend sleeping every night according to the article?
3. What does FOMO stand for?
4. Why do schoolchildren check up their social media in the middle of the night?
Because
5. What two possible conclusions can we draw from the statistics?
Conclusion 1：
Conclusion 2：
6. In the last paragraph, what does the writer probably want to say to the readers?
So, I’d like to ask you to
Reading newspapers is a convenient way to get the daily news. They are not expensive, and we can buy them at gas stations, supermarkets and newsstands. However, newspapers were not always so easy to get until Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press (印刷机) in the fifteenth century. It made copies by making a piece of paper across metal type (金属活字印刷). There is black ink on it. That’s why “the press” not only means the machine that prints the newspaper, but also newspapers themselves.
The term “newspaper” was first introduced during the 17th century, and the first newspaper was printed in Germany. Before people got into the habit of buying their own copies, a single copy was posted in a public place on a wall or notice board.
Newspapers were not designed very beautifully at first. Today, newspapers contain much more than a record of the day’s events. There are sections for fashion, food, sports, cartoons and games. Newspapers are a source of information and entertainment. For hundreds of years, printed newspapers were very popular.
However, in the 21st century, printed newspapers are starting to disappear. Four hundred years ago, there were not many newspapers because they could not be printed quickly, and many adults didn’t even know how to read. Today tablets, phones, and the Internet are replacing (代替) newspapers because it is easier and cheaper to read the news online.
1. Newspapers were easy to get in the fifteenth century, weren’t they?2. Where was the first newspaper printed?
3. How was a newspaper made after Gutenberg invented the printing press?
4. How many newspaper sections are mentioned in the passage?
5. What happened to printed newspapers in the 21st century?
6. What do you think of newspapers? Why?
I think newspapers are
The American newspaper has been around for about three hundred years. In 1721, the printer James Franklin, Benjamin’s older brother, started the New England Courant, and that was what we might recognize today as a real newspaper. He filled his paper with stories of adventure, articles on art, on famous people, and on all sorts of political subjects.
Three centuries after the appearance of Franklin’s Courant, few believe that newspapers in their present printed form will remain alive for long. Newspaper companies are losing advertisers, readers, market value, and in some cases, their sense of purpose at a speed that would not have been imaginable just several years ago. The chief editor of the Times said recently, “At places where they gather, editors ask one another, ‘How are you?’ as if they have just come out of the hospital or a lost law case.” An article about the newspaper appeared on the website of the Guardian, under the headline “NOT DEAD YET”.
Perhaps not, but the rise of the Internet, which has made the daily newspaper look slow and out of step with the world, has brought about a real sense of death. Some American newspapers have lost 42% of their market value in the past three years. The New York Times Company has seen its stock drop by 54% since the end of 2004, with much of the loss coming in the past year. A manager At Deutsche Bank suggested that stock-holders sell off their Times stock. The Washington Post Company has prevented the trouble only by changing part of its business to education; its testing and test-preparation service now brings in at least half the company’s income.
1. What can we read in the first real newspaper?_____________________________________________________________________
2. People don’t think that newspapers in their present printed form will last for long, do they?
_____________________________________________________________________
3. Why has the Internet been a great threat to the development of newspapers?
_____________________________________________________________________
4. Which newspapers was found a new way for its development, the New York Times or the Washington Post?
_____________________________________________________________________
5. How does the writer seem to feel about the future of newspapers?
_____________________________________________________________________
6 . Twitter（微博） is a free social online service that allows you to send messages to hundreds of your friends all at the same time. Twitter allows you to share information, ask questions, and connect with people around with common interests. By way of your computer or mobile phone you can send short messages, or '"tweets （推文）," that are limited to 140 characters (字符数). People can sign up on Twitter to follow your tweets or you can choose to follow them and receive their tweets, too. Tweets are displayed on the user's profile page（个人信息页面) and sent to other users, known as "followers（跟帖好友）," who have subscribed to them.
Twitter is a great way to keep in touch with people and quickly broadcast information about where you are and what you're doing. Twitter chats also provide you wonderful opportunities to connect with others and expand your circle of contacts（社交圈）to an ever-growing community of like-minded people. That may explain partly the increasing popularity worldwide （在全世界广受欢迎）since the creation of Twitter in 2006.
Part of the reason why Twitter is growing so fast is that it offers a variety of content （各种类型的内容）. The major icons（偶像）like Donald Trump and NBC's Today Show to the young people, are already on Twitter. Everyone has a unique viewpoint and Twitter makes it very easy to express themselves.
Beside personal use. Twitter has also become an important marketing tool（营销工具）for businesses. For example, what new Apple product will be announced.
lf you are raising money for a charity or just want to show off your vacation photos to your friends, then Twitter can also help you quickly get the word out（帮助宣传）.
Remember, Twitter is for staying in touch, having conversations and keeping up with friends no matter where you or they are.
1. It is easy for you to express your opinion on twitter, isn't it?2. What is twitter?
3. How many characters can tweets be?
4. When was tweeter created?
5. Why is twitter growing so fast?
6. What kind of tool has twitter become for business?
Few people would disagree that email makes our lives easier. But misusing email can cause problems. Answering all those emails and processing all that information can overload(使负荷过)the brain, causing stress. So says the Future Work Center, a business based in London. This company carries out psychological (心理的) )research on people’s experiences in their workplaces.
Dr Richand Memnon at the center was the lead author of a report on messaging habits. He calls email a double-edged sword: Emails provide a useful way to communicate, but they could add to tension(紧张情绪) in the mind, causing stress. Come rain or shine(无论如何)，some office workers are under pressure to read and answer emails all day long. Psychologists care about the pressure that workers bring on themselves. Dr. Mackinnon says that while email can be a valuable, time-saving communication tool, it can also be a source of stress and even anger for many of us. He adds that the stress does not come from the number of emails you get. The problems result from when and how you deal with them.
According to the study, leaving email on all day and never signing off(签收), along with reading and answering emails early in the day and late at night, are what makes email stressful. Dr. MacKinnon says these bad email habits are linked to higher levels of stress in office workers. The report gives several suggestions on avoiding emails stress.
Use email with a plan. Do not just react to endless email. If you use email application, or app, close it down when you want to be left alone.
If you need to communicate with a co-worker, call or better still walk to their office and talk about it.
Be careful with the “ reply all” option. For example, if you are accepting an invitation to attend training, just write back to those who need to know. Trust me. Other workers on that mailing list will thank you.
And accept the fact that if a matter is urgent, employers will call you about it. Email is certainly not going anywhere, so it is important to take control of your emails and not the other way around.
1. Many people disagree that email makes our lives easier, don’t they?_____________________________________________________________
2. Why does Dr. MacKinnon call email “a double-edged sword”?
_____________________________________________________________
3. What is linked to bad email habits in office workers?
_____________________________________________________________
4. What’s the purpose of giving suggestions according to the report?
_____________________________________________________________
5. If you want to receive an invitation by email, what should you do to reply it?
_____________________________________________________________
6. What good or bad habit of email processing have you got?
Why do you think it is good or bad?
____________________________________________________________
