The demand for digital audio (音频的) books is growing very rapidly. Let’s first look at why this has happened. The busy lifestyle leaves us little time to sit down and read a paper book. Besides, we all have time in the day when we are not really busy mentally. Therefore, we listen and “read” when doing other things.
An audio book, read by a professional narrator who is telling you the story, is an ideal way to “read” books that you wanted to read for long but that lack of time did not permit you to read. Storytelling has a very long tradition and with the new technology, it is gaining popularity again.
“For many people, listening to an audio book is an opportunity to hear an author firsthand,” says Mary Beth Roche, president of the Audio Publishers Association. “It’s like having the very best lecture series, not just in your own town, but in your own car or home — and at your command, they’ll read when YOU are ready to listen.”
Audio books used to be thought of as limited special products for only the blind and sight-impaired (视力受损的) or for kids and lazy people who either can not or do not want to read themselves. This has greatly changed over the last few years. A study found that the average listener of audio books is about 45 years of age and has an average yearly income of over $50,000, and at least a college education and often more advanced degrees. And these people have practical knowledge or understanding of the Internet.
Moreover, audio books are especially good for children who hate to read because of problems in school. That way they are familiar with the adventure of using their own imagination to paint their mental pictures of what they hear, rather than just staring at the TV screen. Also, if they have the book and the audio, reading along can help them overcome reading problems.
1. Who most probably like digital audio books?| A．People who love high-tech products. |
| B．People who prefer listening to stories. |
| C．People who read anytime and anywhere. |
| D．People who cannot spare time for reading. |
| A．By doing experiments. | B．By giving examples. |
| C．By analyzing causes. | D．By making comparisons. |
| A．Reduce their screen time. | B．Raise their interest in reading. |
| C．Develop their imagination. | D．Improve their listening skills. |
| A．Audio Books — A Popular Choice Now |
| B．Audio Books — An Alternative to Paper Books |
| C．Audio Books — A New Source of Knowledge |
| D．Audio Books — A New Idea about Reading |
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【推荐1】The saying that children don’t like reading any more has been proved untrue. A new study finds that 75 percent of kids between 5 and 17 say that although they love technology, they still want to read books.
“The Kids & Family Reading Report “also says that 62 percent of kids prefer reading printed books rather than those on a computer. At the same time, those who search an author’s website or use the Internet to find books by a particular author, are more likely to read books for fun every day.
The study also once again proves that the time kids spend reading books for fun decreases after the age of eight and continues to drop through the teen years. The report is a follow-up to a 2006 study. But this time the focus is on the role of technology and when kids’ interest in reading starts to drop.
“Despite the fact that after the age of eight more children go online daily than read for fun daily, high frequency Internet users are more likely to read books for fun every day,” says Heather Carter, a writer of the report.
One in four kids between 5 and 17 say they read books for fun every day and more than half of kids say they read books for fun at least two to three times a week. One of the key reasons kids say why they don’t read more often is that they have trouble finding books they like—a requirement that parents underestimate.
The study also finds that parents have a strong influence on kids’ reading, but only about half of all parents begin reading to their kids before their first birthday. The percent of children who are read to every day drops from 38 percent among five-to-eight-year-olds to 23 percent among nine-to 11-year-olds—exactly the same time that kids’ daily reading for fun starts to drop.
“Parents’ engagement in their children’s reading from birth all the way through the teen years can have a great influence on how often their children read and how much they enjoy reading”, adds Carter.
1. According to the passage, which of the following statements is true?| A．75 percent of kids like surfing the Internet. |
| B．Most kids are more likely to read e-books for fun every day. |
| C．More children like to go online instead of reading books. |
| D．Most kids like reading books as well as technology. |
| A．nowadays all the kids still like to read books |
| B．most parents begin reading to their kids from their birth |
| C．some kids like to get some information using the Internet |
| D．the study of kids’ reading has been made before |
| A．begin to read books to kids from the age of 8 |
| B．read more books to kids as early as possible |
| C．help to prevent the decrease of kids’ reading |
| D．encourage their kids to read at the age of 11 |
| A．evaluate | B．undervalue |
| C．ignore | D．request |
| A．Do kids still like reading | B．Kids’ interest in reading drops |
| C．New technology on kids’ reading | D．Parents’ influence on kids’ reading |
【推荐2】In the winter of 1664-65, a bitter cold fell on London in the days before Christmas. Above the city, an unusually bright comet (彗星) shot across the sky, exciting much prediction of a snow storm. Outside the city wall, a woman was announced dead of a disease that was spreading in that area. Her house was locked up and the phrase “Lord Have Mercy On Us” was painted on the door in red.
By the following Christmas, the virus that had killed the woman would go on to kill nearly 100,000 people living in and around London — almost a third of those who did not flee.
In The Great Plague (瘟疫), historian A. Lloyd Moote and microbiologist Dorothy C. Moote provide a deeply informed account of this plague year. Reading the book, readers are taken from the palaces of the city’s wealthiest citizens to the poor areas where the vast majority of Londoners were living, and to the surrounding countryside with those who fled. The Mootes point out that, even at the height of the plague, the city did not fall into chaos. Doctors, nurses and the church staff remained in the city to care for the sick; city officials tried their best to fight the crisis with all the legal tools; and commerce continued even as businesses shut down.
To describe life and death in and around London, the authors focus on the experiences of nine individuals. Through their letters and diaries, the Mootes offer fresh descriptions of key issues in the history of the Great Plague: how different communities understood and experienced the disease; how medical, religious, and government bodies reacted; how well the social order held together; the economic and moral dilemmas people faced when debating whether to flee the city; and the nature of the material, social, and spiritual resources supporting those who remained. Based on humanity (人性), the authors offer a masterful portrait of a city and its inhabitants attacked by — and daringly resisting — unimaginable horror.
1. What can we learn from Paragraph 1?| A．A comet always follows a storm. |
| B．London was under an approaching threat. |
| C．London was prepared for the disease. |
| D．The woman was the beginning of the disease. |
| A．The city remained organized. |
| B．The plague spared the rich areas. |
| C．The people tried a lot in vain. |
| D．The majority fled and thus survived. |
| A．They were famous people in history. |
| B．They all managed to survive the Plague. |
| C．They provided vivid stories of humanity. |
| D．They united by thinking and acting as one. |
| A．To introduce a new book. |
| B．To correct a misunderstanding. |
| C．To report a new research. |
| D．To show respect to the authors. |
【推荐3】In Finding the Mother Tree, Suzanne Simard takes us through her career in the forests, working on plantations to identify links between crop production, herbicide (除草剂) use and species diversity. In carrying out these studies, she goes on to discover that trees communicate through underground fungi (真菌) networks. At the centre of these webs is an individual known as the “mother tree” that coordinates, feeds and sustains the other members of the forest.
The strength of this story isn’t only in the discoveries she makes, but her courageous persistence. She recalls how some members of her profession almost laughed her out of the room on first hearing her findings, not helped by the fact that she was a woman in a male-dominated field, trying to convince a room full of foresters that their age-old methods were imperfect.
Like Robin Wall Kimmerer combining ecology and the human spirit, Simard demonstrates that scientific research is not only about figures and conferences, but a voyage of passion and self-reflection that depends on the instinctive character of the human mind and the precision of experimentation. Simard’s ancestry is rooted in the outdoors, yet she recognises that the old ways of working with the land must evolve. She refuses to let cultural biases (偏见) influence her, instead listening to what the forest tells her.
This book also shares insights into Simard’s personal life: friendships, marriage, motherhood and breast cancer. She connects these seemingly separate parts of her life to her research into tree relationships, air, Earth and beyond. Her own relationships, not just with people but with trees, become reflections on connections with Earth. Her book thus invites us to embrace this connection with Earth when she writes: “I can’t tell if my blood is in the trees or if the trees are in my blood.”
1. Which aspect of the “mother tree” does the first paragraph focus on?| A．Its central role in the forest. | B．Its communication with fungi. |
| C．Its influence on species diversity. | D．Its unique effects on crop production. |
| A．Her absence of determination. | B．Her doubts about fellow colleagues. |
| C．Her lack of supporting evidence. | D．Her challenge to long-held beliefs. |
| A．By counting on human instinct. |
| B．By prioritizing figures and conferences. |
| C．By completely getting rid of cultural biases. |
| D．By passionately studying the true needs of nature. |
| A．Interconnectivity is at the core of her writing. |
| B．Her writing inspiration comes from observation. |
| C．Reflection is the key to developing relationships with trees. |
| D．Her experiences are separate from her work on studying trees. |
【推荐1】Whenever I order food for delivery, I play a little game to guess how many sets of tableware(餐具)the restaurant will provide with my meal. Sometimes restaurants will throw in two, three or four sets for just one order. But I rarely need any tableware at all, and the waste goes into the trash or collects dust in a kitchen drawer.
Researchers working with Chinese technology group Alibaba tried a simple approach to this problem. Instead of just wastefully doling out tableware, the company required food-delivery customers in some cities in China to pick how many sets of tableware they wanted to receive.The default (默认设置)was set at zero. The result, published today in the journal Science, was a 638% increase in the share of no-tableware orders. If applied across China, researchers found, the approach would save nearly 22 billion sets of plastic tableware. The study doesn’t cover carbon emissions, but it’s safe to say that the impact would be significant. It struck me as a useful reminder of the many low-hanging fruits across the economy that can cut waste, and emissions.
Nudging its customers cost Alibaba nothing more than a few hours of software engineering time and the impact it brought was immense. The concept of nudging comes from the field of behavioral economics known as nudge theory. It suggests that a slight action can encourage good human behavior without the need for policies that limit choice or economic punishment that raises the cost of bad behavior. To nudge customers to eat better, for example, a restaurant might organize its menu by listing healthy options first and bury unhealthy ones at the bottom. More recently, some big companies like Google have also begun to use nudges to advance climate objectives.
Behavioral economics broadly, and nudges more specifically, aren’t without controversy. Some might think it assigns consumers responsibility for addressing environmental challenges. But there is another way to look at it. In the absence of necessary policy—and policy is needed一companies can help encourage a widespread shift of consumer behavior.
And all of that behavioral change can add up. The International Energy Agency found in 2021 that small behavioral changes in energy consumption such as walking instead of driving and adjusting the thermostat could in total shave off 4% of global emissions. The more that companies can do to facilitate such changes, the better.
1. What did Alibaba do with tableware waste?| A．It stopped restaurants from handing out tableware. |
| B．It withdrew unused tableware from customers. |
| C．It updated the food -delivery device regularly. |
| D．It allowed picking tableware at customers’ demand. |
| A．Easily accessible things. | B．Fast increasing orders. |
| C．Exceptionally tough choices. | D．Widely accepted strategies. |
| A．It brings about economic loss. |
| B．It results from consumption policies. |
| C．It indicates small action changes behaviour. |
| D．It implies bad behaviour impacts economy. |
| A．Nudge theory affects behaviors. |
| B．Good behaviors boost economy. |
| C．Nudging helps build a greener world. |
| D．Behavioral economics benefits customers. |
【推荐2】WeChat, the Chinese social media smartphone app, saw an increase in user numbers of 41 percent year on year to 500 million at the end of last year, in a sign that parent company Tencent is extending its reach for the mobile Internet. As one of the largest Internet integrated service providers in China and one of the most Internet users in China, Tencent’s profit grew 24 percent to RMB 20.98 billion per year, slightly higher than forecasts, driven mainly by online gaming profits. It is unclear how much WeChat contributed to Tencent’s profits but the app’s growth is a strong indicator of the company’s long-term health as it tries to adjust its business to be more suitable for mobile devices.
“We extended our leadership in games and online media, and made breakthroughs in emerging platforms such as online security and mobile payments.” Ma Huateng, Tencent chairman, said in a statement. WeChat is the second highest ranked social app in China, behind QQ, Tencent’s another chatting app, which claimed to have 815 million registered monthly users at the end of 2014.
Tencent has been unwilling to earn money through WeChat by flooding it with advertising, which could influence the users’ experience. But this is expected to change. Some analysts anticipated(预期) that advertising would be introduced on a large scale later this year. Early attempts to test ads on the service have not always gone smoothly. After a BMW ad was introduced on some users’ feedbacks in January, many users who were not targeted by the brand’s marketing complained of “discrimination” by Tencent’s data mining algorithm(数据挖掘算法). They claimed it unfairly treated them as not wealthy or successful enough to view the BMW ad.
1. What can we learn from the passage?| A．WeChat is ranked behind QQ in China. |
| B．Tencent wants to earn more through QQ. |
| C．WeChat contributed most to Tencent’s profits. |
| D．More advertising would not be introduced later this year. |
| A．Uninterested. | B．Untouched. |
| C．Unhappy. | D．Unlucky. |
| A．WeChat, a Popular APP in China |
| B．WeChat, a Smartphone APP in China |
| C．WeChat, a Profitable APP of Tencent |
| D．WeChat, a Nonprofit APP of Tencent |
【推荐3】Many of you may have used Siri, a voice assistant of US tech company Apple. You only have to say “hey Siri” and it will answer to your command. However, we may be sacrificing our privacy to enjoy this convenience.
According to a recent report by the Guardian, Siri can be accidentally triggered(触发) and start recording private conversations, such as discussions between doctors and patients. Some of these recordings are then given to workers outside the company to review. Apple claimed the data was used to help Siri improve, but users were not informed of this measure in the first place.
Apple’s Siri is not the only voice assistant to come under fire. In 2018, Alexa, a voice assistant developed by US tech company Amazon, recorded a private conversation between a couple and sent it to a stranger without their permission.
These issues deepened concerns that tech companies are threatening users’ rights of privacy. Many people have long feared that tech companies are listening and collecting data from private conversations, reported Forbes. Using this data, third party companies could then paint an accurate picture of users’ habits and preferences in order to serve them more targeted advertisements, or even worse, sell this private data.
Despite this risk, the popularity of voice assistant seems to be unstoppable. According to a report by Ovum, a London-based research firm, there will be almost as many voice assistants on the planet as people by 2021. “In the near future, everything from your lighting to your air-conditioning to your refrigerator, your coffee maker, and even your toilet could be wired to a system controlled by voice,” commented The Atlantic. Colin Horgan wrote on the blog site Medium that he believed people’s daily lives will soon become a source of data. “The sounds of our homes, the symphony of life—laughing, crying, talking, shouting, sitting in silence—will no longer be considered memories, but data,” he wrote.
To deal with the issue, Blake Morgan, reporter for The Atlantic, believed that the answer is transparency. “All companies need to have messaging ready to explain to customers what they do with private data,” she wrote on The Atlantic.
Daniel Blair, CEO of a virtual reality startup in Canada, told CBC News that people can change settings and limit how often the device is active in your home, and do some research before buying a device.
1. Why are users worried about the use of the voice assistants?| A．The tech company didn’t tell the users how they work. |
| B．Their houses will be controlled by voice assistants. |
| C．The assistants will turn their daily lives into data. |
| D．Their private data may be collected and abused. |
| A．be on fire | B．be criticized | C．be praised | D．be out of date |
| A．Inform the users of how they deal with the data. |
| B．Remove the assistants from the users’ devices. |
| C．Change the settings and limit the use of the assistants. |
| D．Do some research on whether the users like the assistants. |
| A．Voice assistant: a future fashion |
| B．Voice assistant: a private data defender |
| C．Voice assistant: a potential privacy threat |
| D．Voice assistant: an efficient house-keeper |
【推荐1】Football is so popular in China. Almost everyone is interested in the sport — young and old, boys and girls, and now even robots.
Last week at Hangzhou Guangming Middle School, kids from several schools played football with their robots. Robot football was very different from human football.
Only two robots played in each match. The field was as big as a ping-pong table. One half was black and the other was white. Each robot tried to catch the “football”and score a goal. The robot with more goals won.
Gao Linge, a boy from Guangming Middle School, helped make one of the robots for the match.
“My school bought the main board (主板),” said Gao, 14. “Then I decided what my robot looked like and made a computer programme for it.”
Gao’s robot was eight centimeters tall and had two arms. It had four sensors (传感器) to “see” and “kick” the football.
Ying Xuehai, a 12-year-old student from Gao’s school, also made a robot. His robot played against Gao’s. The match decided who would go to the final game. Ying lost the game. So he gave many of his robot’s parts to Gao.
Even so, Gao’s robot didn’t win the final. It played well in the first five minutes. Then it slowed down. By the end of the match, it could hardly move.What was wrong? Gao and Ying found the problem — their robot ran out of batteries (电池)!
“We’ll solve the problem and beat the other school next time!” said the two boys.
1. How many robots are needed in one match?| A．Only one. | B．Two. | C．Three. | D．Four. |
| A．a wonderful robot football game |
| B．how to let robots score more goals |
| C．the rules of the robot football games |
| D．the way for robots to win the match |
| A．Because his robot had no power. |
| B．Because he broke the rules of the match. |
| C．Because he used Ying Xuehai’s parts. |
| D．Because his robot went wrong. |
| A．you must go to Hangzhou |
| B．you must know something about computers |
| C．you must know how to play football on the playground |
| D．you must get along with Gao Linge and Ying Xuehai |
【推荐2】Dream culture is an important part of ancient Chinese culture. Dream interpreting is popular in China，and the most famous reference for dream interpreting is the book Duke of Zhou Interprets Dreams.
Ancient Chinese people thought that dreams could suggest lucky and unlucky things. Since different dreams have different meanings，people can get meanings of good or bad luck by interpreting them. Actually，dream interpreting is not totally a superstition. It does have some scientific value.
★Dreams are the reflection of the facts. Many dreams are actually something about what happened in the daytime. This kind of dream can be easily understood without dream interpreting.
★Dreams are the body's self－implication. Traditional Chinese medical science says that dreams are connected with the health condition of humans' bodies. When Yin and Yang are imbalanced，dreams come into being. If someone dreamt that he or she was roasted by a big fire，it shows he or she might easily get angry or nervous.
★Dreams are usually different from the facts. It means that things will develop in the opposite direction when they become worse.
To some degree，Duke of Zhou Interprets Dreams is scientifically reasonable. Over thousands of years has passed，the book still has many secrets waiting for us to explore.
1. According to the passage，dream culture ________．| A．is important in ancient Chinese culture | B．is unimportant in foreign culture |
| C．has no scientific value | D．is something about God |
| A．were very popular | B．could suggest lucky and unlucky things |
| C．couldn't be interpreted | D．were always different from the facts |
| A．excited | B．relaxed | C．nervous | D．bored |
| A．Duke of Zhou Interprets Dreams is a book about dream interpreting. |
| B．When Yin and Yang are not balanced，you dream easily. |
| C．Dreams sometimes are the opposite of the facts. |
| D．There are no secrets in the book Duke of Zhou Interprets Dreams. |
【推荐3】In the 1994 film Forrest Gump, there’s a famous saying, “Life is like a box of chocolates; you never know what you’re gonna get.” The surprise is part of the fun. Now blind box toys are bringing the magic of surprise to online shopping.
A blind box toy is hidden inside uniform packaging but invisible from the outside. You don’t know what will be inside, although the toys typically come from pop culture, ranging from movies to comics and cartoons.
Blind boxes have caught on since they were first introduced from Japan to China in 2014. According to a 2019 Tmall report, the mini-series of Labubu blind box, designed by Hong Kong -born Kasing Lung, was named Champion of Unit Sales with 55,000 sold in just 9 seconds during the Singles Day shopping event. Most customers for blind boxes are young people aged 18 to 35.
According to The Paper, blind box toys are popular in part because of their cute appearances. The typically cute cartoon figurines come in miniature sizes, making them suitable for display almost anywhere.
Even if blind boxes are not their top choice for decorations, the mystery and uncertainty of the process also attracts people. It’s the main reason why people buy blind boxes one after another.
“Fear of the unknown is always a part of the box-opening process,” said Miss Cao, 24, who lives and works in Shenyang. Speaking to Sina News, she said: “Until you open all the boxes, you cannot know what it is inside.”
Opening a blind box is a delightful little surprise for our mundane daily lives, something small but fun to wait for each day, week or month. When people open this simple little box, they may be disappointed, but the uncertainty is part of the fun. People will open more blind boxes and hope for a better outcome.
When someone re-makes Forrest Gump, don't be surprised if he says, “Life is like a blind box...”
1. Why is the famous saying in the film Forrest Gump quoted at the beginning?| A．To arouse the readers’ interest. | B．To present the writer’s view. |
| C．To introduce the topic. | D．To highlight the fun of blind boxes. |
| A．Miniature sizes. | B．Cute appearances. |
| C．Fear of the unknown. | D．Mystery and uncertainty. |
| A．Blind box became popular in 2019 after being first introduced from Japan to China. |
| B．Blind box toys typically originated in pop culture, varying from movies to cartoons. |
| C．Blind box toys was designed and named by Hong Kong-born Kasing Lung. |
| D．When people open this simple little box, they will feel disappointed. |
