A “ Robert” in Your Pocket
The final bell rings at a high school in downtown Los Angeles, and nearly every student walking our of the school gate studies a screen, with head bowed. Over the past decade, such scenes have become the norm — at least in the United States. Research reveals that American millennial (千禧一代的人) look at their phones 150 times a day on average.
In the meantime, the number of American teenagers reporting feelings of depression has grown significantly. Some people blame the increase on the Great Economic Depression following 2008 and other social changes. However, a big new study suggests a different explanation — the rise of social media.
Jean Twenge, a psychology professor at San Diego State University, led the study. With data collected from more than 500,000 American teenagers, she found that those who spent lots of time on social media were more likely to agree with remarks such as "The future often seems hopeless. Those who used screen less, spending time playing sport or socializing with friends in person, were less likely to report feelings of depression.
This, in fact, is not the first time that scientists have found that social media can rob people of their happiness. One study published in 2016 asked a randomly selected group of adults to quit Facebook for a week. It turned out that they reported feeling less depressed at the end of the week than those who continued using it.
Some research, however, suggests that social-networking sites can promote happiness if used to engage directly with other users, rather than just to feel jealous of happy moments someone shares online. This provides a reminder that it is user's attitudes that shape their experiences on social media. "I often remind myself that it's all filtered," reflects Sarah, a junior at the high school in Los Angeles. "People only post what they want you to see, so it can seems that their life is better than yours." But when asked if she has ever considered deleting her social media accounts, Sarah looks confused. "No. I would feel lost."
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
相似题推荐
1.2020年你主要经历了什么;
2.经历带给你的启示;
3.你对新年的期望。
注意：
1.写作词数应为80左右；
2.请在答题卡的相应位置作答。
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
A few years ago, I had taken a part-time job in a video store at the local shopping mall. From inside the store, I’d begun to see the people rushing by outside. Then an elderly woman caught my eye. Although slow and unsure of step, she moved with deliberation(从容). The elderly woman had come into the store along with a younger woman who I guessed was her daughter. The daughter was clearly impatient, checking her watch every few seconds.
The older woman then separated from the younger one and began to tick through the DVDs on the nearest shelf, obviously expecting someone else to help. After the slightest hesitation, I walked over and asked if I could help her find something. The woman smiled up at me and showed me a title scrawled(乱涂乱画的)on a piece of paper. It was a bit unclear to make out. Clearly a person looking for it knew a little about movies, about quality. Rather than rushing off to locate the DVD for the woman, I asked her to walk with me so I could show her where she could find it.
Looking back, I think I wanted to enjoy her company for a moment. Something about her deliberate movements reminded me of my own mother, who’d passed away the previous Christmas. As we walked along the back of the store, I introduced her to the different sections: old television shows, action movies, cartoons, science fiction. The woman seemed glad of the unrushed company and casual conversation.
We found the movie, and I complimented her on her choice. She smiled and told me it was one she’d enjoyed when she was her daughter’s age and that she hoped she would enjoy it as much as she had. Maybe, she said with a hint of wistfulness(一丝渴望), her daughter could enjoy it with her own young children. Then, when the older woman’s turn in line came, she paid in cash, counting out the dollars and coins with the same sureness she’d displayed earlier.
注意：
1.续写短文的词数150左右；
2.续写部分分为两段，每段的开头已为你写好。
Paragraph 1：
As the cashier put the DVD into a plastic bag, I walked over to the younger woman.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 2:
The elderly woman moved with her deliberate slowness back to her daughter.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
【写作内容】
1. 用约 30 个单词概述上述信息的主要内容；
2. 用约 120 个单词发表你的观点，内容包括：
（1） 支持成反对共享单车的推广；
（2） 用 2-3 个理由或论据支撑你的观点。
【写作要求】
1. 写作过程中不能直接引用原文语句；
2. 作文中不能出现真实姓名和学校名称；
3. 不必写标题。
【评分标准】
内容完整，语言规范，语篇还贯，词数适当。
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
注意:
1.词数80左右；
2.可以适当增加细节, 以使行文连贯。
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Desertification
Desertification is one of the world’s most alarming processes of environmental degradation(退化). The issue is often unclear, however, by a common misperception: that it’s a “natural” problem of advancing deserts in faraway developing countries. In fact, desertification is about land degradation: the loss of the land’s biological productivity, caused by man-made factors and climate change.
Each year, desertification and drought cause an estimated $42 billion in lost agricultural production. The risks of desertification are sufficient and clear. It contributes to food insecurity, hunger and poverty, and can give rise to social, economic and political tensions that can cause conflicts, further poverty and land degradation. The great urgency of this challenge led the United Nations General Assembly to state 2006 to be the International Year of Deserts and Desertification (IYDD). It is a strong reminder of the urgent need to address the far-reaching implications of this problem. United Nations General Secretary recently summarizes in this way: “I look forward to working with Governments, civil society, the private section, international organizations and others to focus attention on this crucial issue, and to reverse the trend of desertification and set the world on a safer, more sustainable path of development.”
The IYDD also presents a golden opportunity to get the message across strongly and effectively that desertification is a global problem which we ignore at our risk. It is important to recognize that dry-lands are home to some of the most magnificent ecosystems of this world. These unique natural habitats have been home to some of the world’s oldest civilizations. They stand like open-air museums, bearing witness to bygone eras. The Year will therefore also celebrate the delicate beauty and unique inheritance of the world’s deserts.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Colleges are attaching too much importance to tests. Students who receive higher scores on the SAT and the ACT are considered to be more intelligent and as a result they are usually admitted to better schools.
However, these tests don’t necessarily ensure one’s future success in life. To become better test-takers than others, some students would like to make more preparations. Several SAT and ACT classes are offered by various companies and individual tutors, giving rich students a better chance to improve their scores. Some students even take medicine before tests. Although it is not proved that taking these drugs will increase a student’s score, the nature of the drug is to increase alertness, concentration, and mental processing speed.
In addition, these tests can’t show the skills and characters that are a key part to success. According to Bob Schaeffer of the National Center for Fair and Open Testing, creativity, perseverance and self-discipline(自律) are a few basic qualities that are useful in the world that aren’t measured by these tests. A high test score tells you nothing about how a student will handle the future life or how well they will adapt to their surroundings.
What colleges can do is to weigh the students’ academic track, such as what classes they took and how difficult they were, or what extra curricular activities the students were involved in. These things don’t necessarily predict what the students will do in college, but if the admissions would pay more attention to four years of hard work, they might get a more successful and well-rounded group of graduates.
注意：
1. 概要词数应为60左右；
2. 请按如下格式在相应的位置作答。
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
On the subway in Beijing, most people stare at their smartphones. Some play video games or watch TV dramas, while some choose to read.
Online novels are popular among these readers. In fact, more people are becoming registered users on online literature websites or smartphone applications. The total number of online literature website users had increased to over 500 million by the end of November 2018, according to a report from China Internet Network Information Center. This shows half of all netizens are online literature readers.
Many scholars estimate the number will keep increasing at an annual rate of tens of millions. Yet the fast growth due to the widespread adoption of the Internet and smartphones in the past 20 years was criticized by some writers as disorder. As the number of online literature works increases, some vulgar (低俗的) online novels have appeared. Ning Ken, the top prize winner of the First Online Literature Contest, said online literature needs guidance. “I think it should be something of high quality, rather than just a sort of entertainment. Its quality should be improved, ”said the writer.
【写作内容】
1.用约30词概述所给信息的主要内容；
2.用约120词发表你的观点，内容包括：
(1)谈谈你对网络文学的看法(至少两点)；
(2)请你对改进网络文学作品质量提出合理建议(至少两点)。
【写作要求】
1.可以参照阅读材料的内容，但不得直接引用原文中的句子；
2.作文中不能出现真实姓名和学校名称。
【评分标准】
概括准确，语言规范，内容合适，语篇连贯。
注意：请将书面表达撰写在答题卡上。
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
A new study’s findings warn that smart phones are seriously messing with your quality of life.
The study looked at the responses of 256 smart phone users. Researchers found that 13 percent of participants were addicted to their smart phones, spending 3.6 hours per day on the devices. Social networking sites were the No. 1 time wasters with 87 percent of users, while instant messaging apps at 52 percent and news apps at 51 percent.
Almost 25 percent of the people admitted that their smart phones caused “communication issues” in their real lives, including less conversation with family and friends. What’s worse, the majority of users said “their smart phone use caused distraction(精神不集中) from many aspects of their lives, including employment, hobbies and studies.”
“People need to know the potential addictive properties( 性质) of mobile phones,” a researcher said. “There should be a warning before people purchase them or before they download an app. If you’re downloading a game, there should be a warning saying that you could end up playing this for hours and you have other responsibilities that could be ignored.”
【写作内容】
1. 用约 30 个单词写出上文概要；
2. 用约 120 个单词简要分析人们玩手机上瘾的原因，并谈谈应该如何戒掉手机瘾（至少两点）。
【写作要求】
1. 写作过程中不能直接引用原文语句；
2. 作文中不能出现真实姓名和学校名称；
3. 不必写标题。
【评分标准】 内容完整，语言规范，语篇连贯，词数适当。
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Nowadays, the Spring Festival parties are quite different from before. People are not together in the same home but in cyberspace. It is another symptom of the so-called smartphone reliance syndrome（智能手机依赖症）. For many people, they use the smartphone in office, at home, even on the road; they play with it while eating ,drinking, even while bathing. But really it is not the fault of our smartphones, which were created to help us communicate with one even thousand of kilometers away and bring more convenience to our lives.
Ironically, we feel more distanced from each other in the real world. The reason is that we have more choices now, and we have to keep up with virtual conversations for fear of missing something. Smartphones and other smart devices have revolutionized the way we interact with each other. We have adapted to the technology.
However, one group risks being left behind by this trend. The elderly do not accept new technologies as fast as the younger and they can not enjoy the convenience of new technologies either. They even don’t access the Internet much. According to a survey released by China Internet Network Information Center, there were 731 million netizens in China by the end of 2016, but only 4 percent were above the age of 60. The elderly face the loneliness of being “left behind” by their children working in cities far away. Spring Festival is almost the only chance for them to talk with the younger, yet smartphones rob them of this opportunity.
The only way the younger and elder generations can meaningfully interact is that the former put down their smartphones during this holiday and talk with the elderly face to face. And it will also do us a favor. Actually, we won’t be the digital pioneers in 30 years. It is our children that will create and apply the latest technologies, and we, slow to accept new things, will be left to our own devices. If we hope our children will talk with us 30 years later, we need to set a good example for them now.
