After two years of working from home, we have adapted to communicating digitally, in short bursts of time. Remember in Before Times you could head to the gym after work and then get dressed for dinner and a night out? The pandemic(疫情) has changed this. Our social batteries have run out of charge. It’s been a long time since we had to perform our social role for an extended period.
For 23-year-old Jennie, the excitement of her friends and family to restart their social lives has left her astonished. “At the minute my parents are planning a trip abroad and I keep postponing getting back to them with a date,” she explains. “They don’t know it’s because of all of this. Just the thought of being in a room full of people is scary, it’s like going back to school.”
Heather Garbutt, psychotherapist of The Counselling & Psychotherapy Centre says communication is key to recharging your unused social battery. “Take it slowly and don’t immediately organise a large get-together,” she advises. “Go for a walk with somebody for no more than half an hour and gently get used to being with people again. It may actually be a shock to our system which has been shut down to some degree to cope with absence. We may have that longing to be with others, but that doesn’t mean we are free from anxiety. It would be good to start off with a conversation about what it’s going to be like when you are all together again.”
She says finding some casual topics to discuss also works. Understand that many of you may feel a bit awkward after being physically apart for so long. It’s a bit like learning to walk again after you’ve broken a leg. It may all be off-balance to begin with but you will find a new steadiness with practice. Whatever happens post-pandemic, your loved ones can’t judge if you want to take it easy and not engage in the festivities immediately. We are recovering from a post-pandemic stress disorder, after all.
1. What has become of us after two years of working from home?| A．We are addicted to chatting with people online. |
| B．We may feel it impossible to go back to normal. |
| C．We are quite looking forward to being with people. |
| D．We may find it hard to communicate with others like before. |
| A．She is excited to see her friends again. |
| B．She is not on good terms with her family. |
| C．She is not good at communicating with people. |
| D．She is anxious about meeting people face to face. |
| A．Pay a visit to a close friend and stay over. |
| B．Hang out with your friends for several hours. |
| C．Have a brief chat about your future get-together. |
| D．Ignore those who are anxious about connecting with others. |
| A．How Can We Restore Our Social Batteries? |
| B．When Can We Speed Up Our Reunion Plan? |
| C．What Can Help Repair Our Social Networks? |
| D．Why Did the Pandemic Mess Up Our Social Life? |
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【推荐1】Parents across Europe and elsewhere have to look for creative ways to get their kids to eat fruits, vegetables and berries because they don’t eat enough greens, which is also a concern for many countries. As the health and nutrition benefits of these foods are well-known, increasing the consumption of them among children is a challenge. According to a new study, however, one effective way to get kids to eat more fruits and vegetables is to see Mom and Dad eat a lot of those foods themselves.
Researchers from the University of Eastern Finland asked the parents of 114 kindergarten-aged children to answer a survey about their kids’ consumption of vegetables, fruits, and berries, as well as their family’s home food environment. The study found that the example of a mother is associated with a child’s consumption of raw and cooked vegetables and fruits and berries, while the example of a father is stronger for the consumption of cooked vegetables.
What’s more, the researchers found that dinner is the most important meal when it comes to teaching children to eat vegetables since dinners are opportunities to serve vegetables in different forms, whether it’s the main course, a side dish, or a salad. The families participating in the study often ate dinner together, stressing the role of parental influence on the development of children’s dietary choices and preferences. When it comes to eating fruits, evening snacks were the most important meal. Noticeably, many families still eat fewer vegetables, fruits and berries that would be beneficial. Cooked vegetables and berries were the least eaten among the study population.
It’s worth mentioning that, the researchers have done another relevant study. In that study, they noted educating children on food knowledge in kindergartens can promote good nutrition among them and the establishment of healthy dietary habits, which often stick with people all the way to adulthood.
1. What makes many countries worried?| A．The public’s ignorance of nutrition. | B．Greens’ inaccessibility to kids. |
| C．Kids’ inadequate intake of greens. | D．Parents’ unhealthy eating habits. |
| A．Fathers have a wider influence on children. |
| B．Cooked vegetables are preferred to the raw. |
| C．Many families eat enough vegetables and fruits. |
| D．Dinner is closely related to vegetable consumption. |
| A．Dietary habits of adults. | B．Ways to promote good nutrition. |
| C．Early-childhood food education. | D．Necessity of educating children on food. |
| A．Importance of food nutrition. | B．Function of family meals for kids. |
| C．Researchers’ study of food varieties. | D．Parental influence on kids’ eating greens. |
【推荐2】Some people say summer is the time when teachers should get more pay. But not everyone is grateful to teachers for keeping kids occupied (无空闲的) between August and June: Washington state representative Liz Pike has written a Facebook post, titled “A life in the day of a WA state representative,” and responded to teachers’ complaints of rising costs of living. The post has received criticism for being anti-teacher. After reading her post, I feel that Liz Pike should rethink her criticism of public school teaching and avoid comparing it to the private school.
Many of us teachers would certainly like teaching to be more like the private school. We see nothing wrong with fair pay for fair performance. In fact, performance is the name of the game. With standardized testing popular throughout K-12 education, teachers are some of the most analyzed and performance-measured employees in the United States. Liz Pike is very angry that teachers want raises even while test scores are dropping. Well, how are we supposed to have discipline (纪律) in the classroom when our hands are tied and we can hardly do anything with naughty students or fail students who are not prepared to move on to the next grade?
Teachers would love to be able to turn education around and improve student performance. But we can’t, and we should not suffer for it. Unlike private school businesses, public schools cannot turn away “customers”. A private school business serves customers who walk through the door of their own free will, while public schools have to educate students who only attend because courts say they must.
She says those who are “uninspired” by a lack of a cost of living increase should give up teaching. Is this the message that she thinks should be sent to the students whose academic performance she claims (声称) to care so much about? That “if you love it you’ll shut up and not stand up for yourself”? I think teachers should stand up for themselves and I also think supporting teachers can make teachers teach children how to stand up for themselves.
1. What is Liz Pike’s opinion?| A．Teachers shouldn’t ask for a pay rise. | B．Teachers should be treated equally. |
| C．Teachers should accept public criticism. | D．Teachers shouldn’t give students much homework. |
| A．Their performance is not measured. |
| B．They are under the control of a system of rules. |
| C．They can’t master the correct teaching method. |
| D．.Many schools are becoming private. |
| A．students | B．teachers |
| C．clever businessmen | D．private schools |
| A．some teachers are not excellent enough |
| B．teachers shouldn’t complain about their living costs |
| C．supporting teachers is helpful to students |
| D．Liz Pike doesn’t care about students’ academic performance |
【推荐3】Carmakers, including BMW, Fiat, Chrysler and Peugeot, warned that the worldwide semiconductor processor shortage will continue in 2021 and beyond. The shortage has affected both production and sales of automobiles.
Automobiles have become increasingly dependent on processors, also known as chips. They are needed for computers to help engines with better fuel economy and assist drivers in emergency braking. Without a good supply of chips, carmakers have centered production on higher-profit models. The higher prices keep their businesses going even though they are selling fewer cars.
Richard Palmer is the chief financial officer of Stellantis. The company sells cars, under 14 brands including Fiat, Chrysler and Peugeot. He said the company did not expect chip supply to improve before the last three months of the year. That would mean a production loss of around 1.4 million vehicles for 2021.
The German carmaker warned that there will be more problems during the second half of this year. "The longer the supply bottlenecks last, the more tense the situation is likely to become," BMW chief financial officer Nicolas Peter said in a statement. “We expect production restrictions to continue in the second half of the year. Those restrictions will cause a lower number of sales,” he added.
German chipmaker Infineon Technologies confirmed the shortage. The company said the latest wave of COVID-19 cases slows the production of materials in Asia. And the amounts of goods available have now hit all-time lows. Reinhard Ploss is the Chief Executive Officer of Infineon. He told economists that a sharp limit of supplies is hurting the recovery of worldwide car markets. He observed that "it will take time to get back" to a balance between supply and demand. "In our view, this will take until well into 2022," he added.
1. How do carmakers deal with reduced sales?| A．By improving production technology. | B．By selling cars with lower fuel consumption. |
| C．By offering better emergency braking systems. | D．By producing high-priced cars. |
| A．To stress the seriousness of the present situation. |
| B．To provide a solution to the reduced sales. |
| C．To convey their expectation of the car production. |
| D．To highlight the importance of chips for carmakers. |
| A．Hopeful. | B．Indifferent. | C．Worried. | D．Doubtful. |
| A．The Decline of Car Sales | B．Chip Shortage and its Influence |
| C．The Restrictions of Production | D．The Balance between Supply and Demand |
【推荐1】From app-connected salt shakers to voice-controlled microwaves, it seems no part of the kitchen has avoided being given a high-tech makeover (改头换面). Now, as part of a Microsoft-funded project, researchers in the US and China have developed a smart tablecloth.
The “Capacitivo” works by inserting an electrode grid (电极网格) into the fabric (纤维) that can identify the shape and composition of a given object. The fabric system recognizes objects based on shifts in the electrical charge (电荷) of its electrodes caused by changes in an object’s electrical field. The difference in charge can relate to the type of material, size of the object and shape of the contact area. “It uses the basic principle of a touch screen that detects your finger,” explained Microsoft researcher Teddy Seyed.
The tablecloth can determine what object is on the fabric. For instance, it would be able to identify if you have placed a potato on a table. It could then pass that information to a connected app. which would analyze its database to show recipes that use these ingredients.
Microsoft said the fabric, created with the help of Dartmouth College and Wuhan University, could also sense if an object, such as a set of keys, has been misplaced on a table. “Besides, our system can sense the change of what is inside a container.” Teddy added. For example, a tablecloth can detect whether the soil of a table plant is wet or dry, enabling the system to remind the user to water the plant.
“This is a very impressive development," said Monica Craciun, a professor in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology at the University of Exeter. “Other fabrics already available need input which is carried out by the user performing an action, such as touching the fabric.”
However, the technology still needs improving. It can’t recognize metallic objects, performs poorly on objects with square edges, such as books, and has trouble identifying the difference between different types of liquid. Microsoft said it could be five to ten years before the tablecloth is available for the market.
1. What makes the invention of the smart tablecloth possible?| A．Composition varies from object to object. |
| B．Fingerprint scanning techniques develop fast. |
| C．Electrodes can pass information to each other. |
| D．Different objects cause different changes in the electrical charge. |
| A．Connect to other smart products in the kitchen. |
| B．Suggest meals based on the ingredients on it. |
| C．Distinguish between different types of liquid. |
| D．Detect nutrients in the soil of a table plant. |
| A．It can recognize a wider range of objects. | B．It can identify objects more accurately. |
| C．It doesn’t require actions from users. | D．It won’t be damaged after washing. |
| A．The limitations of the smart tablecloth. | B．The classification of the smart tablecloth. |
| C．The characteristics of the smart tablecloth. | D．The trend of marketing the smart tablecloth. |
【推荐2】Scientists in Israel have developed a gene-edited hen that could help avoid killing billions of male chicks every year. Male layer chicks are of no value to the egg-laying industry, since they’re not female and cannot lay eggs; and they’re unwanted by the meat industry, since they have the wrong body type and are not fast-growing broilers (肉鸡). An estimated seven billion male chicks are killed annually.
This is understandably troubling for many people, and various attempts to solve the problem have been proposed over the years. Mainly these focus on trying to identify a bird’s sex as early as possible so as to abandon it prior to development or hatching (孵化).
This latest development, however, takes it to another level by preventing the male chick from developing altogether. The “Golda” hen, as it’s called, has DNA edited into it that stops the development of male embryos (胚胎) when the egg is exposed to blue light for several hours. Female embryos are not affected by the light and hatch and grow as usual. They do not contain any of the edited material, nor do the eggs they lay, so consumers needn’t be concerned about consuming genetically modified (转基因) eggs.
The BBC explains how the gene-edited hens end up with all-female chicks. Females carry a W and a Z chromosome (染色体) (WZ). Males carry two Z chromosomes (ZZ). The Golda hen has a W chromosome and a gene-edited Z*chromosome (WZ*), preventing embryo development when exposed to blue light.
If WZ*+ZZ=WZ, +blue light=female chick hatches
If WZ*+ZZ=Z*Z, +blue light=male doesn’t hatch
The actual science is being kept under wraps, since the Volcani Institute plans to license its technology through a company called Poultry by Huminn. There is no peer-reviewed study yet. But the animal welfare organization Compassion in World Farming (CIWF) has been following the research closely for three years, visited the firm, and backs the development
CIWF’s Research and Education Team explained, “The great advantage of this gene-edit is that it appears to have no bad effect on animal health and welfare. Our current support for this technology is in principle, as the next important step is to see whether the hen and the female chicks she produces - who will lay eggs for human consumption-can go through a commercial lifespan without any unexpected issues arising.”
1. Why are a large number of male chicks killed every year?| A．Their meat tastes better. |
| B．They have high nutritional value. |
| C．They grow more slowly than female ones. |
| D．They can’t make profits for egg-laying industry. |
| A．Any of the edited material is contained in its female embryos. |
| B．It has raised consumers’ concern about its eggs’ nutrition. |
| C．Its female embryos are more affected by blue light. |
| D．Its male embryos won’t hatch or grow when exposed to blue light. |
| A．Their complex genes. | B．Their gene types. |
| C．Their hatching principle. | D．Their genetic composition. |
| A．Whether the gene-edited hens will cause unpredicted issues. |
| B．Whether the gene-edited hens will bring profits. |
| C．Whether the gene-edited hens will affect consumers’ health. |
| D．Whether the gene-edited hens will replace those without edited genes. |
【推荐3】University of Oxford is the oldest university in the English-speaking world and it's one of the top universities in the world. There is no clear date when the university started, but teaching began at Oxford in some forms in 1096 and developed quickly from 1167.
There are 39 independent(独立的) Colleges at Oxford, attracting students and learned men from across the world. There are over 100 libraries for the students and learned men to use. At University of Oxford. they also provide a number of money for the best students. Of course, if you want to study here, first you have to reach a certain level of English language.
College life at Oxford is very exciting but busy. The groups of college provide a friendly and welcoming home for students while the colleges are strict with students about their studies. Many Chinese students are studying here. The number of Chinese students at the university has grown quickly over the past 10 years.
1. How many libraries are there at Oxford?| A．Only 100. | B．Just 100. |
| C．More than 100. | D．Less than 100. |
| A．be independent | B．study English hard |
| C．be the best student | D．pass a certain level test of English language |
| A．excitement; much school work to do | B．excitement; no school work to do |
| C．attraction; no school work to do | D．attraction; a little school work to do |
| A．The College Life | B．The Famous Learners at Oxford |
| C．The Chinese Students at Oxford | D．The University of Oxford |
