No business would welcome being compared to gambling (赌博). Yet that is what is happening to makers of video games. For years parents have complained that their children are “addicted” to their video games and smartphones. Today, however, even more doctors are using the term. On January 1 this year, “gaming disorder”— in which games are played uncontrollably, despite causing harm — gained recognition from the World Health Organization (WHO).
Are games really addictive? Psychologists have different opinions. Those who don’t think so say that this is just another moral panic. Similar warnings have been given about television, rock’n’roll, jazz, comic books, novels and even crossword puzzles, but it turns out that they are not as harmful as expected.
However, supporters argue that games developers have the motivation and the means to design their products to make them extremely attractive. For one thing, the business-model has changed. In the old days games were bought once and for all. But these days, games are free and money is earned from purchases of in-game goods, which ties playtime directly to revenue (收益). For another, games-makers combine psychological theory and data, which helps them maximize the playtime. Smartphones and modern video game machines use their permanent Internet connections to send gameplay data back to developers. In this way products are constantly adjusted to encourage players’ spending. The biggest spenders are known as “whales”, a term that originated in casinos (赌场).
The gaming industry should realize that, in the real world, it has a problem, and that problem is growing. Now that gaming addiction comes with an official WHO recognition, diagnoses will become more common. Anyway, being put together with gambling in the public mind, whether it is fairly or not, will not do the industry any good.
1. What do we know from Paragraph 1?| A．It is not suitable to compare video games to gambling. |
| B．Parents complain about their children’s addiction to gambling. |
| C．More doctors are against the use of the term “addicted”. |
| D．Gaming addiction was officially recognized as a disease. |
| A．Wrong judgment on how harmful something is. |
| B．Trouble caused by someone’s immoral behavior. |
| C．Social progress caused by science and technology. |
| D．Panic due to the gap between the rich and the poor. |
| A．They don’t charge players for in-game goods. |
| B．They adjust products based on received data. |
| C．They keep players’ video game machines updated. |
| D．They reward big spenders with a unique title. |
| A．offer a suggestion | B．make a prediction |
| C．give a warning | D．put forward a solution |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】When newspapers and radios report the damage caused by a hurricane (飓风)called Hazel,girls named Hazel are probably played a joke on by others.To keep out of trouble,the Weather Bureau says,“Any resemblance(相似)between hurricane names and the names of particular girls is only accidental.”
Some women became angry because hurricanes are given their names,but many other women are proud to see their names make headlines.They don’t even care that they are the names of destructive storms.Because more women seem to like it than dislike it,the Weather Bureau has decided to continue using girls’ names for hurricanes.
In some ways a hurricane is like a person.After it is born,it grows and develops,then becomes old and dies.Each hurricane has a character of its own.Each follows its own way through the world,and people remember it long after it has gone.So it is natural to give hurricanes names,and to talk about them almost as if they were alive.
1. What happens to the girls named Hazel when hurricane Hazel is reported?| A．They suffer from hurricanes. |
| B．The Weather Bureau looks for them. |
| C．Others often make fun of them. |
| D．They can’t find boyfriends. |
| A．the reporters |
| B．the headlines |
| C．some women who become angry |
| D．some women who are proud |
| A．stop naming hurricanes after women |
| B．go on naming hurricanes after women |
| C．name hurricanes after men |
| D．look for a new method to name hurricanes |
| A．Some women feel unhappy because hurricanes are given their names. |
| B．All the hurricanes are caused by women. |
| C．Many women want to be reported by TV and newspapers. |
| D．A hurricane grows and develops in the same way as a person. |
【推荐2】The National Academies of Science (NAS) has released a new report looking at more than 800 scientific studies about the effects of electronic cigarettes on users’ health.
The report concludes a range of public health impacts of e-cigarettes. However, it does not conclude whether the overall impact is either positive or negative. The report pays special attention to the impact of e-cigarettes on young adults, who use them at higher rates than adults do. Experienced adult users of e-cigarettes can get just as much nicotine as from regular cigarettes. Nicotine is the addictive drug in tobacco. Most e-cigarettes contain and release a variety of substances in addition to nicotine that could be toxic. There is generally far less exposure to these other toxic substances from e-cigarettes than from regular cigarettes.
Using e-cigarettes can be addictive and the severity of an addiction to e-cigarettes likely depends on many factors, including the device, the e-liquid used in the device, and how the user operates. The NAS report found a strong association between youth using e-cigarettes and their likelihood of trying conventional cigarettes. Nicotine is highly addictive at any age, but is especially dangerous for youth. The US Surgeon General has criticized e-cigarette marketers for using strategies that target young people. Many flavors appear to be aimed at teenagers, with some popular names such as Cherry Crush and Cotton Candy. Thus young people buy e-cigarettes more than any other tobacco product.
American Cancer Society experts (ACS) acknowledge NAS report, including: an association between the use of e-cigarettes by youth and the eventual use of regular cigarettes; an evidence that e-cigarettes are not harmless, but are likely to be much less harmful than regular cigarettes and unknown risks of long-term use of e-cigarettes. These are similar to findings conducted by ACS researchers. They conclude that the overall health effects of electronic cigarettes are complex, and there is not yet agreement among the scientific community.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is using its full authority to regulate all tobacco products. It announced in 2016 that it would begin regulating e-cigarettes. But it later delayed until 2022 the deadline for tobacco companies to apply for approval.
1. What do we learn about the new report from NAS?| A．It focuses on the impact of e-cigarettes on adults. |
| B．It states the comprehensive effects of e-cigarettes. |
| C．It is based on 800 scientific studies on e-cigarettes. |
| D．It is aimed to convince people not to use e-cigarettes. |
| A．How e-cigarettes impact youth. | B．What the NAS report is about youth. |
| C．What danger the nicotine is to youth. | D．How youth become attracted by e-cigarettes. |
| A．E-cigarettes probably do no harm to health. |
| B．E-cigarettes have an everlasting impact on health. |
| C．E-cigarettes cause the same impact as regular cigarettes. |
| D．E-cigarettes probably make youth become regular cigarette users. |
| A．Unclear. | B．Depressing. | C．Brilliant. | D．Promising. |
【推荐3】“I think I’m nothing more than a dead fish.” “I don’t want to do anything.” “I’m so beat and so sad.”…The young generation in our country used to enjoy their “happy culture” but now they have become “beat and sad” slowly and secretly. Some people even called it “the beat culture”. The “Beat” youths don’t want to do anything. They have no purpose, no desire and they are totally depressed so that they only want to live an aimless life. The “Ge You slouch (葛优瘫)” and the song I feel like having been drained are the examples.
Many media concern themselves about this phenomenon and try to persuade the youths into embracing positive and healthy feelings and encourage them to work hard to get rid of decadence. This is really a kind gesture. However, we don’t have to worry too much about this “beat culture.” In fact, it’s not a negative thing. “Beat” never means despair, but a way of self-mockery(自嘲)and pressure relief.
In general, the youths in China are not “beat”. According to a recent international research, the youths in China hold positive attitude towards the future. 29% of the Chinese interviewees believe they will live and work in peace in China because “as long as you work hard, you can have your own day”. Around 93% of the Chinese interviewees believe the future is promising because of medicine industry, renewable energy sources and computer. Compared with Chinese youngsters, youths in developed countries are more pessimistic (悲观的).
Of course there are some social reasons for the appearing of “the Beat Culture”. As urbanization develops rapidly, youths living in big cities are facing new challenges that their forefathers have never met before. Loneliness and feelings of insignificance and powerlessness are easy to get hold of the young people. Without proper care, they could threaten our mentality and cause many social problems. These problems probably need our attention more.
1. “The Beat culture” includes the following examples except that _______| A．the young generation don’t feel like doing anything. |
| B．the young generation consider themselves dead fish. |
| C．the young generation in big cities are facing new challenges. |
| D．the young generation enjoy the song I feel like having been drained. |
| A．loneliness | B．laziness |
| C．sufferings | D．pessimism |
| A．Most people believe that with hard work, people can have their own day. |
| B．These days, young people suffer much more loneliness than their parents. |
| C．Chinese youths are more negative than young people in developed countries. |
| D．Social development does bring some pressure to the younger generation. |
| A．The Chinese youths are not the beat generation. |
| B．How does “the Beat Culture” affect the Chinese youth. |
| C．“The Beat Culture” is positive to Chinese youngsters. |
| D．“The Beat culture” is popular among the Chinese youngsters. |
【推荐1】In the film The Matrix, Agent Smith, a super-computer in human shape, says, “You move to an area, and you multiply, and multiply, until every natural resource is consumed. The only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern: a virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet. ”
Yes, relatively speaking, we are just a large virus. While most species live in balance with their ecosystems, we fail to do so. We are taking more from nature than it has to give. We wipe out animals and plants as a virus might invade and kill a host. We are destroying our host, the earth.
Our brain has been our most successful tool for survival. The funny thing is that our mind has developed to such a degree that we have thought up solutions to more survival problems. We are for the first time in earth's history changing nature to suit our comfort and desires. Being a human, I do like the advancement of technology and medicine as we nave the chance to survive longer and sometimes feel less pain. After all, nature is cruel and we can soften its blow through these inventions. However, people surviving genetic faults or illness, could they be actually making the gene pool more “dirty” and could even more people in the future suffer due to an increase in faulty DNA? It seems that even though we deal with a short-term problem we could be causing more. Are we being kind to be cruel?
We are lucky enough to own a brain complex enough to think and create. But we fail to realize the only way to really survive is through respect of our host, the earth, and working with it as the only way a living thing can benefit is by benefiting its host as it depends on it to survive.
1. According to the passage, what characteristics do humans and viruses share?| A．They take and give. | B．They expand and destroy. |
| C．They create and consume. | D．They balance and survive. |
| A．They can help humans control nature. | B．They can guarantee purer human DNA. |
| C．They may reduce humans' effect on the earth. | D．They may bring humans more harm than good. |
| A．To appeal for humans' respect for nature. | B．To put forward ways to advance medicine. |
| C．To talk about a film character, Agent Smith. | D．To argue against comparing humans to viruses. |
【推荐2】As restaurants, malls and movie theaters fill back up with people, the workplace has remained nearly empty. This is partly driven by how common remote work has become in society. People have invested in creating workspaces in their homes, relocated to smaller towns and even taken their work to vacation resorts. Now, with an easing pandemic and slowing economy, companies are increasingly trying to draw employees back into the office. But many just don’t want to go.
Though seen as a necessity during the pandemic, some business leaders doubt whether the current level of remote work is sustainable. And they’re right. A fully virtual workplace misses some of the key drivers for performance and productivity, which are top of mind right now for businesses facing the prospect of a potential recession(衰退). Understandably, they want workers back in the office because they’re preparing for a more competitive environment, which calls for maximizing efficiency. Fully remote work doesn’t cultivate the level of interpersonal relationships that business leaders see as vital to workplace innovation.
When companies are responding to market shifts and economic stresses, new ideas, problem solving and brainstorming all become essential. And brainstorming sessions are much easier to conduct in person, where workers can exchange their ideas in conference rooms or shared work spaces. Remote workers, meanwhile, are more prone to distractions at home that can disrupt their concentration and participation.
It’s not just what happens in formal meetings that adds value. It’s also the organic connections and culture-building that occurs when workers run into each other in the hallways or after a company gathering. It’s these spontaneous (自发的) opportunities to inquire into the details that are missed when one is working remotely.
Undoubtedly, there will be workers who don’t agree. But leaders owe it to all share holders, including workers, to make the best policy decisions. Policy can’t just make sense for workers. It must also make business sense in order to preserve opportunities for workers to work; it must make financial sense in order to protect opportunities for workers to earn a living.
1. What do we know about remote work?| A．It was popular in smaller towns. |
| B．It slowed down the economy. |
| C．It was necessary during the pandemic. |
| D．It brought people to public places. |
| A．To improve workers’ efficiency. |
| B．To create a relaxed atmosphere. |
| C．To cultivate friendlier relationships. |
| D．To explore workers’ potential. |
| A．The ambitions of the leaders. |
| B．The comfort of the employees. |
| C．The interests of the businesses. |
| D．The ability of the shareholders. |
| A．Fully Remote Work Likely to Disappear |
| B．Remote Workers Losing Their Jobs |
| C．Policymakers Caught in a Dilemma |
| D．Companies Struggling with Slowing Economy |
【推荐3】Phrases like “good sharing!” and “great job on the slide!” echo (回响) across American playgrounds. Coaches pass out ribbons to every participant. Scholar publishes a series called “I’m Special!” assuring readers that the ability to play with friends and sing songs makes them special indeed. We’ve been told that high self-esteem (自尊) is the key to children’s happiness and success, and we’ve been praising and protecting them ever since. But has the self-esteem movement gone too far? Many experts argue that instead of raising healthy high achievers, maybe we’re raising a generation of narcissists (自我陶醉者). “Our old concepts of self-esteem are old-fashioned, and parents need to send the concept to the trash heap (垃圾堆) of all things outdated and useless,” says Aaron Cooper, co-author of I Just Want My Kids to be Happy.
While experts used to blame low self-esteem for everything from bad grades to criminal behavior, research has shown that inflated (膨胀的) self-esteem is more often the criminal. An article called “Rethinking Self-Esteem” by Roy made a stir when he supposed that criminals and drug abusers (滥用者) actually had higher self-esteem than the general population. Martin and Ervin found that the modern habit of constant praise was turning kids skeptical (怀疑的) and unmotivated. And esteemed child development expert T. Barry recently wrote in The New York Times that the phrase “self-esteem” had lost its meaning.
Parents just want their children to have a positive self-image. And while it’s easy to make fun of the extremes of the self-esteem movement, it’s difficult to walk the fine line between acquiring self-respect and self-centeredness. Anyway, make it clear that while you have expectations for their behavior, you love and accept them unconditionally. True self-esteem isn’t about a steady stream of applause; it develops when children know their limits and responsibilities, are given enough opportunities to challenge themselves, and feel secure that they’re loved even when they fail.
1. What’s the purpose of using phrases like “good sharing!” and “great job on the slide”?| A．To attract readers’ attention. | B．To introduce the topic. |
| C．To give the author’s opinion. | D．To tell readers the key to happiness and success. |
| A．Children with high esteem are likely to be high achievers. |
| B．High self-esteem makes kids motivated nowadays. |
| C．High self-esteem does harm to kids in a way. |
| D．In children’s development high self-esteem plays a positive role. |
| A．give them constant praise unconditionally. |
| B．let them shoulder all their responsibilities. |
| C．offer them support even though they fail. |
| D．have high expectations for their behavior. |
| A．Objective. | B．Positive. |
| C．Subjective. | D．Negative. |
