Fragile. Oversensitive. Glued to their phones. Is this what comes to mind when we think of the teens of this generation? While this may be true, there might be more to this generation of teens than what is generally perceived.
Never before have the lives of any generation of teens been as flooded with mobile technology and social media as the teens of this generation. The popularity of social media has led to a world in which teens have to participate in Instagram, TikTok and Twitter, or else cause the social anger of their friends, some of whom communicate primarily via those online platforms. As compared to their parents or grandparents who were likely less connected and more isolated, these teens are constantly exposed to the highlight reels (高光时刻) of many in their social circles and beyond. It is no wonder that the self-esteem and mental health of this generation’s teens have taken a hit.
Moreover, the teens today are more individualistic. This is in contrast to the kampong spirit of their parents’ and grandparents’ days. Gone is the friendship among neighbours who are friendly with one another and quick to offer a helping hand when they see another in need. In its place, we have teens who may not even have a clue as to who lives in the unit next to theirs, much less offer a friendly nod or wave when they happen to cross paths with a neighbour.
Yet, the effects of technology on this generation of teens are not all bad. Arguably, the very connectedness that social media brings about has led to being more progressive. Logging onto platforms where people of all walks of life gather means that one is exposed to those people and their distinctive ways of life. In comparison, the parents or grandparents of this generation of tens probably did not have the same opportunity to get to know people outside of their social circles at their age, and are thus more likely to have fixed, stereotypical (刻板的) opinions of people different from them. This generation of teens, on the other hand, has the chance to use this technology to understand the variety and diversity out there.
1. What does the underlined phrase “have taken a hit” mean in Paragraph 2?| A．Have been terribly hurt. | B．Have improved a lot. |
| C．Have recovered soon. | D．Have been ignored. |
| A．Telephone your parents regularly. | B．Never say Hi to your classmates. |
| C．Share your food with neighbours. | D．Borrow money from your teacher. |
| A．They are more ambitious and active. |
| B．They are more friendly and generous. |
| C．They are more independent of their parents. |
| D．They are more open-minded and better informed. |
| A．By giving examples. | B．By showing statistics. |
| C．By making comparisons. | D．By providing instructions. |
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What Emerson Can Teach Us About Resilience
Since the 19th century Americans have looked to Ralph Waldo Emerson for wisdom on many subjects from education to religion to politics. Today, surrounded by the sorrow of the Covid-19 pandemic the Emerson we need the most is the advocate of resilience. Emerson’s idea about resilience stands in clear contrast to our general understanding on how to deal with suffering and loss. Instead of “self care” and “healing”, he offers an aggressive approval of the will and of work.
Lift made Emerson become something of an expert on resilience. As a young man he lost the love of his life, his wife Ellen, to tuberculosis (肺结核). His oldest son, Waldo, died of Scarlet fever at five years old. Emerson’s recipe for such sorrow and depression was not to stay still. He was soon up and moving again, tending to work and a family—his two surviving children and his second wife.
In his essay “Self-Reliance”, he puts it this way: “Power ceases in the instant of repose (休息); resides in the moment of transition from a past to a new state, in the darting to an aim.” In the essay “Power”, Emerson writes that children who often retire to their rooms in sorrow when they are insulted or lose the game will be at a serious disadvantage in adult life. “But,” Emerson continues, “if they have the buoyancy (浮力) and resistance that preoccupies them with new interest in the new moment—the wounds heal, and the fiber is the tougher for the hurt.
Emerson’s resilience was shaped by his belief that we are mortal (凡人) and there is no other life than this. Nothing can make up for the time when you did not step forward and do what you have to do. The moral quality Emerson praises above all of these isn’t love or faith but a commitment to work. “But do your work and I shall know you,” he writes in “Self-Reliance.”
At a moment when loss, depression and suffering are fresh in our hearts and our minds, Emerson steps forward with a different mode of response. Don’t make yourself a patient. Instead, make life more demanding than it has been. Be tougher on yourself; fill your mind with your tasks and go after them, hard. When we are down, we need to get up and fight as best we can—not tomorrow, but now.
1. What is Emerson’s idea about resilience?2. How did Emerson react to the great sorrow of his life?
3. Please decide which part is false in the following statement, then underline it and explain why.
Emerson believes that not only love and faith but also a commitment to work is the most important moral qualify.
4. Are you a person with resilience? Use your own experience to show it. (In about 40 words)
【推荐2】Thousands of taxi drivers in Shenyang, Liaoning province, reportedly blocked streets with their vehicles on Sunday in protest against unlicensed vehicles using taxi-hiring apps (打车软件) and apps-based car rental companies providing passenger services, including high-end cars. Although the drivers also complained about the withdrawal of the fuel subsidy by the government, their main complaint was the loss of business because of the rising number of Internet-based car services companies.
On Wednesday, news reports came that Beijing transport authorities will take measures to stop the illegal “taxi business” of private cars through the newly rising Internet apps, following the footsteps of Shenyang and Nanjing.
It is not yet clear how the Shenyang city government will handle the issue and whether it will declare the services offered by market leaders such as Didi Dache, a taxi-hiring app provider backed by Tencent Holdings, and Kuaidi Dache illegal. But Shanghai transport regulators have set a rule, by banning Didi Zhuanche, or car services offered by Didi Dache in December.
Such regulations will cause a setback to the car-hiring companies and investors that are waiting to cash in on the potentially booming business. Just last month, Didi Dache got $700 million in funding from global investors, including Singapore state investment company Temasek Holdings, Russian investment company DST Global and Tencent. Moreover, the market is uncertain that Kuaidi Dache is about to finalize its latest round of funding after getting $800 million from overseas investors.
Regulatory uncertainties, however, could cast a shadow on the future of the Internet-based car-hiring services, which have become popular in most of China’s big cities. To be fair, these companies’ business model is anything but bad. For example, Didi Zhuanche works side by side with established car rental companies to provide high-end car service mainly for business people through the Internet and mobile phone apps.
Every link in this business model chain has legal companies and services. Hence, it is hard to define it as illegal and ban it.
1. Why did taxi drivers in Shenyang block the streets with their vehicles?| A．Because they wanted the authority to increase their driving allowances. |
| B．Because they wanted to be taught how to use the taxi-hiring apps. |
| C．Because they wanted to make their main complaints known to the authority. |
| D．Because they wanted to attract passengers not to hire the private cars. |
| A．positive | B．negative |
| C．neutral | D．unclear |
| A．The problem referred to in the passage exists in all cities. |
| B．App-based car rental is functional to some degree. |
| C．The government should regulate the app-based car rental market. |
| D．Didi Dache is a China-foreign joint company. |
| A．Shenyang forbade apps-based car rental companies. |
| B．Shanghai is the second city banning Didi Zhuanche. |
| C．Some investment companies have confidence in apps-based car rental companies. |
| D．It is not difficult to picture the apps-based car rental companies illegal. |
【推荐3】The number of accidents involving pedestrians (行人) wearing headphones is on the rise, a report suggests, causing fresh warning from road safety groups in Britain.
A US-based study found a total of 116 reports of death or injury to pedestrians wearing headphones between 2004 and 2011, jumping from 16 in 2005 to 47 in 2011.
Most victims were men (68%) and under the age of 30 (67%), with around one in ten of all cases (9%) under the age of 18.Some 89% of the cases occurred in urban areas and more than half (55%) of the victims were struck by trains .
Eighty-one of the 116 accidents (70%) resulted in the person’s death—even though a warning was sounded in around a third of the cases.
The study concluded, “The use of headphone may be a safety risk to pedestrians , especially in environments with moving vehicles（cars）. Further research is needed to determine if and how headphone use threatens pedestrian safety.” British road safety groups warned pedestrians to be careful.
Floor Lieshout, director of Youth For Road Safety, said, “ This study shows once more the importance of using all of our senses while we are near traffic. It is important that we find an attractive way to make youth learn about the risks of wearing headphones in traffic.”
Andrew Howard , who is the head of road safety at the Automobile Association, added that some pedestrians can be “so focused in their own little world they forget the world going on around them”. That can include headphone wearers, Howard said, but also people talking on phones.
However, Howard said that more researches needed to be done.
Earlier studies have shown that people wearing headphones or talking on phones can suffer “inattentional blindness” which makes them isolated (孤立) from the world around them .
Ian Harvey, at the charity Civic Voice, said that “ to defeat isolation and to help build a civic(文明的) society, people need to interact(交往) with each other .
He said, “ A basis for any civilized society is communication—Surfing the web, listening to MP3s, reading blogs or sending e-mail is not interacting with a person; it’s interacting with a machine.
“If people feel socially isolated, they need to have more face-to-face interactions with other human beings and in time, will begin to feel happier and more connected to the world and place they live in.”
1. What does the text mainly discuss?| A．Safety problems caused by wearing headphones. |
| B．Recent research on the risks to pedestrians . |
| C．The advantages and disadvantages of headphones. |
| D．Traffic accidents in the United States. |
| A．most accidents were caused by cars |
| B．most victims died in the accidents |
| C．most accidents happened in the countryside |
| D．most victims are under eighteen |
| A．it is safe if you wear headphones in a proper way |
| B．it is dangerous to talk on phones while walking |
| C．most people wear headphones because of loneliness |
| D．people wearing headphones are more likely to go blind |
| A．beating isolation | B．new technologies |
| C．building a civilized society | D．communication between people |
【推荐1】The study of psychology is facing a crisis. The Research Excellence Framework(the Ref) has led to a research culture which is holding back attempts to stabilize psychology in particular, and science in general. The Ref encourages universities to push for groundbreaking, novel, and exciting research in the form of 4* papers, but it does not reward the efforts of those who replicate(复制) studies.
The point of replicating a study is to test whether a statistically significant result will appear again if the experiment is repeated. Of course, a similar result may not appear – casting into question the validity(有效性) of the results from the first experiment.
Last year, the Open Science Collaboration attempted to replicate 100 studies from highly ranked psychological journals. While 97% of the original studies had a statistically significant result, just 36% of the replications had the same outcome. Equally worrying: when an effect did appear, it was often much smaller than previously thought.
Recent data calls into question some widely influential findings in psychological science. These problems are not confined to psychology however – many findings published in scientific literature may actually be false.
Science is supposed to be self-correcting and reproducibility is a cornerstone of the scientific method. Yet, we simply aren’t invested in replicating findings. We all want to be good researchers and understand more about how the world works. So why are we so reluctant to check our conclusions are valid?
Because no incentive is provided by the system we carry out our research in. In the UK, the Ref ranks the published works of researchers according to their originality (how innovative is the research?), significance (does it have practical or commercial importance?), and rigour (is the research technically right?). Outputs are then awarded one to four stars. 4* papers are considered world-leading. The cumulative total of 3* and 4* papers determines research funding allocation and has a knock-on effect on institutional position in league tables(排名表) and therefore attractiveness to students. Obviously, the more publications the better.
Worryingly, many academics admit to engaging in at least one questionable research practice in order to achieve publication. Examples of this include: coming up with a theory after data is collected, stopping collecting data when an effect appears in case it disappears later, or only reporting the significant effects from collected data. Others simply fabricate data – Dutch psychologist Diederik Stapel shockingly falsified data from more than 50 studies.
The Ref completely harms our efforts to produce a reliable body of knowledge. Why? The focus on originality – publications exploring new areas of research using new paradigms, and avoiding testing well-established theories – is the exact opposite of what science needs to be doing to solve the troubling replication crisis. According to Ref standards, replicating an already published piece of work is simply uninteresting.
With the next Ref just four years away, many researchers are effectively faced with a choice: be a good scientist, or be a successful academic who gets funding and a promotion.
1. What crisis is the study of psychology facing?| A．The Ref has led to a revolution in not-only psychology but also science. |
| B．The universities are encouraged to generate more groundbreaking research. |
| C．The Ref tends to set up a different standard of replications of studies. |
| D．The Ref’s indifference to replications of studies has led to worrying effects. |
| A．a reliable body of knowledge |
| B．publications exploring new areas |
| C．tests of well- established theories |
| D．uninteresting replications of studies |
| A．is a system for assessing the quality of research in UK universities |
| B．provides UK researchers with funding and job opportunities |
| C．recognizes researchers’ work and adds to their attractiveness to students |
| D．is planning to change its standard before the next Ref submission |
| A．Contribute to the solution to the replication crisis. |
| B．Reform the standards that have been set up by the Ref. |
| C．Give up possible funding and promotion given by universities. |
| D．Avoid using false research practices to test old theories. |
【推荐2】Are you aware that every single person on this planet who has ever lived, lives now or will live, has a different perception of reality? The way each of us perceives the world is to some degree different than any other person's perception of reality. __①__ What is absolutely real and right for you may be an illusion, or nonexistent, or completely false for another!
It's important to know this. __②__ For example, the news media loves to create drama, and one of their favorite methods is to elicit(引起) fear: fear of other people, fear of the weather, fear of the economy, etc. The news media tells us how to perceive the world—and if a person takes the newscasters at their word, they perceive the world to be very dangerous and hostile. To that person，the mental images and emotions suggested by other people create a version of reality that is completely different from the reality perceived by someone who does not watch the news.
Things are not always what they seem. For most people, seeing is believing, which is why magicians, artists and marketers are so successful. Just like the TV news, they show you only what they want you to see and it is perceived as reality. But how would that reality change if you saw what went on behind the scenes or what was left out?
What's your story?
We all have a story. Over time, your story takes on a life of its own and you become your story. But who's the author and why did him put so much crap in there? All that unnecessary suffering, struggle, heartache, worry and pain... wouldn't it be better to live a story without all that? Who wants to live in a story with that much boredom and unfulfilled longings?
The story got its start when you were born, and was coauthored by you along with the influences in your life. __③__ Anytime you were influenced by someone or something, you unconsciously handed your pen over and said “Here, you write this about me.” So you are not even writing your OWN story! No one does—until they recognize that fact, and make a conscious decision to take control of the pen. You CAN write your story the way you want it to play out.
________________
It is helpful to understand how the brain takes reality and filters it to create your unique perception of reality. It's an automatic unconscious action that is based on：
● Physical experiences (which is why some optical illusions are extremely unsettling)
● Past conditioning (how you are programmed to see the world)
__④__ When you become aware of the fact that you are constructing your own reality, you can take charge and build one that is more pleasing. If you change your mind, your vibration and your intentions, you can change your circumstances! Instead of, “I am a victim of circumstance，” imprint in your mind, “I am the cocreator of my life”； Instead of, “I am sick and tired of...” imprint in your mind，“I am in control and enthusiastic about what I do”.
Raise your vibration by thinking, talking and acting more positively. As positiveness becomes a mental habit，that change will become your new inner reality, which will soon manifest in your outer reality.
The power of perception is immense. Choose to see more good than bad, more abundance than lack, more love than indifference and more success than struggle.
1. What does the underlined word “perception” mean in the first paragraph?| A．sense | B．acceptance |
| C．reception | D．deception |
| A．By answering questions. | B．By giving examples. |
| C．By making comparisons. | D．By drawing conclusions. |
| A．① | B．② | C．③ | D．④ |
| A．Seeing is not believing |
| B．Live up to your expectations |
| C．Change your perception and create a new reality |
| D．Physical experiences and past conditioning really count |
| A．Instructive. | B．Humorous. |
| C．Critical. | D．Ironic. |
【推荐3】The animal kingdom is full of beautiful and attractive creatures, and it is inviting to purchase exotic animals and call them pets. But undomesticated(未驯化的) pets may affect the health and safety of both the animals and the people who keep them.
The umbrella cockatoo, for instance, is a type of parrot, which can live up to seventy years. It is often purchased as an exotic pet. It requires a very large living place and a great deal of attention. When its specific needs are unmet, the bird commonly bites itself or becomes aggressive. Similarly, the ball python one of the most popular pet snakes, requires special conditions to survive. Like the umbrella cockatoo, the snake's long lifespan—up to forty years—presents serious practical challenges to any owner, no matter how devoted.
Exotic pet owners are most likely identified as animal lovers who purchased their animals in order to feel a deep connection to the natural world. However, the mere ownership of such an animal means it's probable that the person participated in the illegal trade. This trade—the capture and sale of wild animals——is often cruel to species. Countless animals suffer and die each year.
The problems continue when exotic pets are sold to non-professional owners. When they find they cannot care for them, owners take their exotic pets into the wild and abandon them, as proved by the case of Burmese pythons in Florida. This non-native species multiplied quickly seriously threatening the Florida ecosystem. Also , exotic pets pose a danger to their owners: some emerging infectious diseases, which thousands of people per year are stricken with, and especially occurred in children.
Wild animals are undoubtedly attracting, but they should be admired in their own natural environments. Penning animals as exotic pets harms their quality of life. Pet ownership of any kind is a serious responsibility, and that's why animal lovers should choose domesticated animals that will Boom under the care of humans.
1. What can we infer about exotic pets in paragraph 2?| A．They can live longest in the animal kingdom. |
| B．They need professional care from the owner. |
| C．They require special training from their owner. |
| D．They can’t have a satisfying life under human care. |
| A．To get high income. |
| B．To build a bond with nature, |
| C．To help prevent illegal pet trades. |
| D．To make exotic pets' life comfortable. |
| A．Improving the native ecosystem. |
| B．Increasing the number of rare species. |
| C．Losing control of illegal wildlife trading. |
| D．Putting humans and exotic wildlife at risk. |
| A．Wild animals are more dangerous than ordinary pets. |
| B．It's inappropriate to keep undomesticated exotic pets. |
| C．Exotic pets should be kept in better conditions. |
| D．Rules of the exotic pet trade should be updated. |
【推荐1】These days, we wonder a lot about why social networks go bad, full of terrible behavior. But it’s equally illuminating (有启发性的) to ask about the ones that work well. These communities share one characteristic: They’re small. Generally they have only a few hundred members, or maybe a couple thousand if they’re really popular.
And smallness makes all the difference. First, these groups have a sense of cohesion (凝聚性). The members have joined specifically to talk to people with whom they share an enthusiasm. That creates a type of social glue, a context and a mutual respect that can’t exist on a highly public site like Twitter, where anyone can crash any public conversation.
More important, small groups typically have people who work to keep interactions polite. Sometimes this will be the organizer or an active, long-term participant. They’ll greet newcomers to make them feel welcome, draw out quiet people and solve conflict when they see it emerge. But what’s crucial is that these key members model good behavior, illustrating by example the community’s best standards. The internet thinkers Heather Gold, Kevin Marks and Deb Schultz put a name to this: “tummeling,” after the Yiddish “tummeler,” who keeps a party going.
None of these positive elements can exist in a massive, public social network, where millions of people can get into each other’s spaces. That’s why perhaps the single biggest problem facing social media is that our mainstream networks are too interested in scale. But scale breaks social relations.
Is there any way to approach this problem? I’ve never heard of any simple solution. Strict antitrust laws for the big networks would be useful, to encourage competition among networks. But this likely wouldn’t fully solve the problem of scale, since many users fancy scale too. Longing for massive, global audiences, they will crowd into whichever site offers the hugest. Many of the well-known solutions to social media might help, but all ignore the biggest problem of all: Bigness itself.
1. Why do members from small online groups get along well?| A．They have some shared hobbies. | B．They are mostly highly educated. |
| C．They know the importance of safety. | D．They are familiar with each other. |
| A．A person organizes a successful birthday party. |
| B．A newcomer joins an organization. |
| C．An active team member starts a conflict. |
| D．A conversation organizer encourages others to speak. |
| A．Favorable. | B．Pessimistic. | C．Curious. | D．Uncaring. |
| A．Inappropriate behavior online | B．The small things that truly matter |
| C．Online communities that actually work | D．Different types of social networks |
【推荐2】Should Parents Teach Children How to Tweet?
Social media is a seemingly endless source of concern for parents, with worries that it weakens their children’s confidence and attention spans. But others counter that it could also be broadening their horizons.
The latest round of worry was sparked by a study of the impact of social media use on 8-12- year-olds published by Anne Longfield, Children’s Commissioner for England. The report focused on 32 children, who said they used social media to stay connected with friends and family and to have fun, by watching videos for example. But they also described pressures from constant contact, online comments that weaken their self-esteem, and the need to shape offline activities to make them shareable. “You see your friends going ice skating, partying or talking about how much revision they have done, and it can make you feel inadequate,” says Bea, a junior school student from Bristol, UK. “It’s just so hard to get away from.”
Children have to take risks on their journeys to adulthood, and desires to fit in and be popular existed before Mark Zuckerberg came along with Facebook. However, in previous generations these pressures came largely from people they knew, and they mostly stayed outside the home. Now the pressures could come from any one of the nearly 3 billion people online, and follow them from school to home, and can even continue through the night.
The pressures do get on parents’ nerves, among which the utmost concern is how their children can be protected from harms, given that social media is now integral to the way many young people interact. A good starting point is a basic understanding of childhood development milestones.
Broadly, children have a high dependency on carers for security and guidance up to the age of 5, increasing independence and self-care from 6 to 11, and increasing autonomy and growing reliance on peers from 12-18 years old. Against this background, the suitability of social media for children of different ages should be considered respectively.
According to Longfield’s study, children should be taught about online safety from an early age, better before secondary school. There is growing evidence that efforts need to be extended to provide earlier guidance on less extreme but more common risks, including oversharing, low selfesteem, addiction and insomnia. The evidence suggests she is right. However, approaches that focus merely on the potential negatives are unlikely to work.
“My school has tried to do a lot, but it often involves trying to drill into us how bad social media can be,” says Bea. “People of my age really like social media, so I think a better approach would be if they said ‘Although it is good, here are some negatives’.”
1. We can learn from Paragraph 3 that ______.| A．children used to face more dangers |
| B．Facebook gives children the chance to fit in |
| C．parents give their children much pressure at home |
| D．children’s pressures may come from strangers nowadays |
| A．possible harm from social media | B．comments from online friends |
| C．their reliance on social media | D．pressures from oversharing |
| A．teenagers don’t believe social media has negatives |
| B．adults overemphasize the bad effects of social media |
| C．it is easy for teenagers to get addicted to social media |
| D．social media helps teenagers know their friends better |
【推荐3】Whatever happens in the world, social media has something to say about it. Users’ comments and views are reported in the media, and “trends” or “the next big thing” are often decided from the buzz (喧闹) on social media sites.
But are they truly reliable?
Sites such as the micro-messaging service Twitter, the social networking site Facebook and the photo-sharing app Instagram might “misrepresent the real world”, according to a study by computer scientists from McGill University in Montreal, Canada and Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, US.
The scientists warn that gathering information about public views and trends from these sites is unwise.
There are still large parts of the population who do not take part in social media activities. Also, there’s a risk that many social media users are under-represented, said the study.
Instagram, for example, attracts younger adults in urban areas, Pinterest, a topic-based idea sharing website, is used mainly by females aged 25 to 34. And only 5 percent of Twitter users are over 65 years old, according to the study.
However, this is not the only issue, according to the scientific team. The design of a website can influence how people behave online, creating what the researchers call “Internet bias (偏见)”.
For example, micro-blogging sites such as Weibo promote “popular” stories. It saves time for some, but it also limits readers’ choice of what they see. In the end, many people open those stories and make them more “popular”. But it’s not because they choose those stories. Rather, it is because the content is right in front of them.
Besides, it’s possible that not everyone on your social networks is real. There might actually be a few false accounts among them. False “bots” pretend to be human and are often included when measuring or predicting human behavior online.
The findings might be more important than you would think, since many social media studies “are used to inform and justify (证明……有理) decisions and investments (投资) among the public and in industry and government,” said Derek Ruths, assistant Professor at McGill’s School of Computer Science.
If the team is right, you might have to think carefully the next time you say, “It’s true, you know; I read it on Weibo.”
1. What is the author’s main purpose in writing the article? ______| A．To suggest popular social networking sites. |
| B．To point out the advantages and disadvantages of social media. |
| C．To remind readers of things they should watch out for when using social media. |
| D．To analyze why information gathered from social media isn’t said to be dependable. |
a. many people choose only the stories they like
b. there might be a few false accounts among them
c. not everyone takes part in social media activities
d. the design of 8 website can create “Internet bias”
e. people’s online behavior might be different from what they do in real life
| A．abc | B．abe | C．bed | D．bcd |
| A．Warning. | B．Encouraging. | C．Positive. | D．Enthusiastic. |
| A．With comparisons. | B．Through examples. | C．Though analysis. | D．By setting down general rules. |
