Many of us are lonelier than ever. We can go shopping and avoid speaking to a single person. Automated voice son phones and machines suck the contact and relational element out of day-to-day life, so much so that experts say that we are experiencing a loneliness disease.
According to Dr. Lalitaa, loneliness is the feeling we get when our need for rewarding social contact and relationships is not met. But loneliness is not always the same as being alone. Loneliness is a state of mind linked to wanting human contact but feeling alone. People can be alone and not feel lonely, or they can have contact with people and still experience feelings of loneliness.
Loneliness is a universal human emotion that is both complex and unique to each individual. There are many contributing factors to loneliness, such as illness, relationships breaking down, moving country, changing jobs or not being understood by co-workers, retiring, starting university, etc.
We cannot underestimate the impact loneliness can have on our physical and mental wellbeing. According to research, loneliness has comparable health risks to smoking 15cigarettes a day, and people who feel lonely are more likely to die earlier and suffer from heart attacks. Dr. Lalitaa says, “People often say to me, ‘It’s too late to meet new people as an adult.’ Having human connect ion can look different for each person, but this can become a block, stopping them going out, trying new things and connecting with new people. Remember, it is never too late to make good, meaningful connections.”
However, don’t put pressure on yourself. A meaningful relationship takes time. It is not just created overnight. Also, take some time to sit with yourself and venture (冒险) into some of the things that you like doing. “The first thing I would say is not to deny or distance the feeling. Acknowledge it and then you can choose to focus on ways to help yourself,” says Dr.Lalitaa.
1. How does the author clarify what loneliness is?| A．By stating arguments. | B．By giving examples. |
| C．By making comparisons. | D．By employing figures. |
| A．To explain the causes of loneliness. |
| B．To illustrate the harm from loneliness. |
| C．To overestimate the impact of loneliness. |
| D．To emphasize the universality of loneliness. |
| A．Lack of appealing reward. |
| B．Dependence on the network. |
| C．The regret for the passing youth. |
| D．The idea of being too late for new relations. |
| A．Having new experience. |
| B．Telling it from being alone. |
| C．Being aware of and recognizing it. |
| D．Making friends from all walks of life. |
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【推荐1】Although being famous might sound like a dream come true, today’s stars, feeling like zoo animals, face pressures that few of us can imagine. They are at the center of much of the world’s attention. Paparazzi (狗仔队) camp outside their homes, cameras ready Tabloids (小报) publish thrilling stories about their personal lives. Just imagine not being able to do anything without being photographed or interrupted for a signature!
According to psychologist Christina Villarreal celebrities ― famous people ― worry constantly about their public appearance. Eventually, they start to lose track of who they really are, seeing themselves the way their fans imagine them, not as the people they were before everyone knew their names. “Over time,” Villarreal says, “they feel separated and alone.”
The phenomenon of tracking celebrities has been around for ages. In the 4th century B.C., painters followed Alexander the Great into battle, hoping to picture his victories for his admirers. When Charles Dickens visited America in the 19th century, his sold-out readings attracted thousands of fans, leading him to complain (抱怨) about his lack of privacy. Tabloids of the 1920s and 1930s ran articles about film-stars in much the same way that modern tabloids and websites do.
Being a public figure today, however, is a lot more difficult than it used to be. Superstars cannot move about without worrying about photographers with modern cameras. When they say something silly or do something ridiculous, there is always the Internet to spread the news in minutes and keep their “story” alive forever.
If fame is so troublesome, why aren’t all celebrities running away from it? The answer is there are still ways to deal with it. Some stars stay calm by surrounding themselves with trusted friends and family or by escaping to remote places away from big cities. They focus not on how famous they are but on what they love to do or whatever made them famous in the first place.
Sometimes a few celebrities can get a little justice. Still, even stars who enjoy full justice often complain about how hard their lives are. They are tired of being famous already.
1. It can be learned from the passage that stars today ______.| A．are often misunderstood by the public |
| B．can no longer have their privacy protected |
| C．spend too much on their public appearance |
| D．care little about how they have come into fame |
| A．Great heroes of the past were generally admired. |
| B．Well-known actors are usually targets of tabloids. |
| C．The problem faced by celebrities has a long history. |
| D．Works of popular writers often have a lot of readers. |
| A．Availability of modern media. | B．Inadequate social recognition. |
| C．Lack of favorable chances. | D．Huge population of fans. |
【推荐2】For the decade between the end of the financial crisis and the coronavirus pandemic, the ride-hailing app Uber boomed. The company’s business model relied on the flexibility of the rapidly-growing gig economy(零工经济), and its sky-high valuation directly represented its dominant market position.
Now its sufferings illustrate how those trends are shifting again. After almost a decade of being able to rely on cheap and swift Ubers to get around, city residents must get used to a new experience. A shortfall of British drivers got so bad that the chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi met with unions to recruit new workers on a visit to London.
There are some factors accounting for this shortage. During lock-downs few were taking trips, but with the reopening, and the urge to mingle(社交往来)again, came a sudden bounce-back(反弹). Uber said that demand in London had risen by about a fifth in 2021 and even more in smaller UK cities.
The flexibility and casual working arrangements that once so benefited the company now work in reverse in times of labour shortage.
In the past two years, the price of an Uber has increased by 92 percent, according to Rakuten Intelligence. Higher prices are likely to be here to stay.
| A．Workers have little, or no, loyalty to the company and can switch between different apps depending on which offers the better, or closer, ride |
| B．The government is now racking its brain to figure out ways to help support Uber to get through this difficult time. |
| C．The prospect of this huge industry cannot be underestimated. |
| D．In the meantime, thousands of drivers had found other jobs; even while economies were locked down drivers were still needed for takeaway and online shopping deliveries. |
| E．The question is what happens when more normal circumstances return. |
| F．It even sparked the word “Uberisation” to describe how its example helped transform industries, jobs and society. |
【推荐3】Each year many people move to the Sun Belt in the southern United States.
Most of the time people use the word snowbird in reference to retirees that travel to a southern state during the winter months. However, snowbirding is certainly not limited to retirees.
For those people that have the ability to leave their homes for a few months during the winter to explore the southern areas, there are many benefits to have.
| A．They choose to seek a warm and sunny climate. |
| B．Retired people, of course, will take advantage of it. |
| C．Many snowbirds travel in their RVs around the Sun Belt. |
| D．They can build new friendships and communities over the years. |
| E．People of all ages have more freedom to spend months away now. |
| F．There are many ways people choose to accomplish their snowbirding. |
| G．Whatever advantages or disadvantages, people will take whichever way they like. |
We are in the 21st century now, but step into almost any college classroom and you step back in time at least a hundred years Desks are normally in straight rows, so students can clearly see the teacher but not all their classmates. The assumption behind such an arrangement is obvious: Everything of importance comes from the teacher.
With a little imagination and effort, unless desks are fixed to the floor, the teacher can correct this situation and create space that encourages interchange among students. In small or standard-size classes, chairs, desks, and tables can be arranged in a variety of ways: circles, U-shapes or semicircles. The primary goal should be for everyone to be able to see everyone else.
Arrangement of the classroom should also make it easy to divide students into small groups for discussion or problem-solving exercises. Small classes with movable desks and tables present no problem. Even in large lecture halls, it is possible for students to turn around and form groups of four or six. Breaking a class into small groups provides more opportunities for students to interact with each other, think out loud, and see how other students’ thinking processes operate---all these are essential elements in developing new modes of critical thinking.
In courses that regularly use a small group format, students might be asked to stay in the same small groups throughout the course. A colleague of mine, John, allows students to move around during the first two weeks, until they find a group they are comfortable with. John then asks them to stay in the same seat, with the same group, from that time on. This not only creates a comfortable setting for interaction but helps him learn students’ names and faces.
1. The final purpose of arranging desks in circles or U-shapes is __________.
| A．for teachers to divide students into small groups |
| B．to make it possible for students to interact with each other |
| C．for teachers to find out how students think |
| D．to give students more opportunities to practice speaking |
| A．college classrooms often reminded people of their past |
| B．critical thinking was encouraged even one century ago |
| C．desk arrangement in a classroom was quite different from that a hundred years ago |
| D．today’s arrangement of college classroom space has little difference from past’s |
| A．students can be easily prevented from cheating during tests |
| B．it is convenient for teachers to monitor students |
| C．teachers play a significant role in a classroom |
| D．it is good for students to concentrate on listening to teachers |
【推荐2】No matter where you go in the world, you will notice something unusual about the trees —their trunks (树干) are painted white.
People whitewash trees for a variety of reasons, depending on the area they live in. In Mexico, the purpose of whitewashing is to protect the tree and fight against a specific type of ant. Greece is another country where you can find trees painted white. According to tradition, during Easter, everything gets whitewashed. Make sure to plan your next trip to Greece if you won’t want to miss this interesting and unique tradition.
Generally speaking, the main purpose of whitewashing is to protect the tree from heat and insects (昆虫). And few are as effective and accessible as whitewashing. When the tree is exposed to too much sun in the daytime, the tree cells become more active; however, the roots as well as the other unexposed areas of the tree remain inactive. If the water that the tree needs cannot be provided from the roots, the tree will have a dry surface. Once you whitewash them, the surfaces of young trees won’t get dry easily. If the tree is suffering from being sunburned, the wound can also allow the insects to enter the inside of the tree. Moreover, relative diseases can influence how the tree grows. Whitewash prevents any access to the inside of the tree.
Pure white paint works efficiently (高效地) when it comes to reflecting both heat and sunlight away from the tree. White paint allows the tree to spend more time taking in carbon dioxide (CO2). The more carbon dioxide the trees take in, the more energy they create. Gardeners whitewash trees not only for protecting their trees but also helping produce more fruit.
Painting the trees white won’t stop traffic accidents, but it can make them less frequent, because drivers can see the trees much more clearly, even during the night.
1. Why do people in Greece paint the trees white?| A．To see the trees more clearly. | B．To protect the trees from ants. |
| C．To make their cities beautiful. | D．To celebrate a traditional festival. |
| A．By influencing the growth of trees. | B．By helping supply water to trees. |
| C．By preventing access into trees. | D．By drying the surface of trees. |
| A．Whitewashing trees may increase fruit production. |
| B．Painting trees white helps stop traffic accidents. |
| C．White paint provides more energy for trees. |
| D．White paint helps trees create more CO2. |
| A．A health report. | B．A travel handbook. |
| C．A scientific magazine. | D．A product advertisement. |
【推荐3】There are all kinds of strange museums in the world, and the objects in their collections are different. From Leila’s Hair Museum to Washington Banana Museum to Beijing Tap Water Museum, there’s everything. Here are four of them worth visiting.
Leila’s Hair Museum
During the Victorian Era, it was common to create and wear jewelry made from hair — especially the hair of loved ones. Leila’s Hair Museum shows a variety of hair wreaths (花环) and jewelry pieces from the Victorian period and earlier, dating all the way back to 1680.
Giant Shoe Museum
Located in the famous Pike Place Market of Seattle, the Giant Shoe Museum is a single exhibit wall located on the outside of the Old Seal Paper Works store and brings a lot of business to the shop as a result. To see the museum’s collection, visitors must drop 25 cents into coin boxes and then look at a variety of extremely big shoes through a mirror, including a size 37 shoes worn by the world’s tallest man, a real clown shoe and the world’s largest collection of extremely big shoes.
Washington Banana Museum
Ann Mitchell really loves bananas. In fact, she loves them enough to not only run the Washington Banana museum, which shows almost 4,000 things related to the world’s best-selling fruit, but also to upload photos of her favorite things from the museum online so those who can’t make it to the physical location can still enjoy the virtual (虚拟的) Banana Museum.
Beijing Tap Water Museum
Interested in running water(piped water), maybe you should head to China to learn more about tap water, specifically the history of the first water plant in Beijing. Here you can study over 300 things and learn about the 100 year-old history of tap water in China. The best thing about this museum is that any of its drinking fountains can provide you with a more wonderful experience than the other three.
1. What do we learn about Leila’s Hair Museum?| A．Its jewelry pieces can date all the way from the 17th century. |
| B．All the visitors must spend 25 cents visiting it. |
| C．You can see your favorite things from the museum online. |
| D．Hair wreaths or jewelry pieces are only from the Victorian period. |
| A．Try on a real clown shoe by ourselves. |
| B．See the largest collection of huge shoes in the world. |
| C．Learn about the history of the first water plant in the world. |
| D．See many photos of the favorite things from the museum online. |
| A．Leila’s Hair Museum. | B．Giant Shoe Museum. |
| C．Washington Banana Museum. | D．Beijing Tap Water Museum. |
