What your dinner photos on Instagram say about you
Posting pictures on Instagram is a modern day version of writing a journal: It’s all about creating a connection between ourselves, our lives, friends, family and the wider public.
If someone posts photos of a meal that they have just cooked, the message they’re trying to convey is that they are a capable person. For example, if someone is on a health kick, they often seek social approval. If they’ve made a really healthy meal, they will typically post it with hashtags “#” like diet or health, which tie into other people’s experiences.
There is also a growing trend of people taking photos of their food when they dine out at a restaurant.
If people are on a diet or trying to eat a bit better, they can use platforms like Instagram to track what they’ve been eating. It’s a way of motivating other people as well as holding themselves responsible, while subconsciously saying “
| A．I am willing to take risks in my diet. |
| B．There are some reasons to post photos online. |
| C．I’m the sort of person who takes care of myself. |
| D．It’s the same idea as wanting to feel part of a community. |
| E．The types of content we choose to post hold significance. |
| F．It generally implies an attempt to associate with luxury and taste. |
| G．We have a fundamental need to be part of something bigger than ourselves. |
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【推荐1】In the chaos of modern living, maintaining balance denting patterns within shifting schedules and various family favourites can seem like a huge challenge.
Embrace (拥抱) mindful eating
Mindfulness transform seating into a nurturing practice, encouraging a deep connection with how food affects your body and mood.
Have mealtime house rules
Consider establishing guidelines that encourage eating without distractions such as TVs, phones or other electronic devices. That helps everyone at the-table to fully engage with their food and with each other, promoting a more connected and present eating experience.
Establish a flexible meal routine
Being flexible with mealtimes is important if you have busy schedules. Finding a common mealtime can be challenging.
Set boundaries on body talk
In navigating (导航) the complexities of modern home life, let these strategies be your guide to developing a peaceful and satisfying relationship with eating in your family.
| A．It’s crucial to honour your own hunger signals. |
| B．When you eat, take the time to really notice your food. |
| C．Yet, you can establish a peaceful relationship with food easily. |
| D．Family discussions should be about health and well-being, not appearance. |
| E．It’s about finding balance between personal nutrition needs and favorite foods. |
| F．Body image is a common topic to strengthen the family bond during home eating. |
| G．Such rules will enhance the enjoyment of meals and support healthier eating habits. |
【推荐2】Reasons Why Chocolate Is Really Good to Us
Who doesn’t love chocolate? You know it never stops amazing me when I come across people who don’t like chocolate. That just confuses me.
Need to calm some angry youngsters or wipe away their upset tears? Chocolate will surely do that. Sometimes it’s just hard to understand why our children are upset and unfortunately. It’s not always so easy to calm them down and make them feel better.
| A．How can that be? |
| B．It will make you study better. |
| C．It is really good for your health. |
| D．If a hug can’t do, chocolate will. |
| E．It’s really the food that makes you happy. |
| F．But for those of us who do love chocolate, listen up. |
| G．People who eat dark chocolate daily have more protections on their skins. |
【推荐3】Eating healthy and balanced food in school can help kids perform well in their classes.
1. Talk to your kids about good nutrition.
If you encourage healthy eating habits at home, it will be much easier for your kids to make good choices at school. Talk with your kids about the benefits of eating healthy foods and the risks of choosing unhealthy ones.
2.
Kids eating healthily at home will have an easier time developing good eating habits. Serve balanced meals with a combination of fiber, proteins and other nutrition. Make sure your child has access to healthy snacks in case they get hungry between meals.
3. Get involved with school meal programs.
Parent-teacher organizations play an important part in school nutrition programs.
| A．Provide healthy foods at home. |
| B．Being a good role model is also an important part. |
| C．Become a member and find out how you can take a part. |
| D．It can also help kids develop healthy eating habits for life. |
| E．Get students involved in the development of school meals. |
| F．Teachers and students can work together to encourage students to eat better. |
| G．Avoid keeping junk foods around the house, such as candy and sugary drinks. |
【推荐1】An undersea cable (电缆) that connects the island nation of Tonga to the Internet has broken. As a result, Tongans will be without their main Internet connection for several weeks.
Touga is a country formed of about 169 islands in the South Pacific Ocean. Most of the country's 100, 000 people live on the main island, called Tongatapu. Like most island nations, Tonga gets its Internet through a cable that runs deep under the sea.
On the night of Sunday, January 20, the 514-mile (827-kilometer) cable that connects Tonga to Fiji got broken. No one is sure how it broke, but the most likely reason is that it was damaged by a ship pulling its anchor (锚).
In many places which use underwater cables, there is a backup cable. But because Tonga’s cable is so long and costs so much money, and because not that many people live on Tonga, the country just has one cable.
The broken cable caused Tonga's Internet to stop almost completely. It was also impossible to make calls to other countries at first.
But an Internet company soon brought Internet service back using a satellite (人造卫星) connection. Banks and many government offices also have satellite connections. But this is much slower. For satellite Internet, all signals (信号) must be sent out into space and then come back to the ground somewhere else. Satellite connections only allow a small part of the Internet activity that is possible with an undersea cable.
As a result, Tongans have to think carefully about how the Internet will be used. A person speaking for the company that owns the cable said that about 80% of the Internet use in Tonga was for social media (社交媒体) sites, such as Facebook and YouTube. The country is thinking about blocking these social media sites until the problem is fixed.
A special repair ship is traveling to Tonga from Samoa to fix the cable, which is broken in two places. The repairs should begin on Monday or Tuesday and could take a week or longer. No one knows yet how much it will cost to fix the cable.
1. What may be the reason for Tonga’s undersea cable’s failure?| A．The cable was hit by a lost ship. | B．The cable was in poor condition. |
| C．The cable had a technical failure. | D．The cable was broken by a ship. |
| A．A backup cable would be very costly. |
| B．The underwater condition makes it impossible. |
| C．People of the country disagreed about laying one. |
| D．The country didn't realize the importance of the Internet. |
| A．It is expensive to use. |
| B．It carries more signals. |
| C．It works at slow speeds. |
| D．It supports most Internet use. |
| A．Allow Tongans to use it at night. | B．Stop the use of social media sites. |
| C．Ask the Internet company for advice. | D．Just allow government offices to use it. |
【推荐2】People often plan to receive medical exam but don’t, resulting in increasing health care cost. A surprising number of citizens mean to complete tax forms in time but forget to, pushing them to pay unnecessary fines. Many families miss the government deadline to complete financial aid forms, losing out on aid available for child care.
How can policymakers help people follow through on important tasks? They use carrots and sticks: bonuses, late fees, or regulations. These methods can be clumsy, and often aren’t effective for the situation at hand. Reminding people to form simple plans. however, provides a low-cost, simple, and powerful tool.
Evidence is growing that providing prompts (提示) , which push people at key times to think through how and when they will follow through, make people more likely to act on tasks of importance. In one early randomized (随机的) study on vaccination (预防接种) rates, for example, a team of social psychologists showed that 28% of Oxford University seniors got the shot after being encouraged to review their weekly schedules and to select a possible time to stop by the health center. They were also given a list of times when shots were available and a map showing the health center’s location. Only 3% of the seniors got the shot when simply informed about how effective the shots were.
People who make a plan gain an advantage from their psychological forces. Specifically, they can overcome the tendency to put off as well as the tendency to be overly optimistic about the time it will take to accomplish a task.
People mistakenly believe that their strong intentions are enough to push them to perform desired behaviors. These psychological research results stress the need for policy decisions that encourage plan making and improve social welfare.
1. What phenomenon is described in paragraph 1?| A．Heavy stress of daily chores. | B．Short of task management skills. |
| C．Disappointment of over-confidence. | D．Failure to achieve original plans. |
| A．People need to think deeply before they act. |
| B．Specific reminders help people accomplish plans. |
| C．Awareness of task importance matters in planning. |
| D．Seniors need encouragement to have vaccination shots. |
| A．They are realistic in the time required | B．They are optimistic about the results. |
| C．They are confident to overcome difficulties | D．They are careful with task arrangements. |
| A．Medical staff. | B．Government officials. |
| C．Ordinary people. | D．Social psychologists. |
【推荐3】We’ve all been there: in a lift, in line at the bank or on an airplane, surrounded by people who are, like us, deeply focused on their smartphones or, worse, struggling with the uncomfortable silence.
What’s the problem? It’s possible that we all have compromised conversational intelligence. It’s more likely that none of us start a conversation because it’s awkward and challenging, or we think it’s annoying and unnecessary. But the next time you find yourself among strangers, consider that small talk is worth the trouble. Experts say it’s an invaluable social practice that results in big benefits.
“Dismissing small talk as unimportant is easy, but we can’t forget that deep relationships wouldn’t even exist if it weren’t for casual conversation. Small talk is the grease(润滑剂) for social communication,” says Bernardo Carducci, director of the Shyness Research Institute at Indiana University Southeast. “Almost every great love story and each big business deal begins with small talk,” he explains. “The key to successful small talk is learning how to connect with others, not just communicate with them.”
In a 2021 study, Elizabeth Dunn, associate professor of psychology at UBC, invited people on their way into a coffee shop. One group was asked to seek out an interaction(互动) with its waiter; he other, to speak only when necessary. The results showed that those who chatted with their server reported significantly higher positive feelings and a better coffee shop experience. “It’s not that talking to the waiter is better than talking to your husband,” says Dunn. “But interactions with peripheral(外围的) members of our social network matter for our well-being also.”
Dunn believes that people who reach out to strangers feel a significantly greater sense of belonging, a bond with others. Carducci believes developing such a sense of belonging starts with small talk. “Small talk is the basis of good manners,” he says.
1. What is important for successful small talk according to Carducci?| A．Showing good manners. |
| B．Relating to other people. |
| C．Focusing on a topic. |
| D．Making business deals. |
| A．It improves family relationships. |
| B．It raises people’s confidence. |
| C．It matters as much as a formal talk. |
| D．It makes people feel good. |
| A．Conversation Counts |
| B．Ways of Making Small Talk |
| C．Benefits of Small Talk |
| D．Uncomfortable Silence |
| A．Addiction to smartphones. |
| B．Inappropriate behaviours in public places. |
| C．Absence of communication between strangers. |
| D．Impatience with slow service. |
【推荐1】It's good to share, right? Growing up as kids we are told to share our toys and not be selfish. We also live in an age where discussing our feelings is encouraged. But when does it all become too much? With new crazes trending all the time, such as dance challenges and wearing a pillow as a dress, the question is: when can sharing become over—sharing on social media?
What is over—sharing? The term has become associated with social media, but it isn't exclusive to this platform. Imagine you head to a party and you meet someone. within five minutes they have divulged intimate details about their life. While some of us may try to escape these people, according to marriage therapist Carolyn Cole, this form of over—sharing could come from a strong desire to connect with someone. But how does this translate to social media?
Dr Christopher Hand, a lecturer in cyber psychology, says the more details people disclose, the less sympathy we express when things go wrong. This could be due to a belief that the more we share them, the more we attract our own negative experiences. It seems that sad fishing, the idea of searching for sympathy by over—sharing, is generally perceived as negative rather than the cry for help it could actually be.
However, Dr Hand's research also seems to suggest that the more we post on a platform, the more socially attractive we become — provided that the posts we bang out are positive. Even back in 2015, Gwendolyn Seidman PhD, said that we should avoid whining and being negative online. We should also steer clear of showing off bragging or flexing, as it's now known especially about our love lives. It makes sense—if your date is going "that well", would you really have time to share a photo with text?
So, how can you know if you are over—sharing? Well, why not ask your friends in real life. They would probably be more than happy to tell you if your posts about your breakfast or your gripes about your lack of money really are too much.
1. What are 'dance challenges' and 'pillow dresses' examples of?| A．'Crazes' that can trend | B．Ways of enjoying oneself |
| C．Various competitions | D．Young people's unique ways of standing out |
| A．People will feel closer to each other |
| B．You will lose some friends |
| C．People will show more sympathy |
| D．People don't sympathise as much when things go wrong. |
| A．Being positive | B．Complaining constantly |
| C．Showing off. | D．Keeping a low key |
【推荐2】Foxes with nine tails, flying dragons that can spit fireballs and creatures with human-heads and snake-bodies. Many magical creatures are recorded in Chinese legends and myths. Now a group of young Chinese people has brought them to life.
Called “jialegeling”, the group is made up of three founding members—Zhang Jialing, Zhu Ying and Bao Kai. They personify the mythical figures from The Classic of Mountains ad Seas（《山海经》）with costume makeup and location shooting.
Recalling the origin of the idea, they spoke of their experience using social media six years ago. They found that cultural products from Japan, the US and Republic of Korea were popular among users. However, Chinese legends were unfamiliar to most of them.
To faithfully show the creatures in the legends, they learned special effects makeup and created props (道具) by themselves.
It takes Zhang at least four hours to apply makeup and get in the costume for each character, Zhu says. The team members often get up in the early hours so they can shoot during the day. Despite the lack of funding, the group insisted on shooting on location because the ancient texts had records of the natural features of the areas where the creatures emerged.
That means their journey could not sail smoothly. With some topography (地貌) having disappeared over the past thousands of years, they needed to find areas with similar natural features. Even though some places could be easily found, they still faced difficulties. Once when filming in a desert, Zhang became severely sunburned, resulting in her skin peeling. Another video with underwater scenes required Zhang to dive dozens of times and Bao to film in the water the entire time.
“Fortunately, our efforts seem to have been seen by people. Many of our viewers are even calling us ‘ancient culture inheritors’. When we set out on this journey, this is exactly what we hoped would come.”
1. Why does the author mention many magical creatures in the first paragraph?| A．To make comparison. | B．To provide examples. |
| C．To support an argument | D．To introduce the topic. |
| A．They were much impressed with Chinese legends and myth. |
| B．They were experienced in personifying the mythical figures. |
| C．They found it easier to profit from shooting culture-themed videos. |
| D．They intended to display ancient Chinese culture’s charm to the public. |
| A．They suffer from a great lack of sleep. |
| B．A shortage of fund sets them a barrier. |
| C．They have trouble finding suitable places. |
| D．Making up and getting dressed are time-consuming. |
| A．Creative and committed. | B．Determined and careful. |
| C．Confident and grateful. | D．Passionate and curious. |
【推荐3】Shakespeare wrote in his great play Hamlet, “Brevity (简洁) is the soul of wit.” But it seems that not everyone agrees with this. Microblog has canceled its 140-character limit for posts, meaning users can now write as many words as they like. And now Twitter, a US social media site that’s similar to Microblog, also announced that it plans to double its character limit from 140 to 280.
Twitter has its reasons for the changes. It’s a pain to have to edit your thoughts to less than 140 characters when you have so much to say. And a big problem for English writers is that it requires more space than character-based languages such as Chinese to express the same thing. According to The Atlantic, while the average English-language tweet is 34 characters, a Japanese one, for example, is only 15.
But still, Twitter users don’t seem to be happy with the new move.
Our reading habits have changed over time, and we’re used to keeping up to date with what’s happening in the world by reading just a couple of lines of text. For this, 140 characters are more than enough.
“[Microblogs] are almost always faster and more efficient than television, radio, newspapers, or any other source,” wrote Dom Knight, a reporter for The Guardian. “It’s like gathering in the town square ... in an instant.”
Trying to fit your thoughts into a limited space is also a good way to come up with smart comments, which is why microblogs are often where the best humor is found.
For example, during former US President Donald Trump’s election campaign in 2016, a Twitter user wrote: “If Trump can seriously win the presidency of this nation, I don’t want to see a job description with ‘experience required’ ever again.” And another wrote: “England: Nothing can be more embarrassing than Brexit. America: Watch this.” These tweets expressed people’s upset louder and quicker than any long articles ever could.
So perhaps we should pay attention to Shakespeare’s words. After all, he only needed 27 characters to make his famous point.
1. Why does Twitter plan to change its character limit for each post?| A．Twitter users always have a lot to say. |
| B．Users are not satisfied with the current character limit. |
| C．More characters are needed when writing in English than in Chinese. |
| D．Twitter saw that the benefit after Microblog changed the character limit. |
| A．People want to know what is happening around the world. |
| B．People prefer to look through short posts rather than read long articles. |
| C．People are used to reading short posts in order to get the latest news. |
| D．People’s new reading habits make it hard to read long posts. |
| A．People can get information which they cannot get from traditional media. |
| B．It can quickly gather various pieces of information for people. |
| C．It can make people feel as if they are there and experiencing an event themselves. |
| D．The posts can be easily understood because the characters in each post are limited. |
| A．To show that the US presidential election attracted more attention than Brexit. |
| B．To explain how British people and Americans show their sense of humor. |
| C．To prove that Twitter is a platform where you can express your own opinions freely. |
| D．To offer evidence that limited characters can inspire smart posts. |
| A．It should be lifted because it makes it difficult for people to express thoughts. |
| B．It should be abandoned because it doesn’t fit people’s current reading habits. |
| C．It should be kept as Shakespeare argued that using fewer words is better. |
| D．It is meaningful because short texts fit people’s reading habits and help create the best humor. |
