Culdesac, which describes itself as “the first car-free neighborhood built from scratch in the US”, admitted its first 36 residents in Tempe, Arizona, US, earlier this year. In a country as car-dependent as the US, Culdesac is nothing short of visionary. The $170 million (about 1.24 billion yuan) neighborhood, with its white buildings and narrow walkways, is expected to hold around 1,000 people when the full 760 units are completed by 2025, according to The Guardian. Similar projects in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Houston, Texas, are also underway, said Bloomberg.
Although some densely populated coastal US cities like Boston and New York City are walkable and have adequate public transportation options like bus and light rail, the vast majority of Americans are entirely dependent on cars to get around. In the 2018 US Census, it was found that roughly 85 percent of Americans relied on a car to get to work.
This reliance on cars doesn’t come cheap, unfortunately. In a 2023 study, the American Automobile Association said that it costs an average of about 89,000 yuan per year to own and maintain a car in the US.
So, what is stopping Americans from deserting cars and embracing relatively cheaper alternatives like e-bikes? In a word, unsafe roads that prioritize cars over people. According to a 2018 report by the World Health Organization, the US traffic death rate is 12.4 deaths per 100,000. At the same time, pedestrians and cyclists in the US are often blamed for being hit by drivers rather than the other way around.
Still, there’s hope. By embracing a new car-free way of living, US projects like Culdesac can provide an alternative way of living that’s both healthier and more affordable and, in turn, influence others to live a better way as well. As Vanessa Fox, a 32-year-old resident of Culdesac, said, “For some, cars equal freedom, but for me, it’s a restriction. Freedom is being able to just simply walk out and access places.”
1. What can we learn about Culdesac from paragraph 1?| A．It will be put into use soon. |
| B．It is thought to be forward-thinking. |
| C．It follows several successful projects. |
| D．It is the world’s largest car-free neighborhood. |
| A．Maintaining a car is cheap. |
| B．Roads conditions are unsafe. |
| C．E-bikes are not widely available. |
| D．Public transportation is inadequate. |
| A．Restricting freedom of movement. |
| B．Increasing residents’ sense of responsibility. |
| C．Encouraging people to explore their communities. |
| D．Promoting a healthier and more cost-effective lifestyle. |
| A．Living Car-free in the US |
| B．Improving US Road Conditions |
| C．A New Trend: Energy-efficient Cars |
| D．A Dilemma: Car-free or Car-dependent |
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【推荐1】Not too many decades ago it seemed “obvious” both to the general public and to sociologists that modern society has changed people’s natural relations, loosened their responsibilities to relatives and neighbors, and substituted in their place loose relationships with passing acquaintances (相识之人). However, in recent years a growing body of research has revealed that the “obvious” is not true. It seems that if you are a city resident, you typically know a smaller proportion of your neighbors than you do if you are a resident of a smaller community. But, for the most part, this fact has few significant consequences. It does not necessarily follow that if you know few of your neighbors you will know no one else.
Even in very large cities, people maintain close social ties within small, private social worlds. Indeed, the number and quality of meaningful relationships do not differ between more and less urban people. Small-town residents are more involved with relatives than big-city residents are. Yet city residents make up for it by developing friendships with people who share similar interests and activities. Urbanism may produce a different style of life, but the quality of life does not differ between town and city. Nor are residents of large communities more likely to display psychological symptoms of stress or alienation, a feeling of not belonging, than residents of smaller communities are. However, city residents do worry more about crime, and this leads them to a distrust of strangers.
These findings do not imply that urbanism makes little or no difference. If neighbors are strangers to one another, they are less likely to sweep the sidewalk of an elderly couple living next door or keep an eye out for young trouble makers. Moreover, as Wirth suggested, there may be a link between a community’s population size and its social heterogeneity (多样性). For instance, sociologists have found much evidence that the size of a community is associated with bad behavior including gambling, drugs, etc. Large-city residents are also more likely than small-town residents to have a cosmopolitan (见识广的) outlook, to display less responsibility to traditional family roles, to vote for leftist political candidates, and to be willing to accept nontraditional religious groups and unpopular political groups. Everything considered, heterogeneity and unusual behaviour seem to be outcomes of large population size.
1. According to paragraph 1, it was once a common belief that people in modern society ________.| A．tended to acquaint themselves with people passing by |
| B．couldn’t develop very close relationships with others |
| C．bore great responsibilities to neighbors and relatives |
| D．usually had more friends than small-town residents |
| A．suffer from the lack of friendship |
| B．lower the quality of relationships |
| C．show little concern for other people |
| D．become suspicious of each other |
| A．the more tolerant and open-minded it is | B．the more similar its interests is |
| C．the more likely it is to display stress | D．the better the quality of life is |
| A．Advantages and disadvantages of living in big cities or small towns. |
| B．Minor differences in interpersonal rela-tionships between cities and towns. |
| C．The positive role that urbanism has been playing in our modern society. |
| D．The strong feeling of alienation that city residents are suffering. |
【推荐2】There have been precious few positives during the COVID pandemic but British academics may have unearthed one: People look more attractive in protective masks.
Researchers at Cardiff University were surprised to find that both men and women were judged to look better with the lower part of their faces covered.
Dr Michael Lewis, a reader from Cardiff University’s school of psychology and an expert in faces, said research carried out before the pandemic had found that medical face masks reduced attractiveness because they were associated with disease or illness. “We wanted to test whether this had changed since face coverings became common and understand whether the type of mask had any effect, so we began this research,”Lewis stated.
The first part of the research was carried out in February 2021 by which time the British population had become used to wearing masks in some circumstances. Forty-three women were asked to rate on a scale of 1 to 10 the attractiveness of images of male faces without a mask, wearing a plain cloth mask, a blue medical face mask, and holding a plain black book covering the area a face mask would hide.
The participants said those wearing a cloth mask were significantly more attractive than the ones with no masks or whose faces were partly covered by the book. But the blue medical mask made the wearer look even better. “At a time when we feel unprotected, we may find the wearing of medical masks safe and reliable and so feel more positive towards the wearer,”Lewis explained.
Lewis said it was also possible that masks made people more attractive because they directed attention to the eyes. He said other studies had found that covering the left or right half of a face also made people look more attractive, partly because the brain fills in the missing gaps and exaggerates the overall impact.
The results of the first study have been published in the journal Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications. A second study has been carried out, in which a group of men look at women in masks;it has yet to be published but Lewis said the results were broadly the same.
1. Why was the research conducted?| A．To test how the medical face masks work during the pandemic. |
| B．To illustrate the importance of wearing medical face masks during the pandemic. |
| C．To test the effect the medical face masks have on people’s attractiveness during the pandemic. |
| D．To show wearing medical face masks reduces people’s attractiveness. |
| A．By rating the scale of the attractiveness. |
| B．By analyzing the data. |
| C．By asking subjects questions. |
| D．By referring to a theory. |
| A．Masks distract people’s attention. |
| B．Covering the left face makes people the most attractive. |
| C．The missing gaps make people look better. |
| D．The overall impact of people with masks may be beautified in one’s brain. |
| A．Protective masks are vital in our daily life. |
| B．Protective masks contribute to people’s attractiveness. |
| C．Men look more attractive than women with masks. |
| D．Protective masks make people reliable. |
【推荐3】Future football stars
Football academies were set up by leading football clubs so their coaches could run trials to discover and train talented boys from as young as eight as potential players for their first team.
This means that in Britain there are at least 9,000 boys at any one time attending academies after school who think they are going to be a famous footballer.
This doesn’t put off all the boys who are spotted by the big football clubs and are desperate to join the academies.
| A．Unfortunately, for most this isn’t the case. |
| B．The benefits are still there for them of course. |
| C．All the big football clubs have a football academy. |
| D．But, luckily for him, he was still young enough to get over it. |
| E．But football is not alone when it comes to this kind of thing. |
| F．Most of these won’t get into a team and most won’t become professionals. |
| G．And footballers are much more likely to get injured when they play games. |
【推荐1】In Britain all children have to go to school between the ages of 5 and 16. In the US children must go to school from the age of 6 to the ages between 14 and 16, depending on the state they live in.
Subjects
In England and Wales the subjects taught in schools are laid down by the National Curriculum, which was introduced in 1988 and sets out in detail the subjects that children should study and the levels of achievement they should reach by the ages of 7, 11, 14, and 16, when they are tested. The National Curriculum does not apply to Scotland, where each school decides what subjects it will teach.
Examinations
At 16, students in England and Wales take GCSE examinations. These examinations are taken by students of all levels of ability in any of a range of subjects, and may involve a final examination, an assessment of work done during the two-year course, or both of these things. At 18 some students take A-level examinations, usually in no more than three subjects. It is necessary to have A levels in order to go to university.
In Scotland students take the SCE examinations. A year later, they can take examinations called Highers, after which they can either go straight to a university or spend a further year at school and take the Certificate of Sixth Year Studies. In Scotland the university system is different from that in England and Wales.Courses usually last four years rather than three, and students study a large number of subjects as part of their degree.
1. According to the passage, children have to go to school between the ages of in both Britain and the US.| A．5—14 | B．6—14 |
| C．5—15 | D．6—17 |
| A．England and Wales. | B．England and Scotland. |
| C．US and Britain. | D．Wales and Scotland. |
| A．GCSE. | B．SCE. |
| C．Highers. | D．The Certificate of Sixth Year Studies. |
| A．In the US, only local government can decide the subjects. |
| B．In Scotland, students can take either the SCE examinations or the Certificate of Sixth Year Studies. |
| C．In England and Wales, one cannot go to university without A levels. |
| D．As for a 16-year-old student in England and Wales, he has to take both GCSE examinations and a final examination. |
【推荐2】The first selection of Understanding China, a series of books telling the stories of contemporary China, was presented to US readers for the first time since their publication at the 2018 BookExpo America(BEA)in New York.
"Telling the stories of China, the Communist Party of China (CPC) and China's communication with the rest of the world through a series of books is the best way to help those who care about China acquire new knowledge," said Zheng Bijian, head of the editorial board. The books presented at the BEA consist of 15 Chinese versions and seven English versions.
Zheng says that he strongly recommends the books. "The writers do not exaggerate (夸大) the achievements China has made, nor do they shy away from questions that China faces," Zheng explained. "And the books are not simply the authors' academic works, but include stories, which are easy for readers to understand."
In terms of topics and expressions, the books take into full consideration foreign readers' way of thinking, and the English translations try to meet foreign readers' reading habits. The authors are confident that the series will he accepted and valued by friends in various sectors, and will provide a wealth of information for the international community in understanding Chinese culture and choices, and adapting to the development of China.
In her speech, Dawn Nakagawa, Executive Vice President of the Berggruen Institute, highly praised the academic quality and value of the series. "For far too long, we have let ideological (思想体系的) differences blind us to our common future and the benefits of working together. Indeed we have very different political systems," said Nakagawa. "If we listen to each other and are willing to learn from each other perhaps, it would benefit both of our governance systems."
Their next publishing plan is to invite world-famous scholars and politicians to write books on the theme from their points of view.
1. Whom is the Understanding China series intended for?| A．US readers. | B．Chinese readers. |
| C．International readers. | D．Scholars and politicians. |
| A．objective and vivid | B．relaxing and creative |
| C．official and educative | D．academic and difficult |
| A．Perfection of the political system. | B．Communication and cooperation. |
| C．Improvement in academic quality. | D．Understanding of cultural differences. |
| A．New China, New Achievements | B．Better Understanding, Better China |
| C．BookExpo America to Be Continued | D．New Books on Understanding China |
【推荐3】Deserts could be the best places on Earth for harvesting solar power. They are spacious, relatively flat, and never short of sunlight. So researchers imagine it might be possible to transform the world’s largest desert, the Sahara, into a large solar farm, capable of meeting four times the world’s current energy demand.
While the black surfaces of solar panels absorb most of the sunlight that reaches them, only around 15% of that incoming energy gets turned into electricity. The rest is returned to the environment as heat, affecting the climate. If these effects were only local, they might not matter in a thinly populated desert. But the area of the installations in the Sahara would be vast, covering thousands of square miles. Heat released from an area this size will be redistributed by the flow of air in the atmosphere, having regional and even global effects on the climate.
A 2018 study used a climate model to assess the effects of building massive solar farms in the Sahara. The model revealed that when the size of the solar farm reaches 20% of the total area of the Sahara, the heat released by the darker solar panels creates a big temperature difference between the land and the surrounding oceans that ultimately lowers surface air pressure and causes wet air to rise and condense (凝结) into raindrops. With more rainfall, plants grow and the desert reflects less of the sun’s energy since vegetation absorbs light better than sand and soil. With more plants present, more water is evaporated (蒸发), creating a better environment that causes vegetation to spread.
So, a large solar farm could generate enough energy and at the same time turn one of the most abominable environments on Earth into a habitable place. Sounds perfect, right? Not quite. In a recent study, we used an advanced Earth system model to closely examine how Saharan solar farms interact with the climate. It showed there could be unintended effects in remote parts of the land and ocean.
We are only beginning to understand the potential consequences of establishing massive solar farms in deserts. Solutions like this may help society reduce the use of fossil energy, but Earth system studies like ours underscore the importance of considering the numerous coupled responses of the atmosphere, oceans, and land surface when examining their benefits and risks.
1. What can be learned about solar farms?| A．They are mainly located in deserts. |
| B．They can affect the local and even global climate. |
| C．They can make the best use of incoming energy. |
| D．They satisfy the world’s current energy demand. |
| A．It might become greener. |
| B．It might reflect more sunlight. |
| C．Its surface air pressure will increase. |
| D．Its temperature difference between day and night will decrease. |
| A．Addictive. | B．Dynamic. | C．Sensitive. | D．Unpleasant. |
| A．It is an impossible task. |
| B．It will do more good than harm. |
| C．It calls for more consideration. |
| D．It might be the solution to fossil fuel pollution. |
