2 . This question has fascinated behavioural scientists for decades: why do we give money to charity?

The explanations for charitable giving fall into three broad categories, from the purely altruisic (利他的)— I donate because I value the social good done by the charity. The “impurely” altruistic— I donate because I extract value from knowing I contribute to the social good for the charity. And the not-at-all altruistic— I donate because I want to show off to potential mates how rich I am.

But are these motives strong enough to enable people to donate as much as they would want to? Most people support charities in one way or another, but often we struggle to make donations as often as we think we should. Although many people would like to leave a gift to charity in their will, they forget about it when the time comes.

Many people are also aware that they should donate to the causes that have the highest impact, but facts and figures are less attractive than narratives. In a series of experiments, it was found that people are much more responsive to charitable pleas that feature a single, identifiable beneficiary(受益者), than they are to statistical information about the scale of the problem being faced. When it comes to charitable giving, we are often ruled by our hearts and not our heads.

The good news is that charitable giving is contagious—seeing others give makes an individual more likely to give and gentle encouragement from an important person in your life can also make a big difference to your donation decisions— more than quadrupling them in our recent study. Habit also plays a part— in three recent experiments those who volunteered before were more likely to do donate their time than those who had not volunteered before.

In summary, behavioural science identifies a range of factors that influence our donations, and can help us to keep giving in the longer term. This is great news not just for charities, but also for donors.

1. What can we learn about people who do charitable giving?

A．Most people support charity as often as they think they should.

B．Some people don’t want to leave a gift to charity until the time comes.

C．Those who donate because they can gain an advantage are purely altruistic.

D．Some people send money to charity simply to tell others they are wealthy.

2. In which way will people donate more willingly?

A．Not revealing the names of the donors.

B．Showing figures about the seriousness of the problem.

C．Telling stories that feature a single, recognizable beneficiary.

D．Reminding people to write down what to donate in the will in advance.

3. What does the underlined sentence in paragraph 5 mean?

A．People will learn from others and follow the suit.

B．Many people are familiar with charitable giving.

C．Charitable giving helps the beneficiary in all aspects.

D．Charitable giving can bring a lot of benefits to donors.

4. What is the writing purpose of the passage?

A．To persuade more people to donate.

B．To explain the science behind why people donate.

C．To criticize some false charitable giving behaviours.

D．To explore approaches to making people donate more.

3 . The pandemic has affected nearly all aspects of modern life, from the clothes we wear to the food we eat. There is one thing, however, that has remained almost unchanged: the emojis we send.

According to data from the Unicode Consortium (统一码联盟), nine of the 10 most-used emojis from 2019 also ranked among the top 10 this year. The tears of joy emoji ranked No.1, despite members of Gen Z deeming it uncool.

“It speaks to how many people use emojis. If emojis were a purely Gen Z thing, then you wouldn’t see it so highly ranked,” said Alexander Robertson, an emoji researcher at Google. “Because of the large number of people using emojis, even if one group thinks something is lame, they have to be a really big group to affect these statistics.”

And it makes sense that Gen Z would think that certain emojis aren’t fashionable. It’s part of the “teenager experience of creating a sense of subculture where there’s a right way and a wrong way of behaving.” Plus, there is a range of laughter that can be expressed: There’s light chuckling. There’s acknowledgement laughter, which is just a marker of empathy. Using emojis, such as the skull face (“I’m dead”) or crying face ( uncontrollable tears of laughter), can help to illustrate that range.

“It basically indicates that we have what we need to communicate a broad range of expression, or even very specific concepts,” Mr Robertson said. “You don’t necessarily need a Covid emoji.”

“We did see a rise in the use of the virus emoji. But it wasn’t made remotely into the most-commonly used ones because we still had plenty to laugh about and plenty to cry about, whether it was because of the pandemic or not,” said Lauren Gawne, a senior lecturer in linguistic at La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia.

“Even in the midst of this massive global pandemic that preoccupied so much of our time,” She added. “We still spent a lot of time wishing each other happy birthday or checking or laughing about some new and unexpected elements of this slow-burning weirdness.”

1. Why does the tears of joy emoji ranked No.1 despite the dislike from the Z generation?

A．The emoji is a purely Z generation thing.

B．The Z generation are too young to influence the rank.

C．Though they dislike it, the Z generation vote for it ultimately.

D．The Z generation take up a very small portion in emoji users.

2. What does the underlined “it” in paragraph 6 refer to?

A．the virus emoji	B．a Covid emoji
C．the use of the virus emoji	D．the rise in the use of the virus emoji

3. Why wasn’t the virus emoji popular according to Lauren Gawne?

A．The massive global pandemic has come to an end.

B．The pandemic has little influence on people’s daily life.

C．We have a broad range of expression for communication.

D．Some new and useful emojis are created to replace the virus emoji.

4. What is probably the best title for the passage?

A．The Pandemic and the Emoji.

B．Gen Z, the Emoji Generation.

C．The Emoji of the Year.

D．The Rise of Virus Emoji

4 . A project called “I Am A Scientist” is giving middle and high school students the opportunity to interact with modern-day researchers. Below are stories from some of the scientists who are involved in the program.

Noor Al-Alusi, Epidemiologist (流行病学家)

“I have a black belt in Taekwondo (跆拳道). I am driven by a deep desire to help others. I believe that all people have a fundamental right to health care.”

Her work: During the Zika epidemic, Al-Alusi met with the communities that had been hardest hit by the virus, using data and mathematical models to keep them safe and healthy.

Background: Al-Alusi was born in California but her parents emigrated from Iraq. This experience provided her with an understanding of the health needs of the immigrant community.

Ryoji Amamoto, Neurobiologist (神经生物学家)

“I’m a huge sports fan. I’ve traveled to more than 40 countries. I’m a licensed scuba diver but a terrible swimmer. I hated science in high school.”

His work: Amamoto studies the tiny but amazing brains of animals that have a superpower — the ability to regenerate. He learns what factors help these special brains regrow, so that we can try to treat diseases like Parkinson’s.

Background: Amamoto lived in Japan until the age of eight, when his family moved to Chicago. He had to overcome major language barriers which saw him shift between speaking English at school and Japanese at home.

Yamicia Connor, Physician Scientist

“I once competed in a robot competition. I love Beyonce. I love cooking. I’m a doctor who studies ways to improve women’s health.”

Her work: Connor is a doctor at a hospital in Boston where she studies cancer cells in a lab using microscopes and computers, but she also works directly with patients who are undergoing tests for new cancer treatments.

Background: Growing up in Florida, Connor was a serious kid who stressed about the little things. She was into her schoolwork and loved to put on plays with her friends in which she would organize the whole thing and assign everyone a role.

1. What can the students know about the scientists through the program?

A．Their education experience.	B．Their gender and religion.
C．Their personal interests.	D．Their career planning.

2. What is Noor Al-Alusi’s job?

A．Studying amazing brains which can regrow.

B．Using data and mathematical models to fight against viruses.

C．Understanding the health needs of the immigrant community.

D．Working with patients who are undergoing tests for new cancer treatments.

3. Where is the passage probably from?

A．A magazine.	B．Award words.
C．A science paper.	D．A health website.

5 . It is difficult to name a female architect more iconic than Zaha Hadid, whose name can be translated from Arabic as glorious. She passed away five years ago at the age of 65, but the impact she has left on the world of architecture is profound.

Hadid was born into an upper-class Iraqi family in 1950. At the very beginning, she wanted to become a mathematician and studied science at the American University of Beirut, But at some point she realized that she preferred shapes to numbers. And she turned her concentration to architecture and went to London where she met the famous Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas.

“There are 360 degrees, so why stick to one?” Hadid once said. Despite her abundance of amazing ideas, before the beginning of the 90s, not a single building based on her blueprints had been built. Her highly expressive style, while initially criticized and believed to be crazy, is now regarded as pioneering work. Her striking contemporary architecture, inspired by natural landforms, has graced the skylines of major metropolitan cities.

“Women are always being told, ‘you’re not going to make it; It’s too difficult. You can’t do that Don’t enter this competition; You’ll never win it’,” Hadid said. “They need confidence in themselves and people around them for support.”

Never one to be boxed in by conventions, Hadid proved society wrong. She received her first prize, the “Gold Medal Architectural Design” for her British Architecture in 1982. From then on, the awards kept rolling in. But the true triumph for Hadid came in 2004. Her project for the London Olympics Aquatic Center won her the Pritzker Architecture Prize. She became the first woman and first Muslim to earn the award, making a name for herself and paving the way for female architects.

Hadid’s genius lives on in the array of many other spectacular buildings she has left behind in the world. Among them are the Guangzhou Opera House, the Beijing Daxing International Airport, as well as the Al Wakrah Stadium in Qatar where the 2022 FIFA World Cup will be held.

Hadid may be gone, but her global influence on a new generation of female architects is here to stay.

1. What made Hadid quit science to learn architecture?

A．Her talent in architecture.

B．Her interest in architecture.

C．Her difficulty in learning science.

D．Her encounter with Rem Koolhaas.

2. What can we learn about Hadid’s works?

A．Her architecture was inspired by mathematics

B．Her British Architecture won her the Pritzker Architecture Prize.

C．Her architecture style was too bold to be accepted at the very beginning.

D．Her works can only be found in European countries and the Middle East.

3. What does paragraph 4 mainly about?

A．The talk between Hadid and her colleague.

B．The reason why women fail to be architects.

C．The prejudice from society against women.

D．The difficulty Hadid faced being an architect.

4. What is the most profound impact Hadid has left on the world?

A．She formed a unique style.

B．She broke away from the convention.

C．She received various architecture awards

D．She encouraged other women architects.

7 . “Is there anything you want from Grandma’s flat?” My uncle, texting me, last week.

His mum had passed away. He’d begun the painful yet necessary task of sorting through her belongings. I required zero thinking time. Yes, I would like her aloe vera (芦荟) plant, please.

Here’s why. Sometime around 1975, Grandma received this plant as a gift. It came courtesy (礼仪) of the local butcher in recognition of her loyal custom. It could, I suppose, just as likely have been a calendar, or a fountain pen, or a box of biscuits. But it just happened to be a pot plant, which Grandma, who always had green fingers, appreciated and placed in her doorway. Five years later, my mum married the butcher’s son. And had me.

When my father’s mother died in 1993, Grandma revealed to me how this particular plant was different to the dozens of others she had in her home. This one had history. It was, she suggested, a living, blooming representation of the relationship that existed between the two sides of my family. As, indeed, was I.

Aloe vera is reasonably hardy, but, as I’ve learned, if you put it above a radiator, it dies. If you under-water it, it dies. If you over-water it, it dies. In short, with my awful agricultural skills, I’m better off with a plastic one. So, straight after I asked my uncle for this treasure, I put in place an insurance policy: the plant will go and live with Ann, my mother-in-law.

Ann, is a genius with a greenhouse. The plan is for Ann to keep hold of the original plant. In time, she can teach me how to care for its cuttings properly. Meantime, Ann will spread cuttings and clippings among her own family. My wife’s two sisters, for example, are both far better at tending plants than I am, so it is quite conceivable that they, too, will spread cuttings of the plant around their partners’ families; that this humble plant might yet spread across my entire extended family. What an amazing outcome!

1. Why did the butcher give my Grandma the aloe vera plant?

A．To contribute to the marriage.

B．To observe a specific custom.

C．To show the butcher’s loyalty.

D．To appreciate her regular visits.

2. Which of the following can best describe grandma?

A．She is a garden enthusiast.	B．She is loyal to her friends.
C．She is a local shop keeper.	D．She is ready to help others.

3. What can we learn about the author according to paragraph 5?

A．He is skilled at agricultural planting.

B．He has a preference for plastic plants

C．He is confident in feeding the plant himself.

D．He is anxious to keep the plant alive.

4. What is the best title of the passage?

A．An amazing outcome	B．A family tree
C．A family history	D．Green fingers

8 . I was interested in volunteering at a hospital because both of my parents work in hospitals. I wanted to see what the ________ was after hearing them talk about it. To be more ________, I wanted to work at the VA — Veterans (老兵) Affairs hospital — in Palo Alto because the ________ of VA is “to serve those who served” and I really ________ this very idea.

To my greatest joy, I was ________ the VA program, and throughout this summer break I’ve spent around 110 hours ________ at VA Palo Alto in different departments. To be honest, I had never at all felt more welcomed and ________ in every department I went to. After some initial experiences, I ________ to work in the Office of Information Technology (OIT) since I am interested in computers, and I wanted to see how they are used in a hospital setting.

My overall experience of volunteering at VA can be ________ into the words of “eye-opening and ________.” Throughout my whole life I have been ________ to health care, from both my parents being physicians and my health problems, but I have never ________ been on the other side of the glass, so to speak. What I ________ most about my experience was the ________ to see what it’s like to help people. I want to continue volunteering at VA because I believe there is no other experience that can be as ________ as working in a hospital that treats Veterans.

1.

A．opportunity

B．decision

C．experience

D．adventure

2.

A．specific

B．private

C．flexible

D．cautious

3.

A．concept

B．mission

C．profession

D．advantage

4.

A．contributed

B．generated

C．transformed

D．shared

5.

A．accepted into

B．committed to

C．concerned about

D．withdrawn from

6.

A．studying

B．volunteering

C．observing

D．exercising

7.

A．convinced

B．determined

C．valued

D．amused

8.

A．applied

B．refused

C．promised

D．arranged

9.

A．classified

B．summarized

C．divided

D．combined

10.

A．normal

B．relevant

C．reliable

D．worthy

11.

A．attached

B．devoted

C．exposed

D．submitted

12.

A．actually

B．totally

C．absolutely

D．appropriately

13.

A．respect

B．treasure

C．understand

D．agree

14.

A．ability

B．responsibility

C．approach

D．courage

15.

A．relaxing

B．challenging

C．fulfilling

D．thrilling

9 . A recent survey in the US found that Gen Z-ers and Millennials (千禧一代) visit libraries more often than their parents or grandparents. The young love libraries because they are secure, comfortable, free and — as my 11-year-old would say — “aesthetic”. This means they look good in the background of an Instagram post or TikTok video. It’s also a great place to meet people. If you’re both young and in a library, chances are you have similar interests.

And then, too, there are the books. Gen Z-ers are turning out to be big readers, especially of paper books. Even though, or perhaps because, they have in their pockets the most limitlessly distracting devices ever invented, many are deliberately choosing to pick up a piece of 15th-century technology instead. They like the fact that books are self-contained and require concentration.

There is, sometimes, a sense of nostalgic (怀旧的) cosplay in the way young people read. In New York, for example, the latest TikTok-fuelled craze is reading with strangers in bars. You have to buy a ticket in advance, and then you all gather and sit in silence for 30 minutes, reading whatever book you’ve brought along. Like an expensive version of going to the library, except that afterwards you all have a drink and talk about books.

The very thought of it makes me suffer, but that’s because I’m a child of the 1970s and 80s. To me, reading is a private pleasure, while screens — TV or cinema — are social. I did once, in a fit of ambitious parenting, introduce a “family reading hour”, during which my husband and children were pressed to join me at the fireside for some silent reading. It could not have felt more performative if we had dressed up in top hats and crinolines (旧时的衬裙). But still, I applaud these young readers — for knowing what is good for them, for seeking out human connection, for finding the beauty and pleasure in old institutions, and for bringing new life to the library.

1. Which of the following is a reason why the young love libraries?

A．They enjoy the sense of safety and freedom.

B．They are free to use social media in libraries.

C．They consider e-reading a way to discover beauty.

D．They expect to meet people with different interests.

2. What do we know about the latest TikTok-fuelled craze in New York?

A．It’s a trend of reading with the family in bars.

B．It’s a learning approach advocating silent reading.

C．It’s a gathering attended by strangers free of charge.

D．It’s a reading fashion integrating the old and the new.

3. What can be learned about the author’s understanding of reading from paragraph 4?

A．It is a delightful social experience.	B．It is a way of personal enjoyment.
C．It is a significant parenting pattern.	D．It is a painful routine practice.

4. Which of the following is the best title for the text?

A．A Gen Z Way to Refresh Libraries

B．A Realistic Look of Library Reading

C．A Broad View of Libraries and Social Media

D．A New Way to See Human Connection with Libraries

10 . To build a prosperous (繁荣的) society, a fundamental understanding of the modern economy as a driving force in today’s world is essential.

What kind of prosperity have we achieved so far? The widespread definition of prosperity focuses on economic power and growth as measures of success. Let’s take a look at history. The Second Industrial Revolution enabled mass production and created a sufficient supply of goods. This has greatly increased the importance of money in its role as “a store of value, ” and “a medium of exchange. ”As a result, we have pursued economic power as the only indicator of prosperity, such as GDP. Waves of globalization and technological evolution have promoted overall economic growth, but have allowed the few who are strong to achieve greater power while exploiting the many who are weak. Consequently, inequality has worsened, and disunity has intensified.

The path to a truly prosperous world requires a shift in focus towards the most suitable happiness for all, in addition to economic power. Defining happiness, however, is a complex task. What makes people happy? The degree to which the same thing creates happiness differs from person to person. Happiness is subjective and complicated. This is a world of “multiple values” where each of us determines worth as opposed to “one fixed price” based merely on an economic perspective. Individuals shouldn’t be defined by a single identity or role but by multidimensional nature as well as multiple roles making independent choices and taking actions for their happiness in different aspects.

Businesses must be pioneers in pursuing not only economic growth but also the happiness of all citizens of society. Companies can contribute through the pursuit of social value as well as economic profit. At the heart of this lies “purpose”. A company’s purpose defines the value it brings to society. The true worth of a company should be determined not just by the return s it creates for shareholders but by the value it creates for society as a whole.

1. What is the author’s attitude to the widely accepted standard of prosperity?

A．Indifferent.

B．Critical.

C．Uncertain.

D．Approving.

2. What is the side effect of technological evolution?

A．The slower economic growth speed.

B．The sharp reduction of job opportunities.

C．The enlarged gap between the rich and the poor.

D．The increasing conflict between different nations.

3. Which statement will the author agree with according to the passage?

A．Happiness is changeable and beyond control.

B．Happiness largely depends on economic power.

C．The pursuit of profit determines a company’s true worth.

D．A prosperous world should be measured by multiple values.

4. Who are the main intended readers of the text?

A．Social psychologists.	B．Enterprise administrators.
C．School educators.	D．Technological researchers.