1 . There’s a useful concept from psychology that helps explain why good people do things that harm the environment: the false consensus effect. That’s where we overvalue how acceptable and prevalent (普遍的) our own behavior is in society. Put simply, if you’re doing something (even if you secretly know you probably shouldn’t), you’re more likely to think plenty of other people do it too. What’s more, you likely overestimate how much other people think that behavior is broadly OK.

This bias (偏见) allows people to justify socially unacceptable or illegal behaviors. Researchers have observed the false consensus effect in drug use and illegal hunting. More recently, conservationists are beginning to reveal how this effect contributes to environmental damage.

In Australia, people who admitted to poaching (偷猎) thought it was much more prevalent in society than it really was, and had higher estimates than fishers who obeyed the law. They also believed others viewed poaching as socially acceptable; however, in reality, more than 90% of fishers held the opposite view. The false consensus effect has also shown up in studies examining support for nuclear energy and offshore wind farms.

Just as concepts from psychology can help explain some forms of environmental damage, so too can they help address it. For example, research shows people are more likely to litter in areas where there’s already a-lot of trash scattered around; so making sure the ground around a bin is not covered in rubbish may help.

Factual information on how other people think and behave can be very powerful. Energy companies have substantially reduced energy consumption simply by showing people how their electricity use compares to their neighbors. Encouragingly, stimulating people’s natural desire for status has also been successful in getting people to “go green to be seen”, or to publicly buy eco-friendly products.

As the research evidence shows, social norms can be a powerful force in encouraging and popularizing environmentally friendly behaviors. Perhaps you can do your bit by sharing this article!

1. Which example best illustrates the false consensus effect?

A．A student spends long hours surfing the internet.

B．A blogger assumes many people dislike his posts.

C．A driver frequently parks illegally in public places.

D．A smoker believes people generally approve of smoking.

2. How did most Australian fishers view the issue of poaching?

A．It is unacceptable.	B．It is widespread.
C．It is controversial.	D．It is complex.

3. What do the underlined words “go green to be seen” in paragraph 5 mean?

A．Embrace green habits for better health.

B．Make green choices that others can perceive.

C．Join green movements for personal fulfillment.

D．Choose green items that are easy to spot in stores.

4. What is a recommended approach to addressing environmental problems?

A．Understate social norms.	B．Highlight personal responsibilities.
C．Publicize sustainable practices.	D．Encourage technological innovations.

2 . Bruce Museum

Consistently voted the “Best Museum” by area media, the Bruce Museum in Greenwich is an educational institution which, through its varied exhibitions and collections in the arts and sciences, provides programs for diverse audiences.

Bruce Beginnings
Tuesdays, 11:00 to 11:45 am

Bruce Beginnings programs are designed for children from 2.5-5 years of age and their adult caregivers, who will explore the museum’s collections and exhibitions through picture books and hands-on activities. Space for these programs is limited; participants must see the Visitor Service desk upon arrival to the museum.

Science Solvers or Art Adventure
Select Sundays, 1:00 to 3:00 pm

Drop-in monthly programs are designed for children over the age of 4 and their families to explore simple science and art concepts while taking part in kid-friendly experiments, projects, or crafts inspired by the museum’s exhibitions and collections.

Family Studio Workshops
Select Sundays, 1:00 to 2:30 pm

A program for children over the age of 4 with their families. Participants will create a work of art inspired by the museum’s collections and exhibitions! This program is $7 per person for members and $15 for non-members, plus the cost of Museum admission.

Afternoons at the Bruce
Select school vacation days, 2:00 to 4:30 pm

Spend the afternoon off from school discovering, learning and creating! Workshops are designed for gradesK-5 and explore the museum’s collections and exhibitions. Members $15, and $25 for non-members. Snacks included! Advanced registration is required at brucemuseum.org/site/events.

1. What is special about the programs lasting less than an hour?

A．Providing hands-on activities.	B．Taking place at weekends.
C．Limiting the number of participants.	D．Targeting kids of different age groups.

2. What do the second and the third programs have in common?

A．They cost nothing.	B．They include art appreciation.
C．They are designed for kids only.	D．They are hosted on school holidays.

3. Which of the following requires early registration?

A．Bruce Beginnings.	B．Afternoons at the Bruce.
C．Family Studio Workshops.	D．Science Solvers or Art Adventure.

4 . When I suggested my 13-year-old try tennis, she quickly shot me down. “I’m not ________ , so stop trying to get me to do sports,” Julianna said. I suggested it because some of my recent happiest memories were of playing ping-pong with her. Tennis seemed like a natural progression from ping-pong and a great way to ________ some of her growing teen worries on a larger playing field. But my suggestion was always met with ________.

Still, I was undiscouraged. I was convinced that ________ some physical energy would help Julianna. I’ve seen how sports help deal with stress. It ________ for me when I was a teenage girl.

Midway through summer, we stayed at home one afternoon, really bored. “Do you want to play tennis?” I asked. “Sure,” she said. Arriving at the ________ , we set down our bags, picked up our rackets (球拍), and ________ towards our sides of the court. The net felt like the visual representation of a growing ________ between us — I desiring a connection and my teenage daughter longing for independence.

I started by hitting a ball over the net, and Julianna took a big swing and ________ . We repeated this several more times. I resisted the ________ to tell her she was ________ the racket too close to the neck or to step more into her forehand. We just repeated the ________ of me hitting the ball and her missing it a few times before she finally got it back over the net. “This is fun,” she said with a mixture of surprise and joy and then she smiled ________ .

Now we always find time to play tennis. We’re both eager for an activity that can ________ tensions between us in daily life. It’s nice to have a place where both of us can release our ________ feelings and let them go.

1.

A．mindful

B．incredible

C．sporty

D．refreshed

2.

A．knock out

B．work out

C．figure out

D．leave out

3.

A．agreement

B．insight

C．resistance

D．isolation

4.

A．releasing

B．identifying

C．reproducing

D．nurturing

5.

A．emerged

B．shone

C．interfered

D．worked

6.

A．parking

B．court

C．source

D．milestone

7.

A．dragged

B．turned

C．inched

D．headed

8.

A．divide

B．hate

C．affection

D．objective

9.

A．acquired

B．fell

C．missed

D．grabbed

10.

A．imagination

B．alternative

C．urge

D．appeal

11.

A．holding

B．scratching

C．removing

D．charging

12.

A．illustration

B．pattern

C．measurement

D．frequency

13.

A．desperately

B．disappointedly

C．specifically

D．widely

14.

A．fuel

B．target

C．transmit

D．ease

15.

A．relevant

B．negative

C．prospective

D．personalized

7 . Schools need to give students all the tools they need when they graduate. Besides teaching the basics of reading, writing, and arithmetic, teaching about mindfulness, and mental health are important life skills for young people to have. The state of Florida agrees.

Now, public schools in Florida have been required to teach five or more hours about mental health for students in grades 6-12. This new idea was welcomed by the Florida Board of Education in July and is being carried out as a potential lifesaver.

The new curriculum requires-students to learn about the symptoms (症状) of mental illness and where to find help if they are feeling sad or have other problems and even teaches the teenagers how to help their friends and classmates if they see them struggling.

“We know that 50 percent of all mental illness cases begin by age 14, so we are being active in our commitment to provide our kids with the necessary tools to see them through their successes and challenges. Providing mental health instruction is another important step forward in supporting our families,” Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran said.

Florida is the third state, following New York and Virginia in 2020, to pass laws that require mental health education in schools. According. to CNN, the New York law updated the health curriculum to include mental health for elementary, middle and high school students. The Virginia law required that mental health education be provided for 9th and 10th graders.

These three states in the US are taking bold steps to help youth deal with the intricacy of life as they grow from teenagers into adults. It is a confusing world they face and giving them the tools they need is essential. Mental health is something that should be taught in schools in all the US and across the globe.

1. What can the new curriculum-bring students?

A．Basic professional skills.	B．The ability to use language.
C．Emotional handling skills.	D．Skills that cure physical diseases.

2. What does Richard Corcoran intend to stress in paragraph 4?

A．The steps of mental health instruction.	B．The consequences of mental illness cases.
C．The importance of mental health education.	D．The content of the mental health curriculum.

3. What does the underlined word “intricacy” mean in paragraph 6?

A．Complexity.

B．Process.

C．Trick.

D．Balance.

4. Where is the text probably taken from?

A．A technology report.	B．An educational website.
C．A government document.	D．A natural science magazine.

9 . With almost all big employers in the United States now using artificial intelligence (AI) and automation in their hiring processes, the public is considering some urgent questions: How can you prevent discrimination in hiring when a machine is keeping the discrimination? What kind of methods might help?

Some 83% of employers, including 99% of Fortune 500 companies, now use some form of automated tools as part of their hiring process, said the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s ( EEOC) chair Charlotte Burrows, at a hearing on Tuesday. She said everyone needs to speak up on the debate over these technologies. “The risks are simply too high to leave this topic just to the experts.”

Last year, the EEOC issued some guidance around the use of cutting-edge hiring tools, noting many of their shortcomings. The agency found that resume( 简历) scanners which prioritize keywords and programs which evaluate a candidate’s facial expressions and speech patterns in video interviews can create discrimination. Take, for example, a video interview that analyses an applicant’s speech patterns to determine their ability to solve problems. A person with a speech problem might score low and automatically be screened out. The problem will be for the EEOC to root out discrimination or stop it from taking place.

The EEOC is considering the most appropriate ways to handle the problem. It’s agreed that inspections are necessary to ensure that the software used by companies avoids intentional or unintentional discrimination. But who would conduct those inspections is a more challenging question. Each option presents risks, Burrows pointed out. A third party may turn a blind eye to its clients, while a government-led inspection could potentially stop innovation.

In previous remarks, Burrows has noted the great potential that AI decision making tools have to improve the lives of Americans, but only when used properly. “We must work to ensure that these new technologies do not become a high-tech pathway to discrimination,” she said.

1. What does Burrows suggest people do?

A．Make their own voice heard.	B．Follow the experts’ suggestions.
C．Stop using AI in hiring processes.	D．Watch debates about technologies.

2. How might programs in video interviews select employees?

A．By scanning keywords.	B．By evaluating resumes.
C．By analyzing personalities.	D．By assessing speech patterns.

3. What is a possible outcome of third-party inspections?

A．High expense.	B．Unfair results.
C．Age discrimination.	D．Innovation interruption.

4. What is Burrows’s attitude to AI decision-making tools?

A．Favourable.

B．Disapproving.

C．Cautious.

D．Doubtful.

10 . In 1975, a San Diego homemaker named Marjorie Rice came across a column in Scientific American about tiling (瓷砖). There is a problem which has interested mathematicians since ancient Greek times. After Rice’s chance encounter with tiling, family members often saw her in the kitchen constantly drawing shapes. “I thought she was just drawing casually (随意),” her daughter Kathy said. But Rice who took only one year of math in high school, was actually discovering never-before-seen patterns.

Born in Florida, she loved learning and particularly her brief exposure to math, but tight budget and social culture prevented her family from even considering that she might attend college. “For Rice, math was a pleasure,” her son David once said.

Rice gave one of her sons a subscription to Scientific American partly because she could read it carefully while the children were at school. When she read Gardner’s column about tiling as she later recalled in an interview: “I thought it must be wonderful that someone could discover these beautiful patterns which no one had seen before.” She also wrote in an essay, “My interest was engaged by the subject and I wanted to understand every detail of it. Lacking a mathematical background, I developed my own symbol system and in a few months discovered a new type.”

Astonished and delighted, she sent her work to Gardner, who sent it to Doris, a tiling expert at Moravian College. Doris confirmed that Rice’s finding was correct.

Later, Rice declined to lecture on her discoveries, citing shyness, but at Doris’s invitation, she attended a university mathematics meeting, where she was introduced to the audience. Rice still said nothing of her achievements to her children, but they eventually found out as the awards mounted.

1. Why did Rice often draw shapes in the kitchen?

A．To become a mathematician.	B．To explore the secret of tiling.
C．To fill her leisure time.	D．To show her passion for drawing.

2. What can we learn about Rice from Paragraphs 2 and 3?

A．She longed to start a column.	B．She was rejected from a college.
C．She was good at designing patterns.	D．She succeeded in developing a system.

3. What is the text mainly about?

A．The magic of math.	B．The efforts of Rice.
C．The humility of Rice.	D．The patterns of tiling.

4. What can we learn from the Rice’s experience?

A．Nothing is impossible to a willing mind.	B．Actions speak louder than words.
C．Every cloud has a silver lining.	D．Practice makes perfect.