1 . Microsoft has announced a policy requiring its contractors to offer employees a minimum of 12 weeks' paid parental leave to care for a newborn baby, paying them up to $1,000 a week. The policy, which affects US- based companies that do work for the technology company and have more than 50 employees, will be rolled out over the next year. It will affect people including the company's cafeteria workers, door keepers and IT support staff.
Microsoft said it was inspired by a new Washington state law for paid parental leave taking effect in 2020. The new law only applies to contractors' and suppliers' employees in that state, so Stahlkopf, the company's general counsel, said they wanted to expand it so it wouldn't leave thousands of valued contributors outside of Washington behind.
The new policy will bring the parental leave benefits of affected contractors in line with those of full-time employees, who also get 12 weeks' paid parental leave, while birth mothers get an additional 8 weeks' paid time off.
"The case for paid parental leave is clear,” said Stahlkopf, in a blog post, citing various studies showing that it improves productivity, morale and retention of new mothers, “Further, when men and women have the opportunity to take paid leave, it can help counteract gender caregiving stereotypes and promote equity in the home and office,” added Stahlkopf.
Ellen Bravo, co-director of Family Values@ Work, a group that promotes paid leave, praised Microsoft for the move. “We applaud Microsoft for the leadership they've given in the fight for paid leave,” Bravo told CNN. “At the same time, we have to ensure the time spent, caring babies does not remain a workplace benefit dependent on who you work for or where you live.”
Microsoft has been under pressure to improve working conditions for contractors after some workers unionized in 2014 and started pushing for benefits like paid leave. In 2015, Microsoft announced it would require its suppliers to give their workers at least 15 days' paid time off.
1. What inspired Microsoft to adopt the new policy?| A．A new law in Washington. | B．Its contractors' requirement. |
| C．Its full-time workers' proposal. | D．Its general counsel's kindness. |
| A．15 days. | B．8 weeks. | C．12 weeks. | D．20 weeks. |
| A．All employees should enjoy paid parental leave. |
| B．Only Washingtonians deserve paid parental leave. |
| C．Microsoft is under pressure to adopt the new policy. |
| D．Microsoft employees are so lucky to get paid parental leave. |
| A．The influence of a new Washington state law. |
| B．Microsoft improving working conditions for contractors. |
| C．Microsoft requiring contractors to offer paid parental leave. |
| D．The benefits of paid parental leave. |
2 . The e-commerce company that retailers talk about most these days is neither Amazon, the American giant, nor Alibaba, China’s biggest. It is Pinduoduo (PDD), a Chinese firm that started in 2015 as an online food supplier, but whose success has driven its market value above $200bn. Last year it was China’s fastest-growing Internet stock, rising by 330%.
PDD attracts attention for two reasons. One is its business model. David Liu, vice-president of strategy, explains that it has drawn on the popularity of smart phone in China to create an e-commerce experience in which people club together to buy products from robot vacuum-cleaners to bananas. During the pandemic this has expanded into a fast-growing business across thousands of towns and villages, in which PDD’s users gather to buy local farm produce at low prices. Some call this “community group-buy”. Mr. Liu calls it “interactive commerce”. It is one of the hottest parts of the Chinese Internet.
The second is the way PDD has broken the record of giants of online shopping. Until a few years ago, China’s e-commerce market seemed a two-way competition between Alibaba and JD.com, a competitor platform. No longer. Elinor Leung of CLSA, a brokerage, expects PDD’s share of online retail in China to go beyond that of JD in 2021. She expects the number of users over Alibaba. And although PDD put a huge amount of money to lower the prices of goods, ensuring the customers from poorer parts of China easy access to its app, she thinks it may turn profitable this year.
Remarkably, the key to its success focused on parts of the market they have been unable to reach instead of defeating its bigger competitors. Although online sales of groceries have rocketed during the pandemic, less than a tenth of the 8.1trn yuan ($1.25trn) farm-produce market is bought and sold digitally. “We are continuing to grow the pie,” says Mr Liu. That lesson applies elsewhere too. However, no matter how a future market looks, there is opportunity for new online businesses because e-commerce is at an early stage of development.
1. What does the underlined “club together” mean in Paragraph 2 ?| A．Share the expenses. | B．Have a club together. |
| C．Buy something in groups. | D．Interact with each other. |
| A．Ensuring easy access to the app. | B．Exploring new markets. |
| C．Lowering the price of goods. | D．Competing with giants of online shopping. |
| A．E-commerce has yet to be developed fully. |
| B．PDD may end up making profits this year. |
| C．PDD is China’s fastest-growing largest Internet business. |
| D．PDD’s share of online retail in China has gone beyond that of JD in 2021. |
| A．Negative. | B．Causal. | C．Positive. | D．Objective. |
3 . Usually in school or in clubs, children are told not to horse around or act badly. But in south London, there is a club that loves it when students horse around. The club is called the Ebony Horse Club, a riding school for children from poor families. With the help of volunteers, they give about 140 rides each week to children.
The club recently reopened its stables. They were closed for months because of the COVID-19.
One of the club's youngest riders is Shaddai.
Along with riding close to home, the club members take day trips to other clubs in the countryside. Before the pandemic, groups of children from the club had wonderful experiences.
| A．They never think it will be a problem. |
| B．They teach horseback riding and some life skills. |
| C．She played a part in connecting children to the club. |
| D．They had also traveled as far as Sweden to ride horses. |
| E．The 9-year-old was very excited to be back on the horse. |
| F．The original eight horses have returned to their home after a rest. |
| G．The club has experienced an increase in children wanting to join. |
1、社团成立的时间和目的；
2、社团日常活动；
3、呼吁大家加入社团。
注意：1、写作词数应为80左右；
2、请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
参考词汇：英美文学社the English Literature Society
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1. What do we know about LegalShield?| A．It serves people over 47 years old. |
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6 . Four days of fun, sun and celebrities, as well as networking, career workshops and mentoring (指导), were in store for two Long Island teens chosen to take part in the 12th annual Disney Dreamers Academy (DDA) at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida. Chosen from thousands of applicants, Tianna Gonzales of Lake Grove and Kaiya Simmons of Miller Place were part of a group of 100 young people who marched in the Magic Kingdom parade and made conversation with Academy Award-winning costume designer Ruth Carter and actor Miles Brown.
Born in Charleston, South Carolina, Kaiya Simmons, 14, moved to Miller Place at the age of 3. A ninth grader at Miss Porter School in Farmington, Connecticut, Kaiya says she enjoys acting, art and science and is currently studying environmental science. “It is fun learning about the environment and different ways to help protect it,” Kaiya says, adding, “I am also learning different techniques to improve my acting on stage and in film.” After high school, Kaiya hopes to attend Yale University and undertake a career as a doctor.
Tianna Gonzales, a 10th grader at Sachem North High School, is interested in psychology and music and plays saxophone (an instrument) for the school’s marching band, orchestra and band. Other school activities include track, Model United Nations, foreign language and art club honor societies. “Once I graduate, I plan to undertake a career in the film world, hopefully attending New York University or New York Film Academy,” she says. “Through storytelling, we can shape this century to be an even stronger attraction for societal change.”
The Disney Dreamers Academy is aimed at helping to inspire young people during a critical time of their development, “Our goal is to help them see the unlimited possibilities and to inspire them to achieve their full purpose—to become the heroes of their own stories,” says Tracey D. Powell, vice president of Walt Disney World Resort.
1. What can we know about the two Long Island teens?| A．They experienced four days of fun in a store. |
| B．They communicated closely with two celebrities. |
| C．They took part in a costume design competition. |
| D．They’re recognized as celebrities by the 12th annual DDA. |
| A．To become a movie actress. | B．To study environmental science further. |
| C．To take up a profession as a doctor. | D．To return to her hometown Miller Place. |
| A．Creative and serious. | B．Ambitious and responsible. |
| C．Straightforward but friendly. | D．Determined but conservative. |
| A．To introduce the aim of the DDA. |
| B．To summarize the previous paragraphs. |
| C．To encourage more teens to take part in the DDA. |
| D．To provide information about the participants of the DDA. |
