1 . By now, most of us have picked up at least one pandemic hobby. And there's a seemingly common pandemic hobby trend: People who haven't been able to go anywhere are making imaginary travel plans. Maybe you're among those who have spent hours researching locations-even though you're not actually planning to travel.
It turns out that you aren't alone. People who seem to be sticking to public safety recommendations are still planning trips they don't intend to book. And, when I suddenly found myself addicted to an imaginary girls' trip to Joshua Tree, I wondered whether this was a healthy distraction.
"It's an escapist imagination," said Regine Galanti, a psychologist, adding that there's nothing wrong with escapism during a global pandemic.
On the one hand, distractions are often beneficial right now. We are a full year into living with COVID-19 as a pandemic, and that means you've probably had to navigate a range of emotions like discomfort, sadness, or even boredom. So any hobby that doesn't harm anyone or endanger your well-being is probably a worthy attempt.
Even if vacation planning is your happy place, Dr. Galanti suggests you "actually think about what you're trying to achieve." Why? "Maybe what you're saying is, I need a vacation from work," Dr. Galanti explains. "Then take three days off even if you are not going anywhere. "When you figure out what you're looking for, you might be able to find a small socially distanced adventure in your backyard or a quiet place. Vacation planning is a good way to spend some time, but there might be an even better way to get what you're desiring.
Anyway, when uncertainty is all around us, creating things to look forward to isn't a terrible idea. And when things are safer, you'll have all your plans in place.
1. Why do people make imaginary travel plans during the pandemic?| A．To develop a new hobby. | B．To stay safe and sound. |
| C．To be distracted from reality. | D．To get ready for future travel. |
| A．Express. | B．Balance. | C．Adapt to. | D．Deal with. |
| A．Objective. | B．Negative. | C．Supportive. | D．Unclear. |
| A．Figures. | B．Lifestyle. |
| C．Food and recipe. | D．Science and technology. |
2 . Every time we get on a plane, we’re asked to either turn off our phones or change them to flight mode — it’s for “security reasons”. But according to The Conversation website, having to turn our phones off on a plane is “a service issue, not a safety one”.
When we speak on our phones in the air, they can cause interference to the aircraft’s radios and pilots can hear this interference in their headphones. “It’s the same noise you’ll be familiar with, if you put your mobile too close to a speaker,” the Mirror noted. “It is not safety-critical, but is annoying for sure.” Though speaking on a phone during a flight isn’t dangerous, from the viewpoint of service, it isn’t still a good idea. When we make or receive a call on the ground, we connect to a cell tower that deals with all calls within an 80-kilometer radius (半径). As we move from place to place we are “handed on” to different cell towers. As US scientist Sven Bilen explains, for this system to work, there are “built-in” expectations: There shouldn’t be too many “handoffs” and people shouldn’t be traveling faster than car speeds. “Of course, phone users should be close to the ground.” he added. If we were to make phone calls while we flew, however, none of these expectations would be met. And even worse, our cellphones would stop working.
But now things are beginning to change. If we still can’t speak during a flight, we can use other phone functions. For example, Airbus A330 of Emirates Airlines has inflight WiFi to make passengers send and receive short messages in the air. In the future, as Bilen points out, it may be possible for air travelers to make and receive calls freely. The breakthrough could be “pico cells”, which are small cell towers on the plane itself. There would no longer be connections made between phones and the ground and therefore there would be no danger of disturbance of phone service.
One day, perhaps, we will be chatting in the air as much as we chat on the ground.
1. Why is making a phone call NOT allowed on a plane?| A．Because it will pose a threat to their safety. |
| B．Because it can guarantee a better service. |
| C．Because it fails to be connected to the cell tower. |
| D．Because it may cause annoying noise to pilots. |
| A．One. |
| B．Two. |
| C．Three. |
| D．Four. |
| A．People need to travel slower than airplane speeds while phoning. |
| B．Pico cells may contribute to free phone calls on a plane. |
| C．Undisturbed phone service has been provided by airlines. |
| D．Passengers can receive calls on Airbus A330 through inflight WiFi. |
| A．A newspaper. |
| B．An official document. |
| C．A guidebook. |
| D．A science fiction story. |
3 . Ren Yamin, an entrepreneur who has been deaf since birth, is using technology to make communication for the hearing impaired easier than ever before through the smart glasses — using artificial intelligence and cloud technology to translate voice into text and project it onto lenses.
The idea for the glasses first came to Ren while he was studying at the University of California, Los Angeles in 2005. However, it was not until after his studies that he could begin bringing his idea to life. While working at a tech company called Integrine, Ren learned a great deal about cloud computing and AT technology. Upon leaving the company and establishing Seeing Voice, Ren launched a cloud platform based on AI and deep learning technologies in 2018 called 40DADOW.
With money coming in from angel investors, Ren said the next stage for his company would be raw material purchase and expansion. A classmate from the University of Science and Technology of China, Zhou Hui, who works as a vice-president at a Fortune 500 company, has provided the parts to make the glasses.
At a recent event held in Toronto, Canada, all 100 of Ren’s prototype glasses sold out. “What I need is not wealth, but to help Chinese who can barely hear,” Ren said, who achieved more success after selling up his company Seeing Voice in the Shanxi Transition and Comprehensive Reform Demonstration Zone in Taiyuan, capital of the province. The company began selling the smart glasses last June, and according to its development plan, production bases covering 5. 33 hectares will be put into operation by the end of 2021.
In the next five years, Seeing-Voice will provide 500 jobs and is projected to generate $ 2. 86 million in tax revenue after 2023, local media reported.
1. What can we learn about Ren from the passage?| A．A sudden accident resulted in Ren’s deafness. |
| B．Ren put his idea into use: when he was at university. |
| C．Ren got down to developing the glasses the moment he resigned. |
| D．Ren had a good command of AI knowledge when studying at university. |
| A．Only at the end of 2021 can the smart glasses be purchased on the market. |
| B．Ren makes the smart glasses totally on his own. |
| C．The purpose of the entrepreneur is to achieve more success by making profit. |
| D．The future application of the smart glasses is promising. |
| A．Ren Yamin — an entrepreneur developed Seeing Voice. |
| B．Smart glasses — Ren’s remarkable invention making voices “heard”. |
| C．40 DADOW — a cloud platform based on AI. |
| D．Seeing Voice — a successful company earned lots of money. |
| A．A culture column. | B．A fictional story. |
| C．A news report. | D．A fashion magazine. |
