1 . Facebook is a habit forming activity， but users who spend a lot of time on the site say they feel less happy with their lives.
Researchers from University of Gothenburg say that many users log in as soon as they turn their PCs on and that the behavior can develop into an“addiction”. People in low income groups and the poorly educated are particularly at risk. Up to 85% of users say that they use Facebook daily and half say they start up Facebook as soon as they open their web users. Half fear that they are not“on top of things”if they are not logged into the site, and 25% say they feel”ill at ease”if they can't log in regularly.
The Swedish survey showed the network had its dark side.“Face-booking may become an unconscious habit. A majority of the respondents(受访者) log in every time they start their web browser(浏览器). This may even develop into an addiction,” says Leif Denti, doctoral student of Psychology at the University of Gothenburg.
People with low income and low-educated individuals spend more time on Facebook. Women are generally more active than men on Facebook. Users with low income and low education use Facebook more than other groups. Within these groups，users who spend more time on Facebook also report feeling less happy and less content with their lives.
The other surprise about the network is that although a huge amount of personal “ news”is traded through the site,it tends to focus on the positive.“ Most of the content they share has something to do with major events, positive events and when feeling good,”says Leif Denti.
1. What is the main idea of the text?| A．Using Facebook may become an addiction. |
| B．Positive events are more welcome on Facebook. |
| C．Women spend more time on Facebook than men. |
| D．Spending more time on Facebook leads to less happiness. |
| A．Pleased. | B．Tired. | C．Annoyed. | D．Interested. |
| A．Half of the users use Facebook daily. |
| B．People tend to share good things on Facebook. |
| C．Men are more active than women on Facebook. |
| D．Well-educated people spend more time on Facebook. |
| A．A diary. | B．A novel. | C．A magazine. | D．A travel guide. |
2 . Experts are warning about the risks of extremely picky(挑剔的)eating after a teenager living on a diet of chips and crisps developed lasting sight loss. Eye doctors in Bristol cared for the 17-year-old after his sight had gone to the point of blindness. Tests showed he had serious vitamin deficiency(缺乏). Dr. Denize Atan, who treated him at the hospital, said, “His diet was basically a portion of chips from the local fish and chip shop every day. He also used to snack on crisps and sometimes white bread and ham, and not really any fruit and vegetables.”
The teenager saw his doctor at the age of 14 because he had been feeling tired and unwell. At that time he suffered from vitamin B12 deficiency, but he did not stick with the treatment or improve his poor diet. Three years later, he was taken to the Bristol Eye Hospital because of progressive sight loss.
He was not overweight or underweight, but he had lost minerals from his bones, which was really quite shocking for a boy of his age. In terms of his sight loss, he met the standards of being blind. “He had blind spots right in the middle of his sight,” said Dr Denize Atan, “That means he can’t drive and would find it really arduous to read, watch TV or recognize faces.”
Dr Denize Atan said that parents should learn about the harm that can be caused by picky eating, and turn to experts for help. For those who are concerned , she advised, “It’s best not to be anxious about picky eating , and instead calmly introduce one or two new foods with every meal.” She said multivitamin tablets can supplement(补充) a diet, but cannot take the place of eating healthily. “It’s much better to take in vitamins through a varied and balanced diet,” she said, adding that too many certain vitamins , including vitamin A, can be harmful ,“so you don’t want to overdo it.”
1. What does Dr Denize Atan imply in paragraph 1?| A．The diet of the boy is not balanced. |
| B．Fruit and vegetables are rich in vitamins. |
| C．Picky eating is common among teenagers. |
| D．The cause of the boy’s disease is unknown. |
| A．To improve his poor diet. |
| B．To get some help to lose weight. |
| C．To be treated for his discomfort. |
| D．To slow down his progressive sight loss. |
| A．Important. | B．Easy. | C．Necessary. | D．Difficult. |
| A．Reasons why the boy is seriously ill. |
| B．Suggestions for the boy’s family to care for him. |
| C．Advice for parents worried about picky eating. |
| D．Ways of taking in enough vitamins and minerals. |
3 . Avi Loeb, a scientist, believes that we are not alone in the universe. The belief fits with Loeb’s alien (外星的) spaceship theory that at least one alien spaceship might be flying over the orbit (轨道) of Jupiter, which won the international attention last year.
Astronomers in Hawaii found the first known interstellar (星际的) object in late 2017. It was a bit of light moving so fast past the sun that it could only have come from another star. Almost every astronomer on the planet was trying to figure out how the object, called “Oumuamua” got to our far-away, part of the Milky way galaxy. “One possibility is that ‘Oumuamua’ is debris (碎片) from an advanced technological equipment,” Loeb said. “Technology comes from another solar system just showed up at our door.”
“‘Oumuamua’ is not an alien spaceship,” Paul Sutter, another scientist wrote. He suggested Loeb was seeking publicity. Most scientists think “Oumuamua” is some sort of rock. They think it could be an icy wandering comet.
Loeb says that “Oumuamua’s” behavior, means it can’t be a block of rock shaped like a long photo. He thinks it's more likely an object that’s very long and thin, perhaps like a long pancake or a ship’s sail. Loeb says that if someone shows him evidence that contradicts his beliefs, he will immediately give in.
Loeb believes himself a truth-teller and risk- taker in an age of very safe, too-quiet scientists. “The worst thing that can happen to me is that I would be relieved of my management duties, and that would give me even more time to focus on science,” Loeb says. He said he wouldn’t mind giving up all the titles he had and returning to the Israeli farming village where he grew up.
1. What does Loeb say about “Oumuamua”?| A．It is an icy comet. |
| B．It looks like a long photo. |
| C．It is actually some sort of rock. |
| D．It may come from another alien civilization. |
| A．Searches for. | B．Depends on. |
| C．Turns to. | D．Goes against. |
| A．He is foolish. |
| B．He is unsatisfied with his titles. |
| C．He is a firm believer in scientific truth. |
| D．He is uncertain about his career future. |
| A．Have Aliens Paid a Visit in Spaceships? |
| B．Do We Really Know about Space Theory? |
| C．Scientists Are Working on High Technology |
| D．Astronomers Are Encouraging Space Travel |
4 . What is an accent? An accent is a flavoring to you that influences the sounds of words and sentences. In Birmingham you might hear “lake” sounding close to “like”, and in Ireland you might hear “this” sounding close to “diss”.
Accents are related to social group. Everyone has an accent, and for every accent there are groups of people who react badly to it. These reactions are the result of prejudice — an unreasoned jumping to conclusions.
Everybody has prejudices about accents. I certainly do. I have held prejudices about other people's accents. But over the years，my experience of working with people from all kinds of backgrounds has led me to give up these prejudices. However, I still have prejudices that I find difficult to control.
Studies tell us that no accent is better than any other. But the reality is that many people judge others according to accents. Jacob, Member of Parliament, remembers when he first stood unsuccessfully for election in Fife, Scotland, “I gradually realized that whatever I happened to be speaking about, the number of voters in my favor dropped as soon as I opened my mouth.”
And sonic people change their accents to sound more refined when talking to people outside their circle of family and friends.
Sky News ran a report recently in which an 18-year-old woman was trying to sound less posh, that is speaking non-standard English, because she didn’t like the strangers telling her that she must be rich and from a famous family.
Lastly, it's worth being reminded that people can have an accent and still be recognized.
1. What’s the main idea of the first three paragraphs?| A．What’s accent and accents can lead to prejudice. |
| B．Accents are something that everyone can have. |
| C．Accents are something that you can meet everywhere. |
| D．Accents have a long root in people that causes serious social issues. |
| A．everyone has prejudice about accents |
| B．many people judge others according to accents |
| C．he was quite unpopular among English people |
| D．he was unable to make himself understood because he had an accent |
| A．Because she tried to be rich. |
| B．Because she pretended to be well-educated. |
| C．Because she just wanted to make herself look ordinary. |
| D．Because she wanted io learn the upper-class British accent. |
| A．Reasonable. | B．Understandable. | C．Difficult. | D．Successful. |
5 . While it's not impossible for birds to fly in the rain, they usually choose not to. You may see birds fly for a few seconds in poor weather, but most of them prefer to stay put on rainy days.
Why does rain make it harder for birds to fly? You might imagine that moving through the air while being pelted by raindrops would be pretty unpleasant. However, it's not the rain itself that makes flying difficult. Instead, birds are influenced by the drop in the air pressure that comes with most rainstorms. When pressure drops, the air is less thick, which makes it harder for birds to fly. Moving through the sky in areas of low air pressure takes a lot of energy.
Most birds need to eat several times a day—rain or no rain. Luckily, most birds' feathers（羽毛）are highly waterproof（防水的）, protecting the skin beneath. Many birds can also make oil that they can spread over their feathers to further protect themselves from the rain. Most birds don't like rain. In fact, in a 2010 study, a team of researchers studied birds living in a Costa Rican rainforest. They found that the birds had higher levels of stress hormone（应激激素）on rainy days. That may not surprise you. After all, many animals feel stressed out during storms. Pet owners often find that rain and thunder make their animals nervous. Some animals are so strongly influenced by nature that they almost seem to forecast the future.
No one really knows how many birds die during a storm or series of storms. But the number is certainly higher than usual. They fly into trees or windows; they get lost over the ocean or a large lake; their food sources are made more difficult to get but, at the same time, they need more food to get warm. However, if rain continues for some time, birds will have to challenge the storm.
1. What makes it harder for birds to fly in the rain?| A．The wet air. | B．Food shortage. |
| C．Raindrops. | D．The low air pressure. |
| A．Cleaned. | B．Hit. |
| C．Frightened. | D．Protected. |
| A．Why birds can fly in the rain |
| B．How birds are influenced by rain. |
| C．How birds survive long rainy days. |
| D．Why birds' feathers are waterproof. |
| A．Birds will develop the ability to fly in the rain |
| B．Birds fly only when necessary on rainy days. |
| C．Birds have nowhere to hide in rainstorms. |
| D．Birds need less food on rainy days. |
6 . Americans are now allowed to get a COVID-19 vaccine （疫苗）. But the process in America is not going as smoothly as some had hoped. Many people are still facing a wait for their first shot. Moreover, the vaccines aren't available to kids under 16 yet. That's because scientists have only tested if the vaccine works in adults.
The good news is that there are two companies, Moderna and Pfizer, making COVID-19 vaccines. They are now running clinical trials（临床实验）to test their vaccines in teens and kids. Volunteers are given a treatment plan and then evaluated after.
Clinical trials are designed with safety in mind and usually done in adults first. They work like this: volunteers get placed into one of two groups. One group receives the vaccine. The other group gets a placebo. This is a shot given in the same way as the vaccine but with no effect. Scientists can compare the effects of the real vaccine against the placebo to see if the vaccine works. Researchers want to know everything that a person experiences when they get the shot, so they can detect any harmful effects. If anything did happen, the trial would stop immediately.
Some teens are eager to volunteer because they want to help people. Maybe you're the right age to be part of a clinical trial for the COVID-19 vaccine. Why not volunteer For A Vaccine Trial? Interested kids should read about the trials because every trial has risks. They should talk to their doctor and weigh the benefits and risks. Every vaccine has rare side effects in a few patients.
If you want to participate in a trial, you can try to sign up online by just clicking here, clinicaltrials gov. which lists every clinical trial in the US, including COVID-19 vaccine trials.
1. Why kids under 16 can't get a COVID-19 vaccine?| A．Because the vaccine is too hard to get. |
| B．Because the vaccine is too expensive for them. |
| C．Because they are not at the risk of getting COVID-19. |
| D．Because the effectiveness of the vaccine for kids hasn't been tested . |
| A．A substance to comfort patients | B．A pill to treat patients |
| C．A prize to award patients | D．A way to cure patients |
| A．To tell American adults they can get a COVID-19 vaccine. |
| B．To inform that American children can't get a COVID-19 vaccine. |
| C．To give information about clinical trials of vaccines in teens and kids. |
| D．To provide information for potential volunteers on trials. |
| A．Newspapers. | B．Magazines. | C．Internet. | D．Textbooks. |
7 . Research has shown that disrupting one's natural “morning lark” (早起鸟) or “night owl” (夜猫子) tendency can result in immoral behavior at work.
Who doesn't love a flexible work schedule? Being able to make your own hours, come in when you're ready and leave when you're done, step out to attend a child's presentation at school, have a midday appointment, or even squeeze in a quick workout or nap as a guaranteed pick-me-up — flexibility greatly improves one's quality of life.
The benefits don't stop there, however. Research has shown that having flexible work hours actually makes one a better person. How so? It's been found that disrupted sleep patterns —in the form of having to act outside of your normal inclination to be a morning “lark” or a night “owl” — can result in strange, unethical, and out-of-line behavior.
Science journalist Linda Geddes said, “If you don't get enough sleep, research suggests you are more likely to have unethical behavior, such as being mean, bullying your fellow employees or falsifying receipts. But it's not just owls: the larks tend to behave more unethically in the evening, and owls in the morning. So ideally, you want to introduce flexible working."
Employers would be wise to allow their employees to start whenever they feel ready — whether it's at the crack of dawn or at 11 a.m., and to allow breaks or pauses in the day as needed — because that would mean better productivity, performance, and behavior.
This shift is already happening, with the New York Times recently reporting that 27 percent of US employers now offer the flexibility to work outside normal business hours, up from 22 percent in 2014; and 68 percent allow telecommuting as needed (up from 54 percent in 2014). With the national unemployment rate at its lowest in 50 years, employers are having to become more competitive in what they offer workers, and flex-hours seem like a no-brainer, highly beneficial to all.
1. What is mainly talked about in Paragraph 2?| A．Ways to improve life quality. |
| B．People's activities in their free time. |
| C．Methods to get a flexible work schedule. |
| D．The advantages of flexibility in work time. |
| A．Judgment. | B．Tendency. | C．Reaction. | D．Choice. |
| A．They will show their nature more easily. |
| B．They tend to suffer from sleep problems. |
| C．They tend to behave immorally in their work. |
| D．They will get more flexibility in working time. |
| A．The unemployment rate is increasing. |
| B．Employers are getting more free time. |
| C．Flexible working has been creating more jobs. |
| D．More employers adopt a flexible work schedule. |
8 . 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. |
9 . I sat here at that same desk and stared at the computer. I waited patiently for ideas to come to me, thinking about exam questions for a school test I would give to my English students tomorrow. My wife was off to a reunion somewhere, but I wasn't alone. Our two children kept me company. Ten-month-old Edward spent most of his day looking at some cards and other different pieces of paper. But Meghan was different from her younger brother.
She followed a daily routine that needed much time and was difficult. It included certain basic tasks: watching the fish, sweeping the carpet in her room, sitting for a few minutes on the bottom shelf of the bookcase to determine whether she still fitted there, checking regularly on Edward or jumping on the sofa.
I could do my own work fairly well during most of these chores. Unfortunately, I had not counted on the “Bib-bibs, bib-bibs”. “Bib-bibs, bib-bibs” shrieked Meghan, and her eyes were alive with expectation. She insisted that I go with her to the window. “No, Meghan,” I answered irritably. “Not now. Go away and leave me alone.”
She left without any attempt to bother me. I could finish the test easily without interference. However, I saw her standing quietly with tears running down her cheeks. She had two fingers of her right hand in her mouth and watched me type. She caught sight of the birds from time to time.
At this moment, only for a moment, I saw a little girl crying because I didn't have time for her, realizing somehow it was the sitting next to each other that meant everything. I put away the blank paper and stood up.
1. What can we learn about the author from paragraph 1?| A．He has two daughters. | B．He's tired of his present job. |
| C．He often stays alone at home. | D．He works as an English teacher. |
| A．Meghan's naughtiness. | B．Meghan's favorite hobbies. |
| C．Meghan's cleverness. | D．Meghan's daily diet. |
| A．Amazedly. | B．Angrily. | C．Nervously. | D．Warmly. |
| A．To call his wife come back. | B．To get some paper from the drawer. |
| C．To watch the birds with his daughter. | D．To stop his daughter from making noise. |
10 . Many adults rely on caffeine to get them through the day. But that’s the last thing kids need, according to the governments of England and South Korea.
England woke up to the news that the government is preparing to ban the sale of energy drinks like Red Bull to children.
The ban only applies to England, but Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland can all follow suit if their administrations wish. In March, several major supermarket chains announced they would ban the sale of energy drinks to children under 16. Meanwhile, South Korea announced plans to ban the sale of coffee in schools by September 14.
The first reason for the ban is the high level of caffeine in the energy drinks, which has been linked to health problems for children, including head and stomach aches, as well as sleep problems.
A 250ml can of Red Bull contains about 80mg of caffeine, roughly the same as a similarly sized cup of coffee, but three times the level of CocaCola.Monster Energy, which is often sold in larger cans of 500ml, contains 160mg of caffeine.
Energy drinks often also have higher levels of sugar than soft drinks.Sugared energy drinks have 60% more calories and 65% more sugar than normal soft drinks and sugar is one of the largest causes of obesity.
British national official for education, Darren Northcott, described the drinks as “legal highs” that helped to fuel bad behavior in schools.
In addition to limiting kids’ access to caffeine and energy drinks, the South Korean government has also banned TV commercials for fast food, sugary snacks and highcaffeine beverages during times when most children’ s programs air.
South Koreans drink an average of 181 cups of coffee a year, by far the most in Asia.That is more than the 151 consumed per person in the UK but less than the average of 266 cups in the US.
1. Which part of the UK will be the first to ban the sale of energy drinks to children under 16?| A．England. |
| B．Scotland. |
| C．Wales. |
| D．Northern Ireland. |
| A．Paragraph 5 provides numbers for Paragraph 4. |
| B．They are parallel. |
| C．Paragraph 4 presents an argument. |
| D．Paragraph 4 provides reasons for Paragraph 5. |
| A．Reduce. | B．Settle. | C．Encourage. | D．Ignore. |
| A．Caffeine in Energy Drinks |
| B．Reasons for the Ban on the Sale of Energy Drinks |
| C．Coffee Sales in the UK and South Korea |
| D．England and South Korea Ban Caffeine for Kids |
