1 . On average, American kids ages 3 to 12 spent 29 hours a week in school, eight hours more that they did in 1981. They also did more household work and participated in more of such organized activities as soccer and ballet (芭蕾舞). Involvement in sports, in particular, rose almost 50% from 1981 to 1997: boys now spend an average of four hours a week playing sports; girls log half that time. All in all, however, children’s leisure time dropped from 40% of the day in 1981 to 25%
“Children are affected by the same time crunch (危机) that affects their parents,” says Sandra Hofferth, who headed the recent study of children’s timetable. A chief reason, she says, is that more mothers are working outside the home. (Nevertheless, children in both double-income and “male breadwinner” households spent comparable amounts of time interacting with their parents 19 hours and 22 hours respectively. In contrast, children spent only 9 hours with their single mothers.)
All work and no play could make for some very messed-up kids. “Play is the most powerful way a child explores the world and learns about himself,” says T. Berry Brazelton, professor at Harvard Medical School Unstructured(unorganized)play encourages independent thinking and allows the young to handle their relationships with their peers, but kids ages 3 to 12 spent only 12 hours a week engaged in it.
The children sampled spent a quarter of their rapidly decreasing “free time” watching television. But that, believe it or not, was one of the findings parents might regard as good news. If they’re spending less time in front of the TV set, however, kids aren’t replacing it with reading. Despite efforts to get kids more interested in books, the children spent just over an hour a week reading. Let’s face it, who’s got the time?
1. By mentioning “the same time crunch” (Line 1, Para. 2) Sandra Hofferth means ______.| A．children have little time to play with their parents |
| B．both parents and children suffer from lack of leisure time |
| C．children are not taken good care of by their working parents |
| D．both parents and children have trouble managing their time |
| A．he has plenty of time reading and studying |
| B．he has more time participating in school activities |
| C．he is left to play with his peers in his own way |
| D．he is free to interact with his working parents |
| A．extracurricular activities(after-class activities) promote children’s intelligence |
| B．most children will turn to reading with TV sets switched off |
| C．efforts to get kids interested in reading have been fruitful |
| D．most parents believe reading to be beneficial to children |
2 . For the first time, a generation of children is going through adolescence with smartphones ever-present. Jean Twenge , a professor of psychology at San Diego State University, has a name for these young people born between 1995 and 2012："iGen". She says, “Members of this generation are physically safer than those who came before them. They drink less they learn to drive later. " "But psychologically," she argues, "they far more easily get hurt. It's not an overstatement to describe iGen as being on the edge of the worst mental health crisis in decades.''
Today's teens are just not spending as much time with their friends face-to-face where they can really read each others' emotions and get that social support. And we know from lots of research that spending time with other people in person is one of the best predictors for psychological well-being and one of the best protections against having mental health issues. They're more likely than young people just 5 or 10 years ago to say that they're anxious, and that they have symptoms of depression.
How much of a factor is parenting? “Parenting is playing a role. Many parents are worried about their teens driving, and going out with their friends and drinking. Yet parents are often not worrying about their teens who stay at home on their phones all the time. But they should be worried about that. I think parents are worried about the wrong thing," Professor Twenge remarked.
She proposes several helpful solutions, "The first is just awareness that spending a lot of time on the phone is not harmless and that if you're spending a lot of time on the phone, then it may take away time from activities that might be more beneficial for psychological well being, like spending time with people in person. And then for parents, I think it is a good idea to defer giving your child a smartphone as long as you can.”
1. What does iGen refer to according to the text?| A．Generation with high intelligence. |
| B．Generation in information age. |
| C．Physically strong generation. |
| D．Psychologically healthy generation. |
| A．By making more friends online. |
| B．By seeing psychologists frequently. |
| C．By reading others' emotions constantly. |
| D．By communicating with friends face to face. |
| A．Their teens' chatting with classmates. |
| B．Their teens' poor school performance. |
| C．Their teens' addiction to smart phones. |
| D．Their teens' staying out with their friends. |
| A．Put off. | B．Approve of. |
| C．Think of. | D．Insist on. |
3 . It happens from time to time that after a whole morning of studying, you are tired in the afternoon. It’s then that you might want to eat something sweet, perhaps a Coke or a chocolate bar, to lift your mood. After all it’s popularly believed that a “sugar rush” gives us energy.
But a study published in Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews in April suggests that sugar can make us feel worse rather than boost our moods.
The German and UK researchers collected data from 31 studies involving nearly 1,300 adults. They studied the effect of sugar on various aspects of mood, including anger, alertness, depression and tiredness.
They found that people who have too much sugar become more tired and less alert within an hour and that these feelings become more intense over time.
According to the researchers, when people take in sugar their blood sugar levels rise rapidly, leading to a burst of energy and a short “feel good” period. However, as they begin to digest the sugar, their blood sugar levels decrease quickly leading to a bad feeling.
To remain on a “high” people are likely to eat more and more sugar until they become addicted to it. As with caffeine, this prevents the body from relaxing, leaving people feeling tired and less alert.
But the study findings needn’t make us think we must give up sweet food altogether. According to the World Health Organization, it is healthy to have the sugars found naturally in fruit, vegetables and milk so long as these make up less than 5 percent of daily total energy intake.
So the next time you feel tired and can’t concentrate, perhaps you should think twice before you bite into a chocolate bar. Maybe a spot of exercise at midday would be a better idea!
Tips for beating afternoon fatigue.
* Head outside and sit in the daylight for 10 minutes.
* Get into the routine of a mid-afternoon cup of tea.
* Plan group activities for midday.
* Add variety to your routine.
1. What does the underlined word “boost” in Paragraph 2 probably mean?| A．harm | B．improve | C．control | D．change |
| A．They felt more tired. | B．They felt relaxed. |
| C．They were more alert. | D．They felt energetic. |
| A．Our mood is connected to our blood sugar levels. |
| B．Taking in more sugar benefits mental health. |
| C．Getting caffeine is another way to relax. |
| D．Sugar and caffeine are all the same. |
| A．Give up sweet food. | B．Have a bar of chocolate. |
| C．Do an hour of exercise. | D．Eat foods with natural sugars. |
4 . Nobody needs reminding that exercise is good for our health, but we may need reminding that it needs to be done in the right way.
Light exercises are a great way to improve circulation and keep our muscles active, especially if the rest of the day will be spent sitting in front of a computer or in a lecture hall. However, certain sports like long distance running require training to build up our bodies so they can handle the challenge. If we go into such sport cold, it can shock our muscles, hearts, lungs, and other organs and cause severe pain or in some cases, even death.
Some people are born with medical conditions that go unnoticed until they stress the unstable part of their body. A weak heart may never be seen until we do something that causes extreme physical effort. Recently there have been cases of people dying while running long distances. Also, a university student died after taking a 1.000m running exam. Some universities and high schools have cut long distance races (i.e. 3.000m, 5,000m) from their campus sports games, partly because of the supposed danger and partly because they say fewer people are entering such events.
Maybe education about such events is lacking, especially during primary and high school. People participating in such competitions should realize that a reasonable amount of training is required beforehand and having a medical check is wise, especially for a marathon. People shouldn’t be forced to participate in events that push them past their limits, especially if they haven’t warmed-up completely. Cancelling events could lead to people becoming less healthy and overweight. Maybe these events shouldn’t be cancelled, but organizers and participants should be more careful about regular health checks.
1. Why does the author write the text?| A．To give us some reminding on exercises. |
| B．To persuade us to take less sports. |
| C．To advise students to have regular exercises. |
| D．To require cancelling long distance running. |
| A．Having trained a lot. | B．Without any preparation. |
| C．Having a low temperature. | D．In an unfriendly way. |
| A．Because no students are willing to enter such events. |
| B．Because the students’ physical conditions are too poor to finish them. |
| C．Because long distance running is not fit for students. |
| D．Because they worry about the supposed danger in such races. |
| A．Have a medical check and warm-up exercises. |
| B．Push ourselves past our limits. |
| C．Participate in it confidently. |
| D．Try to lose some weight first. |
5 . Many Beijing residents go to great lengths to avoid breathing the city's smoggy air, especially when it reaches critical pollution levels, but one local entrepreneur decided that canning(灌装) and selling this poor quality air as a souvenir would be a great idea. Believe it or not, he was right.
After seeing a number of companies achieve commercial success by canning fresh air from countries like France, Canada or Australia and selling it in China, Dominic Johnson-Hill, a British-born citizen of Beijing and owner of the Plastered 8 souvenir shop, decided to turn the idea on its head and sell canned Beijing air throughout China and abroad.
"I'd seen people going crazy to buy canned air from Canada and Australia, so I thought it was time to push business the other way," the entrepreneur said. "They' re perfect gifts! What else are you going to take home when you go home from Beijing? A roast duck? A Plastered T-shirt? These cans are light, portable, you can just imagine someone' s face when they unwrap (打开) it for Christmas."
The few mouth-fulls of Beijing air come in standard tin cans featuring a couple of iconic city landmarks as well as a bitter description of the contents: "a unique mix of nitrogen, oxygen and some other stuff". The ironic (讽刺的) souvenirs cost 28 RMB (US $4) and are available at the Plastered 8 shop, as well as on its online shop. But if you're actually considering buying some, you'd better ask shop in advance, as they are virtually flying off the shelves. Johnson-Hill said that his shop is selling hundreds of Beijing air cans every day.
Personally, the well-sold can probably is an awakening for the public to be concerned about the living conditions. Yet one thing that’ s not particularly clear is whether the air is really collected from Beijing, as the cans are labeled as "Made in Shenzhen". There's a big chance that' s just a kind of Plastered 8 humor, as they also list "Choking Hazard" and "May have unidentified objects inside." as warnings.
Anyway, it is probably a unique way to arouse public awareness of protecting the environment.
1. What contributes to Dominic’s idea of canning and selling the poor quality air?| A．Try to get used to it. | B．Sell it all over the world. |
| C．Can it as a souvenir. | D．Try to push business the other way. |
| A．Satisfied. | B．Surprised. |
| C．Frightened. | D．Refreshed. |
| A．liquids | B．objects |
| C．minerals | D．risks |
| A．There are unidentified objects in the canned Beijing air. |
| B．The Plastered 8 souvenir shop is famous for its humour. |
| C．People should make efforts to protect the environment. |
| D．Dominic Johnson-Hill likes the poor quality air in Beijing. |
6 . A Canadian University is trying a new way to help reduce students' exam-time stress: dogs.
Dalhousie University is filling a room on campus with dogs from Dec.4 through Dec.6 for students to visit and play with the animals between exams. The pet room will be open for two hours(9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.) on the first two days and for five hours (9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.; 1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.) on the third day. The dogs will be provided by Therapeutic Paws of Canada, a non-profit organization that trains animals to help people with practical needs.
Dalhousie’s student union posted an advertisement for the pet room on its Facebook page and within 24 hours, it was shared nearly 2,000 times. Hundreds of students expressed their excitement over the pet room on the Facebook.
Athea Costello wrote, ''This is the best idea ever! ''
Michelle Presse wrote, ''Thank you! I'm so excited. I already feel less stressed now. ''
Alumni complained the pet room wasn't offered when they attended this university (this is the first time the school is offering it).
''I think it should be open to alumni. Although we have already finished the exams and graduated, we are still stressed, '' Lola Doucet wrote.
Some dog owners offered up their own pets for the students, but the student union said only trained dogs are allowed to participate.
Dogs have been helping students at a number of U.S. universities, as well.
From Kent State University in Ohio to Macalester College in Minnesota, more and more dogs are around campus during exams to help students relax.
Richelle Reid, a law librarian who started Emory's pet therapy program said, ''it has had positive effects, helping them to just have a moment to clear their minds and not have to think about studies, not to have to think about books. ''
At Harvard Medical School and Yale Law School, students can ''rent'' pets for some alone time.
1. When could a student visit the pet room?| A．At 11:30 a.m. on Dec. 6 |
| B．At 8:00 a.m. on Dec. 5 |
| C．At 3:00 p.m. on Dec. 6 |
| D．At 3:00 p.m. on Dec. 5 |
| A．someone has already felt the effects of animals |
| B．many students knew nothing about the new way |
| C．the university offered the pet room every year |
| D．some students complained the pet room was useless |
| A．have a richer college life |
| B．prepare for the exams better |
| C．learn a skill for the future |
| D．relax from the study stress |
| A．who have graduated from college |
| B．who will take exams in a few days |
| C．who love pets very much |
| D．who feel extremely stressed |
7 . People all have something to say. Some express their passion (强烈的感情) through clothe, art, or community involvement. Others express themselves with poetry, which has diverse poetic forms to express unique thoughts, experiences, and imagination at the fourth annual People’ s Poetry Festival held Feb. 28 through March 2.
“The People’s Poetry Festival keeps getting bigger and bigger—it’s an event we’re really proud of,” said Dr Mark Hartlaub, College of Liberal Arts Dean at Texas. The festival covered a wide variety of topics including nature, humor, women and history. From the panels to the open microphone night, the islander’s community, along with 43 published poets from around the country, local high school students, and the general public came together to share their love of poetry.
The panels were full of passionate readings and lively discussion. For the first time ever, musical poetry was performed at the event. The “Homebrewed” panel was made up of all local poets. The “From Page to the Stage” panel focused on slam (抨击) poetry, and the “Humor” panel greeted levels of laughter from the crowd. All the panels were live streamed on the People’s Poetry Facebook page. “The poetry and poets were all my students wanted to talk about in class this week,” said Dr. Chuck Etheridge, professor of English who attended many of the panel readings.
Celebrating exceptional writers is another part of People’s Poetry Festival. On opening night, the People’s Poetry Festival committee named Madeline Ricondo of Tuloso-Midway as the winner of the Robb Jackson Writing Award for high school students. This award honors the late Dr. Robb Jackson, Texas A&M University System Regents Professor and professor of English at A&M-Corpus Christi, whose poetry shared his life experiences and observation of Corpus Christi. Ricondo received a $100 gift card, plus, three poetry books with local ties including a copy of Jackson’s “Open Heart”. The people’s Poetry Festival committee also recognized Juan Manuel Perez, award-winning poet and local history teacher, as the 2019—2021 Poet Laureate (桂冠诗人) of Corpus Christi.
1. What can be inferred about the People’s Poetry Festival?| A．It tends to last a week. | B．It is held once a year. |
| C．Its poetic form is single. | D．It is catching on globally. |
| A．Groups. | B．Days. |
| C．Topics. | D．Poems. |
| A．It was on live television. |
| B．Diversity was highlighted. |
| C．All the poets were local. |
| D．Musical poetry was introduced. |
| A．Celebrating award-winning poets. |
| B．Honoring the late Robb Jackson. |
| C．The 4th Peoples Poetry Festival. |
| D．Poet Laureate of Corpus Christi. |
8 . According to a new study， teens focus on rewards and have a hard time learning to avoid punishment or consider the consequences of alternative actions.
University College London researchers compared how teens and adults learn to make choices based on the available information. They tracked the way in which 18 volunteers aged 12-17 and 20 volunteers aged 18-32 completed tasks in which they had to choose between abstract symbols.
Each symbol was consistently associated with a fixed chance of a reward, punishment, or no outcome. As the trial progressed ， participants learned which symbols were likely to lead to each outcome and adjusted their choices accordingly. Teens and adults were equally good at learning to choose symbols associated with reward， but teens were less good at avoiding symbols associated with punishment. Adults also performed significantly better when they were told what would have happened if they had chosen the other symbol after each choice， while teens did not appear to take this information into account.
“From this experimental lab study we can draw conclusions about learning during the teen years. We find that teens and adults learn in different ways， something that might be relevant to education," said lead author Dr. Stefano Palminteri. " Unlike adults, teens are not so good at learning to adjust their choices to avoid punishment. This suggests that incentive systems based on reward rather than punishment may be more effective for this age group. Additionally, we found that teens did not learn from being shown what would have happened if they made alternative choices."
To interpret the results, the researchers developed computational models of learning and ran simulations （模拟）applying them to the results of the study. The first was a simple model, one that learned from rewards, and the second model added to this by also learning from the option that was not chosen. The third model was the most complete and took the full context into account, with equal weight given to punishment avoidance and reward seeking. For example, obtaining no outcome rather than losing a point is weighted equally to gaining a point rather than having no outcome.
Comparing the experimental data to the models, the team found that teens" behavior followed the simple reward-based model while adults" behavior matched the complete, contextual model. “Our study suggests that teens are more receptive to rewards than they are to punishments of equal value, ” said senior author Dr. Sarah-Jayne Blakemore. “As a result, it may be useful for parents and teachers to frame things in more positive terms.”
1. It can be learned from the study that .| A．adults made choices faster than teens |
| B．adults understood rewards better than teens |
| C．teens reacted better to reward than punishment |
| D．teens were aware of the outcome of each choice |
| A．They reflected people’s strong desire for punishment avoidance. |
| B．They gave circumstances different degrees of consideration. |
| C．They paid equal attention to reward and punishment. |
| D．They shaped the behavior of people at different ages. |
| A．accustomed | B．opposed |
| C．sympathetic | D．responsive |
| A．“If you insist on doing things in this way， you will lose ten points. " |
| B．“If we had talked about this earlier， you wouldn’t have made the mistake. " |
| C．“ If you hand in your assignment ahead of time， you will get an extra bonus." |
| D．“If you want to approach a problem differently ， you can talk to your parents. " |
9 . Recently, as I watched my son Nathan play basketball for his school team, I was feeling sorry for myself and for him. His team was facing adversity(困境) on the court, trailing for three quarters of the game. As for me, I had just been dismissed from my job.
As I watched what my son was experiencing, I recalled the events earlier in the day—packing up everything in a box and saying goodbye to my colleagues. During the drive home, I kept telling myself that I will find work again—I am confident in my experience and abilities, but self-doubt was still sticking its foot in the door.
The game entered the fourth quarter with Nathan’s team still trailing. I saw the determination on his back to not only tie the game, but then go ahead by three points. Then, a player from the other team made an unbelievable shot to tie the game up again. With a tie game and seconds on the clock, Nathan found himself with the ball and with skill and confidence, he made the basket with a defender hanging all over him. The other player was called for a foul(犯规).
As Nathan stood preparing for a shot that would put his team up by three points, I saw the focus and determination on his face, with no room for self-doubt. After he made the free throw, his team managed to stop the other team from scoring, winning the game and moving on to the finals.
As I sat there, my heart bursting with pride, it dawned on me. I had taught him perseverance(毅力) in the face of adversity, and he had just taught me the same lesson. That brief moment of self-doubt and feeling sorry for myself was blown away by the actions of my son on the basketball court. He will play in the finals, but it doesn’t matter if he wins or loses. At this moment, we both won.
1. We can learn from the text that ________.| A．I lost my job for lack of experience and abilities. |
| B．Nathans team won a narrow victory in the basketball game. |
| C．I was proud of Nathan because he won the game in the finals. |
| D．Nathan had never doubted himself whenever he was in trouble. |
| A．losing | B．falling behind |
| C．being defeated | D．winning |
| A．My son would win in the finals and I would find a job soon. |
| B．I had once taught my son face to face that we should never give up. |
| C．It was my encouragement and help that made my son win the game. |
| D．I would become more confident about my future after this experience. |
| A．An Inspiring Game | B．A Moment of Self-doubt |
| C．Lesson from My Son | D．An Unforgettable Experience |
10 . One day, gardeners might not just hear the buzz of bees among their flowers, but the whirr of robots, too. Scientists have managed to turn an unassuming drone (无人机) into a remote-controlled pollinator (授粉媒介) by attaching horsehairs coated with a special, sticky gel to its underbelly.
Animal pollinators are needed for the reproduction of 90% of flowering plants and one third of human food crops. Chief among those are bees — but many bee populations in the United States have been in steep decline in recent decades. Thus, the decline of bees isn't just worrisome because it could disrupt ecosystems, but also because it could disrupt agriculture and economy. People have been trying to come up with replacement techniques, but none of them are especially effective yet.
Scientists have thought about using drones, but they haven't figured out how to make free-flying robot insects that can rely on their own power source without being attached to a wire. “It’s very tough work,” said senior author Eijiro Miyako, a chemist at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology. His particular contribution to the field involves a gel, one he’d considered a mistake 10 years before and stuck in a storage cabinet. When it was rediscovered a decade later, it hadn’t dried up or degraded at all. “I was so surprised because it still had high viscosity,” Miyako said.
The chemist noticed that when dropped, the gel absorbed an impressive amount of dust from the floor. Miyako realized this material could be very useful for picking up pollen (花粉). He and his colleagues chose a drone and attached horsehairs to its smooth surface to mimic a bee’s fuzzy body. They coated those horsehairs in the gel, and then controlled the drones over lilies, where they would pick up the pollen from one flower and then deposit the pollen at another one, thus fertilizing it.
The scientists looked at the hairs under a scanning electron microscope and counted up the pollen grains attached to the surface and found that the drones whose horsehairs had been coated with the gel had about 10 times more pollen than those that had not been coated with the gel.
Miyako does not think such drones would replace bees altogether, but could simply help bees with their pollinating duties. There’s a lot of work to be done before that's a reality, however. Small drones will need to become more controllable and energy efficient, as well as smarter, with better GPS and artificial intelligence.
1. What does the underlined word “viscosity” in Para.3 probably mean?| A．Hardness. | B．Stickiness. |
| C．Flexibility. | D．Purity. |
| A．bees disrupt both agriculture and economy |
| B．scientists have invented self-powered robot insects |
| C．bees in the United States are on the edge of extinction |
| D．Miyako found the special feature of the gel by chance |
| A．its body is made like a bee’s |
| B．its GPS works more efficiently |
| C．some flowers are coated with the gel |
| D．horsehairs with the gel are attached to it |
| A．are not yet ready for practical use |
| B．may eventually replace bees in the future |
| C．are much more efficient than bee pollinators |
| D．can provide a solution to economic depression |
