1 . Yet although officers will not disappear, it’s hard to imagine that working life will return to before-COVID-19 (新冠肺炎) ways. For more than a century workers have pushed themselves on-to crowded trains and buses, or suffered traffic jams, to get into the office, and back, five days a week. However, for the past one year they have not had to commute (上下班往返), and may enjoy it for a long time.
Employers, for their part, have supported expensive offices in city centers because they need to gather workers in one place. The rent is only part of the cost; there are cleaning, lightning, printers, catering and security on top. Needless to say, in the homeworking era these costs are cut down.
Another part of the homeworking era may be the disappearance of the five-day working week. Even before the COVID-19 many workers became used to taking phone calls or answering emails at the weekend. In the homeworking era, the dividing line between home and working life, a useful way of relieving stress, will be even harder to keep. It may be lost altogether.
What’s more, without the Monday-to-Friday commute, the weekend seems more nebulous, for employees may walk and take breaks freely, with only the company video calls unchanged.
Looking further out, the homeworking era may bring other changes. Some may decide to live in small towns where housing costs are lower, since they have no need to commute. Men will have fewer excuses to skip cleaning or childcare if they are not disappearing to the office.
In a sense, this is a return to normal: until the 19th century most people worked at or close to their homes. But social historians may still regard 2020 as the start of a new age.
1. Which one is the change of the working life after the COVID-19?| A．Living in big cities. | B．More traffic jams. |
| C．Reduced working cost. | D．Less phone calls at the weekend. |
| A．Important. | B．Unclear. | C．Fruitful. | D．Annoying. |
| A．Doubtful. | B．Objective. | C．Supportive. | D．Negative. |
| A．2020: the Start of a New Age? |
| B．Working at Home: Are You Ready? |
| C．Who is the Winner: Employer or Employee? |
| D．Home and Working Life: How to Keep Balanced? |
2 . Everyone has unique personalities, which makes life more interesting.
Over the last 25 years, doctors have classified personalities into five basic traits(特性), called the Big Five. Everyone can be described as having varying levels of agreeableness(随和), conscientiousness(认真)，emotional stability(情绪稳定)，extroversion(外向)and openness to experience.
Contrary to common knowledge, people aren't confined to certain personality types. Usually, no one is entirely an extrovert or an introvert. While a minority may be at the extreme ends of a trait, most people are somewhere in the middle. “Every personality trait is a continuous dimension. You can be very high or very low, and most people fall somewhere in between,” said Christopher Soto, a doctor at Colby College.
Personality isn’t limited to humans, either. Research finds that all animals have personalities. Both the personality of animals and humans has an evolutionary origin. Evolution can a so explain why personalities vary so much. Depending on the situation, each of the Big Five can be advantageous. For example, agreeableness is great for relationships. But if a lion were charging at you, you'd be better off with a less agreeable and more aggressive personality leaning. Because the world is so unpredictable, every aspect of each personality trait could be useful at different times, so instead of evolving a single type of personality that s first-rank for every situation, we're left with a wide variety.
An evolutionary root of personality means traits must be inherited(继承). So whether you’d like to admit it or not, much of your personality comes from your parents. In fact, for humans, about half of the differences in personality are genetic. The rest of the variability in personality comes from your environment.
Not only does your environment shape who you are, but you can, to an extent, adjust your personality to the circumstance. You can be more outgoing at a party and more agreeable at home with your family. But you can also be introverted if you need to focus on work, or aggressive when playing a competitive sport. Humans, after all, have evolved to learn from our environments.
1. Which of the following best explains the underlined word “confined” in Paragraph 3?| A．Forced. | B．Composed. | C．Devoted. | D．Limited. |
| A．A personality difference. |
| B．An environmental condition. |
| C．An evolutionary origin. |
| D．Human's relationship with animals. |
| A．Friendly. | B．Stubborn. | C．Considerate. | D．Aggressive. |
| A．Personalities can change over time. |
| B．Your environment shapes your personality. |
| C．Your genetic starting point stays you forever. |
| D．Humans have born abilities to learn from environments. |
3 . Children's average daily time spent watching television or using mobile device increased from 53 minutes at 12 months old to more than 150 minutes at 3 years old, according to an analysis by researchers at the National Institutes of Health. Children aged 7 were more likely to spend the highest amount of screen time if they had been in bad home-based childcare or were born to first-time mothers.
“Our results indicate that screen habits begin early,” said Edwina Yeung, an investigator in National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), “This finding suggests that interventions to reduce screen time could have a better chance of success if introduced early.”
In the research, mothers of 4,000 children responded to questions on their kids' media habits when they were 12, 18, 24, 30, and 36 months of age.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends avoiding digital media exposure for children under 18 months of age, introducing children 18 to 24 months of age to screen media slowly, and limiting screen time to an hour a day for children from 2 to 5 years of age. In the current study, researchers found that 87% of the children had screen time exceeding these recommendations. However, while screen time increased throughout infancy, after 8 years of age, screen time fell to under 1. 5 hours per day. The researchers believe this decrease relates to time consumed by school-related activities.
The study authors classified the children into two groups based on how much their aver- age daily screen time increased from age 1 to age 3. The first group, 73% of the total, had the lower increase, from an average of nearly 51 minutes a day to nearly an hour and 47 minutes a day. The second group, 27% of the total, had the higher increase, from nearly 37 minutes of screen time a day to about 4 hours a day. Higher levels of parental education were associated with the lower odds of inclusion in the second group.
1. Which of the following is a reason for children's addiction to the media?| A．Low economic level. | B．Poor family education |
| C．The media's attraction. | D．The shortage of parents' love. |
| A．To stop children using the media. | B．To help parents care for children well |
| C．To reduce children's screen time earlier | D．To increase intervention to children |
| A．By giving some examples. | B．By showing some data. |
| C．By analyzing some reasons. | D．By concluding some results. |
| A．Probability. | B．Price. | C．Cost. | D．Income. |
4 . Liu Xiangping, a Chinese-Canadian artist and stamp designer, recalls his remarkable experiences in designing the stamps which develop friendship between China and Canada.
It was 1997, the year when Hong Kong was returned to China, and Canada Post, along with the then-Hong Kong Postal Administration and China, celebrated the Chinese New Year with a stamp.
In January 2017, special 45-cent stamp designed by Liu and two other Chinese Canadian artists was issued. Since then, Canada Post has been issuing zodiac(属相) stamp for the Chinese Lunar New Year each year. “Many traditional customs related to the Chinese New Year are indeed transnational(跨国的). They are beyond political and cultural differences. They powerfully reflect the close connections of the overseas Chinese to their ethnic roots,” Liu said.
Liu said that what he was most proud of last year was the creation of a stamp for China Post on the theme of fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.
When China Post issued a set of special stamps in 2003 to mark the victory over SARS, Liu was one of the designers.
In January 2020, Liu left Toronto for Beijing. With the influence of COVID-19 drawing the attention of the entire country, China Post invited him once again to be one of two chief designers of a set of anti-pandemic-themed stamps.
On May 11, 2020, China Post issued the two stamps. One featured the phrase “Pursue Together, Combat the Pandemic” to pay admiration and respect to the Chinese people in the fight against the virus. Liu said the most important principle for the designs is to present the Chinese spirit of solidarity(团结) as well as that of human nature in tough times. “I tried to express the sense of perseverance, anxiety and sorrow at the same time through people’s eyes,” Liu said.
To memorize the centennial(百年纪念) of Norman Bethune’s birth and his accomplishments, Canada and China jointly issued a pair of commemorative stamps in 1990. Bethune devoted his life to medicine and humanitarianism in China in the late 1930s. Jean Morin and Wanda Lewicka of Canada designed the stamps, and Liu illustrated(加插图)them.
“The stamps are the product of close cooperation and cultural exchanges between Canada and China. They symbolize the fundamentals(基本原则) of the friendship between the two countries,” said Liu. “We’ll never forget that Chinese and Canadian people were committed to the common values of justice and peace in WWⅡ.”
1. When did Canada Post begin issuing a zodiac stamp for the Chinese Lunar New Year?| A．In 1997. | B．In 2003. | C．In 2017. | D．In 2020. |
| A．Wonderful. | B．Difficult. | C．Busy. | D．Common. |
| A．He designed a stamp to celebrate the Chinese New Year with a stamp in 1997. |
| B．He designed a stamp to honor the Chinese people fighting against the pandemic |
| C．He designed a set of special stamps in 2003 to mark the victory over SARS. |
| D．He designed the stamps to memorize the centennial of Norman Bethune’s birth. |
| A．Stamps develop friendship between Canada and China. |
| B．Stamps show cultural exchanges between Canada and China. |
| C．Liu Xiangping is a Chinese-Canadian artist and stamp designer. |
| D．Liu Xiangping enjoys designing stamps reflecting Chinese customs. |
