1 . Armed with a toolkit of techniques and tricks to calm the mind and bring focus back to your body, you can stop stressful situations from sabotaging your day, says Katy Georgiou.

GROUND YOURSELF

Making contact with the ground is your baseline go-to response for stress. This technique can be especially helpful if you find your stress regularly turns into panic. Wherever you are, whatever you’re doing, place your feet flat on the ground so that you feel stable, and then close your eyes. If you’re able to sit on the floor cross-legged or to lie down flat, then even better.

Think of this as earthing: really connect with the ground beneath your body. Some studies suggest that this simple act can help reduce or relieve symptoms of stress such as pain and fatigue, reduce blood pressure, and improve sleep. If you’re feeling disconnected from the world, it can also remind you that you belong to it and are a crucial part of it — the ground will always be there for you.

LOVE THYSELF

Adopting regular, daily or weekly routines for self-care can be very containing, creating consistency amid all sorts of stressful life events happening around you. Looking in the mirror each day can actually remind you that you exist, so feel free to factor some reflective gazing into your daily routine, whether it’s while applying moisturiser, shaving, or brushing your hair. Studies have shown that being confronted with your reflection can have powerful effects, taking us out of our heads and into the immediate present. For added effect, pay attention to the way your products interact with your hair and skin as you apply them.

Playing around with smells, colours and textures in your hands will also engage your senses. Using a scented shampoo or smoothing on body lotion after a warm bath can be easy ways to do this.

CLEAR YOUR MIND

Abandon all your thoughts and try to focus only on your surroundings. What can you see, hear, smell, taste and touch? Identify three things you can hear, one thing you can taste, four things you can see and two things you can feel on your skin. Pick out colours in the room you are sitting in, notice textures and different kinds of light. If somebody is with you, tell them what you are experiencing. The point here is that your senses are your best and easiest route back to feeling calm, by coming out of your head and rooting yourself back in the present. This is incredibly helpful if you’re having a panic attack or flop response.

1. If your friend Jane always feels worn out and suffers from sleep deprivation, which of the following techniques will you especially recommend to her?

A．Connect her body to the ground beneath her.

B．Adopt a daily gaze at her reflection in the mirror.

C．Exchange her scentless shampoo for an aromatic one.

D．Focus on what she can see, hear, smell, taste and touch.

2. Which of the following statements is NOT TRUE according to the passage?

A．Lying down flat can better relieve your stress.

B．Grounding yourself can give you a sense of belonging to the world.

C．Brushing your hair while looking in the mirror can remind you of your existence.

D．Those having a panic attack should shut their senses down.

3. The passage is intended to __________.

A．help people understand themselves better

B．introduce some practical methods for stress management

C．emphasize the significance of exploiting multiple senses

D．promote a mindset of living in the moment

2 . TikTok, a social media app dedicated to short-form videos, has emerged as a major firer of food trends — from mushroom coffee and pancake cereal to cloud bread and feta pasta. But another trend, the #whatieatinaday trend, is dominating TikTok, which is nearing 9 billion _________.

Even though #whatieatinaday posts may be _________ to serve as healthy inspiration for others, there’s a growing feeling that these video diaries of daily eats will likely do more harm than good — especially among young girls or people with a history of disordered eating.

The _________ message these posts send is that if you eat like them, then you can eventually look like them. Yet what someone else eats in a day doesn’t mean it’s right for you, since these “_________” videos are not a completely accurate representation of what someone typically eats.

Often the overly stylized (程式化) meals do not _________ a nutritionally adequate diet. The posts are _________ the illusion (幻想) of an ideal day of eating, along with an ideal body size.

Younger audiences, especially girls and young women, internalize the message that they must eat like these creators to achieve and maintain not only health, but also social _________. The biggest harm with this trend is that it normalizes disordered or _________ eating behaviors. This could prevent someone struggling with an eating disorder from _________ support or treatment.

Even if the #whatieatinaday posts are displaying a ____________ day of eating, the subtext message of “eat like me, and you will look like me” is harmful because people will not necessarily achieve the same body size as the ____________ even if they copied their day of eating bite for bite.

____________, what might be a healthy, adequate day of satisfying meals for one person may be inadequate and unsatisfying to another. Even worse, someone looking at these posts may conclude that they need to be eating half as much to ____________.

People making these videos are overwhelmingly thin, young, able-bodied and white. There is a complete lack of body ____________. And this encourages harmful comparisons to unrealistic body standards that are ____________ to the vast majority of people. Therefore, those of us from marginalized communities are once again unable to see positive representations of our varying bodies, foods and cultural representation in these harmful posts.”

1.

A．views

B．statements

C．analyses

D．identities

2.

A．emphasized

B．simplified

C．requested

D．intended

3.

A．moral

B．scientific

C．potential

D．instant

4.

A．modern

B．staged

C．educational

D．labelled

5.

A．prioritize

B．commercialize

C．recognize

D．exchange

6.

A．promoting

B．representing

C．spoiling

D．perfecting

7.

A．welfare

B．equality

C．desirability

D．justice

8.

A．individual

B．instinctive

C．restrictive

D．changeable

9.

A．attracting

B．seeking

C．losing

D．offering

10.

A．fixed

B．balanced

C．relaxing

D．demanding

11.

A．reader

B．advertiser

C．browser

D．poster

12.

A．Therefore

B．Finally

C．Additionally

D．Meanwhile

13.

A．lose weight

B．share interests

C．assume burden

D．make contributions

14.

A．language

B．diversity

C．warmth

D．response

15.

A．available

B．predictable

C．inadequate

D．unachievable

3 . How to recognize cyber attacks

Cyber-attacks may sound like something that happens only in Hollywood movies. You _________a team of talented Hackers gathered around computer monitors trying to break into a secure bank or government server. In reality, cyber-attacks are much less exciting but no less _________.

A/An_________attack involves a cyber-criminal sending out thousands or oven millions of links and flies. They assume that someone will_________ fall for their trap and open an infected file or page. Somebody always does. The best way to protect yourself is to learn how to _________cyber-attacks as well as how to prevent them from happening in the first place.

Cyber-attacks can happen to anybody. It doesn’t matter who you are; cyber criminals can target you. While many often think of hacking victims as_________about digital security best practices, this isn’t always the case. Kickers are smart. True, there are plenty of apparent scams (骗局) like ‘the Nigerian Price" emails. But there are as many attacks that can fool even the skillful computer-users.

Nowadays, cyber-criminals create fake websites and email addresses. You may think you are clicking a link to Dropbox (多宝箱) only to download malware onto your computer, _________may never know when you have visited the wrong site and downloaded a/an_______file. So, it’s up to you to be vigilant (警觉的) and protect yourself.

So you need to lean to recognize the signs of cyber-attacks. First, recognize _________activity on your accounts or devices. ____________ some things may be obvious such as account password changes, others aren’t so easy to spot. Usually, hackers insert pieces of code into valid files and programs. And then, you might receive a file from a trusted sender whose mail has been __________. Sometimes, the data are even real, but the hacker may have inserted a few lines of code that can also infect your computer. You should take the time to check your “Task Manager” to get a sense of what____________are running. Check anything suspicious that’s __________in the background. That’s often the sign of malware.

Other things to ____________for include: random device or internet slowdown; the software you don’t recognize; inability to access your account or unscheduled shutdowns and restarts.

As with everything, ____________ is the best medicine. So, instead of waiting for cyber-attacks to hit you, recognize the signs to protect yourself.

1.

A．gather

B．picture

C．find

D．establish

2.

A．dangerous

B．worried

C．cautious

D．helpless

3.

A．historic

B．typical

C．potential

D．specific

4.

A．halfway

B．originally

C．periodically

D．eventually

5.

A．predict

B．limit

C．warn

D．recognize

6.

A．fearless

B．soundless

C．clueless

D．careless

7.

A．in conclusion

B．and

C．but

D．as if       .

8.

A．empty

B．supervised

C．tracked

D．infected

9.

A．powerful

B．suspicious

C．specific

D．frequent

10.

A．While

B．Since

C．If

D．When

11.

A．guaranteed

B．assessed

C．leaked

D．composed

12.

A．mechanisms

B．files

C．programs

D．commands

13.

A．attacking

B．chatting

C．hiding

D．running

14.

A．sum up

B．watch out

C．mark off

D．turn down

15.

A．strategy

B．practice

C．solution

D．prevention

4 . More and more online shopping platforms now offer consumers a detailed look into products’ historical prices. But how does this information influence buying decisions?

To explore this question, we conducted a series of experiments with a total of more than 5,000 business school students and working adults. We measured the impact of different kinds of price shifts on people’s interest in purchasing products and identified several consistent trends:

First, when consumers saw that the price today was lower than it had been in the past, they were more likely to buy now, because the current price seemed like a good deal.

However, the picture gets more complicated when you consider the frequency of historical price shifts: In our studies, we found that if consumers were shown at least three changes in the same direction, they were likely to assume the price would continue to move in the same direction. While if they were only shown one or two changes in the same direction, they expected the price to change in the opposite direction.

So what does this mean for sellers? It may be tempting to slowly lower the price over time. However, our data shows that this can lead consumers to assume that the price will continue to fall, making them hesitant to buy. But if they just see a single price drop, they ‘re more likely to expect a reversal in the near future, pushing them to buy the product now.

Our findings can also help buyers make more informed decisions about whether and when they choose to make a purchase. As with any irrational bias (非理性的偏见), awareness of the natural tendency to expect trends to continue and single large changes to reverse can help consumers question this assumption before acting on it. Instead of letting this arbitrary (武断的) expectation guide buying decisions, consumers may benefit by doing a bit more research around the underlying factors driving price shifts. Buyers may also benefit from learning more about a product’s longer-term price history, fluctuations (波动), and typical industry-wide price ranges, to avoid being disproportionately influenced by near-term price changes. It’s also always a good idea to think about both how urgent your need for a given product is, and your own risk tolerance for a potential price increase, as this can affect whether it’s worth it for you to wait and see if the price falls.

Of course, there are countless factors that influence both consumers’ decisions around whether and when to buy and sellers’ decisions around how to price their products. But it’s important for both sides to recognize the key role that expectations play in influencing these decisions.

1. Which of the following is true about the experiment?

A．It proves that people’s interest in the product drives the purchasing behavior.

B．E-commerce platforms turn to it to connect with customers and boost sales.

C．It’s designed to figure out the purchasing decision process based on pricing.

D．Business school students make up the whole control group for comparison.

2. Which of the following price trends might tempt consumers to buy on May 8^th?

A．	B．
C．	D．

3. Consumers are advised to      .

A．decide on the assumptions that long-term price trend will continue

B．research longer-term price history, price ranges and hidden factors

C．put off the purchase for better deals because of the unsustainable market

D．cooperate with sellers while putting aside the personal risk and urgency

4. What does the passage mainly talk about?

A．How do price changes influence buying decisions?

B．Why should products’ historical prices be shown?

C．When is the best time for consumers to purchase?

D．What do businesses need to price their products?

5 . Delivering life-saving drugs directly to the brain in a safe and effective way is a challenge for medical providers. One key reason: the blood-brain barrier, which protects the brain from tissue-specific drug delivery. Methods such as an injection or a pill aren't as precise or immediate as doctors might prefer, and ensuring delivery right to the brain often requires invasive, risky techniques.

A team of engineers from Washington University in St. Louis has developed a new nano-particle generation-delivery method that could someday vastly improve drug delivery to the brain, making it as simple as a sniff.

“This would be a nano-particle nasal spray, and the delivery system could allow medicine to reach the brain within 30 minutes to one hour,” said Ramesh Raliya, research scientist at the School of Engineering & Applied Science.

“The blood-brain barrier protects the brain from foreign substances in the blood that may injure the brain,” Raliya said. “But when we need to deliver something there, getting through that barrier is difficult and invasive. Our non-invasive technique can deliver drugs via nano-particles, so there's less risk and better response times.”

The novel approach is based on aerosol science and engineering principles that allow the generation of mono-disperse nano-particles, which can deposit on upper regions of the nasal cavity via spread. The nano-particles were tagged with markers, allowing the researchers to track their movement.

Next, researchers exposed locusts' antenna to the aerosol, and observed the nano-particles travel from the antennas up through the olfactory nerve, which is used to sense the smell. Due to their tiny size, the nano-particles passed through the brain-blood barrier, reaching the brain and spreading all over it in a matter of minutes.

The team tested the concept in locusts because the blood-brain barriers in the insects and humans have similarities. “The shortest and possibly the easiest path to the brain is through your nose,” said Barani Raman, associate professor of biomedical engineering. “Your nose, the olfactory bulb and then olfactory cortex: two steps and you've reached the cortex.”

To determine whether or not the foreign nano-particles disrupted normal brain function, Saha examined the physiology response of olfactory neurons in the locusts before and after the nano-particle delivery and found no noticeable change in the electro-physiological responses was detected.

This is only a beginning of a set of studies that can be performed to make nano-particle-based drug delivery approaches more principled, Raman said. The next phase of research involves fusing the gold nano-particles with various medicines, and using ultrasound to target a more precise dose to specific areas of the brain, which would be especially beneficial in brain-tumor cases.

1. This passage is mainly about ________.

A．a novel method of drug delivery	B．a challenge facing medical staff
C．a new medicine treating brain disease	D．a technique to improve doctor's ability

2. According to the passage, which of the following statements is TRUE?

A．Doctors prefer using methods like an injection to treat diseases.

B．Locusts were tagged with markers to track their movement.

C．The blood-brain barrier lowers the effectiveness of a pill.

D．The medicine could reach the brain within half an hour.

3. The researchers focused their study on locusts because ________.

A．human and locusts have similar structures that protect brain from foreign substances

B．the delivery process consists of the olfactory bulb and the olfactory cortex

C．locusts have changeable electrophysiological responses to nanoparticles

D．The shortest and possibly the safest path to the brain is through human's noses

4. ________ would most be interested in reading this passage.

A．A lung cancer patient who needs operation immediately

B．A college student who majors in medical technology

C．A senior doctor who is about to retire

D．A high school teacher who is teaching biology

6 . There are many things parents can do to help children with autism（自闭症）overcome their challenges. Learning all you can about autism and getting ________ in treatment will go a long way toward helping your child. Additional, the following tips will make daily home life easier for both you and your autistic child:

Be consistent（一致的）. Children with autism have a hard time ________ what they’ve learned if there is a change of setting. For example, your child may use sign language at school to communicate, but never think to do so at home. Creating ________ in your child’s environment is the best way to reinforce learning. Find out what your child’s therapists are doing and continue their techniques at home. Explore the ________ of having therapy take place in more than one place in order to encourage your child to ________ what he or she has learned from one environment to another. It’s also important to be consistent in the way you ________ with your child and deal with challenging behaviors.

________ a schedule. Children with autism tend to do best when they have a highly-structured schedule or routine. Again, this goes back to the consistency they both need and crave. Set up a schedule for your child, with ________ times for meals, therapy, school, and bedtime. Try to keep disturbance to this routine to a ________. If there is an unavoidable schedule change, prepare your child for it ________.

________ good behavior. Positive reinforcement can go a long way with children with autism, so make an effort to “catch them doing something good.” Praise them when they act appropriately or learn a new skill, being very ________ about what behavior they’re being praised for.

Pay attention to your child’s sensory sensitivities. Many children with autism are hypersensitive to light, sound, touch, taste, and smell. Other children with autism are “under-sensitive” to sensory stimuli. ________ what sights, sounds, smell and movements cause your kid’s “bad” or disruptive behaviors and what brings about a(n) ________ response. If you understand what affects your child, you’ll be better at solving problems, preventing situations that cause difficulties, and creating ________ experiences.

1.

A．encouraged

B．balanced

C．absorbed

D．involved

2.

A．applying

B．devoting

C．communicating

D．appealing

3.

A．attraction

B．comfort

C．steadiness

D．attention

4.

A．possibility

B．goal

C．process

D．solution

5.

A．transplant

B．transfer

C．transport

D．transform

6.

A．meet

B．interact

C．negotiate

D．associate

7.

A．Draw up

B．Arrange for

C．Work out

D．Stick to

8.

A．regular

B．flexible

C．appropriate

D．normal

9.

A．decrease

B．mystery

C．minimum

D．secret

10.

A．without doubt

B．in private

C．without notice

D．in advance

11.

A．Control

B．Perform

C．Reward

D．Maintain

12.

A．curious

B．specific

C．particular

D．anxious

13.

A．Figure out

B．Account for

C．Put up

D．Take on

14.

A．automatic

B．immediate

C．positive

D．quick

15.

A．frustrating

B．successful

C．professional

D．unpleasant

7 . As is the fate of anyone running a hotel in Kerala these days, Bijoy George is a man with too much to do. Before pandemic-caused lockdowns began in 2020, he managed 40 employees at the Eighth Bastion Hotel in the charming historic quarter of Kochi, a bustling coastal city. Now that business is back to pre-covid levels he needs the same number of staff again. But he has only 20 workers. His plight is shared with every other hotel, café and bar. It is a result of the state’s hospitality (招待) employees moving all together in large numbers to Qatar, not to watch football but to take up employment tied to the World Cup.

As the start of the competition approaches on November 20th, workers are quitting at a rate Mr. George says he has never seen in his 22 years in the business. Qatar, a country with a population of under 3m, will have welcomed more than 1.5m visitors before the matches conclude on December 18th. That means finding staff to run all the new hotels that have been built along with other venues that have been pressed into service to profit from the sports fans.

Kerala has long been a significant source of hospitality workers for Qatar and other Middle Eastern countries. Its state government provides good schools with English-language instruction but few jobs. More than 2m people, 17% of its working population, already work overseas, largely in the Gulf.

The appeal of Qatar is straightforward. Starting salaries approach $1,000 a month, more than six times the level for similar jobs in Kerala. To replace those who have left, Kerala’s employers have been casting their nets wider. Recruiters have been extending their searches to many other Indian cities. But that means the most common word on name-tags pinned to the breast pockets of workers is “trainee”.

Among the many skills that need to be taught, says Mr. George, is smiling at customers — the failure to do so a result of shyness among those new to the workforce. The danger is that after a week or so when confidence grows, even these employees may slip away to the Gulf.

Most contracts run for three months, concluding at the end of December, not long after the World Cup final. Returning workers will be welcomed back with open arms. Filling the gaps is even more important as Indian tourism and weddings have restarted. The reunions, though, may be short-lived. The game these workers will have learned from the World Cup is how to be paid better. That means leaving India.

1. The underlined sentence in paragraph one implies that __________.

A．other hotels, cafes and bars will share Bijoy’s 20 employees

B．other hotels, cafes and bars will have to lay off some workers

C．other hotels, cafes and bars also send the workers to Qatar

D．other hotels, cafes and bars also find it hard to employ enough workers

2. Which of the following DOESN’T contribute to hospitality workers in Kerala taking up jobs in Qatar?

A．Millions of tourists have to be served during the World Cup.

B．Hospitality workers are in high demand with new hotels and venues open for business in Qatar.

C．Qatar provides good education and English training for potential workers in Kerala.

D．The salaries of similar jobs in Kerala are much lower than those in Qatar.

3. Which of the following difficulties do Kerala’s employers face due to lack of workers?

A．Kerala’s employers have to take on new employees in Asian cities.

B．Many of the new employees will pin their name tags to their breast pockets.

C．The new employees will not greet the customers as a result of shyness.

D．The new employees may soon follow the trend of going to the Gulf.

4. What makes the reunions between Indian workers and employers probably a short-lived one?

A．Jobs outside India can provide Indian workers with a more decent life.

B．It will soon be the off season for Indian tourism and weddings.

C．Another grand occasion will soon begin in the Gulf.

D．The workers only sign short-term contracts with the employers in India.

8 . The Man Who Ate his Boots is a fascinating account of expeditions that went wrong. The book examines the 19th century search for a route to Asia by way of the Northwest Passage through the Arctic Ocean. Author Anthony Brandt describes the many attempts by both land and sea that ended in failure and tragedy, including the 1845 expedition led by Sir John Franklin. Brandt shows how these brave, yet sometimes foolish, explorers could have avoided starvation, frostbite, and even death if they had copied the survival techniques of the local Inuit people. Some of the more surprising details the book reveals include:

IGLOOS The explorers, despite repeatedly watching the Inuit build igloos, insisted on using canvas tents. Tents freeze in sub-zero temperatures and give little protection to anyone inside them. If they had learned to build igloos, the explorers would have been warm even in the worst Arctic weather.

SEALSKIN If the explorers had worn sealskin and furs like the Inuit, they wouldn’t have suffered from the frostbite that was common among them, but rare among the Inuit.

DOG TEAMS Why didn’t the British use dog teams to pull their sleds? Pulling sleds themselves was a tradition among many explorers right into the early 20th century. It cost Scott and his men their lives on their return from the South Pole in 1912.

The British did get something right, however, when Captain Edward Parry grew salad vegetables in boxes on board his ship. It was known that fresh vegetables and fresh meat prevented scurvy (坏血病)，although at that time the reason for this (vitamin C) had not been discovered. Parry’s men wouldn’t have been as healthy if they hadn’t eaten the salads.

1. In The Man Who Ate his Boots’ the author mainly ________.

A．introduces some foolish explorers

B．focuses on some unsuccessful expeditions

C．analyzes the Inuit people’s survival techniques

D．explores the advances in equipment used for expeditions

2. According to Anthony Brandt, what should the explorers have done?

A．They should have learned more about how seals survived in cold water.

B．They should have set up more canvas tents to keep themselves warm.

C．They should have helped the Inuit people build igloos.

D．They should have used dogs to pull the sleds for them.

3. It can be inferred from the passage that________.

A．Edward Parry found a way to prevent scurvy by accident

B．Edward Parry’s successful voyage was a rare case at that time

C．Edward Parry was the first captain that grew salad vegetables on board

D．Edward Parry’s men could have been more healthy if they took vitamin C

9 . Today’s youth will drive tomorrow’s growth. Young people have always confused their elders. Today’s youngsters are no different. They have thin wallets but ________ tastes. They long for authenticity while being constantly immersed in an artificial digital world. They ________ convenience and abundance. As they start spending in earnest, brands are trying to understand what these walking paradoxes (悖论) ________ and how they shop. The answers will define the next era of consumerism.

A good place to start analyzing the psyche of young consumer is to consider the ________ that has shaped them. At one end of the scale, today’s 30-somethings came of age in the midst of the global financial crisis of 2007-2009. Their younger peers were slightly ________, beginning their careers in years when tightening labour markets had pushed up wages until the covid-19 pandemic turned many of their lives upside down.

These two big ________ have contributed to pessimism among the young people who experienced them. A study found a widespread ________ among Gen Zs that they would be able to afford to retire. Less than half believed they would ever own a home.

In many ways youngsters’ shopping habits, like their lives, are defined by the “________ economy”. The popularity of social media means there are many new ways of attracting consumers’ eyeballs. Most young shoppers never knew a world without smartphones. More than two-thirds of 18- to 34-year-old Americans spend four hours or more on their devices each day.

These “always-on purchasers” often avoid a weekly shop so that they can have quicker ________ of everything from fashion to furniture. They like subscriptions, often favoring shared access to products over outright ownership, which has ________ online-rental sites and streaming services.

The internet has also changed how the young discover brands. Print, billboard or TV advertising has ________ social media. Instagram and TikTok are where the young look for inspiration, particularly for goods where ________ matter, such as beauty, fashion, and sportswear. ________ physical shops are not entirely out of favor. They can be successful as long as the experience feels personal and, ideally, integrates virtual and physical worlds.

How the young shop is clearly shifting. What they buy, too, is changing. What older generations consider optional, such as wellness and luxury, has become ________ for the young.

More broadly, young consumers claim to be more ________ than previous generations. Some of these values are centered around identity (race, gender and so on). Others stem from things the young care about, such as climate change.

1.

A．pleasant

B．expensive

C．mild

D．refreshing

2.

A．prize

B．boast

C．mix

D．challenge

3.

A．recycle

B．desire

C．deliver

D．package

4.

A．education

B．institution

C．family

D．economy

5.

A．busier

B．luckier

C．stronger

D．calmer

6.

A．reforms

B．ends

C．trends

D．shocks

7.

A．doubt

B．opposition

C．criticism

D．ignorance

8.

A．bubble

B．attention

C．knowledge

D．green

9.

A．refunds

B．possessions

C．fixes

D．trials

10.

A．approved

B．facilitated

C．reversed

D．updated

11.

A．made peace with

B．made up for

C．run parallel to

D．given way to

12.

A．looks

B．scents

C．textures

D．atmospheres

13.

A．However

B．Hence

C．Apparently

D．Otherwise

14.

A．souvenirs

B．essentials

C．memories

D．treasures

15.

A．dream-connected

B．hobbies-motivated

C．values-driven

D．money-focused

10 . Young Africans are logging in and clocking on

His home is Bungoma, a small town in western Kenya, but his workplace is the world. Kevin, who asks that his real name be masked to protect his credibility, has written about offices in China without ever going there. He has reviewed home-security systems he has never seen.

    1    Freelances (自由职业者) on online platforms can reach clients around the world, mastering skills from blogging 10 web design. Optimists hope that online work can set Africa on the path of service-led growth dominated by countries such as India and the Philippines. Pessimists worry such work will breed injustices.

Some are attracted to the work by the flexibility and pay; others because they cannot find a traditional job. There are advocates for freelancing.    2    “Now everyone is speaking about digital jobs,” he says. In Kenya the government’s Ajira program runs support centers that aim to link a million Kenyans to online platforms and make the country a “digital center”.

Freelances, like the wider outsourcing (外包) industry, “are fighting against a reputation of Africa as somewhere where you would not expect digital work to take place,” says Mohammad Amir Anwar of the University of Edinburgh, who co-wrote a book about Africa’s digital workforce. Some African freelances use virtual private networks and fake names to pretend they are somewhere else.    3    

The available data suggest that it will take time for Africa to become a continent of digital freelances. In 2019, Mr. Anwar and colleagues estimated that there were 120,000 African workers on Upwork, the continent’s most popular platform—fewer than in the Philippines. Most did not seem to be making any money.

Outsourcing practices have also sparked moral questions. Al Astra (a live-streaming company) content-moderation center in Kenya run by Sama (an outsourcing firm), workers told journalists that they were mistreated and misled about the nature of their work.    4    Finally, Sama discontinued its services for Astra this year.

Technological change bounces in unpredictable directions. Could Al tools, previously trained by Kenyan workers, one day make these freelances such as Kevin unnecessary?

A．Africa’s digital workers are re-mapping the old geographies of labor.

B．The internet creates new kinds of work, without any patterns of inequality.

C．A former employee has taken both companies to court, accusing them of forced labor.

D．Typical tasks include data entry, online marketing, or even writing essays for lazy students.

E．Baraka Mafole, a student in Tanzania, organizes training events for navigating online platforms.

F．Power cuts and competition for part-time jobs from cheaper workers in Asia and beyond create other challenges.