1 . Working from home has been a long-held dream for many employees craving more flexible work arrangements and comfort. With the fantasy coming true because of the outbreak of COVID-19, however, quite a few people find it less romantic than expected. Amid the ongoing epidemic, a large number of Chinese companies have ordered employees to work from home, looking to control the spread of the virus as staff members return from the Spring Festival travel rush.
Allowing employees to work from home-even if they are not symptomatic-and enabling virtual meetings could help limit the spread of the virus and assuage employees’ fears about exposure.
But there’s another side to the coin. As millions of people started to work at home, people found video communication difficult. Many telecommuting platforms, including DingTalk, an all-in-one mobile workplace from Alibaba, went through temporary outages due to surging demand.
Fu Yangang, a product manager at a house trading company in Beijing, found he couldn’t receive any messages from colleagues during an online meeting at home on Tuesday, and neither could they. Similar problems arose when they switched to Zoom, a California-based video communication app which provides remote conferencing services.
Residences filled with distractions such as spouses, parents, kids or pets set up another obstacle for many employees working from home. Xia Baigi, who works for an Internet company in Beijing, was required to stay at home in Jilin Province until Feb.10, but has found what was an oft-wished for working style a hindrance to productivity. Her parents, who don’t have much to do, suddenly became concerned about her job and asked many questions. “I love my mom and dad, but their current behavior just adds stress and strain,” she said. “Sometimes I have to lock myself in my own room to avoid their enthusiasm.”
For people who are able to stay as productive as they would in an office environment, they came across a different problem： “surprisingly” longer working time at home. Working for an investment company in Shanghai, Zhang Fei felt he could never escape from his job working at home in Shandong Province, which makes time management a whole lot messier. “There is no longer a’ work’ and’ no work’ time. My work comes calling at all hours, which can keep me at a frenetic pace,” he said. With the return date drawing closer, he said, he never felt so excited about being back at the office.
1. Why many people can work from home in China?| A．Because many employees think it is a fantasy idea. |
| B．Because the employers think more highly of working from home than traditional working. |
| C．Because the COVID-19 occurred. |
| D．Because large number of Chinese companies want to avoid the Spring Festival travel rush. |
| A．Increase. | B．Ease. | C．Give up. | D．Find. |
| A．After Fu Yangang and his partners switched to Zoom, their problem was solved. |
| B．Xia Baiqi’s parents could give her more constructive advice. |
| C．Xia Baiqi locked herself in her own room to avoid distractions. |
| D．By saying “There is no longer a ‘work’ and ‘no work’ time.”, Zhang Fei meant he can work less time when at home. |
| A．Working from home has unexpected challenges |
| B．Working from home can save you a lot of trouble |
| C．How to avoid distractions when working from home |
| D．More flexible, less work time |
The story of Chinese fashion began in 2011 when Feiyue and Huili, both Chinese sneaker brands (品牌), suddenly gained international attention. Their products
Story One
Once upon a time a psychology professor walked around on a stage while teaching stress management principles to an auditorium filled-with students.As she raised a glass of water, everyone expected they'd be asked the typical glass half empty or glass half full question. Instead, with a smile on her face, the professor asked "How heavy is this glass of water I'm holding?"
Students shouted out answers ranging from eight ounces to a couple pounds. She replied, "From my perspective, the absolute weight of this glass doesn't matter. It all depends on how long I hold it. If I hold it for a minute or two. it's fairly light. If I hold it for an hour straight, its weight might make my arm ache a little. If I hold it for a day straight, my arm will likely cramp up （抽筋） and feel completely numb and paralyzed, forcing me to drop the glass to the floor. In each case, the weight of the glass doesn't change, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it feels to me."
As the class nodded their heads in agreement, she continued, “Your stresses and worries in life are very much like this glass of water. Think about them for a while and nothing happens. Think about them a bit longer and you begin to ache a little. Think about them all day long, and you will feel completely numb and paralyzed – incapable of doing anything else until you drop them."
Story Two
One day a bright student wishing to be successful put this question to Socrates(苏格拉底）.
“Teacher, I have studied many years with you and even though I have learned many things I still have not learned the secret to success or what it really takes to be successful. Please train me in this mystery.”
Socrates looked at his student with a thoughtful expression and after a long pause, he responded. “My son, the secret is within each one of us if we only truly want it. If you walk-with me, I will take you to the river of life and show you.”
They walked side by side in silence for a while and upon reaching the river Socrates spoke. “My son, bend down here by-the edge of the river and stare deeply at these flowing waters." As the student bent down beside the river Socrates took him by the neck and plunged his head into the water. After only a few seconds (that felt like eternity to the young man), he started struggling to get his head out of the water, gasping for a breath.
After a couple of minutes, suddenly some inner strength burst into the young man and he pushed himself out of the water and gulped in precious air. After a few deep breaths he composed himself and pondered what had just happened. Was his teacher mad at him? What other reason would he act so strange?
The student blurted out, "Why did you do that?!"
Socrates answered rhetorically, "While your head was underwater, what was the one thing you wanted more than anything in life?"
“To take a breath of air to be able to stay alive,” he said.
“It is just as I told you earlier, the secret to success is already inside all of us. When you desire success as much as you wanted that breath of air, you will be successful.”
1. What is the moral(寓意，教益）of the first story?2. As teachers in these two stories, what approach do the psychology professor and Socrates share in common to inspire their students?
3. What is the moral of the second story?How do you understand it?
Recent research suggests that if an argument gets resolved，the emotional response tied to it is significantly reduced or almost completely erased．Thus，it may be worth bringing up issues with your friends， family members，or classmates rather than holding them back．
There is a difference between arguing and fighting．Arguing is that you and your opponent present your concerns and discuss the feelings and issues related to those concerns．You can engage in an argument respectfully without stirring up（激起） anger．Fighting，however，usually involves personal attacks，raising of voices， and storming out．Discussing your issues and resolving them instead of stuffing them down can improve your emotional health．In a study，2.000 people were asked to record their feelings and experiences for eight days in a row．When people had an argument that they considered resolved， they had half the reactivity （情绪反应） of those who avoided an argument．Reactivity is an increase in negative emotions or a decrease in positive emotions．In other words，resolving an argument cuts your negative feelings by half．One day later， people who had a resolved argument reported no increase of negative emotions compared with those who avoided an argument． This means that resolving an argument can feel like you have reached a state of resolution——and you are less likely to be annoyed．
Moreover，the older you are，the more likely you will come to a resolution after an argument．This may be because more life experience usually leads to more defined priorities．You are more likely to distinguish between what matters and what does not．
It is easier to avoid a discussion，but risking talking about it may eventually lead to a better outcome．
1. According to this passage，what is arguing？2. Why is it that“the older you are， the more likely you will come to a resolution after an argument”？
3. Please decide which part is false in the following statement，then underline it and explain why．
Resolving arguments can improve your emotional health，because it increases your reactivity and reduces the chance of you getting angry．
4. In addition to improving emotional health，what do you think are some other benefits of resolving an argument？ （In about 40 words）
5 . Most people have been taught that losing weight is a matter of simple math. Cut calories—specifically 3,500 calories, and you’ll lose a pound. But as it turns out, experts are learning that this decades-old strategy is actually pretty misguided. “This idea of ‘a calorie in and a calorie out’ when it comes to weight loss is not only outdated, it’s just wrong,” says Dr. Fatima Cody Stanford, an obesity specialist at Harvard Medical School. The truth is that even careful calorie calculations don’t always yield(产生) uniform results.
How your body burns calories depends on a number of factors. Three factors affect how your body processes calories.
Your gut microbiome (肠道微生物). Trillions of organisms live in your gut, and the important types may influence how many calories your body absorbs from food. This may occur because some types of organisms are able to break down and use more calories from certain foods than other types of organisms. Researchers have found that people who are naturally thin have different types of organisms living inside them than those who are overweight.
Your metabolism (新陈代谢). Each body has a “set point” that governs weight, says Dr. Stanford. This set point reflects several factors, including your genes, your environment, and your behaviors. A region at the base of your brain stands guard to keep your body weight from dipping below that set point—which is not really a bonus if you’re trying to lose weight.
The type of food you eat. Your food choices may also influence your calorie intake, and not just because of their specific calorie content. One 2019 study published in Cell Metabolism found that eating processed foods seems to spur people to eat more calories compared with eating unprocessed foods.
If counting calories isn’t a dependable way to manage your weight, what can you do to shed extra pounds? Dr.
Stanford recommends the following.
Focus on diet quality. When planning your meals, focus on choosing unprocessed foods, including lean meats, whole grains, and lots of fruits and vegetables in their natural form.
Exercise regularly. Aim to get at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise each week. Moderate exercise is done at a level where you can talk, but not sing.
Consult a professional. “A lot of people believe it’s a moral failing if they are unable to lose weight,” says Dr. Stanford. But it’s not. As with other medical conditions, many people will need help from a doctor. Successful weight loss may require more than just diet and exercise. “Only 2% of people who meet the criteria for the use of anti-obesity medications actually get them. This means that 98% of people who could be treated aren’t,” she says, “Don’t be afraid to seek help if you need it.”
1. What can we infer from Paragraph 1?| A．Old theories actually mislead us. |
| B．Losing weight lies in losing calorie. |
| C．Calorie calculations lead to good results. |
| D．Losing weight by losing calorie is outdated. |
| A．choose the types of food you consume |
| B．focus on the quality of your diet |
| C．adjust your brain to the “set point” |
| D．reduce the organisms living in your gut |
| A．weigh | B．produce |
| C．lose | D．cost |
| A．cutting calories is essential for weight loss |
| B．losing weight can be double-edged |
| C．healthy eating keeps you losing weight |
| D．a healthy lifestyle is key to weight loss |
6 . People have speculated (思索) for centuries about a future without work. Some imagine that the coming work-free world will be defined by inequality: A few wealthy people will own all the capital, and the masses will struggle in a wasteland. A different prediction holds that without jobs to give their lives meaning, future people will simply become lazy and depressed.
But it doesn’t necessarily follow from findings like these that a world without work would be filled with dissatisfaction. Such visions are based on the downsides of being unemployed in a society built on the concept of employment. In the absence of work, a society designed with other ends in mind could provide strikingly different circumstances for the future of labor and leisure.
These days, spare time is relatively rare for most workers. “When I come home from a hard day's work, I often feel tired,” says John Danaher, a lecturer at the National University of Ireland, adding, “In a world in which I don’t have to work, I might feel rather different — perhaps different enough to throw himself into a hobby with the enthusiasm usually reserved for professional matters.”
Daniel Everett, an anthropologist (人类学家) at Bentley University studied a group of hunter-gathers in the Amazon called the Piraha for years. According to Everett, while some might consider hunting and gathering work, hunter-gatherers don’t. “They think of it as fun,” he says. “They don’t have a concept of work the way we do.”
Everett described a typical clay for the Piraha: A man might get up, spend a few hours fishing, have a barbecue, and play until the evening. Does this relaxing life lead to the depression and purposelessness seen among so many of today’s unemployed? “I’ve never seen anything like depression there, except people who are physically ill,” Everett says. While many may consider work necessary for human life, work as it exists today is a relatively new invention in the course of human culture. “We think it’s bad to just sit around with nothing to do,” says Everett. “For the Piraha, it’s quite a desirable state.”
1. What might be some people’s attitude towards the work-free world?| A．Objective. | B．Negative. |
| C．Skeptical. | D．Cautious. |
| A．Risks. | B．Losses. |
| C．Challenges. | D．Disadvantages. |
| A．work plays an important role in our future life |
| B．people don’t know how to balance work and life |
| C．people’s work-free future life will be full of charm |
| D．higher unemployment makes life tougher for workers |
| A．To justify John Danaher’s opinion. | B．To show a future life without work. |
| C．To compare different views on work. | D．To introduce the Piraha in the Amazon. |
1. 电影的基本信息
2. 电影情节简介
3. 你的推荐理由
注意：
1. 词数不少于50；
2. 开头和结尾已给出，不计入总词数。
Dear Jim,
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Yours,
Li Hua
8 . Archeology （考古学）isn't the dusty science it was a generation ago. New technologies that once seemed out of sci-fi are now locating buried traces of buildings and revealing the ruins of cities.
For more than a decade, Sarah Parcak and her team have been on the front line of this revolution. They use satellite images to find and explore ancient sites around the globe. Now they're about to take on a new challenge as they focus Global Xplorer citizen-science project on India.
In 2017, Parcak launched an online platform, called Global Xplorer, to crowd source （群众外包）the initial assessment of satellite images for signs of cultures from long ago. Anyone in the world with a computer and Internet access could help discover and protect remains of Peru's rich cultural heritage. The results have been surprising. About 80,000 participants from a hundred countries have identified 19,000 sites that were not in Peru's database. The platform for Peru is still running.
If all goes well, the work in India could last for years. "India has had relatively little archaeological work done," Parcak says. Also, the full extent of India's archaeological work has never been mapped completely. Parcak expects her project to make up that. “Wherever we end up going, the crowd's going to be able to see extraordinary things," Parcak says.
Thirty six India's cultural heritage relics are already listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Parcak thinks there could be tens of thousands of as yet unknown sites mapped as part of this project. The discoveries promise to be amazing across the land that has seen a parade of cultures come and go.
In the future, she hopes other countries will contact her to launch their own satellite surveys. The possibilities are huge. Parcak estimates that there are at least 12 million potential archaeological sites yet to be discovered. That means the sky is the limit for her project now that it has gotten off the ground successfully.
1. What's the purpose of Parcak's project?| A．To interview citizens via the Internet. |
| B．To dig out more remains of ancient cities. |
| C．To build databases for unknown cultural heritage. |
| D．To identify unknown ancient sites through joint efforts. |
| A．They are Internet-equipped volunteers. |
| B．They are well-trained voluntary scholars. |
| C．They are mostly fans of archeology in Peru. |
| D．They are all archaeologists all over the world. |
| A．India lacks thorough archaeological work. |
| B．Indians call for the protection of their rich cultures. |
| C．There's no amazing archaeological discovery in India. |
| D．India needs more relics listed as World Heritage Sites. |
| A．Parcak's project will become successful. |
| B．Few countries will start satellite surveys. |
| C．There will be amazing discoveries in India. |
| D．More archaeological sites will be identified. |
9 . A few days before Christmas 2012, I found myself in Walmart. It was the last
The school my kids attended asked if we needed help for Christmas, and we
My children were with me that day at Walmart. Our cupboards were bare, and I had only eighty dollars to
My husband worked very hard to
As I chose my groceries, I kept a running total in my head. As my cart (手推车) filled, my
When I went to the checkout, I set aside the cologne gift box. My kids
What happened left me speechless, and being the
A wave of emotion came over me as I
| A．place | B．moment | C．season | D．station |
| A．refused | B．answered | C．accepted | D．ignored |
| A．warm | B．feed | C．help | D．inspire |
| A．respond | B．appreciate | C．purchase | D．accomplish |
| A．room | B．excuse | C．energy | D．courage |
| A．offer | B．afford | C．owe | D．earn |
| A．bill | B．collection | C．taste | D．clothes |
| A．stand | B．compete | C．prepare | D．provide |
| A．choice | B．mistake | C．heart | D．nature |
| A．create | B．design | C．maintain | D．discover |
| A．smooth | B．tight | C．unexpected | D．simplified |
| A．increase | B．discount | C．steadiness | D．absence |
| A．regret | B．anxiety | C．blame | D．complaint |
| A．likely | B．important | C．necessary | D．difficult |
| A．cheered | B．followed | C．protested | D．supported |
| A．lost | B．calmed | C．beat | D．sank |
| A．outgoing | B．optimistic | C．talkative | D．hardworking |
| A．approached | B．guided | C．pleased | D．trusted |
| A．ever | B．even | C．once | D．already |
| A．threw | B．cancelled | C．recommended | D．added |
10 . The last decade saw the rise of the field of “plant neurobiology (神经生物学)”. That debatable field is based on the idea that plants——which do not possess brains ——handle information in ways similar to complicated animal nervous systems. This thinking implies that plants could feel happiness or sorrow or pain, make intentional decisions and even possess consciousness. But the chances of that are “effectively zero," Lincoln Taiz and colleagues write in an opinion piece in Trends in Plant Science. "There's nothing in the plant remotely comparable to the complexity of the animal brain," says Taiz, from the University of California, Santa Cruz.
Some plants are capable of complicated behavior. Wounded leaves can send warning signals to other parts of the plant, and harmful chemicals can warn animals that eat them. Some plants may even have a version of short-term memory: Tiny sensing hairs can count the number of touches that come from a clumsy insect. But plants perform these with equipment that's very different from the nervous systems of animals, no brain required, Taiz argues.
He and colleagues point out methodological (方法的) faults in some of the studies that claim plants have brain-like command centers, animal-like nerve cells and changing patterns of electricity that are similar to activity found in animal brains. But beyond the debate over how these studies are conducted, Taiz's team argues that plant consciousness doesn't even make sense from an evolutionary (进化的) point of view.
Complicated animal brains advanced in part to help a living being catch a meal and avoid becoming one, Taiz says. But plants are rooted to the ground and rely on sunlight for energy, an inactive lifestyle that doesn't require quick thinking or outsmarting a predator (捕食者)——or the energetically expensive nervous systems that enable those behaviors.
“What use would consciousness be to a plant?” Taiz asks. The energy required to power awareness would be too costly, and the benefit from such awareness too small. If a plant worried and suffered when faced with a threat, it would be wasting so much energy that it wouldn't have any left to do anything about that threat, Taiz says.
Imagine a forest fire. "It's unbearable to even consider the idea that plants would be conscious beings aware of the fact that they're being burned to ashes, watching the young trees die in front of them," Taiz says. The frightening scene illustrates "what it would actually cost a plant to have consciousness."
Furthermore, plants have plenty to do without having to be conscious, too. With sunlight, carbon dioxide and water, plants create the compounds (化合物) that sustain much of the rest of life on Earth, Taiz points out. "Isn't that enough?"
1. According to Paragraph 1, a plant neurobiologist would most probably agree that ______.| A．plants are capable of independent thinking |
| B．plants are as biologically complex as animals |
| C．plants developed nervous systems for survival |
| D．plants feel emotions in the same way as animals |
| A．A predator. |
| B．A meal. |
| C．An inactive plant. |
| D．A living being. |
| A．Plants possess brain-like command centers. |
| B．The lifestyle of plants requires nervous systems. |
| C．It is unnecessary for plants to have consciousness. |
| D．Nervous systems enable plants to fight their predators. |
| A．suggest new ways to study the behaviors of plants |
| B．discuss the possibility of plants escaping a disaster |
| C．illustrate how plants make decisions in face of dangers |
| D．prove consciousness would do plants more harm than good |
