1 . Most children now chat daily either online or through their mobile phones.
Sometimes the online world, just like the real world, can cause problems, such as bullying (恃强凌弱) or arguments.
A.Going online is great fun. |
B.Computer studies are part of schoolwork now. |
C.The language of chat is strange to many parents, too. |
D.There are some websites that are not suitable for the children. |
E.To keep children safe, your management must cover the family computer. |
F.They are connecting to a huge number of other children all over the world. |
G.Surfing the Internet takes up too much of the time that should be spent on lessons. |
2 . After I made it to the city center, I started to feel it might be easy for a foreigner to deal with the great size of Beijing. With growing confidence, I decided to take the subway to the hotel, not realizing that the network didn’t go that far. Impressed with the cleanliness of the station, I bought a ticket and boarded the first subway that came along.
After a few minutes I asked in English a young man seated next to me where I should get off closest to the Friendship Hotel. Wearing a smart business suit and tie, he would surely speak English, wouldn’t he? Unfortunately, he couldn’t understand me but seemed very friendly. I showed him the room card with all the information of the Friendship Hotel in Chinese characters. He looked at it, and then his eyes moved quickly to the carriage (车厢) subway map. Next, he raised three fingers of his right hand.
In Australia, raising fingers at someone is not usually nice, but this man wasn’t smiling. At the next station he showed me two fingers. Now in Australia, that’s really rude, but I got the message. When we stopped at the third station, he didn’t just point to the door, but got up, took me out of the train, and led me to the top of the stairs, and out onto the street. Then he stopped a taxi and told the driver where to take me.
All this came from a man who couldn’t speak my language, and I couldn’t speak his. I was now speechless, especially when he refused my offer of money. I felt a little embarrassed having even thought he would accept a tip.
This experience made it clear I had to learn some Chinese quickly or my adventures might start turning into misadventures.
1. Why does the author decided to take the subway?A.Because he believed in his ability to deal with the trip |
B.Because the network covered most of the stops |
C.Because he lived near the city center |
D.Because he had a good impression of its cleanliness |
A.still remained puzzled | B.understood the author well |
C.answered the author directly | D.pointed at the subway map |
A.helpful. | B.impolite. | C.warm-hearted. | D.responsible. |
A.To prove the importance of being careful |
B.To introduce a young man who didn’t know English |
C.To complain some cultural misunderstanding |
D.To describe one of his adventurous experiences |
3 . Thirteen-year-old Kaylee has a lot of friends — 532, actually, if you count up her online friends. And she spends a lot of time with them.
But is it possible that Kaylee’s online friendships could be making her lonely? That’s what some experts believe. Connecting online is a great way to stay in touch, they say. However, some experts worry that many kids are so busy connecting online that they might be missing out on true friendships.
Could this be true? During your parents’ childhoods, connecting with friends usually meant spending time with them in the flesh. Kids played Scrabble around a table, not Words With Friends on their phones. When friends missed each other, they picked up the telephone. Friends might even write letters to each other.
Today, most communication takes place online. A typical teen sends 2,000 texts a month and spends more than 44 hours per week in front of a screen. Much of this time is spent on social media platforms (平台).
In fact, in many ways, online communication can make friendships stronger, “There’s definitely a positive influence. Kids can stay in constant contact, which means they can share more of their feelings with each other,” says Katie Davis, co-author of The App Generation.
Other experts, however, warn that too much online communication can get in the way of forming deep friendships. “If we are constantly checking in with our virtual words, we will have little time for our real-world friendships.” says Larry Rosen, a professor at California State University. Rosen also worries that today’s kids might mistake the “friends” on the social media for true friends in life. However, in tough times, you don’t need someone to like your picture or share your blogs. You need someone who will keep your secrets and hold your hand. You would like to talk face to face.
1. What is the purpose of the first paragraph?A.To summarize the text. | B.To tell about true friends. |
C.To bring up a discussion. | D.To encourage online friendship. |
A.In person. | B.In advance. | C.In any case. | D.In full measure. |
A.Worried. | B.Positive. | C.Confused. | D.Unconcerned. |
A.It’s wise to turn to friends online. |
B.It’s easier to develop friendships in reality. |
C.Social media help people stay closely connected. |
D.Teenagers need focus on real-world friendships. |
4 . Every festival has its own meaning. Labor Day, for example, celebrates the value of hard work. Thanksgiving is about showing thanks to people around you. And Valentines’ Day is a time when you express love to your loved ones. But somehow it now seems that all festivals we just care about one thing — shopping. And that can be a big problem.
“In a way, over-consumption (过度消费) is the mother of all our environmental problems,” Kalle Lasn once told CNN. Lasn is the organizer of Buy Nothing Day, a day set up in Canada in 1992 to fight against unhealthy spending habits, and has now become an international event. It’s held on the day, which is known as Black Friday — a famous shopping day in the US and Canada.
You can see the irony (讽刺) here.
Even though the idea of Buy Nothing Day was brought up 26 years ago, we seem to need it now more than ever. It’s just as Lasn said, all the different kinds of pollution in our lives today — bad air quality, the reduction of forest area, endangered animal species, and plastic bags found in the ocean — seem to be the same cause: over-consumption.
The latest example is the Singles’ Day shopping craze of Nov 11, which saw a new sales record. But as Nie Li, a campaigner at Greenpeace, told Reuters, “Record-setting over-consumption means record-setting waste.” And it was reported that last year the Singles’ Day packages left more than 160,000 tons of waste, including plastic and cardboard. The Collins Dictionary has also just named “single-use” its Word of the Year, pointing out the problem that there’re too many things we tow out after only using them once.
So, Buy Nothing Day might only be here for one day a year, but it’s not just to remind us to the a break from shopping on that day, but to change our lifestyle completely, focusing on fun “with people we care about” rather than wasting money on useless things.
1. What’s the authors purpose of writing the first paragraph?A.To express the people’s love for all festivals. |
B.To talk about the meaning of the festivals. |
C.To appreciate the value of the festivals. |
D.To bring out the topic of the passage. |
A.To help people save money. | B.To cut the cost for daily life. |
C.To prevent over-consumption. | D.To set up a new sales record. |
A.Opposed (反对的). | B.Supportive. |
C.Unknown. | D.Neutral (中立的). |
A.Creating a New Lifestyle | B.Buy Nothing Day |
C.Festivals Around the World | D.A Change in People’s Life |
5 . Much information can be clearly conveyed, purely through our eyes, so the expression “eyes also talk” is often heard.
Can you think of any experience that further proves this? On a bus you may quickly glance at a stranger, but not make eye contact. If he senses that he is being stared at, he may feel uncomfortable.
It is the same in daily life. If you are looked at for more than necessary, you will look at yourself up and down to see if there is anything wrong with you. If nothing goes wrong, you will feel angry about other’s staring at you that way. Eyes do speak, right?
Looking too long at someone may seem to be rude and aggressive. But things are different when it comes to staring at the opposite sex. If a man continues to glance at a woman for more than 10 seconds, his intentions are obvious. That is, he wishes to make her understand that he is admiring her.
However, the normal eye contact for two people engaged in conversation is that the speaker will only look at the listener from time to time, In order to make sure that the listener does pay attention to what the former is speaking. As for the listener, he will, to a certain degree, look continuously at the speaker to tell him that he is attentive.
If a speaker looks at you continuously when speaking, as if he tries to control you, you will feel uneasy. A poor liar usually exposes himself by looking too long at the victim, since he believes the false idea that to look straight in the eye is a sign of honest communication.
In fact, continuous eye contact is limited to lovers only, who will enjoy looking at each other gently for a long time, to show affection that words cannot express.
Clearly, eye contact should be done according to the relationship between two people and specific situation.
1. What may person usually do on a bus?A.Stare at a stranger for more than necessary. | B.Use eyes to talk to a stranger politely. |
C.Talk to a stranger politely after a quick glance. | D.Glance at a stranger without eye contact. |
A.He likes her eyes. | B.He knows her well. |
C.He admires her. | D.He makes contact with her. |
A.He looks straight at the victim for too long a time. | B.He feels uneasy about others’ eye contact. |
C.He wants to control the victim. | D.He thinks that he is honest. |
A.Eye contact matters. | B.Eyes can speak. |
C.Don’t stare at others. | D.Use your eye contact. |
6 . Thirteen-year-old Kaylee has a lot of friends — 532, actually, if you count up her online friends. And she spends a lot of time with them.
But is it possible that Kaylee’s online friendships could be making her lonely? That’s what some experts believe. Connecting online is a great way to stay in touch, they say. However, some experts worry that many kids are so busy connecting online that they might be missing out on true friendships.
Could this be true? During your parents’ childhoods, connecting with friends usually meant spending time with them in the flesh. Kids played Scrabble around a table, not Words with Friends on their phones. When friends missed each other, they picked up the telephone. Friends might even write letters to each other.
Today, most communication takes place online. A typical teen sends 2,000 texts a month and spends more than 44 hours per week in front of a screen. Much of this time is spent on social media platforms (平台).
In fact, in many ways, online communication can make friendships stronger. “There’s definitely a positive influence. Kids can stay in constant contact, which means they can share more of their feelings with each other,” says Katie Davis, co-author of The App Generation.
Other experts, however, warn that too much online communication can get in the way of forming deep friendships. “If we are constantly checking in with our virtual (虚拟的) worlds, we will have little time for our real-world friendships,” says Larry Rosen, a professor at California State University. Rosen also worries that today’s kids might mistake the “friends” on the social media for true friends in life. However, in tough times, you don’t need someone to like your picture or share your blogs. You need someone who will keep your secrets and hold your hand. You would like to talk face to face.
1. What is the purpose of the first paragraph?A.To summarize the text. | B.To tell about true friends. |
C.To bring up a discussion. | D.To encourage online friendship. |
A.In any case. | B.In person. | C.In this way. | D.In advance. |
A.Worried. | B.Unconcerned. | C.Confused. | D.Positive. |
A.It`s wise to turn to friends online. |
B.It`s easier to develop friendships in reality. |
C.Teenagers need to focus on real-world friendships. |
D.Social media help people stay closely connected. |
7 . When you think about people who have made the world a better place, you probably think of famous scientists or great leaders. That is not all the truth.
●Give away your money.
●Help a stranger. Your small actions can brighten the day of others. Hold the door for someone whose hands are full. Help the blind cross the street.
●Care about those you know. Show the people close to you how much you care about them. Tell them they mean a lot to you. Make a beautiful gift for a friend. Take your husband to his favourite fun place if he has had a hard week.
●Be grateful to others. Have you had good service in a restaurant? Thank the waiter. Do you have a very good neighbour who is always there when you need her? Tell her how much you appreciate her being in your life.
●
A.Keep walking forward. |
B.Share your knowledge. |
C.Small steps, not big ones. |
D.Give your seat on the bus to an old man. |
E.Tell your children how much they mean to you. |
F.Ordinary people like you and me can also help a lot. |
G.Choose a charity (慈善机构) that has meaning for you. |
8 . When I was five or six years old, I remember watching TV and seeing other children suffer in other parts of the world. I would say to myself, “When I grow up, when I can get rich, I will save kids all over the world.”
At 17, I started my career here in America, and at the age of 18, I started my first charity organization. I went on to team up with other organizations in the following years, and met, helped, and even lost some of the most beautiful souls, from six-year-old Jasmina Anema who passed away in 2010 from leukemia(白血病), and whose story inspired thousands to volunteer as donors, to my grandmother who lost her battle against cancer in 2012. And her death is the very reason and the driving force behind the Clara Lionel Foundation(CLF). We’re all humans. And we all just want a chance: a chance of life, a chance of education, a chance of a future, really. And at the CLF, our mission is to impact as many lives as possible, but it starts with just one.
People make it seem too hard to do charity work. The truth is that you don’t have to be rich to help others. You don’t need to be famous. You don’t even have to be college-educated. But it can start with your neighbor, the person right next to you, the person sitting next to you in class, and the kid down the block in your neighborhood. You just do whatever you can to help in any way that you can. And today, I want to challenge each of you to make a decision to help one person, one organization, one situation that touches your heart. My grandmother used to say, “If you’ve got a dollar, there’s plenty to share.”
1. What did the author want to do at a young age?A.Watch TV. | B.Help other children. |
C.Become wealthy. | D.Grow up quickly. |
A.A six-year-old kid’s request. | B.Many volunteers inspiration. |
C.Her grandmother’s death of cancer. | D.Other organizations’ encouragement. |
A.A chance. | B.A life. |
C.A task. | D.An organization. |
A.Challenge their friends to offer help. |
B.Work hard to get a college education. |
C.Do little things to help those around them. |
D.Share everything they have. |
9 . In the world of digital health, Silicon Valley-based Mindstrong stands out. It has a remarkable team and tens of millions of funding. It also has a fascinating idea-its app, based on mental functioning research, can help detect troubling mental health patterns by collecting data on person’s smartphone usage-how quickly they type, for instance.
The company’s app collects information about how people are typing and runs it through a machine learning algorithm (计算程序) to determine which data can predict their emotional state. The idea is to use that data to establish a “normal” pattern-so it can be compared with someone’s typing habits on any given day. If the habits change, slower or more anxious than normal, the app can warn a health care provider.
The promise of this technology has made Mindstrong incredibly popular since it was launched last year; already more than a dozen counties in California have agreed to apply the company’s app to patients. Does the app live up to its promise? There’s no way to tell. Almost no one outside the company has any idea whether it works, leading some experts to wonder if the technology is ready for the real world. “I wouldn’t waste all that time and money in the wild until they get sure that some of those things are as specific as they hope they are,” said Rosalind Picard, a researcher at MIT Media Lab, who is familiar with Mindstrongs work.
“It has passed the gold-standard clinical tests for depression and anxiety,” said Dr. Paul Dagum, the company’s founder. “We’re confident, and we’re already seeing some really exciting results.” Mindstrong officials said that among their most encouraging results is that its app can even predict how a person will feel next week, kind of like a weather app for your mood. “For a clinician(临床医生) or someone looking after a patient, they know that it could be very, very powerful,” Dagum said.
1. What can Mindstrong’s app do?A.Improve its users’ mental health. | B.Get its users to type more quickly. |
C.Discover its users’ mental state. | D.Work out the causes of its users’ trouble. |
A.The ways of collecting data. | B.The app’s working principle. |
C.The analysis of typing habits. | D.The development of the app. |
A.Doubtful. | B.Positive. | C.Uncaring. | D.Defensive. |
A.The app has a powerful effect on anxiety. |
B.The app can also predict weather conditions. |
C.Care providers could be supporters of the app. |
D.Doctors benefit more from the app than their patients. |
10 . At 12, my father decided to take me on a trip to France. I had never been out of the country before, so I was very excited. My aunt, my father and I went around with my father showing us all the unbelievable sites in Paris. None of us spoke much French but we loved the city.
We had taken the subway all over the city and were congratulating ourselves on our mastering what is honestly an excellent subway design that is pretty easy to follow. We decided to visit Versailles by train. We chatted happily along the way until my father realized we were far into the French countryside and no one around spoke English.
We reached the end of the line and felt afraid when everyone finally left the train. An old man and his grandchild noticed us and came to help. He spoke no English, so in broken French we tried to explain. When he finally understood, this great man settled his grandson and showed us to the correct train and then boarded with us.
Later we knew the truth that there was a train transfer (转乘) and he didn’t want us to miss it. This kind man rode a train for an hour and a half out of his way to make sure that three Americans got where they wanted to be. He refused to let us pay for his ticket. He did it all with a gentle smile and patted our hands gently at the stop. Then in his quiet way, he boarded the train to return the way he had come.
What impressed me most was the man and his kindness during the amazing trip. Some Americans think the French are rude for some reason, but I always try to persuade them to change their minds with this very story.
1. What happened to the author and his family on the train?A.They couldn’t understand the signs of the train. |
B.They failed to get off the train at the right time. |
C.They had different opinions about where to go first. |
D.They found it hard to communicate with the French. |
A.He paid for their train tickets. | B.He showed them the returning way. |
C.He invited them to travel together. | D.He led them to their place. |
A.Seeing is believing. | B.Being kind is a good manner. |
C.Travelling enriches one’s life. | D.Helping others brings great pleasure. |
A.To explain an unexpected problem. |
B.To list the unbelievable sites in Paris. |
C.To share an unforgettable foreign experience. |
D.To show the importance of mastering a foreign language. |