1 . From a very early age, some children exhibit better selfcontrol than others. Now, a new study that began with about 1,000 children in New Zealand has tracked how a child’s low self-control can predict poor health, money troubles and even a criminal record in their adult years.
Researchers have been studying this group of children for decades now. They observed the level of self-control the youngsters displayed. Parents, teachers, even the kids themselves, scored the youngsters on measures like “acting before thinking” and “Persistence in reaching goals.” The study led by Moffitt of Duke University and colleagues followed 1,000 children from birth to age 32 in Dunedin, New Zealand.
“The children who had the lowest self-control when they were age three to ten, later on had the most health problems in their 30s,” Moffitt said, “and they had the worst financial situation. They were more likely to have a criminal record and to be raising a child as a single parent on a very low income.” Moffitt explained that self-control problems were widely observed, and weren’t just a feature of a small group of misbehaving kids.
Moffitt said it’s still unclear why some children have better self-control than others, though she said other researchers have found that it’s mostly a learned behavior, with relatively little genetic influence. But good self-control can be set to run in families because children with good self-control are more likely to grow up to be healthy and prosperous parents. But the good news, Moffitt said, is that self-control can be taught by parents, and through school curricula that have been shown to be effective.
1. Children with low self-control are more likely to ________．| A．become wealthy in later life |
| B．get good school performance |
| C．have better financial planning |
| D．adopt negative behaviors |
| A．Self-control cannot be taught in schools. |
| B．The study is restricted within few participants. |
| C．It’s never too late to deal with self-control problems. |
| D．Good parenting can improve self-control and life success. |
| A．Child’s Selfcontrol Predicts Future Health, success |
| B．Kids are Encouraged to Take Risks at an Early Age |
| C．Children’s Development Cannot be Changed by Teachers |
| D．How to Teach the Kids a Bit of Self-control in schools |
| A．the research has been carried out for five years |
| B．self-control in kids tends to determine their future |
| C．self-control was assessed by children’s intelligence |
| D．children’s self-control is almost the same at early age |
2 . Every culture has a recognized (公认的) point when a child becomes an adult, when rules must be followed and tests passed.
In China, although teenagers can get their ID cards at 16, many only see themselves as an adult when they are 18. In the US, where everyone drives, the main step to the freedom of adult life is learning to drive. At 16, American teens take their driving test. When they have their license (执照), they drive into the grown-up world.
“Nobody wants to ride the cheese bus to school,” said Eleanor Fulham. 17. “It’s like you’re not cool if you don’t have a car,” she said.
According to a recent research, 41% of 16 to 19 year-olds in the US own cars, up from 23% in 1985. Although, most of these cars are bought by parents, some teens get part-time jobs to help pay.
Not all families can afford cars for their children. In cities with undergrounds and limited (有限的) parking, some teenagers don’t want them. But in rich areas outside the city, if there are no undergrounds, and bicycles are more for fun than cars, it is strange for a teenager not to have a car.
But police say 16-year olds have almost three times more accidents than 18 and 19 year-olds. This has made many parents stop before letting their kids drive. They need to wait until they are more experienced.
Julie Susiana, of Virginia, decided that her son Chad, 15, will wait until he is 17 to apply for his learner’s permit (许可).
Chad said he has accepted his parents’ decision, although it has caused some laughing from his friends. “They say that I am unlucky,” he said. “But I’d rather be alive than driving, and I don’t really trust my friends on the road either.”
In China as more families get cars, more 18 year-olds learn to drive. Will this become a big step to becoming an adult?
1. Which may NOT be taken into consideration when deciding whether to buy a car?| A．How rich the family is. |
| B．Whether the kid is old enough. |
| C．What traffic condition there is around. |
| D．Whether it’s practically needed. |
| A．an American culture about teenagers’ driving |
| B．a change in the Chinese culture |
| C．a cultural difference between America and China |
| D．the relationship between driving and a person’s development |
| A．Cars Helping You to Grow Up |
| B．Driving into the Grownup World |
| C．Teenagers’ Driving in America |
| D．Recognized Point of Becoming an Adult |
| A．they want to show themselves off |
| B．they are not experienced drivers |
| C．older people always drive better |
| D．they never drive carefully on the road |
3 . Children are starting on digital devices at ever younger ages, and opinions on the effects of children’s digital-media habits are deeply polarized (两极分化的).
Jean Twenge, a psychology professor, thinks excessive use of the Internet and social media makes children lonely and depressed and poses serious risks to their physical and particularly their mental health, sometimes to the point of driving them to suicide.
However, Daniel Kardefelt-Winther of the Innocenti research office of Unicef examined various evidence and found less cause for alarm than is often suggested. Most of the studies be examined seem to show that the technology helps children stay in touch with their friends and make new ones.
The relationship between the use of digital technology and children’s mental health, broadly speaking, appears to be u-shaped. Researchers have found that moderate use is beneficial, whereas either no use at all or extreme use could be harmful.
What worries some experts more is that screens are becoming part of the middle-class armoury (武器库) for perpetuating (巩固) social advantage. Children from well-off homes are enrolled in private classes to learn skills like “How to be a You Tuber”, which poorer parents cannot afford.
1. What is Daniel Kardefelt-Winther’s attitude to the use of digital media?| A．Objective. | B．Favorable. |
| C．Indifferent. | D．Uncertain. |
| A．Not all children from rich homes can attend private classes. |
| B．Not all children from poor homes can learn skills like “How to be a YouTuber”. |
| C．Digital media is the only way of strengthening the middle-class. |
| D．Digital media can widen class gap. |
| A．Should Children Interact with Digital Media? |
| B．Should Parents Allow Their Children Interact with Digital Media? |
| C．What Children Do to Interact with Digital Devices. |
| D．How Children Interact with Digital Devices. |
| A．The disadvantages of overusing digital media. |
| B．The bad effects of using digital media. |
| C．Several bad impacts of using digital media. |
| D．The advantages of overusing digital media. |
4 . Lee hyun-seok grew up in South Korea addicted to Japanese manga (漫画) series such as “Dragon Ball” and “Slam Dunk”. As soon as he could, he migrated to Tokyo to build a successful career as a manga artist and editor. Then in the early 2000s came “webtoons”, a South Korean cartoon innovation optimized for smartphones. Mr. Lee was at first unimpressed. Compared with manga’s inventive graphic styles and profound plots, he found webtoons just the opposite.
Yet Japanese manga is being eclipsed by Korean webtoons. Last year the manga print market shrank by 2.3% to ¥265bn ($1.9bn). The size of the global webtoons market was meanwhile valued at $3.7bn. Manga is going digital slowly, in part because it is still designed for print, so awkward to read on smartphones. Seeing which way the wind was blowing, Mr. Lee abandoned manga for the webtoon industry in 2014.
Though webtoons such as “Itaewon Class” and “Solo Levelling” have become popular among Japanese consumers, most Japanese publishers have stuck stubbornly to manga. “The Japanese industry is very conservative,” sighs Mr. Lee. The manga industry’s business model, in which stories are first published in weekly magazines and then in books, has hardly changed since the 1960s. Webtoons have grown so fast, in part because they can be read more easily. Other recent South Korean exports, such as the Netflix sensation “Squid Game” and BTS, a boy band, have taken the world by storm thanks to the same combination of innovation and smart marketing behind webtoons.
Some are concerned about the future. Japan’s manga fans are, like all its population, ageing. The average reader of the Weekly Shonen Magazine, a manga for children launched in 1989, is now over 30. “Manga could end up as old people’s culture,” warns Mr Lee. “Children these days are viewing through webtoons on their smartphones. Why not make something that suits their taste?”
1. What did Mr Lee think of “webtoons” in the early 2000s?| A．He considered it as inventive. | B．He considered it as attractive. |
| C．He considered it as original. | D．He considered it as shallow. |
| A．Ruined. | B．Outweighed. | C．Replaced. | D．Copied. |
| A．Japanese manga can be read more easily. |
| B．Since the 1960s, the manga has grown so fast. |
| C．The manga industry is unwilling to transform. |
| D．“Squid Game” was adopted from Japanese manga. |
| A．Worried. | B．Aggressive. | C．Confident. | D．Annoyed. |
5 . Traditional tea processing techniques and their social practices in China were added to UNESCO’s List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity on November 29th, 2022. This is the 43rd entry from China on the List. Therefore, China’s list tops all other countries.
In fact, what is on the List is not Chinese tea, but the knowledge, skills and practices concerning management of tea plantations, picking of tea leaves, and the processing, drinking and sharing of tea.
Over 2,000 tea varieties, mainly in six categories, which are green, black, yellow, oolong, white and dark, are grown in China. Although the types differ, the skills of making tea are very similar. They include inactivation (杀青), yellowing, piling, withering (萎凋), leaves shaking, cooling, fermentation (发酵) and scenting.
According to UNESCO, in China traditional tea processing techniques are closely associated with geographical location and natural environment. The techniques are mainly found in the provinces and autonomous regions of Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Hunan, Anhui, Hubei, Henan, Shaanxi, Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan, Fujian, Guangdong and Guangxi. Associated social practices, however, are spread throughout the country and shared by multiple ethnic groups.
Tea-related customs are not only found across the country, but also influenced the rest of the world through the ancient Silk Road and trade routes. As a document from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism to UNESCO explained, tea is common in Chinese people’s daily life. Steeped or boiled tea is served in homes, workplaces, tea houses, restaurants, and temples. And it is used as an important medium for communication in socializing and ceremonies such as weddings and sacrifices.
“Practices of greeting guests with tea and building good relationships within families and among neighborhoods through tea-related activities are shared among multiple ethnic groups, and provide a sense of identity and continuity for communities, groups and individuals concerned,” the document said.
1. What can we know from the text?| A．So far China has the most entries on the intangible list. |
| B．Only intangible cultural heritage is worth protecting. |
| C．China has the most cultural treasures worldwide. |
| D．Every country in the world joins UNESCO. |
| A．Select the yellow tea leaves. | B．Make tea leaves become yellow. |
| C．Add some yellow liquid to it. | D．Use yellow boxes to collect leaves. |
| A．Varieties of Chinese tea. | B．Skills of making tea. |
| C．Tea procesing techniques. | D．Tea-related customs. |
| A．China is full of cultural heritage. | B．UNESCO is a great organization. |
| C．Chinese tea is different and unique. | D．Chinese tea is on UNESCO’s list. |
6 . Population data for European mountain birds have been for the first time combined in a recent study, with worrying results: the abundance of mountain-specialist birds has declined by as much as 10% in the 2000s.
Ecological communities in mountain areas include species not found in any other habitats. These species are also very susceptible to climate change, as global warming is reducing their liveable habitats. In principle, species may relocate further up the mountains, but closer to the top their habitat inevitably shrinks.
According to the new article,the abundance of European mountain birds has in fact declined in line with climate change projections.
The recently released study examined the population trends of 44 bird species in the 2000s in the mountain and fell regions of Fennoscandia, Great Britain, the Alps and the Iberian Peninsula. A decline was seen in 14 of the observed species, while eight of them saw significant increase.
“On average, population decline among the species studied was 7% over the 13-year research period, making the situation of mountain birds distinctly worse compared to, for example, European forest birds, whose numbers did not change during the same period,” explains Aleksi Lehikoinen, an Academy of Finland research fellow at the Finnish Museum of Natural History Luomus (part of the University of Helsinki), who headed the study.
The situation is direst for species that only inhabit mountain regions and are unable to live in other European environments. For these species, known as mountain specialists, the numbers dwindled by as much as 10% during the monitoring period.
1. Which one is TRUE according to a recently released study?| A．All 44 bird species decreased. |
| B．Only 8 of the species declined. |
| C．14 of the observed species declined. |
| D．There was no change in the number of the bird species. |
| A．Air pollutions. | B．Global warming. |
| C．Human activities. | D．Competition with other species. |
| A．They are newly found species. |
| B．They can be found at any place of the world. |
| C．The number of the birds has decreased greatly. |
| D．The number of the birds has increased greatly. |
| A．Serious. | B．Useful. |
| C．Suitable. | D．Waterless. |
7 . If you’ve always wanted to grow your own fruits and vegetables but could never quite make the time for it-technology is here to help you.
At first glance, technology and farming don’t go hand in hand, but that’s old school thinking. In this day and age, technology and farming are a perfect match. With cheap sensors (传感器), simple phone apps, and available equipment, you can build your very own farming robot.
Give it power, water, and Wi-Fi, and it will take care of the rest. FarmBot can plant water, weed, and monitor the soil and plants with an array of sensors. All you need to do(is harvest the produce once it’s done.
FarmBot is an open-source robot developed by a company. It runs on tracks, and uses game-like open-source software. Everything is customizable (可定制的) and adaptable. You design your land and drop plants onto a virtual map of your land, The seeds are spaced automatically, and you can apply different growing plans. It can be controlled by a phone, tablet, or computer.
FarmBot is an example of precision farming-a series of tools and techniques that enable farmers to optimize (充分利用) their resources and increase harvest, while also (being more sustainable. For instance, a soil humidity sensor lets you know when it’s time to water the plants, or a nutrient detector lets you know which areas (if any) need anymore nutrients.
Back in the day, precision farming would require heavy and expensive equipment. But recently, the miniaturization (小型化) of sensors, together with the use of smartphones; Internet, and apps, has made it much more accessible, FarmBot is taking that idea and applying it-no green thumb (特殊园艺才能) required.
1. What is playing an important part in transforming the traditional farming?| A．Farmer. | B．Robot. | C．Technology. |
| A．It can do all kinds of farm work |
| B．It can work according to your plan |
| C．It can adapt well to a new environment |
| A．It’s an easy process. |
| B．It’s highly competitive |
| C．It’s productive and environmentally friendly. |
| A．Robots can grow crops for people. |
| B．There is no need to grow your own fruits. |
| C．Technology is making life hard for farmers |
8 . Brooke wanted a toy and some sugar cookies. So the 6-year-old asked Alexa to get them. Alexa wasn’t her mom or babysitter. It was a voice-activated (声控的) home helper powered by artificial intelligence (AI). Alexa comes with the Amazon Echo device (回波装置). And it made Brooke’s wishes come true. After being reported on TV, Alexa devices in many listeners’ homes woke up and tried to order toys!
Alexa isn’t the only AI willing to order up treats for you. Apple Homepod has Siri, Google Home has its Assistant, and the upcoming (即将来临的) Galaxy Home device will have Bixby. People who own these devices use them mainly for listening to music, checking the weather, and setting timers. According to a report from The Information, people don’t often do voice shopping. They do it mainly to order simple things like paper towels. But many experts predict a boom (繁荣) in voice shopping in the near future.
Convenience is the main benefit of voice shopping. You can shout out an order as soon as you think of it, even if you’re cooking or driving. Besides, people who are unable to use a keyboard or mouse can shop without help.
But voice shopping has its disadvantages. Unwanted things aren’t the biggest problem. It’s usually very easy to cancel an order or return items. The surprising thing is that these assistants are always listening. They have to be able to respond when you want them. So they listen for “Alexa” or “OK Google” or another command. When they hear it, they start recording the conversation. Some have worried about what happens to these recordings. Should companies be allowed to use them to learn about people’s shopping habits? What if someone hacks (非法侵入) the device? What if someone hacks smart TVs to turn them into spies that listen all the time?
1. What is Alexa?| A．A TV reporter. | B．A friend of Brooke. |
| C．A kind of device. | D．A cookie maker. |
| A．Alexa is the best AI device. |
| B．Voice shopping may have a bright future. |
| C．People use Bixby mainly for listening to music. |
| D．People buy various things through voice shopping. |
| A．Optimistic. | B．Doubtful. |
| C．Objective. | D．Negative. |
| A．Education. | B．Business. |
| C．Entertainment. | D．Technology. |
9 . What’s On
Master’s teens
Forceful Cuts, now running at the Art Museum of China Profiles, through to Sept 17, shows the late artist Huang Yongyu’s efforts in woodcut art. His woodcuts show a good assessment of human nature, with wisdom and humor. Huang once said he lived every day in the same serious way as he worked on wood, “paying great attention to every cut”.
9 am-5 pm, closed on Mondays.
66 Shapowei, Daxue Road, Siming district, Xiamen, Fujian province.
Art into soul
Two artists Xu Li and Andrey Kovalchuk are presenting an exhibition at Shanghai’s New Art Museum, through to July 30. Xu is showing dozens of his oil paintings. Kovalchuk, who chairs the Russian artists association, brings 24 sculptures. The show compares the cultural traditions and individual concerns of the two cultures.
9 am-5 pm, closed on Mondays.
1528 Gumei Road, Shanghai.
Eternal glare
The use of raw lacquer (生漆) to better preserve objects, such as bowls, and meanwhile decorate life can date back to the Neolithic culture in China. Throughout centuries, lacquer art has been viewed as an important part of Hubei’s cultural heritage (遗产). Dozens of fine examples of this art from the collection of the Hubei Museum of Art are now on show at World of Lacquer, an exhibition running through to July 30, at the Anhui Art Museum.
9 am-5 pm, closed on Mondays.
1 Chengdu Road, Binhu New District, Hefei, Anhui province.
Academy work
Over 240 paintings, prints, sculptures and seal engravings (篆刻) are on show at the gallery of the China National Academy of Painting until July 8, offering a look of the works of academy artists all over the country. The exhibition shows works done in the traditional style and new explorations.
9 am-4:30 pm, closed on Mondays.
54 Xisanhuan Beilu, Haidian district, Beijing.
1. What can you enjoy at the Art Museum of China Profiles?| A．Lacquer art. | B．Oil paintings. | C．Woodcuts. | D．Seal engravings. |
| A．The Anhui Art Museum. | B．Shanghai’s New Art Museum. |
| C．The Art Museum of China Profiles. | D．The China National Academy of Painting. |
| A．It is not open to the public on Mondays. | B．It compares two different cultural traditions. |
| C．It tells the story of a late artist. | D．It shows works of academy artists across the country. |
10 . Sitting in the classroom I felt confused, for I couldn’t read the blackboard. Then Mum took me to the hospital. Within a few days, I was diagnosed (诊断) with a severe visual impairment (视力障碍). In fact, I was practically blind. Amazingly, I’d managed to reach the age of 13 without anyone realizing, not even me! “It all makes sense now,” Mum said. As a kid living on a farm, I was forever falling over things. I was known as the clumsy (笨拙) one to my parents and four sisters. But now, I was being told that I saw the world differently — I could only make out the outlines of things. I was given reading glasses but they didn’t help much.
Refusing to let my diagnosis hold me back, I continued doing everything I loved. As long as everything was in its place, I could feel my way around.
Later I got married to Lance and had amazing kids. I could change nappies (尿布) and dress the kids fine — it just took a little longer as I relied on touch to work out where things were. Cooking, on the other hand, was not my forte. I was terrible — always mixing up sugar and salt!
Nowadays, my grandkids have all been brought up not to leave toys on the floor or move chairs away from the table. “We don’t want Grandma tripping,” Lance will say.
Over the year, I’ve enjoyed lovely family holidays, but sometimes felt like Lance or the kids were too protective of me. So I was thrilled when I booked myself on a trip to the Gold Coast with people who were just like me in a travel company. I’m not missing out — my life is beautiful. I’m so lucky to have a wonderful family and lots of experiences.
Life is precious — you don’t need to “see” that.
1. What can we know from the first paragraph?| A．The reading glasses got the problem fixed. |
| B．She always tripped because she was awkward. |
| C．She got severe visual impairment at the age of 13. |
| D．Nobody realized her sight was poor until she was 13. |
| A．Weakness. | B．Favourite. | C．Strength. | D．Business. |
| A．She is able to see things clearly now. |
| B．She led a lonely and hopeless life. |
| C．She could help care for the kids. |
| D．She went to the Gold Coast all by herself. |
| A．We need to go to travel frequently on our own. |
| B．We should always turn to the family for help. |
| C．Everyone should pay special attention to the blind people. |
| D．Everyone can enjoy the beauty of life with a positive mind. |
