1 . Mobile technology impacts all areas of our lives today. The early mobile phones, often referred to as 0G mobile phones, led to the phones used now which rely on 4G or 5G mobile technology. The mobile revolution has enabled global communities to form, but there are concerns too, the impact of which we look at here.

The mobile revolution has seen all of us spend more time online than ever before. Whether catching up with family, shopping, doing research, watching movies or gaming, all of these are now all possible at any time, wherever we are.

Nowadays, almost all businesses offer mobile-accessible sites for smartphones and tablets. Whether you are placing an order for a new pair of jeans, researching the best financial advisor or wanting to play a casino game on the move like blackjack mobile, it is really easy to do all of these.     1    

Since the launch of social media in 1997 with Six Degrees, which allowed users to upload a profile and make friends with other users, there are now many other social media platforms like Facebook (2004).     2     These offer global communication on a scale never seen before which have led to the rise of social movements such as Black Lives Matter.

    3     The Cambridge Analytica scandal (丑闻) concerning Facebook involved the harvesting of Facebook data of 87 million people that was used for advertising during elections. Also, for young people in particular, social media can harm their self-worth.

Mobile technology means that we have access to information at our fingertips, wherever we are. “Google is your friend” is now listed in urban dictionaries, showing how many of us search for instant answers without doing more than pull out our phones or ask Alexa.     4    

The mobile revolution has also seen a rise in fitness devices worn on the wrist. Not only recording lap times, fitness devices can also monitor pulse rates, blood pressure and sleeping patterns.     5    

A．The impact is not all positive.

B．They have a number of functions.

C．What’s more, it is very popular with young people.

D．Besides, app technology makes the searching simple.

E．You can begin a game at home and continue it on the bus or train.

F．They can even offer instant health feedback and recommendations.

G．They give us real-time access into the lives of friends, family, celebrities and businesses.

2 . If you truly want to live, you need to get out and see the world. Traveling and living different adventures may become your favorite lifestyle. Here is a brief introduction about the top three destinations to visit in the world.

Paris

First on the list is Paris, France. For some people, this shouldn’t be a surprise. For others, they might consider Paris overrated as it has a reputation for being dirty. Any major city in the world might be thought to be dirty by anyone not living in a city. It comes with the territory. The reason Paris is at the top of this list is not because of its famous attractions but because of its charm. You can spend the day walking around cobblestone streets and enjoy elegant cafes and high-end shopping. When you finish satisfying your appetite, you can relax on the banks of the Seine River.

Glacier National Park

Glacier National Park comes in second on the list. It is located in Montana, America. It will be well worth the effort thanks to snow-capped mountains, crystal blue lakes, seventy miles of hiking trails, and thirteen camping areas. If you visit during the summer, you can go swimming or white-water rafting. If you visit during the winter, you can go skiing or snowshoeing. But the real allure (诱惑力) and what you will always remember is the breathtaking scenery and fresh mountain air.

Bora Bora

The reason Bora Bora is the third on this list is that it’s expensive, which could limit your other travel plans. If you do make it to this small island paradise, you will find peaceful beaches, jungles, luxury accommodations, turquoise water, and some of the friendliest people you have ever met.

Other vacation destinations that should be on your list if you’re living the adventurous lifestyle include London, the South Island of New Zealand, Maui, Tahiti, Tokyo, Barcelona and New York City.

1. Tourists can ________ to appreciate the charm of Paris.

A．enjoy elegant cafes

B．visit its famous attractions

C．walk around crystal blue lakes

D．meet the friendliest people you have ever met

2. Which of the following points in Glacier National Park will really attract tourists?

A．Peaceful beaches.

B．White-water rafting.

C．The breathtaking scenery.

D．Snow-capped mountains.

3. What’s the purpose of this passage?

A．To compare the top three destinations.

B．To introduce the top three destinations.

C．To encourage people to live an adventurous lifestyle.

D．To analyze the good and bad points of the three destinations.

3 . Imagine someone had a knife and told you, “This is a great knife. The only problem is that it can’t cut anything.” You’d think it’s not a great knife.

“Telos is the Greek word that Aristotle and others use to define the end or purpose of something,” Jonathan Haidt, professor at New York University Stern School of Business, says in a recorded lecture at the University of Colorado Springs. The telos of a knife is to cut. What, Haidt asks, is the telos of a university?

Truth — that’s the purpose of higher education, Haidt says. The academy aims to be a stage where truth is sought, discovered, and explored. When the university is functioning at its best, students learn to present arguments and receive debate in following truth.

Are today’s universities achieving their purpose?

In his lecture, Haidt suggests that changes in campus culture over the past decade have rerouted university resources away from the pursuit of truth and towards creating an emotionally and intellectually comfortable environment for students.

“From out of nowhere, students in 2014 began asking for trigger warnings,” Haidt says. A growing group among student bodies and administrators seemed to believe students were fragile and needed to be aggressively protected from “bad” ideas, offensive imagery, and annoying arguments. Students began protesting speakers, and publicly shaming peers whose words made them uncomfortable.

There are many places and institutions whose purpose, or telos, is comfort. But a university is not one of those places. To make that point, Haidt quotes CNN contributor Van Jones: I don’t want you to be safe ideologically. I don’t want you to be safe emotionally. I want you to be strong — that’s different. I’m not going to settle the jungle for you. Put on some boots and learn how to deal with adversity. I’m not going to take all the weights out of the gym. That’s the whole point of the gym. This is the gym.

Putting comfort over the pursuit of truth, universities are ignoring their purpose. Higher education should be a stage of open exploration and free expression, where ideas are exchanged, tested, and inspected. A common education should be “an invitation to be concerned not with the employment of what is familiar but with understanding what is not yet understood,” according to philosopher Michael Oakeshott.

What is the social influence if universities fail to achieve their purpose? New generations could lose more than academic power; they could lose the ability and interest to pursue and prioritize truth first. They could become so dependent on emotional comfort that they refuse to observe deep in thought “what is not yet understood”. Anyhow, this is happening in reality. It’s time for universities to realize their telos, or they’ll risk losing their essential role in society.

1. What does the author imply by saying “This is a great knife. The only problem is it can’t cut anything”?

A．Such a knife is not a good knife.

B．The role of a knife is to cut something.

C．The problems in the universities can be ignored.

D．Universities are diverting from their original purposes.

2. What’s Haidt’s purpose to quote CNN contributor Van Jones’s words in Paragraph 7?

A．To tell us what a gym should be like.

B．To tell us what Haidt wants to do in a gym.

C．To tell us what a university student should be like.

D．To tell us what Van Jones wants to do in a university.

3. According to the last paragraph, which could be the example of “this is happening in reality”?

A．Students are eager to study new knowledge.

B．Students’ ability to pursue truth is improving.

C．Students prefer emotional comfort to the pursuit of truth.

D．Students have realized their lack of academic power and interest.

4. What does the passage mainly talk about?

A．The purpose of higher education.	B．The method to choose a great knife.
C．The current situation of universities.	D．The process of realizing universities’ purpose.

4 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

After a two-week-long trip to China, Dar became a skillful user of WeChat, an application that almost every Chinese would use in their daily life. During his stay in Beijing, Dar     1     (recommend) his family and friends to download WeChat so that they could contact through free WeChat video calls. And via the function of translation, Dar found it easy and efficient     2     (understand) what his friends were saying. As one of the many Chinese innovations nowadays, WeChat is only a glimpse of the energy and     3     (create) in today’s China.

5 . While many people prefer to buy a new dog from a breeder, another option is to adopt a rescue dog. As the Svilicics already had a healthy daughter Charlotte, they felt fortunate enough to save another life. Thus, Catherine adopted a dog and named it Khan. Catherine was hopeful this would provide valuable lessons for her baby, such as sharing, learning to love and responsibility to care for animals.

They trained Khan during the first few days and everything began smoothly. Charlotte and the new dog made a habit of playing out in the backyard. However, things were different this day. They began running through the backyard grass together. That was until Khan’s temperament seemed to change dramatically. Khan began acting wildly aggressively (富于攻击性的), grabbing the baby.

This was not the normal play between the two. Mouth open, Catherine watched in complete and utter shock. She watched as Khan tossed (抛) Charlotte across their lawn. What happened next alarmed Catherine and everyone present. He tightly clenched his jaws into her diaper to toss her back and forth. Therefore, with urgency, she ran to Charlotte and carried her to safety.       

Miraculously, her child was unharmed. While Catherine brought her baby to shelter, Khan barked madly and then collapsed. The dog began crying. No one understood what was going on! Khan was obviously not doing well. The dog continued crying and then fell lifeless. Catherine focused on the dog, watching his dying eyes and realized he had been protecting her child. It turned out that Khan was protecting Charlotte from a poisonous, dangerous snake. She used all her strength to bring the dog to her car and sped for the vet, hearing his breath slow. When the vet took over, Catherine cried and felt totally helpless, so she prayed for his recovery.

The vet had to remove all the snake poison from the body. Quite a few days later, Khan was slowly getting stronger through the vet’s effort. Eventually, he made progress and the snake’s venom was removed. Actually, Khan impressed even the vet with his rapid recovery and progress.   

The whole family could be reunited once again with this amazing and heroic animal. Catherine was determined to protect this amazing animal as if it were her own child.

1. What caused Catherine to carry her child away from Khan?

A．That Khan tossed her child back and forth.

B．That Khan grabbed her child aggressively.

C．That Khan tossed her child across their lawn.

D．That her child played with Khan for such a long time.

2. Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?

A．Catherine adopted Khan to protect her child.

B．Khan’s sickness was too serious to be cured.

C．The child was hurt because she was treated badly.

D．Khan was attacked by a snake in order to protect the child.

3. According to the passage, which word can best describe Catherine?

A．Outgoing.

B．Caring.

C．Faithful.

D．Honest.

6 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

Smartphones are becoming more and more of a necessity for high school students. Therefore, a discussion was held about     1     the senior school students should use our smartphones at school. People     2     (support) the idea consider it convenient to contact the students’ parents when necessary. However, people who are against it find some students are addicted to playing the smartphones easily,     3     effect on their studies is quite worrying. It is even     4     (bad) that smartphones can also discourage students’ will.