1 . In the past decade, the use of social media has grown in a way that no one could have guessed. It has turned some teenagers into celebrities and turned the famous into the infamous, overnight.
A key feature of social media, however, is its volatility. Trends come and go, disappearing almost as quickly as they appeared.
Short video apps such as TikTok and its Chinese equivalent (等同物) Douyin, took the world by storm. The Telegraph reported that TikTok was ranked 8th on Apple’s App Store in April. And Douyin had more than 300 million domestic monthly active users in June, CNBC said.
Why are these short videos — which are rarely longer than a few minutes — so popular? Jiang Yige, Singapore-based analyst at FengHe Fund Management, has a theory. “Short videos are just right to fill in the little gaps in our busy schedules,” he told CNBC.
These videos — apart from being very convenient — are important to teenagers because they allow them to express themselves, according to Teen Vogue.
Liza Koshy, a user of the US app Musical, who has over 2 million followers, said, “The sense of community that users of short video apps get is another appealing feature.”
Live streaming (直播) is a feature of our social media life that now seems as natural as sunrise. It’s a pretty neat idea: You can watch anyone, anywhere, live. However, China has taken live streaming to a whole new level. In China, more than 100 million viewers monthly watch a live streaming video. Forbes thought that a number of factors had led to the popularity of the live streaming. Among them is viewers’ ability to interact with unknown names.
However, the quick development of social media may be having side effects too. Fake news is one serious problem it causes. Materials shared on these platforms are often not checked for accuracy. The most basic content can be false and can mislead users one way or another. We use social media all the time, which doesn’t mean that we understand the influence it is having on us. We should be mindful of both the time we spend on it and its impact on our minds.
1. What does the underlined word “volatility” in Paragraph 2 possibly mean?| A．Being changeable. | B．Being steady. |
| C．Being promising. | D．Being violent. |
| A．They are very convenient. | B．They help people kill time. |
| C．They provide a sense of community. | D．They allow people to express themselves. |
| A．The information from social media is totally reliable. |
| B．When it comes to social media, people only know short videos. |
| C．People can’t communicate with each other without social media. |
| D．There is still much room for social media to make improvement. |
| A．Objective. | B．Subjective. |
| C．Favourable. | D．Disapproving. |
2 . At eleven, I decided to learn to swim. There was a pool at the YMCA offering exactly the opportunity. My mother continually warned against it, and kept fresh in my mind the details of each drowning in the river. But the YMCA pool was safe.
I had a childhood fear of water. This started when I was three years old and my father took me to the beach.The huge waves knocked me down and swept over me.
The pool was quiet. I was afraid of going in all alone, so I sat on one side of the pool to wait for others. Then came a big boy. He yelled, “Hi, how’d you like to be ducked?” With that he picked me up and threw me into the deep end.I landed in a sitting position, and swallowed water. But I was not frightened out of my wits—when my feet hit the bottom, I would make a big jump to come out of the surface. It seemed a long way down. I gathered all my strength when I landed and made what I thought was a great spring upwards. Then I opened my eyes and saw nothing but water. I tried to yell but no sound came out. I went down, down, endlessly.
When I came to consciousness, I found myself lying on the bed in the hospital.
I never went back to the pool. I avoided water whenever I could. This misadventure stayed with me as the years rolled by.It deprived(剥夺) me of the joy of boating and swimming. Finally, I decided to get an instructor. Piece by piece, he built a swimmer. Several months later, the instructor was finished, but I was not .Sometimes the terror would return.
This went on until July. I swam across the Lake Went worth.Only once did the terror return. When I was in the middle of the lake, I put my face under and saw nothing but bottomless water. I laughed and said, “Well, Mr Terror, what do you think you can do to me?” I had conquered my fear of water.
1. What was the author’s original fear of water caused by?| A．His poor skill in swimming. |
| B．His mother’s warning of drowning. |
| C．An outing to the beach with his father. |
| D．An unpleasant memory of the pool. |
| A．He knew how to swim in the pool. |
| B．He felt that the YMCA pool was safe. |
| C．He was waiting for others to save him. |
| D．He came up with an idea to go upwards. |
| A．He was still a poor swimmer. |
| B．He had not overcome the fear yet. |
| C．He was not afraid of drowning any more. |
| D．He was not satisfied with the swimming training. |
| A．Goodbye,Mr Terror |
| B．Hello,Childhood Fear |
| C．A Swimming Adventure |
| D．My Passion for Swimming |
3 . By now, we are all aware that social media has had a tremendous influence on our culture, in business, on the world-at-large. Social media websites revolutionized the way people communicate and socialize on the Web. However, aside from seeing your friend’s new baby on Facebook, or reading about Justin Bieber’s latest conflict with the law on Twitter, what are some of the real influences?
Social networks offer the opportunity for people to re-connect with their old friends and acquaintances, make new friends, share ideas and pictures, and many other activities. Users can keep pace with the latest global and local developments, and participate in campaigns and activities of their choices. Professionals use social media sites like LinkedIn to enhance their career and business development. Students can work together with their peers to improve their academic and communication skills.
Unfortunately, there are a few downsides too to social networking. If you are not careful, immoral people can target you for cyber bullying and disturbance on social sites. School children, young girls, and women can fall victim to online attacks which can create tension and suffering. If you are a victim of cyber bullying, do not take it lying down, but try to take appropriate legal action against the attacker.
Many companies have blocked social networks as addicted employees can distract themselves on such sites, instead of focusing on work. In fact, studies show that British companies have lost billions of dollars per year in productivity because of social media addiction among employees.
Also, what you carelessly post on the Internet can come back to trouble you. Revealing (泄露) personal information on social sites can make users vulnerable (易受伤害的) to crimes like identity theft, stalking, etc. Many companies perform a background check on the Internet before hiring an employee. If a potential employee has posted something embarrassing on social media, it can greatly affect their chances of getting the job. The same holds true for our relationships too, as our loved ones and friends may get to know if we post something undesirable on social networks.
Social media has its advantages and drawbacks as each coin has two sides. It is up to each user to use social sites wisely to enhance their professional and social life, and exercise caution to ensure they do not fall victim to online dangers.
1. Paragraph 2 mainly shows that social networks ________.| A．help students finish their homework | B．offer professionals good chances |
| C．benefit users in various ways | D．guide users to make right choices |
| A．forbid the use of social networks during work time |
| B．avoid posting embarrassing information |
| C．refuse to hire potential addicted employees |
| D．take legal action against the attackers |
| A．share experiences in using social media | B．remind people to wisely use social media |
| C．provide some advice on social problems | D．raise public awareness of social problems |
A． | B． |
C． | D． |
4 . In the old days, when you had to drive to a movie theater to get some entertainment, it was easy to see how your actions could have an impact on the environment. After all, you were jumping into your car, driving across towns, coughing out emissions (排放) and using gas all the way. But now that we’re used to staying at home and streaming (流式传输) movies, we might get a little proud. After all, we’re just picking up our phones and maybe turning on the TV. You’re welcome. Mother Nature.
Not so fast, says a recent report from the French-based Shit Project. According to Climate Crisis: The Unsustainable Use of Online Video, digital technologies are responsible for 4% of greenhouse gas emissions, and that energy use is increasing by 9% a year. Watching a half-hour show would lead to 3.5 pounds of CO2 emissions. That’s like driving 6.28 kilometers. And in the European Union, the Eureca project found that data centers (where videos are stored) there used 25% more energy in 2017 compared to just three years earlier, reports the BBC.
Streaming is only expected to increase as we become more enamored of our digital devices (设备) and the possibility of enjoying entertainment where and when we want it to increase. Online video use is expected to increase by four times from 2017 to 2022 and account for 80% of all Internet traffic by 2022. By then, about 60% of the world’s population will be online.
You’re probably not going to give up your streaming services, but there’re things you can do to help lessen the impact of your online use, experts say. For example, according to Lutz Stobbe, a researcher from the Fraunhofer Institute in Berlin, we have no need to upload 25 pictures of the same thing to the cloud because it consumes energy every time. If instead you delete a few things here and there, you can save energy. Moreover, it’s also a good idea to stream over Wi-Fi, watch on the smallest screen as you can, and turn off your Wi-Fi in your home if you’re not using your devices.
1. What topic is the first paragraph intended to lead in?| A．The environmental effects of driving private cars. |
| B．The improvements on environmental awareness. |
| C．The environmental impacts of streaming services. |
| D．The change in the way people seek entertainment. |
| A．Get more skeptical of. | B．Become more aware of. |
| C．Ge more worried about. | D．Feel much crazier about. |
| A．Its environmental effects are worsening. | B．It is being reduced to protect the planet. |
| C．It is easily available to almost everyone. | D．Its side effects have drawn global attention. |
| A．Playing Online games over mobile networks. | B．Downloading music on a personal computer. |
| C．Uploading a lot of images of the same thing. | D．Watching downloaded movies on a mobile phone. |
5 . Children from four Buckingham shire primary schools visited Epilepsy Society to plant a hedge (树篱) as part of a Plant-for-the-Planet project. The children from these schools were planting a hedge in the garden of the Queen Elizabeth House at the charity in Chalfont St Peter. Plant-for-the-Planet gives children across the globe the opportunity to learn about the threats of global warming to the environment, and then put their new knowledge into practice as they plant new trees.
The day was organised by Bob Sherren who showed the children how to plant the planet-friendly line of trees in protective chambers (防护室) to shield them from hungry wildlife as they settle in their roots. Bob said, “The day really was ‘Thinking Globally, Acting Locally’ put into action. The children learned about the importance of planting trees as a way of helping to bring about climate justice (正义) for many living in poorer nations and of course enjoyed planting the trees too.” The eventual hedge, which will grow to full size over ten years behind the Queen Elizabeth House, is made up of trees such as oaks, silver birches and so on.
Bob added, “The children were also able to help people living at Epilepsy Society because they will gain some well-needed privacy from the hedge in time. The natural wildlife benefits too from the fruits and nuts that a hedge made from native species can provide as well as the possibility for any number of nesting sites.”
Emma Darlington, Epilepsy Society’s volunteer officer, said, “I think it’s so important to encourage the younger generation that the future is in their hands and that they can make a difference, whether it is through taking part in projects like this or spreading awareness. We hope they learn a little bit about the work we do at Epilepsy Society too — the trees they planted will be enjoyed by everyone here for years to come.”
1. What is the purpose of the Plant-for-the-Planet project?| A．To help children learn more about society. |
| B．To offer children colourful after-school activities. |
| C．To raise children’s awareness of global warming. |
| D．To teach children how to protect natural wildlife. |
| A．Separate. | B．Take. | C．Get. | D．Protect. |
| A．Tired. | B．Proud. | C．Discouraged. | D．Peaceful. |
| A．She hopes to popularise volunteering work. |
| B．She tries to drive the children to study hard. |
| C．She expects the children to take positive action. |
| D．She believes the younger generation are promising. |
6 . If it had not been for Fan Jinshi and her team, the world cultural heritage of Dunhuang Mogao Caves in a remote Chinese desert might have long been destroyed by sand, weather or humans.
Born in Beijing and raised in Shanghai, Fan has spent half a century fighting an uphill battle to preserve the ancient Buddhist wall paintings at Dunhuang, in Northwest China’s Gansu Province. The 1,653-year-old Dunhuang Mogao Caves are a huge collection of Buddhist art—more than 2,000 buddha figures and 45,000 square metres of paintings spread among 735 caves. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Archaeologist Fan was sent to Dunhuang after graduating from Peking University in 1963. While in Dunhuang, a remote village in the desert then, Fan lived in an abandoned temple. At first, she did not even dare to go out to the toilet at night. To protect the treasures from sand and dampness, Fan and other workers put doors on the caves, planted trees and started monitoring temperature and humidity in the caves. They also controlled the number of visitors.
In the late 1990s, with tourism booming nationwide since national holidays were extended, the local government planned to go public with Dunhuang Mogao Caves, but found Fan firmly in_their_way. “The heritage would have been destroyed if it had been listed，” she said.
Dunhuang Academy has now photographed and cataloged online all the sculptures and paintings. “Despite our efforts to minimise damage, we can’t completely stop them from being eroded. But the digital database will last.”
Fan was grateful when her husband joined her in Dunhuang in 1986 after 19 years of separation. Her two sons grew up seldom with her accompany. “I have not been a good mother or wife. With regard to my family, I’m full of guilt，” she said. Fan, 81, retired four years ago as the director of Dunhuang Academy but continues her efforts as a national political adviser.
1. When was Fan separated from her husband?| A．In 1963. | B．In 1967. |
| C．In 1986. | D．In the late 1990s. |
| A．Go to a place. |
| B．Be in favour of something. |
| C．Reject something. |
| D．Give in to something. |
| A．The history of Dunhuang Mogao Caves. |
| B．The attractions of Dunhuang Mogao Caves. |
| C．Fan’s devotion to preserving Dunhuang Mogao Caves. |
| D．The appeal for the protection of Dunhuang Mogao Caves. |
| A．Considerate. | B．Kind. |
| C．Humorous. | D．Devoted. |
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8 . Below is a brief description of the process involved in selecting the Nobel Laureates in Chemistry.
September-October-
February-
June-August-Writing of the report. The Nobel Committee puts together a report with recommendations to be submitted to the Academy.
September-Committee submits recommendations. The Nobel Committee submits its report with recommendations on the final candidates to the members of the Academy.
October-Nobel Laureates are chosen. In early October, the Academy selects the Nobel Laureates in Chemistry through a majority vote.
December-The Nobel Prize Award Ceremony takes place on 10 December in Stockholm.
| A．Nomination forms are sent out. |
| B．Deadline for submission of nominations. |
| C．The decision is final and without appeal. |
| D．Consultation with experts. |
| E．Nobel Laureates receive their Prize. |
| F．The report is signed by all members of the Committee. |
| G．The report is discussed at two meetings of the Chemistry Section of the Academy. |
9 . High street retail (零售业) staff are to wear cameras after a sudden large increase in the number of violent arguments over facemasks.
Tesco, Boots, Matalan, JD Sports, Co-op and Sainbury’s are equipping their employees with the recording devices to protect them.
The move comes after the retail union Usdaw said that abuse towards shop workers had doubled since the pandemic began. It added that there had been a 42 per cent increase in violent confrontations related to rows over face coverings.
Tesco said it would provide the body-worn cameras at £1,400 of its stores across the UK by the end of February. Boots has started testing the cameras which are said to prevent aggression. Co-op has invested £70 million in security measures for its staff at more than 500 stores after more than 2,000 employees were attacked in 2019. Sainsbury’s introduced neck-worn security cameras, typically used by the police, for its workers.
Reveal, a British company that provides body-worn cameras, confirmed a 30 per cent increase in sales during 2020 which it attributes to an increase in demand from UK stores.
Alasdair Field, the chief executive of Reveal, said: “For many, the pandemic has opened their eyes to some of the daily challenges faced by retail workers, from managing customer behavior to making sure that new rules are obeyed.”
Unfortunately, recent figures show incidents of violence and abuse toward staff are at the second highest ever recorded... Body-worn cameras provide support, reassurance, and confidence to staff and the public. They have been proven to reduce complaints, increase safety, limit the use of force and even increase productivity.
1. What is the function of the second paragraph?| A．To give some examples of different stores. |
| B．To give statement fact. |
| C．To add some details. |
| D．To continue from the above and introduce the following. |
| A．New rules must be obeyed. |
| B．Retail workers have to face the daily challenges. |
| C．Customer behavior should be managed. |
| D．The pandemic has opened people’s eyes. |
| A．They will promote social progress. |
| B．They may end up with chaos. |
| C．They might be of much effect despite arguments. |
| D．They could stop economic development. |
| A．Abuse towards shop workers doubled since the pandemic. |
| B．Shop workers are to wear body cameras after rise in abuse. |
| C．Incidents of violence and abuse toward retail staff increase. |
| D．Body-worn security cameras are to be used. |
10 . TYSON FROM Al features, Ms. Tyson was known for representing women of great poise struggling under great pressure.
Her life had been strewn with obstacles and marked by periods of tumult (骚乱): a childhood of desperate poverty, a deeply religious mother who considered her daughter’s career choice “immoral,” and a stormy celebrity marriage to jazz trumpeter Miles Davis in the 1980s. Also looming over her career were the persistent limitations in an entertainment industry that cast Black women in disgraceful roles as prostitutes, drug addicts and housemaids.
Ms. Tyson said she refused many such roles offered to her, making a serious promise to accept only parts of “strength, pride and dignity.” Because of her uncompromising selectivity, she was out of work for months and sometimes years at a stretch, even after her breakthrough, Oscar-nominated performance as a sharecropper ‘s(佃农) wife in “Sounder’(1972), a drama set in the Depression-era South.
“I wait for roles—first, to be written for a woman, then, to be written for a black woman,” she told the Entertainment News Service in 1997. “And then I have the bravery to be selective about the kinds of roles I play. I’ve really got three strikes against me. So, aren’t you amazed I’m still here?”
At 89, she capped her career with a Tony Award for her performance as a spirited widow in “The Trip to Bountiful,” a 2013 Broadway revival of the Horton Foote drama. She returned to Broadway in 2015 opposite James Earl Jones in a revival of “The Gin Game,” D.L. Coburn’s two-character play set in a nursing home. That same year, she was a Kennedy Center honoree, receiving the award for a lifetime of powerful performances in roles that shattered boundaries for African American women. The next year, President Barack Obama awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor.
1. The underlined word strewn in the second paragraph is probably closest to ________.| A．covered | B．decorated | C．associated | D．equipped |
| A．She is easy-going | B．She is serious |
| C．She is mean | D．She is honest |
| A．There’re three factors which make it difficult or impossible for Ms. Tyson to be mature. |
| B．There’re three factors which make it difficult or impossible for Ms. Tyson to be alive. |
| C．There’re three factors which make it difficult or impossible for Ms. Tyson to selective. |
| D．There’re three factors which make it difficult or impossible for Ms. Tyson to be successful. |
| A．Sounder won Tyson the nation’s highest civilian honor in 1972. |
| B．Her great achievements won Tyson the nation’s highest civilian honor in 2016. |
| C．The Gin Game won Tyson the nation’s highest civilian honor in 1997. |
| D．The Trip to Bountiful won Tyson the nation’s highest civilian honor in 2015. |
