1 . What your dinner photos on Instagram say about you
Posting pictures on Instagram is a modern day version of writing a journal: It’s all about creating a connection between ourselves, our lives, friends, family and the wider public.
If someone posts photos of a meal that they have just cooked, the message they’re trying to convey is that they are a capable person. For example, if someone is on a health kick, they often seek social approval. If they’ve made a really healthy meal, they will typically post it with hashtags “#” like diet or health, which tie into other people’s experiences.
There is also a growing trend of people taking photos of their food when they dine out at a restaurant.
If people are on a diet or trying to eat a bit better, they can use platforms like Instagram to track what they’ve been eating. It’s a way of motivating other people as well as holding themselves responsible, while subconsciously saying “
| A．I am willing to take risks in my diet. |
| B．There are some reasons to post photos online. |
| C．I’m the sort of person who takes care of myself. |
| D．It’s the same idea as wanting to feel part of a community. |
| E．The types of content we choose to post hold significance. |
| F．It generally implies an attempt to associate with luxury and taste. |
| G．We have a fundamental need to be part of something bigger than ourselves. |
2 . As an engineer, building things was Liang Kaiyu’s hobby in his spare time. When he saw that a foreign engineer had developed an autonomous e-bike, he decided to build one himself. But when testing his self-built automatic electric motor in January 2020, an explosion occurred, and he lost his left leg below the knee. About two months after the accident, he got his prosthetic limb (假肢).
On short-video platforms, Liang saw many people with physical challenges who live no differently from other people. They ride bicycles, dance and even ski, using their prosthetic limbs. Inspired by them, Liang started to post videos about his daily life to inspire more people. Since then, he has used his engineering skills to make his prosthetic limb more comfortable and powerful than a real leg.
He tried to upgrade his high-tech prosthesis, including fitting a shock absorber and putting in a charger port. One of the latest upgrades is the addition of colored LED lights to his running blade. The LED lights can be connected via Bluetooth to a smartphone and change color as they react to music. Through design, modeling and manufacturing, he made a device that can connect the socket (承窝) of the leg with the prosthetic knee. With the small device, he can take the leg off in one second. Moreover, to better learn about the structure and system of the prosthetics, he took apart some secondhand prosthetic limbs that were made in China and abroad, which cost him a lot of money.
“These high-tech prosthetics are comfortable and safer to wear. They can boost confidence with every step. But the only thing is that the cost is unaffordable for most families,” Liang says. He adds that due to the small group of consumers, there are few companies in China investing in the research and development of such prosthetics. To advance functional performance and help amputees (截肢人士) maintain or regain their freedom of movement, Liang has provided his experience and suggestions for several prosthetics companies.
“If there is a good opportunity, I want to make high-tech prosthetics accessible and affordable to more amputees in China,” Liang says.
1. What happened to Liang in January 2020?| A．He fell off an autonomous e-bike. | B．He got injured in an accidental explosion. |
| C．He suffered from serious knee pain. | D．He lost his left leg in a motor race. |
| A．A kind of LED light that has been designed to do a particular job. |
| B．A Bluetooth that has been designed to do a particular job. |
| C．A piece of equipment that has been designed to do a particular job |
| D．A smartphone that has been designed to do a particular job. |
| A．They give users limited freedom of movement. | B．They take much time to produce. |
| C．They are quite heavy for amputees to wear. | D．They are too expensive. |
| A．Creative and helpful. | B．Humorous and patient. |
| C．Generous and cautious. | D．Honest and courageous. |
3 . More than 100 podcasts (播客) this year in NPR’s Student Podcast Challenge have touched on a topic that’s increasingly important to young people: climate change. Here are four student podcasts that show the minds of students and what they have to say about climate-related news in their communities — and what they hope to do about it.
Behind the Scenes of the Mosquito Fire
A sixth-grade class at the Georgetown School of Innovation in Georgetown, Calif., shares stories from the devastating (毁灭性的) Mosquito Fire in 2022. This group of eight students asks two firefighters what it’s like to fight fires and protect loved ones in their hometown.
Fires: Set Ablaze
At Chautauqua Elementary, the Vashon fifth-graders talk about the far-reaching and lasting impact of wildfires and wildfire smoke — and the direct effects on their lives, like waiting for the school bus on a smoky day. The students also interview experts and share their research on wildfire precautions (防范).
Flowing Through Time In this podcast from Peak Academy, a group of eight middle schoolers reports on dealing with water shortages in Bozeman, Montana. They track the history of their growing hometown’s water supply, which has been dependent on mountain snowmelt. As that source becomes less reliable in a warming world, the students turn to the grown-ups to ask what they can do to conserve water.
Washed Away
The deadly flooding in eastern Kentucky last year forever changed the lives of high schoolers Ryley Bowman, Carolina Johnson and Hunter Noble. The three classmates at Morgan County High School in West Liberty, Ky., share firsthand accounts of their own and their family’s experiences during the floods.
1. Which podcast will be attractive if you are interested in firefighters’ experience?| A．Washed Away. | B．Fires: set Ablaze. |
| C．Flowing Through Time. | D．Behind the Scenes of the Mosquito Fire. |
| A．Their personal experience. | B．The history of water supply. |
| C．An interview with experts. | D．Methods of saving water. |
| A．To inspire us to make more podcasts. |
| B．To solve the problem of climate change. |
| C．To introduce students’ podcasts about climate. |
| D．To encourage us to do more for the community. |
4 . In an era (时代) when social media platforms are flooded with less than five-minute videos, a young vlogger walks against this to produce videos about 20 minutes long. The vlogger called 1900 (not his real name) has over 1.16 million followers on Bilibili, an online video platform. Among them, more than 400,000 new followers were attracted by his elaboration on (精讲) “the red classics collection (红色经典系列)” during the past five months.
When 1900 was a child, he was deeply impressed by the war scenes in the movie Decisive Engagement (《大决战》，1991), which is about China’s War of Liberation (1946-49). However, without rich knowledge of the history, he didn’t quite understand the movie.
Almost 20 years later, the 35-year-old realized that films and TV series simplify (简化) historical events or their significance. So he decided to make videos to elaborate on those revolution-themed (革命主题的) films and TV series, so that viewers, especially young people, can have a better understanding of Chinese history.
Since May, he has made 27 videos elaborating on The Great Transition (《大转折》), the Birth of New China and more. In these videos, he attempts to dig up behind-the-scenes stories of historical figures. He analyzes battles by showing battle maps to inform viewers of their intensity (激烈). He even analyzes poems to provide a deeper historical context.
These details require a lot of reading and research. To make the videos, 1900 has so far read about 30 books. He also interviewed history professors and teachers from Party schools. It is a tiring process, but “details make history lively and able to be felt for viewers,” 1900 said. “My slogan is ‘everything can be elaborated on’, which might seem like a challenging task to some. But I guess every person can find his or her friends with the same taste,” he said.
1. What do we know about 1900?| A．He became a vlogger at age 20. | B．His videos are short and informative. |
| C．He analyzed “the red classics collection” recently. | D．He has about 400,000 followers on Bilibili. |
| A．He loved the movie Decisive Engagement. |
| B．He wanted to attract more followers on Bilibili. |
| C．He had a good command of Chinese history. |
| D．He wanted to make people better understand Chinese history. |
| A．He showed viewers battle maps. |
| B．He put scenes of him collecting background stories in the videos. |
| C．He compared different war scenes in movies. |
| D．He wrote poems to summarize the themes of the films. |
| A．New Revolution-themed Videos | B．A Vlogger in love with Chinese History |
| C．Popular Videos on Bilibili | D．The Significance of the Red Classics Collection Videos |
5 . When you create a social networking profile, a photo is almost always required.
Researchers studied 104 college students by showing them various photos of the same user on a social network.
Photos with social cues that revealed more about the user were rated highly in terms of physical attractiveness.
So your profile photos don’t necessarily have to be model-like. Photos that show your social relationships or hobbies are actually more important for your attractiveness. And if you want to build up a certain image, keep an eye on the comments being left on your social networking profiles.
| A．They tested reactions to two factors. |
| B．Choosing the right photo is important. |
| C．A pretty photo may not be enough, the study shows. |
| D．That’s because people’s comments are most important for your popularity. |
| E．Therefore, attaching a wonderful photo can surely guarantee you a great job. |
| F．Many university students rely on computer software to make their profile photos shine. |
| G．Meanwhile, positive comments led viewers to regard users as more socially attractive. |
6 . Like social media giants before it, TikTok hasn’t just contributed to the cultural conversation. It’s literally changed how entire industries operate and affected how we live, eat, watch and buy. In fact, even if you’ve never spent a single second on the app, there’s likely something in your life that has been changed by TikTok’s powerful influence.
Social media, like Youtube, Instagram and the now-defunct short video platform Vine, has always been a pipeline to fame for a few lucky people. However, because of the way TikTok’s algorithm (算法) works, learning users’ interests and preferences in real time as they interact with content, it’s not unusual for videos created by everyday people to suddenly get millions of views as they are pushed into users’ feeds.
BookTok-TikTok’s communities of readers-has become a major driving force in book sales, even influencing how major retailers, like Barnes Noble, market and display their products. The effect, in some cases, has been unbelievable. Colleen Hoover, an author of young adult fiction, has become a huge name thanks to the app. In 2021, Hoover sold nearly 1.9 million copies of her books, according to Publishers Weekly. In 2022, that number rocketed to 14.3 million-and that’s just physical copies.
TikTok began, and is still largely defined as, a music and dancing app. Unsurprisingly, perhaps no industry has been as affected by its power as the music industry. Olivia Rodrigo’s hit song “drivers license” is a perfect example of how far this phenomenon can go. The song first appeared on the app back in 2021, when a video of someone copying Rodrigo’s music video went viral. Soon, thousands of people were posting their own versions of the video.
Regardless, it speaks to the power of TikTok that it has the ability to not only influence, but completely redirect, longstanding billion-dollar industries.
1. What’s the main reason why TikTok videos have higher click-through rates?| A．Interesting topics | B．Eye-catching titles. |
| C．Sufficient TikTok users. | D．Personalized recommendations. |
| A．BookTok drives up sales of books. |
| B．Print industry is facing challenges. |
| C．Major booksellers control the market. |
| D．Publishers issue new books on BookTok. |
| A．Book-selling. | B．Music. | C．Sports. | D．Education. |
| A．Videos well-received on TikTok. |
| B．Ways to become famous on TikTok. |
| C．Reasons for the popularity of TikTok. |
| D．TikTok’s impact on various industries. |
7 . A California high school student recently took top honours at a worldwide science competition. Jeffrey Chen won the Breakthrough Junior Challenge prize in science earlier this month. The prize comes with $250,000 that Chen can use for college. The aim of the Breakthrough Junior Challenge is to influence young people so they will think creatively in science and mathematics. Students aged 13 — 18 produce short videos which explain a complex science or math subject in an interesting way.
The 17-year-old Chen was chosen over 14 other finalists from the United States, Canada and India. The judges included several well-known scientists and educators. Branko Malaverojvodic, 18, of Peru, won the challenge’s “Popular Vote” contest. He received more than 16,000 likes, shares and positive reactions for his video on cryptography (密码学). You can watch it and the other videos on the Breakthrough Facebook page.
In his prize-winning video, on YouTube, Jeffrey Chen talks about neutrinos (中微子). “This is a neutrino. You can’t see or feel them, but every second each of us are bombarded with trillions of them.”Chen explains neutrinos are particles that are smaller than an atom. He talks about how they can be used in astronomy.
The competition was open to students from around the world. More than 11,000 students competed in the 2021 competition. Sal Khan, the founder of Khan Academy, praised Chen’s science video. “Jeffery is a natural science communicator,” Khan said. A California newspaper, The Daily Journal, said the competition combined Chen’s two great interests — astronomy and film-making and he artfully explains a complex top and makes it easier to understand. Chen said he hopes to continue combining his interests as he studies environmental technology in college. He wants to work on climate change.
1. How do the students participate in the competition?| A．By making short videos. | B．By designing a website. |
| C．By telling funny stories. | D．By face-to-face debate. |
| A．Hit against. | B．Knocked down. | C．Laughed at. | D．Puzzled by. |
| A．Interesting and shocking. | B．Funny and instructive. |
| C．Scientific and artistic. | D．Vividly and specific. |
| A．A Teen Takes Top Science Prize |
| B．The Breakthrough Junior Challenge |
| C．Methods of Making Short Videos |
| D．Students Participate in the Competition Actively |
8 . Digital technologies are taking up too much of our time and attention. Many of us will spend a significant part of our lives staring at screens, missing out on satisfying relationships and feeling more emotional pain. For many years, we’ve been taught that the solution to this potential harm is some form of digital detox (脱瘾), which mainly shows us what not to do after our digital addiction.
Identify the times and situations when being on screens is making your life worse. It could be when you are streaming a TV series right before bed, feeling depressed afterward and losing hours of sleep. Or you could be getting stuck on your device at the dinner table and end up getting distracted.
Once you identify the pain points, for example, scrolling (滚动浏览) on TikTok for hours keeps you from sleeping and makes you feel depressed afterward), ask yourself: What is screen time replacing and what goals is it serving? In other words, what are you actually hungry for? You might be endlessly scrolling because you want to feel uplifted at the end of the day. Write down the things you really want.
Try a substitute| A．Identify your true desire. |
| B．Determine your pain points. |
| C．Pretty soon, these replacements will make you feel more satisfied. |
| D．But the only way to truly gain control is to take positive steps in advance. |
| E．Or maybe you are inefficient at work because you’re doing too much online shopping. |
| F．Ask yourself how you can meet those needs through something other than screen time. |
| G．If your digital life is out of balance, reducing time on devices is an important first step. |
9 . Do you ever hear a friend speak on a topic with the belief that “everyone”thinks the same way? Do you often find yourself surrounded in a social media feed that is completely tailored to you and your beliefs, reading along without the immediate realization?
A social media echo chamber (回声壁) is when one experiences a tailored media experience that leave out opposing viewpoints and differing voices. Social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube connect groups of like-minded users together based on shared content preferences. As a result, people see and take in information according to our preexisting beliefs and opinions. Social media companies therefore rely on algorithms (算法) to assess our interests and flood us with information that will keep our attention. The algorithms focus on what we “like”, and “share” to keep feeding content that makes us comfortable.
In order to truly get access to all information and to evaluate our media, we must give ourselves the opportunity to step out of our comfort zone. While this becomes increasingly challenging, there are things we can do. The first step is to beef up your media consumption sources. Adding in a few media sources with differing opinions will allow you to at least understand what people are saying outside of your echo chamber. Next, read each thing you see with a critical eye. Make sure that each thing you accept as truth is truly fact. Lastly, attempt to search out reliable new sources that are known for trying their best to leave out false information. By accepting that our media buffet on social media is a product of our present beliefs and opinions, we can work to make sure we are not simply stuck in a social media echo chamber.
1. What is a result of the social media echo chamber?| A．People contact like-minded online users effectively. |
| B．People keep reading for more differing viewpoints. |
| C．People rely on algorithms to evaluate their interests. |
| D．People only get information confirming their beliefs. |
| A．Track. | B．Improve. |
| C．Provide. | D．Identify. |
| A．Criticizing fake news on social media. |
| B．Exposing ourselves to opposing voices. |
| C．Researching primary sources of information. |
| D．Accepting our present beliefs and opinions. |
| A．To call on people to use algorithms frequently. |
| B．To ask people not to take in information blindly. |
| C．To promote the use of various social media sites. |
| D．To inform people of new technology developments. |
10 . If you see a group of people bend their knees, hold their arms out, and swing their bodies around...don’t panic, just a few surfskaters.
A surfskate board, which originated in the United States, is a type of skateboard that uses a specially-designed front truck to give riders the feeling of surfing on land. As riders shift weight between the heelside and topside, the special front truck turns the board sharply and helps produce momentum(冲力), pushing riders forward and changing directions.
This summer, the sport has gained favor among Chinese consumers and is soaring in popularity among all ages, spurring(刺激) a billion-dollar market.
On lifestyle-sharing platform Xiaohongshu, searches related to surfskating rose 420 percent year-on-year in the first half. The sudden increase in searches started in February. As of August, surfskate-related posts surpassed 60,000. Trending topics include tutorials and board recommendations.
On the short-video platform Douyin, posts labeled “surfskate” had over 150 million views by August. A one-minute video post with top viewership had over 189,000 likes. The sport also became a trendy topic on Weibo and Kuaishou.
“You can see an increasing number of people practicing surfskating at almost all ages in a wide space inside the community I live in.” said Beijing resident Ma Yuan. “I knew about surfskating from social media and decided to give it a try. It was easier than I thought. In addition, surfskating requires a lot less equipment compared with many other sports. I can start skating at a random(任意的) place and all I need is a board. Above all, it helps me lose weight and reduce work and life pressure.”
1. How do the surfskaters ride the surfskate board?| A．By using wind power. |
| B．By pushing riders forward by someone else. |
| C．By using a specially designed remote device to control it. |
| D．By changing weight between the heelside and topside and producing force. |
| A．Surfskating has its origin in the United Nations. |
| B．Surfskating has gained popularity just among the youth. |
| C．Surfskating has more viewers on ”xiaohongshu“ than other platforms. |
| D．Surfskating gives riders the feeling of surfing on land as well as other benefits. |
| A．Indifferent | B．Supportive | C．Objective | D．Negative |
| A．Surfing on land gains ground. |
| B．Surfskating originated in the USA. |
| C．How to operate a skateboard. |
| D．Surfskating for health. |
