1 . When you get in a car, you expect it will have functioning brakes. When you pick up medicine at the drugstore, you expect it won’t be polluted. But it wasn’t always like this. The safety of these products was terrible when they first came to market. It took much research and regulation to figure out how users can enjoy the benefits of these products without getting harmed.     1    

Social media risks are everywhere. The dangers that algorithms designed to maximize attention represent to teens have become impossible to ignore. Other product design elements, often called “dark patterns,” designed to keep people using for longer, also appear to tip young users into social media overuse.     2     They say it’s their users’ fault for engaging with harmful content in the first place, even if those users are children or the content is financial trickery. They also claim to be defending free speech.

    3     Under the Digital Services Act, which came into effect in Europe this year, platforms are required to take action to stop the spread of illegal content and can be fined up to 6 percent of their global incomes if they don’t do so. If this law is enforced, maintaining the safety of their algorithms and networks will be the most financially sound decision for platforms to make.

Despite these efforts, two things are clear. First, online safety problems are leading to real, offline suffering. Second, social media companies can’t, or won’t, solve these safety problems on their own.     4       Even safety issues like cyberbullying that we thought were solved can pop right back up. As our society moves online to an ever-greater degree, the idea that anyone, even teens, can just “stay off social media” becomes less and less realistic.     5    

A．And those problems aren’t going away.

B．The current issues aren’t really about offline suffering.

C．Platforms already have systems to remove violent or harmful content.

D．Similarly, social media needs product safety standards to keep users safe.

E．It’s time we should require social media to take safety seriously, for everyone’s sake.

F．Internet platforms, however, have shifted blame on the consumers whenever criticized.

G．Some authorities are taking steps to hold social media platforms accountable for the content.

2 . 阅读下面短文，根据题目要求用英文回答问题。

The Impact of Social Media on Adolescents (青少年)

Using social media has become a routine activity for most young people. In recent years, the number of young people using social media has increased dramatically, so a large part of their social and emotional development is occurring while they are on the Internet.

Social media allow young people to achieve online many of the tasks that are important to them offline: staying connected with friends and family, making new friends, and exchanging ideas. Some schools successfully use blogs as teaching tools, which has the benefit of improving skills in written expression and creativity. At the same time, social media helps them get what they want, increase their knowledge and confidence in their academic (学业的) performance.

While social media provides many benefits, it can also have a negative impact on young people, both physically and mentally. It is easy to become addicted, and research shows that students who spend too much time on social media can suffer from poor sleep, eye fatigue, negative body image, depression, anxiety and more. Research also indicates that there are frequent online expressions of offline behaviours, which have introduced problems such as cyberbullying and online harassment (骚扰).

Using social media becomes a risk to adolescents more than they can realise. When people go on to websites, they leave evidence of their visits. This ongoing record of online activity is called the “digital footprint”. One of the biggest threats to young people on social media is to their digital footprint and future reputations (名誉). Young people who lack an awareness of privacy issues often post inappropriate material without understanding that “what goes online stays online”. As a result, future jobs and college acceptance maybe put in danger by inexperienced clicks of the mouse.

1. Why is a large part of young people’s social and emotional development occurring on the Internet?
2. What is Paragraph 2 mainly about?
3. Please decide which part is false in the following statement, then underline it and explain why.
➤ Young people’s improper digital footprint may have an impact on cyberbullying and online harassment.
4. You have been physically distanced from school this term. How do you make full use of social media to better your life and study? Please give one or two examples. (In about 40 words)