1 . When almost everyone has a mobile phone, why are more than half of Australian homes still paying for a landline (座机)?

These days you’d be hard pressed to find anyone in Australia over the age of 15 who doesn’t own a mobile phone. In fact plenty of younger kids have one in their pocket. Practically everyone can make and receive calls anywhere, anytime.

Still, 55 percent of Australians have a landline phone at home and only just over a quarter (29%) rely only on their smartphones according to a survey (调查). Of those Australians who still have a landline, a third concede that it’s not really necessary and they’re keeping it as a security blanket — 19 percent say they never use it while a further 13 percent keep it in case of emergencies. I think my home falls into that category.

More than half of Australian homes are still choosing to stick with their home phone. Age is naturally a factor (因素)— only 58 percent of Generation Ys still use landlines now and then, compared to 84 percent of Baby Boomers who’ve perhaps had the same home number for 50 years. Age isn’t the only factor; I’d say it’s also to do with the makeup of your household.

Generation Xers with young families, like my wife and I, can still find it convenient to have a home phone rather than providing a mobile phone for every family member. That said, to be honest the only people who ever ring our home phone are our Baby Boomers parents, to the point where we play a game and guess who is calling before we pick up the phone (using Caller ID would take the fun out of it).

How attached are you to your landline? How long until they go the way of gas street lamps and morning milk deliveries?

1. What does paragraph 2 mainly tell us about mobile phones?

A．Their target users.	B．Their wide popularity.
C．Their major functions.	D．Their complex design.

2. What does the underlined word “concede” in paragraph 3 mean?

A．Admit.	B．Argue.
C．Remember.	D．Remark.

3. What can we say about Baby Boomers?

A．They like smartphone games.	B．They enjoy guessing callers’ identity.
C．They keep using landline phones.	D．They are attached to their family.

4. What can be inferred about the landline from the last paragraph?

A．It remains a family necessity.

B．It will fall out of use some day.

C．It may increase daily expenses.

D．It is as important as the gas light.

2 . There’s a classic short story in which a young man travels years ahead and meets his future self. Narratives like this have always been related to science fiction. But what if you could meet your future self?

I’m a psychologist and professor. My research over the past 15 years isn’t far from this theme. I’ve largely focused on how people think about and relate to their future selves, and explored the reasons why we have such a hard time making long-term decisions. In my research, I’ve learnt that we often imagine our future selves like strangers, which can impede us in making long-term choices. One way to bridge the emotional gap is to think of future selves in more concrete and vivid ways, like writing letters to and from one’s future self, which can strengthen the connection between current and future selves.

Admittedly, having people engage in an imagined conversation is a far cry from actually meeting one’s future self. But it’s believed that far richer interactions may happen in the near future through artificial intelligence (AI). It wouldn’t be predicting exactly what choices you’d make. It’d be more about showing your potential, based on the lives of people similar to you: not just one possible life for you, but rather, the most possible life path for you. Such interactions could offer valuable insights into our potential future selves.

So, to return to my original question: if you could time-travel to meet your future self, what aspects of your life would you want to know more about? I realized, through thorough reflections, that the most powerful questions would be ones that helped me make better choices today —questions exploring personal growth, regrets and unfulfilled actions.

Actually, you don’t need to wait for time travel or advanced AI for answers that you can act on. Through my research, I’ve learnt that simply taking a bit of time to picture this meeting can help you make better choices now. All you need is a little imagination, and the willingness to put yourself in the shoes of a person you currently treat as a stranger.

1. Why is it difficult for people to make long-term decisions according to the author?

A．Technology for time travel is not available.

B．Strangers cannot help with decision-making.

C．Writing letters to one’s future self is impractical.

D．People find it hard to connect with their distant selves.

2. What does the underlined phrase “a far cry from” mean in paragraph 3?

A．contradictory to	B．very different from
C．not as convenient as	D．less popular than

3. Which question would the author most likely ask his future self?

A．Why hasn’t my hard work ever paid off?

B．What can AI do to help people become better persons?

C．If given the chance, what would you have done differently?

D．How can I succeed without going through all the difficulties in life?

4. Which of the following is a suitable title for the text?

A．Time travel: What if you met your future self?

B．My research: How do people view their future selves?

C．Emotional gap: Why can’t we talk with our future selves?

D．Artificial intelligence: Is it possible to meet your future self?

3 . My greatest regret in life is that I failed to tell my superb teachers how much they contributed to my early education.

Ruth Hammerman taught English to the eighth-graders. She was the first to show me the rules of what Evelyn Waugh called our “rich and delicate language.” She was a no-nonsense instructor. Unlike common teachers, she diagramed (用图表展示) sentences so we could know the grammar rules. She never seemed to be tired of the simple pleasures of sharing her learning.

Under her influence, I had the strong belief that language needs to be well-spoken and properly written. Yet over the years I never made the effort to find her and to express my thankfulness for what she did for me. Two years after being in her class, I began the study of Latin and French, and the foundation (基础) she provided in English grammar served me well. Sadly, I never looked back.

In high school I took advanced French in a class taught by Richard Miller, the finest teacher I have ever experienced at any level. Mr. Miller brought to his subject a surprisingly deep understanding and new analysis (分析). Reading “Phèdre”, Racine’s classic play, he asked us to note there were 1,654 lines in it, and then pointed out the care Racine devoted to structure. Years later I made the same point — giving Mr. Miller credit — in a college French class, and my professor was surprised by my understanding of the play. Mr. Miller taught us to enjoy literature with particular points of view. Yet I never made the effort in later years to tell him what he meant to me.

Mr. Miller is certainly long dead. If she is alive, Miss Hammerman would likely be in her 90s. In preparing this article, I tried to find her but was unsuccessful.

I am certain my act is common. People often forget to express love and thankfulness to their teachers. I ought to have told Miss Hammerman and Mr. Miller how much they did for me. I suppose they knew their work was effective because they believed in what they were doing. Now I appreciate how special they were.

1. What is the most beneficial part to the author in Miss Hammerman’s class?

A．Grammar.

B．Writing.

C．Speaking.

D．Reading.

2. What is special about Mr. Miller’s French class?

A．He asked students to count lines.

B．He stressed the importance of play.

C．He analyzed literature in a new way.

D．He showed great devotion to students.

3. What does the underlined phrase “my act” in the last paragraph refer to?

A．Preparing the article.	B．Looking for the teachers.
C．Failing to thank teachers.	D．Copying teachers’ points.

4. What best describes the two teachers according to the text?

A．Creative.

B．Frank.

C．Humorous.

D．Strict.

5. What is the author’s purpose of writing the text?

A．To show love for French literature.

B．To explore the meaning of education.

C．To explain why teachers are important.

D．To share memories of the two teachers.

4 . Holding the large and heavy “brick” cellphone he’s credited with inventing 50 years ago,Martin Cooper talks about the future.

Little did he know when he made the first call on a New York City street from a heavy Motorola prototype(原型)that our world would come to be encapsulated on a sleek glass sheath where we search，connect,like and buy.

Cooper says he is an optimist. He believes that advances in mobile technology will continue to transform lives but he is worried about risks smartphones pose to privacy and young people.

“My most negative opinion is we don’t have any privacy anymore because everything about us is now recorded someplace and accessible to somebody who has enough intense desire to get it,” the 94-year-old said in an interview in Barcelona at MWC, the Mobile World Congress, the world’s biggest wireless trade show, where he was getting a lifetime award.

Cooper sees a dark side to the advances, including the risk to children. One idea, he said, is to have“various Internets intended for different audiences.”

Cooper made the first public call from a handheld portable telephone on a Manhattan street on April 3,1973,using a prototype device his team at Motorola had started designing just five months earlier.

Cooper used the Dyna-TAC phone to famously call his opponent at Bell Labs, owned by AT&T. It was literally the world’s first brick phone,weighing 2.5 pounds and measuring 11 inches.

Cooper spent the best part of the next decade working to bring a commercial version of the device to market.

The call helped kick-start the cellphone revolution (革命).

Cooper said he’s “not crazy” about the shape of modern smartphones. He thinks they will develop so that they’ll be “distributed on your body,” possibly as sensors“measuring your health at all times.”

Batteries, he said, might be replaced by human energy.The body makes energy from food,he argues, so it could possibly also power a phone.Instead of holding the phone in the hand, for example, the device could be placed under the skin.

1. What does the underlined part “a sleek glass sheath” in paragraph 2 refer to?

A．A smartphone.	B．A Motorola prototype.
C．A “brick” cellphone.	D．An original cellphone.

2. What is Cooper’s attitude about the future of the mobile phone?

A．Most negative.	B．Very subjective.
C．Doubtful and Disapproving.	D．Optimistic but also concerned.

3. What can be inferred about children from paragraph 5?

A．They should be provided with a different Internet from adults.

B．They should have easy access to various Internets.

C．They should be introduced to different audiences.

D．They should use various Internets for learning materials.

4. According to Cooper, how might smartphones be powered in the future?

A．By body sensors.	B．By human body.
C．By solar energy.	D．By advanced batteries.

6 . A recent research shows benefits to writing about a traumatic (创伤性的) experience or difficult situation in a manner that psychologists refer to as “expressive writing.” People who do this, recording their deepest thoughts and feelings, often show improved mental and physical health, says James Parker, PhD, a psychology professor at the University of Texas, Austin.

Expressive writing is a specific technique, and it’s different from writing in a journal.     1    

Parker says that hundreds of studies over several decades have looked at the potential benefits of expressive writing and found that it can strengthen the immune system, including for people with illnesses such as cancer, PTSD and depression.     2     And it may even help reduce symptoms of depression and PTSD, and prevent colds and flu.

Expressive writing works because it allows you to make meaning out of a painful experience. Recognizing that something is bothering you is an important first step.     3     And creating a narrative (叙述) gives you a sense of control.

What if you don’t consider yourself “a writer”? Don’t worry about spelling or grammar, and don’t share your writing with anyone.     4     The goal of the exercise is to find meaning in an unsettling event.

    5     Expressive writing isn’t a magical panacea (灵丹妙药). It shouldn’t be used as a replacement for other treatments. And people coping with a severe trauma or depression may not find it useful to do on their own, without therapy.

A．But do dig deep into your thoughts and feelings.

B．But there are a few warnings about “expressive writing.”

C．Writing can increase someone’s acceptance of their experience.

D．Research also found that it can improve mood, sleep, and memory.

E．A journal is a record of experiences or reflections kept regularly for private use.

F．Translating that experience into language forces you to organize your thoughts.

G．The idea is to reflect honestly on a particular challenge, and to do it in short sessions.

10 . Children’s Sci-fi Art Predicts Extraordinary Future

More than 80 sci-fi artworks are on display at the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum, showing a beautiful yet puzzling future. The “Brave New Sci-Fi World” exhibition features paintings and art installations (设备) by students from Shanghai, Beijing, Chongqing and other cities. They imagine the future as a world where robots and human beings co-exist.

Ru Chen, from Shanghai New Putuo Primary School, has pictured a robot chameleon (变色龙) to be used in outer space to aid in the search and rescue of human beings in case of danger.

Li Jiaqi from Guangzhou Dongfeng East Road Primary School has painted a city where advanced technologies are everywhere, and even the city itself turns into a large robot.

Huang Yanrui from Beijing Shijingshan Gucheng No. 2 Primary School imagines his rubber, pencil box and such stationery (文具) becoming conscious robots, and beginning to design future human beings.

Wang Zhihan, from Shanghai Shangde Experimental School and her schoolmates, stick electronic components on stone faces as a metaphor (隐喻) for the increasingly unclear boundaries between the reality and virtual world. “We hope to remind people never lose yourself in a world with advanced technologies,” she said.

The exhibition will last till November 4.

Opening hours:

Tuesdays-Sundays 9: 00- 17: 15; legal holidays 8: 45- 18: 30.

Transportation Guide:

Metro: Metro Line 2: Shanghai Science and Technology Museum Station.

Metro Line 4, Metro Line 6 and Metro Line 9: change to Metro Line 2 at the Century Avenue Station.

Bus Routes: Bus 184, 640, 794, 983, 984, 987, 1023, 640 inter-zonal bus will take you there.

1. Whose artwork is related with space?

A．Ru Chen’s.

B．Li Jiaqi’s.

C．Huang Yanrui’s.

D．Wang Zhihan’s.

2. Where does the student with an imagination of stationery robots come from?

A．Shanghai.

B．Guangzhou.

C．Chongqing.

D．Beijing.

3. Which line can directly take you to the museum?

A．Metro Line 2.

B．Metro Line 4.

C．Metro Line 6.

D．Metro Line 9.