1 . Waking up at the crack of dawn and going for a run might feel awful when you start trying to make it a habit. Weaving a significant new activity such as this into your regular routine obviously takes determination and time.     1    

One popular idea suggests that it takes 21 days to solidify a habit. People tend to feel extra motivated to start a new habit or kick an old one.     2     Yet every January 21 very few people can boast that they have kept their resolutions.

Everyone has a unique habit-building timeline.     3     Experts suggest various individualized ways to practice frequently, which eventually turn a task into an unconscious habit.

    4     Teaching yourself a completely new skill or process obviously takes longer than remembering to drink more water in the morning. A 2015 study found that new gym-goers had to exercise at least four times a week for six weeks in order to develop an exercise habit. The results showed that creating a handwashing habit took a few weeks.     5     Anyway, handwashing is less complex and offers more opportunities to practice.

The researchers also suggested that habit formation depends on the effort that a person puts into practicing an activity and on the presence of environmental cues that would remind them to carry out the behavior.

A．The type of activity is also a factor.

B．The strategies of activity impact the way.

C．People want to form a habit of exercising regularly.

D．But how much time is really needed to make that habit stick?

E．It might sound easily reachable to make a resolution on New Year’s Day.

F．By comparison, it took half a year for people to develop an exercise habit.

G．However long it is for any individual, repetition is the key to making it work.

2 . “What do you mean by this phrase? It’s incorrect and adds nothing to the sentence. Omit (省略).” Professor Jones’s critical feedback on my paper hurt me when I first read it. I scanned his comments for a “Good job!” or “I love this idea,” but they were nowhere to be found.

Everyone likes warmth and encouragement, but purely positive affirmations (肯定) don’t communicate what can be improved. Research conducted on Character Lab Research Network finds that direct, useful feedback requiring students to revise their own work is more effective. For Professor Jones, this looked like a note at the end of another paper: “I’m sure things will improve as the term and year wear on.” However, feedback that does the work for a student—correcting a misspelled word, rewriting a sentence—can signal a teacher’s low expectations.

When kids see comments that suggest what needs to be changed, they come to realize they can do things on their own and become more independent learners. As a bonus, this kind of feedback lets students know that their teacher believes in them.

As for me, I was benedictory for Professor Jones’s pointed criticism which let me know that he took me seriously. He was expecting me to do better, and the detailed comments scrawled (潦草地写) on every page gave me the tools to improve. Teachers can add affirmations to their feedback as long as it’s not the only thing they’re doing.

Don’t confuse warmth with promoting a growth mindset. Being nice isn’t the same as showing someone you believe they can improve. So give detailed feedback that sets young people up to take charge of their own learning. For example, instead of rewriting a sentence, say: “This is a run-on sentence. Try reading it out loud and add punctuation in places where you naturally take a breath.” Ask worth-exploring questions that inspire students to think about their approach, then let them revise on their own. When it comes to writing, the easiest path isn’t always the best one.

1. How did the author initially feel about Professor Jones’s feedback?

A．Happy and motivated.	B．Upset and disappointed.
C．Indifferent and unconcerned.	D．Confident and encouraged.

2. What is the key aspect of effective feedback mentioned in the article?

A．It should be brief and to the point.	B．It should be warm and encouraging.
C．It should be written at the end of the paper.	D．It should be up to students to fix their own work.

3. What does the underlined word “benedictory” mean in paragraph 4?

A．Responsible.

B．Generous.

C．Regretful.

D．Grateful.

4. What should teachers do when checking student’s paper according to the text?

A．Give students general praise.	B．Rewrite sentences for students.
C．Provide students critical support.	D．Show students corrected assignments.

3 . Since young children went back to school across Sweden recently, many of their teachers have been putting a new emphasis on printed books, quiet reading time and handwriting practice, and devoting less time to tablets, independent online research and keyboarding skills.

The return to more traditional ways of learning is a response to politicians and experts questioning whether Sweden’s hyper-digitalized approach to education, including the introduction of tablets in nursery schools, had led to a decline in basic skills.

Sweden’s minister for schools, Lotta Edholm was one of the biggest critics of the all-out embrace of technology. “Sweden’s students need more textbooks,” Edholm said in March. “Physical books are important for student learning.” The minister announced in August that the government wanted to change the decision by the national agency for education to make digital devices compulsory in preschools. It plans to go further and to completely end digital learning for children under age six, the ministry has told the Associated Press.

Although Sweden’s students score above the European average for reading ability, an international assessment of fourth-grade reading levels, the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS), highlighted a decline among Sweden’s children between 2016 and 2021.

In comparison, Singapore — which topped the rankings — improved its PIRLS reading scores from 576 to 587 during the same period, and England’s average reading achievement score fell only slightly, from 559 in 2016 to 558 in 2021. An overuse of screens during school lessons may cause youngsters to fall behind in core subjects, education experts say. “There’s clear scientific evidence that digital tools impair rather than enhance student learning,” Sweden’s Karolinska Institute, a highly respected medical school focused on research, said in a statement in August on the country’s national digitalization strategy in education.

“We believe the focus should return to acquiring knowledge through printed textbooks and teacher expertise, rather than acquiring knowledge primarily from freely available digital sources that have not been checked for accuracy.” the school added.

1. Why do Swedish schools return to paper books?

A．To cater to parents’ increasing needs.

B．To help with children’s independent learning.

C．To overcome children’s addiction to digital tools.

D．To avoid possible decline in children’s basic skills.

2. What does the underlined words “all-out embrace” mean in Paragraph 3?

A．Total acceptance.	B．Creative use.
C．Rapid development.	D．Serious addiction.

3. What might Karolinska Institute agree with?

A．Teachers should acquire more knowledge.

B．Knowledge from digital tools may not be reliable.

C．Digital tools smooth out learning barriers for children.

D．The accessibility to digital sources should be improved.

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

A．Swedish Children’s Return to Paper	B．Problems with Children’s Education
C．Popularity of Digitalization in Sweden	D．Enhancement of Teaching Strategies in Sweden

5 . In a crowded migrant (移民) camp in Tijuana, Mexico, a three-year-old girl wandered ________ toward the exit. She was steps from a busy road. Estefanía Rebellón was the only person who ________ her. The writer had just driven from Los Angeles with a group of friends to drop off food and clothing to a(n) ________ organization.

It was December 2018, a time when the US-Mexico border was seeing migrants from Central America ________ violence and poverty. Rebellón rushed over to the child and took her ________. “Where are your parents?” she asked anxiously. Eventually, she and her friends found the girl’s ________ father, who had stepped away to ________ for food.

Back at home, Rebellón gathered a group of volunteer ________ via social media, and using a thousand dollars from her ________, set up a school at the Tijuana border. In five years, the pilot program has grown into the non-profit Yes We Can World Foundation, which has ________ three school buses into classrooms and established two schools.

________ by donations, the foundation’s teachers have provided a bilingual education to more than 3,000 kids. The schools ________ an official curriculum (课程) from Mexico’s education ministry. They also offer ________ courses, which help kids understand more about migration.

Rebellón has received numerous ________ for her work, including Outstanding American by Choice. As more than 6.6 million people still live in refugee camps around the world, she says she’d like to ________ the foundation’s influence and support migrant children globally.

1.

A．leisurely

B．alone

C．freely

D．abroad

2.

A．tended

B．recognized

C．invited

D．noticed

3.

A．relief

B．health

C．business

D．education

4.

A．fighting

B．preventing

C．escaping

D．worsening

5.

A．side

B．place

C．hand

D．heart

6.

A．determined

B．annoyed

C．disappointed

D．panicked

7.

A．line up

B．make up

C．stand up

D．look up

8.

A．soldiers

B．doctors

C．writers

D．teachers

9.

A．expenses

B．savings

C．bills

D．charges

10.

A．integrated

B．forced

C．transformed

D．translated

11.

A．Limited

B．Funded

C．Motivated

D．Influenced

12.

A．create

B．adjust

C．reject

D．follow

13.

A．special

B．strange

C．common

D．major

14.

A．opportunities

B．honours

C．blessings

D．messages

15.

A．display

B．possess

C．maintain

D．expand

6 . 阅读下面材料，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

A “White Box” Digital Transition Model for Education

Liu Xinsheng, a student in a rural school in Zibo, Shandong province,     1     the English teaching resources are limited, has been learning English through a small terminal (终端机) on a     2     (day) basis.     3     textbook-sized smart terminal, nicknamed “white box”, has become the most important tool for improving Liu’s English-speaking skills.

Technology enhances education and     4     (bridge) the gap effectively in educational resources between rural and urban areas. Students in the school can not only correct their     5     (pronounce) but also receive real-time feedback. Additionally, after submitting assignments through the device, they immediately receive corrections for certain tasks.

The AI-enabled rural education in Linzi district is just an example of how Zibo is     6     (true) promoting a digital transition in its education sector. By the end of last year, 97 percent of primary and secondary schools in Zibo     7     (complete) the digital transformation, with 295 schools establishing smart campuses     8     (equip) with multimedia classrooms.

Sun Yingtao, head of the Zibo Bureau of Education, said that     9     (ensure) that children enjoy high-quality education is the original intention of promoting digital education. “Digital education in Zibo has just begun and there are still many new situations, problems and challenges to deal     10    . In the future, we will accelerate the innovation of digital education application prospects and make every effort to strengthen the city’s digital education ecosystem,” Sun said.

8 . Ask any parents of young children whether they’ve ever felt overwhelmed (不堪重负的), and the answer will probably be — yes. Even in the most relaxed households there can be days when things seem to be out of control, leaving parents exhausted and annoyed. Kids often don’t have an off button or a quiet voice.

Common as this feeling is, there’s a personality trait (特点) that can make everyday family life more overwhelming for some parents. Roughly 20%-30% of the population are classed as being a highly sensitive person, according to a 2018 research. People who have it may find it hard to cope with bright lights and loud noise, and feel very stressful. It can also involve a stronger understanding of other people’s feelings — empathy (同情).

According to the psychologists, being highly sensitive is not a disorder but a personality trait — a way of responding to one’s environment. “Generally, highly sensitive people tend to react particularly strongly to sensory stimulation. They have stronger consciousness. They come to realize more details,” says Michael Pluess, a psychologist specializing in the study. “They will pick up on the moods of other people, have higher empathy, process things more deeply and pick up more about the environment. Deeply affected by what they see and feel, highly sensitive people are also easily overstimulated.”

The challenges highly sensitive parents face — including stress and overstimulation in a messy environment — can affect “high quality parenting”. In the early stages of parenthood, such parents report greater stress and find parenting more difficult than other parents do.

Fortunately, though, the trait also comes with certain advantages. Recent evidence suggests that while highly sensitive parents initially experienced high levels of stress, they showed improved parenting styles by the time their babies were nine months old. In the short term, sensitive people are more easily overwhelmed with change, but when it comes to parenting, highly sensitive parents have the potential to be exceptional. They can understand their children and respond to their needs quickly and appropriately.

Since parental overwhelm can affect anyone, whether highly sensitive or not, some of the coping strategies for highly sensitive people could benefit all parents.

1. What does the author imply in the first paragraph?

A．The life of young parents is colorful.

B．The kids are unhappy for lack of love.

C．Young kids are often tough to deal with.

D．It is easy to get everything under control.

2. What does Michael Pluess say about highly sensitive people?

A．They possess no good insight.

B．It is hard to overstimulate them.

C．They better understand the environment.

D．It is common for them to overlook details.

3. How does the author consider the high sensitivity among young parents?

A．Deeply rooted.	B．Extremely harmful.
C．Greatly unstable.	D．Potentially beneficial.

4. What might the author continue talking about?

A．Outcomes of coping strategies.

B．Tips for highly sensitive parents.

C．Responses to the concern about parenting.

D．Evaluation of overwhelmed parents’ impact.

9 . 阅读下面短文，根据题目要求用英文回答问题。请在答题卡指定区域作答。

Children learn best when the significant adults in their lives—parents, teachers, and other family and community members—work together to encourage and support them. This basic fact should be a guiding principle as we think about how schools should be organized and how children should be taught. Schools alone cannot address all of a child’s developmental needs: the meaningful involvement of parents and support from the community are essential.

The need for a strong partnership between schools and families to educate children may seem like common sense. In simpler times, this relationship was natural and easy to maintain. Teachers and parents were often neighbors and found many occasions to discuss a child’s progress. Children heard the same messages from teachers and parents and understood that they were expected to uphold the same standards at home and at school.

As society has become more complex and demanding, though, these relationships have all too often fallen by the wayside. Neither educators nor parents have enough time to get to know one another and establish working relationships on behalf of children. In many communities, parents are discouraged from spending time in classrooms and educators are expected to consult with family members only when a child is in trouble. The result, in too many cases, is misunderstanding, mistrust, and a lack of respect, so that when a child falls behind, teachers blame the parents and parents blame the teachers.

At the same time，our society has created artificial distinctions （区别）of the roles that parents and teachers should play in a young person’s development. We tend to think that schools should stick to teaching academics and that home is the place where children’s moral and emotional development should take place.

Yet children don’t stop learning about values and relationships when they enter a classroom, nor do they cease learning academics— and attitudes about learning —when they are at home or elsewhere in their community.

These days, it can take extraordinary efforts to build strong relationships between families and educators. Schools have to reach out to families, making them feel welcome as full partners in the educational process. Families, in turn, have to make a commitment of time and energy to support their children both at home and at school.

1. What is important when it comes to children’s education?
__________________________________________________
2. Why is it hard for parents and teachers to build a strong partnership nowadays?
__________________________________________________
3. Please decide which part is false in the following statement, then underline it and explain why.
Families and schools should join hands to support students’ development, and they should be aware that there is a clear division of their responsibilities in the education of children.
__________________________________________________
4. What are your suggestions on how to get parents involved in school affairs?   
__________________________________________________

10 . In 2017, Irish President Michael D. Higgins and his wife Sabina started the Young Irish Philosopher Awards, the purpose of which is to invite students from throughout that country to reflect on interesting questions and participate in philosophical thinking and discussion. In 2023, over 500 young thinkers came together at University College Dublin for the sixth annual gathering. The grand prize winner was Seán Radeliffe from Cork, for his essay ‘Has Plato’s tale of the cave been warning us of social media for 2,500years?’And speaking of Plato, in 2022, an award-winning documentary film entitled Young Plato received international recognition. It focuses on how Kevin McArevey, the headmaster of a primary school in Belfast’s Ardoyne housing estates, uses critical thinking techniques to empower young children to look beyond the boundaries of their violence(For more, see YoungPlato. com). As one can see, philosophy is alive and well in both the Republic of Ireland and the UK constituent country of Northern Ireland.

Ireland has traditionally been known as the Land of Saints and Scholars. In this edition of Philosophy Now, we’ll cast a cold eye on the state of philosophy past, present and future in the Emerald Isle, with a focus on Thomas Duddy’s idea, in his book A History of Irish Thought, that such an exploration must be both practical and creative.

This issue is dedicated to my late friend Seán Moran, a Philosophy Now writer and a modern Irish philosopher whom I met in Waterford many years ago, and whose humor, charm, and friendliness enriched my life. Like Tom Duddy, Seán died much too young. He demonstrated to me the true meaning of William Butler Yeats’s closing words from his poem ‘The Municipal Gallery Revisited’:

“Think where man’s glory most begins and ends

And say my glory was I had such friends.”

Prof. Timothy J. Madigan

St John Fisher University

1. What can readers probably get on YoungPlato. com?

A．How critical thinking helps students reflect on their violence.

B．How Plato’s stories influence social media every now and then.

C．How Higgins and his wife started the Young Irish Philosopher Awards.

D．How young thinkers try philosophical thinking and discussion annually.

2. What will be highlighted in this edition of Philosophy Now?

A．Ireland’s Philosophical Evolution.	B．Thomas Duddy’s ideas on history.
C．The growing reputation of Ireland.	D．The ideal way of exploring philosophy.

3. Why does the author quote Yeats’s poem?

A．To compare Seán’s achievement with Tom Duddy’s.

B．To express the author’s sorrow for Seán’s early death.

C．To appreciate the friendship between the author and Seán.

D．To demonstrate the author’s understanding of philosophy.

4. What best shows the author’s view on philosophy?

A．Creative.

B．Reflective.

C．Skeptical.

D．Confused.