1 . Borders, departments, or issue areas all represent what systems analysts call system boundaries. System boundaries divide the big, messy, interconnected world into smaller subsystems. This is useful, even necessary. Our minds and our collective governance systems would be stuck if we had to always consider all the connections of everything to everything else. But dividing systems into subsystems can sometimes break a natural cooperativity. For instance, a decarbonizing country will spend money in its energy and transportation sectors and save money in its health system.
Decarbonization could be a win for the whole, but it might be experienced as a bother for particular subsystems.
Donella Meadows, the early systems modeler, wrote that system boundaries are “lines in the mind, not in the world.” And that is actually good news. If departments, and disciplines are just ideas, then there is nothing immovable about them. We can make these borders less obvious and conduct partnerships across them. We can even redraw them to include more of what matters in a single project or investment. That’s the premise of multisolving — using one investment of time or effort to achieve several goals at once.
For instance, Warm Up New Zealand (WUNZ) upgraded the energy efficiency of residential buildings and provided jobs in the building sector after a financial downturn. The project resulted in better health for residents, as well. That translated into health systems savings. Taken together, a 2011 study estimated that across all these benefits, the project saved $3.90 for every $1 invested.
Multisolving seems possible everywhere and like an obvious choice. Yet, it is very much the exception, not the rule. Why is multisolving still so rare when it has the power to boost progress on some of the most urgent issues we face?
Unfamiliarity stands in the way, as does an often-unexamined assumption that making issues smaller makes them easier to address. We often hear the viewpoint, “I already work on poverty (or climate, etc.) and that’s hard enough. Why should I add biodiversity or pollution to the mix?” Fundraising for crossing borders can be a struggle too. Funders want the “visible results” shown, but they don’t always see crossing borders as an essential part of achieving those results.
It is easy to devalue and underemphasize connection-building. After all, it can be delicate and not always visible. But to realize goals in today’s world, from equitable policies and low-carbon facilities to values like cooperation and fairness, we do need deep shifts, and we need them soon. And facilitating the flow of ideas back and forth across borders is one way to speed change.
1. As for systems boundaries, the author is ______.| A．critical | B．puzzled | C．supportive | D．unconcerned |
| A．Prediction. | B．Precondition. | C．Prevention. | D．Presentation. |
| A．People are familiar with multisolving. |
| B．WUNZ performed multisolving successfully. |
| C．Raising money helps to produce visible results. |
| D．Multisolving is widely used to address problems. |
| A．Multisolving: Hard to achieve soon |
| B．Multisolving: Essential to solve small issues |
| C．Multisolving: Conducting partnership across borders |
| D．Multisolving: Making systems whole, healthy, and sustainable |
2 . 
If you have ever seen a snowflake design on jewelry or a bag, chances are it was based on one of Wilson Bentley’s more than 5,000 photomicrographs of snow crystals (晶体).
At first, though, Bentley did not have any way to share his enjoyment of the delicate hexagons (六边形) other than to draw them. He spent hours outside or inside his unheated storeroom with a microscope. He would pick up a snow crystal and transfer it to a microscope slide. There, he flattened it with a bird feather. Then, holding his breath, he observed the crystal and hurried to draw what he saw before it turned forever into thin air.
A few years later, Bentley began his pursuit to photograph a snow crystal. He attached a microscope to a camera. Time after time, his negatives appeared blank. The following winter, he finally figured out that too much light was reaching the camera. His solution was to place a metal plate with a tiny hole in the center beneath the stage of the microscope. It cut down the stray (杂散的) light and allowed only the light waves carrying the image to reach the camera.
On January 15, 1885, at the age of 19, Bentley finally photographed a snowflake! He spent many hours over the next 45 years in his tiny darkroom developing negatives.
Bentley lived his entire life on his childhood farm. He farmed for a living. To his friends and family, he was kind, gentle, and funny “Willie”. But to scientists, he was the untrained researcher who became a snow crystal pioneer. He wrote for science journals. He not only photographed snow crystals but also became an authority on dew (露水) and frost. He kept a detailed daily log of local weather conditions throughout his life. He developed a method to measure the size of raindrops too.
Bentley never made more than a few thousand dollars from his work. It had been a labor of love, and he was satisfied to be able to share the beauty of his snow crystals with the world. And today, he is remembered as Snowflake Bentley.
1. Why did Bentley draw the snow crystals?| A．To design products. | B．To become an artist. |
| C．To share his pleasure. | D．To research the weather. |
| A．improved the microscope | B．changed the negatives |
| C．turned down the light | D．invented a camera |
| A．He lived a successful but boring life. | B．He was laughed at for lack of training. |
| C．He earned a lot of money from his photos. | D．He was not only an artist but also a scientist. |
| A．Practice makes perfect. | B．Intelligence is the key to success. |
| C．Love and devotion makes a person. | D．Chances are for those who are prepared. |
1.表示对他的思念和感谢；
2.提出建议（至少二条）；
3.希望他早日康复。
注意：1.词数100左右；
2.开头和结尾已给出，不计入总词数。
Dear Patrice,
I’m sorry to hear that you have been in hospital for several days.
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Yours,
Li Hua
| capable disease relieve strengthen oxygen regular |
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| A．gym | B．cycle | C．typical | D．system |
| A．court | B．click | C．social | D．function |
| A．suffer | B．thus | C．shortcut | D．supply |
| pay off benefit sign up responsible behaviour unfortunately character specific organize |
2. In my opinion, swimming is a kind of exercise which could bring lots of
3. As senior secondary students, we need to learn to work independently and be
4. In the 19th Asian Games, the Chinese women’s basketball team won the champion and all their hard work
5. Some parties are held for a
6. Last Sunday, Jennifer and her friends paid a visit to the Great Wall, but,
7. In order to create a good public environment, I think all of us should mind our
8. Some typical images of Chinese paper cuts are flowers, birds and Chinese
9. Professor White suggested that students should
10 . Is your teen time really that different from that of your parents or grandparents?
Weak. Easy to be angry. Addicted to their phones. Are these what come to mind when we think of the teens of this generation (一代人)? While there may be a little of truth to this thought, there might be more to the teens of this generation than what is generally seen.
Never before have the lives of any generation been as connected with mobile technology and social media as the teens of this generation. It follows then that there will be some problems resulting from this new age of technology. The popular use of social media has led to a world in which teens are responsible to join. Compared to the parents or grandparents who were likely less connected, these teens are “busy” in their social circles. It is no wonder then that the health of this generation’s teens has been damaged.
Moreover, the teens today are more independent. This is quite different from the more village spirit or community thought of the parents’ and grandparents’ times. Gone is the relationship among neighbours who are friendly with one another and quick to offer a helping hand when they see another in need. In its place, we have teens who may not even know who lives in the unit next to theirs, much less offer a friendly nod or wave when they happen to cross streets with a neighbour.
Yet, the influences of technology on the teens of this generation are not all bad. The very connectedness that social media brings about has led to an opening of minds and a development of dialogue among people of various cultures and backgrounds. Using social media means that one can know those people and their different ways of life. The parents or grandparents of this generation probably did not have the same chance to get to know people outside of their social circles at their age, so they may have fixed ideas of people different from them. The teens of this generation, on the other hand, has the chance to use this technology to learn more about and try to understand the various things out there. As a result, this might be why the teens of this generation are generally more open-minded than their parents and grandparents.
All in all, the teens of this generation are different in many ways from their elders. Every generation is a product of the events of their time and this generation therefore is different from past generations, with the changes around them at the same time.
1. Which statement is correct according to the passage?| A．Most old people may not know their next-door neighbors. |
| B．People usually think the new generation is stronger and calmer. |
| C．Social media and technology may bring some influences to teens. |
| D．The new generation may have fixed ideas of people different from them. |
| A．Broken. | B．Relieved. |
| C．Increased. | D．Developed. |
| A．Brave and smart. |
| B．Open and independent. |
| C．Friendly and confident. |
| D．Responsible and patient. |
| A．The new generation is better because of their age. |
| B．Technology has bad influences on the old generation. |
| C．People use social media to learn different people. |
| D．The use of social media brings some benefits to the new generation. |
| A．How Does the New Generation Change the Culture? |
| B．How Are Teens Today Different from Past Generations? |
| C．What Are the Weaknesses of the Old and New Generation? |
| D．What Are the Influences of Technology on the New Generation? |
