1 . We live in a town with three beaches. There are two parts less than 10 minutes’ walk from home where neighborhood children gather to play. However, what my children want to do after school is pick up a screen — any screen — and stare at it for hours. They are not alone. Today’s children spend an average of four and a half hours a day looking at screens, split between watching television and using the Internet.

In the past few years, an increasing number of people and organisations have begun coming up with plans to counter this trend. A couple of years ago film-maker David Bond realised that his children, then aged five and three, were attached to screens to the point where he was able to say “chocolate” into his three-year-old son’s ear without getting a response. He realised that something needed to change, and, being a London media type, appointed himself “marketing director from Nature”. He documented his journey as he set about treating nature as a brand to be marketed to young people. The result was Project Wild Thing, a film which charts the birth of the World Network, a group of organisations with the common goal of getting children out into nature.

“Just five more minutes outdoors can make a difference,” David Bond says. “There is a lot of really interesting evidence which seems to be suggesting that if children are inspired up to the age of seven, then being outdoors will be on habit for life.” His own children have got into the habit of playing outside now: “We just send them out into the garden and tell them not to come back in for a while.”

Summer is upon us. There is an amazing world out there, and it needs our children as much as they need it. Let us get them out and let them play.

1. What is the problem with the author’s children?

A．They often annoy their neighbours.	B．They are tired of doing their homework.
C．They have no friends to play with	D．They stay in front of screens for too long.

2. How did David Bond advocate his idea?

A．By making a documentary film.	B．By organizing outdoor activities.
C．By advertising in London media.	D．By creating a network of friends.

3. Which of the following can replace the underlined word “charts” in paragraph 2?

A．records

B．predicts

C．delays

D．confirms

4. What can be a suitable title for the text?

A．Let Children Have Fun	B．Young Children Need More Free Time
C．Market Nature to Children	D．David Bond: A Role Model for Children

2 . Mathematics has an image problem: far too many people are put off by it and conclude that the subject just isn’t for them. But one of the biggest problems is how maths is ________, as cold and dry.

I have a different approach which is to relate abstract maths to questions of politics and social justice. I have taught fairly maths-phobic (恐惧) art students in this way and have seen their attitudes ________. They now believe maths is ________ them and can genuinely help them.

At a basic level, maths is founded on logic, so when I am teaching logic, I use examples from ________ events rather than the old-fashioned type of problem. Instead of studying the logic of a statement like “all dogs have four legs”, I might discuss the statement “all immigrants are illegal”.

But I do this with specific mathematical structures, too. ________, I teach a type of structure called an ordered set, which is subject to an order relation such as “is less than”. We then study and ask which functions are “order-preserving”. A typical example might be the function that takes a(n) ________ number and maps it to the number obtained from multiplying by 2. We would then say that if x < y then also 2x < 2y, so the function is order-preserving.

________, rather than sticking to this type of dry mathematical example, I introduce issues like privilege and wealth. If we think of one ordered set with people ordered by status, we can make a function to another set where the people are now ordered by ________ instead. If someone has a higher status, are they automatically wealthier? We can also ask about working hours and ________: if someone works more hours, do they ________ earn more? The answer there is clearly not.

My approach is controversial because, traditionally, maths is supposed to be ________ and apolitical (与政治无关的). I have been ________ by people who think my approach will be off-putting (令人烦恼的) to those who don’t care about social justice. However, the dry approach is off-putting to those who do care. In fact, I believe that all academic disciplines should address our most important issues. Abstract maths is about making thorough logical arguments, which is linked to everything. I don’t ________ that students agree with me about politics, but I do ask that they construct thorough arguments to back up their thoughts and develop the crucial ability to analyze the logic of people they ________.

Maths isn’t just about numbers and equations (方程式); it is about studying different ________ systems. We can apply it to balls rolling down different hills, but we can also apply it to pressing social issues. I think we should do both, for the sake of society and to be more inclusive towards different types of students in maths education.

1.

A．dismissed

B．presented

C．doubted

D．neglected

2.

A．transformed

B．defined

C．illustrated

D．examined

3.

A．credited to

B．relevant to

C．separated from

D．independent of

4.

A．economic

B．mathematical

C．current

D．virtual

5.

A．In particular

B．For example

C．After all

D．In addition

6.

A．ordinary

B．odd

C．absolute

D．limited

7.

A．However

B．Moreover

C．Otherwise

D．Therefore

8.

A．power

B．wealth

C．health

D．intelligence

9.

A．profit

B．status

C．income

D．promotion

10.

A．particularly

B．specifically

C．habitually

D．necessarily

11.

A．applicable

B．neutral

C．biased

D．theoretical

12.

A．criticized

B．tolerated

C．ignored

D．assessed

13.

A．oppose

B．claim

C．assume

D．demand

14.

A．disagree with

B．run across

C．rely on

D．benefit from

15.

A．legal

B．operating

C．logical

D．grading

3 . A baby born today will be thirty-something in 2050. If all goes well, that baby will still be around in 2100, and might even be an active citizen of the 22^nd century. What should we teach that baby to help them survive and flourish in the world of 2050 and beyond? What kind of skills will they need in order to get a job, understand what is happening around them, and navigate their tough life?

At present, too many schools across the world focus on providing pupils with a set of predetermined skills, such as writing computer code in C++ and conversing in Chinese. Yet since we have no idea how the world and the job market will look in 2050, we don’t really know what particular skills people will need. We might invest a lot of effort in teaching kids how to write in C++ or to speak Chinese, only to discover sooner or later that AI will have been able to code software far better than humans, and that a new translation app will have enabled you to conduct a conversation in almost flawless Mandarin, Cantonese or Hakka, even though you only know how to say ni hao.

So what should we be teaching? Many experts argue that schools should downplay technical skills and emphasize general-purpose life skills: the ability to deal with change, to learn new things, and to preserve your mental balance in unfamiliar situations. In order to keep up with the world of 2050, you will above all need to reinvent yourself again and again.

To succeed in such a demanding task, you will need to work very hard on getting to know your operating system better—to know what you are and what you want from life. This is, of course, the oldest advice in the book: know thyself. This advice was never more urgent than in the mid-21^st century, because unlike in the days of Laozi or Socrates, now you have serious competition. Coca-Cola, Amazon and Facebook are all racing to hack you.

Right now, the algorithms (算法) are watching where you go, what you buy, and who you meet. Soon they will monitor all your steps, breaths and heartbeats. They are relying on big data and machine learning to get to know you better and better. And once these algorithms know you better than you know yourself, they could control and manipulate (操纵) you. In the end, authority will shift to them.

Of course, you might be perfectly happy giving up all authority to the algorithms and trusting them to make decisions for you and for the rest of the world. If, however, you want to maintain some control over your personal existence and over the future of life in general, you have to run faster than the algorithms. To run fast, don’t take much luggage with you. Leave all your illusions (幻想) behind. They are very heavy.

1. What does the underlined word “downplay” in paragraph 3 most probably mean?

A．Give too much emphasis on something.

B．Make people think that something is less important.

C．Offer your reasons why something is right or wrong.

D．Decide something in advance so that it does not happen.

2. According to the article, ___________ plays a vital role in children’s bright future.

A．imagination

B．adaptability

C．self-discipline

D．a good sense of balance

3. It’s important to know our operating system because ___________.

A．if we don’t, algorithms will hack all our devices.

B．it is an essential skill for us to succeed in the world of 2050.

C．we need to learn how algorithms work and make full use of them.

D．we need to outrun algorithms to keep some control over our personal life.

4. The article mainly talks about _________.

A．the importance of knowing yourself

B．the threats and dangers of technology

C．what kind of skills we might need in the future

D．some potential benefits algorithms would bring to humankind

4 . It is Nobel Prize week, the one week every year when people from all corners of the globe celebrate science, read about ribosomes (核糖体), and give their best shot at trying to understand particle physics. It is also the one week when science is guaranteed some prime headline space on mainstream news outlets. And yet the science Nobels (in medicine, physics, and chemistry) present a(n) _______ view of science.

The problem starts with the _______ of prize-winners selected every year. The rules governing the Nobel Prize _______ it to just three winners in each category. This means that for every discovery that is awarded a Nobel, the majority of contributing scientists end up being _______.

As a matter of fact, science has never been a(n) _______ effort. Isaac Newton stood on the “shoulders of giants”; Neil Armstrong’s “one small step” was a dream realized by hundreds of thousands of engineers and scientists. Science is, and always has been, and repetitive process where individuals draw on discoveries made by others to _______ advance the boundaries of human knowledge. Yes, Albert Einstein famously won the Nobel Prize all by himself for a paper he alone authored, but he could not have made his discoveries without _______ work by Max Planck, James Maxwell, and several others.

To make matters worse, typical of the Nobel Prizes, none of the _______ was a first author on any of the publications cited by the prize announcements. The first author of a scientific paper is typically the person who did the hands-on laboratory work, usually a graduate student or young post-doctoral researcher. It is precisely these _______ researchers who are in greater need of the Nobel Prize money than their generally tenured (终身的) supervisors.

More basically, awarding the prizes to only three scientists spreads a vision of science as an individual enterprise. By ensuring that graduate students are not given ________ recognition, the prizes reinforce (加强) the mistaken image of a scientist as an old white man in a lab coat. This can only ________ gender and racial inequalities in science, especially further along in an academic career.

Any one of these reasons is sufficient to ________ the Nobel Prizes. Here is one idea: Award the Nobel Prizes not to ________ but for discoveries; donate the prize money to an international science fund to promote further exploration in each year’s prize-winning field of research.

A science-oriented Nobel, rather than a scientist-oriented one, would educate the public in the most important scientific developments and, ________, stimulate new scientific progress by using the prize money to fund the next generation of researchers. Science works best when the________ of one generation of scientists are paid forward to drive the next to even greater heights. That is to say, scientists of different generations work with joint efforts to support future scientific advancements for the betterment of society as a whole.

1.

A．strange

B．outdated

C．all-round

D．advanced

2.

A．quality

B．diversity

C．discipline

D．figure

3.

A．restrict

B．extend

C．relate

D．apply

4.

A．employed

B．ignored

C．respected

D．nominated

5.

A．terrific

B．constant

C．intellectual

D．individual

6.

A．naturally

B．rapidly

C．gradually

D．personally

7.

A．previous

B．subsequent

C．physical

D．commercial

8.

A．employees

B．addressees

C．awardees

D．refugees

9.

A．chief-position

B．early-career

C．senior-management

D．academic-world

10.

A．due

B．immediate

C．literary

D．governmental

11.

A．turn down

B．level off

C．take away

D．step up

12.

A．claim

B．reform

C．present

D．announce

13.

A．organizers

B．researchers

C．sponsors

D．supervisors

14.

A．in fact

B．in comparison

C．in theory

D．in turn

15.

A．legends

B．spirits

C．achievements

D．mysteries

6 . Last year, 138,000 San Francisco residents used Airbnb, a popular app designed to connect home renters and travelers. It’s a striking number for a city with a population of about 850,000, and it was enough for Airbnb to win a major victory in local elections, as San Francisco voters struck down a debatable rule that would have placed time restrictions and other regulations on short-term rental services.

The company fiercely opposed the measure, Proposition F, with a nearly $10 million advertising campaign. It also contacted its San Franciscan users with messages urging them to vote against Proposition F.

Most people think of Airbnb as a kind of couch-surfing app. The service works for one-night stays on road trips and longer stays in cities, and it often has more competitive pricing than hotels. It’s a textbook example of the “sharing economy”, but not everyone is a fan.

The app has had unintended consequences in San Francisco. As the San Francisco Chronicle reported last year, a significant amount of renting on Airbnb is not in line with the company’s image: middle-class families putting up a spare room to help make ends meet. Some users have taken advantage of the service, using it to turn their multiple properties into vacation rentals or even full-time rentals. Backers of Proposition F argued that this trend takes spaces off the conventional, better-regulated housing market and contributes to rising costs.

“The fact is, widespread abuse of short-term rentals is taking much needed housing off the market and harming our neighborhoods,” said ShareBetter SF, a group that supported Proposition F. Hotel unions have protested the company’s practices in San Francisco and other cities, saying that it creates an illegal hotel system.

San Francisco is in the middle of a long-term, deeply rooted housing crisis that has seen the cost of living explode. Actually, explode is a generous term. The average monthly rent for an apartment is around $4, 000. Located on a narrow outcropping of land overlooking the bay, San Francisco simply doesn’t have enough space to accommodate the massive inflow of young, high-salaried tech employees flocking to Silicon Valley.

As the Los Angeles Times reported, some San Francisco residents supported the measure simply because it seemed like a way to check a big corporation. Opponents of Proposition F countered that the housing crisis runs much deeper, and that passing the rule would have discouraged a popular service while doing little to solve the city’s existing problems.

1. The intention of Proposition F is to ________.

A．place time limits in local election.	B．set limits on short-term rental.
C．strike down a controversial rule.	D．urge users to vote against Airbnb.

2. What is the negative consequence of Airbnb on San Francisco?

A．It shrinks the living space of middle-class families.

B．Users are taken advantage of by the service financially.

C．It makes the house market more competitive.

D．It indirectly leads to high house rental price.

3. The housing crisis in San Francisco results from ________.

A．explosion of the living cost	B．its geographic characteristics
C．generosity of local enterprises	D．inflow of migrant population

4. The author’s attitude toward Proposition F is ________.

A．objective	B．supportive
C．negative	D．indifferent

7 .         there, the old house can remind us of the past now and then.

A．Leaving

B．Having left

C．Left

D．To be left

10 .

People with fixed mindsets believe that: ●Skill, intelligence and talents are natural. ●Failure is shameful and should be avoided. ●Some people are naturally good at things while others not. ●You are not in control of your abilities.	People with growth mindsets believe that: ●You have the capacity to learn and grow your skills. ●Failure is a valuable lesson. ●People who are good at something are good because they build that ability. ●You are in control of your abilities.
have a desire to look smart, so tend to: —Avoid challenges. —Give up easily. —See effort as fruitless or worse. —Ignore useful negative feedback. —Feel threatened by the success of others.	have a desire to learn, so tend to: —Embrace challenges. —Persist in the face of setbacks. —See effort as the path to mastery. —Learn from criticism. —Find lessons and inspiration in the success of others.
As a result, they may stay at the same level early and achieve less than their full potential.	As a result, they reach ever-higher levels of achievement.
Change can be tough, but I’ve never heard anyone say it wasn’t worth it. Did changing to a growth mindset solve all my problems? No. But I know that I have a different life because of it—a richer one.

1. The book “mindset” is intended to ________.

A．tell readers that two different mindsets lead to different results

B．illustrate that people with different mindsets hold different beliefs

C．help readers believe people act differently when facing challenges

D．persuade people to learn to change so as to enjoy a more fruitful life

2. Generally speaking, people with fixed mindsets are mostly ________.

A．successful	B．straightforward
C．intelligent	D．narrow-minded

3. A person with a growth mindset is likely to say ________.

A．“If I win, I’ll be somebody; if I lose, I’ll be nobody.”

B．“To be good at sports, you need to be naturally gifted.”

C．“Learn techniques and skills and practice them regularly, and you will always improve.”

D．“You have a certain level of ability in sports and you cannot really do much to change it.”