1 . This question has fascinated behavioural scientists for decades: why do we give money to charity?
The explanations for charitable giving fall into three broad categories, from the purely altruisic (利他的)— I donate because I value the social good done by the charity. The “impurely” altruistic— I donate because I extract value from knowing I contribute to the social good for the charity. And the not-at-all altruistic— I donate because I want to show off to potential mates how rich I am.
But are these motives strong enough to enable people to donate as much as they would want to? Most people support charities in one way or another, but often we struggle to make donations as often as we think we should. Although many people would like to leave a gift to charity in their will, they forget about it when the time comes.
Many people are also aware that they should donate to the causes that have the highest impact, but facts and figures are less attractive than narratives. In a series of experiments, it was found that people are much more responsive to charitable pleas that feature a single, identifiable beneficiary(受益者), than they are to statistical information about the scale of the problem being faced. When it comes to charitable giving, we are often ruled by our hearts and not our heads.
The good news is that charitable giving is contagious—seeing others give makes an individual more likely to give and gentle encouragement from an important person in your life can also make a big difference to your donation decisions— more than quadrupling them in our recent study. Habit also plays a part— in three recent experiments those who volunteered before were more likely to do donate their time than those who had not volunteered before.
In summary, behavioural science identifies a range of factors that influence our donations, and can help us to keep giving in the longer term. This is great news not just for charities, but also for donors.
1. What can we learn about people who do charitable giving?| A．Most people support charity as often as they think they should. |
| B．Some people don’t want to leave a gift to charity until the time comes. |
| C．Those who donate because they can gain an advantage are purely altruistic. |
| D．Some people send money to charity simply to tell others they are wealthy. |
| A．Not revealing the names of the donors. |
| B．Showing figures about the seriousness of the problem. |
| C．Telling stories that feature a single, recognizable beneficiary. |
| D．Reminding people to write down what to donate in the will in advance. |
| A．People will learn from others and follow the suit. |
| B．Many people are familiar with charitable giving. |
| C．Charitable giving helps the beneficiary in all aspects. |
| D．Charitable giving can bring a lot of benefits to donors. |
| A．To persuade more people to donate. |
| B．To explain the science behind why people donate. |
| C．To criticize some false charitable giving behaviours. |
| D．To explore approaches to making people donate more. |
2 . While teenagers who are at risk of depression with risky behaviors — drinking alcohol, smoking cigarettes and cutting classes often alert parents and teachers that serious problems are brewing, a new study finds that there’s another group of adolescents who are in nearly as much danger of experiencing the same mental symptoms.
These teens use tons of media, get insufficient sleep and have a sedentary (不爱活动的) lifestyle. Of course, that may sound like a description of every teenager on the planet. But the study warns that it is teenagers who engage in all three of these practices in the extreme that are truly in a dangerous position. Because their behaviors are not usually seen as a red flag, these young people have been called the “invisible risk”group by the study’s authors.
The study’s authors surveyed 15,395 students and analyzed nine risk behaviors, including excessive alcohol use, illegal drug use, heavy smoking and high media use. Their aim was to determine the relationship between these risk behaviors and mental health issues in teenagers. The group that scored high on all nine of the risk behaviors was most likely to show symptoms of depression; in all, nearly 15% of this group reported being depressed, compared with just 4% of the low-risk group. But the invisible group wasn’t far behind the high-risk set, with more than 13% of them exhibiting depression.
The findings caught Carli off guard. “We didn’t expect that,” he says. “The high-risk group and low-risk group are obvious, but this third group was not only unexpected. It was so distinct and so large — nearly one third of our sample — that it became a key finding of the study.”
Carli says that one of the most significant things about his study is that it provides new early warning signs for parents, teachers and mental health-care providers. And early identification, support and treatment for mental health issues, he says, are the best ways to keep them from turning into full-blown disorders.
1. Which teenager probably belongs to the “invisible risk” group?| A．A teenager who skips school. |
| B．A teenager who drinks frequently. |
| C．A teenager who exercises regularly. |
| D．A teenager who suffers from lack of sleep. |
| A．It was intended to dig into the reasons for depression. |
| B．Its findings were under expectation of the research team. |
| C．It was conducted by analyzing and comparing the previous data. |
| D．It revealed an alarming rate of the invisible group suffering depression. |
| A．Unclear. | B．Concerned. | C．Doubtful. | D．Indifferent. |
| A．To caution teens against developing unhealthy habit. |
| B．To share a novel psychological experiment with teens. |
| C．To introduce a new treatment for teens’ mental disorder. |
| D．To warn about the unobserved signs for teens’ mental problems. |
4 . “When I was a child, I enjoyed watching Chinese dramas such as Princess Pearl and Journey to the West. Fascinated by the Chinese language and culture, I finally pursued it as my major for both my undergraduate and master’s degrees,” said Dinh Thi Thu Ha, a 32-year-old Vietnamese woman working at the waste burning power factory of China First Metallurgical(冶金)Group.
When she first applied for the job in 2019, she aimed for the translator position because the company was preparing for a Vietnam project, its first overseas waste-to-energy factory, in Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam, and it was in great need of translators. “At first, I wasn’t sure how long I could do the job since the working environment was harsh. We were surrounded by garbage, the smell was terrible and dark-colored water would flow everywhere after the rain,” Dinh recalled. But the demanding environment was not her only difficulty as Dinh soon found out that being bilingual (双语的) wasn’t enough for her to be a qualified translator. She had to be an expert in the field of garbage disposal (垃圾处理) too.
“The biggest challenge I faced was the translation of technical terms, many of which I couldn’t understand at the time,” Dinh said. “Whenever I ran into words or expressions that I wasn’t familiar with and couldn’t look up myself, I would ask my Chinese colleagues to explain them to me. They were always eager and happy to help.” In the company’s Vietnam branch, the number of Chinese staff slightly goes beyond that of Vietnamese, but Dinh said she never felt any cultural differences. “We’re not divided by our nationalities, and we’re members of the same family — China First Metallurgical Group.”
Dinh now works as a junior manager, and her job description includes translation, foreign affairs contactor, and marketing. As a local resident of Hanoi, Dinh is very proud to have contributed to this project. “I hope to improve my information research and negotiation skills in the future and to further explore and develop the Vietnamese market with my colleagues.”
1. What can be learned about Dinh from the first paragraph?| A．She enjoys writing dramas. |
| B．She has a talent for language. |
| C．She is fond of Chinese culture. |
| D．She looks forward to working in China. |
| A．Harmonious. | B．Attractive. | C．Frightening. | D．Tough. |
| A．Dealing with garbage. |
| B．Translating technical terms. |
| C．Understanding cultural differences. |
| D．Adapting to the demanding environment. |
| A．Skill is no burden. | B．Still waters run deep. |
| C．Well begun is half done. | D．Rome was not built in a day. |
1. What did the program say about the life in the future?
| A．People’s way of consumption will change. |
| B．More supermarkets will come into existence. |
| C．More free time will be available for people. |
| A．Doubtful. | B．Supportive. | C．Dismissive. |
8 . Snowboarding genius Su Yiming made a name for himself by winning China’s first Olympic gold in the sport on Tuesday. By cleanly stomping back-to-back 1800 tricks, the teenager landed the biggest prize so far in his young career—gold in the men’s Big Air at the Beijing Winter Olympics. The notable achievement realized a childhood dream to reach the peak of the sport, which he began to learn at the age of 4.
Now with two shinning medals hung around his neck, the 17-year-old described his superb Olympic debut ( 首秀) as an unbelievable experience that has made all his sacrifices worthwhile. “This feels so surreal that I’ve finally accomplished what I’ve dreamed of since I was little,” said an emotional Su.
Over the past four years, Su has combined his talent with hard work to produce one of the swiftest rises to prominence the sport has ever seen. When the Shougang Big Air venue hosted its first international event, Su was an unknown qualifier, who didn’t even make the final runs. Just over two years later, Su is the name on everyone’s lips at the venue’s Olympic debut—drawing the whole nation’s attention to the sport he loves.
“The biggest motivation (动力) for me is my love for snowboarding,” Su said, when asked about the secret to his success. “In snowboarding, I feel like I can show my own style and creativity. Every time I ride my board, it’s always a joyful moment. I hope through my experience, I can inspire more young people to get interested in the sport.”
Su, a former child actor who featured in action movies, said the Olympic gold will encourage him to seek for more breakthroughs—even beyond his athletic career. “I enjoy snowboarding just as much as I enjoy acting,” said Su, who turns 18 on Friday. “I think I still have a lot of possibilities to explore in my future career either in snowboarding or in acting. But now I just want to enjoy the moment and celebrate it as the best possible birthday gift.”
1. What does the underlined word “landed” in Paragraph 1 mean?| A．Arrived. | B．Gained. | C．Created. | D．Dreamed. |
| A．His acting experience. | B．His talent and hard work. |
| C．His being fond of snowboarding. | D．His life dream of achieving success. |
| A．Talented and thoughtful. | B．Lovely and famous. |
| C．Creative and kind-hearted. | D．Hard-working and devoted. |
| A．Upset. | B．Hopeful. | C．Anxious. | D．Satisfied. |
10 . It was a sunny afternoon in June of 2022 when 20-year-old Anthony Perry stepped off the train at Chicago’s 69th Street station. On the platform, two men were fighting bitterly. Then the unthinkable happened: the pair fell over the edge and onto the tracks. One man ended up on his back. Suddenly, he started convulsing (抽搐) unnaturally. He had fallen on the third rail, the conduit (导线管) for the 600 volts of electricity that powers Chicago’s L trains. The aggressor leaped backward, bounded back up onto the platform and disappeared.
Perry couldn’t just stand there and watch. He sat at the edge of the platform and eased himself down. He took a few quick bounds and approached the victim. The guy looked dead, his body still moving violently as the electricity pulsed (搏动). Gathering up his courage, Perry reached down and grasped the victim’s wrist. Instantly, he felt a blast of electric shock shoot through his body. Perry shrank and jumped back. He reached down a second time, and was shocked again. But the third time he seized the man’s wrist and forearm and, braving the shock, pulled with all his strength. The guy’s body slid briefly along the third rail, coming to rest on the gravel on the outer edge of the tracks.
The man was breathing, but irregularly. Something wasn’t right. “Give him chest compressions (按压)!” yelled a woman. Perry was no expert, but for a few moments he worked on the man’s heart until the victim began convulsing. Then he heard a sudden noise behind him — medical workers and firefighters had arrived. Perry let the professionals take over. His heart still racing from the electric shocks, he climbed back up onto the platform, grabbed his things and headed home.
The evening news reported the incident. After a friend outed him to the media, Perry became the toast of Chicago. Perry was then recruited by the Chicago Fire Department and is now training to be an emergency medical technician.
1. What made the rescue of the victim particularly difficult?| A．The man had lost his consciousness. |
| B．The victim lay injured on top of a track. |
| C．The rescuer was at risk of an electric shock. |
| D．The electricity powering trains was hard to cut off. |
| A．He had received professional first aid training. |
| B．The local newspaper interviewed him on the spot. |
| C．His chest compressions played a key role in saving life. |
| D．His heart beat fast because of nervousness and tiredness. |
| A．Perry landed a job in the Fire Department. |
| B．The city of Chicago awarded Perry a prize. |
| C．People in Chicago toasted Perry for his brave deeds. |
| D．Perry got popular and greatly admired in Chicago. |
| A．To credit a hero with saving a victim’s life. |
| B．To highlight Perry’s courage in stopping a fight. |
| C．To stress the importance of calmness in rescue work. |
| D．To display people’s cooperation in assisting the victim. |
