1 . If you’ve scrolled through your Facebook feed recently, you may have noticed something surprising: lots and lots of short videos.
What makes this “Reels” feature strange is that it is hugely addictive, which I know quite well from my own personal experience. Last Friday, I took a break and hit on one short clip of someone making dinner and, well, the next time I looked up it was 20 minutes later and the blank document on my computer monitor was confirming to me that my work was still not done.
However, as silly as it seems, Reels-is actually super important, and is at the centre of a major battle between the world’s largest tech firms. The format (格式) was first pioneered by TikTok-the Chinese-owned video app that has taken the world by storm since it launched in 2016. Today, TikTok has around 23 million UK users every month-including basically every person you know under the age of 25. And that fact has made Facebook and its parent company, Meta, very nervous indeed. As TikTok has continued to boom, Facebook has actually fallen in popularity among “Gen Z”. The reason Tik Tok has proven such a powerful challenger to Facebook’s social media dominance is almost entirely down to these sorts of short-form videos.
The format is almost perfectly optimised to be as addictive as possible: Tik Tok’s app shows you a short-form video, and if you don’t like it, you can simply swipe it away and another one will start playing instantly. And because it is portrait, not landscape, videos look “right” when viewed on your phone. What’s also smart is that TikTok’s algorithm (算法) picks videos for you based on what you actually watch, and not what you say you want.
Facebook isn’t the only app trying to do what TikTok does so well. Instagram, which is owned by Facebook’s parent company Meta, has integrated Reels even more aggressively into its app. And even Google is nervous, launching its own TikTok-style video section of YouTube(which it owns)a couple of years ago. As things stand, though TikTok currently maintains a healthy lead in the category, both YouTube and Facebook have deep pockets-so expect to see even more Reels and Shorts popping up in your feed as this intense battle continues to rage. You won’t be able to take your eyes off them.
1. Why did the author mention his own experience in paragraph 2?| A．To illustrate the feature of short videos. |
| B．To stress the importance of short videos. |
| C．To prove his preference to short videos. |
| D．To introduce the functions of short videos. |
| A．It has shown the trend of the fall in popularity among “Gen Z”. |
| B．It is perceived as a potential threat to Facebook’s social media dominance. |
| C．Its number of registered UK users has reached 23 million since it launched in 2016. |
| D．It underestimates the essential role of short videos in competition with large tech firms. |
| A．The beautiful visual effects. |
| B．The high video quality. |
| C．The random recommendation. |
| D．The quick switch between videos. |
| A．The short videos have a profound impact on our daily life. |
| B．TikTok seems to be losing its advantage over short videos in the short run. |
| C．YouTube and Facebook may encounter financial difficulties in developing Shorts. |
| D．A growing number of tech firms have engaged in fierce competition for the short video market. |
2 . How to overcome travel anxiety
Stress and anxiety around documents and procedures of travel is common. Here are some tips from experts on how to overcome travel anxiety and enjoy your holiday or trip.
Plan out your trip details. One of the reasons for your travel anxiety is that you’re being taken out of your comfort zone and won’t have full control over everything.
Make use of different relaxation techniques.
Have things with you that bring you joy. These can include physical item s like a book to read, or a game to play. It can be extremely useful in distracting you from your negative feelings. Alternatively, you can create a playlist of songs you love or have your favourite TV show with you.
Don’t forget your physical health. Being physically active is a great way to reduce feelings of anxiety and stress.
| A．Brainstorm various kinds of anxiety. |
| B．Understand where your anxiety originates. |
| C．Frankly speaking, negative feelings can’t be avoided. |
| D．Make sure to incorporate physical activity in your days. |
| E．Deep breathing is a technique proven to help reduce stress. |
| F．They will keep your mind occupied, decreasing your feelings of anxiety. |
| G．To help ease that anxious feeling, try to plan out your trip in as much detail as possible. |
3 . Is forgiveness against our human nature? To answer our question, we need to ask a further question: What is the essence of our humanity? For the sake of simplicity, people consider two distinctly different views of humanity.
The first view involves dominance and power. In an early paper on the psychology of forgiveness, Droll (1984) made the interesting claim that humans’ essential nature is more aggressive than forgiving allows. Those who forgive are against their basic nature, much to their harm. In his opinion, forgivers are compromising their well-being as they offer mercy to others, who might then take advantage of them.
The second view involves the theme of cooperation, mutual respect, and even love as the basis of who we are as humans. Researchers find that to fully grow as human beings, we need both to receive love from and offer love to others. Without love, our connections with a wide range of individuals in our lives can fall apart. Even common sense strongly suggests that the will to power over others does not make for harmonious interactions. For example, how well has slavery worked as a mode of social harmony?
From this second viewpoint of who we are as humans, forgiveness plays a key role in the biological and psychological integrity of both individuals and communities because one of the outcomes of forgiveness, shown through scientific studies, is the decreasing of hate and the restoration of harmony. Forgiveness can break the cycle of anger. At least to the extent the people from whom you are estranged (不和的) accept your love and forgiveness and are prepared to make the required adjustments. Forgiveness can heal relationships and reconnect people.
As an important note, when we take a classical philosophical perspective, we see the distinction between potentiality and actuality. We are not necessarily born with the capacity to forgive, but instead with the potential to learn about it and to grow in our ability to forgive. The actuality of forgiving, in real situations, develops with practice.
1. What is Droll’s idea about forgiveness?| A．People should offer mercy to others. |
| B．Aggressive people should learn to forgive. |
| C．Forgiveness depends on the nature of humanity. |
| D．People who forgive can have their own welfare affected. |
| A．To fight is to grow. | B．To give is to receive. |
| C．To forgive is to abuse. | D．To dominate is to harm. |
| A．Favorable. | B．Reserved. | C．Objective. | D．Skeptical. |
| A．Forgiveness is in our nature. | B．Forgiveness grows with time. |
| C．It takes practice to forgive. | D．Actuality is based on potentiality. |
4 . My father, Paul Andrew Figura, was a die-hard fisherman. In my
Whenever we
The greatest life lesson that Dad taught me involved dealing with those times when the fish weren’t
I learned early the importance of
| A．dream | B．career | C．childhood | D．adulthood |
| A．got up | B．reached out | C．stepped back | D．set off |
| A．camps | B．lines | C．tracks | D．cottages |
| A．forgot | B．rejected | C．recalled | D．meant |
| A．make | B．pack | C．heat | D．freeze |
| A．cultural | B．random | C．major | D．external |
| A．cast | B．step | C．strike | D．risk |
| A．swimming | B．dancing | C．gathering | D．biting |
| A．wander | B．play | C．quit | D．sleep |
| A．response | B．intention | C．evaluation | D．situation |
| A．abandon | B．monitor | C．fetch | D．wet |
| A．kindness | B．insistence | C．confidence | D．business |
| A．cooperate | B．progress | C．resist | D．integrate |
| A．In surprise | B．As a result | C．Ahead of time | D．In particular |
| A．intentionally | B．casually | C．hesitantly | D．temporarily |
1. What are the speakers?
| A．A player and a coach. | B．Football fans. | C．TV sports reporters. |
| A．Bad defense. | B．Poor passing. | C．Certain players. |
| A．The visiting team will win. |
| B．The game will end in a draw. |
| C．The home team will win by two goals. |
1. How did the speaker become a photographer in demand?
| A．By teaching in workshops. | B．By starting a business. | C．By taking small jobs. |
| A．The stress of producing perfect work. |
| B．Decreased interest in photography. |
| C．Constantly changing hobbies. |
| A．Expanding the business. |
| B．Taking photography trips abroad. |
| C．Finding out more forms of photography. |
1. What is the main topic of the conversation?
| A．The working life. | B．College experience. | C．Hobbies. |
| A．About four months. | B．About six months. | C．About eight months. |
| A．The stress of exams. | B．The shortage of money. | C．The loads of assignments. |
| A．On weekends. | B．Right after exams. | C．During the nights after work. |
1. What is the woman doing?
| A．Conducting an interview. | B．Reporting some news. | C．Organizing an event. |
| A．That his health condition will become worse. |
| B．That his duties at home and school will be affected. |
| C．That his efforts in the community won’t be recognized. |
| A．By talking to his teacher. |
| B．By quitting the community project. |
| C．By involving his family in community work. |
1. Why was it difficult to rescue the cat?
| A．It was too scared to move. | B．It was hurt by the branches. | C．It was in the top of a tree. |
| A．He got a neighbor to help him. | B．He borrowed a ladder. | C．He climbed the tree. |
| A．To make food. | B．To play in the band. | C．To give directions. |
