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. |
3 . 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? |
4 . Li Jing, 29, is a native of Cuijiaba, a small town in Hubei Province. She was one of the first people from her community to go for higher education. After graduation, she worked in Wuhan first, and then she changed her decision last year to return to her village.
“I want to be a part of my hometown’s development and bring about real changes to our villagers while realizing my own personal value,” Li said.
After returning to her hometown, Li received strong support from her family, while there were some villagers who questioned her decision. She decided to show her love to the hometown through action.
Her job included a great deal of communication with the villagers mainly to increase potato production. “We regularly hold meetings in the village square, where we share ideas on potato planting skills, selling methods, market changes and more,” Li said.
To increase sales outside the village, the young workforce in the village chose to go into the world of livestreaming(直播). This new marketing method has produced satisfying results. Together with other methods like doing online business on websites and apps, the money that a family can get from potato sales in a year has risen sharply from 1,000 yuan to the present number of 20,000 yuan, according to Li.
However, the road to success is not always easy. “At first, some people were not willing to accept the new ideas,” Li said. But Li didn’t force them. Instead, she chose to communicate with effort. Li and her workmates would also search online for other villages’ success stories about the application of livestreaming, and shared them with villagers. She knew communications took a lot of time and energy, but she believed it’s all worth it. Li said, “True smiles on the faces of the villagers are the best gifts for me.”
In the near future, Li hopes to continue helping her villagers raise their potato production and earn more money. Her long-term goal is to help rural areas further develop and integrate(结合) with the city. She said hopefully, “We will continually find ways to bring happiness to the villagers and the long-term development to the countryside.”
1. Li Jing returned to her hometown mainly to ________.| A．work in the government |
| B．bring great changes to her family |
| C．realize her dream of being a farmer |
| D．contribute to the local development |
| A．turned to her family for help |
| B．defended herself at meetings |
| C．took action to help the villagers |
| D．immediately went back to cities |
| A．putting up ads on TVs |
| B．taking up livestreaming |
| C．producing satisfying results |
| D．communicating with other villagers |
| A．Promising. | B．Doubtful. | C．Challenging. | D．Fearful. |
| A．All good things come to an end. |
| B．Where there is a will, there is a way. |
| C．You cannot eat your cake and have it. |
| D．A single flower does not make a spring. |
5 . In the past, working people in Britain only had holidays on “holy” (与宗教有关的) days such as Sundays and Christmas. Now most people have about four weeks’ holiday every year and public holidays which are also called “bank holidays”.
When?
British people usually have their holidays in summer. Many working people take a two-week holiday in July or August. School children are on holiday from the end of July to the start of September. A second holiday break in winter or in spring is also becoming more popular in the UK.
Where?
The most popular holiday places for British include Spain, France and the USA. Lots of people buy a kind of service which includes flights and a hotel or an apartment. Cheap flights to go abroad mean that many British people are able to spend two weeks a year holidaying abroad. Flights are much cheaper during school term time and the British government is worried that some young people are missing school to go on holiday. Parents who take their children on holiday during term time now have to pay a fine.
Things to See
British people also like to go on holiday in the UK. What can young British people do on a UK holiday? Here are a few examples. Alton Towers is one of the top UK parks. It is famous for its scaring rides and is very popular with teenagers. The Eden Project is an environmental project in the south-west of England, where you can see plants from all around the world.
Independent Holidays
Some teenagers want to spend their holidays doing something without their family. A language exchange (交换) is one way to be more independent and learn more language skills. A British teenager spends a week or two in a foreign country, staying with a family who has a son or daughter of the same age, and practising the local language. Later the foreign teenager visits the UK to practise English with the British family.
1. When are British people likely to go on holiday?| A．In spring. | B．In summer. | C．In autumn. | D．In winter. |
| A．students pay a fine for the holiday |
| B．people buy cheap flights to other countries |
| C．people spend two weeks holidaying abroad |
| D．students have holidays instead of going to school |
| A．Teenagers can get better at language skills. |
| B．People can see plants from all over the world. |
| C．People can take part in environmental projects. |
| D．Teenagers can enjoy scaring rides independently. |
| A．the time of British having holidays |
| B．popular places of interest in the UK |
| C．people’s favorite hotels or apartments |
| D．teenagers’ special independent holidays |
| A．help people buy cheap flights to go abroad |
| B．tell the way to become independent teenagers |
| C．call on people to have their holidays in the UK |
| D．offer information about British people’s holidays |
6 . Flow is a cognitive (认知的) state where one is completely immersed (沉浸) in an activity — from painting and writing to yoga and surfboarding.
The process of flow was discovered and coined by the Hungarian-American psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. In the 1960s, Csikszentmihalyi studied the creative process and found that, when an artist was in the course of flow, they would insist on their task strictly, regardless of hunger or exhaustion.
One of Csikszentmihalyi’s key points about flow is that a person needs to push oneself out of their comfort zone to stimulate it. Because it’s a dynamic state, one has to constantly adjust the skill level, challenge, and complexity required for the activity.
Flow can also be a tool for better emotion regulation (调节). When a person is in a state of flow, there is little need for doubts or anxieties about oneself or the world in general.
However, pushing yourself to find the flow state can backfire. In fact, trying too hard or wondering whether you are in this state in itself goes against flow. We lose the balance between tension and skill level if we concentrate too much on the task.
| A．Even the uncertainties of life fall away. |
| B．People may not realize it but anyone can find flow. |
| C．Ask yourself if a certain task will fulfill a goal of yours. |
| D．Flow can sometimes be viewed as a forerunner for peak performance. |
| E．He also found that the artist would highlight the process and not the end result. |
| F．As you practice a skill, your level of mastery will change as will the feeling of flow. |
| G．It involves intense focus, creative engagement and the loss of awareness of time and self. |
7 . I love a group text—a grext, if you’ll permit me—but lately, the huge number of them competing for my attention has felt out of control. By the time I wake up, the notifications have already started rolling in; as I’m going to bed, they’re still coming. In between, I try to keep up, but all it takes is one 30-minute meeting before I’ve somehow gotten 100 new messages. I scroll up and up, trying to find where I left off, like I’ve lost my place in a book that keeps getting longer.
For better or for worse, we might be in the Age of the Group Chat. One study found that less than 2 percent of participants had only one-on-one chats on social media. 42 percent said that group chats can feel like a part-time job. Other studies have found that group chats can contribute to group bond and shared fun. A group text can be like a reminder that you’re part of something. Some researchers call this “ambient virtual presence”: Even when you’re alone, you’re not alone. This is like bats and dolphins producing a continuous sound and use the resulting echo (回声) to sense what’s around them.
But taking in too many signals can create a “waterfall type of effect,” where messages keep flooding in and adding up. Eventually, you’re underwater. Adding to the disorder, without a standard rule, people have very different ideas about group norm and what degree of responsiveness is required—which can cause real tension.
Fear of that tension can make wordless or even leaving a chat feel dispiriting. And anyway, you might not want to miss out. The desire isn’t to exit the room so much as to break a window. If group messaging is like echolocation, then disconnecting means lost.
Ultimately, most of us do want connection, even if it involves some duties; we’ll take quantities of messages when we’re busy if it means we can reach out when we’re hurting. A general advice is to give up grexts that are carrying on but that don’t really interest you. But when you can’t, you’ll just have to accept that belonging takes some effort. That’s the nature of relationships, right?
1. The author uses his experience in Paragraph 1 to _______.| A．introduce the topic | B．predict the ending |
| C．highlight an opinion | D．illustrate an argument |
| A．Lonely people prefer group chats. | B．Bats and dolphins have group chats. |
| C．Group chats offer a sense of belonging. | D．Group chats create a few part-time jobs. |
| A．Group chat needs a standard rule. |
| B．Group chat gives us more fear than joy. |
| C．Group chat helps promote strong connection. |
| D．Group chat is just a way to maintain relationships. |
There’s a difference between being nice and being kind. Being nice involves being polite and pleasing to others. If you’re people pleasing, you’re placing an expectation on the person you’re being nice to that they respond to you in a certain way. Being kind is less self-serving. On the one hand, kindness involves being generous without expecting anything in return. The other half is the purpose behind the action. A kind person is acting out of sympathy and genuine concern for another.
The difference is intentionality, said Dr. Catherine Franssen, an associate professor of psychology at Longwood University in Virginia, noting that a kind person tries to really understand what someone else is going through.
Practicing kindness rather than niceness allows people to develop deeper genuine connections with others, said Franssen. The more you do it, the easier it will get to relate to others and build more meaningful relationships in all aspects of life.
The warm feeling you get from performing an act of kindness is your brain releasing a ton of feel-good chemicals. Franssen said being kind boosts production of serotonin, a neurotransmitter (神经传递素) involved in mood, including happiness. Kindness also releases dopamine, a brain chemical in charge of reward and pleasure. It’s the reason why doing one act of kindness feels so good that you want to do another.
Being kind gives the same health benefits, regardless of how big or small the gesture. Acts of kindness might feel strange and out-of-character at first. However, this feeling goes away the more you keep practicing. Soon enough, it becomes so familiar you’ll notice the benefits on yourself and others.
1. What does being kind involve?2. Why do you get warm feeling when showing kindness?
3. Please decide which part is false in the following statement, then underline it and explain why.
> The more you practice niceness, the easier you will connect with others and establish more meaningful relationships in all aspects of life.
4. In your daily life, what can you do to show kindness? (In about 40 words)
9 . The CAUSE Leadership Academy (CLA) for students is a paid nine-week internship (实习) program that connects college undergraduates to communities through local political experiences and prepares them to lead and advocate for the civic engagement.
General Information:
·Program Duration: June 24th, 2024 — August 23rd, 2024
·Location and Time Commitment: CLA will be an in-person, full-time program (5 days per week, about 40 hours per week).
·Payment: Each intern will receive $4,000 upon satisfactory completion of the program.
Program Goals:
·To gain new skills and knowledge
·To deepen understanding of issues that impact the local community
·To explore civic leadership career paths
·To develop professional experience and skills to be effective in political advocacy and campaign support
Program Components:
·Interns will work together to develop a project.
·Interns will be placed in a public, private, or non-profit host office.
·Interns will learn about and support civic engagement efforts with their Host Office.
·Interns will develop leadership skills and expand understanding of civic engagement.
Requirements for the applicants:
·Have a minimum GPA (Grade Point Average) of 3.0
·Be a current student with at least one year of college completed or a recent college graduate
·Be able to actively participate in all major events
For full consideration, applicants must ensure both Application and Letter of Recommendation are received by Sunday, January 28th, 2024 at 11:59 pm.
1. The program aims to help participants _______.| A．lead political campaigns | B．make high academic achievements |
| C．choose civic leadership career paths | D．deepen understanding of civic issues |
| A．a training online | B．a project to finish individually |
| C．a leader position in a Host Office | D．a $ 4,000 payment for great work |
| A．Participating in all events. | B．Having a GPA no less than 3.0. |
| C．Applying after January 28th, 2024. | D．Being a current high school student. |
How can we gain benefits from feedback practices while reducing their disadvantages? There are some ways to help you.
Feedback works best for the people whose main goal is self-improvement. It should be given in a developmental approach and future-focused, highlighting areas in which the recipient (接收者) can improve, and offering clear, actionable strategies.
First, we should consider using terms besides “feedback”. Some studies have suggested replacing “feedback” with terms such as “advice”, which often contain more practical information. Offering feedback as advice encourages recipients to focus on improving their future performance.
Next, focus on the advantages. Excellence in teaching is often influenced by our own feelings, with lots of effective approaches for any given topic. Research suggests we improve ourselves when others focus on our advantages. A key to effective feedback is highlighting existing patterns of excellence.
Then, we must learn how to give feedback. Delivering feedback can be challenging, especially if the person receiving the feedback is the person who has the same social position as you or the information could be sensed as critical (批评的). To avoid such situations, reducing unpleasant messages may help.
Receiving feedback, as well as giving it, is a skill. Therefore, helping teachers build skills around receiving practice-based information, feedback, or advice, such as listening with an open mind, thinking critically about the information, asking for specific advice and “making a thoughtful choice” about the quality and effectiveness of the feedback, can improve the whole process.
Finally, focus on the “what” of feedback. While much attention is given to the “how” of feedback delivery, the real value lies in the “what” of feedback, that is the richness of its information. “High information” feedback should include two important points: checking the correctness of the teacher’s approach when there is only one correct method and offering information to fill gaps in understanding and guide the recipient towards a desired approach.
We know that feedback is quite important for teachers’ professional development. After reading the information above, with established effective feedback methods, we can make the feedback process more effective and useful for more teachers in ways that finally improve students’ learning.
1. Whom does the feedback work best for? (不多于10个单词)2. How can we encourage recipients to focus on improving their future performance? (不多于7个单词)
3. What is a key to effective feedback? (不多于7个单词)
4. How can we avoid challenging situations when giving feedback? (不多于6个单词)
5. What does this passage mainly talk about? (不多于8个单词)
