1 . Twelve-year-old Catherine has a lot of friends—632, actually, if you count up her online friends. And she spends a lot of time with them.
But is it possible that Catherine’s online friendships could be making her lonely? That’s what some experts believe. Connecting online is a great way to stay in touch, they say. However, some experts worry that many kids are so busy connecting online that they might be missing out on true friendships.
Could this be true? During your parents’ childhoods, connecting with friends usually meant spending time with them in the flesh. Kids played Scrabble around a table, not words with friends on their phones. When friends missed each other, they picked up the telephone. Friends might even write letters to each other.
Today, most communication takes place online. A typical teen sends 2,000 texts a month and spends more than 44 hours per week in front of a screen. Much of this time is spent on social media platform.
In fact, in many ways, online communication can make friendships stronger. “There’s definitely a positive influence. Kids can stay in constant contact, which means they can share more of their feelings with each other,” says Katie Davis, co-author of The App Generation.
Other experts, however, warn that too much online communication can get in the way of forming deep friendships. “If we are constantly checking in with our virtual world, we will have little time for our real-world friendships,” says Larry Rosen, a professor at California State University. Rosen also worries that today’s kids might mistake the “friends” on the social media for true friends in life. However, in tough times, you don’t need anyone to like your picture or share your blogs. You need someone who will keep your secrets and hold your hand. You would like to talk face to face.
1. What is the purpose of the first paragraph?| A．To tell about true friends. | B．To start a discussion. |
| C．To encourage online friendships. | D．To summarize(总结) the text. |
| A．In any case. | B．In public. | C．In person. | D．In advance. |
| A．Unconcerned. | B．Positive. | C．Worried. | D．Confused. |
| A．Teenagers need to focus on real-world friendships. | B．It’s easier to develop friendships in real life. |
| C．It’s wise to turn to friends online. | D．Social media help people stay closely connected. |
2 . A work of art created by artificial intelligence (AI) has been sold by a major art seller for the first time. The print sold for an unexpectedly large amount of money, $432,500. The artwork was bought during an auction (拍卖) Thursday at Christie’s, an art auction house, in New York City. Officials had predicted it would sell for between $7,000 and $10,000.
In a website post, Christie’s said the AI-created work was the first ever sold by a major auction house. It praised the sale as a signal of “the arrival of AI art on the world auction stage”.
The artwork, called “Portrait (肖像) of Edmond Belamy”, was made by a machine having learnt the algorithm (算法). The AI system was created by members of an art group called “Obvious” in Paris, France. It shows the portrait of a man, looking similar to subjects shown in historical paintings. Christie’s described some differences between the AI-created work and other artworks it had sold. For example, it said some parts of the face were not drawn as clearly as those painted by artists. Also, some parts of the print were left empty. However, the sales organizer of Christie’s, Richard Lloyd, said the piece was very similar to many others sold over many years.
Three creators from the art group Obvious cooperated in the process of making the print. First, they put a collection of 15,000 portraits into a machine learning system. The portraits were painted by artists from the time period between the 14th and 20th centuries. Then a tool called the “Generator” made a new image based on the information entered into the system. After that, another tool, called the “Discriminator”, attempted to find differences between the human-made image and the one created by the Generator. Then the image was improved. “The aim is to fool the Discriminator into thinking that the new images are real-life portraits. Then we have a result,” Hugo Caselles-Dupré, a member of the Obvious group, said in a statement.
1. What can be inferred from the text?| A．The AI portrait received much recognition. |
| B．There is little true artistic value in the AI artwork. |
| C．Technology will one day replace human artists. |
| D．There is no similar AI system for art nowadays. |
| A．Artists. | B．Machines. | C．Figures. | D．Techniques. |
| A．To select useful information from real-life portraits. |
| B．To help the portrait look more like a human-made one. |
| C．To put human portraits into the machine learning system. |
| D．To create a portrait based on paintings by artists. |
| A．The Secrets of AI |
| B．An AI Portrait |
| C．Artworks and AI |
| D．AI Art at Christie's |
3 . How to Avoid an Internet Addiction
It may seem like everyone surfs the web these days. But if you can’t have interest in other aspects of your life because of the Internet, you may be on your way to an Internet addiction. You might fear you’re the only one who has experienced that feeling.
More and more people in the world are becoming addicted to the Internet, and you are not the only one with this problem. So do not be embarrassed. Just be brave to admit that you are on your way to an Internet addiction. And then find others with the same problem and help each other beat it.
Set aside limited time for computer use.
Make sure not to turn it on too many times a week. If you have a laptop, make sure to put it somewhere that you can remember but not somewhere that you see every day. Try keeping the lid closed when you are not using it.
Call people instead of sending instant messages or texts.
If you are free on weekends, call friends and ask them to go outside to do something you enjoy, like playing a sport. This will take your mind off the computer.
Use an alarm clock or timer (计时器).
Before using your computer, decide on a time limit such as 30 minutes. Set the clock or timer and make sure that you get away from the computer when the time is up. Alternatively create a shutdown timer on your desktop.
| A．Being addicted to it is quite normal. |
| B．Admit you are at risk of an addiction. |
| C．The truth, though, is that it’s quite common to be an addict. |
| D．When the computer is not looking at you, you are less likely to use it. |
| E．This can be programmed to shut down your computer after the set time. |
| F．If you have a problem on weekdays, phone your friends or ask for help in person. |
| G．This will prevent you from using the Internet so often or going on to another page. |
4 . African countries have retrieved some historic heritage, which directly reflects (反映) the important development of human society, from European countries. Recently, Germany signed a deal for the return of hundreds of valuable artworks from the Kingdom of Dahomey in the 19th century, in what is today Benin.
But many artifacts (手工艺品) are still unluckily missing and some are on their way back. One such object is an eight-legged seat from the old kingdom in Uganda. The important arti- fact now sits at a museum thousands of kilometers away in Britain. The wooden seat is housed at the University of Oxford. It is one of at least 279 objects there taken from the Bunyoro- Kitara Kingdom.
Apollo John Rwamparo is a deputy prime minister of Uganda. He really values the country’s cultural heritage. He requested the British to return the artifacts. Uganda officials are preparing to meet with the University of Cambridge in Britain about the return of such historical artifacts. The school has an unknown number of artifacts from Africa. Through many efforts, an artifact was recently to its home.
The British Museum holds a large collection of artifacts from Africa. Rose Mwanja said Uganda’s commission had been trying hard on it and believed it could have some good effects. She is Uganda’s commissioner for museums. She added she could start with those that are more willing to cooperate.
Many of the artifacts from Africa cannot even be found. That led to an organization star- ted by late Congolese art collector Sindika Dokolo. The organization offers to buy African art from collections in foreign countries. By 2020, when Dokolo died, his group had successfully recovered 15 items. However, for African governments, the recovery of artifacts remains a struggle and will take much time.
1. What does the underlined word “retrieved” in paragraph 1 mean?| A．Reduced. | B．Taken back. | C．Given up. | D．Recommended. |
| A．In Benin. | B．In Uganda. | C．In Germany. | D．In Britain. |
| A．Curious. | B．Concerned. | C．Uncaring. | D．Confused. |
| A．Frightening. | B．Doubtful. | C．Effortless. | D．Challenging. |
5 . Toy Story, Cars, Finding Nemo, Wall-E—you have probably watched all these films.
Creating the storyboard
The first step is to write down the main ideas of the story.
Making characters using 3D modelling
A special computer program is used to create 3D shapes of the characters, sets and props—this is called modelling. The decorations of the sets and props are created using a software. Special equipment is used to record points on these shapes.
Creating the movements
The layout crew (摄影构图组) decide how these characters should move and then the cartoonists take over. They use 3D software to create the movements of each character, the skeleton’s (骨架) movements, facial expressions and more, between key frames (帧) in the story.
Dressing up for the show
Letting the show begin
Remember too, that the movements have to be smooth! The computers draw each frame one by one, with each frame slightly different from the previous one. Each frame takes 5-6 hours to create—imagine how much computing power and time it will take to create 24 frames per second of a 2-hour film!
| A．From that, storyboards are drawn. |
| B．All these films have cost a large amount of money. |
| C．The sets and props are “decorated” according to the designs. |
| D．Some of these creations are simple but some are complex. |
| E．This information is then sent to a software programme. |
| F．CGI is often applied in film-making to make special effects. |
| G．Have you ever wondered how these amazing cartoon films were made? |
6 . Binge-watching (刷剧) is when a person watches more than one episode of a show in a row. With developments in the speed and connectivity of the Internet, increases in technology and the rise of on-demand entertainment companies, people can now have their favorite shows stream (流播) directly to their television at their convenience.
This behavior is nothing new. In fact, binge-watching has been officially listed in dictionaries since 2015. The entertainment companies recognize this behavior and many take steps to encourage it. Often, instead of releasing each episode on a week-by-week basis, an entire series will become available concurrently. Once the episode finishes, many platforms will display pop-ups with “you might like” suggestions, or will automatically play the next episode.
However, recent research suggests that out of the more than half of British adults who watch more than one episode of a show back-to-back (一集接一集地), almost a third have admitted missing sleep or becoming tired as a result; and 25% have neglected their household chores (家务活). Next we’ll be missing work!
Bingeing has other connections — binge eating, binge drinking and binge smoking. All of them are often associated with a lack of control and a possible route to addiction. Lindsey Fussell, consumer group director, said, “The days of waiting a week for the next episode are largely gone, with people finding it hard to resist (抗拒) watching multiple episodes around the house or on the move.” If people find binge-watching hard to resist, are we witnessing the birth of a new type of addiction?
The countless number of information and entertainment that television and online media can bring us is, many would say, a good thing. However, when the activity begins to bleed into other areas, causing us to stop functioning, then it becomes a problem. So, what’s the answer? Moderation! Neither a tiny amount, nor too much. After all, as the old proverb says, “A little of what you fancy does you good.”
1. How did the writer develop the first paragraph?| A．By giving a definition. | B．By telling a story. |
| C．By listing some examples. | D．By analyzing the cause and effect. |
| A．For convenience. | B．At the same time. |
| C．In detail. | D．Free of charge. |
| A．people can’t control their feelings | B．people can’t resist the temptation of Bingeing |
| C．people have no patience to do work | D．people are addicted to waiting for a new episode |
| A．To keep online media from stopping functioning. |
| B．To enjoy entertainment as much as possible. |
| C．To learn life lessons from the episodes. |
| D．To watch episodes in a moderate way. |
7 . On the first day of my new high school, I almost had a nervous breakdown. Everything about the school seemed so difficult. When I got home, my parents said, “You’re nervous and that’s okay. Everyone is afraid of high school.” I denied it. I wanted to be strong, so I refused to let anyone know about my fear, even my closest friends.
On the first day I was late for every class and was constantly lost. The school seemed like a puzzle that I couldn’t figure out. Was this how the whole year was going to be? I didn’t think I could rise to this challenge, especially carrying a huge backpack that I could hardly lift. It was so big that I could knock someone out with it!
Despite my fears, after the first week I finally had my schedule figured out. With the exception of falling up and down the stairs a couple of times and getting laughed at, high school was turning out to be not so bad. It was actually much better than middle school and much more challenging. Since then, I’ve been elected (选举) the vice monitor of my class, which wasn’t much of a victory since only three people ran for the four positions.
It is normal to be scared of a new school. Take a deep breath and relax. High school is not so frightening. Make sure you participate in some outofclass activities because you’ll find it easier to make friends. Try to do your best, even if it isn’t straight A’s.
Most important of all, be who you are, whether you’re a“fool”， an athlete, or a lower grader. Don’t try to pretend to be someone you’re not. Now you know the secret of my success.
1. What is the main reason for the author’s fear on his first day in high school ?| A．He was unable to work out the puzzle. |
| B．His schoolmates were unfriendly to him. |
| C．He was not familiar with the new surroundings. |
| D．His schoolbag was too heavy for him to carry. |
| A．He didn’t know the right way to class. |
| B．He got to school before classes began. |
| C．He was fond of the school immediately. |
| D．His home was very far from the school. |
| A．He was still not accustomed to the schedule. |
| B．He was gradually used to the new school. |
| C．He found high school not so challenging as he had imagined. |
| D．He ran for monitor of his class against three other students. |
| A．Making more friends. |
| B．Being who he really is. |
| C．Getting straight A’s at school. |
| D．Joining in outofclass activities. |
8 . Gitanjali Rao, Colorado teenager who invented mobile device to test for lead (铅) in drinking water, was Time’s Kid of the Year for 2020. The magazine announced the award on Thursday, citing Rao’s ability to apply scientific ideas to real-world problems and her desire to motivate other kids to take up their own causes.
It was just the latest recognition for Rao, 15, who was named last year to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list. She won praise in 2017 after she responded to the water crisis in Flint, Michigan, by creating a device named Tehys, using carbon nanotube sensors to detect (探测) lead in water. The Lone Tree, Colo., native was named America’s Top Young Scientist when she was in the seventh grade. She went on to cooperate with scientists in the water industry to try to get the device on the market.
More recently, Rao has developed a phone and Web tool named Kindly, which uses artificial intelligence technology to detect possible early signs of cyberbullying (网络欺凌).
“You type in a word or phrase, and it’s able to pick it up if it’s bullying, and it gives you the choice to edit it or send it the way it is,” Rao told Time. “The goal is not to punish people. As a teenager I know teenagers tend to become very angry sometimes. Instead, it gives you the chance to rethink what you’re saying so that you know what to do next time around.”
Rao was chosen in part because of the way she has followed up her technical work with efforts to get other young people to work on solving the problems they see.
“I don’t look like your typical scientist. Everything I see on TV is that it’s an older, usually white man as a scientist,” she told Time. “My goal has really shifted, not only from creating my own devices to solve the world’s problems, but inspiring others to do the same as well. So I really want to put out that message: If I can do it, you can do it, and anyone can do it.”
1. What made Gitaniali Rao Time’s Kid of the Year for 2020?| A．Her desire to guide other kids. |
| B．Her invention of testing lead in water. |
| C．Her idea of making devices commercial. |
| D．Her excellent personal ability and desire to encourage other children. |
| A．To make sure the security of the network. |
| B．To punish teenagers’ wrong thoughts. |
| C．To use artificial intelligence technology. |
| D．To type a word or phrase on the Internet. |
| A．A white man can work as a scientist. |
| B．We ought to set a goal at an early age. |
| C．We are supposed to inspire others to do the same. |
| D．Everybody may succeed in solving world’s problems. |
| A．Health. | B．Science. | C．People | D．Entertainment. |
9 . Three young American men were on a crowded train when they came across a dangerous robber. Ignoring their personal safety, they rushed the robber and controlled him. Only some people seem capable of this sudden form of heroism (英雄主义). Why some men rise to the occasion — and others don’t — has been a bit difficult to explain. Psychologists have explored this question through biological and personality psychology.
Of course, heroism and courage can appear in many forms, and men and women risk their reputation (名声), health, and social recognition to do what they think is right. When it comes to physically risky bravery, people assume that men will take the lead. There are sound biological reasons for this fixed image. One of the most common fears in men is that they will be viewed as a coward (懦夫), and a man who fails to display physical courage will suffer damage to his reputation in a way that a woman will not. Throughout history, gaining a higher position among peers (同龄人) has been the ticket that needs to get punched for a man to attract future wife and father children.
People tend to have an idea of what heroes are like. When rating (打分) the personalities of movie heroes, participants expected them to be more hard-working, open to experience, approachable, and emotionally stable than the average person. But some studies suggest that people who show heroic behavior usually have the personalities of madmen: risk-taking, coolness under stress, and an eagerness to take over in social situations.
The study of the relationship between personality and heroism is at an early stage. Psychologists are still at a loss to predict in advance who will heroically step up when needed. Often, the hero is an otherwise ordinary person who finds himself on an extraordinary occasion. Meanwhile, some individuals trained to behave heroically might hesitate in a dangerous situation. Various factors like identities, occasions and specific training will influence the final heroism. Hopefully, the right mix of occasion and personalities enable courage to carry the day.
1. How is the topic introduced in the first paragraph?| A．By presenting an idea. | B．By giving an example. |
| C．By making a comparison. | D．By drawing a conclusion. |
| A．Be bought. | B．Be returned. | C．Be abandoned. | D．Be gained. |
| A．Heroes are born, not made. |
| B．Heroic acts only appear in a specific crisis. |
| C．Individual personality is not a dependable sign of heroism. |
| D．Heroism is a phenomenon influenced by numerous factors. |
| A．How Are Heroes Trained? | B．Why Are Heroes Important? |
| C．Who Are the True Heroes? | D．What Makes a Person Heroic? |
10 . Whenever he can, 15-year-old Elliot Morgan practices basketball in his backyard. He says it’s a good stress-reliever. But it wasn’t that long ago that he didn’t have time for this new hobby. “There were times in the summer when I would spend four or five hours a day on my phone,” he says. When school started in the fall, Morgan found himself scrolling (划屏) as soon as he woke up. “I realize I start to avoid workouts because I’m on my phone,” he says. “It’s affecting my focus.”
It has become clear that social media is a key player in many drivers of unhealthy habits. Social media apps are designed to encourage overuse, and teenagers are more likely to be influenced because their brains are at an important period of development that makes it harder to be free from temptation (诱惑). All of this makes limiting use more challenging — even for families who set rules.
“It’s a really big problem,” says Elliot’s mom, Alyssa. She was shocked when she discovered Elliot had bypassed parental controls and was spending five hours a day on social media. “I asked him, ‘Can you just take a look and see? Just tell me what you think. Does this feel good to you?’” she says.
Elliot hadn’t realized how many hours he was on social media. And he was at a loss. With his mother’s help, he tried to start cutting back. After several months, he decided to delete (删除) social media apps altogether. “After that, I actually sleep enough and feel better,” he says. He’s now closer with his friends because they spend more time talking instead of scrolling. And joining school clubs has also helped him reduce time on his phone.
1. What can we learn about Elliot from the first paragraph?| A．He is always late for class. | B．He used to work out early. |
| C．He likes football at school. | D．He lost himself in his phone. |
| A．They tend to develop bad habits. | B．They will take up more challenges. |
| C．They can improve reading skills. | D．They find it hard to make friends. |
| A．Uncaring. | B．Positive. | C．Doubtful. | D．Unclear. |
| A．Lonely. | B．Simple. | C．Enjoyable. | D．Difficult. |
