1 . In the rich countries of the West, the electric vehicle revolution is well occurring. Climate-conscious consumers drive Teslas or Polestars for reasons of morality (道德) and fashion. Poorer countries are also experiencing a wave of electrified trend. In Bangladesh, electric three-wheeler taxis, known as tuk-tuks, are rapidly replacing gas-powered ones on the streets. Such electric vehicles are climate friendly, cost effective, and help reduce air pollution.
Yet a glance under the hood (引擎盖) of these vehicles shows a poisonous secret: each tuk-tuk runs on five massive lead-acid batteries (铅酸电池), containing almost 300 pounds of lead (铅) in total. Every year and a half or so, when those batteries need to be replaced and recycled, about 60 pounds of lead leaks into the environment. Battery recycling, often at small-scale unregulated factories, is a highly profitable (高利润的) but deadly business.
Lead is dangerous, and any exposure to it is harmful to human health. Lead that has entered the environment hurts people on an unexpected scale. The numerous ways lead enters air, water, soil, and homes across the developing world and the enormous damage it does to human health, wealth, and welfare cause one of the biggest environmental problems in the world yet receives little attention.
The World Bank estimates that lead kills 5.5 million people per year, making it a bigger global killer than AIDS, malaria, diabetes, and road traffic deaths combined. On top of the shocking deaths, the social burden of lead poisoning is heavy, as is its contribution to global inequality — our research on the cognitive (认知的) effects of lead poisoning suggests that it may explain about one-fifth of the educational achievement gap between rich and poor countries.
But unlike many challenges faced by developing countries, lead poisoning is a problem that can be resolved through financial investment (财政投入). Better monitoring, research, and rules can help protect children all over the world from the unpleasant effects of lead poisoning and reduce the massive global costs it brings.
1. How does the author describe the lead problem in paragraph 2?| A．By listing some numbers. | B．By analyzing hidden causes. |
| C．By making an interesting comparison. | D．By explaining its working principle. |
| A．Lead enters poor countries in one way. |
| B．Lead leaking has been avoided in all the countries. |
| C．Lead will definitely not harm anymore. |
| D．Lead poisoning may make poor societies poorer. |
| A．Fixing these used batteries. | B．Reducing the cost of recycling lead. |
| C．Ignoring the illegal use of lead. | D．Putting certain effort and money. |
| A．The Impacts of Lead Poisoning on Man. |
| B．The Global Lead Poisoning Problem. |
| C．The Ways to Solve Lead Problem. |
| D．The Benefits of Using Electric Vehicles. |
2 . Read the following car rental agreement of Avis and answer the questions.
Kindly indicate your return km reading, fuel gauge (计量器) reading, date and time, and return this envelope, with your keys, to the rental counter.
Document number| Return km reading | ||||||||||||||||||
| Return fuel gauge √ | E | 1/8 | 1/4 | 3/8 | 1/2 | 5/8 | 3/4 | 7/8 | F | |||||||||
| Return date | Return time | |||||||||||||||||
Safe Driving in South Africa
DRIVER’S LICENCEWhen driving, you must be in possession of your driver’s license at all times.
SEAT BELTSThe law requires that you wear seat belts at all times.
DRIVINGIn South Africa, driving is on the left-hand side of the road.
SPEED LIMITSGenerally 60 km/h in built-up areas, 100 km/h in rural areas and 120 km/h on highways.
PETROLPetrol is available 24 hours per day. Unleaded (无铅) petrol should be used in Avis cars. Credit cards are not accepted for the payment of petrol.
SAFETYFor your own safety, keep your doors locked while driving.
LOCK UPShut windows and lock all doors and the boot when leaving the vehicle unattended.
VALUABLESDo not leave personal belongings such as cell phones and valuables in your vehicle. They are not covered by our insurance.
TYRESAvis undertakes that on delivery of the vehicle to the driver, the condition of the tyres will be agreeable to the laws and the tyre pressure in accordance with the vehicle manufacturer’s specifications (说明书) for “normal use”.
It is the responsibility of the driver to ensure that both the condition and inflation (膨胀) of the tyres are appropriate throughout the course of the rental.
It is the responsibility of the driver to inspect the condition of the tyres at the beginning of the rental and to make adjustments to the tyre pressure to take into account such factors as the number of passengers, mass of luggage, environment temperatures, speed and road condition.
ROAD MAPSMaps of Southern Africa, including city and regional maps, can be found in a copy of the Avis Inbound magazine, in each vehicle or at the Avis Customer Service Center. More extensive area maps are obtainable from the Automobile Association (AA) and South African Tourism.
1. The passage is intended for ______.| A．car renters | B．traffic police |
| C．insurance sellers | D．automobile mechanics |
| A．make the tyre condition agreeable to the laws |
| B．adjust tyre pressure with many factors considered |
| C．work out the vehicle manufacturer’s specifications |
| D．be responsible for driving safety and road condition |
| A．The speed limit in different areas. |
| B．The requests of giving cars back to Avis. |
| C．The ways to keep personal possessions safe. |
| D．The instructions to fix flat tyres on the road. |
3 . While some say school safety depends on guns, cameras or alarms in classrooms, Mark Gomer and Kristi Schiller think specially trained dogs should play an important role in preventing violence in schools.
Gomer’s for-profit company has sent a gun-and-drug detecting dog to patrol (巡查) the halls of an Ohio high school, while Schiller is launching a nonprofit program in Houston to give schools the trained dogs for free.
Gomer’s first full-time safety dog is a three-year-old Dutch shepherd named Atticus, who is reported to duty this school year at Oak Hills High School in Green Township in southwest Ohio. The dog was trained at the school before the summer break, said Gomer, co-owner of American Success Dog Training in Bridgetown, Ohio. Atticus has won over students, parents, teachers and district Superintendent Todd Yohey, who initially worried what people would think of him spending $10,000 on a dog. Gomer has talked to a lot of parents and faculty, and they are saying it was money well-spent, he said.
For her part Schiller is looking to provide safety dogs to schools free of charge. She hopes her new initiative, program “K9S4KIDS”, does for schools what her program “K9S4COPS” did for police departments. She has placed more than 60 dogs with agencies in three years. “These dogs are extremely social, yet highly qualified warriors that are accustomed to going straight to the source of a threat or shooter and disengaging the suspect armed with the weapon,” said Schiller.
As the programs get up and running, questions remain about possible health problems and distractions the dogs can cause.
A school safety expert said those are concerns parents and schools will have to work out. Ken Trump, president of the Cleveland-based National School Safety and Security Services consulting firm, discussed the issue in general because he was not familiar with either program.
He said the dogs would have to be extremely social to deal with students’ initial excitement “Kids are going to like those dogs,” Trump said, “There are concerns to work around, but with the right dogs and right handler and the right policies and procedures, they should be very beneficial. The dog might be a distraction in the beginning, but they will become part of what students expect to see when they go to school.” “There is so much these dogs can do,” said Ted Dahlin, a deputy who serves on the K9S4COPS board of directors. “If I were going to pick a school to make trouble, it would be one that I knew didn’t have a dog.”
1. Which of the following statements is TRUE about Gomer’s program?| A．Atticus is only welcomed by students. |
| B．Atticus is provided to the schools free of charge. |
| C．The main job of Atticus is to patrol a school in Houston. |
| D．Parents and faculty think the money spent on Atticus is worthwhile. |
| A．dogs have a sharp sense of threat and danger |
| B．she is confident that the dogs are helpful in schools |
| C．dogs are a kind of helpful, loyal and qualified animal |
| D．even suspects armed with weapons are afraid of dogs |
| A．believes that dogs can be part of students’ school life |
| B．is a school safety expert supporting one of the programs |
| C．doesn’t approve of students’ attitudes about dogs in schools |
| D．agrees that the concerns outweigh the benefits of the program |
| A．he is not going to make trouble in schools |
| B．having a dog strengthens a school’s safety |
| C．he likes dogs and really wants to have one |
| D．more should be considered for planning a crime |
4 . Out of London Tours
Stratford, Oxford, Christ Church and the Cotswolds with Lunch
Length of time
About 10 hours
Days of operation
April 2009 to March 2010 — Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday
This tour starts at 8:45 am and finishes at around 6:30 pm
Description
*Oxford
Enjoy the magnificence of Oxford! Well-known for over 900 years as a centre of academic excellence. Follow in the footsteps of its famous students, from Bill Clinton to Lewis Carroll. Uncover the university town of Oxford at a leisurely and relaxing pace.
*Chirlst Church
Lights, camera, action! A treat for all Harry Potter fans — see where many scenes from the films have been shot! Wonder at the magnificence of Christ Church, including the Great Hall which Hogwarts Hall is based upon.
*Cotswolds
Discover the fascinating Cotswolds! Full of history and heritage (历史遗留物), the Cotswolds is a charming combination of breathtaking natural beauty, busy market towns and sleepy villages.
Lunch in the Cotswolds
Treat yourself in a traditional English pub (酒吧) and admire the charrn of this old wool town. The lunch will bc taken in the Cotswolds village of Burford.
*Stratford
Shakespcare's birthplace
A market town with a difference! Visit Shakespeare's Birthplace, the half-wooded house, where the world's greatest writer was born, to gain a fascinating insight into his childhood.
Anne Hathaway's Cottage
Satisfy yourself with an eye-opening experience at the childhood home of William Shakespeare's wife! Wander around the half-wooded house and its eye-catching surroundings.
Price guide
Adult: £74.00
Child (3 — 18):£64.00
Senior citizen/ College student:£69.00
1. The Greens are planning to book the tour. They are Mr. and Mrs. Green, George Green, who is 15 years old, and Grandpa, who is 70 years of age. How much will they pay?| A．£ 296 | B．£ 286 | C．£ 281 | D．£ 276 |
| A．Cotswolds | B．Oxford | C．Stratford | D．Christ Church |
| A．You may eat in the Cotswolds village of Burford and then buy a woolen scarf. |
| B．You can book this tour as a Mother's Day gift for your mother in May 2010. |
| C．Shakespeare and his wife were born in the same town called Stratford. |
| D．Oxford University has a long history of more than 900 years. |
5 . 
Q: Should I target my Application to a specific Job Opening (JO)?
A: Yes. Naturally, a customized cover note will also help you focus on the key aspects of your Application that relate to the JO, but it is also in your interest to target the Application according to the responsibilities and competencies of the position.
Q: What’s the difference between duties and achievements?
A: Duties describe the specific responsibilities of your job. They accurately reflect what you are doing or have done in each of your previous jobs. In other words, it is the “what you do” of your job. Achievements describe in specific terms “how well” you did in your job.
Q: Many of my achievements are team-based, how do I draft them in my Application?
A: You should include your team-based achievements in your Application. Indicate that you were part of a team, and describe your specific role in reaching the goal.
FAQs on general Application guidelines
Q: Can I save my Application?
A: Yes. You should save your Application when you make changes and/or update it. It is recommended that you save different versions of your Application in Word format and then edit the Application online according to the post for which you are applying.
Q: Can I update my Application to apply for a new JO?
A: Yes. Each time you apply for a new JO, we recommend that you review your Application and update it, if appropriate, or target it to better reflect your suitability for the new JO. Your updates will not affect the content of Applications previously submitted against other JOs.
Q: Must I use up all the available characters in each section of my Application?
A: No. In fact, doing so may result in an unnecessary lengthy Application. Unless you have an enormous range of experiences, there is no reason to use up all the space given. Applicants are encouraged to list their duties and achievements in a clear and brief manner.
| A．I’ve developed various interests, ranging from oil painting to designing model. |
| B．I’m good at creating proposals for new product ideas aimed at a specific market. |
| C．I’m in charge of the clearance, production and distribution of information material. |
| D．I succeeded in directing a video presentation, assisting our group to win the first prize. |
| A．target your focus on your interest in the JO |
| B．save your latest application in Word format |
| C．prepare one application with all your competencies |
| D．update your application to match new requirements |
| A．introduce what JOs they have previously applied to |
| B．list the greatest achievements they have made in detail |
| C．give key information about their experiences and achievements |
| D．provide the results of their tests, assessments and examinations |
6 . When Carolina Escudero was severely depressed, going to a therapist’s office became hard to face. So she joined BetterHelp, a popular therapy app. She paid $65 each week but spent most of her time waiting for her assigned counsellor to respond. She got two responses in a month.“It was like texting an acquaintance who has no idea how to deal with mental illness,” she says. BetterHelp says its service does not claim to operate around the clock, all its therapists have advanced degrees and “thousands of hours of hands-on clinical work”, and users are able easily to switch them if scheduling is hard.
Helping people to deal with mental problems has rarely been more urgent. The incidence of depression and anxiety has soared in the pandemic by more than 25% globally in 2020, according to the Lancet, a medical journal. That, combined with more people using online services, has led to a boom in mental-health apps. The American Psychological Association reckons 10,000-20,000 are available for download.
Underneath, though, a trauma lies in some corners of the industry. In October 2020 hackers who had breached Vastaamo, a popular Finnish startup, began blackmailing some of its users. Vastaamo required therapists to back up patient notes online but reportedly did not anonymize (匿名) them. Threatening to share private information on the dark web, the hackers reportedly demanded money from some 30,000 patients.
Other cases may arise. No universal standards for storing “emotional data” exist. John Torous of Harvard Medical School, who has reviewed 650 mental- health apps, describes their privacy policies as terrible. Some share information with advertisers. “When I first joined BetterHelp, I started to see targeted ads with words that I had used on the app to describe my personal experiences,” reports one user.
As for effectiveness, the apps’ methods are exceedingly difficult to evaluate. Woebot, for instance, is a chat robot which uses artificial intelligence to reproduce the experience of cognitive behavioural therapy. The product is marketed as clinically validated based in part on a scientific study which concluded that humans can form meaningful bonds with robots. But the study was written by people with financial links to Woebot.
Mental-health apps were designed to be used in addition to clinical care, not in the place of them. With that in mind, the European Commission is reviewing the field. It is getting ready to promote a new standard that will apply to all health apps. A letter-based scale will rank safety, user friendliness and data security. Liz Ashall-Payne, founder of ORCHA, a British startup that has reviewed thousands of apps, says that 68% did not meet the firm’s quality criteria. Time to head back to the couch?
1. What can we learn about Betterhelp?| A．Betterhelp is highly responsive to users' needs. |
| B．Betterhelp provides around-the-clock service. |
| C．Betterhelp is an app helping people deal with mental problems. |
| D．Betterhelp is trustworthy in terms of protecting users’ privacy. |
①The increasing awareness of one’s physical and mental health.
②The soaring incidence of mental problems during the pandemic.
③The widespread use of online services.
④The universal standards in quality evaluation.
| A．①② | B．②③ | C．③④ | D．①④ |
| A．To illustrate to readers what kind of product Woebot is. |
| B．To inform readers that Woebot is clinically validated. |
| C．To show how artificial intelligence is used in health apps. |
| D．To prove how difficult it is to evaluate the effectiveness of health apps. |
| A．Optimistic. | B．Indifferent. | C．Doubtful. | D．Negative. |
| IN CONTEXT BRANCH Geology BEFORE 6th century BCE The Greek thinker Thales of Miletus notes magnetic rocks, or lodestones (天然磁石). 1st century CE Chinese diviners make primitive compasses with iron spoon that can turn around to point south. 1269 French scholar Pierre de Maricourt sets out the basic laws of magnetic attraction, repulsion, and poles. AFTER 1824 French mathematician Siméon Poisson models the forces in a magnetic field. 1940s American physicist Walter Maurice Elsasser attributes Earth’s magnetic field to iron swirling in its outer core as the planet rotates. 1958 Explorer 1 space mission shows Earth’s magnetic field extending far out into space. | By the late 1500s, ships’ captains already relied on magnetic compasses to maintain their course across the oceans. Yet no one knew how they worked. Some thought the compass needle was attracted to the North Star, others that it was drawn to magnetic mountains in the Arctic. It was English physician William Gilbert who discovered that Earth itself is magnetic. Stronger reasons are obtained from sure experiments and demonstrated arguments than from probable conjectures (推测) and the opinions of philosophical speculators. William GilbertGilbert’s breakthrough came not from a flash of inspiration, but from 17 years of careful experiment. He learned all he could from ships’ captains and compass makers, and then he made a model globe, or “terrella,” out of the magnetic rock lodestone and tested compass needles against it. The needles reacted around the terrella just as ships’ compasses did on a larger scale—showing the same patterns of declination (pointing slightly away from true north at the geographic pole, which differs from magnetic north) and inclination (tilting down from the horizontal toward the globe). Gilbert concluded, rightly, that the entire planet is a magnet and has a core of iron. He published his ideas in the book De Magnete (On the Magnet) in 1600, causing a sensation. Johannes Kepler and Galileo, in particular, were inspired by his suggestion that Earth is not fixed to rotating celestial spheres, as most people still thought, but is made to spin by the invisible force of its own magnetism. |
| A．The North Star navigated their ships. |
| B．The magnetic mountains in the Arctic guided their journey. |
| C．Magnetic compasses helped them maintain the course. |
| D．The forces in a magnetic field attracted the ships. |
| A．Through trials and errors. |
| B．Through some personal philosophical speculation. |
| C．By acquiring some flash inspiration. |
| D．By studying the ideas of some philosophers. |
| A．The earth stays still. |
| B．Gilbert successfully refuted the laws of magnetic attraction. |
| C．Gilbert’s findings and conclusions are sensational. |
| D．The earth has its own magnetic field. |
8 . Every Saturday morning, as the clock strikes 9 am, over 50,000 eager runners set off on a 5km journey around their local park. The Parkrun phenomenon, which originally began as a small gathering among a group of friends, has now boosted 400 events across the UK and numerous others globally. These events, fueled by the dedication of thousands of volunteers, offer a free and inclusive opportunity for individuals of all ages and abilities to participate. Runners range from four-year-olds to grandparents whose finishing times vary greatly, spanning from Andrew Baddeley’s world record of 13 minutes and 48 seconds to leisurely strolls lasting over an hour.
Parkru n is succeeding where London’s Olympic “legacy” has failed. Ten years ago on Monday, it was announced that the Games of the 30th Olympics would be held in London. Planning documents promised that the lasting legacy of the Games would be to move a nation of sport lovers away from their couches. The population would be fitter, healthier and produce more winners. This obviously has not happened. The number of adults doing weekly sport did rise, by nearly 2 million in the run-up to 2012, but the general population had already been growing faster than this number. Worse yet, the numbers are now falling at an accelerating rate. The opposition claims primary school pupils doing at least two hours of sport a week have been nearly halved. Obesity has risen among adults and children alike. Official retrospections (回顾) continue to speculate as to why London 2012 failed to “inspire a generation”. The success of Parkrun can offer us some answers.
Parkrun is not a race but a time trial: Your only competitor is the clock. Its concept welcomes everybody. There is as much joy for a puffed-out (上气不接下气) first-timer being clapped over the line as there is for the sport’s top talent. The Olympic bidders, by contrast, wanted to get more people doing sports and to produce more elite athletes. The dual aim was mixed up: The stress on success over taking part was off-putting to newcomers.
Indeed, there is something a little weird in the state getting involved in the planning of such a fundamentally “grassroots” concept as community sports associations. If there is a role for government, it should really be in getting involved in providing common public goods — making sure that there is space for playing fields and the money to pave tennis and netball courts, and encouraging the provision of all these activities in schools. But successive governments are to blame for selling green spaces, squeezing money from local authorities and declining attention on sport in education. Instead of wordy, worthy strategies, future governments need to do more to provide the conditions for sport to thrive. Or at least not make them worse.
1. What does the first paragraph reveal about Parkrun?| A．It has created numerous employment opportunities. |
| B．It has gained increasing popularity worldwide. |
| C．It has promoted stronger community ties. |
| D．It has gained official recognition as an official festival. |
| A．stimulate population growth | B．promote engagement in sports |
| C．improve the city’s reputation | D．extend sport hours in schools |
| A．aims to discover new talent |
| B．prioritizes mass competition |
| C．doesn’t stress athletic excellence |
| D．isn’t intended for first-timers |
| A．organize “grassroots” sporting events |
| B．supervise local sports associations |
| C．increase the funding for sports clubs |
| D．invest in public sports facilities |
9 . NEW STORY CONTEST
Ah, the New Year — a time for visiting friends and family as we ring out the old, ring in the new and imagine all the new adventures that await us in the year ahead.
Who knows what you’ll find when you open the door to your dryer or gaze up at the night sky? Will you write about a visit from a mythical creature, or maybe a lost animal? Will the visitor cause a problem — or solve one?
Whoever your visitor is, every buggy in Cricket (an American children’s magazine) Country will be gathered around the mailbox, awaiting the visit of your best story — just 350 words or less, please — featuring a surprising or unexpected visitor. Happy New Year!
Contest Rules
Your contest entry must be original. Ideas and words should not be copied.
Your entry must be signed by your parent or guardian, saying it is original, that no help was given, and granting Cricket permission to publish prize-winning entries in the May 2024 issue or on our website.
Be sure to include your name, age and full address on your entry.
Only one entry per person, please.
If you want your work returned, enclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope for each entry.
Incomplete entries cannot be considered. Your entry will be incomplete if you forget to include your age or the signature of your parent or guardian that confirms that your work is original.
Your entry must be received by April 25, 2024.
Send entries to Cricket League, P. O. Box 300, Peru, IL 61354. (No faxes or email submissions, please!)
1. The theme of the new story contest is “_________”.| A．new adventures | B．New Year’s resolution |
| C．unexpected visitors | D．surprising inventions |
| A．be sent by means of email | B．arrive after January 25,2018 |
| C．be the contestant’s own work | D．contain no less than 350 words |
| A．the prize-winning entry can be publicized on the media |
| B．all the required information has been included |
| C．the content of the story is based on a real event |
| D．editors can make revision to the participant’s entry |
10 . We hear “Have a nice day!” every day and everywhere. It may be a pleasant gesture or a meaningless expression. When my friend Maxie says “Have a nice day” with a smile, I know she sincerely cares about what happens to me. I feel loved and secure since another person cares about me and wishes me well.
“Have a nice day. Next!” This version of the expression is spoken by a salesgirl in the supermarket who is rushing me and my groceries out of the door. The words come out in the same tone with a fixed procedure. They are spoken at me, not to me. Obviously, the concern for my day and everyone else’s is the management’s attempt to increase business.
The expression is one of those behaviors that help people get along with each other. Sometimes it indicates the end of a meeting. As soon as you hear it, you know the meeting is at an end. Sometimes the expression saves us when we don’t know what to say. “Oh, you just had a tooth out? I’m terribly sorry, but have a nice day.”
The expression can be pleasant. If a stranger says “Have a nice day” to you, you may find it heart-warming because someone you don’t know has tried to be nice to you.
Although the use of the expression is an insincere, meaningless social custom at times, there is nothing wrong with the sentence except that it is a little uninteresting. The salesgirl, the waitress, and all the countless others who speak it without thinking may not really care about my day. But in a strange and comfortable way, it’s nice to know they care enough to pretend they care when they really don’t care all that much. While the expression may not often be sincere, it is always spoken. The point is that people say it all the time when they like.
1. How does the writer understand Maxie’s words?| A．Maxie shows her anxiety to the writer. |
| B．Maxie really wishes the writer a good day. |
| C．Maxie encourages the writer to stay happy. |
| D．Maxie really worries about the writer. |
| A．The sales girl is getting bored. | B．The salesgirl behaves rudely to me. |
| C．The salesgirl cares about me. | D．The salesgirl says the words as a routine. |
| A．try to be good to you | B．express respect to you |
| C．give his blessing to you | D．share his pleasure with you |
| A．as a heart-warming greeting to someone |
| B．as a generally accepted behavior in the society |
| C．as a polite ending of a conversation |
| D．as an expression of gratitude to someone |
