1 . How to Make a Difference in Your Career
Making a meaningful career choice is a crucial decision in life.
Define what’s personally satisfying
Define your career impact
To maximize your career’s impact, consider the importance of the problem you are addressing, how effective your job is at dealing with it, and your personal fit. Your personal fit depends on your abilities and career capital-skills, connections, and reputation,
Before thinking about specific career paths, it’s valuable to consider what kinds of careers tend to have the highest impact. Remember many career categories can enable you to make a big contribution to whichever global problems you think are most pressing.
Have a plan B and a plan Z
List promising alternatives you can switch to if your plan A doesn’t work out. If you’re ambitious enough, your plan A probably has a good chance of not working out.
| A．So you should be ready to try again |
| B．Take all these factors into consideration |
| C．Explore the key categories of meaningful careers |
| D．Have a better understanding of the career categories |
| E．Finding work that is personally satisfying can be a challenge |
| F．People who show their interest in challenge get satisfying careers |
| G．There are many paths that you can take to contribute positively to the world |
2 . Young boys often dream of superpower to solve their problems “If I could just lick my fingers, my homework would be done,” many have imagined. Jerry and Joe put their ideas down on paper and created the world’s most popular superhero, Superman.
In 1931, the two became fast friends at Cleveland’s Glenville High School and ended up crating comics together. Joe was the artist and drew all the time, using bits of any kind of paper he could find. He hung out at newsstands (报摊) concentrating on magazines, especially amazing stories and then took up a pencil to recreate them at home. Jerry was the storyteller and the more ambitious of the two. He described how the creation of Superman came to him in the middle of a sleepless summer night, “I spring out of bed and write this down, and then I go back and think some more for about two hours and get up again and write that down. The inspiration for Superman’s origin story start taking shape, and the next morning, I run over to Joe’s place ...”
As is often the case, when we experience something painful in life, we deal with the feel-ing through creative expression. Jerry’s father owned a shop and died during a robbery. A young child might process that experience by wishing something could have prevented it. For Jerry, out came the Man of Steel, who was invulnerable (刀枪不入的) and tended to protect innocent people. Creating storylines must have helped Jerry to deal with the pain. Superman always wins. He stops trains and bad guys and cannot be killed.
The story of Superman has inspired kids for generations. It has calmed their fears and driven their dreams. Most importantly, the Man of Steel has inspired us all to find our super-power and use it to help others.
1. What can we learn about Jerry and Joe?| A．They became popular superheroes. | B．They used their imagination in comics. |
| C．They lived in their own imaginary world. | D．They stood out for their rich experience. |
| A．The origin of the character Superman. | B．The amusing story of Jerry and Joe. |
| C．The difficulty of creating the character. | D．The common experience of Jerry and Joe. |
| A．Ambitious. | B．Mean. | C．Unconquerable. | D．Troublesome. |
| A．A biography. | B．A movie review. | C．A science fiction. | D．A history textbook. |
3 . It was eight o’ clock on Christmas morning, and Uncle Tom said he wanted to listen to the news. My 11-year-old self was wondering why grown-ups would be interested in the news when there were important things to be done, such as handing out presents. However, while I was only half-listening to the radio broadcast, I was confused that I had heard that report earlier.
My older brother, Colin, figured out what was happening. “Pete, it’s a tape recorder! We’ve got our tape recorder!” This was one of those rare moments when my inside gave an involuntary lurch (倾斜). Colin and I had both been blind from birth. In the late 1950s, tape recorders were definitely the top choice for blind kids, especially with the rise of rock ‘n’ roll.
But it wasn’t the first time I had been attracted to a tape recorder. I vividly remember walking into a room when I was four and hearing a child’s beautiful singing. It turned out that my dad had borrowed a tape recorder for preparing his projects. And for the first time, in the same way that a sighted child might react to seeing themselves in a mirror or a photograph, I got the sense of myself as a separate person who existed outside my head and was experienced by other people.
Then I became a broadcaster at school. I would wander around the school with my microphone, recording my thoughts in the style of the voices I heard on the radio. But the biggest challenge was not finding things to do with the tape recorder but taking it away from Colin. His generosity on the first day we got it did not extend to handing it over to his brother at school. “You’ll break it,” he would say.
But ten years later, I drew on the confidence gained from those early explorations of the sound and walked into a radio station, in the hopes of selling myself as a broadcast journalist. Eight years later, I presented my first report for BBC’s Six O’Clock News. I never thought that a Christmas present had changed my life.
1. Why did Uncle Tom probably listen to the news on Christmas morning?| A．To keep up with the times. |
| B．To carry on the holiday tradition. |
| C．To create a happy festival mood. |
| D．To surprise Colin and the author. |
| A．His interest in music. |
| B．His love of broadcasting. |
| C．The real existence of himself. |
| D．An understanding of his father. |
| A．Learning the voice style of radio hosts. |
| B．Getting the tape recorder from Colin. |
| C．Balancing broadcasting and study. |
| D．Finding fun things to record. |
| A．His experiences of exploring the sound. |
| B．His talent for recording. |
| C．His father’s encouragement. |
| D．His rich broadcasting knowledge. |
4 . Last September, several hundred tomato lovers gathered on a sunny, breezy day in Portland, Ore. for Tomato Fest. Agricultural researcher Matt Davis was handing out samples of experimental tomatoes which were dry-farmed.
Dry-farming, a form of agriculture that doesn’t require irrigation, has roots stretching back millennia. But in the 20th century, the practice largely fell out of widespread use. Today, however, farmers are once again experimenting with dry farming as they struggle with water shortages, which are being exacerbated by rising temperatures and more frequent and intense droughts linked to climate change.
It’s a common misconception that dry farming means growing plants without water. Instead, dry-farmed plants take up moisture stored in the ground rather than sprinkled (洒) from above. Thus, sites must generally receive more than 50 centimeters of annual precipitation (降水量) to create moisture in the soil, and the soil must be composed of fine grains that help preserve that water over time.
Dry-farming won’t solve all of agriculture’s woes, but it offers a way forward. Farmers have noticed that dry-farmed plots contain only about a fifth of the weeds that grow in irrigated plots. Not having to pull up as many weeds can translate into labor savings. Coupled with not having to manage irrigation facilities, dry-farming can simplify a growing operation.
In 2016 and 2017, Alex Stone and Jennifer Wetzel from Oregon State University grew different varieties of winter squash in Corvallis. The pair irrigated some vegetable fields and dry-farmed others. After harvesting the squash and leaving them in storage for four months, they found that about 80% of the roughly 1,250 dry-farmed winter squash were still marketable while the number dropped to 50% out of the roughly 1,150 irrigated winter squash.
“You get to really learn what the environment gives you, and you learn to respond accordingly.” Michael Johnson, a specialist at the University of Arizona says, “A relationship develops between the cropping system and the farmer. It’s a beautiful thing that needs to be cherished.”
1. What does the underlined word “exacerbated” in Paragraph 2 probably mean?| A．Highlighted. | B．Worsened. | C．Relieved. | D．Improved. |
| A．It helps grow plants without water. |
| B．It enjoyed great popularity in the 20th century. |
| C．It has certain requirements for the composition of soil. |
| D．It is an effective method to address environmental problems. |
| A．Its produce contains less water. | B．Its overall yields tend to be higher. |
| C．It makes the growing process simpler. | D．It tends to yield longer-preserved produce. |
| A．Conservative. | B．Indifferent. | C．Supportive. | D．Skeptical. |
5 . Public health data signals a genuine crisis in adolescent mental health: rising rates of anxiety, depression, and hopelessness. But as we worry about tweens and teens who are struggling, we can’t ignore another mounting effect — the burdens that are shouldered by their friends and peers in an “always on” world.
We have studied teens and tech for over a decade. Their networks are ever-expanding, in no small part because there’s a sense that being nice means accepting fellow requests from acquaintances and friends-of-friends. And it’s not just staying connected — it’s keeping up with what others post, too.
Social media platforms thus make it technically possible to maintain more relationships than we are historically actually wired to track and manage. The result is an overwhelming wave of social information. It’s especially intense for adolescents whose developmental sensitivities drive them to care deeply about what their peers are doing and thinking.
Significant stress comes with trying to be a “good friend” in the age of social media. Friendship requires both public and behind-the-scenes support. Even before a social media post is made public, close friends can be pulled into photo selection, editing, and final examination. Besides, they need to respond in the right way and in the right amount of time, which differs from one relationship to another. Replying too quickly can be seen as over-eager, especially when the friendship is new or not close. But when it’s a close friend, too long a lag (延迟) can be hurtful.
The qualities that are key to building or breaking friendships are actually the same as they’ve always been: mutual (相互的) sharing of joys and sorrows, a give and take of acceptance and support, and an ability to weather and resolve conflicts. But technologies have transformed how friendships play out. Social media increases the burdens that come along with being a good friend. Too often, these dynamics hit teens hard in ways that are lost on adults. And that is what should be changed with the help of parents, schools and other parts of society.
1. What makes teenagers’ networks continue to expand?| A．The pressure to be nice. | B．The requests of their parents. |
| C．The need to meet more people. | D．The burden of living independently. |
| A．Exciting. | B．Challenging. | C．Money-saving. | D．Risk-taking. |
| A．The qualities of being a teen friend. |
| B．The conflicts between schools and parents. |
| C．The relations between parents and their teens. |
| D．The influences of social media on teen friendship. |
| A．Why more teens are addicted to social media |
| B．How teens nowadays gain long-standing friendships |
| C．How social media has made teen friendships more stressful |
| D．What makes teens become more sensitive to their peers’ needs |
6 . It was so thoughtful. My daughter gave me an address book for my birthday. She knows the one I have is worn. The gift is lovely; the cover is colourful; the pages are creamy white. But I don’t feel free to use this gift; I’m tied to my old book.
My address book tells stories, not only my own but also my friends’. My friends came and went. Some friends married each other and I combined them with lines. Children’s names were added one by one above their parents’. Some got their own addresses as they moved out. I turn the page and see the addresses of a dead friend. I never cross them out. I want their name there. I don’t want to forget.
This book has my family stories, especially the addresses of my loved ones who’ve died. I can picture their houses in detail－the feel of the crocheted doilies on grandma`s coffee table, the cupboard under Uncle Ed`s staircase(perfect for hiding from the other cousins), the clean smell of Aunt Lily`s living room.
Maybe it’s time for being smart and stylish. I can keep this old one in the attic, after all.
“Don’t you have all that on your phone?” my daughter asked me once when she saw me thumbing through my address book. And yes, I do have some of the contact information there, too. I admit, having it on a device is super handy. My daughter’s generation doesn’t use address books. But changing addresses on a phone is so permanent; the old address is wiped out without a trace. You don’t see the person any more? Press delete. It’s like they were never there.
The old address book sits on top of the new one, for now. But my new address book whispers a story of new possibilities, leaving space for friends who I don’t know yet. I’ll get to it. It’s just a matter of time.
1. Why doesn’t the author feel free to use her birthday gift?| A．She thought it too precious. | B．She was too old to use it. |
| C．She lived an economical life. | D．She was attached to her old book. |
| A．The stories her address book tells. | B．The ups and downs of her life. |
| C．The changes she has experienced. | D．The coming and going of her friends. |
| A．It serves as a valuable antique. | B．It often gives her endless happiness. |
| C．It is a way of keeping memories. | D．It always reminds her of her family. |
| A．Thoughtful and thankful. | B．Conservative and cautious. |
| C．Smart and stylish. | D．Affectionate and emotional. |
7 . Making day-to-day activities more intense for a few minutes — such as briefly stepping up the pace of a walk — could offer people who don’t exercise some of the health benefits that exercisers enjoy, according to a new study of roughly 25, 000 adults who reported no exercise in their free time.
Those who include three one- to two-minute bursts of intense activity per day saw a nearly a 40 percent drop in the risk of death from any cause compared with those without such activity. The risk of death from cancer also fell by nearly 40 percent, and the risk of death from cardiovascular (心血管的) disease dropped almost 50 percent, researchers report online December 8 in Nature Medicine.
“This study adds to other literature showing that even short amounts of activity are beneficial,” says Lisa Cadmus-Bertram, a physical activity epidemiologist (流行病学家) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “So many people are daunted by feeling that they don’t have the time, money, motivation, transportation, etc. togo to a gym regularly or work out for long periods of time,” she says. “The message we can take is that it is absolutely worth doing what you can.”
The researchers were looking for bursts of intense activity that met a definition determined in a laboratory study, like reaching at least 77 percent of maximum heart rate and at least 64 percent of maximum oxygen consumption. In real life, the signs that someone has reached the needed intensity level are “an increase in heart rate and feeling out of breath” in the first 15 to 30 seconds of an activity, Stamatakis says.
Regular daily activities offer several opportunities for these bursts, he says. “The simplest one is maximizing walking pace for a minute or two during any regular walk.” Other options, he says, include carrying grocery bags to the car or taking the stairs. “The largest population health gains will be realized by finding ways to get the least physically active people to move a little more.”
1. What was found about intense activity in the new study?| A．It helped to lower the risk of death. |
| B．It was more beneficial to exercisers. |
| C．It relieved the pain of cancer patients. |
| D．It cured people of cardiovascular disease. |
| A．Inspired. |
| B．Surprised. |
| C．Discouraged. |
| D．Confused. |
| A．Working out every day. |
| B．Taking stairs at an even pace. |
| C．Keeping running at a high speed. |
| D．Adding short bursts to a regular walk. |
| A．The Simplest Daily Exercise Activities |
| B．Brief Intense Activities Can Be Helpful |
| C．The Guidance on Brief Intense Activities |
| D．Regular Exercise Is Necessary for Everyone |
8 . Aasritha Duriseti recently noticed her grandmother’s difficulty opening a bottle cap. Fortunately, she found a solution in her eighth-grade engineering class at Carson Middle School in Herndon, Virginia, whose assignment was to adapt existing products to make daily life easier for people with challenges.
Aasritha’s creativity kicked in as she researched existing bottle-opening devices. She used a piece of wood shaped like a cellphone and put three holes on it, each in different sizes and lined with a layer of dried, sticky hot glue, which provided firm grips (防滑力) for common bottle caps. With a simple twisting (拧) motion, her grandmother could open bottles without assistance.
“Students in the class used more than their math, physics and tool skills. They also learned to look at problems from another’s point of view,” said Teacher Mark Bolt, “Engineers need to put themselves in their product users’ shoes to build effective solutions.”
Other students in the class also showed sensitivity as they watched friends and family struggle with daily tasks.
Michael Kuwashima noticed how dyslexia—a reading disorder that the brain tends to confuse the order of numbers, letters and other images-made it difficult for a friend to follow along on pages full of text. Therefore, Michael created a small adjustable window-blind-style device. “My friend could isolate (分离) small sections of text while reading,” he said.
Arjan Garg focused on a different problem. Sometimes putting on clothes can be hard for people with a limited range of motion. Arjan created a “dressing stick” using four wood sticks of different sizes to fit different clothing.
The students tried different versions of their products along the way to make the best one to show the class.
Rather than requiring step-by-step directions for creating their projects, Bolt preferred to leave students’ creative paths open. “If we want to do better, we have to have a chance to fail,” he said.
1. Why did Aasritha create a new bottle-opening device?| A．She hoped to get a higher score. |
| B．She was interested in engineering. |
| C．She had difficulty opening bottle caps. |
| D．She wanted to help her grandmother. |
| A．Working with others. |
| B．Conducting field experiments. |
| C．Understanding others’ feelings. |
| D．Communicating with product users. |
| A．With the aid of a guidebook. |
| B．Through trial and error. |
| C．With the help of classmates. |
| D．Under the detailed instruction. |
| A．An inspiring class. |
| B．An excellent teacher. |
| C．Some scientific methods. |
| D．Some talented students. |
9 . Traveling itself is an experience hard to be described in words.
Having grown up and lived all my life in a single place, I had a small set of friends since my school days which continued till my college days.
I totally agree that traveling with family and friends is fun and enjoying. But traveling alone is satisfying too. It’s among those few things that you do for yourself and nobody else.
| A．I want to experience more. |
| B．But all this changed with my first solo trip. |
| C．I never thought I would travel alone in my life. |
| D．I was so scared when I went to school first time. |
| E．Every journey prepares you for the journey of life. |
| F．The farther you travel, the more independent you become. |
| G．After all you need to take care of yourself a bit too at times. |
10 . Born in 1940 in Nyeri, Kenya, Wangari Maathai spent her childhood in the Kenyan countryside and her young adult life in the United States. She studied biology at Mount St. Scholastica College in Kansas, then obtained a master’s degree from the University of Pittsburgh. After returning to Kenya and pursuing her PhD at the University of Nairobi, Wangari became the first woman in East Africa to receive a doctor’s degree.
In the 1970s Wangari was an active member of the National Council of Women of Kenya. Women came to the council in part to search for solutions to the environmental problems—deforestation and desertification had caused many of the resources women relied on for food and clean water to decrease.
Fuelled by her knowledge of biology and her passion for helping others, Wangari decided to take action. Wangari had two goals in mind: to help restore environmental resources and give women the ability to support their families in a self-sufficient, sustainable way. To achieve her goals, she came up with a practical but impactful idea: to plant trees. The trees would reduce the effects of deforestation, in addition to providing food and firewood for local families. Wangari’s plan inspired the formation of the Green Belt Movement in 1977, an organisation dedicated to environmental conservation and poverty reduction in Kenya.
As the Green Belt Movement grew, Wangari began to focus on several different but interconnected causes: environmental conservation and human rights. In the late 1980s, she called on her community to oppose the construction of a skyscraper (摩天大楼) in Uhuru Park, Nairobi’s central public space. In 1999 she led a protest against the privatisation of Karura Forest in Nairobi, during which Green Belt Movement members were beaten by private guards. Despite facing ongoing opposition and even danger, Wangari’s belief in her work was never shaken.
Wangari served on the boards of countless environmental organisations, and spoke to members of the United Nations. Due to her tireless work Wangari received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004.
1. What do we know about Wangari Maathai?| A．She had a hard childhood in Kenya. |
| B．She acquired an excellent education. |
| C．She was the first woman to get a degree. |
| D．She came back to Kenya due to her colour. |
| A．Wangar’s family’s support. |
| B．Wangari’s achievements in biology. |
| C．Wangari’s tree-planting idea. |
| D．Wangari’s desire to fight world poverty. |
| A．Wangari’s efforts to expand her influence. |
| B．Wangari’s ways to fight for human rights. |
| C．Wangar’s strategies to establish a reputation. |
| D．Wangari’s plans to handle growing opposition. |
| A．Honest and hard-working. | B．Patient and unselfish. |
| C．Considerate and generous. | D．Determined and inspiring. |
