1 . There’s something so wonderfully easy about reading this column in a physical newspaper. You turned the page, and here it is, with few annoyances or distractions, in an ultra-high-definition(超高清的)typeface which was custom-designed with pleasurable reading in mind. Or—wait—are you reading this on a phone? Did you follow a link from Twitter, or Facebook? Or maybe you’re on a train, or a plane, or you’re trying to use your laptop on your cousin’s bad Wi-Fi connection out in the countryside somewhere. In the case, there’s a pretty good chance that even getting this far is some kind of minor miracle.
When talking about the economics of online publishing, the first thing to remember is that job No.1 isn’t to get the news to you. Rather, it is to monetize you, by selling you off, in real time, to the highest bidder. This happens every time you click on a link, before the page has even started to load on your phone. An almost unthinkably enormous ecosystem of scripts, cookies and often astonishingly personal information is used to show you a set of brand messages and sales pitches which are tailored almost uniquely to you.
That ecosystem raises important questions about privacy and just general creepiness(毛骨悚然)—the way that the minute you look at a pair of shoes online, for instance, they then start following you around every other website you visit for weeks. But whether or not you value your privacy, you are damaged, daily, by the sheer weight of all that technology.
Online ads have never got less annoying over time, and you can be sure that mobile ads are going to get more annoying as well, once Silicon Valley has worked out how to better identify who you are. The move to greater privacy protection might help slow the pace at which such technologies are adopted. But there’s no realistic hope that websites will actually improve from here. If you want to avoid the terrible experience of the mobile web, you’ll only have one choice—which is to start reading your articles natively, in the Facebook or Apple News app. But it won’t be Facebook and Apple who killed the news brands. It’ll be ad tech.
1. What is the main purpose of the first paragraph?| A．To introduce various reading styles. |
| B．To lead to the topic to be talked about. |
| C．To show the advantages of physical newspapers. |
| D．To compare physical newspapers with electronic reading. |
| A．The reader’s demand is satisfied. |
| B．The reader’s interest is motivated. |
| C．The reader is cheated by the design. |
| D．The reader is taken advantage of. |
| A．Tolerant. | B．Critical. |
| C．Supportive. | D．Indifferent. |
| A．Online ads have become less troublesome. |
| B．Silicon Valley is as famous as Facebook. |
| C．Ad tech is a good solution to privacy protection. |
| D．It is tough to keep away from the annoyances brought about by ads. |
2 . For several days I (Jane Eyre) saw little of Mr Rochester. In the morning he seemed much occupied with business, and in the afternoon gentlemen from the neighbourhood called and sometimes stayed to dine with him. When his foot was well enough, he rode out a great deal.
During this time, all my knowledge of him was limited to occasional meetings about the house, when he would sometimes pass me coldly, and sometimes bow and smile. His changes of manner did not offend me, because I saw that I had nothing to do with the cause of them.
One evening, several days later, I was invited to talk to Mr Rochester after dinner. He was sitting in his armchair, and looked not quite so severe, and much less gloomy. There was a smile on his lips, and his eyes were bright, probably with wine. As I was looking at him, he suddenly turned, and asked me, “Do you think I’m handsome, Miss Eyre?”
The answer somehow slipped from my tongue before I realised it: “No, sir.”
“Ah, you really are unusual! You are a quiet, serious little person, but you can be almost rude.”
“Sir, I’m sorry. I should have said that beauty doesn’t matter, or something like that.”
“No, you shouldn’t! I see, you criticise my appearance, and then you stab (刺) me in the back!You have honesty and feeling. There are not many girls like you. But perhaps I go too fast. Perhaps you have awful faults to counterbalance (抵消) your few good points.”
I thought to myself that he might have too. He seemed to read my mind, and said quickly, “Yes, you’re right. I have plenty of faults. I went the wrong way when I was twenty-one, and have never found the right path again. I might have been very different. I might have been as good as you, and perhaps wiser. I am not a bad man, take my word for it, but I have done wrong. It wasn’t my character, but circumstances which were to blame. Why do I tell you all this? Because you’re the sort of person people tell their problems and secrets to, because you’re sympathetic and give them hope.”
It seemed he had quite a lot to talk to me. He didn’t seem to like to finish the talk quickly, as was the case for the first time.
“Don’t be afraid of me, Miss Eyre.” He continued. “You don’t relax or laugh very much, perhaps because of the effect Lowood School has had on you. But in time you will be more natural with me, and laugh, and speak freely. You’re like a bird in a cage. When you get out of the cage, you’ll fly very high. Good night.”
1. What’s not Miss Eyre’s impression of Mr Rochester in the beginning?| A．Busy. | B．Sociable. |
| C．Friendly. | D．Changeable. |
| A．tell her all his troubles |
| B．tell her his life experience |
| C．change her opinion of him |
| D．change his circumstances |
| A．rude | B．cold |
| C．friendly | D．encouraging |
3 . The brown paper bag hit the ground. A Michelin engineer picked it up and opened it, revealing a cracked, leaking egg. The third graders at A.J. Whittenberg Elementary School were disappointed when they saw the runny mess.
It was engineering week at A.J. Whittenberg, a public primary school in Greenville, South Carolina. One week per month, engineers from local industries visit the classrooms and talk to students about their careers.
Greenville is now introducing the idea of a career path to students in primary school and giving students the option to follow those programs to middle and high schools. Each primary school focuses on a specific technical skill. The district allows students to attend schools outside of their attendance boundaries as long as space is available, which means students can choose to continue to follow their chosen career pathway at a middle school with corresponding programs.
The effort in Greenville is part of a growing national trend in which school districts partner with local industries to develop curriculum (课程) and expose students to specialized careers at a young age.
Some education experts worry the focus on industry qualifications has resulted in schools taking on responsibilities that should fall to businesses, like training workers for specific job duties, damaging a more comprehensive education in schools. “Schools are to not just prepare people for work and strengthen the economy, but also a place where students should experience art, music and think creatively,” said Jack Schneider, a professor of education at the University of Massachusetts.
A teacher from Greenville, however, said, “Career exposure has a big impact on kids. We’re not really wanting them to make a decision—‘I’m in the second grade and now I’m locked in to being whatever when I graduate from high school in 10 years.’ We just hope students walk across the graduation stage with plans for a career in mind.”
Modern times need modern solutions. When students leave school, they need to be already down their road to college, if that’s what they’re going to do, or schools need to give them something that allows them to get to work and earn a living. Just getting out with a high school degree doesn’t do that.
1. Why were the third graders disappointed?| A．Their test failed. | B．The bag missed the target. |
| C．Engineers disturbed them. | D．They had to clean the ground. |
| A．Design more career paths. | B．Invite engineers to their schools. |
| C．Adopt the open enrollment policy. | D．Offer more courses for them to choose. |
| A．People’s employment. | B．Students’ overall development. |
| C．The nation’s economy. | D．The school’s innovative education. |
| A．Modern solutions are hard to find. |
| B．More students need college education. |
| C．Greenville’s practice is not acceptable. |
| D．A high school degree is not enough for jobs. |
4 . In a natural disaster—a hurricane, a flood, a volcanic eruption, or other catastrophes—minutes and even seconds of warning can make the difference between life and death. Because of this, scientists are working to use the latest technological advances to predict when and where disasters will happen. They are also studying how best to analyze and communicate this information once it is obtained.
On September 29,1998, Hurricane Georges made landfall in Biloxi, Mississippi, after damaging Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, and several islands of the Caribbean badly with heavy rains and winds up to 160 km per hour. Few people lost their lives along the Gulf Coast of the United States, although hundreds died in the Caribbean. This was a very different result, when a powerful Gulf Coast hurricane made an unexpected direct hit on Galveston, Texas, killing at least 6,000 people. Vastly improved hurricane warnings explain the different circumstances at the end of the 20th century—residents of Galveston had no advance warning that a storm was approaching, while residents of Biloxi had been warned days in advance, allowing for extensive safety precautions (预防).
At the same time that people in Biloxi were thankful for the advance warning, some residents of New Orleans, Louisiana were less satisfied. A day before Georges made landfall, forecasters were predicting that the hurricane had a good chance of striking New Orleans.Emergency management officials must begin evacuations (疏散) well before a storm strikes. But evacuation costs money. The mayor of New Orleans estimated that his city’s preparations for Georges cost more than $50 million. After Georges missed New Orleans, some residents questioned the value of the hurricane forecasts in the face of such high costs.
The different views on the early warnings of Hurricane Georges show some of the complexities (复杂) related to predicting disasters. Disaster prediction is a process of providing scientific information for the government officials and other decision-makers who must respond to those predictions.
1. What is the purpose of disaster prediction according to the passage?| A．To find out the cause of disasters. |
| B．To save people’s lives. |
| C．To prevent natural disasters from happening. |
| D．To apply advanced technology to disaster prediction. |
| A．Puerto Rico. | B．New Orleans. |
| C．Biloxi, Mississippi. | D．Galveston, Texas. |
| A．their preparations were made in vain |
| B．the hurricane warning arrived rather late |
| C．the forecast hurricane did not hit the city |
| D．they suffered from a heavy hurricane attack |
| A．The different ways of disaster prediction. |
| B．Technological advances in disaster prediction. |
| C．The benefits and preparations of disaster prediction. |
| D．The importance and uncertainty of disaster prediction. |
5 . Android phones will be used to sense earthquakes around the world and may one day be able to provide global warnings, with the first mass alert system coming into use on August 11 in California, a search engine company announced.
The company, which helped develop Android, worked with California and the United States Geological Survey to build the quake alerts into all phones that run the common mobile operating system. Android users who have enabled location services and are near a quake of magnitude 4.5 or greater will receive a full-screen earthquake warning telling them to seek cover. The screen also will provide estimates of the quake’s magnitude and distance from the user. Depending on their distance from a quake, people could get several seconds or perhaps a minute of warning.
Users won’t need to download California’s MyShake app in order to receive the alerts. That application, developed by the University of California, Berkeley and launched last year, has been downloaded by only about 1 million of California’s 40 million residents. By contrast, many millions of people own Android phones.
“This announcement means that California’s world-class earthquake early warning system will be a standard function on every Android phone — giving millions of people precious seconds to seek cover and hold on when the big one hits,” Gov.Gavin Newsom said in a statement. The iPhone users won’t receive the alerts through Apple’s operating system, but they can download the MyShake app.
Also, the company announced that Android phones would begin detecting earthquakes from around the world through their motion-sensing accelerometers. “Your Android phone can be a mini-seismometer, joining millions of other Android phones out there to form the world’s largest earthquake detection network,” according to a blog post of the company. More than 2 billion devices run the Android operating system. Hundreds of millions of people live in earthquake-prone areas. But many countries lack the resources to build detection and alert systems, the company said. The information will be used at first to provide fast and accurate information on the search engine. But the company said it could begin sending out earthquake alerts next year.
1. If an earthquake hits the US, who won’t receive the earthquake warning?| A．Android users who haven’t downloaded the MyShake app. |
| B．The iPhone users who have downloaded the MyShake app. |
| C．The iPhone users who haven’t downloaded the MyShake app. |
| D．Android users who have downloaded the MyShake app. |
| A．Millions of people have downloaded the MyShake app. |
| B．The earthquake early warning system will be of great help. |
| C．The search engine company has already sent out earthquake alerts since last year. |
| D．Over 2 billion devices run the Apple operating system. |
| A．New technology developed by the company. |
| B．The large number of Android phone users. |
| C．Motion-sensing accelerometers. |
| D．The newly developed MyShake app. |
| A．To share a new MyShake app. |
| B．To promote Android phones. |
| C．To make a search engine company known to the world. |
| D．To introduce a new function of Android phones. |
6 . China’s three major mobile operators (运营商) on Thursday started their long-awaited 5G service plans with users in dozens of cities. China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom announced their monthly 5G plans with prices ranging from 128 yuan to 599 yuan, almost at the same time.
The 5G services are now being used in 50 cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen. The expectation for the new communication technology has long been high. The three major mobile operators already registered (注册) over 10 million 5G users before the official start.
The country is expected to have over 600 million 5G users by 2025, covering nearly 40 percent of the global total. Major phone makers are jumping on the broadband (宽带) business. Eighteen types of 5G smartphones were brought out in the first three quarters of this year, and about 787, 000 5G phones came into the market, according to a research institute with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology(MIIT).
Bloomberg News reported that bringing 5G services out to the world’s biggest population should give a push to China’s digital economy, including makers of telecommunications equipment, platforms and applications for the internet of things, autonomous (自动的) driving and factory automation. It will be expensive at first but could pay off well into the future.
China is ready to become the world’s largest 5G market by users, a position that could help it set global standards (标准) for such networks and inspire its drive to become a leader in this field.
1. What can you infer from paragraph 3?| A．There will be 600 million 5G users by 2025. |
| B．People have accepted 5G services as part of their life. |
| C．Phone market becomes active thanks to 5G services. |
| D．The new technology has long been highly expected. |
| A．China can hardly benefit from developing this technology. |
| B．It will be expensive to develop this advanced technology. |
| C．The technology helps set the world standards for network. |
| D．It will lead to China’s economic development. |
| A．Worried. | B．Negative. | C．Positive. | D．Unclear. |
| A．5G Services Already Widely Used. |
| B．Three Major Mobile Operators. |
| C．Advantages Of 5G Services. |
| D．5G Services With A Bright Future In China. |
7 . Natural silence — the kind when you hear nothing but the sound of nature around you — is becoming increasingly scarce. The noise of man-made can be heard even in the remote corners of national parks and deep in the Arctic Ocean.
This is having some troubling effects. In humans, noise pollution has been linked to physical, mental health problems and cognitive impairment (认知功能障碍) in children. In wildlife,it’s disturbing navigation, pairing, communication and can cause hearing loss. “We’re losing the ability to listen to nature without noise pollution,” says sound recordist Matt Mikkelsen. He’s part of the non-profit organization Quiet Parks International, which aims to identify and preserve the planet’s last quiet places.
Recently, this took him to Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in northeastern Minnesota. No cars, motor boats, electricity or telephone lines are allowed in the one-million-acre area,making it a strong candidate for Quiet Park status. But listening back to the recording, Mikkelsen can hear the low hum (嗡鸣声) of a commercial plane flying far away.
Quiet Parks hasn’t yet decided if Boundary Waters meets its criteria — it’s one of 260 potential sites around the world that the organization is currently exploring. The team will analyze the sound recordings from each location and consider them alongside other data.
In recent years, the world has been getting louder, with cities and towns expanding and an increasing number of noises from cars, airplanes or ships. But during the COVID-19 pandemic (流行病), there has been momentary delay.In2020,global air travel was down by 60% and road transport decreased by almost half. Scientists in Europe found that noise caused by humans fell by up to 50% after lock downs were carried out.
“People enjoyed the silence,” says Mikkelsen. “There were no airplanes in the sky and cars weren’t on the street. It was an incredible thing to be able to hear the world, all of a sudden, free from noise pollution,” he says. Since the start of the pandemic, Quiet Parks says it has experienced a huge increase in interest for quiet places. “I hope that we can take that desire for a world with less noise forward,” says Mikkelsen, “and appreciate the spots we have, where we can go and not experience noise pollution.”
1. What does the underlined word “scarce” probably mean in paragraph 1?| A．Special. | B．Rare. | C．Common. | D．Typical. |
| A．Causes of hearing loss. |
| B．Tips on protecting the nature. |
| C．Harmful effects of noise pollution. |
| D．Unidentified problems from human beings. |
| A．The sound recordings. | B．Global air travels. |
| C．Quiet Parks’ criteria. | D．Data of the pandemic. |
| A．A book review. | B．A travel guide. |
| C．A business plan. | D．A science report. |
8 . Have you ever made your life look a little more attractive on social media than it actually is? If so, you may be damaging your mental health.
The posts we make on social media platforms allow us to look back and see what we did on a given day. But what happens when, in an effort to impress our online friends, photos and videos we post become beautiful versions of the things we did?
A young girl named Sophia went out to a romantic anniversary dinner with her boyfriend, had a near relationship-ending fight during dessert, then came home and posted, “Had the best time out with the love of my life!”—even with a photo of the meal. No surprise, but according to a new study, Sophia was by no means unique. Two-thirds of users admit lying about their lives on social media with 20 percent of young people between the ages of 18 and 24 stating that they edit their own stories by frequently lying about relationships and promotions.
By beautifying our online stories, we are harming our memories. We start believing the stories we tell rather than remembering what really has happened. Soon, the real experience is lost and all that remains is the beautified version of history.
Scientists fear that these edited stories will end up changing our memories. It’s well confirmed through research that our own memories are often unreliable and can be easily controlled. Writing down one’s life in the form of a journal, or even on social media can help us keep our memories undamaged, but only if we tell the truth. And recording our experiences through whatever medium, to later recall lessons we have learned, is not only acceptable but desirable. In fact, looking back on our own past—however embarrassing or uncomfortable—is not just healthy but can be enjoyable.
1. Why did Sophia post her story with a photo of the meal?| A．To make herself attractive. | B．To show her photography skill. |
| C．To convince others of her story. | D．To show how amazing the meal was. |
| A．Encouraging. | B．Critical. | C．Humorous. | D．Enthusiastic. |
| A．recalling the unpleasant past can also be enjoyable |
| B．writing down our life on social media does no good to us |
| C．recording our experiences through media is unacceptable |
| D．editing our own stories will make us unreliable |
| A．Leaving others a good impression is desirable. |
| B．Editing our online stories weakens our memory. |
| C．Posting our experiences on social media is risky. |
| D．Beautifying our history ends up hurting ourselves. |
9 . Michael Yellow-lees set off to complete a 5,000-mile walk across Canada in the spring of 2021, wearing a kilt(短褶裙)and carrying a few items in a handcart, including a guitar. The 32-year-old musician from Dunked, Scotland, walked from the shores of the Pacific Occam to the cast coast of Newfoundland on the edge of the North Atlantic with his pet dog, Luna, an Alaskan husky, by his side.
Speaking about the Scottish Highlands, Mr.Yellow-lees said,“It is a beautiful landscape, but with a strong sense of sadness because of the absence of woodland,wildlife and people. So I decided to walk across the great wildernesses of Canada to raise funds for Trees for Life, a Scottish rewinding charity, and its work to restore(恢复)Scotland’s Caledonian Forest.”
The enthusiastic walker shared some of his experiences, including meeting black bears and hearing wolves cry loudly at night. He also mentioned a moment when he lost Luna after she jumped out of a little boat during a trip in the waterway section of the Trans Canada Trail in Nor-them Ontario.
Yet Mr Yellow-lees was deeply touched by the warmth of the people along the way. In every town and village,people offered him food, shelter and donations. And he was accompanied into towns and cities by marching pipe bands and interviewed by newspapers, the radio and TV.
Steve Mickie wright,chief executive officer of Trees for Life,said, “We followed Michael’s journey across Canada with respect and admiration. Restoring native habitats and wildlife to the Highlands is a big task that no one can do alone. But Michael’s extraordinary journey is proof that an individual can really make a difference.”
Bob Davidson, one of Michael Yellow-lees’ friends, said, “This is not a slow walk in the park, but a long march with heavy equipment on the rough road at an incredible pace. He’s an amazing guy.”
1. What do we know about Scottish Highlands from the passage?| A．It is located in the east coast of Britain. |
| B．It is a beautiful landscape but full of sorrows. |
| C．It may be once the site of extensive forests. |
| D．It is closely related to a charity in Canada |
| A．involved great excitement and fun |
| B．was a challenging experience |
| C．was troubled by his companion Luna |
| D．once made him regret his decision |
| A．Neutral | B．Supportive | C．Doubtful | D．Indifferent |
| A．We need to respect those who protect the environment. |
| B．It is not wise to take a long journey alone in the wild. |
| C．Ordinary people who aim high can work wonders. |
| D．People needs great survival skills in daily life. |
Marathon participants in China
1. What key information is shown in this chart?
2. What reasons lie behind the phenomenon?
