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 . Are you happy with your appearance?
“Almost all the girls with single-fold eyelids (单眼皮) in our class have had double eyelid operations,” Zeng, a Senior 2 student from Chengdu, told Xinhua. Zeng had the same surgery done this summer.
From popular photo-editing apps to plastic surgery (整形手术), it seems that large eyes, pale skin and a skinny body are the only standard for beauty these days. But can following this standard really make us feel good about ourselves?
“Many teenagers are upset about their appearance because they believe in unrealistic standards of beauty,” experts say.
However, trying to live up to strict standards can make us feel anxious. What troubles us is not just our “imperfect” looks, but the fact that we criticize ourselves too much.
| A．Beauty comes in all shapes and sizes. |
| B．Body image anxiety is common among teenagers. |
| C．Guys care just as much as girls do about their body image. |
| D．Some teenagers might feel negative about their appearance. |
| E．It’s common for teenagers to feel confident about their appearance. |
| F．She and many of her classmates believe bigger eyes look more beautiful. |
| G．Perfect faces and bodies are everywhere in advertising, TV shows and social media. |
3 . Smartwatches and fitness trackers (健身追踪器) have gained popularity recently. These tools can record your daily steps, heart rates, etc.
It’s a struggle to overcome the addiction to fitness trackers.
Of course, failing to meet your daily goal can be discouraging. You might focus on your shortcoming rather than your progress. Another problem is that you might find yourself paying too much attention to the step number rather than how your body feels.
Therefore, if you’re spending too much time looking at your smartwatch, limit your daily step count to a comfortable level.
| A．How can you tell whether you’re addicted to your fitness tracker? |
| B．Actually this addiction to step count can be risky, mentally and physically. |
| C．Don’t overuse your smartwatch. |
| D．However, do you find yourself checking your steps and heart rates too often? |
| E．After all, reaching a daily step count can be so appealing. |
| F．Besides, you can find other things to do that don’t involve checking your fitness tracker. |
| G．It doesn’t covey what you’re really feeling. |
4 . I turned 8 years old the day I skipped school for the first time. It was easily done: Both my parents left for work before my school bus arrived on weekdays, so when it showed up at my house on that cold winter morning, I simply did not get on. The perfect crime!
And what did I do with myself on that glorious stolen day, with no adult in charge and no limits on my activities? Did I get high? Hit the mall for a shoplifting extravaganza (狂欢)?
Nope. I built a warm fire in the wood stove, prepared a bowl of popcorn, grabbed a blanket, and read. I was trilled and transported by a book — it was Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises — and I just needed to be alone with it for a little while. I ached to know what would happen to Jake Barnes and Lady Brett Ashley and Robert Cohn. I couldn’t bear the thought of siting in a classroom taking another exam when I could be traveling through Spain in the 1920s with a bunch of expatriates (异乡客).
I spent that day lost in words. Time fell away, as the room around me turned to mist, and my role — as a daughter, sister, teenager, and student — in the world no longer had any meaning. I had accidentally come across the key to perfect happiness: I had become completely absorbed by something I loved.
Looking back on it now, I can see that some subtle things were happening to my mind and to my life while I was in that state of absorption. Hemingway’s language was quietly braiding itself into my imagination. I was downloading information about how to create simple and elegant sentences, a good and solid plot. In other words, I was learning how to write. Without realizing it, I was hot on the trail of my own fate. Writing now absorbs me the way reading once did and happiness is their generous side effect.
1. Why did the author skip school on that day?| A．Because she’s fascinated by a novel. | B．Because it’s a biting cold winter morning. |
| C．Because her parents left home early. | D．Because she’s anxious to take the exam. |
| A．Reading a fiction by the fire. | B．Travelling with a bunch of expatriates. |
| C．Being occupied by one’s passion. | D．Breaking the rules and regulations. |
| A．Mending. | B．Destroying. | C．Entering. | D．Blocking. |
| A．The author was tired of his roles in the real-life. |
| B．Becoming a writer is the author’s childhood dream. |
| C．The author skipped school when he was 8 years old. |
| D．Writing has a horrible effect on the author’s life now. |
5 . Research has shown that when we volunteer — where we devote ourselves to helping others — we actually end up benefiting too. Our happiness grows. We feel more satisfied with life. We even have more energy and creativity. Basically,we have more to give.
I’ve noticed a pattern with my friends. Sometimes,they get into the habit of gossiping about others. They will constantly complain about their bosses or coworkers. It seems as if they get caught in this loop(闭环) of complaining,and their frustration distracts them in other parts of their life. When this happens,they become uninterested in new events or become annoyed by their colleagues or things that happen at work.
Meanwhile,I’ve also seen other friends go out of their way to help someone on their team or to help out on a project that have very little — or even nothing — to do with their main work. Although it seems like they won’t receive anything in return,my friends benefit from these interactions. My friends have told me about the stronger relationships they’ve built at work and the fun they had working on new and interesting projects. They’ve told me about how the people they helped before have returned the favor later on. Not only that,but they have even talked about times where their boss recognized them for their work or when they were informed in advance about upcoming projects.
We often think that when we help someone else,we aren’t doing anything for ourselves. But we actually often end up getting back just as much as we give. When we step in to help someone,we often turn out to be helping ourselves as well.
| Research shows when we help others，we end up | Our happiness grows. We feel more satisfied. We are more We | We have more to give. We often turn out to be |
6 . Within the environmental movement, the question often arises whether global warming can be mitigated (缓解) by planting more vegetation. The idea is that the plants will consume carbon dioxide (CO2) that is causing the warming, while producing oxygen for us to breathe. This is acceptable on condition that global warming is indeed caused in some way by CO2 in the air.
However, actual scientific debate on the issue has shifted away from CO2 as the probable cause, especially after the findings that the temperatures changed 800 to 1000 years before carbon dioxide changed. In other words, CO2 levels are an indicator of temperature change, not a cause.
While there is nothing we can do to control the global climate, there is still a lot we can do to improve our local climates. Land use is the biggest decisive factor of local temperature and air quality. On clear days, the temperatures in big cities can be 5.6 degrees Centigrade higher than in the countryside around them. This is because the concrete (混凝土) of sidewalks and buildings and the asphalt (沥青) of roads take in sunlight and transform it into heat. Some get so hot, one could cook an egg on them! These vast surfaces of man﹣made stone also store lots of heat, which they radiate (散发) all night long. Just before sunrise, when the earth should be its coolest, roadways are still warm to touch.
If vegetation was blocking the Sun from the sidewalks and roads, the vegetation would absorb the sunlight, fueling the plants’ oxygen-making engines, and the rock would stay at surrounding temperatures. The easiest and most obvious choice is trees, particularly wide-reaching trees like the oak. Another possibility, especially outside the city centre, could be vine-covered trellises (棚架).Covering rooftops with grasses or other short vegetation reduces a building’s cooling cost as sharply as having trees or trellises that provide shade for windows does.
The reason why vegetation does not warm the air like rock does is that plants take water from the ground and evaporate (蒸发) it through their leaves. The Sun’s energy isn’t radiated as heat — it is used to change water into water vapor. The evaporative cooling works so well that the leaves stay 5.6 to 8.33 degrees Centigrade cooler than they would have been without water. While we can’t improve global climate, increased vegetation can help cool local climates.
1. Which of the following is True according to the passage?| A．With some effort, we can still affect global climate. |
| B．We can do a lot to improve the climate where we live. |
| C．Temperatures in big cities are usually lower than in the countryside. |
| D．The asphalt of roads throws back sunlight. |
| A．Planting full and wide-reaching trees. |
| B．Using vehicles that get better gas mileage. |
| C．Using energy-saving equipment. |
| D．Constructing dark-colored roofs on new buildings. |
| A．Darker colors absorb more sunlight and transform it into heat. |
| B．More thick materials store heat and give off it at night. |
| C．Human activity is changing global climate. |
| D．Vegetation is neither dark nor thick; thus, it reduces localized heating. |
| A．Encourage the next generation to increase vegetation. |
| B．Promote rooftop gardening. |
| C．Remove vines and trellises from buildings. |
| D．A and B above. |
7 . With mouth-watering thoughts of a tasty sandwich on your brain, you unwrap a loaf of bread and see a patch of green mold (绿霉).
Maybe you hear the voice of your mom or dad in your head, “Don’t be childish! Just eat around it!”“ Or you feel the guilt of food waste. By some estimates, about one-third of all the bread made in the U.S is never eaten.
Mold is a type of fungi, and comes from the same family as mushrooms. In fact, if you look at mold under a microscope, you will find that it looks like very skinny mushrooms, according to the USDA. It has a stalk with spores on top which form the blue-green moldy part that you see on food.
| A．Yes, you’d better throw that loaf away. |
| B．When throwing away moldy food, put it in a small paper bag or wrap it in plastic. |
| C．Do you cut off the disgusting part or throw away the entire loaf? |
| D．What you don’t see are root threads underneath that damage the foods they live on. |
| E．But science seems to overrule the guilt and parental pressure, at least in this case. |
| F．In some cases, a few molds produce poisons that make people and animals sick. |
| G．Besides, moldy food may also have invisible bacteria growing along with the mold, says the USDA. |
8 . You know the feeling — you have left your phone at home and feel anxious, as if you have lost your connection to the world. “Nomophobia” (无手机恐惧症) affects teenagers and adults alike. You can even do an online test to see if you have it. Last week, researchers from Hong Kong warned that nomophobia is infecting everyone. Their study found that people who use their phones to store, share and access personal memories suffer most. When users were asked to describe how they felt about their phones, words such as “hurt” (neck pain was often reported) and “alone” predicted higher levels of nomophobia.
“The findings of our study suggest that users regard smartphones as their extended selves and get attached to the devices,” said Dr Kim Ki Joon. “People experience feelings of anxiety and unpleasantness when separated from their phones.” Meanwhile, an American study shows that smartphone separation can lead to an increase in heart rate and blood pressure.
So can being without your phone really give you separation anxiety? Professor Mark Griffiths, psychologist and director of the International Gaming Research Unit at Nottingham Trent University, says it is what is on the phone that counts — the social networking that creates Fomo (fear of missing out).
“We are talking about an Internet-connected device that allows people to deal with lots of aspects of their lives,” says Griffiths. “You would have to surgically remove a phone from a teenager because their whole life is ingrained in this device.”
Griffiths thinks attachment theory, where we develop emotional dependency on the phone because it holds details of our lives, is a small part of nomophobia. For “screenagers”, it is Fomo that creates the most separation anxiety. If they can’t see what’s happening on WeChat or Weibo, they become panic-stricken about not knowing what’s going on socially. “But they adapt very quickly if you take them on holiday and there’s no Internet,” says Griffiths.
1. Which of the following may Dr Kim Ki Joon agree with?| A．We waste too much time on phones. |
| B．Phones have become part of some users. |
| C．Addiction to phones makes memories suffer. |
| D．Phones and blood pressure are closely linked. |
| A．We worry we may miss out what our friends are doing |
| B．We fear without phones we will run into a lot of trouble |
| C．We are accustomed to having a phone on us |
| D．We need our phones to help us store information |
| A．Approved of. | B．Relied on. | C．Opposed to. | D．Determined by. |
| A．In a research report. |
| B．In a science textbook. |
| C．In a popular science magazine. |
| D．In a fashion brochure. |
9 . Maggie, a girl of thirteen years old, lived on the west coast of the United States. She had never experienced an earthquake before; she only prepared for it. As long as she could remember, preparing for an earthquake was common at her school. Her family had made plans as well in case of a natural disaster.
One day, Maggie arrived home from school at the usual time. However, it was not the same as usual. She was home alone. Her mom would be driving home on the busy freeway and her dad was to arrive at the airport. He was coming home from a two-week business trip.
After finishing her homework, Maggie felt a little hungry, so she went to the kitchen to find something to eat: Just then she felt a shake, then the violent shaking. Maggie quickly ran under the large table in the dining room. The sounds of breaking glass and the crashing of many things were deafening, and Maggie hugged herself in fear.
After what seemed like a very long time, the earthquake appeared to be over. Maggie could hear the sound of water rushing below her in the basement. And there was the smell of natural gas in the air. Maggie knew where the main water valve(阀门) was and how to turn it off. Dad had ever shown her before.
Slowly and carefully she came out from under the table. The once tidy home was then almost unrecognizable. Walls had fallen down and many things in the room were in a mess. As Maggie approached the open basement door, she could see the steps. Carefully she made her way down into the dark basement.
While placing her feet firmly on the floor, Maggie felt a sudden pain as a large wood hit her head and shoulder. She fell unconscious onto a pile of boxes. An hour later, she woke up and found her parents beside her. She was happy that she was still alive!
1. What can we infer from the first paragraph?| A．Earthquake are the main natural disasters in the US. |
| B．Maggie’s parents taught her how to survive in an earthquake. |
| C．Earthquakes occur often in the west of the US. |
| D．Magpie has some self-help knowledge in earthquakes. |
| A．Very loud. | B．Quite familiar |
| C．Very distant | D．Quite strange. |
| A．She was the only child in her family |
| B．She was not afraid at all during the earthquake. |
| C．She was hurt on the way to turning off the water valve. |
| D．She had experienced an earthquake before. |
| A．A story of a girl in an earthquake. | B．The importance of preparing for an earthquake. |
| C．The ways to escape from an earthquake. | D．The danger of an earthquake. |
10 . When you step into a new environment, you must have a strong wish to fit in. Fitting in means making more friends, having more influence on others and getting more chances to live a happier life.
Be confident. Confidence attracts most people. Everyone is special and there is only one person like you in this world. Spend some time thinking about your strong points.
Be kind to everyone. Kindness is the bridge to your own happiness. When people notice your kindness, they will return it one day. Always give more than you receive, and think more of others than of yourself.
Do smile to everyone every day. It makes both you and others feel happy.
If you follow what is mentioned above, you will be accepted by people around you. As a result, you will fit in very well and enjoy your new life.
| A．Be active in group activities. |
| B．A pleasant smile costs the least and does the most. |
| C．Here is some advice that can help you. |
| D．If so, you will be able to build up confidence step by step. |
| E．A person who cares for others is popular everywhere. |
| F．However, everybody needs friends. |
| G．Even so, it often leaves one to wonder if we fit in well. |
