1 . There’s a useful concept from psychology that helps explain why good people do things that harm the environment: the false consensus (共识) effect. That’s where we overvalue how acceptable and widespread our own behavior is in society. Put simply, if you’re doing something (even if you secretly know you probably shouldn’t), you’re more likely to think plenty of other people do it too. What’s more, you likely overestimate how much other people think that behavior is broadly OK.
This bias (偏见) allows people to justify socially unacceptable or illegal behaviors. Researchers have observed the false consensus effect in drug use and illegal hunting. More recently, conservationists are beginning to reveal how this effect contributes to environmental damage.
In Australia, people who admitted poaching (偷猎) thought it was much more widespread in society than it really was, and had higher estimates than fishers who obeyed the law. They also believed others viewed poaching as socially tolerable; however, in reality, more than 90% of fishers took the opposite stand on this. The false consensus effect has also shown up in studies examining support for nuclear energy and offshore wind farms.
Just as concepts from psychology can help explain some forms of environmental damage, so too can they help solve it. For example, research shows people are more likely to litter in areas where there’s already a lot of trash thrown around; so making sure the ground around a bin is not covered in rubbish may help.
Factual information on how other people think and behave can be very powerful. Energy companies have substantially reduced energy consumption simply by showing people their difference in electricity use compared to their neighbors. Encouragingly, stimulating people’s natural desire for social position has also been successful in getting people to “go green to be seen”, or to publicly purchase eco-friendly products.
As the research evidence shows, social standards can be a powerful force in encouraging and popularizing environmentally friendly behaviors. Perhaps you can do your bit by sharing this article!
1. Which example best illustrates the false consensus effect?| A．A student spends long hours surfing the Internet. |
| B．A blogger assumes many people dislike his posts. |
| C．A smoker believes people generally approve of smoking. |
| D．A driver frequently parks illegally in public places. |
| A．It is contradictory. | B．It is impractical. |
| C．It is widespread. | D．It is unacceptable. |
| A．Develop green habits for better health. |
| B．Choose green items that are easy to spot in stores. |
| C．Join green movements for personal fulfillment. |
| D．Make green choices that others can perceive. |
| A．Justify social standards. | B．Publicize sustainable practices. |
| C．Encourage technological innovations. | D．Highlight personal responsibilities. |
2 . Being healthy is important. Often, we’re crazy about articles in health magazines talking about the latest popular diets, or advertisements that offer cures (疗法) for fatness that are often too good to be true. One of the latest crazy phenomena (现象) is intermittent fasting (间歇性禁食).
There are different ways of intermittent fasting.
Some people try intermittent fasting for weight management, and others use the method to deal with some conditions such as high cholesterol or arthritis.
As with many diets, it’s always wise to speak to your doctor or weight-loss professional before changing your eating habits. And, at the end of the day, it could just come down to what lifestyle choice suits you.
| A．But what is intermittent fasting? |
| B．However, this diet isn’t for everyone. |
| C．Intermittent fasting has two main origins. |
| D．Let’s look at some of the possible benefits. |
| E．The idea of this is to reduce calories over a period. |
| F．In a word, you should avoid turning to intermittent fasting blindly. |
| G．You can eat normally on five days of a week and reduce calorie intake on the other two. |
3 . Taking exercise in a crowded, noisy gym will improve your muscle but may not make much difference in your stress level. By contrast, hiking improves not only your physical fitness level, but your mental health as well. “I hike with friends every week. Whether I am wandering down a flat path along a river or climbing a rock y mountain in the wilderness, hiking can be beneficial to me because it exposes (使接触) me to outdoor scenes such as mountain s and rivers, which can always offer me good ideas about paintings and music,” Marry Copper, a hiker said.
Experts agree that hiking reduces stress. According to the Anxiety Disorders Association of America (ADAA), hiking increases the body’s production of endorphins, a type of chemical that improves mood (情绪). Endorphins also help you sleep more soundly, which will lower your stress level. However, not all scientists agree that hiking raises your endorphin level. Instead, some researchers believe that hiking causes the release of the chemical norepinephrine, which helps make you less excited or upset.
The controversy (争议) is ongoing, but it is clear that however it happens, hiking is useful when you are feeling anxious. Hiking can also help improve your confidence. Walking down a path is a repetitive motion, which can lead your brain into relaxing; you may “zone out” to the point where you won’t be thinking about anything in particular. Being outside in the open air may also help you exercise better because most people do indoors; getting out from under a roof can lift your spirits.
Hiking may improve your mood more than a gym workout will, but your risks are also greater. People sometimes try to make their own way rather than stick to established paths. They are proud to say they like to have an adventure. However, people who try to do something new could be attacked by wildlife and get hurt and lost. So stick to the known roads and bring a cellphone with you, and always tell someone where and when you are going hiking, even if you have a partner going with you.
1. Why does Marry Copper like hiking?| A．She dislikes exercising in the gym. | B．She can meet new friends when hiking. |
| C．She can draw inspiration from nature. | D．She has the spirit of adventure in the wilderness. |
| A．Scientists have reached an agreement. |
| B．Sound sleep can increase the body’s endorphin level. |
| C．Stress is caused by the body’s production of endorphin. |
| D．The chemical norepinephrine could make people calm. |
| A．Negative | B．Positive | C．Objective | D．Unclear |
| A．How can hiking cause controversy? | B．Why do people like exercising outdoors? |
| C．What do hikers like to do in the wilderness? | D．What benefits can hiking bring to people? |
4 . Have you ever thought how good it would be if an unfinished handwork project, which stopped because the owner passed away, could be lovingly completed?
Friends and knitters (编织者) Jennifer Simonic and Masey Kaplan started the Loose Ends Project in September 2022. The pair match “volunteer finishers” with unfinished projects online so they can carefully complete them and then return them to the people they were being made for.
It all started when founders, Simonic and Kaplan, realized that they had both been asked by friends to finish knitting hats, sweaters or other unfinished projects by their moms. When more friends asked them for help, they felt it would be a good idea to “have strangers be able to finish things for each other”.
Helping strangers this way, which also assists (帮助) them to get through their grieving process, was something that the two had happily agreed to do, understanding how wonderful it feels to be dressed in something a loved one has created.
Adding a moving couple of extra steps, once the finishers receive the project, they may highlight (突出) the last stitch (针) worked by the dead maker in a special way before they restart the work.
In just a few months, Loose Ends has built up a global team of over 7, 000 volunteers. New volunteers are asked to share their skill sets and interests. When Loose Ends receives a project, the founders determine a good fit based on these skills. The Loose Ends team will let the volunteers try the work to “check if they’re feeling it too”, as Simonic and Kaplan never want the work to be a boring task.
Volunteers do not charge for their work, while families are only asked to cover the delivery costs. The group tries to match projects to volunteers living nearby to reduce the delivery costs to the lowest.
1. What is the goal of the Loose Ends Project?| A．To promote handwork art. | B．To sell handwork products online. |
| C．To complete unfinished handwork projects. | D．To recycle good handwork projects. |
| A．Touching | B．Amazing | C．Unforgettable | D．Painful |
| A．They may make a special design for the last stitch. |
| B．They may mark the original maker’s last stitch. |
| C．They may add receivers’ information on them. |
| D．They may sign their names on the works. |
| A．Quick | B．Tiring | C．Safe | D．Thoughtful |
5 . This is the last Christmas that Faye and Matthew have spent in their house, which has already been sold. Faye and Matthew Gooding and their five young sons appear to have perfect lives. For the couple themselves, however, this “materially perfect world” was lacking in something—so now they are giving up all their possessions to travel around the world with their children. Most of their belongings have been given to their neighbors. Faye said, “It is a relief to get rid of so many possessions. Thankfully, our parents understand and support us.”
“I hesitated for a while because some friends think Faye and I are mad to give up so much. When we told the older boys, they were so excited that they were going to have so much time as a family. It made me realize the amount of toys or material possessions can’t replace time spent with our children. They’ve had to give away so many toys, bikes and books. My wife Faye was so determined to keep to our plan,” said Matthew.
They will leave this month and plan to start their travels in Sweden where they have friends. Faye said, “My older boys plot where we go next but we hope to see Europe and over two years travel as far as Japan, America, Bali and Thailand. We don’t plan to hire any tour guides. We just depend on a compass and local people to move in the right direction.”
Faye, who posts on Instagram as a mother of five boys, added, “It is a risk because we are giving up so much. I, however, even plan to quit my job after the travel. We can’t wait to spend more time with our sons without the stresses of everyday routines. We don’t know what will happen, but we do know if we didn’t do this we would always regret it.”
1. How will Faye and Matthew cover the travel costs?| A．By selling their house. | B．By doing part-time jobs. |
| C．By asking parents for help. | D．By borrowing from neighbors. |
| A．Worried | B．Excited | C．Uncertain | D．Firm |
| A．Faye | B．Matthew | C．The children | D．The tour guide |
| A．A travel guidebook | B．A life journal | C．A paper | D．A diary |
6 . Many high school students look forward to volunteering abroad. Here are some programs that such students can consider.
Spring Break Voluntary Service
Through this program, you’ll volunteer to build schools and community centers in the Dominican Republic, and help with reforestation (重新造林) or water purification (净化) projects. You’ll also have the chance to spend some free time on beaches, and explore freshwater lakes and underwater caves. This eight-day program costs $1,899.
Tanzania Expedition
Raleigh International’s Tanzania Expedition includes an adventurous hike in the Southern Highlands, through which you can help out with some environmental projects, and also pick up wildness survival skills. Except for these, volunteer work includes planting trees, improving access to clean water, and helping with hygiene (卫生) awareness events. This expedition lasts five, seven, or ten weeks, starting at $2,595.
Volunteer in Sri Lanka
Plan My Gap Year (PMGY) is offering a Sri Lanka volunteering experience to travelers aged 16 and 17. For two weeks, you’ll explore and volunteer, with activities including visiting an elephant center, watching animals at Yala National Park, relaxing on the beach and volunteering for different projects which mainly focus on English teaching, elephants, and sea turtles. The cost starts at $1,599.
Volunteer in Morocco
Another volunteer opportunity perfect for teens is the Morocco program provided by Cross-Cultural Solutions, where you will be able to travel across this beautiful country for two or four weeks and help with education, health, technology, or sports leadership activities. The cost (including housing and meals, in-country transport handbooks, and more) starts at $750, plus a $249 registration fee (注册费).
1. What is special about Tanzania expedition?| A．It includes a trip to a national park. |
| B．It puts volunteering and adventure together. |
| C．It aims to raise locals’ environmental awareness. |
| D．It requires volunteers to be equipped with first aid skills. |
| A．They are of the same lasting time. | B．They are for teens aged 16 and 17. |
| C．They both stress environmental protection. | D．They offer volunteers chances to visit beaches. |
| A．Pay a registration fee. | B．Work out an activity plan. |
| C．Make a booking online. | D．Join Cross-Cultural Solutions. |
7 . Back in 1958, I was crazy about the Norfolk and Western 746. The smooth bullet-nose engine with its orange and yellow lines and shiny streamline d black tender (车厢) seemed to have cast a spell on me.
Together the engine and tender measured a little shy of 2 feet — enormous by the toy train standards of the day. Even better, the 746 had a working headlight and smoker, and its tender sang high.
Unfortunately, the amazing 746 also had an amazing price — $50, equal to about $450 today. That was far more than my grandfather could afford. Instead, I had to be content with his little Lionel plastic, which was SIX INCHES shorter than the 746 and had no headlight, no smoker or no sound! But that was the best that my grandfather could give me at that time.
Years passed, and I was in my 30s. Superior sound systems and computer controls dominated toy trains. I never gave a look. My interest in toy trains, I firmly believed, had faded, so did my admiration for the 746, since my grandfather was not with me. The 746 was never called to mind. On an ordinary day, however, I happened to see the 746 outside the window of a train show. Just one-look, I could not look away. Childhood memories that I tried to hide in the depths of my heart raced through my mind, happy or sad.
That day I took the 746 home and placed it in the center of the room, and let my childhood dream sing its way around me. Smoke rose out from the engine and the soft song sounded from its tender. It seemed as if I could see the soft light in grandfather’s eyes and hear his cheerful laughter.
1. Which best describes the 746 in the author’s eyes?| A．Its measurement was at a disadvantage. |
| B．Its price rocketed from $50 to $450. |
| C．Its beauty had a special appeal. |
| D．It was the largest train in 1958. |
| A．Visibly relieved. | B．Slightly discontented. |
| C．Really delighted. | D．Terribly ashamed. |
| A．He left his grandfather alone. |
| B．He didn’t favor the 746 at all. |
| C．He admired advanced toy trains. |
| D．He attempted not to recall the past. |
| A．The 746: A Perfect Gift from My Grandfather |
| B．Toy Trains: Memories of A Generation |
| C．The 746: Childhood Memories of Love |
| D．Toy Trains: Childhood in History |
8 . Workers at the National Galleries of Scotland recently experienced quite a surprise after they X-rayed a painting by Vincent van Gogh. Hidden on the back of the painting Head of a Peasant Woman, which Van Gogh completed in 1885, was a self-portrait (自画像) of the Dutch painter. No one had ever found it.
The hidden self-portrait had been covered by glue and cardboard that had been attached to the back of the painting. “It was absolutely exciting,” Lesley Stevenson, the museum’s worker, said about the discovery. “We weren’t expecting much of the little painting when we performed the scans,” she said. But museum experts quickly changed their expectations when they looked at the X-rays. “We didn’t see much of the peasant woman, but we saw the lead white that Van Gogh used for his face showing up after the X-ray went through the cardboard,” she added.
Van Gogh painted Head of a Peasant Woman as part of a series of works focused on the working-class residents of Nuenen, a small farming community in the southern part of the Netherlands where he lived briefly in the 1880s. The woman in the painting is Gordina de Groot, a farm worker. She wears a white headpiece. In a letter that Van Gogh penned about the series in 1885 to Anton Kerssemakers, a friend, he described his excitement at his working-class subjects. “I’m working with great pleasure these days, for I would rather paint people than paint anything else,” he wrote.
Van Gogh also loved creating self-portraits, producing about 20 paintings of himself by the end of his life while he was living in Paris. Recreating his own image was a cheap way for him to practice portraiture as he didn’t have to spend money hiring models, according to a report.
Art historians at the National Galleries hope that the hidden self-portrait may help us understand the life of the artist. The museum is currently considering how to best remove the unwanted protective materials without harming the painting.
1. What can be learned about the self-portrait on the back of the painting?| A．It isn’t in very good condition. | B．It describes a well-known woman. |
| C．It wasn’t known to exist for a long time. | D．It was sold to another artist by Van Gogh. |
| A．It was a wonderful surprise. | B．It failed to meet her expectations. |
| C．It was the result of her great efforts. | D．It deepened her understanding of Van Gogh’s life. |
| A．He was encouraged to try different subjects. |
| B．He was glad to find his love for figure paintings. |
| C．He was attracted by the lifestyle of people in Nuenen. |
| D．He wanted to improve the living conditions of the farmers. |
| A．X-rays can do harm to artworks |
| B．Van Gogh sent a secret message to his friend |
| C．Modern technology has a great influence on art |
| D．Van Gogh’s hidden self-portrait draws public attention |
9 . When you are asked to draw a picture, in spite of your best effort, you can’t make it look like the model shown. Then you may have thought, “I don’t have a creative bone in my body.”
According to some scientists, who for the past 20 years have studied the complex subject of creativity through a series of research strictly, you are underrating yourself. Da Vinci you may never be, but when it comes to creativity, we are all somewhat blessed. It’s learning to develop this unique tool of extraordinary productivity, and then applying it in everything you do, that counts to tell you from figures like Da Vinci.
“Even if we don’t have the good fortune to discover a new chemical element or write a great story, the love of the creative process for its own sake is available to all,” says Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi in Creativity: Flow and Psychology of Discovery and Invention.
Most people believe the ability of creativity has been awarded to those considered to have special talent. We look upon these “creative geniuses”, as we often call them, with respect and a bit of envy. Their abilities, most people assume, are due to good genes, or, as if in Greek mythology, from some kind of god’s inspiration.
There is no argument that the world is never short of highly talented and creative people. They are masters of their trades and stand heads-and-shoulders above common people, making new pathways for others to follow, and providing greater context and understanding of our world. It could be said that without creativity humanity would not evolve so rapidly.
But like a publicly recognized creative baseball player who possesses his skill through years of continuous training, foregoing other pursuits for the only passion, people who show the slightest unwillingness for challenging labor are bound to witness their boasted (吹嘘的) ability disappear.
After closely studying 91 creative and influential people, including novelists, playwrights, composers, musicians and scientists, Csikszentmihalyi concludes that no one would ignore the sweat they shed and their almost crazy willingness to follow their creative effort to the very end, wherever that may be. These are the very things we all can master, so long as we’d like to.
1. It’s widely believed that creativity comes from_________.| A．the inborn genes or relevant gifts |
| B．the tool we learn from masters like Da Vinci |
| C．some kind of god from Greek |
| D．good training people receive from artistic classes |
| A．Creativity lies in devotion and effort. |
| B．The field of baseball requires more gifts than hard work. |
| C．People’s admiration of geniuses makes humanity develop quickly. |
| D．People don’t think that the world is never short of highly talented people. |
| A．referring to | B．combining | C．giving up | D．extending |
| A．Ordinary people’s unwillingness to follow the examples of creative ones. |
| B．The reasons for the success of those possessing creativity. |
| C．Creative people view things differently from ordinary people. |
| D．People’s misunderstanding of creativity and its true nature. |
10 . A few months ago, a friend gifted me a robot sweeper that’s programmed to move around a room and clean as it goes.
When the box arrived, I was afraid the device would detect me and suck up (汲取) data along with the dog hair and dust. But the instructions were easy, and I finally decided not to care.
I powered up the sweeper, watched it leave its docking station to work, and quickly fell in love with my newly shiny floors. I kept shooting its working videos. “I think you’re giving more attention to it than to us,” joked my son.
One day, I returned home and discovered that our front door had blown open and the robot rolled into the yard, trying to clean the flower beds. Even when its brushes were blocked with leaves, bugs and mud, its little wheels bravely kept turning.
The robot acted properly as it was programmed to clean “dirty” things. In a kitchen, dirt can be garden debris (碎片) such as leaves and mud. In a garden, this kind of dirt does not need to be removed. The context is important. The problem for robots is that reading this context is difficult.
This accident inspired me to think more about AI (artificial intelligence). As far as I am concerned, AI is simply well trained and reproduces what it has learned. And it is undeniable that robots are increasingly being given powerful intelligence. Some experts even predict that we will soon see not only AI-enabled robots designed to solve problems according to their instructions, but also those with the ability to judge how they should respond when they are in a different setting.
Maybe this will happen in the near future.
1. What was the author’s concern about the robot sweeper at first?| A．Its after-sales service. | B．Its working efficiency. |
| C．The privacy of her family. | D．The readability of its instructions. |
| A．Enthusiastic. | B．Regretful. | C．Uncertain. | D．Cautious. |
| A．Its program went wrong. | B．It lacked critical thinking. |
| C．Its wheels were badly designed. | D．It failed to work on rough surfaces. |
| A．The accident. | B．Some experts’ thinking. |
| C．Its appeal to the author. | D．The author’s opinion. |
