1 . The Great PowerPoint Panic of 2003.
Sixteen minutes before touchdown on the morning of February 1, 2003, the space shuttle Columbia (“哥伦比亚”号航天飞机)
The immediate
By the start of 2003, the phrase “death by PowerPoint” had well and truly entered the
Wired ran an excerpt (节选) from Tufte’s booklet in September 2003 under the headline “PowerPoint Is Evil.” A few months later, The New York Times Magazine included his assessment — summarized as “PowerPoint Makes You Dumb” — in its
Despite the backlash it inspired in the
On its face at least, the idea that PowerPoint makes us stupid looks like a textbook case of misguided technological doomsaying. Today’s concerns about social media somehow resemble the PowerPoint critique. Both boil down to a worry that new media technologies
A.disappeared | B.disintegrated | C.distributed | D.disappointed |
A.side | B.cause | C.feature | D.issue |
A.collected | B.unified | C.dropped | D.single |
A.discounted | B.viewed | C.accessed | D.founded |
A.muted | B.absorbed | C.buried | D.sunk |
A.technical | B.popular | C.negative | D.special |
A.possibly | B.reasonably | C.ordinarily | D.necessarily |
A.accommodated | B.combined | C.distinguished | D.enhanced |
A.abstract | B.repetition | C.review | D.brief |
A.press | B.publication | C.media | D.criticism |
A.opened | B.created | C.threw | D.jumped |
A.rules | B.harmonizes | C.impacts | D.roars |
A.feature | B.encourage | C.value | D.defend |
A.Therefore | B.However | C.Certainly | D.Surprisingly |
A.difference | B.truth | C.time | D.concern |
How to deal with Whiners (抱怨不停的人)?
There are always some people radiating negativity in the work place. For them, the temperature is never right, the boss is always a fool, the canteen food is awful, and they are always treated unfairly.
Career experts say such habitual complainers are highly contagious and that their attitude can easily affect an entire team in a company. “While some complaints might be reasonable, others are taken from thin air. You need to see between these different types and adopt the right strategy towards each,” said Li Ling, HR manager at Wal-Mart (China).
It’s especially hard to deal with complaints at work because you can’t just walk away or put your colleagues’ words out of mind. If you do, it will hurt your co-workers and you might be isolated. In a team-based company you belong to a group and need to behave accordingly. But don’t show too much sympathy. Listening passively to others’ complaints could damage your image and give others the impression that you agree with them. “Listen to the whiners actively,” says HR Li. “Help them find a solution, or see if there are ways to improve the situation.”
Zhai Min, 24, a software engineer at Kingdee International Software Group in Shenzhen, found that 3 elderly workers liked to complain about everything, from extended working hours to cheap hotels on business trips. “I let them talk about their opinions,” she said, “They feel better when they can tell someone how they want things to be.”
But listening actively is far from enough. Wang Dianxue, 27, is an Internet engineer at Beijing Push Marcom Group. His co-workers always complain that their computer systems are not working properly. “I ask about the specifics and work together with them to fix everything technically.” he said.
HR managers believe that when staffs complain, it is more a matter of recognition than an actual problem. “The real problem is that the whiners don’t feel they are being taken seriously,” said Xu Jun, HR manager at Guangqi Honda Automobile Co., Ltd. “When you attentively give them advice or perspectives, the problem usually disappears.”
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A. brake B. victims C. issued D. confirmed E. pace F. typically G. multiple H. seriously I. slippery J. canceled K. visibility |
NINE people died and 43 were injured in two rear-end crashes on Shanghai’s S32 Expressway that occurred during heavy fog yesterday morning.
Two were
Police first received a report at 5:54 am that
Two people were killed after getting out of their vehicle to see what was causing congestion ahead. They were hit by an out of control tanker, police said.
When police arrived at that scene, they found a further five people had been killed when a construction vehicle was crushed by two large vehicles from both front and back. The crash was about three kilometers away from the accident that killed the two people on the expressway. The injured were sent to local hospitals.
Some drivers reported that the road was very
“The fog was very heavy,” an unidentified driver told Shanghai Television Station. “When I saw the accident ahead, I wanted to slow down and
Zhoupu Hospital treated 12 people. “One of the
The city’s meteorological authority
The dense fog hit coastal areas in particular, including Chongming Island, Pudong New Area, Baoshan and Fengxian districts. The alert was
Several expressways in the city were closed or subject to speed limits yesterday morning.
Pudong International Airport was also affected by the bad weather. The airport’s traffic was about 60 percent less than normal in the morning but picked up the
A. distributed B. localize C. broadcast D. briefing E. attached F. existing G. boost H. emerging I. involved J. crack K. response |
Chip flow interrupted
A stable global supply chain of chips had been maintained before disruptive moves by the US.
Two of the US’ top chipmakers—NVIDIA and AMD-were ordered to stop exports of two high-end chips to China on Aug 31. The ban
This came after US President Joe Biden signed an order to pass the $52.7 billion (about 369.5 billion yuan) semiconductor chip manufacturing subsidy (补贴) and research law on Aug 25.
It aims to
Biden also signed the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 into law on Aug 9. According to the act, chip makers that shift their factories to the US can receive subsidies and tax benefits with
“The US and its allies,” Eric Schmidt, former CEO of Google and a financier for the Bill Clinton, Obama and Biden presidential campaigns, said in March, “should utilize targeted export controls on high-end semiconductor manufacturing equipment... to protect
In
The design, manufacturing and even raw materials of a complete and complex product like semiconductors (especially chips) are usually
No matter how hard countries or regions try to support their own manufacturing bases and
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said on Sept 1 at a press
“With its technological advantages, the US has abused the concept of national security and its state power to
5 . By now, it is pretty well understood that we regularly pay for things in ways other than using money. Sometimes we pay sill with cash. But we also pay for things with data, and more often, with our time and attention. We effectively hand over access to our minds in exchange for something “fee”, like email, streaming video or online shopping pages. As opposed to “paying” attention, we actually “spend attention”, agreeing to the view ads in exchange for something we really want.
The centrality of that deal in our lives makes it unacceptable that there are companies who seize our time and attention for absolutely nothing in exchange, and indeed, without permission at all-otherwise known as “attention theft”.
Attention theft happens anywhere you find your time and attention taken without permission, like the new, targeted advertising screens in hospital waiting rooms, the airlines that play full-volume advertising from a screen right in front of your face, or the advertising - screens in office elevators. These are just few examples in what is a growing category. Combined, they threaten to make us live life in a screen-lined cocoon(茧),shrunken and incapable of independent thought.
Then, what makes it “theft”?Advances in neuroscience over the last several decades make it clear that our brain’s resources are unconsciously triggered(触发)by sound and movement;therefore the screens seize rare mental resources. Meanwhile, in the law, theft is typically defined as the taking control of a resource “under such circumstances as to acquire the major part of its economic value or benefit. ” Given the established market value of time and attention, when taken without permission or compensation, it really is not much different from someone taking money out of your pocket. Thus, when the firms selling public-screen advertising to target audiences brag of rapid growth and billions in profit, those are actually earnings made by stealing from us.
1. What phenomenon is described in Paragraph 1?A.Preference for cash. | B.Consumption of attention. |
C.Payments in shopping. | D.Addiction to mass media. |
A.By making a definition. | B.By analyzing causes. |
C.By giving examples. | D.By predicting results. |
A.It brings a fortune to the thief. |
B.It lays heavy burden on the brain. |
C.It takes up mental resources secretly. |
D.It brings about economic loss constantly. |
A.The Crisis of Attention Theft |
B.The Price of Attention Theft |
C.Ads:Source or Theft of Information |
D.“Paying” Instead of “Spending” Attention |
It’s not piano lessons or dance classes. Nowadays, the biggest extra-curricular activity is going to a tutor. “I spend about 800 Canadian dollars a month on tutors. It’s costly,” says Pat, a mother in Canada. However, she adds, “After finding out half my daughter’s class had tutors, I felt like my child was going to fall behind because everyone else seemed to be ahead.”
Shelley, a mother of three, also has tutors constantly coming in and out of her home. “When I used to sit down with my children, it was hard to get them focused. I was always yelling. When I got a tutor once a week, they became focused for one entire hour and could get most of their homework done.”
Tutoring isn’t simply a private school phenomenon. Nor is it geared only toward lower-achieving students. In Canada alone, seven per cent of high school students reported using a tutor in 2010. That increased to 15 per cent last year.
Overall, parents hire tutors because they are worried schools are not meeting their expectations, but there is also a cultural shift. A special value is placed on education in Asia, where tutoring is viewed as an extension of the school day. As a large number of Asians emigrated to the West over the recent years, their attitudes towards education have had an impact.
Another reason for the growth in business is parental frustration and their packed schedules. “A lot of parents just don’t have time to help their children with homework,” says Julie Diamond, president of an American tutoring company. “Others couldn’t help their children after Grade 3.”
There has been a shift in the attitudes, too. “Children used to get bullied (欺侮) for having a tutor, ” Diamond says, “Now it’s becoming the norm to have one. ”
Children don’t seem to mind that they have a tutor. One parent feels surprised that so many of her child’s classmates have tutors. “For the amount we pay in tuition, they should have as much extra help as they need,” she says. Still, she’s now thinking of getting a tutor. Why Her daughter has actually asked for one?
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7 . When you are little, it’s not hard to believe you can change the world. I remember my enthusiasm when, at the age of 12, I addressed the people at the Rio Earth Summit. “I am only a child” I told them. “Yet I know that if all the money spent on war was spent on ending poverty and finding environmental answers, what a wonderful place this world would be. At school you teach us not to fight with others, to work things out, to respect others, to clean up our mess, not to hurt other creatures, to share, not to be greedy. Then, why do you go out and do the thing you tell us not to do? You grown-ups say you love us, but I challenge you, please, to make our actions reflect your words.”
I spoke for six minutes and received a standing ovation. Some of the delegates even cried. I thought that maybe had reached some of them, that my speech might actually spur(激励)action. Now, ten years from Rio, after I’ve sat through many more conferences, I’m not sure what has been accomplished. My confidence in the people in power and in the power of an individual’s voice to reach them has been deeply shaken.
When I was little, the world was simple. But as a young adult, I’m learning that as we have to make choices - education, career, lifestyle - life gets more and more complicated. We are beginning to feel pressure to produce and be successful. We are taught that economic growth is progress, but we aren’t taught how to pursue a happy, healthy on sustainable way of living. And we are leaning that what we wanted for the future when we were 12 was idealistic and innocent.
Today I’m no longer a child, but I’m worried about what kind of environment my children will grow up in. I know change is possible, because I am changing, still figuring out what think. I am still deciding how to live my life. The challenges are great, but if we accept individual responsibility and make sustainable choices, we will rise to the challenges, and we will become part of the positive tide of change.
1. The purpose of what the speaker said at the age of 12 was to ________.A.end poverty and make school beautiful |
B.end poverty and solve the problems about environment |
C.find a wonderful place and clean it up |
D.find environmental answers and keep the words that they always told themselves |
A.a long period of laughing | B.a warm welcome |
C.a long period of clapping and applauses | D.an expression used for greeting |
A.the writer thinks what he thought at the age of 12 is mature. |
B.the writer’s children will certainly live in an ideal environment. |
C.the writer’s confidence in the people in power has deeply shaken their voice. |
D.the writer’s belief does not change when he grows up. |
8 . Otters, are cute, this no one can deny. They have big eyes, short and flat noses and claws (爪子) like tiny hands. They look even cuter when they wear hats and throw food balls into their mouths as if they were bar snacks, like Takechiyo, a pet otter in Japan. Documenting Takechiyo’s funny behavior has earned his owner nearly 230,000 followers on Instagram, a photo-sharing app.
Takechiyo’s fame reflects a craze across east and South-East Asia for keeping the cute creatures as pets. Enthusiasts in Japan visit cafés where they pay to hug them; Indonesian owners parade their pets around on leads or go swimming with them, then share their pictures online. But these enjoyable photos mask a trade that is doing a lot of damage. Even before they became fashionable companions for humans, Asia’s wild otters faced plenty of threats. Their habitats are disappearing. They have long been hunted for their coats, or killed by farmers who wish to prevent them consuming fishes. The pet trade, which began picking up in the early 2000s but appeared to speed up a few years ago, has made things worse. The numbers of wild Asian small-clawed otters and smooth-coated otters, two species that are in highest demand, have declined by at least 30% in the three decades to 2019.
The international agreement that governs trade in wildlife, known as CITES, now prohibits cross-border trade in these species. But laws banning ownership are often poorly implemented, as in Thailand, or full of holes, as in Indonesia. And the otter-keeping craze has been dramatically improved by the internet, says Vincent Nijman of Oxford Brookes University. In 2017 TRAFFIC, a British charity that monitors the wildlife trade, spent nearly five months looking at Facebook and other social-media sites in five South-East Asian countries. During that time, it found around 1,000 otters advertised for sale online.
In any case, otters do not even make particularly good pets. Every year the Jakarta Animal Aid Network, a charity in Indonesia’s capital, receives some ten otters from people who have struggled to look after them. Faizul Duha, the founder of an Indonesian otter-owners’ group, admits that his two animals emit a “very specific” (read: fishy) smell. They bite humans and chew on furniture. Their scream can be heard blocks away. And their cages need cleaning every two-to-three hours. That is how often they empty their bowels (肠道).
1. The function of the first paragraph is to ________.A.present the main idea | B.introduce the main topic |
C.set readers thinking | D.illustrate the writer’s point |
A.The demand for pet otters. | B.The disappearance of otters’ habitats. |
C.The popularity of otter coats. | D.The decrease of fishes. |
A.the laws that prohibit cross-border trade are strict in Asia |
B.social media plays a significant role in the online otter trade |
C.people usually give up otters because they are endangered |
D.otters are suitable pets because they are friendly to humans |
A.advertise for a photo-sharing app |
B.introduce the popularity of pet otters |
C.discourage the illegal otter pet trade |
D.describe the characteristics of otters |
9 . No woman can be too rich or too thin. This saying often attributed to the late Duchess of Windsor indicates much of the odd spirit of our times. Being thin is
The problem with such a view is that some people actually attempt to live by it. I myself have dreams of slipping into narrow designer clothes.
Where did we go off the track? When did eating butter become a sin, and a little bit of extra flesh unappealing? All religions have certain days when people refrain (抑制) from eating and excessive eating is one of Christianity’s seven deadly sins.
Today the
Our obsession with thinness is also
The real
A.offered | B.praised | C.considered | D.implied |
A.Consequently | B.Unfortunately | C.Unlikely | D.Frequently |
A.earning | B.leaving | C.making | D.keeping |
A.Therefore | B.Furthermore | C.Otherwise | D.However |
A.symptom | B.signal | C.symbol | D.sample |
A.phenomenon | B.opposite | C.purpose | D.priority |
A.shifted | B.enhanced | C.oppressed | D.liberated |
A.sense | B.style | C.mass | D.lack |
A.overcome | B.negotiated | C.fueled | D.launched |
A.abnormal | B.ordinary | C.overweight | D.underweight |
A.disasters | B.diseases | C.extremes | D.devices |
A.resolution | B.concern | C.guidance | D.approach |
A.Diet | B.Exercise | C.Nutrition | D.Energy |
A.height | B.length | C.strength | D.weight |
A.free from | B.worthy of | C.accessible to | D.contrary to |
10 . Have you ever run into a careless cell phone user on the street? Perhaps they were busy talking, texting or checking updates on WeChat without looking at what was going on around them. As the number of this new “species” of human has kept rising, they have been given a new name — phubbers (低头族).
Recently, a cartoon created by students from China Central Academy of Fine Arts put this group of people under the spotlight. In the short film, phubbers with various social identities bury themselves in their phones. A doctor plays with his cell phone while letting his patient die, a pretty woman takes selfie (自拍) in front of a car accident site, and a father loses his child without knowing about it while using his mobile phone. A chain of similar events eventually leads to the destruction of the world.
Although the ending sounds overstated, the damage phubbing can bring is real. Your health is the first to bear the effect and result of it. “Constantly bending your head to check your cell phone could damage your neck,” Guangming Daily quoted doctors as saying, “the neck is like a rope that breaks after longterm stretching.” Also, staring at cell phones for long periods of time will damage your eyesight gradually, according to the report.
But that’s not all. Being a phubber could also damage your social skills and drive you away from your friends and family. At reunions with family or friends, many people tend to stick to their cell phones while others are chatting happily with each other and this creates a strange atmosphere, Beijing Evening News reported.
It can also cost you your life. There have been lots of reports on phubbers who fell to their death, suffered accidents,and were robbed of their cell phones in broad daylight.
1. For what purpose does the author give the example of a cartoon in Para.2?A.To advertise the cartoon made by students. |
B.To inform people of the bad effects of phubbing. |
C.To indicate the world will finally be destroyed by phubbers. |
D.To warn doctors against using cell phones while treating patients. |
A.His social skills could be affected. |
B.His neck and eyesight will be gradually harmed. |
C.He might get separated from his friends and family. |
D.He will cause the destruction of the world. |
A.Supportive. | B.Optimistic. | C.Opposed. | D.Objective. |
A.Measures to reduce the risks of phubbing. |
B.People addicted to phubbing. |
C.Definition of phubbers. |
D.Consequences of phubbing. |