1 . Back in the early 2000s, lots of people couldn’t imagine life without alarm clocks, CD players, calendars, cameras, or lots of other devices. But along came the iPhone and other smartphones, and they took over the functions of many things that we used to think were completely necessary.

The success of smartphones can be a model for dealing with climate change because they represent a different approach to design, which is to focus on function rather than form. This approach requires concentrating on understanding the problems, and then engineering a wide range of potential solutions. By adopting this mindset, we can completely change our thinking about energy efficiency (效率).

Traditionally, improvements in energy efficiency have mostly been centered on individual devices, which can be quite fruitful. But focusing on individual devices is like if Apple had spent effort inventing a better alarm clock, a better CD player, a better calendar, and a better camera. Now with an iPhone, we don’t need the standalone (独立运行的) devices at all, because it can function as all of them.

So when it comes to energy efficiency, instead of only installing more efficient heaters, we should focus on the desired function: warmth. Through creative designs like coating (给……涂层) our house, we can get rid of the need for heaters, significantly saving nearly 99% energy.

Similarly, rather than merely focusing on making cars more efficient, we should consider the desired function — transportation. By developing an efficient transportation system that reduces the need for private cars, we can achieve greater energy savings.

The most energy-efficient car or heater is no car, or no heater, while still being able to get around and stay warm. In other words, it’s not thinking efficiently, but thinking differently.

1. What makes the iPhone a good example of environmental protection?

A．Choosing a simplest design.

B．Combining possible functions.

C．Perfecting individual instruments.

D．Reducing the energy consumption.

2. According to the passage, what is the most important part of improving energy efficiency?

A．Improving technologies.

B．Using recyclable materials.

C．Figuring out various solutions.

D．Concentrating on the necessary needs.

3. What does the author think of traditional practices in energy improvements?

A．Inefficient.

B．Classical.

C．Useless.

D．Perfect.

4. Which can be the best title of the passage?

A．Think out of the box	B．Differences make it unique
C．Be economical with energy	D．Step out of the comfort zone

2 . More than half of the 1,000 consumers surveyed by Credit Karma said they have impulsively (冲动地) shopped to deal with feelings of stress, anxiety or depression. Twenty-three percent of respondents said they’ve maxed out (刷爆) a credit card in the past year.

As for age, 68 percent youngsters, responded by saying they have experienced it in the past, compared to 53 percent of the middle-aged and only 26 percent of the old.

In regards to genders, 48 percent of men and 31 percent of women who have stress spent said they had purchased alcohol when stressed. Eighty-two percent of women stress spent on clothing compared to 52 percent of men. Women also lead stress spending for jewellery, 42 percent, compared to 22 percent for men with men stress spending more for electronics 44 percent while 30 percent for women.

In fact, shopping to reduce stress can actually help you live a healthier life by making sure that your blood pressure is lowered. Shopping to relieve stress is also called shopping therapy (疗法) as a form of reducing stress.

The survey found that 82 percent had only positive feelings about their purchases and that the positive mood boost that followed those purchases was long-lasting.

However, the side effect of shopping therapy, for many, can start out as a relatively harmless mood booster but could possibly grow into a financial loss, cause conflict, and therefore add a large amount of stress to a person’s life.

1. How is the passage mainly developed?

A．By giving numbers.	B．By stating arguments.
C．By giving examples.	D．By giving explanations.

2. The figures in Paragraph 3 show that _______.

A．Women were less likely to buy jewellery when stressed.

B．Over half of men had purchased alcohol when stressed.

C．More women preferred to buy clothes than men when stressed.

D．The favourite goods for men to reduce pressure was electronics.

3. What can we know about the shopping therapy?

A．Shopping therapy may increase pressure.

B．Shopping therapy can totally relieve pressure.

C．Shopping therapy’s positive effect can not last long.

D．Shopping therapy is not suitable for someone whose blood pressure is low.

4. What is the author’s attitude toward shopping therapy?

A．Concerned.

B．Subjective.

C．Indifferent.

D．Objective.

3 . Parenting styles have shifted over the years with the rapid changes in the world. Nowadays parents generally spend more time in finding out how best to raise their child whether it’s through technology or tried-and-tested parenting practices.

With easy access to countless websites and social media groups interested in parenting, modern parents are capable of finding answers to their questions, from managing a baby’s cries to communicating with a moody teenager. This increased availability (可利用性) of resources has made parents more involved in their children’s academic, emotional, and social development. They are also more eager to find out effective parenting methods to help them raise well-behaved and confident children.

A modern parenting style that has appeared is helicopter parenting, where parents are too much focused on their children. They help children with tasks that children can do on their own, like selecting activities and friends for them, or calling their teachers about homework matters. Such a parenting style can stifle the development of the children’s ability to handle responsibilities independently. Children might be ill-equipped with life skills such as making the bed, clearing their plates or doing their schoolwork. Always protecting children from failures may also stop them from developing adaptability and gaining skills like problem-solving.

On the other hand, parents in the past tended to monitor less. Children were given more freedom to manage their schoolwork and choose the friends they want to play with. In some families, children of the past were often expected to shoulder the responsibilities of caring for younger brothers and sisters and managing housework. Living in the pre-Internet era, parents were less informed about different parenting methods, and their parenting styles were guided more by their personalities, common sense and friendly advice from their parents and neighbours, rather than by social media influences or parenting websites. There is no one right way to raise a child. Each child is unique and should be raised differently by parents who are present, but not wandering; who are supportive but not controlling; and who protect but not care too much.

1. How does the increased availability of resources influence parenting style?

A．It saves parents’ much time spent on children.

B．It makes parents more relaxed in raising children.

C．It encourages parents to be less strict with their children.

D．It enables parents to be more active in their children’s development.

2. What does the underlined word stifle in Para 3 mean?

A．Bring about.

B．Hold back.

C．Take down.

D．Set up.

3. What do we know about parents in the past?

A．They educated kids in a strict way.

B．They over-judged their kids’ independence.

C．They afforded kids more space for self-growth.

D．They tended to stay away from social activities.

4. What does the text mainly tell us?

A．How parents raise all-round children.

B．How people improve parent-child relationship.

C．How parenting modes have changed over the years.

D．How information technology affects people’s lifestyles.

5 . China’s generation-Z is not “lying flat”, an expression forgiving upon hard work, as is often claimed, and making an effort is still the mainstream of a group who believes success should be achieved by solid effort, Chinese officials said at a press conference on Thursday, in response to a question on how younger generations should achieve balance between a lifestyle of “lying flat” in face of great pressure and “involution,” which refers to severe internal competition that does not lead to productivity gains.

“Most Chinese youth hold an optimistic view on the future, and the saying’ lying flat’ is more of a joke to release pressure and express their feelings,” He Junke, a government official said at a press conference on Thursday.

At the press conference, China released the first nationwide whitepaper on youth development titled “Youth of China in the New Era,” which showcased achievements linked to the country’s youth development in the newer a and reflected the spirit of younger generation. The whitepaper was also released ahead of the 100th anniversary of the founding of CYLC (共青团).

He said China has attached great importance to deeper issues reflected by talk of “lying flat”, which emerged as young generation is subject to increasing pressure across work, study and life amid China’s unique demographic (人口统计学的，人口学的) structure and highly competitive labor market.

“Some in the younger generation feel cofused or lost. In response, authorities have scaled up the amount of support available to help solve their issues in education, employment, marriage and child raising,” He noted, while urging the whole society to support the mental development and psychology of generation-Z.

He pointed out that it is also important for certain young people to realize that it is unrealistic to build a career without taking responsibility and making endeavor. “All happiness is achieved through devoted effort, and making endeavor itself is also a kind of happiness,” He stressed.

1. What is He Junke’s attitude towards “lying flat”?

A．Objective.

B．Subjective.

C．Opposed.

D．Favorable.

2. Why do young people adopt the attitude of “lying flat”?

A．More and more young people choose to lie flat in China,

B．Young people face great pressure in their study, work and life.

C．China’s population structure affects the supply of labor market.

D．The government needs to celebrate the 100th anniversary of CYLC.

3. How can the problem of “lying flat” be rid of?

A．Young people should take responsibility and make efforts to achieve success.

B．The whole society should care about young people’s physical and mental health.

C．Authorities should help young people and give them support in many aspects of life.

D．All of the above.

4. What is the purpose of writing this passage?

A．To call on a low carbon lifestyle.

B．To inform the latest research on the social development.

C．To set a goal for the young people who are under pressure on study.

D．To address a social problem among young generations in the newer era.

6 . 听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。
1. What is wrong with the man?

A．He broke the light.

B．He fell off the chair.

C．He hurt his arm.

2. What does the woman think of insurance?

A．Expensive.

B．Strict.

C．Helpful.

7 . 课文原文填空

Imagine having the     1     to sing together with hundreds of other people while you are at home alone. You can do this in a virtual choir. Virtual choir members record themselves while they perform alone on video. These videos are uploaded onto the Internet, and then they are put     2     into one video that you can see online—a virtual choir. Anyone can take part in a virtual choir from anywhere—all you need is a video camera and an Internet     3    . You do not even need a     4    . A virtual choir helps connect     5     people together. Many people do not have close friends or     6     who have the same interest in music. Many others do not have the chance to join a local choir. A virtual choir     7     them to add their voices to those of other     8     and become part of the global community. It has     9     to be a positive influence on the lives of many people. As one virtual choir member said, “Music helps me to … forget my problems. With music, I become someone     10    .”

8 . Fragile. Oversensitive. Glued to their phones. Is this what comes to mind when we think of the teens of this generation? While there may be a grain of truth to these stereotypical (刻板印象的) characteristics, there might be more to this generation of teens than what is generally regarded.

Never before have the lives of any generation of teens been as overwhelmed with mobile technology and social media as the teens of this generation. It follows then that there will be unique mental and emotional problems resulting from this new age of technology. As compared to their parents or grandparents who were likely less connected and more isolated, these teens are constantly exposed to their social circles and beyond. It is no wonder then that the mental health of this generation’s teens have been badly affected.

Moreover, as many of the older generations complain, the teens today are more individualistic in contrast to the more community-centered attitude of their parents and grandparents. Gone is the closeness amongst neighbors who are friendly with one another and quick to offer a helping hand when they see another in need. In its place, we have teens who may not even have a clue as to who lives in the unit next to theirs, much less offer a friendly nod or wave when they happen to cross paths with a neighbour.

Yet, the effects of technology on this generation of teens are not all bad. Actually, the very connectedness that social media brings about has led to an opening of minds and a flourishing of dialogue among people of diverse cultures and backgrounds. In comparison, the parents or grandparents of this generation of teens probably did not have the same opportunity to get to know people outside of their social circles at their age, and are thus more likely to have fixed stereotypical opinions of people different from them.

To conclude, the teens of this generation differ in many ways from their past generations, in some ways more positive than others. Every generation is a product of the cultural, political and economic events of their time.

1. What can we learn about the teens of this generation?

A．They are open-minded and tolerant.

B．They enjoy the closeness with their neighbors.

C．They are a weak and oversensitive generation.

D．They dislike people different from themselves.

2. What might cause damage to the mental health of the teens now?

A．High pressure from their academic demands.

B．Great distance from their family and relatives.

C．Too much time spent on social networking online.

D．Huge influence from their parents and grandparents.

3. What is the text mainly about?

A．The sharp difference between generations.

B．The digital divide that is hard to be bridged.

C．The great benefits modern technology has brought.

D．The recognition of the community-centered attitude.

4. What’s the author’s attitude towards the teens of this generation?

A．Indifferent.

B．Concerned.

C．Objective.

D．Approving.

10 . 阅读下面短文, 在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

The team-up between Kweichow Moutai, one of China’s top liquor     1     (make), and coffee chain Luckin Coffee has become a hot topic and a money producer,     2     (sell) 5.42 million cups with 100 million yuan just on the launch day.

    3     (package) with an iconic Moutai label and containing less than 0.5 percent (alcohol by volume) of 53 degrees Moutai, the coffee drink is priced     4     38 yuan ($7.26), however, customers can get it at 19 yuan with     5     (add) discounts.

Topics such as “Young people’s first sip of Moutai” or “No drunk driving” have gone crazy online, attracting more people     6     (try) the new drinks. Jason Yu, general manager of Kantar World panel China, said he believes     7     hit caused by Moutai and Luckin will die down in a few weeks,     8     it remains a classic marketing case.

The well-known brand Moutai has definitely pushed up the heat of the cooperation. Those high-ranked brands on the Brand Z report, he said,     9     have strong cross-field power, would be able to cause craziness on social platforms within a few hours.

It is not the first time that alcoholic brands in China     10     (try) to appeal younger customers by linking with drinks that Generation Z customers have chased often, yet none of them have made such a success like this.