Machines work well at a constant speed ― and the faster the better. Whether they are spinning cotton
Increasingly, our world is being designed by machines and for machines. We adapt to machines and hold ourselves to their standards: People
A few years ago, I became very interested in what it meant
A minute eating ice-cream is not the same as a minute doing push-ups. Even time itself isn’t a uniform raw material ― as the physics of Einstein shows.
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号（˄），并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线（\）划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1. 每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；
2. 只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。
One day, when I was having lunch in a restaurant, there was a little boy plays next to me. He was very naughty and was making loudly noise. The boy was enjoying doing that bad thing, because of many people were looking at himself. To my surprised, the mother did not stop her boy but explain that he was just a kid. This is a very classic styles of education for most Chinese parents at present. However, age is not an excuse for kids to do bad things. In my point of view, the boy should educated in time. Only in this way can he realize his mistake, but he will repeat it all the time.
3 . The U. S. is in the midst of a “loneliness epidemic”. For a lot of people, the feeling is even more noticeable during the holidays. In addition to the emotional impact of chronic loneliness, it has some dramatic health consequences: increased risk of heart disease and stroke, infections, cancer, even death.
People may feel lonely when their social needs are not met by the people around them. Laetitia Mwilambwe-Tshilobo, a social cognitive neuroscientist at Princeton University, says loneliness epidemic captures two distinct groups: first, people with a low number of social connections; second, people who feel they have poor quality existing relationships.
Elisa Baek, a social neuroscientist at the University of Southern California, co-authored a study that looked at whether lonely people view the world differently than non-lonely people, specifically among college freshmen. Baek found that while non-lonely people were all similar in their neural responses, lonely people had responses that were really different — not just from the non-lonely group, but also from each other. Baek says that these idiosyncrasies (特性) in how lonely participants process the world, “may pose challenges in how these people are able to achieve social connection and feel connected with others.”
To study these changes to the brain, Baek’s team collected fMRI data — a measure of blood flow changes in the brain — while first-year college students watched short videos to measure how similarly participants’ brains responded to the videos. The videos ranged from dramatic and comedic clips to instructional demonstrations in order to reproduce experiences participants might have in daily life. She says it’s the closest they could get to study people’s brain activity — and how they process the world — while they were going about their lives.
Mwilambwe-Tshilobo, who is not involved in the study, says the research accurately highlights how individual differences affect people in experiencing loneliness. “Trying to connect more deeply with one or two or three other people may be more important than to try to get to know everybody and being on good terms with everybody. It doesn’t have to be someone who is like-minded. It’s more like: How can we get on the same page with people who we might not start off on the same page with, but that might form deeper connections afterwards?” she adds.
1. Which description best characterizes the “loneliness epidemic”?| A．Harmful mentally and physically. | B．Exclusive to people with few friends. |
| C．Striking throughout the year. | D．Spreading between people. |
| A．Its findings focus on the differences between lonely and non-lonely people. |
| B．It targets freshman students at the University of Southern California. |
| C．It casts light on how lonely people perceive the world. |
| D．It challenges lonely people to be more social. |
| A．To monitor the response speed. | B．To model everyday situations. |
| C．To study the recreational activities. | D．To look into the brain structures. |
| A．Expand the social network. | B．Befriend with those in high places. |
| C．Seek out friends who think alike. | D．Deepen connections with patience. |
4 . In the rush of day-to-day life, we don’t always have the time to slow down and move at our own speed. Even on vacation, we always try to visit, do and taste as many things as possible in a new place or many places.
“I’ve heard countless times how tired people are when they come back from their vacation and feel like they ‘need a vacation from their vacation,’ and that’s because many times we pack so much into a very short time,” said travel blogger Esther Susag. “We want to see everything, do everything, and not waste a minute.
There is, however, another method that many experienced travelers suggest: slow travel. But what exactly is slow travel, and how do you take full advantage of this kind of trip? Below ,travel experts break it down.
As the name suggests, slow travel generally needs travelers to slow down and enjoy each moment, rather than rushing to check off the list items. “Slow travel may mean different things to different travelers, but I define (定义) it as staying in one place for longer and going deeper into the local culture,” said Paul Jacobs, general manager and vice president of Kayak North America. “It’s taking the time to make real connections with locals instead of packing a schedule full of tours.”
For travel expert and author La Carmina, slow travel allows people to stop and smell the roses-quite directly. “It’s about being fully present in the moment and experiencing the sights, sounds and sensations (感觉) around you completely “letting the experience develop at its own speed and without expectations,” she said. “To me, slow travel doesn’t have a strict definition or certain things to do, but rather focuses on the feeling of being a visitor to a place.”
Slow travel is becoming more and more popular now, because it can do good to us in many ways.
1. Why are people tired when they return from their vacation?| A．They have no place to rest. |
| B．They are on a busy schedule when traveling. |
| C．They travel to some places far away. |
| D．They feel quite excited and enjoy their trip fully. |
| A．It can let travelers experience the place deeply. |
| B．It can make travelers save a lot of money. |
| C．It can allow travelers to explore more places. |
| D．It can save travelers much more time. |
| A．Other ways of travel. |
| B．The definition of slow travel. |
| C．The proper places for slow travel. |
| D．The advantages of slow travel. |
| A．Life. | B．Society. | C．Sports. | D．Education. |
Got a moment — or, perhaps, 15 seconds? In the age of fragmented time, TikTok, which is a massive hit in China right now, can perfectly fill in the gaps when people have nothing
On the platform, childish and strange behaviors are
6 . When I made the decision to quit my full-time employment, I never thought that I could get involved in an increasing global trend. I had to leave my relatively high-profile position for an unexpected move that hurt my pride and prevented me from getting promoted. Yet, I excused my departure by saying “I wanted to spend more time with my family”.
Curiously, after around two and a half years, my experience in what Americans refer to as “downshifting” has turned my excuse into an absolute reality. I have been transformed from a passionate advocate of Linda Kelsey’s “have it all” concept, which she has been promoting for the past seven years in the pages of She magazine, into a woman who is content to accept a little bit of everything.
I have discovered that abandoning the idea of “juggling your life” and adopting the alternative strategy of “downshifting” has benefits that go far beyond financial success and social status. Nothing could convince me to go back to the lifestyle Kelsey used to promote and which I had previously enjoyed: 12-hour workdays, tight deadlines, the terrifying pressure of office politics, and the demand of being a parent on “quality time”.
After the widespread layoffs (裁员) brought on by cost-cutting in the late 1980s, America started to move toward a simpler, less materialistic way of life as a response to the economic downturn. In America, simplifying one’s life is frequently done for financial reasons, but in Britain, at least among the middle class I know, we have different motivations for doing so. For the women of my generation who were encouraged to keep juggling, downshifting is not so much a search for a mythical (虚无的) good life—growing your own organic vegetables, and risking turning into one—as a personal recognition of your limitations.
1. What can we learn from paragraph 1?| A．The writer didn’t take pride in her original job. |
| B．Full-time employment is a new international trend. |
| C．The writer was eager to spend more time with her family. |
| D．The writer was forced to resign due to an external factor. |
| A．The writer abandoned her high social status for downshifting. |
| B．Downshifting allowed the writer to make her dream come true. |
| C．The writer changed her way of thinking through downshifting. |
| D．The writer accepted the concept of She magazine because of downshifting. |
| A．Settling for a bit of everything. |
| B．Choosing to live a simple life. |
| C．Adopting a busy and stressful lifestyle. |
| D．Staying away from a materialistic way of life. |
| A．It is never too late to pursue your dream. |
| B．Downshifting results in a more satisfactory and simpler life. |
| C．There is a difference between the American and British cultures. |
| D．People should adopt downshifting to search for mythical experiences. |
7 . Creative people are more likely to make the most of their idle (空闲的) time during a typical day by exploring their mind, a new study by University of Arizona researchers suggests.
In the study, the researchers divided the study into two parts. For the first experiment, the researchers asked each participant to sit alone in a room for 10 minutes without any access to digital devices. In the absence of any particular prompt (提示), the participants were asked to speak out their thoughts aloud in real time. The recorded files from 81 participants were then analyzed.
The researchers assessed the participants’ creativity through a thinking test, a lab-based verbal test that measures a person’s ability to think outside of the box. Participants who performed well in the thinking test had thoughts that flowed freely and were associated with one another, often indicated by phrases such as “this reminds me of” or “speaking of which”.
“While many participants had a tendency to jump between seemingly unrelated thoughts, creative individuals showed signs of thinking more associatively,” Raffaeli said, who was a senior author of the paper.
The first experiment also found that creative people were more engaged in their thoughts when they were left alone without distractions (干扰), such as the cellphone and Internet. “Creative people rated themselves as being less bored, even over those 10 minutes. They also spoke more words overall, which indicated that their thoughts were more likely to move freely,” Raffaeli said.
To further prove their initial findings, the researchers extended their study in the context of a much larger span of time—from 2020 to 2023 when many people were alone with their thoughts more often. For the second experiment, over 2,600 adults answered questions through a smartphone app called Mind Window. Participants who self-identified as being creative reported being less bored and more engaged in their thoughts during that period.
The researchers are continuing this line of work using their Mind Window app. They encourage people to download and use the app to help scientists understand how people across the world think in their everyday lives. “Understanding why different people think the way they do may lead to promising interventions to improve health and well-being,” Raffaeli said.
1. What were the participants asked to do in the first experiment?| A．Play digital devices for just 10 minutes. |
| B．Voice their thoughts quickly when asked. |
| C．Observe and record each other’s performance. |
| D．Make self-assessment in a thinking test. |
| A．They often had associated ideas. |
| B．They thought of anything as a reminder. |
| C．They preferred to sit alone without being distracted. |
| D．They tended to jump between unrelated thoughts. |
| A．To analyze their own thoughts. | B．To try out the function of the app. |
| C．To keep track of their thinking. | D．To improve their own mental well-being. |
| A．Idle Time Makes Creative People |
| B．Creative Thoughts Appear in Idle Time |
| C．Creative People Are Less Affected by Distraction |
| D．Creative People Enjoy Idle Time More Than Others |
With the rapid development of third-party mobile payment tools,
Transactions(交易)
However, the rapid development of cashless payments does not mean there are no challenges and criticisms. Alibaba’s Hema Fresh Store,
Alipay and WeChat Pay, the nation’s two major third-party mobile payment tools, have also launched
However, experts believe that a cashless society does not mean that cash will
9 . Social media is taking over our lives: Facebook, Instagram, Twiter and now, TikTok. These social media platforms have transformed from a way to stay connected to an industry where even kids can make money off their posts. While this may seem like another opportunistic innovation, it’s really full of hidden false realities.
The median income(中位收入) recorded in the United States of America was about $63,000 in 2018. Tiktokers can make anywhere from $50,000 to $150,000 for a TikTok brand partnership, and Tiktokers with over a million followers can make up to $30,000 a month—$360,000 a year,. They are making more than the average person trying to feed their family and keep a roof over their heads, simply by posting a 15-second video.
This is mad in more ways than one. Not only is it an overpaid “job”, it promotes undeserved admiration from viewers and a false sense of reality. Many of these famous TikTokers are still teens, and the effects of fame at such an early stage in life might cause issues later in life, such as mental illness. Teens between the ages of 13 and 17 make up 27% of Tiktok viewers, who can be easily influenced by what they are watching. They can put a false sense of self-value into who they look up to and what they represent: money, fame, being considered conventionally attractive.
While TikTok has become a great tool for marketing, it’s important to understand how this content affects young viewers. If we’re constantly consuming content that shows us all we need to do to be successful is be conventionally attractive and post a 15-second video featuring a new dance, it will challenge our knowledge of what really makes someone successful and will in turn affect our individual work ethics(伦理). What about the people who miss birthday and family holidays due to their jobs and aren’t getting paid nearly as much as these TikTokers?
Richard Colyer, president and creator of Metaphor, Inc, had his own view on this issue. “It sounds great can make money for doing the latest dance moves in a 15-second video, but we should feed the minds of kids and not just their bank accounts. TikTok can be great if used properly. Money alone is not good, technology alone is not good and connectedness can be bad if it’s only online.”
Again, as a fellow consumer of Tiktok, I do enjoy the app when I have some time to kill and need a good laugh. I’ m not against someone making a living on entertainment, but what does getting famous of a 15-second video teach young people?
1. What does the underlined word “this” in paragraph1 refer to?| A．Social networking. | B．Making money on social media. |
| C．A job offered by Tiktok. | D．Staying connected to the Internet. |
| A．TikTokers are earning money easily. |
| B．Tiktokers are richer than average people. |
| C．Most Tiktokers can become millionaires overnight. |
| D．Popular TikTokers earn much more than ordinary workers. |
| A．They tend to live an adult life too soon. |
| B．They are forced to pay for certain services. |
| C．They may abandon other social media. |
| D．They are likely to develop false value. |
| A．Tiktok can be a positive influence if teens employ it wisely. |
| B．Young TikTokers should be banned from making money. |
| C．It is better to involve education on investment in TikTok videos. |
| D．Contents of videos need checking before their release online. |
10 . Teenagers whose non-cognitive (非认知的) skills are poorly developed are more likely to suffer from health problems later in life, according to a new research by a group of experts from the University of Manchester.
Rose Atkins of that university, along with her colleagues set out to investigate noncognitive skills as they are one of the least explored determining factors of health and well-being, despite the fact that evidence surrounding their importance is growing quickly.
These skills are conscientiousness (尽责性), which tells how hardworking, careful and stubborn an adolescent is, and neuroticism (神经质), which shows how worried, unhappy and fearful an adolescent is,
The researchers used data on a group of individuals who were followed throughout their life and carried out statistical analysis to study the relationship between adolescent non-cognitive skills and later-life health. The non-cognitive skills were reported by teachers, based on the behavior of students at age 16.
The study found that individuals whose adolescent conscientiousness is higher deal with stress in adulthood better, and are at a lower risk of some diseases. And individuals whose adolescent neuroticism is higher have a poorer, health related quality of life in adulthood and are at a greater risk of some diseases.
The researchers conclude that policies to improve adolescent conscientiousness and reduce adolescent neuroticism would offer the most long-term health benefits to those with the poo-rest health, “There is a growing body of evidence that suggests school-based interventions to improve non-cognitive skills can have lasting positive effects on important life outcomes,” said Rose. “Extra-curricular activities and work experience have also been shown to improve these skills. Having a greater focus on the improvement of non-cognitive skills at both primary and secondary school levels would be a positive policy decision, However, these skills are also determined by factors like family income, parental education, and parental investment. There-tore, more complex public policy is needed to reduce social inequality.”
1. What can be inferred about non-cognitive skills?| A．They can fall into three categories. |
| B．They are mainly developed in childhood. |
| C．Their importance has been totally ignored. |
| D．Their impact on health doesn’t get enough attention. |
| A．They carried out a large survey. |
| B．They collected data from individuals. |
| C．They followed 16-year-old individuals. |
| D．They compared data from other research. |
| A．Improving teens’ non- cognitive skills isn’t that challenging. |
| B．Schools should reduce the time for extra-curricular activities. |
| C．Measures should be taken to improve teens’ non-cognitive skills. |
| D．Social inequality is the major cause of poor non-cognitive skills. |
| A．Teens’ health in later life can be predicted. |
| B．Teachers can improve students’ non-cognitive skills, |
| C．The importance of non-cognitive skills is being recognized. |
| D．Non-cognitive skills in adolescents affect their health in later life. |
