1 . Some experts have been concerned lately about robots leaving humans behind, taking our jobs and possibly a lot more, as in sci-fi films. Christ of Koch, a famous neuroscientist (神经学家), has suggested a novel method. To keep up with the machines, we should increase our brainpower with brain implants (植入物).
Koch notes that brain implants are already helping the paralyzed or people unable to move control computers and robots, and they are being explored for the treatment of mental disorders. Future implants could help us download huge amounts of information instantly, he says, so we can learn “novel skills and facts without even trying”. “Another exciting aspect,” Koch says, “is combining two or more brains into a single conscious mind by direct neuron-to-neuron links.” Koch calls for a “crash program” in brain technologies to make us smarter.
But Koch ignores the obvious facts that bad persons can hack (侵入) into our smartphones and laptops. What if hackers could attack our brains? They may be able to spy on, change or control the memories of people implanted with brain devices. What’s more, we are nowhere close to being able to strengthen the brain in the manner that Koch imagines. Scientists have been experimenting with neuro-technologies for mental illness for more than half a century, and they have little to show for it.
Koch genuinely feared that science, far from addressing our problems, might exacerbate them. The use of robots in the workshop, for example, could cause mass unemployment. Do we just count the immediate job losses—without measuring any other potential positive effect on the economy? Despite losing some jobs to robots in the short term, the increase in productivity will help our overall economy grow faster, which, in turn, will create more, higher quality jobs than we had before.
The future is not as scary as we think. Perhaps we’ve got serious problems on our hands, and we have a lot of work to do to settle them. Brain implants are not the answer.
1. What leads to Koch’s optimism about future brain implants?| A．The great advance in AI research. |
| B．Their application in medical fields. |
| C．The breakthrough in surgical techniques. |
| D．Their easy adaptation to the human body. |
| A．Disapproving. | B．Unconcerned. | C．Favorable. | D．Excited. |
| A．Avoid. | B．Worsen. | C．Reduce. | D．Answer. |
| A．Are Brain Implants at Risk of Hacker Attack? |
| B．Will Robots Take the Place of Humans in Future? |
| C．Will Brain Implants Let the Disabled Live Normally? |
| D．Do We Need Brain Implants to Keep Up with Robots? |
2 . Data show that almost all children see a decline in their happiness when they make the step up to Key Stage Three, with self-reported happiness taking a significant hit. Information from more than 11,000 people showed the impact was universal and that children from all backgrounds, ethnicities and locations feel worse aged 14 than they do aged 11, with the change in school thought to be the driving reason.
Scientists asked children to rank on a scale of one to seven how satisfied they were with their schoolwork, appearance, school, family, friends and life as a whole. One was “completely happy” and seven was “completely unhappy”.
Statisticians crunched (压缩) the numbers down to a scale between -2 and 1, with the average happiness being a score of zero when a child was 11. However, by the time the child was 14, four in five teenagers had a score of below zero, indicating a widespread downturn in adolescent happiness. That decline is probably linked to the change to secondary school at age 11, according to the study’s authors.
Ioannis Katsantonis, a doctoral researcher at Cambridge’s Faculty of Education who led the study, said, “Even though this was a large, diverse group of adolescents, we saw a consistent fall in happiness.”
“One of the most striking aspects was the clear association with changes at school. It suggests we urgently need to do more to support students’ happiness at secondary schools across Britain.”
The study identified that a child’s friendships and school life were key in their level of happiness, with the move to a bigger school and the potential problems with making new friends having a damaging impact on how they felt.
However, the scientists report that children with higher self-esteem(自尊心) aged 11 lived through the storm of moving to secondary school better than those who had lower self-esteem.
This indicates that structured efforts to strengthen adolescents’ self-esteem, particularly during the first years of secondary school, could reduce the likely downturn in happiness and life satisfaction, the authors say.
1. What causes the decline in children’s happiness?| A．Being classified as unhappy children. |
| B．Graduating from secondary school. |
| C．Entering secondary school at age 11. |
| D．Having a score of below zero. |
| A．Their interpersonal relationship and school life. |
| B．Avoiding celebrating for them. |
| C．Their connection with their future universities. |
| D．Comparing them with others. |
| A．Those who study differently from other students. |
| B．Those having confidence in their value or abilities. |
| C．Those moving to a bigger school in a stranger city. |
| D．Those who don’t care about their health condition. |
| A．The Ways to Build Students’ Self Confidence |
| B．More Happiness at 11 Improves Students’ Scores |
| C．The Reasons for Choosing a Best Secondary School |
| D．Secondary School Is Making Children Less Happy |
3 . Going against the tide of flocking(蜂拥) to well-known yet generally jam-packed tourist destinations on vacation, a growing number of holiday makers in China tend to spend their leisure time at lesser known resorts to seek unique, relaxed holiday experiences. Reverse Tourism has emerged as a new trend among young holidaymakers in China.
Besides crowds, some vacationers chose less-traveled places to save on the cost of trips to popular destinations, which often require pricey tickets, meals and hotel stays. “Tourism used to be about sightseeing. Now it is about experiences,” said Dai Bin, president of the China Tourism Academy. He said popular tourist spots are always packed and often raise their prices during holidays. As people become more mature travelers, they are increasingly unwilling to follow the herd. Some of them are simply looking to take a rest somewhere quiet for a couple of days, which is a good way to vacation.
In addition, lesser-known attractions are not as “commercial” and “standardized” as developed ones and are able to offer more genuine experiences and natural encounters, according to social media posts. And unlike popular destinations, some under-explored places with little online exposure can offer more surprises. COVID- 19 is another key factor fueling Reverse Tourism. As precautionary measures continue, traveling has an unpredictable quality. A traveler has no way of knowing what lies ahead before departure, be it a perfect holiday or one interrupted by a sudden outbreak.
“The rise of Reverse Tourism is not a bad thing,” said an opinion piece in Zhengzhou Daily. It means that vacationers now have more options, which brings more possibilities to the tourism market, the article explains. More importantly, the trend is set to force popular destinations to improve themselves instead of resting on their achievements, it noted.
1. What is the feature of Reverse Tourism according to the passage?| A．Popular destinations often raise their prices during holidays. |
| B．Less-traveled places offer relaxed holiday experiences. |
| C．Popular destinations are not welcomed by people nowadays. |
| D．Less-traveled places are increasingly valued among young people. |
| A．Do just what most people do. | B．Be particular about vacations. |
| C．Behave like the best visitors. | D．Seek unique travel experience. |
| A．To create surprises on their own. | B．To explore the original beauty. |
| C．To promote the local tourism. | D．To escape the uncertainty in life. |
| A．The promising future of Chinese tourism. |
| B．The challenges popular tourist spots are facing. |
| C．The way to explore the lesser-known attractions. |
| D．The reason why people prefer Reverse Tourism. |
4 . Six months before she died, my grandmother moved into an old people’s home and I visited her there. The room was clean and warm, and the care assistants were kind and cheerful. A general knowledge quiz show was on the television, and the only other sound was snoring. People moved only when they needed to be helped to the bathroom. It was disappointing. Grandmother talked a lot about how much she missed seeing her grandchildren, but I knew from my sister that they hated going to visit her there.
So I was interested to read a newspaper article about a new concept in old people’s homes in France. The idea is simple, but revolutionary — combining a residential home for the elderly with a nursery school in the same building. The children and the residents eat lunch together and share activities. In the afternoons, the residents enjoy reading or telling stories to the children, and if a child is feeling sad or tired, there is always a kind lap to sit on.
The advantages are huge for everyone concerned. The children are happy, because they get a lot more individual attention. The residents are happy because they feel useful and needed. And the staff are happy because they see an improvement in the physical and psychological health of the residents and have an army of assistants to help with the children.
Nowadays there is less and less contact between the old and the young in an increasing number of countries. There are many reasons for this, including the breakdown of the extended family, working parents with no time to care for ageing relations, families that have moved away, and smaller flats with no room for grandparents. But the result is the same-increasing numbers of children without grandparents and old people who have no contact with children, and more old people who are lonely and feel useless, along with more and more families with young children who desperately need more support. Ifs a major problem in many societies.
That’s why intergenerational programs, designed to bring the old and the young together, are growing in popularity all over the world.
1. What does the underlined word “residents” in paragraph 2 probably refer to?| A．Old people. | B．School teachers. | C．Assistants. | D．Staff. |
| A．They felt lonely and useless. | B．They weren’t allowed to be visited. |
| C．They weren’t looked after properly. | D．They lived in a dirty and uncomfortable room. |
| A．The extended family is broken down. |
| B．There isn’t much room for grandparents. |
| C．Working parents have no time to care for their children. |
| D．There isn’t much contact between the old and the young. |
| A．Advice on how to communicate with children. |
| B．Plans for setting up more homes for old people. |
| C．Examples of successful intergenerational programs. |
| D．Ways of teaching entertainment skills to old people. |
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 . Psychologists take opposing views of how external rewards, from warm praise to cold cash, affect motivation and creativity. Behaviorists, who study the relation between actions and their consequences, argue that rewards can improve performance at work and school. Some other researchers who study various aspects of mental life, believe that rewards often destroy creativity by encouraging dependence on approval and gifts from others.
The latter view has gained many supporters, especially among educators. But the careful use of small monetary rewards sparks creativity in grade-school children, according to a study in the June Journal of Personality and Social Psychology .
“If kids know they’re working for a reward and can focus on a relatively challenging task, they show the most creativity,” says Robert Eisenberger of the University of Delaware in Newark. “But it’s easy to kill creativity by giving rewards for poor performance or creating too much desire for rewards.”
Eisenberger hold the view that a teacher who continually draws attention to rewards or who hands out high grades for ordinary achievement ends up with uninspired students. As an example of the latter point, he notes growing efforts to tighten grading standards and restore failing grades at major universities .
In earlier grades, the use of so-called token economics, in which students handle challenging problems and receive performance-based points toward valued rewards, shows promise in raising effort and creativity, the Delaware psychologist claims.
1. Psychologists are divided with regard to their attitudes toward ________.| A．the choice between moral encouragement and monetary rewards |
| B．the appropriate amount of external monetary rewards |
| C．the study of relationship between actions and their consequences |
| D．the effects of external rewards on students’ performance |
| A．Assigning them tasks they have not dealt with before. |
| B．Assigning them tasks which require inventiveness. |
| C．Giving them rewards they really deserve. |
| D．Giving them rewards they hope for. |
| A．ways to develop economy | B．systems of rewarding students |
| C．approaches to solving complex problems | D．methods of improving performance |
| A．Opposed | B．Supportive | C．Objective | D．Doubtful |
Electronic devices can seem like a “third party” in some relationships because some partners spend much more time on them
When Amanda Gao,
“It seemed that his phone was making its way
Lin Yuan, a relationship consultant in Beijing said she knew of some people who suggest that electronics
8 . Many employees must be tempted to inquire on a daily basis when they see their bosses headed down the wrong track. But caution, for fear of appearing insubordinate or foolish and thus possibly at risk of losing their jobs, often leads workers to keep silent.
A culture of silence can be dangerous, argues a new book, “The Fearless Organization”, by Amy Edmondson, a professor at Harvard Business School. Some of her examples are from the airline industry. One was its deadliest accident: a crash between Boeing 747s in the Canary Islands in 1977 when a co-pilot felt unable to doubt his captain’s decision to take off based on a misunderstanding of instructions from air-traffic control.
The risks may be lower than life or death in most organizations, but companies also suffer when people keep silent, Ms Edmondson believes. Volkswagen was caught up in a scandal over diesel(柴油) emissions from 2015. The engines of its diesel models did not meet American emissions standards and engineers devised a system to fool the regulators. Ms Edmondson says the company’s culture had been one based on threat and fear; Ferdinand Piëch, its longtime boss, boasted of telling engineers they had six weeks to improve the bodywork(车身) fitting on pain of dismissal. In the circumstances, engineers were understandably unwilling to mention the bad news on emissions standards and instead, worked around the problem. In a corporate culture based on fear and intimidation, it may appear that targets are being achieved in the short term. But in the long run, the effect is likely to be counterproductive. Studies show that fear stops learning. And when confronted with a problem, scared workers find ways of covering it up or getting around it with inefficient practices.
The answer is to create an atmosphere of “psychological safety” whereby workers can speak their minds. In a way, this is the equivalent of Toyota’s “lean manufacturing” process, which allows any worker who spots a problem to stop the production line. This does not mean that workers, or their ideas, are immune from criticism, or that they should complain continuously. The book describes, Pixar created what it called a “Braintrust” to give feedback to film directors. The rules were that feedback should be constructive and about the idea, not the person.
As ordinary tasks are automated, and workers rely on computers for data analysis, the added value of humans will stem from their creativity. But as Ms Edmondson’s book demonstrates, it is hard to be either constructive or creative if you are not confident about speaking out.
1. The underlined word “insubordinate”(para 1) means ________.| A．being inferior | B．disobeying a superior |
| C．getting aggressive | D．being arrogant |
| A．Volkswagen’s engineers designed a system to meet American emissions standards |
| B．when facing problems, scared workers resolve them directly |
| C．Volkswagen’s engineers were at risk of losing jobs |
| D．the culture of fear and intimidation must be counterproductive in the long term. |
| A．A culture of being silent is life-threatening. |
| B．Volkswagen’s culture is on the basis of fear. |
| C．Workers can escape being blamed in the culture of psychological safety. |
| D．The value of humans lies in originality in today’s highly-automated world. |
| A．An introduction to Amy Edmondson’s new book. |
| B．The disadvantages of fear and intimidation culture. |
| C．People need to be confident when they are speaking out. |
| D．Companies will perform better if employees are not threatened into silence. |
9 . Have you ever felt like nobody was there? Have you ever felt forgotten in the middle of nowhere? Have you ever felt like you could disappear? Like you could fall, and no one would hear? Well, you’re not alone.
In a time when it seems like everyone is consumed by social media, the Broadway musical Dear Evan Hansen really hits home on what it’s like to be a millennial or any person struggling to find their way. With its moving story, catchy songs, and talented cast, the musical is sure to earn not only your praise, but steal your heart in the process.
Coping with severe anxiety, the title character finds it extremely difficult to fit in. His single mother is always working, his only acquaintance at school is a family friend, and the girl he likes doesn’t even know he exists. Every day is a constant struggle, until the unexpected death of a classmate gives him a voice he never knew he had, even if it is all based on a lie.
On top of the moving story, the music is infectious. When the single “Waving Through a Window” was first released, I played the track for five days straight. Even after seeing the show, I still have the urge to bust out the lyrics to “Words Fail” during my morning commute on the subway. You think I’m exaggerating, but just wait until you hear the soundtrack for the first time. You won’t just tap your foot to one of the melodies during the show; you’ll come out humming three more of them when you leave, guaranteed.
With so many different themes like depression, anxiety, and loneliness throughout, we can all see a bit of ourselves in one of these characters: the socially awkward teen, the daughter whose parents won’t stop fighting, or the classmate who feels like there’s no other way than just giving up. In between numbers, I could audibly hear the audience choking back sobs. My mom and I bonded with a young man sitting next to us during the intermission as we talked about how we related to Evan, his mother, his classmates, and all that in between. At the heart of it all, this isn’t just a show. It’s a story that needs to be told, because no one deserves to be forgotten. No one deserves to feel like they could disappear. Even when you’re broken on the ground, you will be found.
1. The questions in the first paragraph are mentioned _________.| A．to inform us of some common social phenomena. |
| B．to tell us that many people feel lonely in life. |
| C．to introduce the theme of Dear Evan Hansen. |
| D．to illustrate that severe anxiety exists. |
| A．To be widely reported. |
| B．To return to the original place. |
| C．To make people realize something is true. |
| D．To suddenly become very successful. |
| A．Brilliant cast. | B．Infectious songs. |
| C．The complex story. | D．The way it relate to every individual. |
| A．Dear Evan Hansen-you are not alone | B．Dear Evan Hansen-a big hit |
| C．Broadway musical strikes a chord with me | D．Broadway musical is still catchy |
For many people of Asian descent (血统) living overseas, a Facebook group called Subtle Asian Traits has become one of the popular cultural
The posts span a range of topics, but they often focus on Asian culture
Anne Gu believes that the page is so popular because it identifies just little things in our lives that no one talked
