1 . Text message acronyms (缩略词) caused plenty of confusion for the older generations when mobile phones became commonplace — now emojis are making the embarrassment become more serious.
Slack, a workplace messaging service, surveyed 9,400 office workers worldwide including 1,000 in the UK. It found the biggest emoji socially embarrassing action or mistake at work was pictures of lips. Most older workers did not realize the double meaning of the peach emoji, which for younger users means hips. Olivia Grace, a director at Slack, said, “The findings of our research are very clear — be careful when communicating with emojis across generations. Emojis offer a great way to communicate emotion, whether it’s a joke, support or something else, but it’s good to be aware that different meanings may exist to avoid any awkward interpretations.”
The simple smiling face was also a source of misunderstanding — 60 percent of over-40s used it to show happiness or pleasure but a significant number of younger workers used it to convey “deep anger”. An image of someone painting their nails was the most confusing — it meant nothing to the older generation, while the under-25s said they used it to say “there is gossip”, and the 25 to 40-year-olds used it to communicate making themselves more beautiful. However, all ages agreed on the meaning of some emojis, such as a face with tears of laughter and a crying emoji.
Speaking about its reasons for conducting the survey, Slack said, “Are there certain emojis that should restrict your boss from using them? Have your international colleagues ever misunderstood an emoji? And do you usually wait to build a relationship before sending emojis at work?” It added that with thousands of emojis at users’ treatment, “there’s a lot of potential” to communicate by mistake.
Emojis are not technically a form of language, as they lack grammar. The original user of a particular emoji has no copyright on how it is to be understood. The significance of emojis belongs to those who use them, and they have a truly valuable role in written communication.
1. What did Slack find about emojis?| A．Acronyms cause more confusion than them. | B．People understand some of them differently. |
| C．It’s popular for office workers to use them. | D．They can avoid many awkward situations. |
| A．By analyzing causes. | B．By raising questions. |
| C．By following time order. | D．By making comparisons. |
| A．To help people use emojis properly. | B．To find original emojis. |
| C．To prove the convenience of emojis. | D．To explain some special emojis. |
| A．Unclear. | B．Dismissive. | C．Doubtful. | D．Approving. |
2 . These days, there’s barely a world leader who doesn’t talk up science. For example, the India’s Prime Minister was the main performer at the annual Indian Science Congress, held in Nagpur, where he encouraged the nation’s researchers to do the science needed to make India self-reliant.
The message to researchers is crystal clear: leaders see science as essential to national prosperity, well-being and, of course, competitiveness. So, is research fit for the challenge of advancing, refining or critiquing these goals? Not exactly. And it won’t be until there is fundamental reform to the gateway to a research career: PhD training.
As Nature and other publications have frequently reported, PhD training worldwide has been in trouble for some time. Students’ stipends (生活津贴) are not enough in most countries, creating a cost-of-living crisis. Early-career researchers constantly report concerns about a constant lack of support and poor-quality supervision, with senior researchers rarely trained in mentorship (指导).
Furthermore, PhD candidates are inadequately prepared for the cross-disciplinary working and large teams that characterize cutting-edge science today. This is especially true for careers outside academic research, where the overwhelming majority of PhD candidates will be heading.
It is not all bad. Universities in a small number of high-income countries have reformed, or are reforming, PhD assessment. But in most places, and especially in low- and middle-income countries, a candidate’s work is still evaluated using a single-authored paper. In many countries, candidates must publish in a journal before they get a PhD, something that critics say could fuel profitable publishing.
The system’s strains have become more obvious because the number of people doing PhD training has been rising sharply. According to the 2022 book Towards a Global Core Value System in Doctoral Education, the number of PhDs awarded in India increased from 17,850 in 2004 to 25,095 in 2016; US figures climbed from 48,500 to 69,525 over the same period. If researchers are to meet society’s expectations, their training and mentoring must escape the nineteenth century.
1. Why is the India’s Prime Minister mentioned in the first paragraph?| A．To indicate India’s serious scientific landscape. |
| B．To imply more researchers are in great demand in India. |
| C．To show leaders’ emphasis on scientific research. |
| D．To demonstrate more and more people take an interest in science. |
| A．The reforms in science. | B．The significance of mentorship. |
| C．The creation of academic culture. | D．The issues early-career researchers face. |
| A．Disappointed. | B．Satisfied. | C．Indifferent. | D．Enthusiastic. |
| A．PhD education is developing gradually. |
| B．The reforms in PhD training admit of no delay. |
| C．The number of PhDs awarded has increased in India and the US. |
| D．The demand for researchers’ meeting society’s expectations is pressing. |
3 . Children as young as ten are becoming dependent on social media for their sense of self-worth, a major study warned.
It found many youngsters (少年) now measure their status by how much public approval they get online, often through “likes”. Some change their behavior in real life to improve their image on the web.
The report into youngsters aged from 8 to 12 was carried out by Children’s Commissioner (专员) Anne Longfield. She said social media firms were exposing children to major emotional risks, with some youngsters starting secondary school ill-equipped to cope with the tremendous pressure they faced online.
Some social apps were popular among the children even though they supposedly require users to be at least 13. The youngsters admitted planning trips around potential photo-opportunities and then messaging friends — and friends of friends — to demand “likes” for their online posts.
The report found that youngsters felt their friendships could be at risk if they did not respond to social media posts quickly, and around the clock.
Children aged 8 to 10 were “starting to feel happy” when others liked their posts. However, those in the 10 to 12 age group were “concerned with how many people like their posts”, suggesting a “need” for social recognition that gets stronger the older they become.
Miss Longfield warned that a generation of children risked growing up “worried about their appearance and image as a result of the unrealistic lifestyles they follow on platforms, and increasingly anxious about switching off due to the constant demands of social media”.
She said: “Children are using social media with family and friends and to play games when they are in primary school. But what starts as fun usage of apps turns into tremendous pressure in real social media interaction at secondary school.”
As their world expanded, she said, children compared themselves to others online in a way that was “hugely damaging in terms of their self-identity, in terms of their confidence, but also in terms of their ability to develop themselves”.
Miss Longfield added: “Then there is this push to connect — if you go offline, will you miss something, will you miss out, will you show that you don’t care about those people you are following, all of those come together in a huge way at once.”
“For children it is very, very difficult to cope with emotionally.” The Children’s Commissioner for England’s study — Life in Likes — found that children as young as 8 were using social media platforms largely for play.
However, the research — involving eight groups of 32 children aged 8 to 12 — suggested that as they headed toward their teens, they became increasingly anxious online.
By the time they started secondary school — at age 11 — children were already far more aware of their image online and felt under huge pressure to ensure their posts were popular, the report found.
However, they still did not know how to cope with mean-spirited jokes, or the sense of incompetence they might feel if they compared themselves to celebrities (名人) or more brilliant friends online. The report said they also faced pressure to respond to messages at all hours of the day — especially at secondary school when more youngsters have mobile phones.
The Children’s Commissioner said schools and parents must now do more to prepare children for the emotional minefield (雷区) they faced online. And she said social media companies must also “take more responsibility”.
They should either monitor their websites better so that children do not sign up too early, or they should adjust their websites to the needs of younger users.
Javed Khan, of children’s charity Barnardo’s, said: “It’s vital that new compulsory age-appropriate relationship and sex education lessons in England should help equip children to deal with the growing demands of social media.
“It’s also hugely important for parents to know which apps their children are using.”
1. Why did some secondary school students feel too much pressure?| A．They were not provided with adequate equipment. |
| B．They were not well prepared for emotional risks. |
| C．They were required to give quick responses. |
| D．They were prevented from using mobile phones. |
| A．they didn’t adequately check their users’ registration |
| B．they organized photo trips to attract more youngsters |
| C．they encouraged youngsters to post more photos |
| D．they didn’t stop youngsters from staying up late |
| A．less friendliness to each other |
| B．lower self-identity and confidence |
| C．an increase in online cheating |
| D．a stronger desire to stay online |
| A．circulate their posts quickly |
| B．know the qualities of their posts |
| C．use mobile phones for play |
| D．get more public approval |
| A．The influence of social media on children. |
| B．The importance of social media to children. |
| C．The problem in building a healthy relationship. |
| D．The measure to reduce risks from social media. |
4 . The project, called Nemo’s Garden, is the brainchild of Sergio Gamberini, a chemical engineer who runs a scuba (水肺) diving business. In 2013, he was chatting with local farmers when he came up with the idea. Several days later, he dived to the bottom of Noli’s bay and placed a vase with seeds inside a plastic balloon. After 48 hours, the seeds were coming up and Gamberini decided to scale up the experiment.
Nemo’s Garden’s key innovation, a sub-water biosphere, is a unique type of underwater greenhouse. It can use the ocean’s positive environmental factors, temperature stability, evaporative water generation, CO2 absorption, the abundance of oxygen, and inherent protection from pests, to create an environment ideal for crop cultivation. The plants are fed by a hydroponic (水耕法) system. Water is generated from salt-water evaporating and then condensing (冷凝), so no additional fresh water source is required. Additional power for lighting, pumps and sensors is provided by wind generators and solar panels situated on the surface. This makes the entire set-up completely eco-friendly and self-sustaining.
Inside the biosphere, it is even more impressive. Each dome has a shelf running the entire circumference on which plants, equipment and tools can be placed. There is oxygen, carbon dioxide and humidity sensors, radio communication, lights, a fresh-water hose and to top it all off, Wi-Fi. You can control everything in the dome via an app on your phone from the surface. You can turn the lights on, check the conditions and even watch a live video stream of the plants growing.
Gianni Fontanesi, Nemo’s Garden project manager, has logged nearly a thousand dives to perform underwater farming. He says that being inside the greenhouse is like being in an aquarium turned inside out: “You are the fish looking out into the outside world.”
1. What does the Nemo’s Garden refer to according to the passage?| A．A scuba diving business. | B．A vase with basil seeds. |
| C．A farm project underwater. | D．A garden in the bottom of Noli’s bay. |
| A．How Nemo’s Garden works. | B．Why Nemo’s Garden was built. |
| C．What Nemo’s Garden includes. | D．Where Nemo’s Garden was set up. |
| A．A hydroponic system. | B．Diving under the sea. |
| C．An app on our phones. | D．Wind generators and solar panels. |
| A．Special and eye-catching. | B．Impressive and traditional. |
| C．Convenient and economical. | D．Innovative and eco-friendly. |
5 . Imunek Williams drives a school bus for the Milwaukee Academy of Science. While driving her usual route recently, she smelt a strong smoke smell. Among the
While they had only a few blocks to go before
With no
When Imunek first
Firefighters arrived on the
| A．victims | B．audiences | C．employees | D．passengers |
| A．selecting | B．reaching | C．touring | D．recommending |
| A．fame | B．comfort | C．safety | D．calmness |
| A．switched off | B．picked up | C．turned down | D．handed over |
| A．time | B．need | C．plan | D．wish |
| A．instantly | B．nervously | C．casually | D．frequently |
| A．alarmed | B．remaining | C．killed | D．starving |
| A．station | B．academy | C．vehicle | D．road |
| A．explanation | B．discussion | C．refusal | D．thinking |
| A．described | B．detected | C．stored | D．removed |
| A．continued | B．risked | C．fancied | D．delayed |
| A．tough | B．bad | C．wise | D．easy |
| A．coast | B．platform | C．stage | D．scene |
| A．escaped | B．complained | C．volunteered | D．insisted |
| A．challenging | B．aggressive | C．heroic | D．slow |
6 . It’s good to be smart. After all, intelligent people earn more money, accumulate more wealth, and even live longer. But there’s another side to the story. The brightest people and strongest leaders sometimes make errors others don’t, especially in situations that require common sense.
Travis Bradberry, president at TalentSmart, explained in his post Why Smart People Act So Stupid that “Rational thinking (理性思维) and intelligence don’t tend to go hand in hand. Intelligent people are more likely to make silly mistakes because of blind spots in how they use logic. These blind spots exist because smart people tend to be overconfident in their reasoning abilities.” They are so used to being right and having quick answers that they don’t even realize when they’re making a mess by answering without thinking things through.
A lifetime of praise leads smart people to develop too much faith in their intelligence and abilities. They often fail to recognize when they need help, and when they do recognize it, they tend to believe that no one else is capable of providing it.
“It’s hard for anyone to graciously accept the fact that they’re wrong. It’s even harder for smart people because they grow so used to being right all the time that it becomes a part of their identity,” Bradberry wrote. “For smart people, being wrong can feel like a personal attack, and being right, a necessity.”
Smart people also have a hard time accepting feedback. They tend to undervalue the opinions of others, which means they have trouble believing that anyone is qualified to give them useful feedback. Not only does this tendency slow their growth and performance, it can lead to harmful relationships, both personally and professionally.
Smart people develop overachieving personalities because things come so easily to them. They simply don’t understand how hard some people have to work to accomplish the same things, and because of that, they push people too hard. They set the bar too high, and when people take too long or don’t get things quite right, they assume it’s due to a lack of effort. So they push even harder.
1. What do we learn from the passage about the brightest people?| A．They can differ in their personalities. |
| B．They are admired by people around them. |
| C．They usually face their own weaknesses calmly. |
| D．They can make silly mistakes in straightforward situations. |
| A．Their irrational way of thinking. | B．Too much concern about their work. |
| C．Too much faith in their ability to think. | D．Their ignorance of behavioral science. |
| A．They may experience a lot of emotional stress. |
| B．They may commit more errors than ever before. |
| C．They may lose faith in their administrative abilities. |
| D．They may suffer in their professional and private life. |
| A．They are under increasing pressure. | B．They set higher goals for themselves. |
| C．They put a lot of effort into their work. | D．They take less time to get things done. |
7 . As athletes get stronger and faster, the pace of play continues to increase. The burden of making sure games are played according to the rules and that the officiating (裁判) is accurate is now being taken out of human hands and falling more and more into the lap of technology. It’s called the video replay.
The National Football League is expanding its replay system this upcoming season to include pass interference (传球干扰). Major League Baseball now relies on it for safe-or-out and home run calls. If you’ve been watching the FIFA World Cup, you may have noticed that the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) played a key role in almost every game. And in the Kentucky Derby, a horse was disqualified for knocking another horse. No one knew why until a video replay confirmed the call and controversy was avoided.
However, many purists—those who want people to follow rules carefully and do things in the traditional way—especially in soccer, argue it’s not the way the game was invented, and that the video replay is tainting the sport. But don’t you want to see the proper application of the rules throughout the games? I know I do. Yes, it can slow the game down, but I feel it is worth it. If technological advancements allow fans watching from home to spot mistakes instantly, those same views need to be available to the officiating crews. Another example occurred in the most recent National Football Conference (NFC) Championship Game between the Los Angeles Rams and the New Orleans Saints. When obvious pass interference was committed by the Los Angeles Rams player Nickell Robey-Coleman, with just 109 seconds to play, no flag was raised on the field. It weakened the New Orleans Saints spirits. The Los Angeles Rams won a 26-23 overtime victory. The no-call deeply angered the public. The video replay showed the referees had just missed one of the most apparent pass interference calls.
There are no easy answers regarding replay technology and whether it is a curse (魔咒). But for me, keeping the officiating honest and on task is the right step in limiting controversy.
1. What trend in sports can be observed in paragraph 2?| A．The video replay has been widely used. |
| B．League games have become competitive. |
| C．Rules of professional games are becoming stricter. |
| D．People are showing more interest in sports than before. |
| A．Tricking. | B．Promoting. | C．Damaging. | D．Restoring. |
| A．They relied a lot on the video replay. |
| B．They cared too much about details. |
| C．They were definitely stressed out. |
| D．They were terribly disqualified. |
| A．Video replays: high-end technology in sports |
| B．Is technology like VAR a blessing in sports? |
| C．Officiating: a duty that requires honesty |
| D．What do qualified referees really mean? |
Time that students spend on physical activity per day
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9 . There is mounting evidence that the smartphone era is fading. Phone sales have been in gentle decline since 2016, as slower technological improvement has led to people upgrading less often.
The current big idea is virtual-reality (VR) headsets, promoted in part by pandemic lockdowns. More promising are glasses for experiencing augmented reality (AR), in which computer graphics are overlaid on the real world. Most of America’s big tech firms-among them Apple, Google, Meta and Microsoft-as well as Asian giants like ByteDance (TikTok’s Chinese owner) and Sony, are developing or selling VR or AR headsets. What has so far been a niche (有利可图的) market is about to become very crowded.
What does seem to be under way, however, is a gradual movement by consumers towards a series of new wearable devices. These include voice-activated smart headphones, which can make calls, read messages and more, and smart watches, which handle scheduling, navigation and fitness. Many health-tech gadgets measure everything from blood sugar to sleep patterns. In some countries unit sales of these “wearables” are already close to sales of smart phones.
People are not about to ditch their phones, any more than they threw out their laptops a decade ago. But as they interact more often with earphones or, soon glasses, more of them will come to use their phone as a kind of back office, primarily there to provide processing muscle for other gadgets. As chips get even smaller, phones may not be needed even for that.
1. According to the passage, the reason for the fact that smartphones have been less popular is ________.| A．that the digital market is becoming crowded |
| B．that people are being locked down during the pandemic |
| C．that technology is improving slowly |
| D．that many USA’s tech companies are developing VR or AR headsets |
| A．smartphones | B．VR headsets | C．AR glasses | D．smart watches |
| A．Put away. | B．Cast away. | C．Keep away. | D．Interact with. |
| A．The popularity of AR and VR |
| B．The decrease in sales of smartphones and new alternatives |
| C．The “wearables” are more popular than smart phones. |
| D．Smartphones are not in demand any longer in the future. |
10 . Over-packaging refers to any product being covered in multiple unnecessary layers. Industries that over package are the food, cosmetic, medical, clothing, and so on. Some of these extra layers have a purpose, but some products, such as individually wrapped vegetables or fruits, tend to go overboard. Online shopping is another source of the over-packaging problem. Companies such as Amazon ship products in small boxes, then proceed to put that box into a bigger box, which is then filled with Styrofoam (泡沫塑料). At times the plastic in the shipment outweighs the product itself.
Over-packaging is a huge problem not only for the environment but for consumers and businesses alike. Apart from being harmful to the climate, over-packaging can be a pain to consumers and can lead to high costs for companies. Therefore, steps need to be taken to reduce over-packaging, which in return will bring many benefits all around.
While there are excesses (过度) that almost scream the absurdity of their existence from supermarket shelves, it is generally not simple to define a clear boundary between useful, legal packaging and unnecessary, harmful over-packaging. Erik Ciravegna, Professor of Packaging Design, says it is all relative. “First of all, we need context. Things that appear pointless to us today were praised as consumer experience and marketing innovations (创新) in the 1990s.” Anyway, the companies have to overcome the competition in ever more crowded markets.
In fact, packaging does perform some essential functions that cannot be avoided. Ciravegna explains that, firstly, it must protect and preserve its contents; secondly, it needs to present information about the product; finally, it needs to allow for brand recognition and attract buyers’ attention. Packaging is both a crucial logistical (物流的) tool and a powerful means of communication. “The secret is finding the balance between excess, which has an environmental impact, and lack of packaging, which can lead to other problems, such as food spoilage or pollution, or a lack of protection for particularly delicate foods.”
1. What does the author think of separately wrapped fruits?| A．They look terrible. | B．They look attractive. |
| C．They are reasonable. | D．They are overpackaged. |
| A．It will increase the product costs. | B．It will cause pollution. |
| C．They will bear higher product prices. | D．They will develop bad consumption habits. |
| A．Because of the difference of the times. | B．Because of the universality of packaging. |
| C．Because of the rapid social development. | D．Because of continuous marketing innovation. |
| A．Creating a brand. | B．Introducing the product. |
| C．Protecting the environment. | D．Improving the user experience. |
