1 . People who are at your age, like your classmates, are called peers. When they influence you on your decision or action, it’s called peer pressure. All of us, at some point in our lives, have had to deal with peer pressure.
Recent studies have shown that peer pressure might cause an upside to you. It can make you reflect on your actions and make changes to your ways to become a better one. Observing others working hard to reach their goals will definitely encourage you to make a great effort to achieve something positive. When a teen knows that his teammates are practicing hard to become better players then it will directly affect his own performance. He will put in twice the time and energy to raise the level of his game and ensure he has a place on the team.
Having a group that brings positive peer pressure can also help you pick up healthy habits that can shape both your personality and your future. For example, when a child knows that some of his friends regularly read storybooks, he may get into the habit of reading. Seeing that his friends exercise daily, even he may take up the habit.
Just as some influences can be positive, some can be negative too. Peer pressure sometimes can make a fall in your self-confidence. Some kids give in to peer pressure because they want to be liked, or because they worry that others might make fun of them if they don’t go along with the group. The idea that “everyone’s doing it” can influence them to leave their better judgment behind. Besides, it is common for teenagers to think that nobody understands them and that the whole world is against them. The influence of peer pressure is such that it keeps them completely away from their family and friends who mean well. They just shut themselves off and fall into bad company.
It’s likely that you’ve experienced the impact of peer pressure in different areas, ranging from the clothes you wear to the music you listen to. Sometimes it can be hard to resist(抵抗) and you may feel forced to do something you’re uncomfortable with. So being aware of and carefully choosing the influence of peers that will lead to healthy and happy experiences is a lifelong process.
1. What does the underlined part in Paragraph 2 probably mean?| A．A quick reaction. | B．A positive influence. |
| C．A serious challenge. | D．A possible conflict |
| A．Peer pressure can get teenagers to become less self-confident |
| B．Peer pressure can provide a positive model for teammates |
| C．Peer pressure can get teenagers to make fun of their peers. |
| D．Peer pressure can help teenagers improve relationship with family members |
| A．Just follow the trends ranging from clothes to music. |
| B．Accept it all because it is hard to resist. |
| C．Stay clear-minded and choose the influence wisely. |
| D．Fit into a healthy and happy lifestyle. |
| A．Science. | B．History. | C．Opinion. | D．Entertainment. |
1. What did the truck crash into?
| A．Another vehicle. | B．A friend’s house. | C．A store. |
| A．The driver. | B．The woman. | C．No one. |
| A．He’s a policeman. | B．He’s a journalist. | C．He’s a gardener. |
3 . The name, Bella means beautiful, but Bella Hadid didn’t think she was when she was a teenager.
Supermodel Bella Hadid is finally coming clean about having cosmetic surgery (整形手术), but she is speaking out on her regret of having it done when she was 14, according to a report.
“I was the uglier sister. I wasn’t as pretty as my sister Gigi,” Bella said. “That’s really what people said about me. And unfortunately when you get told things so many times, you do just believe it.” “Now I wish Ihad kept the nose of my parents,” Bella said.
About 229,000 cosmetic surgeries were performed on teenagers between the ages of 13 to 19 in 2017, which accounted for nearly 4 percent of all cosmetic procedures.
But experts caution that a “nose job”, is not recommended until the growth of the nose is completed, which is around ages 15 to 16 in females and ages 16 to 18 in males.
“Some teens are more psychologically mature (成熟的) than others, but it’s important to note that their brain development is not at a point where they can really think through the possible risks,” said Dr.Zuckerman, president of the National Center for Health Research.
Cosmetic procedures improve confidence in teenagers rather than the actual physical changes, especially for those who have poor confidence, according to Dr. Steven Pearlman, a facial plastic surgeon.
Zuckerman argues that in an ideal world, doctors would delay certain operations in teens, while parents would work with their children to delay decisions of cosmetic procedures “…until a teenager is of age, like at least 18.”
1. What does the underlined phrase “coming clean about” in Paragraph 2 probably mean?| A．Admitting. | B．Forgetting. | C．supporting. | D．Opposing. |
| A．To develop her career. | B．To be better looking. |
| C．To please her sister. | D．To follow her parents. |
| A．Unclear. | B．Positive. | C．Cautious. | D．Supportive. |
| A．Teenagers will regret having cosmetic surgery. |
| B．Certain children will receive an operation earlier. |
| C．Teenagers will delay cosmetic procedures. |
| D．Teenagers will grow in confidence. |
4 . In the days before the Internet, critical thinking was the most important skill of informed citizens. But in the digital age, according to Anastasia Kozyreva, a psychologist at the Max Planck Institute of Human Development, and her colleagues, an even more important skill is critical ignoring.
As the researchers point out, we live in an attention economy where content producers on the Internet compete for our attention. They attract us with a lot of emotional and eye-catching stories while providing little useful information, so they can expose us to profit-generating advertisements. Therefore,we are no longer customers but products, and each link we click is a sale of our time and attention. Toprotect ourselves from this, Kozyreva advocates for learning the skill of critical ignoring, in which readers intentionally control their information environment to reduce exposure to false and low-quality information.
According to Kozyreva, critical ignoring comprises three strategies. The first is to design ourenvironments, which involves the removal of low-quality yet hard-to-resist information from around. Successful dieters need to keep unhealthy food out of their homes. Likewise, we need to set up a digital environment where attention-grabbing items are kept out of sight. As with dieting, if one tries to bank onwillpower not to click eye-catching “news”, he’ll surely fail. So, it’s better to just keep them out of sightto begin with.
The next is to evaluate the reliability of information, whose purpose is to protect you from false and misleading information. It can be realized by checking the source in the mainstream news agencies which have their reputations for being trustworthy.
The last goes by the phrase “do not feed the trolls.” Trolls are actors who internationally spread false and hurtful information online to cause harm. It may be appealing to respond to them to set the facts straight, but trolls just care about annoying others rather than facts. So, it’s best not to reward their bad behaviour with our attention.
By sharpening our critical ignoring skills in these ways, we can make the most of the Internet while avoiding falling victim to those who try to control our attention, time, and minds.
1. What can we learn about the attention economy from paragraph 2?| A．It offers little information. | B．It features depressing stories. |
| C．It saves time for Internet users. | D．It seeks profits from each click. |
| A．To discuss the quality of information |
| B．To prove the benefits of healthy food. |
| C．To show the importance of environments. |
| D．To explain the effectiveness of willpower. |
| A．Reveal their intention. | B．Turn a deaf ear to them. |
| C．Correct their behaviour. | D．Send hard facts to them. |
| A．Reasons for critical thinking in the attention economy. |
| B．Practising the skill of critical ignoring in the digital age. |
| C．Maximizing the benefits of critical ignoring on the Internet. |
| D．Strategies of abandoning critical thinking for Internet users |
5 . I recently had a conversation with a friend who was feeling very upset about work. Why? He thought his manager didn’t like him. He rarely heard much from his manager, and when his manager said something, it was about correcting some aspects of his work or giving him some constructive advice.
Not surprisingly, given my friend’s understandably anxious view of these workplace dynamics (动态), he was afraid of his annual performance evaluation. He was worried that his boss might even tell him that he wasn’t needed anymore. Accordingly, he considered looking around for another job — not because he really wanted to, as he liked the kind of work he was doing, but because he suffered from the kind of management.
The evaluation day came, and to his great surprise, rather than being harshly critical, his manager told him that he was doing a fine job and gave him a promotion.
The sad truth is, this kind of phenomenon is by no means unusual in the workplace. One recent survey showed that nearly half of the employees have considered leaving a job “due to lack of recognition”. Another similar study found 46 percent of the employees left a job “because they felt unappreciated”.
The good news is that, in this case, the damage was repaired before it was too late — before my friend was out the door and his company began the expensive and time-consuming process of hiring a new employee. But as the research noted above shows, workplace problems related to recognition and appreciation are as common as the office air we breathe.
This conforms with my personal experience; during my decades of corporate management, I saw similar appreciation issues all the time. When a job isn’t done well, nobody deserves anything, of course. But when a job is done well, if you’re an employee, it’s entirely natural to expect at least a bit of appreciation. So if you’re a manager, it’s a good idea to show some. It’s that simple.
1. What phenomenon does the author want to describe through his friend’s case?| A．Unclear rewards and punishments. | B．Employee-management misunderstanding. |
| C．Unfair promotion in the workplace. | D．Fierce competition among new employees. |
| A．His company hired a new employee. |
| B．He continued to work for the company. |
| C．His company simplified the evaluation process. |
| D．He repaired the relationship with his colleagues. |
| A．Results from. | B．Separates from. |
| C．Agrees with. | D．Contrasts with. |
| A．Defend employees’ rights. | B．A friend’s unforgettable experience. |
| C．Acknowledge employees’ work. | D．Misunderstanding between employees. |
6 . Happiness is not a warm phone, according to a new study exploring the link between young life satisfaction and screen time. The study was led by professor of psychology Jean M. Twenge at San Diego State University (SDSU).
To research this link, Twenge, along with colleagues Gabrielle Martin at SDSU and W. Keith Campbell at the University of Georgia, dealt with data from the Monitoring the Future (MtF) study, a nationally representative survey of more than a million U.S. 8th-, 10th-, and 12th-graders. The survey asked students questions about how often they spent time on their phones, tablets and computers, as well as questions about their face-to-face social interactions and their overall happiness.
The study found that teens who spent more time in front of screen devices — playing computer games, using social media, texting and video chatting — were less happy than those who invested more time in non-screen activities like sports, reading newspapers and magazines, and face-to-face social interactions.
“The key to digital media use and happiness is limited use,” Twenge said. “Aim to spend no more than two hours a day on digital media, and try to increase the amount of time you spend seeing friends face-to-face and exercising — two activities reliably linked to greater happiness.”
Looking at historical trends from the same age groups since the 1990s, it’s easy to find that the increase of screen devices over time happened at the same time as a general drop-off in reported happiness in U.S. teens. Specifically, young people’s life satisfaction and happiness declined sharply after 2012. That’s the year when the percentage of Americans who owned a smartphone rose above 50 percent. By far the largest change in teens’ lives between 2012 and 2016 was the increase in the amount of time they spent on digital media, and the following decline in in-person social activities and sleep.
1. Which method did Twenge’s team use for the study?| A．Analyzing data from a survey. | B．Asking students certain questions. |
| C．Calculating students’ happiness. | D．Doing experiments on screen time. |
| A．By making an argument. | B．By giving an example. |
| C．By making a comparison. | D．By introducing an idea. |
| A．To draw a conclusion from the study. |
| B．To support the researchers’ finding. |
| C．To prove social activities important. |
| D．To offer some advice to the readers. |
| A．Quitting phones equals happiness. | B．Screen time should be banned. |
| C．Teens’ lives have changed sharply. | D．Screen-addicted teens are unhappier. |
7 . China’s tea culture has undergone dramatic, changes in recent years. The appearance of new-style teas can be traced back to the cheap roadside milk tea stands of the 1990s. Most of these drinks were made from powdered mixes and contained neither fresh milk nor fresh tea. The base ingredients weren’t updated until the arrival of Taiwan-based brands like CoCo and A Little Tea in the 2000s, leading to innovations such as “cheese tea”. These businesses started the “Milk Tea 2.0” era, transforming the milk tea business from a mixture of small stands into a standardized and fast-moving industry.
But even as the Taiwan-centric “Milk Tea 2.0” revolution was sweeping the world, the seeds of its next evolution were already sprouting (发芽) on the Chinese mainland. In 2012, a 21-year-old man named Nie Yunchen opened a milk tea store in the small southern city of Jiangmen, where he sold milk tea. By 2020, Nie’s HeyTea had 695 stores worldwide; was worth an estimated, 16 billion yuan, and had attracted a large number of imitators.
The new brands made their mark, by offering a more diverse range of tea bases, often with extras like seasonal fruit sparkling water, cream cheese or nuts.
The viability (可行性) of this business model owes much to China’s widespread embrace of high-end consumerism. Jason Yu, general manager of the market research firm Kantar World panel China, told me that “mothers with refined tastes”, urban white-collar workers, and those born after 1990 are the main drivers of Chinas new-style tea market—and, more broadly, the consumer market as a whole. These groups tend to be defined by busywork and home lives, and they see upscale drinks like tea and coffee not only as a way to quench their thirst (解渴), but also as a source of comfort. In this sense, new-style teas are filling a psychological, rather than a physical need. Many tea brands are aware of this and they have sought to associate themselves with healthy and relaxed lifestyle through their marketing campaigns.
Another driver of new-style tea consumption, according to Yu, is the desire among young people to combine consumption with social activity. “The goal of consumption for this generation of consumers is socializing,” Yu, said “You rarely see a person drinking Hey Tea by himself.”
1. How were new-style teas influenced by Taiwan-based brands?| A．These brands gave them a new name. |
| B．These brands changed their ingredients. |
| C．These brands in proved-their marketing. |
| D．These brands made them a healthier drink. |
| A．It can compete with “Milk Tea 2.0”. | B．It is targeted at high-income groups. |
| C．It has a good market at home and abroad. | D．It gradually develops the domestic market. |
| A．By improving the brand image. | B．By stressing their relaxing effect. |
| C．By showing their nutritious value. | D．By comparing them with other products. |
| A．The low price. | B．Their rich variety. |
| C．The chance to socialize. | D．Their desire To show off. |
8 . Many people dream of becoming a programmer for a leading tech company, as such work can secure a high salary that is envied by many. However, it may also mean having routinely to accept overtime work.
Recently, a programmer created a project called “996.ICU” on github.com, the well-known code-sharing website. The project criticized the “996 work schedule” where employees work from 9 am to 9 pm, 6 days a week, with the prospect of ending up in an intensive care unit (ICU).
The work schedule is common among Chinese tech companies. On the website, many programmers working for China’s tech companies shared evidence showing that their companies asked them to work the long hours. Among them were major names like e-commerce leaders Alibaba and JD.com, as well as telecoms equipment manufacturer Huawei.
Several bosses of tech companies have defended “996” as a kind of work culture. Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba, said it’s “a huge blessing” for young workers to work “996”. “If you don’t do ‘996’ when you’re young, when will you?” Ma said, according to a post on Alibaba’s WeChat account. “If you don’t invest more time and energy than others, how will you achieve the success you want?”
However, People’s Daily said that those who questioned “996” should not be labeled. “Valuing hard work does not equal forcing employees to work overtime,” commented the newspaper. “One should not attach the moral labels of ‘slackers’ or ‘not willing to strive’ to employees who are against ‘996’.”
Meanwhile, Cui Zhendong, a lawyer with the Yiqian Law Firm, said that it is illegal for a company to introduce a compulsory “996” work schedule for employees, since the Labor Law clearly states that the working hours of an employee should not exceed an average of eight hours daily, or 44 hours a week. Employers may extend working hours after consultation with an employee, but shall not exceed three hours a day or 36 hours a month.
A senior developer with the e-commerce giant Alibaba, who asked not to be named to protect his career, said employers seldom say the schedule is compulsory, but failure to follow the rules could lead to low performance scores and layoffs. “Refusal to overwork can also lead to losing your annual bonus, which is a lot of money,” he said.
“When resorting to the legal system for protection, there is a price to pay: time, money and the risk of losing your job, therefore they turn to cyberspace,” Jiang Ying, a professor of law said.
To better protect workers from harsh treatment, Jiang suggested that the systems for appealing to the court of law should be beefed up.
1. What can we infer from the passage?| A．The “996”work schedule is merely a rare case among companies. |
| B．The “996” work schedule is a newly invented system that is unique to China. |
| C．People’s Daily thinks it forgivable to criticize those who challenge the “996” work schedule. |
| D．In reality it’s so difficult for employees to defend their right against overwork through law. |
| A．3. | B．8. | C．9. | D．11. |
| A．Improved. | B．Banned. | C．Exposed. | D．Encouraged. |
| A．A government report. | B．A newspaper. |
| C．A scientific essay. | D．A code-sharing website. |
9 . Several studies in recent years have suggested that ride-sharing services like Uber and Lyft can worsen traffic problems in cities, which continue to have high rates of private vehicle ownership.
Recently, a new study has found that ride-sharing services result in much more pollution than other kinds of private and public transportation. Ride-sharing trips also draw passengers away from more environment-friendly methods of travel, like public transportation, walking or biking, the study found.
The new study, carried out by the not-for-profit group Union of Concerned Scientists, represents an attempt to center on how ride-sharing services affect pollution. The research examined the effects of ride-sharing services on seven of America’s largest cities.
Overall, the researchers reported that ride-sharing trips now “result in an estimated 69 percent more climate pollution on average than the trips they displace.” The study notes that the same passengers could have chosen to travel by bus, train, bike, scooter or on foot.
One of the big reasons they give for this result is that ride-sharing vehicles are often driven with no passengers in the car. This happens when drivers are either waiting for rider requests, are on the way to pick up passengers or are driving in between pickups. This situation, known as “deadheading”, takes up about 42 percent of all ride-sharing driving activity, the study found. The researchers said that deadheading results in about 50 percent more carbon dioxide than one person driving in a private vehicle. Both Uber and Lyft do offer a choice of a “pooled” ride, which involves drivers picking up additional riders during the same trip.
The study urges services like Uber and Lyft to work to increase the number of pooled rides. It also urges the two companies to increase the number of electric vehicles on the road and to improve connections to public transportation centers.
Both Uber and Lyft have said in the past that most studies on the subject overstate the effects of their services on pollution. They have noted that the majority of vehicles on the road belong to private individuals or companies. Uber told Reuters news agency in a statement it had no comment on the latest report. But the company said it aims to be part of the solution to address climate change by working directly with cities. The statement added that Uber would continue to promote pooled trips and other means of transportation.
1. What does the underlined word “they” in Para. 4 refer to?| A．The researchers. | B．Ride-sharing trips. |
| C．The same passengers. | D．Environment-friendly methods of travel. |
| A．Most studies have overstated the effects of Uber’s and Lyft’s services on pollution. |
| B．Ride-sharing services are playing an active role in dealing with climate change. |
| C．People may be discouraged from taking public transportation due to ride-sharing services. |
| D．Climate pollution resulting from ride-sharing trips has increased by 69 percent on average. |
| A．Ride-sharing services like Uber and Lyft can worsen traffic problems in cities. |
| B．The reasons for more pollution caused by ride-sharing services have been found. |
| C．Ride-sharing trips lead to more pollution than other kinds of private and public transportation. |
| D．The disadvantages of ride-sharing trips outweigh the advantages they have brought to people. |
10 . Since App Store was set up, it has been selling consumers one simple thing: choice. Whether you wanted to play games, read the news, or do a thousand other things, there was something for whatever you desired.
Then something funny happened. Logging into the App Store today is like going into a shopping mall with only a coupon (优惠券) for one thing: There’s so much choice; it might be easier to give up than to choose.
It isn’t just consumers who are burdened, though. Too much content of all kinds also has economic effects. When countless choices are available, it causes pressure, pushing prices down and driving us a bit crazy.
So what is the way forward? Less choice itself may be a sensible strategy. There are already signs that this is happening. Firstly content companies are looking to prevent their offerings from getting lost in the tons of stuff. Most obvious is Disney, which is planning to open its own streaming service next year. The point is to narrow the focus so that those seeking Disney cartoons will have one place to go, rather than being around various services.
Yet if that represents a careful first step, there are more extreme options too. Consider the idea of a wine club: from tens of thousands of bottles each year, subscribers pay someone to select the most interesting ones. Perhaps what comes next for digital content is similar — carefully selected offerings from trusted sources that put choices in the hands of customers in order to get rid of the anxiety of choosing.
Up to now, too much choice in digital media has only one solution: the algorithm (运算法则). But we’ve seen the trouble with algorithms on You Tube. They feed you only what you’ve already said you like, not things you may not know you’re into. Worse, they have a tendency to serve up disturbing content. The way forward can’t simply be more or better algorithms.
Instead, it’s time for digital companies to start thinking about how to put limits on things: on how much we can use a device, or what we are available to choose from. As we move further into the digital revolution, what people ask for is clear: Less.
1. Faced with too much choice, consumers are more likely to__________.| A．choose carefully | B．feel anxious | C．use a coupon | D．push down prices |
| A．To teach customers how to choose a bottle of wine wisely. |
| B．To show digital companies how to narrow customers’ focus. |
| C．To demonstrate what some customers’ extreme options are. |
| D．To save customers from getting lost in the choice of the APP Store. |
| A．In order to sell choice better, digital companies should offer less. |
| B．You Tube tends to feed people what they are possibly interested in. |
| C．Algorithms can help consumers and companies make better choices. |
| D．Those seeking Disney cartoons have easy and quick access to them. |
| A．It manages to offer what consumers will possibly like |
| B．It helps to remove disturbing content from digital media |
| C．It offers consumers things based on what they’ve said they like |
| D．It’ll solve the problem of having too much choice |
