1 . Children seem to care so much about their names. A study shows that most of young people wish their parents had given them a different name.
Some people choose to change their names when they grow up. Many people in show business don’t use the names their parents gave them. Have you ever listened to Joanne? No? The answer could be “yes” if we call her stage name instead! You may never heard of Margaret. But if we tell you her stage name, you might know her as a famous dancer.
In many cultures, there are special ideas about how to choose a name. For example, many people choose a name that has been in their family for many years. It tells the child where he or she comes from.
Choosing a good name isn’t easy. Many parents search books that tell them the meanings of names. They could choose a name that carries a message. For example, Edith means “valuable gift”. Amanda means “love”. And Fara means “joy”.
Names like these tell family and friends how happy they are with their new baby. Other names can say something about the events during the birth of the child. In Africa, a first born son may have the name Mosi and the name Ama means “born on Saturday”.
Is every boy called Curitis polite? And is every girl called Mahira quick and full of energy? No parents can tell what kind of person their child will grow up to be. Just because parents name a boy Fahim, it doesn’t mean he will be clever. All they can do is hope.
1. What can we know about the study?| A．Young kids don’t care about their future. |
| B．Most of young people care about their names. |
| C．Most girls want to change their names. |
| D．Most parents want to rename by themselves. |
| A．To prove some people hope to be renamed. |
| B．To introduce a famous dancer to readers. |
| C．To introduce her true name. |
| D．To tell the benefit of name. |
| A．Kids always want to rename. |
| B．It is hard to change kids’ names. |
| C．Parents aren’t sure if their kids will like the name. |
| D．Parents want to choose a meaningful name. |
| A．Names can never influence our lives | B．Your parents’ wish is behind names |
| C．Love your parents, love your name | D．Methods to choose a suitable name |
2 . 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 |
3 . 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. |
4 . According to a new report in Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu, the number of online posts related to the circulation(流通) of used goods in 2022 increased by 814 percent year on year. Instead of buying useless things, people are changing towards using secondhand goods and replacing underused or unused objects. This trend is picking up in the country.
Since the summer of 2022, a 26-year-old Shanghai citizen named Chen Jiaorong has been walking along Julu Road in Shanghai’s downtown area once or twice a week, looking around and picking up “garbage” (垃圾). After her action was noticed online, she was described by others as a “stooper”.
The word “stoop” means to bend forward, but in the United States, it also refers to a platform or entrance stairway to a house. The term “stooper” was created in the US after a lot of people put their used or underused belongings in front of their doorsteps to be taken away for free by those in need. Later, “stooping” was used to mean “picking up abandoned goods and recycling them”.
As the first “stooper” in China, Chen had her own way. She picked unused goods to help find suitable new owners for some items. When she found such abandoned (被抛弃的) goods, she put a pair of eyeball-shaped stickers on them before publishing notes on her social media accounts, and guiding others to pick them up from the streets.
“‘Stooping’ is a new word in China, and some people even have no idea of it. Most of us still think secondhand goods are dirty and it is embarrassing to reuse them,” said Wu Kaisi, a well-known stooper in Guangzhou. “The slowing economy and the increasing cost of living have pushed the development of the used-goods industry. People are gradually advocating (提倡) a savings-based consumption (消费) and environment-friendly lifestyle instead of blindly seeking for expensive consumption. Now, more young people are joining us.”
1. What does the report in paragraph 1 show?| A．Selling used items is popular among young people. |
| B．Reusing secondhand goods has become a new trend. |
| C．People tend to buy products from social media platform. |
| D．The buying power of Chinese consumers is in decline. |
| A．To explain a fact. | B．To make a prediction. |
| C．To make some concepts clear. | D．To present an example. |
| A．By organizing offline sales. | B．By displaying them on Julu Road. |
| C．By putting up notices on the street. | D．By posting related information online. |
| A．It is embarrassing. |
| B．It is worth advocating. |
| C．It slows down the development of economy. |
| D．It changes young people’s wasteful lifestyle |
5 . I decided to write the article on British Sign Language (BSL) being taught in school. This is because both of my parents are completely deaf which means they can’t hear at all and another reason I decided to do this topic is because I have realised how much of a problem it has become.
It might come to a surprise to learn that nearly all communication is non-verbal (非语言的) and only a little bit is verbal. Over half of the non-verbal communication is body language. Deaf pupils often struggle (挣扎) in school because they can’t get proper help from their teachers as they might not understand each other.
Sign Language is a language that uses hand gestures and body language. These are different ways of communication that deaf or hard of hearing people use to communicate with people. Some deaf people are what you might call “mute”, which means they use Sign Language but don’t use speech. Other deaf people may use speech, most of whom either use hearing aids or have a cochlear implant (人工耳蜗) which can help them hear.
By teaching BSL it would open doors for the deaf community and it would reduce a lot of language barriers (障碍) between deaf and hearing people. The more people learning BSL through education means that it would give deaf people more options for further education and good jobs. By teaching Sign Language in school it can help deaf awareness (意识). With young people growing up and learning it together there wouldn’t be a problem with getting jobs.
I think that deaf awareness is better than it used to be but it still isn’t good enough. In the end teaching Sign Language will be the best for everyone. There would be less language barriers, which means communication will be easier between hearing people and deaf people.
1. What made the author write the text?| A．His own hearing problem. | B．The difficulty of the deaf. |
| C．The school’s sincere invitation. | D．His parents’ encouragement. |
| A．They are too shy to ask for help. |
| B．Their classmates use body language. |
| C．Their teachers are unwilling to help them. |
| D．They have difficulty communicating with others. |
| A．We should offer deaf people good jobs. |
| B．Schools should teach British Sign Language. |
| C．Schools should provide further education for the deaf. |
| D．Young people should learn more about Sign Language. |
| A．It is nearly close to success. | B．It still needs to be improved. |
| C．It isn’t understood by hearing people. | D．It’s bad for breaking language barriers. |
Billionaires Race to Space
In late July 2021, Jeff Bezos achieved an out-of-this-world ambition. The billionaire founder of Amazon
“Best day ever,” Bezos said over the radio to mission control after landing safely back on Earth,
Bezos wasn’t the first billionaire to set his sights on space. Nor was he the first
Critics say that the money
But supporters of commercial space travel argue that it does benefit humanity. Personal funds are put toward high-paying jobs and a new industry. That’s money they could have spent on new luxury cars or villas for
1. What happened to the woman?
| A．She left her handbag on the bus. |
| B．She missed the No. 22 bus yesterday. |
| C．She didn’t find City Bus Company. |
| A．They didn’t find anything like that. |
| B．Someone found it and gave it to them. |
| C．It was certain that someone took it away. |
8 . The Global Food Donation Policy Atlas has issued a recent report in order to recommend ways to increase food donations, reduce food waste, and fight hunger, which may help Kenyan leaders meet 2030 food waste reduction goals.
Food donation can reroute eatable food—that would otherwise give off greenhouse gasses in a landfill—to those experiencing hunger. According to the Famine Early Warning Systems Network, 3.5 million Kenyans, roughly 37 percent of the population, face severe hunger. At the same time, the Policy Atlas reports roughly 40 percent of food produced within Kenya goes to waste. But Broad Leib, Deputy Director of Harvard Law School Food Law and Policy Clinic (FLPC), sees some promising changes. “While progress is not happening as quickly as needed, Kenya’s food loss index has been steadily reduced from 1,744 metric tons in 2017, to 1,531 in 2018, to 1,446 metric tons in 2019, indicating a steady improvement and national commitment to food loss reduction,” reports Broad Leib.
According to the Policy Atlas, motivating food donation with rewards is particularly important, which helps food donors and food recovery organizations make up for costs necessary for recovery, storing, processing, and transporting food for donation.
“A major driver of food waste is inconsistent or unclear date labels that cause confusion among all actors along the value chain and limit the ability of businesses to donate food. This increases the likelihood that much safe food will go to waste,” Broad Leib tells Food Tank. However, he acknowledges Kenya’s current dual (双的) date labeling laws. While food may lose its freshness over time, it is still eatable before expiration (到期). Dual date labeling on packaged foods reduces bewilderment by defining dates for both safety and quality. This helps reduce considerable waste and responsibility for donors.
Broad Leib believes that the private sector can also play a significant role in decreasing food waste in Kenya. It is vital for consumer education campaigns. FLPC’s research shows that public-private initiatives can help raise awareness among consumers and donors around issues of food waste and food donation.
1. What changes does Broad Leib see?| A．People in Kenya no longer suffer hunger. |
| B．Kenya has gradually reduced its food waste. |
| C．Kenya is not committed to reducing food loss. |
| D．Progress in reducing food waste is happening quickly. |
| A．Sadness. | B．Convenience. | C．Confusion. | D．Emotion. |
| A．By increasing storehouses. |
| B．By fighting hunger with rewards. |
| C．By reducing food produced within the country. |
| D．By using double date labeling on packaged food. |
| A．Consumer education campaigns are the most important. |
| B．Only the private sector is helpful in reducing food waste. |
| C．Private and public joint efforts matter around food issues. |
| D．Broad Leib doesn’t agree with FLPC on food waste reduction. |
9 . At the start of every working week, millions of people around the world get ready for something they do endlessly, joylessly and badly: a meeting.
The reason is simple, says Madeleine de Hauke, a meeting coach and teacher in an Antwerp Management School. “We spend our lives and huge amounts of money on meetings, but there’s very little work that helps people run them effectively.”
Madeleine is correct. Running a meeting well takes skill. People need to know ahead why they are meeting, what they are supposed to achieve, who really needs to be there and how they should contribute. That sounds obvious but it is not, as anyone who has been to a pointless meeting knows. Yet meeting leaders are expected to learn all this on the job. I cannot remember ever being taught how to organize a meeting, and I have rarely had a job requiring me to do it.
I also like Madeleine’s descriptions of what she calls the Meeting Monsters: people who destroy meetings with all sorts of annoying behaviors. There is the unkind off-topic speaker. The non-stop noise in the background. The confusing rambler whose speech is endless. The rude multi-tasker. The one who says nothing but emails later to say what was decided will never work.
The trouble is, we are all meeting monsters sometimes, says Madeleine. A good meeting leader knows how to stop this behavior, or make sure it never starts by making it clear what will and won’t be allowed.
A bad meeting is like a virus (病毒). By failing to produce good decisions it often requires another meeting to be held, then another and another. Luckily there is no need for a vaccine (疫苗), just a bit more care and preparation, and an understanding that there is no shame in being taught how to lead a meeting well.
1. What cause bad meetings according to the author?| A．Boring meeting activities. | B．Untrained meeting leaders. |
| C．Careless meeting coaches. | D．Unreasonable meeting schedules. |
| A．Never stopping his chatter. | B．Scaring meeting attendees. |
| C．Always raising questions. | D．Refusing to finish his tasks. |
| A．It makes the attendees sick. | B．It fails to produce decisions. |
| C．It results in more meetings. | D．It requires care and preparation. |
| A．Spend More for Meeting Attendees | B．Get Ready for Bad Meetings |
| C．Start the Week with a Meeting | D．Kill the Meeting Monsters |
10 . Feeling overcome by your to-do list can make you unhappy, but a new study suggests that more free time might not be the magic elixir (灵丹妙药) most of us dream it could be.
The researchers analyzed data from 35,000 subjects about how Americans spend their free time. They found that people with more free time generally had higher levels of subjective happiness—but only up to a point. Compared to those with less time, people with up to two hours of free time a day generally felt better. However, people who had five or more hours of free time a day generally felt worse. So the free-time “sweet spot” might be two to three hours per day.
Part of finding this “sweet spot” is connected with how people spend their free time. In an online experiment, the subjects were asked to imagine having four to seven free hours per day and spending that time doing “productive” (富有成效的) or “unproductive” activities. Most of them believed their happiness would suffer if they had a lot of free time during the day—but only if they used it unproductively. Though that experiment was based on the previous assumptions (假设), which is one limitation, it agrees with other experiments showing that being in a state of flow can benefit people’s mental health.
Of course, for you, any activities that increase your happiness are “productive”. If watching soap opera in your free time makes you feel better, you should do that due to self-care. And some traditionally productive activities can be easy and fun. For example, walking and cooking can help burn stress and put people in a state of flow.
“In cases where people find themselves with large amounts of free time, such as retirement or unemployment,” Sharif said, “our results suggest they can benefit from spending their newfound time with purpose.”
1. How did the researchers carry out the study of the free-time “sweet spot”?| A．By studying the collected data. | B．By doing the experiment again and again. |
| C．By observing the respondents. | D．By doing an interview with the subjects. |
| A．The activity. | B．Free time. |
| C．The finding. | D．The experiment. |
| A．To present a fact. | B．To make a prediction. |
| C．To explain an opinion. | D．To introduce a topic. |
| A．Much free time with purposeful activities can affect people’s happiness. |
| B．The “sweet spot” has little connection with the amount of free time. |
| C．Much unfinished work is likely to make people feel worse. |
| D．People will always feel much happier with more free time. |
