1 . Most of us spend our lives surrounded by screens, which offer us convenience as well as connection and an ocean of information. But since it’s easy to feel pressured to keep up with every notification, technology may feel more like a burden than a blessing. Thus, the idea of “digital detox” is becoming increasingly inviting.
The phrase “digital detox” describes getting rid of TV, phones, computers and other forms of technology that control our lives for a period of time. Some experts advocate completely avoiding unnecessary screen time for 30 years. Others suggest using an app that will limit the amount of time one can spend on certain websites. A third option is logging out in evenings or on weekends. Others simply turn their phones off at scheduled times. Some even pay high prices to take vacations in places where they can unplug from their digital routine.
Why might you want to take a digital detox? Perhaps you find that you are spending longer than you intend on certain apps or that they distract you from more important things. Perhaps social media is depressing because you compare yourself to others or you fear missing out on things that other people are enjoying. Constant negative news can also give rise to a lot of stress.
Technology can also have physical effects. Many people experience back or neck pain as a result of bending over screens. The blue light coming from most screens can also affect people’s sleep by preventing production of melatonin(褪黑素).
Giving up all screens may not be realistic, but strategic breaks from technology may be good for your body, mind, emotions and relationships. It is high time that you picked a time to turn off your devices and focus on really important things.
1. Why does the author say “technology may feel more like a burden than a blessing” in paragraph 1?| A．To confirm a concept. |
| B．To present a problem. |
| C．To explain a rule. |
| D．To make a prediction. |
| A．Recover. | B．Benefit. | C．preventing | D．Suffer. |
| A．Apps selection difficulty. |
| B．Fear of missing important things. |
| C．Exposure to false news. |
| D．Pressure from social comparison. |
| A．To recommend healthy lifestyles. |
| B．To call for reducing the use of digital devices. |
| C．To give instructions on starting digital detox. |
| D．To present different attitudes to digital products. |
2 . It is quite reasonable to blame traffic jams, the cost of gas and the great speed of modern life, but manners on the road are becoming horrible. Everybody knows that the nicest men would become fierce tigers behind the wheel. It is all right to have a tiger in a cage, but to have one in the driver’s seat is another matter.
Road politeness is not only good manners, but a good sense. It takes the most cool-headed drivers great patience to give up the desire to beat back when forced to face rude driving. On the other hand, a little politeness goes a long way towards reducing the possibility of quarrelling and fighting. A friendly nod or a wave of thanks in answer to an act of politeness helps to create an atmosphere of good will and becomes so necessary in modern traffic conditions. But such behaviors of politeness are by no means enough. Many drivers nowadays don’t even seem able to recognize politeness when they see it.
However, misplaced politeness can also be dangerous. A typical example is the driver who waves to a child crossing the street at a wrong place into the path of oncoming cars that may not be able to stop in time. The same goes for encouraging old ladies to cross the road wherever and whenever they want to.
An experienced driver, whose manners are faultless, told me it would help if drivers learnt to correctly join in traffic stream without causing total blockages that give rise to unpleasant feelings. Unfortunately, modern drivers can’t even learn to drive, let alone master the roadmanship (公路驾车技能). Years ago, experts warned us that the fast increase of the car ownership would demand more give-and-take from all road users. It is high time for all of us to take this message to heart.
1. Which of the following can be the best title for this passage?| A．Traffic Jams. | B．Good Manners. |
| C．Road Politeness. | D．Modem Drivers. |
| A．Traffic jams. | B．The behaviour of the drivers. |
| C．The great speed of modern life. | D．Terrible road conditions. |
| A．Encourage children to cross the road whenever they want to. |
| B．Beat back when forced to face rude driving. |
| C．Be able to recognise politeness when he sees it. |
| D．Join in a traffic stream quickly however other people feel. |
| A．master the roadmanship |
| B．neglect politeness when they see it |
| C．give a friendly nod in answer to an act of politeness |
| D．encourage old ladies to cross the road whenever and wherever they want to |
3 . In February, news broke that Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff had taken a “digital detox(脱瘾)”: 10 tech-free days at a French Polynesian resort. For a small group of people, taking a step back from devices is an achievable dream, but for most, it’s an impossibility, especially.
A digital detox requires dismissing technology almost entirely: taking a break from screens, social media and video conferences for multiple days. The goals—reducing stress or anxiety, and reconnecting with the physical world—are well-intentioned. However, experts say a digital detox isn’t practical anymore for most people.
“Technology is very much a part of us now. We bank with an app, read restaurant menus on phones and even sweat with exercise instructors through a screen,” says Seattle-based consultant Emily Cherkin, who specialises in screen-time management. “It’s so embedded(嵌入式的) in our lives, we’re setting ourselves up for failure if we’re going to go phone-free for a week.”
As people become increasingly interdependent on technology, doing a digital detox no longer seems like a reasonable goal. But there may be a more realistic solution that will lessen our tech obsession(着迷), without forcing us to totally disconnect.
Rather than cutting out technology altogether, practice digital mindfulness. Make sure the use of technology is purposeful. Instead of a full detox, digital mindfulness may be more practical for some people: less worry about cutting tech out entirely, and more focus on being intentional with its use.
The goal shouldn’t be to cut off technology or to put a full stop. People still need to send an email, but can do so without getting distracted by the various online contents.
This approach is called “grey detoxing”—you’re not totally immersed(沉浸的) or totally cut off from technology. Instead of causing ourselves more anxiety by attempting to live without our phones for a week, we can approach unavoidable screen time in a way that feels right for our individual lives.
1. Why does the author mention Marc Benioff in paragraph 1?| A．To criticize the idea of digital detox. | B．To urge readers to take a digital detox. |
| C．To bring digital detox up for discussion. | D．To recommend a French Polynesian resort. |
| A．They are more stressed and anxious. | B．They are deeply influenced by tech. |
| C．They are unwilling to go phone-free. | D．They tend to be more pessimistic. |
| A．Going on a holiday to Polynesia. | B．Avoiding tech altogether. |
| C．Disconnecting occasionally. | D．Using tech purposefully. |
| A．It is achievable. | B．It is unreasonable. |
| C．It is ridiculous. | D．It is unrealistic. |
Zibo city in China’s Shandong province has
Zibo’s barbecue is different from other types in China as it
Zibo is now a must-visit destination for food lovers,
The China Tourism Academy released a report saying that education tourism has become popular among people of all
More than 6 million people joined study tours last year,
“The key difference between study travel and other tourism products
He said that study travel can date back to the Song (960-1279) and Ming (1368-1644) dynasties, when many poets wrote of
“An industry for study travel
Dai Bin, president of the Chinese Tourism Academy, said at the forum that the development of education tourism had promoted the social education of primary and middle school students,
6 . Going against the tide of flocking to well-known tourist destinations on vacation, a growing number of holidaymakers in China tend to spend their leisure time at lesser-known tourist attractions. Reverse tourism (逆向旅游)has appeared as a new trend among young holidaymakers in China.
According to data from an online travel agency, the number of rooms booked at hotels in less-traveled cities during the holiday was up 30 percent year-on-year. Bookings for four-star or five-star hotels in less-traveled places all increased at least 10 times. Some lesser-known scenic spots posted double-digit growth during the holiday. Baimaiquan Park in Jinan, the capital of Shandong Province, received 52,100 visits in the seven days, up 15.78 percent year-over-year.
Besides crowds, some vacationers chose less-traveled places to save on the cost of trips to popular destinations. In addition, lesser-known attractions are not as “commercial” as developed ones and are able to offer more actual experiences and natural encounters. Essentially speaking, total relaxation is becoming a real expectation for many people when they travel. Changes in demand may be the fundamental reason for the popularity of reverse tourism. COVID-19 is another key factor fueling reverse tourism. As precautionary measures continue, traveling has an unpredictable quality. Travelers have thus become more cautious and tend to choose local attractions or places with fewer tourists.
“The rise of reverse tourism is not a bad thing,” said Zhengzhou Daily. It means that vacationers now have more options, which brings more possibilities to the tourism market. More importantly, it noted, the trend is set to force popular destinations to improve themselves instead of resting on their past honor.
Jiang Han, a senior researcher, said that reverse tourism will become one of the future directions for the market. To give a real boost to the tourism market, Jiang suggested that more efforts be made to tap the potential of underrated (被低估了的), lesser-known destinations. It is necessary to dig deeper into the local customs and highlight the local characteristics to improve the quality of local tourism.
1. What is paragraph 2 mainly about?| A．The popularity of travel agency in China. |
| B．The contributions of tourism to the economy. |
| C．The high income of hotels during holidays. |
| D．The increasing trend of reverse tourism in China. |
| A．The effect of COVID-19. |
| B．Holidaymakers’ changing needs for travel. |
| C．No improvements in famous spots. |
| D．The cheaper prices of the less-traveled places. |
| A．It will drop with the recovery of economy. |
| B．It benefits both tourists and the tourism market. |
| C．It is helpful to spread local culture to tourists. |
| D．It stops the development of the famous resorts. |
| A．Finding the potential and features of less-traveled attractions. |
| B．Improving the management of the local tourism. |
| C．Upgrading the facilities in tourist areas. |
| D．Highlighting the local tourism through media. |
7 . How do you make sure whether a watermelon is perfectly ripe? Well, one theory is that if you knock hard on the outside, the sound you hear will help determine if it’s ready to eat. That theory led to a huge online debate in China about what kind of people tend to engage in the art of “watermelon knocking”.
The discussion, which thousands of people contributed to on the Chinese micro-blogging site Sina Weibo, was kicked off by an unknown event thousands of miles away in Italy.
It all began when a Chinese social media user posted the picture of a sign in an Italian supermarket asking customers not to knock on the watermelons. The sign was stuck in a full box of watermelons which read, “Please stop knocking on the watermelons. They will not respond to it!”
There was no indication that the supermarket was targeting this message at customers with Chinese heritage. The sign was in Italian, not Mandarin. But somehow it was taken as an attack on a practice which some Chinese observers regarded as being unique to their national customs.
Many shared jokes aimed at the supermarket sign.
Online users are keen to show they know better, especially on the subject of watermelons.
A quick online search will reveal that Chinese social media users are not alone in their thinking. Watermelon knocking and listening for a hollow sound is indeed a nearly universal concept. It even appears in films. The popular Russian cartoon, Nu, pogodi!, includes watermelon knocking as part of an episode.
There are no absolute guarantees about what to do when it comes to choosing fruit. But at the risk of causing an international diplomatic incident we would suggest some common ground about what to look for to choose the perfect watermelon.
Feel the weight of the melon. The heavier, the better.
Press on the watermelon. It should feel firm and if it springs back, it’s ready to eat.
Look at the markings on the melon. A yellow patch on one end indicates it’s ready.
Of course if all these fail, you could always, knock and wait for a reply.
1. What was the cause of the heated discussion?| A．Whether the watermelon is ripe. | B．The art of watermelon knocking. |
| C．The picture of a sign in an Italian supermarket. | D．The traditional Italian customs in the supermarket. |
| A．serious | B．approving | C．critical | D．humorous |
| A．Pressing | B．Observing markings |
| C．Feeling the weight | D．Waiting for a response |
| A．To present a research result. | B．To give practical advice by telling a story. |
| C．To introduce the traditional customs of Italy. | D．To bring up an international diplomatic incident. |
8 . Each year, backed up by a growing anti-consumerist movement, people are using the holiday season to call on us all to shop less.
Driven by concerns about resource exhaustion, over recent years environmentalists have increasingly turned their sight on our “consumer culture”, with Groups such as The Story of Stuff and Buy Nothing New Day growing as a movement that increasingly blames all our ills on our desire to shop.
We clearly have a growing resource problem. The products we make, buy and use are often linked to the destruction of our waterways, biodiversity, climate and the land on which millions of people live, but to blame these issues on Christmas shoppers is misguided, and puts us in the old trap of blaming individuals for what is a systematic problem.
While we complain about environmental destruction over Christmas, environmentalists often forget what the holiday season actually means for many people. In fact, for most, rather than an add-on to an already heavy shopping year, Christmas is likely the only time of year they have the opportunity to spend on friends and family, or even just to buy the necessities needed for modern life.
This is particularly true for Boxing Day, often laughed at by anti-consumerists the most. While we may look down on the queues in front of the shops, for many, those sales provide the chance to buy things they've needed all year. As journalist Leigh Phillips argues, “This is one of the few times of the year that people can even hope to afford such ‘luxuries’, the Christmas presents their kids are asking for, or just an appliance that works.”
Indeed, the richest 7% of people are responsible for 50% of greenhouse gas emissions. This becomes particularly harmful when you take into account of our consumption “problem” anyway. Why are environmentalists attacking these individuals, while ignoring people like Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, who has his own £ 1.5bn yacht with a missile defence system?
Anyway, anti-consumerism has become a movement of wealthy people talking down to the working class about their life choice, while ignoring the real cause of our environmental problem. It is no wonder no one is changing their behaviour—or that environmental destruction continues without becoming any less severe.
1. What can be inferred about the environmentalist movement from Paragraphs 2 and 3?| A．It has targeted the wrong persons. | B．It has achieved its intended purposes. |
| C．It has solved the environmental problems. | D．It has persuaded consumers not to shop any more. |
| A．A trap for consumers. | B．A tough problem to deal with. |
| C．A precious shopping opportunity. | D．A positive contribution to the economy. |
| A．To show how rich he is. |
| B．To announce he is a Russian. |
| C．To present his contributions to the environment. |
| D．To suggest the real cause of environmental problems hasn't been found. |
| A．The environmental problems are very serious. |
| B．Less shopping can't solve the environmental problems. |
| C．Resources are becoming fewer and fewer on the earth. |
| D．Measures should be taken to protect the environment. |
9 . When we see a person in trouble our immediate reaction is to lend a hand. But what if we se an animal in trouble, does the same rule apply?
This question was raised after a group of penguins were saved from an icy gully (峡谷) in Antarctica. It was filmed for the BBC wildlife series Dynasties. After seeing that a group of penguins had fallen into a gully and been trapped with their young the film crew were so concerned about their safety that they built a slope (斜坡) so that a few of the penguins could save themselves.
The case has taken the international media by storm. Viewers watching this film let out a sigh of relief. "I'm so glad. I understand not taking action directly involved, but a helping hand isn't bothering, right?" viewer Kathryn Shaw said on her Facebook.
However, others think human interference (干涉) is unnatural. "You can't have sunshine throughout your life. To have done anything else would only make matters worse," said the show's creator David Attenborough, according to The Times.
In this case, however, Mike Gunton, the executive producer of the series, said that this was a one-off situation. "There were no animals going to suffer by interfering. You weren't touching the animals and it was just felt by doing this. They had the chance not to have to keep slipping down the slope," he told the BBC.
Such cases are familiar to Paul Nicklen, wildlife photographer for National Geographic. He told Metro, "If it's ever a predator (捕食者) situation，no matter how gut-wrenching，you stay out of the way. Even when you're watching a male polar bear eat a baby bear."
"There's no rule book in those situations. You can only respond to the facts that are right there in front of you," Will Lawson, the show's director, told Daily Mail.
1. What has caused to a heated media discussion?| A．People's various comments on penguins. |
| B．The ways of helping the trapped penguins . |
| C．Some penguins' sufferings in a gully. |
| D．Ways of filming the series Dynasties. |
| A．Anxious. | B．Sad. |
| C．Annoyed. | D．Thrilled. |
| A．Shooting an eagle catching a snake. |
| B．Preventing a polar bear eating a baby bear. |
| C．Watching a lion attacking a deer. |
| D．Distracting a crocodile biting an antelope. |
| A．The Necessity of Lending a Hand to Animals in Trouble. |
| B．Suggestions on How to Save Animals in Trouble. |
| C．Effects of Human Interference on Animals in Trouble. |
| D．Opinions on Whether to Help Animals in Trouble. |
Li Xianggang and his two students started the new semester
The school, founded in 1968,
In 2006, persuaded by a senior village director, he came back from Shanghai and started to teach at the school, willing to serve younger generations
Li has witnessed
In recent years, China
