1 . Millions watch the Oscars every year, but I’m always interested in the Razzies (金酸梅奖), which recognize cinematic underachievement. For all the attention given to what we like, what we dislike can be just as important, interesting and empowering.
French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu saw dislike as snobbery (虚荣). He saw all judgments of taste, favorable or not, as performances of class. The rich could justify their place, he argued, by claiming to have more refined tastes. Knowing which literature or art to praise could signal to others their rightful place at the top of society. Oversimplified as his theory might be, it is not entirely wrong.
Furthermore, dislikes are often used as a way not to stand apart but to fit in. It means learning the unspoken rules of what’s OK to like or dislike, and to proclaim those likes or dislikes loudly for others to hear. When some of us swim against the social tide, we might be savvy (精明的) enough to label our likes as “guilty pleasures”, which both acknowledges the rules and apologizes for violating them.
In my research, though, I found that dislike isn’t just a form of snobbery.
We interviewed over 200 people, a diverse group in race, age, and social class. All the interviewees tended to actively dislike media content far more when they felt they couldn’t escape it. Many people can’t choose the radio station that’s playing at work, or what’s on TV at the bar. Moreover, some of us are subjected to more annoyance than others. Remote controls, for instance, have long been seen as a special right of dads, with women and kids given less power to change the channel. Everyone turns to media hoping for specific needs to be met, but those who have those needs realized less often are those who might dislike more often.
Therefore, speaking about dislikes is an act of resistance-a refusal to allow public space to be conquered by the media content that doesn’t connect.
Dislike can certainly transform into anger or hate, but it may also take a more playful form. Sometimes we could see people joyfully watch the object of their dislike and offer a commentary of criticism, instead of tuning out and turning off. Why? Reveling in dislike can help regain control in a world that overwhelms everyone with content. Keeping the despised shows at hand rather than avoiding them can help the dislikers speak up in the court of public opinion. Or some might enjoy their dislikes as a way to avoid ruining certain relationships. Many of us can probably relate to the experience of having a friend who insists we watch something against our will.
What if, rather than resenting the show or the person, we simply embrace it in all of its embarrassing glory? By all means, pay attention to the advice to “ignore the haters”. But a lot can be learned by listening to the dislikers.
1. According to Paragraph 3, people label their likes as “guilty pleasures” when they ________.| A．take pride in their taste | B．follow the mainstream |
| C．try to fit into a certain group | D．set up the unspoken rules |
| A．Exposure to unwanted media content intensifies people’s dislike. |
| B．Expressing dislike helps maintain one’s social relationships. |
| C．Learning about literature and art is an act of snobbery. |
| D．Dislikes can be found mostly among the rich. |
| A．Showing concern for. | B．Taking delight in. |
| C．Establishing connection to. | D．Drawing lessons from. |
| A．Staying away from the haters is a sensible means to avoid trouble. |
| B．We are encouraged to launch debates over hot issues in public. |
| C．The media should aim to meet the needs of different groups of audience. |
| D．Embracing our dislikes can be beneficial to some extent. |
2 . African countries have retrieved some historic relics(遗物), which reflects the important development of human society, from European countries. Recently, Germany signed a deal for the return of hundreds of valuable artworks from the Kingdom of Dahomey in the 19th century, in what is today Benin.
But many artifacts(手工艺品) are still unluckily missing and some are on their way back. One is an eight-legged seat from the old kingdom in Uganda. The important artifact now sits at a museum thousands of kilometers away in Britain. The wooden seat is housed at the University of Oxford. It is one of at least 279 relics there taken from the Bunyoro-Kitara Kingdom.
Apollo John Rwamparo is a leader of Uganda. He really values the country’s cultural relics. He requested the British to return the artifacts. Ugandan leaders are preparing to meet with the University of Cambridge in Britain about the return of such historical artifacts. The school has an unknown number of artifacts from Africa. Through many efforts,an artifact was returned to its home.
The British Museum holds a large collection of artifacts from Africa. Rose Mwanja said she had been trying hard on it and believed it could have some good effects. She is a director of Uganda’s museums. She added she could start with those that are more willing to cooperate.
Many of the artifacts from Africa cannot even be found. That led to an organization started by late Congolese art collector Sindika Dokolo. The organization offers to buy African art from collections in foreign countries, By 2020, when Dokolo died, his group had successfully recovered 15 items. However, for African governments, the recovery of artifacts remains a struggle and will take much time.
1. What does the underlined word “retrieved” in paragraph 1 mean?| A．Thrown. | B．Taken back. | C．Given up. | D．Organised. |
| A．In Benin. | B．In Uganda. | C．In Britain. | D．In Germany. |
| A．Curious. | B．Confused. | C．Uncaring. | D．Concerned. |
| A．Frightening. | B．Doubtful. | C．Effortless. | D．Challenging. |
Scientists are increasingly warning that sitting for long periods even if you also exercise regularly could be bad for your health. And it doesn’t matter where the sitting takes place at the office, at school, in the car or before a computer or TV — just the overall number of hours it occurs. Several studies suggest people who spend most of their days sitting are more likely to be fat, have a heart attack or even die.
In an editorial published this week in the British Joumal of Sports Medicine, Elin Ekblom-Bak of the Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences suggested that authorities rethink how they define physical activity to highlight the dangers of sitting.
While health officials have issued guidelines recommending minimum amounts of physical activity, they haven’t suggested people try to limit how much time they spend in a seated position. “After four hours of sitting, the body starts to send harmful signals,” said Ekblom-Bak. She explained that sitting too long slows the metabolism-which affects our ability to regulate blood sugar and blood pressure, and metabolise fat-and may cause weaker muscles and bones.
Even for people who exercise, spending long periods of time sitting at a desk is still harmful. Tim Armstrong, a physical activity expert at the World Health Organization, said people who exercise every day-but still spend much time sitting-might get more benefits if that exercise was spread across the day, rather than in a single bout (一回).
Experts said more research is needed to figure out just how much sitting is dangerous, and what might be possible to offset (抵消) those effects.
“People should keep exercising because that has a lot of benefits,” Ekblom-Bak said. “But when they are in the office, they should try to interrupt sitting as often as possible,” she said.
1. What are the possible bad effects of sitting for a long time?2. What is the next step for the current research on sitting long hours?
3. Please decide which part is false in the following statement, then underline it and explain why.
Sitting for long periods is bad for your health. However, doing exercise once a day is enough to get rid of the impact of sitting too much.
4. What habits do you think are good for your health? Why?
4 . Many people have participated into lots of virtual meetings these years. Some research shows this adjustment might not impact workplace productivity to any great degree. A new study, though, suggests otherwise.
In the study, 602 participants were randomly paired and asked to come up with creative uses for a product. They were also randomly selected to work together either in person or virtually. The pairs were then ranked by assessing their total number of ideas, as well as those concepts’ degree of novelty, and asked to submit their best idea. Among the groups, virtual pairs came up with significantly fewer ideas, suggesting that something about face-to-face interaction generates more creative ideas. The findings could stiffen employers’ resolve to urge or require their employees to come back to the office.
“We ran this experiment based on feedback from companies that it was harder to innovate with remote workers,” said lead researcher Melanie Brucks. “Unlike other forms of virtual communication, like phone calls or e-mail, videoconferencing copies the in-person experience quite well, so I was surprised when we found meaningful differences between in-person and video interaction for idea generation. ”
When random objects were placed in both the virtual and physical rooms, the virtual pairs of participants spent more time looking directly at each other rather than letting their look wander about the room and taking in the entire scene. Eyeing one’s whole environment and noticing the random objects were associated with increased idea generation. On platforms, the screen occupies our interactions. Our look wavers less. “Looking away might come across as rude, ” said Brucks,“so we have to look at the screen because that is the defined context of the interaction, the same way we wouldn’t walk to another room while talking to someone in person. ”
Like most educators, Brucks has primarily taught virtually in the past three years, and she did notice some benefits of the approach as well. Her students were more likely to take turns speaking and her shyer students spoke up more often, rid of the anxiety that comes from addressing a large classroom. Brucks found that one solution to improving virtual idea generation might be to simply turn off the camera, for her students felt “freer” and more creative when asked to do so. And this may be sound advice for the workplace.
Virtual teamwork can’t replace face-to-face teamwork. Idea selection proficiency (能力) is only valuable if you have strong options to select from, and face-to-face teams are the best means to generate winning options. Perhaps the workplace will find a compromise—a sweet spot in the middle that balances working from both home and office.
1. What does the underlined word “stiffen” in Paragraph 2 most probably mean?| A．Shake. | B．Revise. | C．Challenge. | D．Strengthen. |
| A．videoconferencing can’t compare with in-person communication |
| B．participants should make eye contact in an online meeting |
| C．the feedback from companies seems questionable |
| D．creative ideas may emerge from casual thoughts |
| A．Her students relieved anxiety by speaking up. | B．Her students progressed in focusing attention. |
| C．Her students took advantage of virtual learning. | D．Her students displayed talent for public speaking. |
| A．Interacting Virtually Impacts Working Participation | B．Maintaining Teamwork Improves Idea Generation |
| C．Grouping Randomly Increases Productivity | D．Brainstorming Online Limits Creativity |
If you’ve spent any time on social media sites, you’ve probably noticed it: parents share news, photos, and other information about their children. This phenomenon is called “sharenting”, a combination of the words “sharing” and
“parenting”.
Much of the research on sharenting focuses on why parents choose to share online. Studies found that for parents of infants (婴儿), sharenting can help ease the social isolation that comes with this period in their children’s lives. Parents of teenagers also share information about their kids on social media. Research has shown their motivations include communicating their pride in their children’s accomplishments and informing friends and family about their kids’ lives.
However, when parents post about their children on social media with high frequency, the phenomenon of “oversharenting” occurs, which can be a great cause for concern. For example, if parents share too much information that their children don’t want disclosed, it may lead them to withhold information about their lives from their parents so they can better control what can and can’t be posted about them.
Additionally, the cute photos or funny observations parents share online about their children could become a problem when their kids get older. In particular, colleges and employers are increasingly checking applicants’ online activity, and as a result, information posted by parents could become a source of embarrassment or affect a potential college’s or employer’s assessment of their child.
Sharing information has never been faster than in the digital age. While it can be very convenient to post milestones of their children, it’s important for parents to ensure they’re sharenting responsibly. After all it’s not just a picture, it’s the child and their digital footprint.
1. According to the passage, what is sharenting?2. Why do parents of infants choose to share online?
3. Please decide which part is false in the following statement, then underline it and explain why.
When parents oversharent, their children may make up information about their lives to better control what can and can’t be posted about them.
4. Besides what’s mentioned in the passage, what else can you do if your parents oversharent? (In about 40 words)
6 . Offload Thoughts
In our busy world, we rush from task to task, often leaving us feeling easily angered. We seek out technology or brain-enhancing products to help us optimize (最优化) our productivity, but end up running on a never-ending hamster(仓鼠) wheel.
Research shows that spending too much time optimizing our thoughts for perfect outcomes not only leaves us feeling exhausted, but can also have harmful effects on our wellbeing and work output. Optimizing thoughts requires being highly focused. But it just goes against the way our minds work. That is to say, efficiency isn’t always productive when we pursue it.
Our brain essentially has two main modes of operating: the “focus network” and the “default mode network.” When one network works, the other physically can’t turn on. The modern world often demands we live in the focus network and the default mode network is often less celebrated.
Cognitive (认知的) offloading is an accessible practice. It has the potential to not only release emotions, but enhance mental capabilities, too. Even just a few moments of creative flow — like offloading the feelings of anxiety by doodling (涂鸦) before a meeting — can have a strong impact on emotions.
| A．The functionality is simpler than you might imagine. |
| B．Give ourselves a few minutes to offload our emotions. |
| C．Being focused all the time can eventually lead to less self-control. |
| D．Fortunately, there is a way to stop this kind of always-on mentality. |
| E．It’s no surprise that the majority of us feel more exhausted than ever. |
| F．But spending more time on the latter offers a form of “insurance” for our emotions. |
| G．What’s more, this exercise can help give the brain the space to make new connections. |
7 . Clothes were once used until they fell apart-repaired and sewed to be re-used, ending their lives as dishcloths. Not today. Clothing, footwear and upholstered furniture are increasingly frequently bought, thrown away and replaced with new fashions, which are themselves soon abandoned and replaced.
‘Fast fashion’ is so called partly because the fashion industry now releases new lines every week, when historically this happened four times a year. Today, fashion brands(品牌)produce almost twice the amount of clothing that they did in 2000. But incredibly, more than 50 billion clothes are deserted within a year of being made.
The trend is having an astonishing environmental impact. Take water. The fashion industry, one of the world’s largest users of water, consumes anywhere from 20 trillion to 200 trillion litres every year. Besides, plastic fibres are released when we wash polyester(聚酯纤维)and other polymer-based textiles(纺织物), and make up between 20% and 35% of the microplastics choking the oceans. Added to this are specific chemicals used to make fabrics dirt resistant and the pesticides required to protect crops such as cotton.
Change is badly needed, but will require the fashion industry to work harder to embrace more of what is known as the circular economy. That will involve at least two things: refocusing on making things that last, and so encouraging reuse; and more rapidly expanding the technologies for sustainable manufacturing(制造)processes, especially recycling. There is work to be done for researchers on improving and expanding textiles recycling. Most used textiles go to landfill(废物填埋场), in part because there are relatively few systems that collect, recycle and reuse materials. Such recycling requires the manual separation of fibres, as well as buttons and zips. Different fibres are not easy to identify by eye, and overall such manual processes are time-consuming. Machinery is being developed that can help. Technologies also exist to recycle used fibres chemically and to create high-quality fibres that can be reused in clothing. But these are nowhere near the scale(规模)needed. Another challenge for researchers is to work out how to get consumers and manufacturers to change their behaviour.
Small steps are good, but big changes are needed. The shameful environmental cost of a new cupboard needs to be tackled immediately, at scale, with style.
1. What are the first two paragraphs mainly about?| A．Clothes should be used until they fall apart. |
| B．Fashion brands are replaced with new ones frequently. |
| C．Fast fashion leads to a significant increase in fashion waste. |
| D．Fashion brands produce twice more clothing than necessary. |
| A．Improving the production of natural textiles. |
| B．Studying how fast fashion affects the environment. |
| C．Releasing new lines four times a year instead of every week. |
| D．Making durable things and expanding the technologies for recycling. |
| A．Consumers are fond of chemically recycled fibres. |
| B．Systems that collect, recycle and reuse are insufficient. |
| C．Manual separation of fibres is preferred by manufacturers. |
| D．Environment damage is mainly caused by using chemicals. |
| A．Big changes are needed to follow fashion styles. |
| B．Huge steps should be taken for the needs of consumers. |
| C．More should be done to deal with the heavy environmental cost. |
| D．Consumers and manufacturers will change their behaviour immediately. |
8 . At about 11 p.m., Janet got off the train, went into her car and started driving home. She was so familiar with the route that she almost
As it happened, Andrew was just about to go to sleep when he heard a sharp noise and saw the accident not far outside his bedroom window. As a retired
Arriving at the spot, Andrew looked around and
The train was running toward them at a speed of some 105 kilometers per hour. The driver’s
“Last night,” said Gregory, Chief of the Department in South Country Ambulance, “the
| A．drove | B．walked | C．rode | D．hiked |
| A．brought | B．went | C．pushed | D．moved |
| A．engaged | B．stuck | C．absorbed | D．spotted |
| A．doctor | B．driver | C．firefighter | D．engineer |
| A．patience | B．doubt | C．exception | D．hesitation |
| A．predicted | B．realized | C．observed | D．discovered |
| A．window | B．door | C．belt | D．handle |
| A．aside | B．down | C．on | D．up |
| A．safety | B．security | C．station | D．shelter |
| A．reporter | B．police | C．hero | D．soldier |
The Impact of Social Media on Adolescents (青少年)
Using social media has become a routine activity for most young people. In recent years the number of young people using social media has increased dramatically, so a large part of their social and emotional development is occurring while they are on the Internet.
Social media allow young people to achieve many of the online tasks that are important to them offline: staying connected with friends and family, making new friends, and exchanging ideas. Some schools successfully use blogs as teaching tools, which has the benefit of improving skills in written expression and creativity. At the same time, social media helps them get what they want, increase their knowledge and confidence in their academic (学业的) performance.
While social media provides many benefits, it can also have a negative impact on young people, both physically and mentally. It is easy to become addicted, and research shows that students who spend too much time on social media can suffer from poor sleep, eye fatigue, negative body image, depression, anxiety and more. Research also indicates that there are frequent online expressions of offline behaviours, which have introduced problems such as cyberbullying and online harassment (骚扰).
Using social media becomes a risk to adolescents more than they can realise. When people go on to websites, they leave evidence of their visits. This ongoing record of online activity is called the “digital footprint”. One of the biggest threats to young people on social media is to their digital footprint and future reputations (名誉). Young people who lack an awareness of privacy issues often post inappropriate material without understanding that “what goes online stays online”. As a result, future jobs and college acceptance maybe put in danger by inexperienced clicks of the mouse.
1. Why is a large part of young people’s social and emotional development occurring on the Internet?2. Please decide which part is false in the following statement, then underline it and explain why.
Young people’s improper digital footprint may have an impact on cyberbullying and online harassment.
3. You have been physically distanced from school for more than one month in this term. How do you make full use of social media to better your life and study? Please give one or two examples. (In about 40 words)
10 . Technology has changed the ways in which we communicate with each other. For many people, the primary form of communicating these days is via instant messaging. When you run out of space or ideas, you just hit the send button or turn it off. There are no silences between the words, literally or figuratively (比喻地).
In real life, getting along with another person takes effort and energy. There are moments when neither person has anything to say. Silence can feel awkward. So too, emotions can arise in real life that are difficult. There are moments when things can get painful with another person. Misunderstandings happen, hard truths are revealed, and feelings can get hurt.
A trend has started to pop up. When difficulty or conflict arises within a relationship, we are simply dropping out of it rather than facing the issue. I hear of this more often in my practice and notice it more in my own life. We come and go, in and out of each other’s lives with remarkable ease, as if relationships are not really worth investing in or working for any longer. It makes me wonder if we are simply losing the ability to deal with the messy and uncomfortable parts of life. The result is that we are left with a lot of relationships but not much in the way of nourishing relationships. We have it easy, but we don’t have it real.
When we run into conflict with others, the reason we are willing to address the conflict is that we want the relationship and we care about it. Discomfort, awkwardness and challenges are an unavoidable part of being in a relationship with others. We have to remind ourselves that we can wade (涉水) through that messy river to get to the other side where the relationship can be restored. In psychology, we call this process repair. And the relationship that is formed after dealing with the conflict together is actually stronger than if the conflict had not happened.
We will never end up anywhere deeply satisfying by avoiding challenges. Each moment that we are willing to be uncomfortable in a relationship, to live in and through the messiness, is a drop of gold in the relationship itself. The investment in the hard stuff is finally what makes the relationship worth investing in. The willingness to be uncomfortable with something and the value of that something are part of the same circle.
1. What can be inferred from the first two paragraphs?| A．Technology has brought people closer. |
| B．True friends are not embarrassed by silence. |
| C．Online communication creates a lot of misunderstandings. |
| D．More challenges arise in real-life interpersonal relationships. |
| A．Negative. | B．Positive. |
| C．Reserved. | D．Unclear. |
| A．Step back and avoid conflict. |
| B．Pay more attention to themselves. |
| C．Try to fix the relationship. |
| D．Learn to identify unhealthy relationships. |
| A．To describe a growing trend. |
| B．To stress the importance of handling conflict. |
| C．To guide people into meaningful relationships. |
| D．To show the influence of the Internet on relationships. |
