1 . In the wake of the banning of white coats for doctors, Dr. Max explorers whether the rule makes sense.
White coats, replaced by plastic aprons, were banned, along with things like ties, because it was claimed that they were an infection risk, often covered with organic matter. Many doctors have felt offended by this — not because they are being required to observe rules, but because the rules make no sense.
In fact, it’s actually a dangerous policy because it mists the real problems faced when tackling hospital-acquired infections. Along with hand washing, the only other variable that has been consistently shown to be relevant to hospital-acquired infections are bed occupancy rates. Put simply, the quicker the turnaround in hospitals and the more pressure there are on beds, the more infections there are.
Rather than look critically at the current model for the NHS (National Health Service), which is all about cutting beds, and realizing that this is directly contributing to hospital infections, it’s far easier to look to the innocent white coat and ban that instead.
By banning white coats and ties, doctors now don’t look “smart” and have lost their “presence” in hospitals. Most frustratingly for doctors, who are encouraged to practice evidence-based medicine, there’s no clear evidence that white coats actually carry any disease-causing bugs. A review commissioned by the Department of Health (DH) found that most of the bugs that were found on white coats were simply from the doctor’s skin and would be on any item of clothing they wore — and didn’t cause disease anyway.
The fact that the white coats don’t spread disease is borne out not just by studies, but in practice too. In Hong Kong, for example, where white coats are still standard uniform for all doctors, the rates of hospital acquired infection are still considerably lower than UK hospitals. In fact, in other European countries where white coats are worn, the infection rates are also lower than the UK.
The case against white coats was shallow and fueled by politics not evidence. Surely, it’s time doctors rose up and put on their white coats once more.
1. Why are white coats banned according to the text?| A．They damage doctors’ images. | B．They are not constantly washed. |
| C．They distinguished doctors from others. | D．They are believed as infectious sources. |
| A．Intense bed occupancy. | B．A review by the DH. |
| C．Frequent hand washing. | D．Bugs-carrying white coats. |
| A．White coats carry risky virus. | B．The banning is unreasonable. |
| C．A doctor’s skin causes disease. | D．Doctors in the UK lose their identity. |
| A．Unfavorable. | B．Supportive. | C．Indifferent. | D．Unclear. |
Young Chinese are fighting against society through a simple act of resistance: lying down. Examples of the “tangping” or “lying flat”
“Tangping”
“Lying flat is my movement. ” he
But as “tangping” gained
| A．Statistics on labor market. |
| B．Requirements of most bosses. |
| C．Decreasing popularity of gap year. |
1. What is the woman doing?
| A．Traveling around the USA. |
| B．Applying for a job. |
| C．Doing a survey. |
| A．$ 50. | B．$ 125. | C．$ 150. |
| A．Babysitting. |
| B．Computer repairing. |
| C．Housework for his uncle. |
| A．Food. | B．Phone bills. | C．Books. |
5 . Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo has long worked to make her city less dependent on cars. She wanted to see more people using bicycles to get around. Over a number of years, the city government set limits on cars and increased the amount of bike paths from 200 kilometers to over 1,000 kilometers.
This year, Parisians are not complaining about too much automobile traffic. Instead, they say there are too many bikes. “Now, it’s really like a bike traffic jam(阻塞),” Thibault Quere, a spokesperson for France’s Federation of Bicycle Users, said. ”It’s kind of a good difficulty to have, especially when we think about what Paris used to be.”
Some famous roads along the River Seine are completely closed to cars. Now you see people riding bikes, running and walking with their families along the river. In another part of Paris, a bike path on Sebastopol Boulevard is one of the busiest in Europe, after opening in 2019. In one week in early September, it reached a record high of 124,000 riders.
The city will host the Summer Olympics in 2024 and plans to add more bike paths by then. Paris wants to reduce its pollution by half during the games, even as visitors from around the world will be in the city for the event. Organizers say all of the competition sites will be reachable by bike through a 60-kilometer network of bike paths.
The change to Paris, however, has not been easy. With more people using bikes, more people are making mistakes. Some of them are new to cycling and disobey traffic rules. But the environment may be improving. Cycling is good exercise and helps reduce pollution, which is still a problem for the large city. The French government blames atmospheric pollution for 48,000 early deaths in the country each year.
Hidalgo was re-elected in 2020 and plans to keep making what she calls a “Paris that breathes”. Her newest five-year bike plan includes over $250 million for more bike paths and bike parking. The new budget is an increase of over $100 million from her first five-year plan.
1. What can be learned from the second paragraph?| A．Hidalgo’s effort has paid off. | B．Parisians prefer to travel by car. |
| C．Parisians find it difficult to ride bikes. | D．Quere disagrees with Hidalgo. |
| A．To compare the famous roads in France. |
| B．To praise people enjoying riding bicycles. |
| C．To stress the importance of France in Europe. |
| D．To show how busy a cycle path is in Paris. |
| A．Tour local bike shops. | B．Ride to competition sites. |
| C．Promote the sights in France. | D．Support the athletes around the world. |
| A．Friendly. | B．Helpful. | C．Determined. | D．Honest. |
6 . Throughout history, technological progress has brought new wealth but has not always improved people’s lives. Economists now say it is not clear whether artificial intelligence (AI) will help or hurt society.
McKinley is a business consulting company. It said AI could add between $14 trillion and $22 trillion of value to the world’s economy. Supporters say the technology will create wealth and improve living standards. Some go as far as saying AI will increase people’s free time and help them be more creative. But others are worried the technology will lead to losing jobs. They point to Hollywood writers and actors who are worried that they will be replaced by technology.
The Internet arrived with a similar omen of more productivity, wealth and jobs. Recently, the French bank Natixis noted in its research that most of the wealth has gone to a few billionaires. And many of the jobs do not require highly paid, skilled workers. Some workers hope the technology will increase pay and job satisfaction. But they are also concerned that the technology could push people to work too hard.
Such concerns are not unfounded. History has shown the economic impact of technological progress is generally uncertain, unequal and even harmful. Johnson recently published a book, Power and Progress, with Dacron Acemoglu, another economist from MIT. They studied technological progress over the last 1,000 years including clothing production, train travel, and even food shopping. Johnson noted that it is easier to create something new than to make sure it works for everyone. The two economists looked at an invention called the spinning jenny that made it easier to turn cotton and wool into yarn (纱线). They said the device helped clothing production and created wealth for many people in the late 1700s. However, it also increased the demand for cotton and led to longer hours for workers. The demand also led to the growth of slavery in the southern United States.
As for AI technology, Johnson wonders if it will make existing inequalities worse, or “could it help us get back to something fairer”?
1. What does the underlined word “omen” mean in Paragraph 3?| A．Sign. | B．Requirement. | C．Experience | D．Level. |
| A．Lessons from history. | B．The excitement of creating new things. |
| C．Important technological innovations in history. | D．The application of the spinning jenny. |
| A．Surprised. | B．Scared. | C．Objective | D．Unfavourable |
| A．A book review. | B．A science fiction novel. | C．An economics textbook. | D．A technology report. |
7 . It was the day I graduated from university. The car I was driving
The driver climbed out of his truck, slowly and
My mom
I graduated that evening with my family in
| A．beat | B．found | C．attacked | D．hit |
| A．changed | B．decorated | C．destroyed | D．abandoned |
| A．carefully | B．curiously | C．considerately | D．creatively |
| A．showed off | B．went away | C．gave in | D．got up |
| A．harmonious | B．identical | C．broken | D．remarkable |
| A．wandered | B．screamed | C．danced | D．laughed |
| A．fag | B．key | C．head | D．hand |
| A．rejected | B．transformed | C．preserved | D．crashed |
| A．quietly | B．suddenly | C．sincerely | D．negatively |
| A．as for | B．except for | C．along with | D．in spite of |
| A．hear | B．plan | C．celebrate | D．reward |
| A．dirt | B．ice | C．blood | D．cash |
| A．invested | B．produced | C．monitored | D．repaired |
| A．particular | B．advance | C．attendance | D．person |
| A．relevant | B．strong | C．impressive | D．vivid |
8 . Skyscrapers (摩天大楼) are the symbol of urban life and city people are used to seeing tall buildings and apartments. Farms, on the other hand, are associated with rural life. However, there are experts who think skyscrapers should become farms to meet the increasing food needs.
By the middle of this century, some scientists suggest, almost 80% of the earth’s population could live in cities. In addition, the population could increase to 9.1 billion people during that time yet the amount of land available for farming will be the same. If current farming practices don’t change, we will need an area of new land to produce enough food for the planet.
Vertical farms, where urban farmers could grow crops in environmentally friendly skyscrapers, could be the solution. In spite of concerns over high costs, experts want to make it a reality and use these skyscrapers to grow crops.
Vertical farms would have many advantages, supporters say. Unlike traditional farming, vertical farming could be free of chemicals and diseases. Besides, crops would not suffer from problems like flooding. Finally, vertical farms would reduce the cost and negative effects of transporting food over long distances.
Some argue that although crops growing in a tall glass building would get natural sunlight during the day, it wouldn’t be enough. For this reason, vertical farms would need additional light sources, such as artificial light.
Another way of growing fresh food is to build urban farms on rooftops. This more practical approach may be more achievable than the idea of farms in skyscrapers, researchers suggest. Experts agree that innovative farming practices are needed to support the need for more food at affordable costs, both to the farmer and to the consumer, but the best ideas could be yet to come.
1. What primary problem could vertical farming settle?| A．Poor state of rural life. | B．Shortage of food supply. |
| C．High costs for transporting crops. | D．Environmental pollution. |
| A．It can benefit transport industry. | B．It requires little care. |
| C．It can produce organic food. | D．It needs very low cost. |
| A．Farmable land. | B．Light sources. |
| C．Crop diseases. | D．Climate conditions. |
| A．Future Food Needs | B．Symbol of Urban Life |
| C．Farms of the Future | D．Farming on Rooftops |
内容包括：
1、描述现象；
2、表达自己的观点及理由。
注意：词数100词左右。
China—a Hot Destination for Studying Abroad
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________10 . More than 170,000 people in California are unhoused. Even as the state has poured resources into fighting against the problem, the number of people without homes has ticked upward in recent years. On the surface, the state has one key advantage for people without a reliable roof over their heads: relatively consistent and livable weather. So one of my first thoughts when I heard news of a horricane attacking Los Angeles was just “What will happen to the city’s homeless population?”
City agencies quickly took action. As it became clear that the Los Angeles region could experience an extreme downpour and subsequent flooding, outreach teams fanned out across the river bank and dam areas across the city that have become home to a significant unhoused population, offering support to move them into shelters and motels (汽车旅馆).
Despite that, it’s obvious that the effects of climate change will hit the most vulnerable (脆弱的) hardest. We see this globally as extreme weather events hit countries that have contributed the least to the problem.
The most notable connection between climate change and the US housing crisis is the threat extreme weather poses to unhoused people. More unhoused people are affected as climate change drives increasingly unpredictable weather. People without homes know how to respond to expected seasonal events. But events like a near-hurricane in Los Angeles or a wildfire in ‘Maui can catch populations with limited access to information off guard.
Another link worth considering is the way in which climate change creates more homelessness and further stresses on housing systems. Hurricane Katrina, for example, displaced 800, 000 people. Four years later, 12,000 people remained without shelter.
Housing has been — and will continue to be — a key issue in Maui too as it recovers from the wildfire that killed more than 100 people. Maui has already had a housing crisis, the result of a high cost of living driven in large part by the tourism industry. And, now, many more are left looking for places to stay. Ashley Kelly, the chief operating officer at Hawaii’s Family Life Center, said: “Finding housing for any new clients is just not possible right now.”
1. What contributes to the increase of the unhoused population in California?| A．Its mild weather. |
| B．Its inclusive local culture. |
| C．Its limited basic facilities. |
| D．Its relaxed state policies. |
| A．They built dams to prevent flooding. |
| B．They moved homeless people to safe places. |
| C．They sought low-cost housing from city agencies. |
| D．They surrounded the river bank to keep people away. |
| A．Mysterious. | B．Exceptional. | C．Changeable. | D．Difficult. |
| A．Ways of Americans relocating disaster-affected populations. |
| B．The significance of timely weather updates for the homeless. |
| C．The link between climate change and the housing crisis in the US. |
| D．Approaches of homeless Americans to dealing with natural disasters. |
