1 . Money doesn’t grow on trees, as the saying goes, and learning how to spend money wisely is a valuable lesson we should all learn when we are young. In China, a growing number of young individuals are embracing this
Young individuals in China are actively engaging with
Saving cash through the purchase of used goods is a strategy adopted by many who
Frugality,
| A．version | B．restriction | C．principle | D．presentation |
| A．available | B．enjoyable | C．demanding | D．incredible |
| A．invisible | B．valuable | C．friendly | D．financial |
| A．advocate | B．intend | C．indicate | D．pretend |
| A．visits | B．creations | C．purchases | D．celebrations |
| A．items | B．shoes | C．pants | D．hats |
| A．download | B．remove | C．advertise | D．update |
| A．assistants | B．operators | C．pessimists | D．enthusiasts |
| A．exchange | B．perform | C．polish | D．presume |
| A．mean | B．forbid | C．resume | D．recognize |
| A．Above all | B．For instance | C．In turn | D．On average |
| A．barely | B．badly | C．deadly | D．totally |
| A．day | B．bargain | C．pity | D．shame |
| A．make up | B．turn up | C．bring up | D．end up |
| A．rooted | B．originated | C．lived | D．spotted |
2 . Twelve-year-old Catherine has a lot of friends—632, actually, if you count up her online friends. And she spends a lot of time with them.
But is it possible that Catherine’s online friendships could be making her lonely? That’s what some experts believe. Connecting online is a great way to stay in touch, they say. However, some experts worry that many kids are so busy connecting online that they might be missing out on true friendships.
Could this be true? During your parents’ childhoods, connecting with friends usually meant spending time with them in the flesh. Kids played Scrabble around a table, not words with friends on their phones. When friends missed each other, they picked up the telephone. Friends might even write letters to each other.
Today, most communication takes place online. A typical teen sends 2,000 texts a month and spends more than 44 hours per week in front of a screen. Much of this time is spent on social media platform.
In fact, in many ways, online communication can make friendships stronger. “There’s definitely a positive influence. Kids can stay in constant contact, which means they can share more of their feelings with each other,” says Katie Davis, co-author of The App Generation.
Other experts, however, warn that too much online communication can get in the way of forming deep friendships. “If we are constantly checking in with our virtual world, we will have little time for our real-world friendships,” says Larry Rosen, a professor at California State University. Rosen also worries that today’s kids might mistake the “friends” on the social media for true friends in life. However, in tough times, you don’t need anyone to like your picture or share your blogs. You need someone who will keep your secrets and hold your hand. You would like to talk face to face.
1. What is the purpose of the first paragraph?| A．To tell about true friends. | B．To start a discussion. |
| C．To encourage online friendships. | D．To summarize(总结) the text. |
| A．In any case. | B．In public. | C．In person. | D．In advance. |
| A．Unconcerned. | B．Positive. | C．Worried. | D．Confused. |
| A．Teenagers need to focus on real-world friendships. | B．It’s easier to develop friendships in real life. |
| C．It’s wise to turn to friends online. | D．Social media help people stay closely connected. |
3 . At some point, something will have to be done about the stuffed toys (毛绒玩具). I haven’t counted them because, truthfully, I’m not prepared to know how many there are. Lately, our neighborhood’s message boards are filled with posts about parents trying to make space, to clear out the things their kids no longer need. The tone of some of these posts can best be described as “emergency”. “Help!” they sometimes begin. “I have to get this out of my house.”
“The proliferation (激增) of children’s toys is the outcome of a long, gradual cultural change,”says Gary Cross, a professor at Pennsylvania State University. To understand how we got here — drowning (淹没于) in all those stuffed toys and bricks — it helps to look as far back as the late 19th century. “Parents were no longer passing their jobs on to the children,” Cross says. “Instead, they connect across generations through the gifting process. From the early 20th century on, goods became the things that define relationships between family members, and the way of marking success as a family.”
Then, how can parents deal with the proliferation of children’s toys at home? Naeemah Ford Goldson, a professional organizer, is also a mom of two. In her own home, Goldson likes to include her kids in the work of sorting out their toys. They know that the items they don’t need anymore will be given to people who can use them, to families who might not be as fortunate as theirs. “Doing so helps them build those habits of letting go,” she says, “so then they don’t become adults who are too dependent on material things instead of experiences, or people, and the memories we make with people.”
Her idea made sense. She told her 5-year-old they should pick some to give to kids in their community who came from another country and had to leave their toys behind. She immediately took a pink bear from the pile.
1. Why does the author present the posts in paragraph 1?| A．To show the popularity of children’s toys. |
| B．To offer suggestions about choosing children’s toys. |
| C．To praise the role of social media in buying children’s toys. |
| D．To introduce the influence too many children’s toys bring about. |
| A．Children’s demands. | B．The growth of technology. |
| C．The traditions in the 18th century. | D．The practice of gifting among family members. |
| A．Involve her kids in organizing toys. | B．Put away toys for her kids. |
| C．Buy her kids fewer toys. | D．Sell unwanted toys to neighbors. |
| A．The Rise of Toy Stores in Neighborhoods | B．The Importance of Choosing Proper Gifts |
| C．The Challenge of Managing Children’s Toys | D．The Joy of Collecting Children’s Toys |
4 . Louie, a pet parrot, saved a whole family. He
“Louie is a true
Barbara took her five-year-old granddaughter
“People have
| A．annoyed | B．alarmed | C．impressed | D．noticed |
| A．model | B．genius | C．hero | D．pioneer |
| A．awake | B．asleep | C．alone | D．afraid |
| A．opinion | B．way | C．memory | D．sight |
| A．survive | B．resist | C．arrive | D．respond |
| A．frightening | B．shocking | C．sorrowful | D．grateful |
| A．angrily | B．gently | C．secretly | D．immediately |
| A．turn | B．blow | C．keep | D．put |
| A．accompanying | B．saving | C．comforting | D．adopting |
| A．luck | B．doubt | C．evidence | D．barrier |
| A．injuries | B．losses | C．pressures | D．failures |
| A．detail | B．place | C．ruins | D．rows |
| A．rushed out | B．come back | C．run away | D．reached out |
| A．presented | B．equipped | C．linked | D．compared |
| A．replace | B．honor | C．forget | D．reward |
In early 2022, the Ministry of Water Resources in China planned to invest 800 billion yuan building water management projects during the year. But the country
Last year, the large-scale development played a significant role in ensuring stable home fund
During the rare drought in the Yangtze River Basin last year, the complete systems in many of those irrigated areas functioned
6 . Sweden is getting close to becoming the first “smoke-free” country in the European Union (EU). The country of 10.5 million people has had the lowest percentage of smokers in the EU for many years.
A country officially calls itself “smoke-free”, meaning that less than 5% of its population smokes daily. Only 6.4% of Swedes over the age of 15 were daily smokers in 2019. That was the lowest percentage in the EU, The data from the Public Health Agency of Sweden shows that the smoking rate has continued to fall, reaching 5.6% last year.
“We like a healthy way to live. I think that’s the reason.” said Carina Astorsson, who lives in Stockholm. Smoking never interested her, she added, because “I don’t like the smell; I want to take care of my body.” Sweden says its anti-smoking actions improve people’s health in many ways, including a relatively low rate of lung cancer. Ulrika Arehed is secretary-general of the Swedish Cancer Society. She said Sweden was early to limit smoking in public places such as school playgrounds. Later, the country added smoking bans for restaurants and bus stations. The country also increased taxes on cigarettes and changed rules on how they can be sold.
However, other forms of tobacco remain popular in Sweden. Snus is a kind of wet tobacco powder placed in the mouth next to the teeth. Snus makers say their products help reduce cigarette smoking. But Swedish health officials say snus is another product that makes people addicted to nicotine, the main drug in tobacco.
If snus and similar products are included, the World Health Organization (WHO) notes that more than 20% of adults in Sweden use tobacco. This brings Sweden close to the world average. “Switching from one harmful product to another is not a solution,” a WHO health official said.
1. Why is Sweden considered to be close to becoming a “smoke-free” country?| A．A new form of tobacco has been found. |
| B．It has the smallest population in the EU. |
| C．The percentage of smokers is below the EU’s average. |
| D．The lowest percentage of smokers is almost reaching the EU standard. |
| A．She didn’t like the smell of tobacco. |
| B．Anti-smoking measures lowered the cancer rate. |
| C．Swedish people like to live in a healthy way. |
| D．The actions to reduce smoking were effective. |
| A．It helps quit smoking. | B．It is good for our health. |
| C．It is as harmful as tobacco. | D．It doesn’t make people addicted. |
| A．Enthusiastic. | B．Doubtful. | C．Interested. | D．Proud. |
1. Why does the man make the call?
| A．To ask for help. | B．To discuss a plan. | C．To offer an invitation. |
| A．At home. | B．At a restaurant. | C．In a hotel room. |
| A．The woman’s customer. | B．The woman’s workmate. | C．The woman’s husband. |
| A．Anxious. | B．Proud. | C．Satisfied. |
8 . The UK is experiencing a boom in book clubs, according to new data from event listing companies. Book club listings on the ticketing site Eventbrite increased by 350% between 2019 and 2023. Between 2022 and 2023 alone, book club listings on the site rose by 41%. Another event listing site, Meetup, reported a 14% increase in the number of RSVPs to book clubs between January 2023 and January 2024, compared with a 4% increase in RSVPs for all UK-based events.
Victoria Okafor, who co-runs the book club Between2Books, said the heightened interest in reading may be partly the result of a general “shift in hobbies”, as GenZ (the generation around 00s) turned to other ways to spend their free time. Besides, during the global health crisis period, many people were forced to slow down and pick up or reignite hobbies, and online book clubs provided a platform to connect with others.
Social media may be helping with the visibility of book clubs, too, said Okafor. “People may come across your page accidentally, but from there people have the knowledge to attend should they wish. I think this makes a big difference compared to just hearing things from word of mouth.”
Many of the book clubs listed on Eventbrite carry specific themes — Sheffield Feminist Book Club, Bring Your Baby Book Club, and Modern Chinese Literature Online Book Club.
Okafor’s club, Between2Books, focuses on books by writers traditionally excluded (排除) from the classics. She thought she began seeking out such stories “embarrassingly late”. “Reading authors of color brought back a joy to my reading that came from not only seeing elements of myself and culture reflected in novels but also reading stories that could be funny or empowering as opposed to the accounts of struggle that can often surround stories of people of color,” she said. “The variety of books makes reading and discussion so rich and I think that’s what attenders are drawn to.”
1. How is paragraph 1 mainly developed?| A．By giving examples. | B．By listing figures. |
| C．By analyzing causes. | D．By presenting theories. |
| A．Return. | B．Reward. | C．Regain. | D．Reconnect. |
| A．The influence of social media. | B．The recommendation of old generations. |
| C．GenZ having a stronger thirst for knowledge. | D．Some people shifting the focus of their lives. |
| A．The diversity of books. | B．The reputation of writers. |
| C．The humor of the works. | D．The suggestion of the organizer. |
9 . In January, Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook’s parent company Meta, appeared at a hearing to answer questions about how social media potentially harms children. Zuckerberg opened by saying: “The existing body of scientific work has not shown a causal link (关联) between using social media and young people having worse mental health.”
But many social scientists would disagree with that statement. In recent years, studies have started to show a causal link between teen social media use and reduced well-being. One of the most cited studies into this link focused on Facebook.
Researchers tried to discover whether the platform’s introduction across college campuses in the mid-2000s increased symptoms (症状) related to mental health problems. The answer was a clear yes, says Alexey Makarin, a coauthor of the study. “There is still a lot to be explored,” Makarin says, “but to say there is no causal evidence that social media causes mental health issues, and I definitely object to that.”
The concern and the studies come from data showing that social media use in teens aged 13 to 17 is now very common. Two-thirds of teens report using TikTok, and some 60 percent of teens report using Instagram or Snapchat, a 2022 survey found. Another survey showed that girls, on average, spend around 3. 4 hours per day on TikTok, Instagram and Facebook, compared with about 2.1 hours among boys. At the same time, more teens are showing signs of depression than ever, especially girls.
As more studies show a strong link between these phenomena, researchers are starting to move their attention to possible solutions. Why does social media use seem to bring about mental health problems? Why do those effects unevenly exist among different groups, such as girls or young adults? And can the good points of social media be teased out (梳理) from the bad points to provide more targeted guidance to teens, their caregivers and policymakers?
1. Why does the author mention Zuckerberg’s words?| A．To introduce the topic. | B．To offer a piece of advice. |
| C．To present the image of a company. | D．To add background information. |
| A．It is important to network with others. | B．Social media harms teens’ mental health. |
| C．The Internet plays a key role in our daily life. | D．Messaging tools cause parents mental suffering. |
| A．34%. | B．60%. | C．67%. | D．76%. |
| A．Focus on all the Internet users. | B．Turn to teenagers’ caregivers. |
| C．Limit adults’ social media use. | D．Work out targeted solutions. |
注意：写作词数应为80左右；
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
