1 . When consuming information, we try to acquire more signals and less noise. We feel like the more information we consume the more signals we receive. While this is probably true on an absolute basis, Nassim Taleb argues in the book Antifragile that it is not true on a relative basis. As you consume more data and the ratio (比率) of noise to signals increases, you know less about what’s going on and you are likely to cause more unintentional trouble.
The supply of information to which we are exposed under modernity is transforming humans from a calm person to a neurotic (神经质的) one. For the purpose of our discussion, the first person only reacts to real information, and the second largely to noise. The difference between the two will show us the difference between noise and signals. Noise is what you are supposed to ignore; signals are what you need to heed.
In science, noise is a generalization beyond the actual sound to describe random information that is totally useless for any purpose, and that you need to clean up to make sense of what you are listening to. You can use and take advantage of noise and randomness, but noise and randomness can also use and take advantage of you, particularly with the data you get on the Internet or through other media. The more frequently you look at data, the more noise you are likely to get, and the higher the noise-to-signal ratio is.
Say you look at information on a yearly basis—the changes you see will all be large ones. The ratio of signals to noise is about one to one—this means that about half the changes are real improvements or degradations, and the other half come from randomness. But if you look at the very same data on a daily basis, the composition would change to 95 percent noise and 5 percent signals, and the changes you see daily will certainly be small.
1. What opinion does Nassim Taleb probably hold?| A．It’s hard to know the real truth. | B．The noise-to-signal ratio is changing. |
| C．The information explosion can be harmful. | D．More information brings more signals. |
| A．Notice. | B．Analyse. | C．Solve. | D．Describe. |
| A．Causes and harms of more noise. | B．The meaning and impact of noise. |
| C．The relationship between noise and signals. | D．Advantages and disadvantages of noise. |
| A．Check it frequently. | B．Make use of online data. |
| C．Look at key changes. | D．Focus on all changes in it. |
2 . For the past decade, one of the most linguistically (语言学地), diverse places in the world, square mile after square mile, has been my home: Queens, New York.
The soundtrack outside my door is extraordinary: On any given block, passing voices speak varieties of Polish, Ukrainian, Egyptian Arabic, Mexican Spanish, Puerto Rican Spanish, Dominican Spanish, and all the forms of New York City English they give rise to.
As a person who studies languages: I can usually distinguish them from one another, but understand only a part of what people are saying.
Users of Seke, a language from five villages in Nepal with 700 speakers, live a subway ride away. In certain stores, Albanians, Bosnians, Serbs, and Montenegrins all reunite, using the languages of the former Yugoslavia as if the country still existed. No group has a majority, or even 15. percent of the neighborhood, and most are at just 5 or 10 percent. English acts, for the most part, as a vital lingua franca (通用语). This’ last point is crucial, because a city can be a haven (避难所) for diversity but also an end point.
My neighborhood has its signature sound, but there are several dozen others that are just as diverse, each in a different way.
These are the places where the Endangered Language Alliance, the nonprofit I co-direct, has recorded New Yorkers speaking more than 100 languages that the survey and other data sets say don’t officially exist, and more than 700 in total.
That linguistic portrait makes clear that early-21st-century New York City is a last haven for endangered languages—ones that are being hounded out of existence elsewhere. And this deep linguistic diversity is among the least explored but possibly most important factors in New York’s history and makeup. New York’s soul can be found in the existence of these many, many languages, explaining New York’s particular capacity for tolerance and its ability to “make room” for others.
1. What is the author’s occupation?| A．An economist. | B．A historian. | C．A linguist. | D．A reporter. |
| A．They are close to disappearing. | B．They are mainly spoken by villagers. |
| C．English is the most popular language. | D．Most of them are not officially recognized. |
| A．Protected. | B．Threatened. | C．Respected. | D．Accepted. |
| A．Language City. | B．The Development of Languages. |
| C．Endangered Languages in New York. | D．The Importance of Language Diversity. |
Socializing with my friends online is my life. The moment I wake
Social networking
It is common that at parties or at a family holiday, most members fix their eyes on their phones,
What is most worrying is that it is
4 . At 9 am on Wednesdays, Gaby Rountree waves goodbye to Mila as she is picked up to go to day care in Mexico City. “It has made her so independent, so friendly and so lovely with others,” Ms Rountree says joyfully. She shuts the front door and turns to homeschooling her two children. Mila is not a child, but the family dog.
Schools and nurseries have been shut in Mexico for a year owing to the pandemic. But the doggy day care is booming. Doggy carers offer claw-trims (修剪) and let beloved pets play outdoors. “Many clients now have a home office and are worried about their dogs becoming too attached to them,” explains Montserrat, an owner of a dog day-care center, as she strokes a tiny dog on her lap. The facility, in the rich neighbourhood, also has a camp where dogs can spend a relaxing weekend in the countryside.
Mexico’s rising passion for dogs has coincided (同时发生) with falling human fertility (生育能力). In the mid-1980s, a Mexican woman could expect to have four children; now, only two. In the long run, as people have grown richer and the returns to education have risen, families have shrunk. For some, a dog is a lovable substitute. The most devoted owners buy clothes and throw birthday parties for their dogs. Many restaurants welcome dogs and provide drinking water. Some restaurants even offer a full doggy menu. Parks have “doggy areas”. Pet beauty salons provide not only baths and trims but other methods of relaxation.
Mexico’s spoilt pets are probably enjoying the pandemic more than the locked-down kids. By one estimate, nearly two-thirds of the children have missed a year of school because of coronavirus. For mothers such as Ms Rountree doggy day care offers some relief from Covid-influenced hard boring work. But she will not stop worrying until her children, too, are let off the chain and back into the classroom.
1. What can be inferred from the first paragraph?| A．Ms Rountree is a well-received online teacher. |
| B．Mila enjoys staying with other children at the care center. |
| C．Ms Rountree’s children are well taken care of at the care center. |
| D．The doggy day care center is highly thought of by Ms Rountree. |
| A．Dogs like to play at the day care. | B．Many citizens have to work at home. |
| C．The facilities there are accessible for free. | D．Schools and nurseries are all closed down. |
| A．How Mexico becomes richer. | B．Why Mexicans love to raise dogs. |
| C．How Mexicans care for their dogs. | D．Why Mexico has a decreasing population. |
| A．They are under treatment at home. |
| B．They are second to the dogs at home. |
| C．They have to attend to their dogs at home. |
| D．Most of them have been away from school for a year. |
5 . Thirteen-year-old Kaylee has a lot of friends — 532, actually, if you count up her online friends. And she spends a lot of time with them.
But is it possible that Kaylee’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 platforms (平台).
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 words, 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 someone 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 summarize the text. | B．To tell about true friends. |
| C．To bring up a discussion. | D．To encourage online friendship. |
| A．In person. | B．In advance. | C．In any case. | D．In full measure. |
| A．Worried. | B．Positive. | C．Confused. | D．Unconcerned. |
| A．It’s wise to turn to friends online. |
| B．It’s easier to develop friendships in reality. |
| C．Social media help people stay closely connected. |
| D．Teenagers need focus on real-world friendships. |
6 . A new trend called “praise groups” or “in-need-of-praise” chat groups has become popular on Chinese social media. In Chinese culture, where modesty (谦逊) is valued, openly seeking and giving praise is uncommon. These chat groups provide a platform for people to receive compliments (赞扬) and encouragement, which are often lacking in their daily lives.
To join a praise group, users can pay a fee on e-commerce sites, starting at 50 yuan for five minutes of compliments. The group members will then show the person with praises and kind words. The compliments can be designed for a friend or loved one as well. Participants have found that being praised by strangers can help lift their spirits and improve their self-confidence.
For example, Meng Zha, a student at Shanghai’s Tongji University, tried the service and found it amusing and uplifting. She received compliments on her appearance and even quotes (引用) from popular songs. Ms Meng couldn’t help but laugh at the compliments and expressed her desire to post such high-quality praises in the future.
Praise groups have appeared as a way for people in China to seek and receive compliments and encouragement that may be lacking in their daily lives. It provides a positive and uplifting experience for participants, improving a sense of happiness and self-worth.
Those who support the groups, see them as an antidote to extremely bad moods (情绪) which are often associated with things happening on the Internet. “At first, the purpose of this group is to make us learn to praise others and accept others’ praises confidently. Here we can drop everything, and use our heart to praise and support others,” one member said. But the life journey is long and there are some unexpected situations that we can only count on ourselves to face when there is no one out there to offer help.
1. What is the purpose of praise groups?| A．To make praise popular. | B．To have everyone supported. |
| C．To share common interests. | D．To give people hope and happiness. |
| A．She was not strong enough. | B．She was under working stress. |
| C．She was satisfied with the service. | D．She was a gifted singer in her area. |
| A．A way of making new friends. | B．A kind of medicine. |
| C．A method of being confident. | D．The wisdom of solving problems. |
| A．Objective. | B．Critical. | C．Supportive. | D．Unclear. |
7 . 阅读下面短文, 在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。
Zibo city in Shandong province has gone viral on Chinese social media since late February for its local barbecue specialty, and the local government takes the opportunity
On March 31 the Jinan bureau of China Railway
Barbecue is popular in China, but Zibo’s barbecue differs
The barbecue
8 . Blue Planet Ⅱ’s latest episode (情节) is about how plastic is having a terrible effect on the ocean and slowly poisoning our sea creatures. Researchers have also found that sea creatures living in the deepest place on Earth, Mariana Trench, have plastic in their stomachs. Indeed, oceans are drowning in plastic.
Though it seems that the world couldn’t possibly function without plastic, plastic is a very recent invention. The first plastic bags were introduced in the 1950s, the same decade (十年) that plastic packaging began gaining popularity in the United States. This growth has happened so fast that science is still catching up with the change. Plastic pollution research, for example, is still a very early science.
We put all the plastic into the environment, but we still don’t really know what the outcomes are going to be. What we do know, though, is disturbing. Ocean plastic is expected to kill millions of sea animals every year. Hundreds of species, including endangered ones, are known to have been affected by it. One in three leatherback turtles, which often mistake plastic bags for jellyfish, have been found with plastic in their stomach. Ninety percent of seabirds are now eating plastic regularly. By 2050, that figure is expected to rise to 100 percent.
And it’s not just wildlife that is threatened by the plastic in our seas. Humans are consuming plastic through the seafood we eat. I could understand why some people see ocean plastic as a disaster, worth mentioning in the same breath as climate change. But ocean plastic is not as complicated (复杂的) as climate change. There are no ocean waste deniers (否认者), at least so far. To do something about it, we don’t have to remake our planet energy system.
This is not a problem where we don’t know what the solution is. We know how to pick up garbage. Anyone can do it. We know how to deal with it. We know how to recycle. We can all start by thinking twice before we use single-use plastic products. Things that may seem ordinary, like using a reusable bottle or a reusable bag — when taken collectively, these choices really do make a difference.
1. Why is plastic pollution research still a very early science?| A．The plastic pollution research is too difficult. |
| B．Plastic has produced less pollution than coal. |
| C．Plastic has gained popularity too fast for science to catch up. |
| D．The world couldn’t possibly function without plastic. |
| A．By presenting reliable data. |
| B．By citing quotes from leading experts. |
| C．By making a comparison and contrast. |
| D．By listing examples from his own experiences. |
| A．We reap what we sow. |
| B．The shortest answer is doing. |
| C．All things are difficult before they are easy. |
| D．Actions speak louder than words. |
| A．The oceans become choked with plastic. |
| B．Ocean plastic is a global problem. |
| C．Blue Planet Ⅱ has left viewers heartbroken. |
| D．Plastic gains in popularity all over the world. |
9 . It was around 11:30 p.m. Corion Evans was hanging out with his friends near the Pascagoula River in July when a car with three girls inside fell into it. It came to a stop some 20 feet from land, and then sank. The driver had blindly followed her GPS.
Evans and his friends got to the river’s edge. In the darkness, they could barely make out the girls holding on to the roof, the only part of the car still above water. But they could hear screaming. Evans pulled off his shirt and shoes, and then dived into the water, a river he knew alligators (短吻鳄) call home. He helped the first girl he saw, keeping her head above water and leading her ashore.
Just then, a man called out. Police Officer Garry Mercer arrived. He dived into the river to help another of the girls. But halfway back to shore, the girl had run out of her strength and went underwater, pulling Mercer down with her. Evans jumped back into the water and helped them until they could stand. “If he hadn’t been there, who knows?” Mercer said.
There was still one girl in the water, Cora Watson, who could not swim. She was struggling to keep herself floating (浮) on the water, scared. “I thought there was little hope that I would survive. I just knew my last breath was coming at that time,” Watson said. “My mind said ‘You’re slowly losing yourself.’” She began to go under. Then, a touch. “Evans had caught me.”
The three girls and Officer Mercer were taken to the hospital and soon they were discharged. After knowing Evans’ act, his mother, Marquita Evans, said, “Corion Evans broke his curfew (晚间必须回家的时间). But I was not mad. He had a good reason. And he did really well.”
1. What caused the girls to fall into the river?| A．The poor driving skills. | B．The sudden appearance of passers-by. |
| C．The bad road conditions. | D．The misdirection from the guidance system. |
| A．He ran out of his strength. | B．The girl was too tired to swim. |
| C．He met an alligator in the river. | D．The girl was unwilling to cooperate. |
| A．Concerned. | B．Proud. | C．Upset. | D．Relieved. |
| A．A warmhearted stranger. | B．An unexpected experience. |
| C．A midnight rescue in a river. | D．An excuse for breaking the curfew. |
10 . The idea of low material desire, low consumption and refusing to work, marry and have children, concluded as a “lying down” lifestyle, recently struck a chord with many young Chinese who are eager to take pause to breathe in this fast-paced and highly-competitive society.
Many millennials (千禧一代) and generation Zs complained to the Global Times that burdens, including work stress, family disputes and financial strains, have pushed them “against the wall”. They said they hate the “involution(内卷),” joking that they would rather give up some of what they have than get trapped in an endless competition against peers.
“Instead of always following the ‘virtues’ of struggle, endure and sacrifice to bear the stresses, they prefer a temporary lying down as catharsis (宣泄) and adjustment,” said a scholar. “It is no wonder that some young people, under the growing pressures from child-raising to paying the mortgage (按揭) today, would try to live in a simple way and leave the worries behind.”
Interestingly, the majority of millennials and Gen Zs reached by the Global Times, who claim to be big fans of the lying down philosophy, acknowledged that they only accept a temporary lying down as a short rest. It is true that with the great improvement of living conditions, some Chinese youth have partially lost the spirit of hardship and are not willing to bear too much hard work. But in fact, lying down is not entirely comfortable. Young people who lie down always feel guilty about their constant loss of morale (士气) far beyond their reach.
“Young people on campus have both aspirations and confusion about their future, but most of us have rejected setting ourselves up in chains to waste opportunities and challenges,” a postgraduate student told the Global Times. “It’s no use running away. I have to ‘stand up’ and face the reality sooner or later.”
1. What does the underlined phrase in paragraph 1 mean?| A．Warned. | B．Punished. | C．Amused. | D．Touched. |
| A．Improvements in living conditions. |
| B．Growing pressure from family and social life. |
| C．Increasing material possessions from families. |
| D．Temporary adjustment to failure in competitions. |
| A．Understanding. | B．Intolerant. | C．Supportive. | D．Unclear. |
| A．They never really drop their responsibilities. |
| B．They really enjoy the “lying down” lifestyle. |
| C．They find their dreams far beyond their reach. |
| D．They would rather escape than take challenges. |
