1 . Children as young as ten are becoming dependent on social media for their sense of self-worth, a major study warned.
It found many youngsters (少年) now measure their status by how much public approval they get online, often through “likes”. Some change their behavior in real life to improve their image on the web.
The report into youngsters aged from 8 to 12 was carried out by Children’s Commissioner (专员) Anne Longfield. She said social media firms were exposing children to major emotional risks, with some youngsters starting secondary school ill-equipped to cope with the tremendous pressure they faced online.
Some social apps were popular among the children even though they supposedly require users to be at least 13. The youngsters admitted planning trips around potential photo-opportunities and then messaging friends — and friends of friends — to demand “likes” for their online posts.
The report found that youngsters felt their friendships could be at risk if they did not respond to social media posts quickly, and around the clock.
Children aged 8 to 10 were “starting to feel happy” when others liked their posts. However, those in the 10 to 12 age group were “concerned with how many people like their posts”, suggesting a “need” for social recognition that gets stronger the older they become.
Miss Longfield warned that a generation of children risked growing up “worried about their appearance and image as a result of the unrealistic lifestyles they follow on platforms, and increasingly anxious about switching off due to the constant demands of social media”.
She said: “Children are using social media with family and friends and to play games when they are in primary school. But what starts as fun usage of apps turns into tremendous pressure in real social media interaction at secondary school.”
As their world expanded, she said, children compared themselves to others online in a way that was “hugely damaging in terms of their self-identity, in terms of their confidence, but also in terms of their ability to develop themselves”.
Miss Longfield added: “Then there is this push to connect — if you go offline, will you miss something, will you miss out, will you show that you don’t care about those people you are following, all of those come together in a huge way at once.”
“For children it is very, very difficult to cope with emotionally.” The Children’s Commissioner for England’s study — Life in Likes — found that children as young as 8 were using social media platforms largely for play.
However, the research — involving eight groups of 32 children aged 8 to 12 — suggested that as they headed toward their teens, they became increasingly anxious online.
By the time they started secondary school — at age 11 — children were already far more aware of their image online and felt under huge pressure to ensure their posts were popular, the report found.
However, they still did not know how to cope with mean-spirited jokes, or the sense of incompetence they might feel if they compared themselves to celebrities (名人) or more brilliant friends online. The report said they also faced pressure to respond to messages at all hours of the day — especially at secondary school when more youngsters have mobile phones.
The Children’s Commissioner said schools and parents must now do more to prepare children for the emotional minefield (雷区) they faced online. And she said social media companies must also “take more responsibility”.
They should either monitor their websites better so that children do not sign up too early, or they should adjust their websites to the needs of younger users.
Javed Khan, of children’s charity Barnardo’s, said: “It’s vital that new compulsory age-appropriate relationship and sex education lessons in England should help equip children to deal with the growing demands of social media.
“It’s also hugely important for parents to know which apps their children are using.”
1. Why did some secondary school students feel too much pressure?| A．They were not provided with adequate equipment. |
| B．They were not well prepared for emotional risks. |
| C．They were required to give quick responses. |
| D．They were prevented from using mobile phones. |
| A．they didn’t adequately check their users’ registration |
| B．they organized photo trips to attract more youngsters |
| C．they encouraged youngsters to post more photos |
| D．they didn’t stop youngsters from staying up late |
| A．less friendliness to each other |
| B．lower self-identity and confidence |
| C．an increase in online cheating |
| D．a stronger desire to stay online |
| A．circulate their posts quickly |
| B．know the qualities of their posts |
| C．use mobile phones for play |
| D．get more public approval |
| A．The influence of social media on children. |
| B．The importance of social media to children. |
| C．The problem in building a healthy relationship. |
| D．The measure to reduce risks from social media. |
2 . As athletes get stronger and faster, the pace of play continues to increase. The burden of making sure games are played according to the rules and that the officiating (裁判) is accurate is now being taken out of human hands and falling more and more into the lap of technology. It’s called the video replay.
The National Football League is expanding its replay system this upcoming season to include pass interference (传球干扰). Major League Baseball now relies on it for safe-or-out and home run calls. If you’ve been watching the FIFA World Cup, you may have noticed that the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) played a key role in almost every game. And in the Kentucky Derby, a horse was disqualified for knocking another horse. No one knew why until a video replay confirmed the call and controversy was avoided.
However, many purists—those who want people to follow rules carefully and do things in the traditional way—especially in soccer, argue it’s not the way the game was invented, and that the video replay is tainting the sport. But don’t you want to see the proper application of the rules throughout the games? I know I do. Yes, it can slow the game down, but I feel it is worth it. If technological advancements allow fans watching from home to spot mistakes instantly, those same views need to be available to the officiating crews. Another example occurred in the most recent National Football Conference (NFC) Championship Game between the Los Angeles Rams and the New Orleans Saints. When obvious pass interference was committed by the Los Angeles Rams player Nickell Robey-Coleman, with just 109 seconds to play, no flag was raised on the field. It weakened the New Orleans Saints spirits. The Los Angeles Rams won a 26-23 overtime victory. The no-call deeply angered the public. The video replay showed the referees had just missed one of the most apparent pass interference calls.
There are no easy answers regarding replay technology and whether it is a curse (魔咒). But for me, keeping the officiating honest and on task is the right step in limiting controversy.
1. What trend in sports can be observed in paragraph 2?| A．The video replay has been widely used. |
| B．League games have become competitive. |
| C．Rules of professional games are becoming stricter. |
| D．People are showing more interest in sports than before. |
| A．Tricking. | B．Promoting. | C．Damaging. | D．Restoring. |
| A．They relied a lot on the video replay. |
| B．They cared too much about details. |
| C．They were definitely stressed out. |
| D．They were terribly disqualified. |
| A．Video replays: high-end technology in sports |
| B．Is technology like VAR a blessing in sports? |
| C．Officiating: a duty that requires honesty |
| D．What do qualified referees really mean? |
3 . “Regrets, I’ve had a few. But then again, too few to mention,” Frank Sinatra chanted in his 1969 hit “My Way”. The song’s idea is attractive: that anyone can just declare what’s done is done and move on. Some take the declaration a step further and claim they have no regrets at all. Whether a boast or an actual attitude, “no regrets” suggests that life can and should be lived without looking through the rear-view mirror.
Easier said than done, though. In 2020, author Daniel H. Pink launched the World Regret Survey, the largest ever survey on the topic. With his research team, Pink asked more than 15,000 people in 105 countries, “How often do you look back on your life and wish you had done things differently?” 82% said regret is at least an occasional part of their life; roughly 21% said they feel regret “all the time.” Only 1% said they never feel regret.
If you are of the “no regrets” type, you might think that all this regret is a recipe for unhappiness. But that isn’t the case. True, being overwhelmed(不知所措) by regret is indeed bad for you. But going to the other extreme may be even worse. To rid yourself of regrets doesn’t free you from shame or sorrow; it leads you to make the same mistakes again and again. To truly get over our guilt requires that we put regret in its proper place.
As uncomfortable as it is, regret is an amazing cognitive(认知的)achievement. If today your relationship with your partner has worsened, your regret might mentally take you back to last year. You would remember your being mean and sensitive, and then imagine yourself showing more patience, being kind instead of hurtful at key moments. Then you would fast-forward to today and see how your relationship could be progressing instead of languishing.
But regret doesn’t have to be left unmanaged. The trick is to acknowledge it and use it for learning and improvement. You can be honest with yourself about what went wrong and use that knowledge to enjoy better relationships in the future.
1. What should we do if we have had a bitter quarrel with a close friend according to Frank Sinatra?| A．Attract more people to your argument. |
| B．Send him/her a letter of apology. |
| C．Boast about being more reasonable. |
| D．Forget about it and just let it go. |
| A．We can do nothing about regret. |
| B．Unhappiness results from regret. |
| C．Ignoring regrets is missing the opportunity to improve. |
| D．Ridding yourself of regrets helps free you from sorrow. |
| A．Improving. | B．Maintaining. |
| C．Showing up. | D．Breaking up. |
| A．Regret to become smarter—if you let it. |
| B．Long for a different past? Regret it! |
| C．Regret? Not my way! |
| D．Stay away! Regret will heal itself. |
4 . Imagine climbing a mountain and getting half way up and saying to yourself, “You know what, I’m going to climb back down and finish this later.”
Not finishing what we started has been a repeated problem for us. We have to face it.
Not finishing not only causes us to stop making progress but also we find it harder whenever we do decide to start again. Consider this: every time I begin a new exercise program my muscles are sore (疼) for a few days. After a few weeks of routine, the muscles get accustomed to the program and grow stronger. Thus, no more sore muscles. Well, when I take some time off I fear starting again.
Strong finishers are able to focus on getting the best result from anything that they start. So how do we know that we are a strong finisher? Along with the huge feeling of accomplishment, other people will begin to notice the change.
| A．The list goes on and on. |
| B．We should have the confidence. |
| C．Why don’t we have the interest any more? |
| D．Sounds silly, but that is what we do all of the time. |
| E．I know that my muscles are going to be sore again. |
| F．They will see we are able to climb and conquer the mountain. |
| G．Not being a strong finisher can limit our ability to conquer our goals. |
内容要点：1. 多读书，勤记笔记；
2. 养成练书写和写日记的习惯；
3. 自拟一项其他方面的倡议内容。
注意：词数100左右。
参考词汇：汉字 Chinese character
Dear friends,
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
Students’ council
