1 . When Amelia thinks about her freshman year two years ago, she remembers being tardy to her 8 a.m. first period class from time to time. “It was so hard to wake up in the morning,” she said. “I had to bike to school and I lived on the other side of the island.”
Like other teens, mornings area struggle because she had several hours of homework and extracurricular activities the night before, but research shows that’s not the entire story. According to psychotherapists, Heather Turgeon and Julie Wright in their book Generation Sleepless, today's teens are sleepier than ever and earlier school start time is disturbing their body's circadian (昼夜节律的) rhythm.
“One of the things that happens somewhere around age 12 is that their brain clock becomes set to a later pace,” said Turgeon, which put sateen about two hours behind the sleep schedule of a young child or an adult. “That means they want to go to sleep later and they want to wake up later,” she said.
“We consider adequate sleep —the very lowest amount—to be about eight hours,” said Wright. However, the average sleep time for high school students is usually about 6.5 hours. And missing out on just a couple hours of rest each night has negative consequences for developing teenage brains.
When a teen is tired, the amygdala—which is the part of the brain that responds to danger—will become more active. And the parts of the brain that are in charge of judgment become less active. Sleep issues are commonly associated with anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder (双相情感障碍) and ADHD (多动症). “We see teens with very serious mental health issues and accidents and soon things that parents really worry about—and getting enough sleep addresses those issues.”
Even with research showing that letting students sleep well contributes to better academic performance, lower truancy (旷课) rates and improved mental health, there has been pushback from parents and school districts about delaying the start of the school day.
1. What does the underlined word “tardy” probably m can in paragraph 1?| A．Late. | B．Busy. | C．Tired. | D．Excited. |
| A．They feel more tired than ever | B．They sleep later and wakeup later. |
| C．They have about 6.5 hours of sleep | D．They sleep about two hours later than adults. |
| A．The teens are always feeling tired |
| B．The amygdala becomes more active. |
| C．The lack of sleep causes many problems. |
| D．The teenagers have trouble sleeping |
| A．Favorable | B．Doubtful | C．Ambiguous. | D．Disapproving |
2 . I heard many parents complaining that their teenage children are rebelling(叛逆). I wish it were so. At your age you ought to be growing away from your parents. You should be learning to stand on your own feet. But take a good look at the present rebellion. It seems that teenagers are taking the same way of showing that they disagree with their parents. Instead of striking out boldly on their own, most of them are clutching at one another’s hands for reassurance.
They claim they want to dress as they please. But they all wear the same clothes. Then set off in new directions in music. But somehow they all end up with listening to the same record together. Their reason for thinking or acting in thus-and-such a way is that many people are doing it. They have come out of their cocoon into a larger cocoon.
It has become harder and harder for a teenager to stand up against the popularity wave and go his or her own way. Industry has firmly carved out a teenage market. These days every teenager can learn from the advertisements what a teenager should have and be.
And many of today’s parents have come to award high marks for the popularity of their children. All this adds to a great barrier for the teenager who wants to find his or her own path.
But the barrier is worth climbing over. The path is worth following. You may want to listen to classical music instead of going to a party. You may want to collect rocks when everyone else is collecting records. You may have some thoughts that you don’t care to share with your classmates at once, well, go to it. Find yourself. Popularity will come with the people who respect you for who you are. That is the only kind of popularity that really counts.
1. In this passage, who does the author wants to tell?| A．teenagers how to learn to decide things for themselves. |
| B．readers how to be popular with people around. |
| C．parents how to control and guide their children. |
| D．people how to understand and respect each other. |
| A．lack confidence |
| B．are much afraid of getting lost |
| C．dare not deal with problems single-handed |
| D．have much difficulty understanding each other |
| A．Convincing. | B．Influential. | C．Advanced. | D．Amazing. |
| A．Find one’s real self. |
| B．Differ from others in as many ways as possible. |
| C．Get into the right reason and become popular. |
| D．Rebel against parents and the popularity wave. |
3 . How do people cope with (应付) climate change? According to a new study led by University of Arizona researcher Sabrina Helm, there are two climate change coping groups: adaptive approach coping and maladaptive avoidance coping.
About 70 percent of survey respondents belonged to the first group - the adaptive approach coping. They tended to have higher levels of environmental concern and were more likely to engage in environmental protection activities. The remaining 30 percent were in the maladaptive avoidance coping group. They were less likely than those in the first group to feel guilt or personal responsibility for climate change. They were less likely to take action on climate change or believe that their actions would make a difference.
The researchers wondered whether people in the adaptive approach group - who tend to feel more climate-related stress - would have worse mental health overall, since previous studies have linked environmental stress to negative mental health outcomes.
Surprisingly, Helm said, they found no differences between the two groups regarding overall health, anxiety or depressive symptoms.
There also were not significant differences in the demographic (人口统计的) makeup of the two groups when it came to factors such as race, income, education level or employment status. The fact that the demographics of the two groups were so similar suggests that targeting climate-change-related messaging based on demographic information alone might not be the most effective strategy, Helm said. While it might be tougher to do, determining a person’s climate change coping group could be more useful for those attempting to communicate environmental issues and what people can do to make a difference.
“If you think in terms of messaging about climate change, very often you look at social demographic targeting, and that’s not very useful because those two groups should probably be receiving different kinds of messaging,” Helm said. “Those who are already taking action on climate change need encouragement to continue that behavior, while those who are in the maladaptive avoidance coping group need to be encouraged to start doing something.”
1. How is the adaptive approach coping group different from the other group?| A．In their attitude toward climate change. |
| B．In their experience with climate change. |
| C．In their strategy for dealing with climate change. |
| D．In their achievements in dealing with climate change. |
| A．They felt no climate-related anxiety. |
| B．They looked at climate change differently. |
| C．They didn’t differ in mental and general health. |
| D．Neither showed concern for climate change. |
| A．It is useless for fighting climate change. |
| B．It only explains the demographic makeup. |
| C．It fails to deal with climate anxiety. |
| D．It is not obvious enough to separate the two groups. |
| A．All the messaging should be positive. |
| B．All the messaging should be reasonable. |
| C．There should be different kinds of messaging for everyone. |
| D．Climate change messaging should be tailored for different people. |
4 . The question of whether it is possible to dissociate the artist from their work has been debated for a long time. Even though positive critical reviews about an artist’s behavior can improve their artistic accomplishments, people should treat artists as individuals who have lived apart from their work.
One of the reasons is that even artists have shortcomings. Like any other human being, an artist can err, and we cannot be severely judgmental of every person that falls into error. Cancel culture with endless criticism is concerned more with how we should disregard the artists when they make mistakes than with how their weaknesses can be used by the artists to create art that is unique.
Perhaps Kevin Hart’s words support this thought. He asks, “When did we get to a point where life was supposed to be perfect? Where people were supposed to operate perfectly all the time?” When people start seeing artists as human beings, they’ll see them for who they are and review their behavior not on the basis of their art but on the basis of their humanity.
It should be also noted that there are works of art that are inspired by the artist’s experience. For example, the themes in the Harry Potter books are so connected with J. K. Rowling’s wicked worldview that it is virtually impossible to distinguish the two from each other. Since canceling artists based on their worldview would mean the reception to their art will suffer, artists become tense and unwilling to express themselves, which will kill creativity, eventually leading to the death of art. Comedians, singers or painters who should be integrating contemporary issues with their works become boring, and art stops functioning as the social mirror it ought to be.
An artist who makes mistakes still has art with intrinsic (内在的) value, benefiting entire communities or cultures. For instance, when Kendrick Lamar launched his album and frequently used the F-slur in one of his songs, there was much-heated discussion. He was entirely mistaken in using the F-slur, but as an artist, he still had a wide-reaching impact on society. Similarly, one can respect the late Michael Jackson because of how he impacted pop music and the inclusion of black musicians in mainstream media despite his personal weaknesses, opinions, worldviews and associations.
While these artists may engage in their terrible behavior, the art they produce today may serve as an example for others to produce outstanding work in the future. Some would refer to this process as a cycle. Good art should, therefore, be judged due to its value and not the value of the artist.
1. Which would Kevin Hart probably agree with?| A．People should perform perfectly all the time. |
| B．Artists’ shortcomings might be their inspiration. |
| C．If artists have weaknesses, we’d better cancel them. |
| D．Artists should be evaluated based on their humanity. |
| A．Artists will be unwilling to create any artwork. |
| B．Artists will stop concerning with contemporary issues. |
| C．Artists will lose their desire for expression and creativity. |
| D．Artworks are unavoidably inspired by artists’ experiences. |
| A．The artist may make some new words popular. |
| B．The artist’s opinions may provoke heated discussion. |
| C．The artist will benefit entire communities or cultures. |
| D．The artist’s art may give others ideas of artistic creation. |
| A．Judge Art Due to Its Value |
| B．Separate the Art From the Artist |
| C．Regard Artists as Human Beings |
| D．Stop Criticizing Artists’ Behavior |
5 . It’s unusual that you see the words “shyness” and “leader” in the same sentence. After all, the common viewpoint is that those outgoing and sociable guys make great public speakers and excellent networkers and that those shy people are not. A survey conducted by USA Today referred to 65 percent of executives who believed shyness to be a barrier to leadership. Interestingly, the same article stresses that roughly 40 percent of leaders actually are quite shy — they’re just better at adapting themselves to situational demands. Bill Gates, Warren Buffet and Charles Schwab are just a few “innies”.
Unlike their outgoing counterparts who are more sensitive to rewards and risk-taking, shy people take a cautious attitude to chance. Rather than talk loudly, shy people listen attentively to what others say and absorb it before they speak. They’re not thinking about what to say while the other person is still talking, but rather listening so they can learn what to say. Along the same lines, shy people share a common love of learning. They seek content without caring about an outside standard.
Being shy can also bring other benefits. Remember being in school and hearing the same kids discuss, until shy little Johnny, who almost never said a word, cut in? Then what happened? Everyone turned around to look with great respect at little Johnny actually talking. This is how shy people made good use of their power of presence: they “own” the moment by speaking calmly and purposefully, which translate to positive image.
Shyness is often related to modesty. Shy people tend to have an accurate sense of their abilities and achievements. As a result, they are able to acknowledge mistakes, imperfections, knowledge gaps and limitations.
Since shy people have a lower sensitivity to outside rewards than outgoing ones, they’re more comfortable working with little information and sticking to their inner desires. Shy people are also more likely to insist on finding solutions that aren’t obvious. Don’t believe me? Maybe you’ll believe Albert Einstein, who once said, “It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s that I stay with problems longer.” Obviously, finding certainty where uncertainty is typically popular is a huge plus for any successful person.
The myth that shy people are less effective leaders than their outgoing fellows is just a misunderstanding. Make wise use of your personality strengths to lead your business no matter what side of the range you fall on.
1. What can we can learn from Paragraph 2?| A．Shy people are sensitive to rewards. |
| B．Shy people care more about content. |
| C．Outgoing people are more careful about chances |
| D．Outgoing people consider what to learn while listening. |
| A．shy people are likely to be modest |
| B．hardworking students speak title in public |
| C．some students keep silent on purpose at school |
| D．shy people may have an advantage in discussion |
| A．Outside reward leads to insistence. | B．Shyness results in devotion. |
| C．Shyness contributes to popularity. | D．Uncertainty counts more than certainty. |
| A．By making contrasts and giving examples. |
| B．By quoting authorities and making suggestions. |
| C．By explaining problems and providing solutions. |
| D．By giving definitions and presenting numbers. |
6 . Despite being used by 1.34 billion people each year, traveling on the Tube in London can actually be quite lonely. An unwritten rule encouraging silence, mixed with classic British reserve, means that even though you’re packed into an enclosed space with hundreds of other people, the morning commute (上下班的路程) can leave you feeling somewhat disconnected.
An American living in London, however, is trying to change this. “You get on the Tube here and it’s completely silent and it feels a bit strange,” says Jonathan Dunne, 42, who has started a worldwide dialogue after giving out badges (证章；徽章) with the words “Tube chat?” last month, encouraging commuters in London to get talking to one another.
“I handed out 500 badges during rush hours in a city of 8 million, expecting most of them to be thrown away, but after about 24 hours it completely snowballed,” he says.
Dunne and his “Tube chat” campaign have been covered by media across the world since then, seeing TV interviews in Sweden, Brail and the UK, as well as a lot of website, newspaper and magazine appearances. Although Dunne says he’s received mostly positive feedback, not everyone agrees with his opinion. Londoner Brian Wilson started a campaign of his own, handing out 500 badges with the words “Don’t even think about it” on them. “I can’t stand the idea of having to talk to strangers on the Tube on my way to work,” he told the BBC. Michael Robinson, 24, a student from London, agrees. “Being on the Tube is the only place and quietness some people get on their journeys to and from work. Personally, I don’t want to be troubled by people coming up and chatting to you,” he says.
While London does not appear to be social, not everywhere lacks a sense of community. In Melbourne, Australia, commuters have set up a private Facebook group used to warn one another when ticket inspectors (售票员) board the city’s trams (有轨电车). Most Western cities’ tram stops have no barriers, which makes it possible for some travelers to ride them without buying tickets. Though the group comes with a disclaimer (免费申明), its purpose is actually to warn fare paying members that tickets inspectors are on so that they can ready their smiles and most importantly, their tickets.
Does Dunne hope that some of this community spirit will be mirrored in the UK following his campaign? “People believed that I just walk up and talk to strangers, which I don’t, but it’s been a great way to meet people you would never have normally spoken to,” he says. “On Monday, the curator (馆长) of the London Transport Museum had me over for tea.” So if you ever end up using public transport in the West, why not say hello to the person next to you? Just make sure to check for a badge first.
1. What is the purpose of the first paragraph?| A．To blame the loneliness on London Tube. |
| B．To show the selfishness of Londoners. |
| C．To express the upset of the Tube riders. |
| D．To introduce the background of the campaign. |
| A．It encourages people to avoid chatting on the Tube. |
| B．It doesn’t win everyone’s support in London. |
| C．It’s known only to a small number of Londoners. |
| D．It gives out badges with “Don’t even think about it.” |
| A．They prefer drinking tea to chatting on the Tube. |
| B．Dunne didn’t expected to meet the curator on the Tube. |
| C．Dunne never walks up and talks to strangers on the Tube. |
| D．It is possible to make friends with a stranger on the Tube. |
| A．Doubtful | B．Worried |
| C．Supportive | D．Amazed |
7 . Technology seems to discourage slow, immersive reading. Reading on a screen, particularly a phone screen, tires your eyes and makes it harder for you to keep your place. So online writing tends to be more skimmable and list-like than print. The cognitive neuroscientist Mary Walt argued recently that this “new norm” of skim reading is producing “an invisible, game-changing transformation” in how readers process words. The neuronal circuit that sustains the brain’s capacity to read now favors the rapid absorption of information, rather than skills developed by deeper reading, like critical analysis.
We shouldn’t overplay this danger. All readers skim. Skimming is the skill we acquire as children as we learn to read more skillfully. From about the age of nine, our eyes start to bounce around the page, reading only about a quarter of the words properly, and filling in the gaps by inference. Nor is there anything new in these fears about declining attention spans. So far, the anxieties have proved to be false alarms. “Quite a few critics have been worried about attention span lately and see very short stories as signs of cultural decline,” the American author Selvin Brown wrote. “No one ever said that poems were evidence of short attention spans.”
And yet the Internet has certainly changed the way we read. For a start, it means that there is more to read, because more people than ever are writing. If you time travelled just a few decades into the past, you would wonder at how little writing was happening outside a classroom. And digital writing is meant for rapid release and response. An online article starts forming a comment string underneath as soon as it is published. This mode of writing and reading can be interactive and fun. But often it treats other people’s words as something to be quickly harvested as fodder to say something else. Everyone talks over the top of everyone else, desperate to be heard.
Perhaps we should slow down. Reading is constantly promoted as a social good and source of personal achievement. But this advocacy often emphasizes “enthusiastic”, “passionate” or “eager” reading, none of which adjectives suggest slow, quiet absorption.
To a slow reader, a piece of writing can only be fully understood by immersing oneself in the words and their slow comprehension of a line of thought. The slow reader is like a swimmer who stops counting the number of pool laps he has done and just enjoys how his body feels and moves in water.
The human need for this kind of deep reading is too tenacious for any new technology to destroy. We often assume that technological change can’t be stopped and happens in one direction, so that older media like “dead-tree” books are kicked out by newer, more virtual forms. In practice, older technologies can coexist with new ones. The Kindle has not killed off the printed book any more than the car killed off the bicycle. We still want to enjoy slowly-formed ideas and carefully-chosen words. Even in a fast-moving age, there is time for slow reading.
1. What is the author’s attitude towards Selvin Brown’s opinion?| A．Favorable. | B．Critical. | C．Doubtful. | D．Objective. |
| A．advocacy of passionate reading helps promote slow reading |
| B．digital writing leads to too much speaking and not enough reflection |
| C．the public should be aware of the impact skimming has on neuronal circuits |
| D．the number of Internet readers is declining due to the advances of technology |
| A．Comprehensive. | B．Complicated. | C．Determined. | D．Apparent. |
| A．Slow Reading Is Here to Stay |
| B．Digital Technology Prevents Slow Reading |
| C．Screen vs. Print: Which Requires Deep Reading? |
| D．Reading Is Not a Race: The Wonder of Deep Reading |
8 . “The silence is killing me,” I thought as I locked my phone, hoping a new message would light up the screen. After 27 messages, two phone calls and a voicemail, I’d just sent my final text to the person who
The two of us met freshman year and, since we
Over the past few years, the concept of “drawing boundaries” has
The
Sometimes it can feel
| A．tried | B．used | C．happened | D．promised |
| A．signed up for | B．looked forward to | C．took advantage of | D．kept up with |
| A．occasionally | B．barely | C．routinely | D．finally |
| A．suggested | B．regretted | C．delayed | D．stopped |
| A．unforgettable | B．special | C．boring | D．painful |
| A．fragile | B．romantic | C．close | D．formal |
| A．comment | B．explanation | C．apology | D．complaint |
| A．Otherwise | B．Instead | C．Meanwhile | D．Therefore |
| A．letter | B．excuse | C．experience | D．silence |
| A．exploded | B．disappeared | C．survived | D．changed |
| A．hardly | B．permanently | C．accidentally | D．consistently |
| A．harmony | B．charge | C．separation | D．competition |
| A．caused | B．required | C．persuaded | D．expected |
| A．effects | B．benefits | C．origins | D．characteristics |
| A．reduce | B．express | C．create | D．share |
| A．open-minded | B．objective | C．conservative | D．twisted |
| A．disturb | B．impress | C．hurt | D．support |
| A．easier | B．cooler | C．calmer | D．warmer |
| A．co-operation | B．guidance | C．self-care | D．friendship |
| A．reminds | B．robs | C．convinces | D．warns |
9 . Over millions of years humans have responded to certain situations without thinking too hard. If our ancestors spotted movement in the nearby forest, they would run first and question later. At the same time, the ability to analyze and to plan is part of what separates us from other animals. The question of when to trust your instinct (直觉)and when to think slow matters in the office as much as in the savannah(草原).
Slow thinking is the feature of a well-managed workplace. Yet instinct also has its place. Some decisions are more connected to emotional responses and less to analysis. In demanding customer-service or public-facing situations, instinct is often a better guide to how to behave.
Instinct can also be improved. Plenty of research has shown that instinct becomes more unerring with experience. In one well-known experiment, volunteers were asked to assess whether a selection of designer handbags were real or not. Some were instructed to operate on instinct and others to deliberate(深思熟虑)over their decision. Instinct worked better for those who owned at least three designer handbags; indeed, it outperformed analysis. The more expert you become, the better your instinct tends to be.
However, the real reason to embrace fast thinking is that it is, well, fast. It is often the only way to get through the day. To take one example, when your inbox floods with new emails at the start of a new day, there is absolutely no way to read them all carefully. Instinct is what helps you decide which ones to answer and which to delete or leave unopened. Fast thinking can also help the entire organization. The value of many managerial decisions lies in the simple fact that they have been made at all. Yet as data explodes, the temptation(诱惑)to ask for one more bit of analysis has become much harder to resist. Managers often suffer from overthinking, turning a simple problem into a complex one.
When to use instinct in the workplace rests on its own form of pattern recognition. Does the decision maker have real expertise in this area? Is this a field in which emotion matters more than reasoning? Above all, is it worth delaying the decision? Slow thinking is needed to get the big calls right. But fast thinking is the way to stop deliberation turning to a waste of time.
1. What does the underlined word “unerring” in Paragraph 3 probably mean?| A．Accurate. | B．Creative. | C．Controllable. | D．Obvious. |
| A．Managers can afford the cost of slow thinking. |
| B．Fast thinking can be a boost to work efficiency. |
| C．Slow thinking will hold us back in the long run. |
| D．Too much data is to blame for wrong decisions. |
| A．To explain how instinct works. |
| B．To compare instinct and slow thinking. |
| C．To highlight the value of instinct in the workplace. |
| D．To illustrate the development of different thinking patterns. |
10 . Why should I stay off Facebook and other social media when I am involved in a lawsuit or personal injury case? Social media has become an important part of our everyday lives. Facebook, Instagram, and other social media have changed the way we communicate with friends, family, and colleagues. Many of us use these platforms to post opinions, show off our achievements or show your opinions on public affairs.
This means that social media is public information and can be used against you. Lawyers can use social media as evidence. They often look for pictures and posts that could potentially disprove your injury claim. Your posts can still be found even if your information is private when the posts potentially are related to your case. The court may determine that your public posts may lead to admissible evidence. They will not make you offer entire information, but only what they think is related. Defense lawyers wish to prove that the injured party, physically, emotionally, or financially, is lying about their injuries.
Even posting about your emotions can discount your claim greatly. Say, you are suing (起诉) someone for your pain and suffering because you are depressed, yet you post pictures of yourself smiling and you have quoted “Life is good” attached to the photo. If and when the defense lawyers get a hold of the posts, your pain and suffering claim may not hold up in court.
Most people only post about the good times on social media, rarely about the hardships and misfortunes. Insurance companies are allowed to follow you and gather information as evidence. Social media makes it easier. Before social media, insurance companies and lawyers had to hire investigators to follow people around to spy on them. Social media makes this entirely a lot easier.
If you have posted content related to your claim, you must not change evidence. Deleting your account would be considered you’re destroying evidence and that will affect your case. The best practice would be to stay off social media until your case has come to a close.
1. Why does the writer begin the passage with a question?| A．To describe the drawback of Facebook. | B．To provide the background information. |
| C．To give his argument and attract readers. | D．To stress the function of the social media. |
| A．Powerful. | B．Final. | C．Acceptable. | D．Equal. |
| A．Supportive. | B．Cautious. | C．Disapproval. | D．Indifferent. |
| A．Keep away from social media. | B．Post good and bad things on social media. |
| C．Communicate with your friends face to face. | D．Stay off social media for a personal injury claim. |
