1 . In the days before the Internet, critical thinking was the most important skill of informed citizens. But in the digital age, according to Anastasia Kozyreva, a psychologist at the Max Planck Institute of Human Development, and her colleagues, an even more important skill is critical ignoring.
As the researchers point out, we live in an attention economy where content producers on the Internet compete for our attention. They attract us with a lot of emotional and eye-catching stories while providing little useful information, so they can expose us to profit-generating advertisements. Therefore,we are no longer customers but products, and each link we click is a sale of our time and attention. Toprotect ourselves from this, Kozyreva advocates for learning the skill of critical ignoring, in which readers intentionally control their information environment to reduce exposure to false and low-quality information.
According to Kozyreva, critical ignoring comprises three strategies. The first is to design ourenvironments, which involves the removal of low-quality yet hard-to-resist information from around. Successful dieters need to keep unhealthy food out of their homes. Likewise, we need to set up a digital environment where attention-grabbing items are kept out of sight. As with dieting, if one tries to bank onwillpower not to click eye-catching “news”, he’ll surely fail. So, it’s better to just keep them out of sightto begin with.
The next is to evaluate the reliability of information, whose purpose is to protect you from false and misleading information. It can be realized by checking the source in the mainstream news agencies which have their reputations for being trustworthy.
The last goes by the phrase “do not feed the trolls.” Trolls are actors who internationally spread false and hurtful information online to cause harm. It may be appealing to respond to them to set the facts straight, but trolls just care about annoying others rather than facts. So, it’s best not to reward their bad behaviour with our attention.
By sharpening our critical ignoring skills in these ways, we can make the most of the Internet while avoiding falling victim to those who try to control our attention, time, and minds.
1. What can we learn about the attention economy from paragraph 2?| A．It offers little information. | B．It features depressing stories. |
| C．It saves time for Internet users. | D．It seeks profits from each click. |
| A．To discuss the quality of information |
| B．To prove the benefits of healthy food. |
| C．To show the importance of environments. |
| D．To explain the effectiveness of willpower. |
| A．Reveal their intention. | B．Turn a deaf ear to them. |
| C．Correct their behaviour. | D．Send hard facts to them. |
| A．Reasons for critical thinking in the attention economy. |
| B．Practising the skill of critical ignoring in the digital age. |
| C．Maximizing the benefits of critical ignoring on the Internet. |
| D．Strategies of abandoning critical thinking for Internet users |
2 . It was a cold Saturday night in February. Some 200 New Yorkers carefully made their way to the reservoir (水库) in the hopes of catching a glimpse of the magical snowy owl, who had touched down in the park the week before in what was reported as the first visit there by the species in more than 130 years.
Except for a few excited screams from children, people were quiet — patiently awaiting the owl’s arrival at the reservoir’s north gatehouse. The snowy owl did not disappoint. She flew down from the darkness and surveyed the water and the people holding phones and cameras before taking off into the night to the applause of her many fans. They simply wanted to see this lovely creature whose improbable appearance seemed to signify hope after the lockdown.
New Yorkers who had long taken Central Park for granted felt a renewed love for this rectangle of green in the heart of the big city and, of course, its amazing wildlife. That the park is a beautiful and essential refuge is something that humans have only come to fully appreciate during these recent times of uncertainty.
Central Park was originally planned and constructed during another difficult time in the nation’s history — in the years before and during the American Civil War. Unlike many European parks that had originally been built for the aristocracy (贵族), Central Park was designed as a public space. In its chief architect Frederick Law Olmsted’s words, the poor and rich alike could “easily go there after their day’s work is done” and “stroll for an hour, seeing, hearing, and feeling nothing of the noise of the streets.”
As spring turns into summer, we see people sitting on the grass or benches — catching some sun, having family picnics, or tapping away on their laptops and iPads. Just being in proximity to other people in Central Park gave us a sense of community — the sense that we would somehow persevere.
1. What did people do in Central Park on that Saturday night?| A．They cheered for each other. | B．They paid their first visit. |
| C．They came for a rare sight. | D．They appreciated a water event. |
| A．Give some examples. | B．Make a comparison. |
| C．Introduce a new opinion. | D．Add background information. |
| A．close to | B．free from |
| C．at a distance from | D．in comparison with |
| A．Find Refuge in Central Park |
| B．Take Your Breath by Snow Owl |
| C．Trace Central Park to difficult times |
| D．Meet an improbable “visitor” in person |
3 . One of the greatest killers in the Western world is heart disease.The death rate( 率) from the disease has been increasing at an alarming speed for the past thirty years.Today in Britain,for example,about four hundred people a day die of heart disease.Medical experts know that people can reduce their chances of getting heart disease by exercising regularly,by not smoking,by changing their diets,and by paying more attention to reducing stress(压力) in their work.
However,Western health-care systems are still not paying enough attention to the prevention of the disease.There is a need for more programs to educate the public about the causes and prevention of heart disease.Instead of supporting such programs,however,the U.S.health-care system is spending large sums of money on the surgical( 外 科 的 ) treatment of the disease after it develops.This emphasis( 强 调 ) on treatment clearly has something to do with the technological advances that have taken place in the past ten to fifteen years.In this time,modern technology has enabled doctors to develop new surgical techniques.Many operations that were considered impossible or too risky(有风险的) a few years ago are now performed every day in U.S.hospitals.The result has been a huge increase in heart surgery.
Although there is no doubt that heart surgery can help a large number of people,some people point out that the emphasis on the surgical treatment of the disease has three clear disadvantages.First,it attracts interest and money away from the question of prevention.Second,it causes the costs of general hospital care to rise.After hospitals buy the expensive equipment that is necessary for modern heart surgery,they must try to recover the money they have spent.To do this,they raise costs for all their patients,not just those patients whose treatment requires the equipment.The third disadvantage is that doctors are encouraged to perform surgery—even on patients for whom an operation is unnecessary—because the equipment and expert skills are there.A government office recently stated that major heart surgery was often performed even though its chances of success were low.In one type of heart surgery,for example,only 15 percent of patients improved their conditions after the surgery.However,more than 100,000 of these operations are performed in the United States every year.
1. What effect has modern technology had on medicine?| A．It has reduced the costs of medical treatment. |
| B．It hasn’t helped save any patients. |
| C．It has encouraged doctors to do more heart surgeries. |
| D．It has helped educate people about the prevention of heart disease. |
| A．to help patients recover |
| B．to increase the number of heart surgeries |
| C．to get back the money spent on the equipment |
| D．to buy new equipment for the treatment of heart disease |
| A．more money should be spent on the prevention of heart disease |
| B．heart surgery has helped most patients improve their conditions |
| C．modern technology has made heart surgery more risky than before |
| D．the public have known a great deal about the causes of heart disease |
| A．The Greatest Killer in the West |
| B．Heart Disease:Treat or Prevent |
| C．Old Technology and Heart Surgery |
| D．Heart Surgery:Advantages |
Celebrities（名人）like Olivia Munn, as well as fashion companies like Cucci and Versace , are among those who have been opposed
The ban aims to send
As we all know, West Hollywood became the first American city
Hopefully, only when efforts like these are made to encourage
5 . In colleges around the country, most students are also workers.
The reality of college can be pretty different from the images presented in movies and television. Instead of the students who wake up late, party all the time, and study only before exams, many colleges are full of students with pressing schedules of not just classes and activities, but real jobs, too.
This isn't a temporary phenomenon. The share of working students has been on the rise since the 1970s, and one-fifth of students work year round. About one-quarter of those who work while attending school have both a full-course load and a full-time job. The arrangement can help pay for tuition (学费) and living costs, obviously. And there's value in it beyond the direct cause: such jobs can also be critical for developing important professional and social skills that make it easier to land a job after graduation. With many employers looking for students with already-developed skill sets, on-the-job training while in college can be the best way to ensure a job later on.
But it's not all upside. Even full-time work may not completely cover the cost of tuition and living expenses. The study notes that if a student worked a full-time job at the federal minimum wage, they would earn just over $15,000 each year, certainly not enough to pay for tuition, room, and board at many colleges without some serious financial aid. That means that though they're sacrificing time away from the classroom, many working students will still graduate with at least some debt. And working full time can reduce the chance that students will graduate at all, by cutting into the time available for studying and attending classes.
There is little reward for attending but not finishing college. Students who wind up leaving school because of difficulty in managing work and class are likely to find themselves stuck in some of the same jobs they might have gotten if they hadn't gone at all. The difficulty of working too much while in school can create a cycle that pushes students further into debt without receiving any of the financial or career benefits.
1. According to the passage, the reality of college students is that _________.| A．they throw parties a lot | B．they stay up late every night |
| C．they pay no attention to exams | D．they work besides attending classes |
| A．keep | B．quit |
| C．get | D．lose |
| A．working students are more likely to finish college |
| B．students can cover their college expenses through working |
| C．students receive a huge reward for managing work and class |
| D．dropping out of college may not help students get career benefits |
| A．The Difficulties of Landing a Job |
| B．The Struggle of Work-School Balance |
| C．The Reward of Working While Studying |
| D．The Images of Working College Students |
6 . Scientists have found evidence of a link between social and economic status and childhood attention deficit disorder(ADHD)(注意力缺陷多动障碍)in the UK. A team led by the University of Exeter Medical School analysed data from the Millennium Cohort Study, a database of more than 19, 500 UK children born between 2000 and 2002 .The study was published in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry.
Findings showed that more children with ADHD came from families below the poverty line than the UK population as a whole, with average family incomes for households whose study child was affected by ADHD at £324 per week, compared to £391 for those whose child was not. The study found the odds (机会)of parents in social housing having a child with ADHD was roughly three times greater than for those who owned their own homes.
The team also found that the odds of younger mothers having a child with ADHD were significantly higher than for other mothers. Mothers with no qualifications were more than twice as likely to have a child with ADHD than those with degrees, and lone (孤独的)parents were more likely to have a child with ADHD diagnosis than households with two live-in parents.
Information was gathered from surveys when the cohort children were nine months old, and at the ages of three, five, seven and eleven.
Dr Ginny, of the University of Exeter Medical School,who led the study, said, "There is a genetic element to ADHD,but this study provides strong evidence that ADHD is also associated with a disadvantaged social and economic background. Some people believe that ADHD in children causes disadvantage to the economic situation of their family, but we found no evidence to support that theory. It's important to discover more about the causes of this disorder so that we can look towards prevention, and so that we can target treatment and support effectively. "
1. We can infer from Paragraph 2 that _______.| A．family incomes of £391 per week are below the poverty line in the UK |
| B．children affected by ADHD consume family incomes of £324 per week |
| C．parents who rent houses are likely to have a child with ADHD |
| D．families who own their own houses are above the poverty line |
| A．The households with two live-in parents. |
| B．Middle-aged mothers having no diploma. |
| C．Single younger mothers with no diploma. |
| D．Younger mothers living with their husbands. |
| A．He agrees with it. |
| B．He ignores it. |
| C．He hesitates to accept it. |
| D．He argues against it. |
| A．ADHD linked to social and economic disadvantage. |
| B．The cure of ADHD has been found by the UK's scientists. |
| C．New methods have been used to treat ADHD patients. |
| D．Causes and effects of ADHD have been found out completely. |
7 . Mid-afternoon on a particularly busy Tuesday, I took leave of my desk at work and walked into a local Starbucks only to find a space where neither my clients nor my children would ask me to do something.
Inside, I ran into Kate, a co-worker of mine. The topic of parenthood came up. I complained about how packed my schedule was. From the minute I woke up to the minute I fell asleep, I was constantly in demand and always had someone knocking at the door. But a bit of sadness seemed to come over Kate’s face.
“Well, my daughter’s in San Francisco and she doesn’t seem to need me at all these days,” Kate said. It was in that moment that I realized although I might often feel in high demand, there will come a day when I will actually miss that same stress I then complained about.
And as our conversation continued, it turned to our children’s younger years, with Kate smiling proudly, thinking of the little boy and girl she raised who are now a man and a woman. But I noticed her smile was marked with regret. She explained that she often wondered about what she could have done differently when her children were in their earlier years.
This got me thinking. Is regret an unfortunate footnote (注脚) to parenthood? With that in mind, I asked six older parents one question: What is your biggest regret from your early days as a parent?
It turned out that all of them thought they could have done it better. But, each of them also has a strong, healthy relationship with their kids. Whatever regrets their parents might have had about their upbringing, one thing is clear ------- it didn’t affect them in a meaningful way.
The bottom line is, we all feel like we could be doing this parenting thing better. And quite clearly, years later, we’re still going to look back and wish we tried things differently. But the past can’t be changed, and neither should it.
1. What can be inferred from the first three paragraphs?| A．Kate had the same problem as the author's. |
| B．The two people had arranged to meet in the coffee shop. |
| C．The author went to the coffee shop to escape from the pressure around him. |
| D．Kate went to the coffee shop so no one could find her there. |
| A．She and her daughter had a fight. |
| B．She hadn’t paid enough attention to her kids. |
| C．She thought that she could have done better in raising her kids. |
| D．She was disappointed with her kid’s performance. |
| A．Some of the parents have a bad relationship with their kids. |
| B．He was moved by the love of these parents for their children. |
| C．These parents improved their behavior after their kids grew up. |
| D．None of the parents were completely satisfied with the way they raised their kids. |
| A．Give more love to your kids. |
| B．Regret for the parenting can be softened by time. |
| C．Nearly all the parents have regretful parenting. |
| D．Never stop learning how to be a good parent from others. |
8 . Grandparents Answer a Call
As a third－generation native of Brownsville, Texas, Mildred Garza never planned to move away.Even when her daughter and son asked her to move to San Antonio to help with their children, she politely refused.Only after a year of friendly discussion did Ms.Garza finally say yes.That was four years ago.Today all three generations regard the move as a success, giving them a closer relationship than they would have had in separate cities.
No statistics show the number of grandparents like Garza who are moving closer to adult children and grandchildren. Yet there is evidence suggesting that the trend is growing.Even President Obama’s mother-in-law, Marian Robinson, has agreed to leave Chicago and move into the White House to help care for her granddaughters. According to a study by grandparents.com, 83 percent of the people said Mrs.Robinson's decision will influence grandparents in the American family.Two－thirds believe more families will follow the example of Obama’s family.
“In the 1960s we were all a little wild and couldn't get away from home far enough or fast enough to prove we could do it on our own,”says Christine Crosby, publisher of Grand, a magazine for grandparents. “We now realize how important family is and how important it is to be near them, especially when you’re raising children.”
Moving is not for everyone. Almost every grandparent wants to be with his or her grandchildren and is willing to make sacrifices, but sometimes it is wiser to say no and visit frequently instead.Having your grandchildren far away is hard, especially knowing your adult child is struggling, but giving up the life you know may be harder.
1. Why was Garza’s move a success?| A．It strengthened her family ties. |
| B．It improved her living conditions. |
| C．It enabled her to make more friends. |
| D．It helped her know more new places. |
| A．17% expressed their support for it. |
| B．Few people responded sympathetically. |
| C．83% believed it had a bad influence. |
| D．The majority thought it was a trend. |
| A．They were unsure of themselves. |
| B．They were eager to raise more children. |
| C．They wanted to live away from their parents. |
| D．They had little respect for their grandparents. |
| A．Make decisions in the best interests of their own. |
| B．Ask their children to pay more visits to them. |
| C．Sacrifice for their struggling children. |
| D．Get to know themselves better. |
9 . Every kid wishes to be an adult. But now as grown-ups, some adults find they cannot leave childhood behind. They become “kidults” (kid+adult). Being a kidult has become a lifestyle-choice among young people across Asia.
Some kidults collect toys they once played with. Hello Kitty, Garfield, and Snoopy have many adult fans around the world. It is not unusual to see a 20-something woman with a big, Garfield-shaped cushion on her sofa or a Hello Kitty mobile phone accessory (配件).
Other kidults still enjoy children’s stories and fairy tales. For example, Bloomsbury even published the Harry Potter novels with an adult cover. That way, no one else on the subway will know that an adult is actually reading a children’s book!
“Kidults can be like vitamins to society. Adults who value their childhood and hold on to pure, child-like emotion may be needed in such a rough and dry society,” said Lee Sojung, professor of Foreign Studies at Hankuk University (韩国外国语大学). He added that kidult culture may fill the generation gap between adults and kids. It could give children and their parents books, movies, and cartoon shows to enjoy together. He may be right.
Tim Greenhalgh, a professor, explained that some kidults just refuse to grow up. They value childhood because life in a busy and stressful city frightens them. Kidults would like to forget their age and openly show their fear of society and adulthood.
1. We can infer from the article that _________.| A．Kidults miss their childhood so much that they can’t give up their toys |
| B．Bloomsbury knows some kidults don’t want people to know that they are kidults |
| C．Kidults like to have vitamins very much |
| D．Some toys are so interesting that even adults like them very much |
| A．it can improve the relationship between parents and their kids |
| B．it can help kidults feel relaxed |
| C．it is helpful to solve some social problems |
| D．it can make people loyal to one’s parents |
| A．being a kidult is nothing wrong |
| B．kidults have mental problems |
| C．our society is very dull |
| D．some people can never grow up |
10 . Humans are naturally drawn to other life forms and the worlds outside of our own. We take delight in the existence of creatures and even whole societies beyond our everyday lives.
This sense of wonder is universal. Look at the efforts that scientists have made to find out whether life of some kind exists on Mars, and the popularity of fantasy (幻想) literature or movies like The Lord of the Rings. This sense of wonder draws us to each other, to the world around us, and to the world of makebelieve. But have we gone so far in creating worlds of fantasy that we are missing the pleasure of other worlds that already exist all around us?
Human beings, as biologists have suggested, possess an inborn desire to connect with and understand other life forms. However, people, especially in big cities, often lead rather isolated lives. In a study of British schoolchildren, it was found that children by age eight were much more familiar with characters from television shows and video games than with common wildlife. Without modern technology small pond could be an amazing world filled with strange and beautiful plants, insects, birds, and animals. When we lack meaningful interaction (交互) with the world around us, and sometimes even with our families and friends, we seek to understand and communicate with things that exist only in our imaginations or on a computer screen.
The world of makebelieve is not necessarily bad. But when the world of fantasy becomes the only outlet (出路) for our sense of wonder, then we are really missing something. We are missing a connection with the living world. Other wonderful worlds exist all around us. But even more interesting is that if we look closely enough, we can see that these worlds, in a broad sense, are really part of our own.
1. The popularity of The Lord of the Rings proves________.| A．the close connection between man and the fantasy world |
| B．the wonderful achievements of fantasy literature |
| C．the fine taste of moviegoers around the world |
| D．the general existence of the sense of curiosity |
| A．People are far less familiar with the world of fantasy. |
| B．The world around us could serve as a source of wonder. |
| C．The world of fantasy can be mirrored by a small and lively pond. |
| D．Modern technology prevents us from developing our sense of wonder. |
| A．fail to appreciate the joy in our lives |
| B．be confused by the world of makebelieve |
| C．miss the chance to recognize the fantasy world |
| D．be trapped by other worlds existing all around us |
| A．To show us the hidden beauty in our world. |
| B．To warn us not to get lost in the fantasy world. |
| C．To argue against the misuse of the sense of wonder. |
| D．To discuss the influence of the world of makebelieve. |
