1 . When children are growing up, what they see in their families is what they tend to consider normal. That means family traditions and other activities are generally seen as just normal. If a family eats dinner together or spends time talking with each other, that’s what the child absorbs and internalizes.
Our family traditions are declining as we move toward a more isolated (孤立的) society. How many families no longer share meals around the dinner table, instead choosing to watch TV or text friends on their phones? This tends to isolate and disconnect family members from each other. It also stops families from communicating and catching up on each other’s lives.
For those of us who grew up in a household where families shared meals together and spent time talking with each other, chances are that we are passing along those traditions to our own families. The problem is, children today often want to spend their time in front of screens rather than people. Cell phones, computers and other attention-grabbing devices often mean parents get resistance to traditional family togetherness time. This pressure can lead to parents giving in and letting children do what they want rather than fight with them over sitting at the dinner table. This creates a new normal that no longer values the idea of families and the society at large, connecting with each other.
Family and community traditions are important, not just for the current shared experiences, but for the future as well. Since children internalize their experiences, that means generations to come may not know what it’s like to sit together around the dinner table and truly connect as a family.
That is why it is so important that parents and caregivers create boundaries of behavior that help to keep family traditions alive. If you remember the shared experiences you had with your parents and grandparents, you know the important bonding that took place during those times. It is this shared experience that brings people closer together and is well worth preserving.
1. What is the phenomenon the author describes at the beginning of the text?| A．The increase in shared family meals means a shift towards isolation. |
| B．Increased use of technology replaces traditional family interactions. |
| C．More and more children prefer to spend quality time with the family. |
| D．Family members are more likely to share their updates with each other. |
| A．The inability of parents to understand technology. |
| B．The challenge of preserving traditional family values. |
| C．The influence of technology on children’s education. |
| D．The necessity of controlling children’s digital devices. |
| A．They will be more addicted to advanced technology. |
| B．They will maintain stronger and closer family bonds. |
| C．They may create new and irreplaceable family traditions. |
| D．They may not understand the value of family gatherings. |
| A．Insignificant | B．Irresponsible |
| C．Crucial | D．Overemphasized |
2 . No woman can be too rich or too thin. This saying often attributed to the late Duchess (公爵夫人) of Windsor represents much of the odd spirit of our times. Being thin is considered as such virtue.
The problem with such a view is that some people actually attempt to live by it. I myself have fantasies of slipping into narrow designer cloches. Consequently, I have been on a diet for the better or worse-part of my life. Being rich wouldn’t be bad either, but that won’t happen unless an unknown relative dies suddenly in some distant land, leaving me millions of dollars.
Where did we go off the track? When did eating butter become a sin, and a little bit of extra flesh unappealing, if not upsetting? Until quite recently, most people had a problem getting enough to eat. In some religious groups, wealth was a symbol of probable salvation (救助) and high morals, and fatness a sign of wealth and well-being.
Today the opposite is true. We have shifted to thinness as our new mark of virtue. The result is that being fat—or ever only somewhat overweight—is bad because it implies a lack of moral strength.
Our obsession with thinness is also fueled by health concerns. It is true that in this country we have more overweight people than ever before, and that in many cases, being overweight is associated with an increased risk of heart and blood vessel disease. These diseases, however, may have as much to do with our way of life and our high-fat diets as with excess weight. And the associated risk of cancer in the digestive system may be more of a dietary problem—too much fat and a lack of fiber—than a weight problem.
The real concern, then, is not that we weight too much, but that we neither exercise enough nor eat well. Exercise is necessary for strong bones and both heart and lung health. A balanced diet without a lot of fat can also help the body avoid many diseases. We should surely stop paying so much attention to weight. Simply being thin is not enough. It is actually hazardous if those who get (or already are) thin think they are automatically healthy and thus free from paying attention to their overall life-style. Thinness can be pure vainglory.
1. In the eyes of the author, an odd phenomenon nowadays is that ________.| A．the Duchess of Windsor is regarded as a woman of virtue |
| B．looking slim is a symbol of having a large fortune |
| C．being thin is viewed as a much desired quality |
| D．religious people are not necessarily kind-hearted |
| A．were closely related to their religious beliefs | B．changed from time to time |
| C．varied between the poor and the rich | D．led to different moral standards |
| A．Great honour. | B．Outdated concept. | C．Self-reliance | D．Excessive pride. |
| A．from an economic and educational perspective |
| B．from sociological and medical points of view |
| C．from a historical and religious standpoint |
| D．in the light of moral principles |
3 . Chinese people may not be that familiar with sports tourism, but it is one of the fastest growing parts of tourism, because an increasing number of people are expressing their curiosity in sports events during their trips even if sports are not the key reason of their travel.
Sports tourism refers to tourism involving participation in or watching sports events and staying in an environment different from the usual tourist hotels or resorts.
Rural tourism, one kind of sports tourism, which consists of fishing, hiking, horse riding and other outdoor activities, is expanding quickly. This form of tourism has been attracting many tourists.
Sports tourism is a booming industry today, with an annual growth rate of about 15 percent globally.
| A．It plays a vital role in rural construction. |
| B．People are paying more attention to safety in travel. |
| C．But sports tourism is still an emerging area in China. |
| D．However, this area has long drawn people’s attention in China. |
| E．The origin of sports tourism can be traced back to Ancient Greece. |
| F．In China, however, the growth rate is 30 — 40 percent despite a slow start. |
| G．Marathons, hiking, cycling and camping fall in the area of sports tourism. |
4 . On Wednesday, two things happened. In Syria, 80 people were killed by government airstrikes. Meanwhile, in Florida, Elon Musk’s SpaceX successfully launched and fired a sports car into space. Guess which story has dominated mainstream news sites?
The launch of Musk’s Falcon Heavy rocket, the most powerful ever launched by a private company, went off successfully. Musk sent his cherry-red Tesla roadster running toward Mars, launching “a new space age”. The event attracted phenomenal publicity and made the rocket launch a masterstroke of advertising for Tesla.
Meanwhile, in Syria, where hundreds of thousands of refugees(难民) may be forced to return to unsafe homes, a UN human rights coordinator for Syria said despondently(沮丧地) that he was no longer sure why he bothers to videotape the effects of bombing, since nobody ever pays attention. He wondered what level of violence it would take to make the world care.
There is, perhaps, no better way to appreciate the tragedy of 21st-century global inequality than by watching a billionaire spend $90m launching a $100,000 car into space.
Musk said he wanted to participate in a space race because “races are exciting” and that while strapping his car to a rocket may be “silly and fun … silly and fun things are important”. Thus, anyone who mentions the huge waste the project involves, or the various social uses to which these resources could be put, can be dismissed as a killjoy.
But one doesn’t have to hate fun to question the justification for pursuing a costly new space race at exactly this moment. If we examine the situation honestly, it becomes hard to defend a project like this.
A mission to Mars does indeed sound exciting, but it’s important to have our priorities straight. First, perhaps we could make it so that a child no longer dies of malaria every two minutes. Or we could try to address the level of poverty in Alabama which has become so extreme that the UN investigator did not believe it could occur in a first-world country. Perhaps when violence, poverty and disease are solved, then we can head for the stars.
Many might think that what Elon Musk chooses to do with his billions is Elon Musk’s business alone. If he wanted to spend all his money on medicine for children, that would be nice, but if he’d like to spend it making big explosions and sending his convertible on a million-mile space voyage, that’s his right.
But Musk is only rich enough to afford these money-consuming projects because we have allowed social inequalities to arise in the first place. If wealth were actually distributed fairly in this country, nobody would be in a position to fund his own private space program.
Elon Musk is right: silly and fun things are important. But some of them are an indefensible waste of resources. While there are still humanitarian crises such as that in Syria, nobody can justify vast spending on rocketry experiments.
1. Why does the writer mention the two pieces of news at the beginning of the passage?| A．To illustrate the inequality of wealth distribution and the consequent inequality of attention distribution. |
| B．To highlight the significance of SpaceX’s successful launch of a rocket and a car into space. |
| C．To appeal to the government for more attention to the air strikes and refugee crisis in Syria. |
| D．To find out which news dominated the mainstream news sites. |
| A．Because nobody appreciated his work and all the efforts he made. |
| B．Because the violence in Syria is not serious enough to make the world care. |
| C．Because however hard he tried, nobody seemed to care about the situation in Syria. |
| D．Because he had great difficulty videotaping the effects of bombing. |
| A．The space project of SpaceX cost the government too much money. |
| B．It kills the fun to question the justification of the pursuit of space programs. |
| C．Space programs are a waste of money that cannot be justified. |
| D．Addressing problems of violence, poverty and diseases should be our top priority. |
| A．We should pay equal attention to space projects and solving social problems. |
| B．No private companies should be allowed to spend money in rocketry experiments. |
| C．The money and resources used in space projects could have been used to deal with various social problems. |
| D．Elon Musk should be blamed for misleading the public. |
5 . The Science of Recreational Fear
From peek-a-boo to Halloween haunted houses, research shows that recreational fear can teach us to face scary situations. The “paradox of horror” is that being scared, under the right circumstances, can be fun.
Having fun with fear is an “extremely important tool for learning,” said Mathias Clasen, director of the Recreational Fear Lab at Aarhus University in Denmark. “We learn something about the dangers of the world. We learn something about our own responses: What does it feel like to be afraid? How much fear can I take?”
Horror movies have gotten more popular. And in one survey of more than 1,000 Americans, conducted by Clasen, 55% described themselves as horror fans.
Even babies like being a little spooked (惊的). Peek-a-boo is “an infant jump scare,” Clasen said.
After this rush, many people experience an uplifted mood. One study examined how 262 adults felt before and after they entered an extreme haunted house.
| A．So why do we like it? |
| B．Fifty percent of people said they felt better after the visit. |
| C．And recreational fear, as it is rightly named, could benefit us, too. |
| D．Playing with fear helps us learn what our body does under pressure. |
| E．Horror, though, is not the only genre of what people find scary fun, he said. |
| F．We define recreational fear broadly as a mixed emotional experience of fear and enjoyment. |
| G．Classic childhood games of tag and hide-and-seek are just like the real scenes of predator vs. prey. |
After graduating from university, I decided to become a pilot and fly commercially. I chose a flying school which had a good reputation, enrolled and joined a class of six other trainees. We completed our ground school, where we were taught all the information we would need to fly an aircraft safely. The basics included the controls of the aircraft, its instruments and the rules we would have to obey while in the air.
Our instructors were all professional pilots and were very knowledgeable but also very strict. It was difficult for them to accept inaccuracy, so we were required to get Straight-A’s in each test. It was explained to us that we could not afford to make an error as it could cost lives, so, to get my license, I doubled my efforts, learning the meaning of the word “thorough”.
Later we had 10 hours of hands-on lessons in an exact model aircraft, a “simulator”. My instructor sat next to me, watching my every move, always with a serious look. Sometimes I thought he over-reacted to my small mistakes.
The time arrived for us to take to the air for the first time. My instructor was an experienced pilot having flown big jets but was nearing retirement. As we went to take off, he pointed out the control tower and told me there was always a person on duty there for emergencies. I nodded firmly, but I never thought there was a chance I would have to call him on the radio.
We were away from our airfield and practising basic turns at about 6, 000 feet. Everything was going smoothly. Suddenly, my instructor started to shake and he put in his hand on his chest with his head falling forward. Thankfully, in control of the aircraft at that time, I steadied the aircraft and turned to look at him anxiously. He seemed to be unconscious. Our lives were in danger, and I had to put aside my uneasiness. It flashed into my mind that situations like this had been covered in ground school.
Paragraph 1:
Armed with what I had learned, I quickly became much calmer.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 2:
Lying on the bed in the hospital, my instructor opened his eyes and saw me sitting beside him.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
7 . Despite their endless social activities, closely packed urban environments often come with the hidden phenomenon of increased loneliness. According to Dr. Vivek Murthy, United States Surgeon General, the global “loneliness epidemic” is an overlooked consequence of urban living that carries serious risks, associated with heart disease, depression, anxiety, and dementia.
While there are many ways to overcome loneliness, such as redesigning urban architecture to help facilitate social interactions or making it easier for people to own pets, a new study also recommends adding nature into the mix.
The findings, published in the journal Scientific Reports, follows a review of assessments provided by more than 750 U. K. residents who volunteered to use a custom — built smartphone app for two weeks. The participants were questioned randomly three times a day using a technique called an “ecological momentary assessment”. In addition to questions about overcrowding and social inclusion (融入), the volunteers were asked about their natural surroundings, such as “Can you see trees, plants and water right now?” Feelings of“momentary loneliness” were then ranked on a five-point scale.
According to the more than 16, 600 assessments received, overcrowded environments increased feelings of loneliness by a shocking 38%, regardless of age, gender, education level, or occupation. When people were able to interact with green spaces or hear birds or see the sky, however, loneliness dropped by 28%. Social inclusivity, defined by the research team as feeling welcomed by a group or sharing similar values, also dropped loneliness by 21%.
These findings appear to correlate (联系) with previous research into the mental benefits of walking through natural areas. Johanna Gibbons, leader of the research team, further indicates that high-quality green and blue spaces such as parks and rivers in dense urban areas, which is often viewed as a key weapon in the fight against climate change, can also be critical in improving our own well — being and reducing feelings of isolation. She said, “I believe deep in our souls, there are really deep connections with natural forces.”
1. What problem is discussed in paragraph 1?| A．Urban living lacks social connection. |
| B．Loneliness is a growing threat in cities. |
| C．Modern cities are getting overcrowded. |
| D．Aging population are facing more risks. |
| A．How loneliness affected people of all ages. |
| B．What the root of the loneliness in cities was. |
| C．How hi-technology improved people’s lives. |
| D．What people’s favorite living surroundings were. |
| A．A life experience in nature. | B．Low rates of social activities. |
| C．An overcrowded environment. | D．A design of urban architecture. |
| A．Playing hard is harmful to mental health. |
| B．People in green spaces may be more cheerful. |
| C．Global warming changes our characteristics. |
| D．Everything is connected with natural forces. |
One of my most memorable trips took place during the summer vacation about three years ago, when my sister, my aunt and I took a trip to Spain because we were moving. On the day of the trip, I lay in bed thinking about my friends whom I was going to leave behind and thoughts were flooding in.
When we arrived at the hire station, we seemed to have some problems with our luggage because it was too much for a taxi, so we had to book a van (厢式送货车) to take our luggage to the airport. We waited for a long period to find a perfect van that would fit our luggage.
Before leaving, I felt very bad because I was going to a different country and was going to miss all my friends and family. I was not comfortable and cried.
The journey was almost perfect at the beginning, but soon it began to rain. Because of the rain, the drivers could not see far away, which caused a huge traffic jam. I was sitting by the window with a can of Coke that I had bought in the store earlier. My aunt and sister fell asleep, and during this time. I felt bored and thought about other things that bothered me. My eyes turned to the mountain in front of us.
A bus suddenly appeared in the picture. It was very close to us. Cars sped past us without any speed limit. Beside me was a very deep lake: I wondered to myself what if something or someone fell inside it. Suddenly, a bus in front of our van stopped, and because it was raining heavily and the van was going fast, no one could see what was going to happen. Then, bang, we bumped into each other. Our van overturned, but luckily, it didn’t fall into the lake. People came to help us get out of the van because we were blocked and the driver was half-dead.
注意：1.续写词数应为150左右；
2.续写部分分为两段，每段的开头语已为你写好。
We struggled to get out of the van and everything we had was gone.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
I was losing a lot of blood and then the emergency aid came.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
9 . In order to help cope with the vast number of student questions in the online class, Knowledge-Based Artificial Intelligence, Professor Ashok Goel of Georgia Tech developed an artificially intelligent teaching assistant. This online course is a core requirement of Georgia Tech’s online Master of Science in Computer Science program. Professor Goel already had eight teaching assistants, but that wasn’t enough to handle the vast number of daily questions from students.
Many students drop out of online courses because of the lack of teaching support. When students feel isolated or confused and reach out with questions that go unanswered, their motivation to continue begins to fade. Professor Goel decided to do something to remedy this situation and his solution was to create a virtual assistant named Jill Watson, which is based on the IBM Watson platform.
Goel and his team developed several versions of Jill Watson before releasing her to the online forums. At first, the virtual assistant wasn’t too great. But Goel and his team sourced the online discussion forum to find all the 40,000 questions that had ever been asked since the class was launched. Then they began to feed Jill with the questions and answers. After some adjustment and ample time, Jill was able to answer the students’ questions correctly 97% of the time. The virtual assistant became so advanced and realistic that the students didn’t know she was a computer. The students, who were studying artificial intelligence, were interacting with the virtual assistant and couldn’t tell it from a real human being. Goel didn’t inform them about Jill’s true identity until April 26. The students were actually very positive about the experience.
The goal of Professor Goel’s virtual assistant next year is to take over answering 40% of all the questions posed by students on the online forum. The name Jill Watson will, of course, change to something else next semester. Professor Goel has a much rosier forecast on the future of artificial intelligence than, say, Elon Musk, Stephen Hawking, Bill Gates or Steve Wozniak.
1. What do we learn about Knowledge-Based Artificial Intelligence?| A．It is a robot that can answer students’ questions. |
| B．It is a high-tech device that revolutionizes teaching. |
| C．It is a course designed for students to learn online. |
| D．It is a computer program that aids student learning. |
| A．Boycott. | B．Improve. | C．Evaluate. | D．Corrupt. |
| A．She was unwelcome to students at first. |
| B．She got along pretty well with students. |
| C．She turned out to be a great success. |
| D．She was released online as an experiment. |
| A．Assign her to answer more of students’ questions. |
| B．Upgrade her intelligence to the level of top scientists. |
| C．Launch different versions of her online. |
| D．Encourage students to interact with her more freely. |
10 . Many Chinese institutions of higher education have been attempting to become more globalized by making their websites available in different languages to better communicate with potential foreign students and promote their academic achievements.
In late June, 20 universities gathering at Shanghai International Studies University for a meeting regarding overseas communication said that their websites are available in foreign languages.
For example, the SISU website now is available in 28 languages. The website's multilingual contents include over 7, 000 articles about topics such as Chinese culture,
Chinese society as well as information about Shanghai. Some articles are from foreign media, foreign embassies and official websites of foreign government agencies.
During the meet, the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology said that 43, 000 visits to its new English website launched in January were made from overseas, accounting for nearly two﹣thirds of the total visits. Jiang Feng, Party Chief of SISU, said that overseas communication is now a key focus for schools to interact with the world and improve their influence.
Tsinghua University in Beijing was among the first universities on the Chinese mainland to open accounts on international social media platforms in 2015. Around 2,000 updates, including pictures, videos and live broadcasts, are made each year on such platforms. The topics are usually related to the institution's major events or student and alumni（校友）activities.
"Updates regarding our master's programs taught in English and those about the school's performance in the latest world university rankings usually enjoy the highest popularity, " says Lin Yuan, deputy director of the global communication office at Tsinghua University.
Xiang Debao, a professor from SISU's School of Journalism and Communication, says that a recent research conducted by his team showed that a university's influence in cyberspace（通讯） has positive relationship with its visibility in the real world.
1. Why did the 20 universities gather at Shanghai International Studies University?| A．To deal with some academic issues. |
| B．To explore the way for universities to go global. |
| C．To exchange students in some international courses. |
| D．To discuss articles from foreign media and official websites. |
| A．Accounts about the development of Shanghai. |
| B．The institution's major events and student activities. |
| C．The history of Shanghai International Studies University. |
| D．The latest information of a master's course taught in English. |
| A．Vital. |
| B．Slight. |
| C．Worthless. |
| D．Imperfect. |
| A．Tsinghua University was the first to open international social media platforms. |
| B．Multilanguage website earned more foreign visits than national ones in the SISU. |
| C．Only 20 universities in China approved of websites available in different languages. |
| D．The ranking of a university in the world plays a main role in its international influence. |
