1 . We say that technology is a double-edged sword—while it brings convenience, it also brings new problems. The sword of “social media” even has a gender preference in its damage. It cuts deeper into girls than boys.
Earlier studies have shown that spending too much time on social media is bad for teenagers’mental health. Constantly watching their friends show off “perfect” lives can hurt their own self-esteem. That’s not to mention the problems caused by online shaming and bullying.
Jean Twenge, a professor at San Diego State University in the US, recently discovered an alarming trend: Since 2010, the number of teenage girls who suffer from major depression—showing signs like self-harm and suicide—has increased much faster than that of boys. In an article she wrote at The Conversation, Twenge said social media, again, was to blame.
For starters, girls use social media more than boys. Boys tend to spend their screen time on games, where they talk to their teammates through headphones. This counts as real human contact. Girls, however, simply type and browse through posts, which is a much isolated experience. “They’re not having a real-time conversation with someone,” Mary Fristad, psychologist at The Ohio State University, told NPR.
And when it comes to online shaming, girls are also more vulnerable than boys. “Girls face more pressure about their appearance, which could be exacerbated (加重) by social media,” wrote Twenge.
Shannon McLaughlin, for example, is an 18-year-old from Blackburn College in the US. She shared with the Guardian how social media made her feel depressed. “I was constantly confronted by women with skinny bodies who were praised for the way they looked. This was only made worse by the diet fixes and skinny culture,” she said. But McLaughlin found a solution. She started volunteering with the National Citizen Service, where she made face-to-face contact with people. “It's so easy to forget the importance of real connections when we have hundreds of people that we’re trying to impress at our fingertips,” she told the Guardian. And she hopes that others “look up from their phones and focus more on the world around them”.
1. What did Twenge find in her recent study?| A．Overuse of social media harms teenagers’ mental health. |
| B．Social media does more harm to girls than boys. |
| C．Girls suffered more t rom bullving than boys. |
| D．Online shaming and bullving are to blame for teenagers’ depression. |
| A．Girls have less real-time interaction with people. |
| B．Playing games allows boys to have more fun than girls. |
| C．Girls suffer more pressure on social media. |
| D．Girls usually desire more contact with others. |
| A．adjusting oneself well | B．fighting back bravely |
| C．being unconcerned about something | D．being likely to be at risk of something |
| A．Ignore social media and stop following a diet. | B．Connect more with the real world. |
| C．Constantly take part in volunteer work. | D．Make better use of phones for socializing. |
| A．A gender preference | B．Skinny culture |
| C．Social media anxiety | D．A double-edged sword |
2 . One of our biggest fears nowadays is that our kids might someday get lost in a “sea of technology” rather than experiencing the natural world. Fear-producing TV and computer games are leading to a serious disconnect between kids and the great outdoors, which will change the wild places of the world, its creatures and human health for the worse, unless adults get working on child’s play.
Each of us has a place in nature we go sometimes, even if it was torn down. We cannot be the last generation to have that place. At this rate, kids who miss the sense of wonder outdoors will not grow up to be protectors of natural landscapes. “If the decline in parks use continues across North America, who will defend parks against encroachment (蚕食)?” asks Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods.
Without having a nature experience, kids, can turn out just fine, but they are missing out a huge enrichment of their lives. That applies to everything from their physical health and mental health, to stress levels, creativity and cognitive (认知的) skills. Experts predict modern kids will have poorer health than their parents — and they say a lack of outside play is surely part of it; research suggests that kids do better academically in schools with a nature component and that play in nature fosters (培养) leadership by the smartest, not by the toughest. Even a tiny outdoor experience can create wonder in a child. The three-year-old turning over his first rock realizes he is not alone in the world. A clump of trees on the roadside can be the whole universe in his eyes. We really need to value that more.
Kids are not responsible. They are over-protected and frightened. It is dangerous out there from time to time, but repetitive stress from computers is replacing breaking an arm as a childhood rite (仪式) of passage.
Everyone, from developers, to schools and outdoor citizens, should help regain for our kids some of the freedom and joy of exploring, taking friendship in fields and woods that cement love, respect and need for landscape. As parents, we should devote some of our energies to taking our kids into nature. This could yet be our greatest cause.
1. The main idea of Paragraph 2 is that ________.| A．kids miss the sense of wonder outdoors |
| B．parks are in danger of being gradually encroached |
| C．Richard Louv is the author of Last Child in the Woods |
| D．children are expected to develop into protectors of nature |
| A．be less healthy both physically and mentally |
| B．be over-protected by their parents |
| C．keep a high sense of wonder |
| D．change wild places and creatures for the better |
| A．the fault on the part of their parents |
| B．the natural experience in their growing up |
| C．the result of their own carelessness in play |
| D．the effect of their repetitive stress from computers |
| A．Weaken. | B．Strengthen. | C．Lower. | D．Decease. |
| A．blame children for getting lost in computer games |
| B．encourage children to protect parks from encroachment |
| C．show his concern about children’s lack of experience in nature |
| D．inspire children to keep the sense of wonder about things around |
3 . One side effect of globalization and the related phenomenon of greatly increased mobility is that the traditional definition of “foreigner” has passed its sell-by date.
Is a European who has lived in China longer than in his home country, becoming fluent in the language and culture in the process, still a foreigner in China, or has he become more of a foreigner in his own home town? What about a Beijinger who did her schooling in Canada and then lived and worked in mainstream society there for another 20 years while raising a family, who has no intention of returning to China? Does she think and act like a foreigner? What do we mean by this label?
When I grew up in the suburbs of Chicago, the faces you would see during a walk through a local shopping mall back in the 1960s and 1970s included almost none of Asian descent. Today the same malls are full of Asian faces, and a glance at the ranks of top scoring students in local schools reveals lots of Asian surnames.
To some extent, this is no great surprise in the American context, because America is a land of immigrants, and a cultural melting pot. Apart from the native American Indians, Americans are (or were), in some way, all foreigners anyway. Absorbing a large number of immigrants is an established pattern in American history.
In most places, the traditional foreigners were people who didn’t speak or read the local languages well, were unfamiliar with local customs and lifestyles, often engaged in relatively third-class work, and certainly not the type of people you would want your sons or daughters to marry. But, nowadays, a foreigner down the street may have better SAT scores than you did, or higher degree from a better university. He might also be your son’s or daughter’s next employer.
The traditional role models are getting mixed up, and it looks like this is just the beginning of a new chapter. Today, the whole thing has totally changed. It’s not about where people are from or what color their skins are. It’s about who they are, what values and skills they bring, and how they think.
1. By mentioning a European and a Beijinger, the author tends to tell us ______.| A．it’s no long proper to define foreigners according to their birthplaces |
| B．the label of foreigners can never be removed |
| C．most foreigners can do well in learning languages |
| D．it’s impossible for a foreigner to get recognition abroad |
| A．In 1960s and 1970s, Asians didn’t shop in Chicago. |
| B．Today, more and more Asian travelers like to shop in Chicago. |
| C．There are more Asian immigrants today than in 1960s and 1970s in Chicago. |
| D．Most Asian students do well academically in the schools in Chicago. |
| A．They didn’t have good command of the local languages. |
| B．It’s hard for them to marry local people. |
| C．They rarely got familiar with the local customs and lifestyles. |
| D．Most of them didn’t live at the bottom of the local society. |
| A．the term “foreigner” should be redefined |
| B．the term “foreigner” should no longer be used |
| C．there are no more foreigners in the world today |
| D．the term “foreigner” is not proper to define people |
| A．Globalization and mobility caused more and more immigrants. |
| B．The standards of defining “foreigner” have thoroughly changed. |
| C．America is a cultural melting pot. |
| D．Immigration is a global social phenomenon. |
4 . Since the early to mid-2010s, social media apps have made a permanent home in many people’s phones, and spending time on social media has become as much of a daily activity as drinking water. Since so many people are on it for much of their days — especially kids, teens, and young adults — there is increased concern over what social media is doing to people.
Many argue that social media is an unhealthy way to pass the time, and that false information from online is causing confusion and panic. This type of thing happens with every generation when something new that people don’t understand comes along. So many people thought rock-and-roll was making teens morally bad, which really wasn’t the case. It is fair to say that the teenage years are hard, and that teens need an escape. Back before phones, teens would listen to rock music as a form of escapism, or they would watch TV, go to the movies, skate around, or dress up in crazy clothes. Unfortunately, all of those things at one point in time were blamed for being a bad influence on young people. Social media is the new tuck-and-roll: it’s a new thing, and people demonize (妖魔化) change.
For example, many believe that everything on social media apps is filtered (加滤镜) and that seeing perfect people and their perfectly edited lives often leads to lots of negative emotions. However, models, magazines and movies have been using retouching (修整) tools for photos and media since Photoshop and other post-production services were invented. Social media has made it easier to see more edited pictures, but social media itself isn’t making people want to look a certain way. People should acknowledge that these pictures aren’t authentic, and the posts are made to look good on purpose. Social media is hot to blame for body confidence issues when the things people want to look like aren’t even real in the first place.
It seems like most issues around social media are user errors, like anyone complaining there are too many people being addicted to social media. However, not everyone is addicted to social media; people who have any grasp on reality wouldn’t spend every waking second on the phone. It is really up to the individual how they use social media. Keeping up with the flood of posts, stories, and photos takes a lot of time — many young people admit that they spend hours on their phones every day. Yet, this seems like an easy problem to solve when the solution is simply clicking off the phone a couple hours early. So it is clear that moderation is the key to dealing with all the issues around social media.
1. Why does the author mention “rock-and-roll” in Paragraph 2?| A．To predict the future of social media. |
| B．To underline the advantages of social media. |
| C．To analyze why social media is so popular today. |
| D．To explain why social media is regarded as negative. |
| A．Disturbing. | B．Understandable. | C．Intolerable. | D．Innovative. |
| A．Make the best use of it. |
| B．Completely stay away from it. |
| C．Prohibit young people from using it. |
| D．Spend reasonable amounts of time on it. |
| A．What makes us so addicted to social media? |
| B．Why is social media so popular among teenagers? |
| C．Should we depend on social media for information? |
| D．Is it right to blame social media for all the problems? |
5 . For a long time, comedy has been perceived as a profession for men only. But this has changed in recent years. Many female comics have made their mark on the stage not by ignoring the issues of gender inequality, but by bringing them to light.
Yang Li, 28, is one of them. Yang has done stand-up comedy for about three years and often focuses on the difficulties females face. For example, she recently made headlines with a biting joke about how women are portrayed in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
“In The Avengers (《复仇者联盟》), there are six heroes, and only one of them is a woman,” she said during a July episode of Rock & Roast (《脱口秀大会》). Yang was referring to Black Widow, whose superpower is the ability to slow down her aging. How exactly is she supposed to save the world by surviving until all the bad guys die?”
“What I said is not only a joke, but also something female comics are facing, as well as women in general.” Yang told Jiemian News.
Chinese comic twins Yan Yi and Yan Yue echoed this sentiment (观点). They once joked that “the only movie that doesn’t depict two women fighting with each other over a man is The Shining (《闪灵》) (an iconic horror movie from the US)”.
Despite getting more prominent roles, however, women still face challenges in the comedy industry, according to Sixth Tone, a publication based in Shanghai.
“I’ve found that audiences tend to be more judgmental about a female comedian’s appearance,” Yang Mengqi, who made the top 30 on Rock & Roast, said. To avoid unwelcome attention, female comics have to be especially prudent (精明的) in choosing what clothes they wear to perform.
The other challenge is that females are sometimes taken less seriously, despite abundant evidence of their talent and commitment in the male-dominated field.
Maple Zuo is a comic who performs in both English and Mandarin. “It’s hard to fit in when I’m the only female comedian (at a show),” said Zuo, who has toured internationally. “Every time there’s a comedy scene party, they always spontaneously (自然而然地) divide up into two groups: one for the male comics, another for their girlfriends, she said. “I always end up hanging out with the girlfriends.”
Even so, many Chinese female comics feel optimistic about their future. Yang told Sixth Tone, “When people ask what has motivated me to stick with stand-up comedy, my response is simple: I hope to use whatever influence I have to improve gender equality.”
1. What is the author’s main purpose in writing this article?| A．To explore challenges female comics face. |
| B．To explain what contributes to female comics’ success. |
| C．To inform us of the development of the comedy industry. |
| D．To describe how the roles of female comics have changed. |
| A．Black Widow is less brave than other male heroes. |
| B．She admired Black Widow’s ability to age slowly. |
| C．She doubted Black Widow’s ability to survive. |
| D．Black Widow reflects negative stereotypes about women in society. |
| A．questioned | B．repeated | C．announced | D．ignored |
| A．show female comics a way to fight cultural stereotypes |
| B．describe why female comics have to mind what they wear |
| C．illustrate that female comics are often left out by male comics |
| D．explain what it takes for female comics to succeed |
| A．Hopeful. | B．Worried. | C．Unconcerned. | D．Confused. |
6 . Written more than two hundred years ago, these lines by Walter Scott remain one of the most well — known excerpts of Scottish poetry:
Oh, what a tangled web we weave,
When first we practise to deceive!
We all know that honesty is an important value and that lying is wrong, but who can honestly say that they’ve never told a lie? Perhaps we comfort ourselves with the knowledge that most of the lies we tell are “white lies”: little lies that we tell to protect others from the truth.
We’ve all surely had the experience of someone cooking a meal for us that we don’t like. The majority of us of course don’t tell the truth — we lie and say that the food is “delicious”.
Or if a friend asks us what we think of their new haircut, we say “It’s great!”, even if we think it’s awful. But to what extent can we justify telling white lies like these?
One of the main reasons for telling a white lie is to try to make others feel better. However, when we lie and say that someone’s haircut looks good, or when we say that we love a meal that we secretly hate, are we really hoping to improve the situation for someone else? Perhaps we are in fact lying to protect ourselves from the disappointment and anger of others.
Another reason for telling a white lie is to give encouragement. Say for example that your friend asks you what you think of his singing. You of course say that it’s wonderful, despite secretly thinking that your cat can sing better. Stop for a moment and consider that perhaps your friend wants some frank comments from you so that they can improve. Or perhaps, they need to know that they should look for a different hobby.
Finally, we may also tell a white lie when we want to protect others from bad news. If you’ve had a bad day, do you tell your parents about it, or do you hide your tears and lie that your day was fine? If the latter, don’t you think your parents would want to listen to you and understand your feelings? Wouldn’t it be better to respect their concern for you and ask for their advice?
Going back to Walter Scott’s lines, we may find even white lies have results we cannot know in advance. Perhaps the meal you said was “delicious” will be served every time you visit. Would your friend trust your opinion again if he found out you had lied about his “wonderful” singing? How would you expect others to truly understand your emotions if you only shared good news instead of bad? Moreover, how would you feel if you discovered that the people closest to you had been hiding the truth from you?
1. Why does the author quote Walter Scott’s famous excerpt?| A．He explains the reasons why people want to tell white lies. |
| B．He wants to attach more importance to this passage. |
| C．He shows that telling lies has been common for long. |
| D．He hopes to call on people to tell white lies. |
| A．They don’t wish the host to be hurt. |
| B．They wish the host to cook more delicious food. |
| C．They wish the host to serve them more. |
| D．They don’t wish the host to cook such a meal. |
| A．improve the situation for others |
| B．protect ourselves from the disappointment and anger of others |
| C．make our friend happy |
| D．keep our friendship |
| A．hide our true feelings and lie to others that our day is fine |
| B．share it with a friend |
| C．go on a trip alone to relax ourselves |
| D．tell our parents and ask for their advice |
| A．To show the importance of honesty. |
| B．To analyze the reasons of telling lies. |
| C．To promote the benefits of white lies. |
| D．To persuade readers to avoid telling lies. |
7 . Whether an individual is considering starting a small business or changing career paths, passion must be taken into account. While characteristics such as strong values, talent, ambition, intellect, discipline, persistence (毅力), and luck all contribute to business and career success, following your passion can often make the most significant difference of all.
Before discussing passion and explaining its significance, we must first define the true meaning of success. Success is usually thought of as making large sums of wealth or achieving a certain level of fame, but true success that satisfies is not all about money.
Success is better defined as an achievement of a desired aim or purpose. More than money or fame, most people desire to combine their own passions with their work while making a sustainable income. The more you earn, the less money returns, making money an elusive (难以捉摸的) definition of success.
For most people, success means being proud of their achievements and being part of something that matters. This is particularly true when it comes to meaningful work. If an individual decides to follow their passion, there is a greater likelihood that money and traditional success will follow because the time and effort invested in the adventure come with enthusiasm and zeal (热情).
If enthusiasm and passion are present, people tend to be more resilient (有承受力) when encountering obstacles. People who are passionate about what they do, rather than just "in it for the money," tend to be people who have more positive outlooks and can overcome difficulty through problem-solving.
Also, the more passionate someone is about their job, the more inclined (倾向于) they are to work hard on self-improvement, increasing their chances of success.
One of the most successful companies in the world is Apple. Apple's founder and most remarkable leader was the late Steve Jobs. In an article titled “The Seven Success Principles of Steve Jobs”, writer Carmine Gallo outlines seven factors responsible for Jobs’ success. The article is based on interviews with Apple employees and Steve Jobs himself. The first principle? “Do what you love.” Steve Jobs believed in the power of passion and once said, “People with passion can change the world for the better.” Jobs claimed that his passion for his work made all the difference.
1. In writing Paragraph 1, the author aims to ________.| A．introduce the topic | B．make a comparison |
| C．present an argument | D．propose a definition |
| A．sometimes you don’t get much reward for your hard work |
| B．money doesn't always define success |
| C．if you want to be successful, you need a steady income |
| D．the more you earn, the less money returns, which is not a sign of success |
| A．Most people intend to choose meaningful jobs. |
| B．If you follow most people's course, success is just around the corner. |
| C．Working with enthusiasm is more likely to succeed. |
| D．If you are always proud of yourself, you will succeed easily. |
| A．situations | B．risks | C．threats | D．difficulties |
| A．Steve Jobs and His Success Principles |
| B．Follow Your Passions, and Success Will Follow |
| C．Secrets to Success |
| D．Passion and Your Career |
8 . In 1910, the Los Angeles Times ran a story about a boy who was charged with opening a valve (阀门) on a water pump powered by a steam engine to release the built-up pressure. His whole job consisted of staring at these machines all day, which was incredibly boring. The “ lazy ” boy then invented a release for the pump to run just as it should and won his freedom. The first automatic steam engine was born.
This story may be fictional, but the boy’s behavior reflects a deeper truth. When we are feeling lazy, we often search for an easier way, trying to update the process and save time and effort. In other words, laziness can drive innovation.
In recent years, some psychologists and business leaders have wised up to this insight, changing our perspective of what laziness really means. Both Bill Gates and Walter Chrysler have been credited with a quote: “ I always choose a lazy person to do a hard job because a lazy person will find an easy way to do it. ”
Our brains are born for laziness. Compared with our ancestors who had to conserve energy to compete for food, flee from predators, and fight, we now don’t take survival as a daily issue. It seems natural that we would choose to be “lazier” , but the opposite has occurred. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Americans sleep less and work more than we used to; productivity per worker has gone up 400 percent since 1950. Our culture teaches us that our worth depends on how industrious we are, so we work even harder to produce even more.
But there’s one big paradox (悖论), sad but true: The harder we work, the less productive we are. When demand increases, we tend to push harder. Yet the trouble is that, without any refresh and recharge, we are less efficient, make more mistakes, and get less engaged with what we’re doing.
Therefore, how can we make our labor more meaningful and our lives more fulfilling? Current research in psychology and neuroscience points to a new understanding of the value of the wandering mind. Taking breaks and allowing your thoughts to drift can help your brain retain information, refocus, and gain fresh perspective.
Here’s the core problem: When the time finally comes to put our feet up, we often don’t know how. We have little training in how to be idle. But at least give it a shot. Maybe this week, notice some downtime in your day, some white space in your calendar. Instead of filling the space with more work, just sit in the sofa, and be, in the words of poet Mary Oliver, “ idle and blessed. ”
1. The author tells the story in paragraph 1 to prove ______.| A．the kid needs punishing | B．boredom enhances productivity |
| C．creativity contributes to laziness | D．laziness inspires new ideas |
| A．By listing some numbers of being lazy. |
| B．By quoting some great figures’ words. |
| C．By making a comparison between two great figures. |
| D．By giving examples of how to be creative. |
| A．People nowadays don’t have to face poverty. | B．Modern society honors creativity. |
| C．Americans lives a poorer life than before. | D．Ancestors consider industry as a value. |
| A．Working 24 -7 with a tight schedule. |
| B．Taking three part-time jobs to fill weekends. |
| C．Watching a stand-up comedy after a busy weekday. |
| D．Attending a formal dinner with business purpose. |
| A．compare the previous understanding of idleness to the new |
| B．persuade people to give up the value of hard work |
| C．criticize the irresponsible attitude towards life |
| D．encourage people to keep refreshed for better work and life |
9 . Maths anxiety may be causing a national crisis, Cambridge University researchers have said, as they find that one in ten children suffer from anxiety at the subject.
Researchers surveyed 1,700 British pupils aged 8 to 13 about their feelings towards the subject. They found 10% of children suffered from maths anxiety. Other feelings caused by maths included fear and anger, while physical symptoms included a racing heart or struggling to catch breath.
“The project studied students’ attitudes towards maths because of what could be called a maths crisis in the UK,” researchers said. “Many children and adults experience feelings of anxiety, fear or discomfort when they face maths. This may be leading to a low level of maths in the country.” The number of adults with functional maths skills equal to a GCSE (英国普通中等教育证书) grade C has dropped from 26% in 2003 to only 22% in 2011, according to the survey. At the same time, only 57% of the children achieved the same level in functional maths skills.
Dr. Denes Szucs, a professor at Cambridge’s Centre for Neuroscience (神经科学) in Education said that there is a misunderstanding that only low performing children suffer from maths anxiety. “This is a common misunderstanding that we have seen in decision makers,” he said. “They assume people are anxious about maths because they are poor achievers.” In fact, more than 77% of children with high levels of maths anxiety are normal to high achievers. Dr Szucs went on, “Probably their maths anxiety will go unnoticed because their performance is good. But they are very worried and in the long term their performance is limited. This is a real danger here: these are children who are completely able to do maths at a normal level, but may keep away from it because they feel anxious.” The research also found that girls have higher levels of maths anxiety than boys.
John’s Hillman, director of education at the Nuffield Foundation said, “Mathematical achievement is valuable, as a foundation for many other subjects and as an important predictor of future academic learning, job hunting and even health. Maths anxiety can seriously influence students’ performance in both primary and secondary schools.”
1. What can we learn from the survey conducted by the Cambridge University researchers?| A．High performing children are safe from maths anxiety. |
| B．Adults suffer lower levels of maths anxiety than children. |
| C．Children with maths anxiety suffers both physically and mentally. |
| D．Girls’ bad performance leads to their high levels of maths anxiety. |
| A．They want to help improve students’ academic performance. |
| B．Maths anxiety may cause great damage to children’s development. |
| C．They intend to correct people’s misunderstanding on maths anxiety. |
| D．The maths anxiety shared by people of all ages caused a national crisis. |
| A．Presenting data. | B．Listing reasons. |
| C．Giving definition. | D．Providing examples. |
| A．boys suffered a higher level of maths anxiety than girls |
| B．maths anxiety of low performing children goes unnoticed |
| C．some of the high achievers also suffered from math anxiety |
| D．poor achievers might have physical problem in the long term |
| A．What should be done to improve students’ performance in maths? |
| B．What can be done to make children comfortable with maths? |
| C．How does maths anxiety influence people’s health? |
| D．How can children acquire functional skills? |
10 . Human’s appetite for sand could increase 45 percent within four decades, according to researchers who say unchecked consumption risks environmental damage and shortages of a key material for urban expansion. Growing demand for building sand — which is used to make concrete, glass and other vital construction materials – has already seen the rise of sand pirates (盗贼) , with dozens of islands disappearing in Indonesia as a result of casual mining.
Xiaoyang Zhong at Leiden University and his colleagues have calculated that global building sand demand will jump from 3.2 billion tonnes a year in 2020 to 4.6 billion tonnes by 2060. The figure is based on a central situation of future population rises and economic growth, and modelled using estimates of concrete and glass consumption, and the floor area needed in buildings.But there is no reliable estimate for remaining sand reserves, so it is unclear if the world can bear such a big increase. “Sand, and the sand crisis (危机), has been overlooked, creating severe environmental and social consequences. If we don’t act now, we may not have enough sand to develop our cities,” says Zhong.
However, Zhong’s team found that about half the projected consumption in 2060 could be avoided if countries take a suit of measures, including extending the lifetime of buildings, reusing concrete, creating more lightweight building designs and using other materials, such as wooden frames. According to the model, the single biggest reduction in sand use could come from more efficient (有效的) use of space: distributing less floor space per person in buildings, sharing offices, and so on. “It’s hard to say how realistic these measures are. But we want this to happen,” says Zhong.
The research only looked at sand used for glass and concrete in buildings, so is an underestimate of total future demand. Granular data on sand consumption for the 26 world regions studied is also lacking, and not detailed enough for country-level breakdowns.
Failure to act will add existing environmental pressures on reserves of sand in lakes and rivers first, but absolute shortages shouldn't be overlooked, says Zhong. “It would be very questionable if this growing demand could be met,” he says.
1. What may cause the environmental and social effects according to Zhong?| A．Sand reserves are not enough. |
| B．The sand crisis is overestimated. |
| C．Sand crisis isn’t paid much attention to. |
| D．The construction industry is lack of sand. |
| A．By reusing he building materials. |
| B．By lengthening the building’s lifetime. |
| C．By making use of space more wisely. |
| D．By preventing sand use completely. |
| A．It only studied the sand use in 26 areas. |
| B．It didn’t show the detailed data on sand use. |
| C．It didn’t take realistic measures on sand use. |
| D．It overlooked the total sand need in the future. |
| A．How we will take action to stop it. |
| B．Why its shortages are overlooked in most countries. |
| C．Whether the increasing sand need may be satisfied. |
| D．What damage the environmental pressures do to rivers. |
