1 . Why isn’t science better? Look at career incentives.
There are often substantial gaps between the idealized and actual versions of those people whose work involves providing a social good. Government officials are supposed to work for their constituents. Journalists are supposed to provide unbiased reporting and penetrating analysis. And scientists are supposed to relentlessly probe the fabric of reality with the most rigorous and skeptical of methods.
All too often, however, what should be just isn’t so. In a number of scientific fields, published findings turn out not to replicate (复制), or to have smaller effects than, what was initially claimed. Plenty of science does replicate — meaning the experiments turn out the same way when you repeat them — but the amount that doesn’t is too much for comfort.
But there are also ways in which scientists increase their chances of getting it wrong. Running studies with small samples, mining data for correlations and forming hypotheses to fit an experiment’s results after the fact are just some of the ways to increase the number of false discoveries.
It’s not like we don’t know how to do better. Scientists who study scientific methods have known about feasible remedies for decades. Unfortunately, their advice often falls on deaf ears. Why? Why aren’t scientific methods better than they are? In a word: incentives. But perhaps not in the way you think.
In the 1970s, psychologists and economists began to point out the danger in relying on quantitative measures for social decision-making. For example, when public schools are evaluated by students’ performance on standardized tests, teachers respond by teaching “to the test”. In turn, the test serves largely as of how well the school can prepare students for the test.
We can see this principle—often summarized as “when a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure”—playing out in the realm of research. Science is a competitive enterprise. There are far more credentialed (授以证书的) scholars and researchers than there are university professorships or comparably prestigious research positions. Once someone acquires a research position, there is additional competition for tenure (终身教授) grant funding, and support and placement for graduate students. Due to this competition for resources, scientists must be evaluated and compared. How do you tell if someone is a good scientist?
An oft-used metric (标准，度量) is the number of publications one has in peer-reviewed journals, as well as the status of those journals. Metrics like these make it straightforward to compare researchers whose work may otherwise be quite different. Unfortunately, this also makes these numbers susceptible to exploitation.
If scientists are motivated to publish often and in high-impact journals, we might expect them to actively try to game the system (钻空子). And certainly, some do—as seen in recent high-profile cases of scientific fraud (欺诈). If malicious (恶意的) fraud is the prime concern, then perhaps the solution is simply heightened alertness.
However, most scientists are, I believe, genuinely interested in learning about the world, and honest. The problem with incentives is that they can shape cultural norms without any intention on the part of individuals.
1. Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?| A．Scientists are expected to persistently devoted to exploration of reality. |
| B．The research findings fail to achieve the expected effect. |
| C．Hypotheses are modified to highlight the experiments’ results. |
| D．The amount of science that does replicate is comforting. |
| A．The public. | B．The incentive initiators. |
| C．The peer researchers. | D．The high-impact journal editors. |
| A．Good scientists excel in seeking resources and securing research positions. |
| B．Competition for resources pushes researchers to publish in a more productive way. |
| C．All the credentialed scholars and researchers will take up university professorships. |
| D．The number of publication reveals how scientists are bitterly exploited. |
| A．High-impact journals are encouraged to reform the incentives for publication. |
| B．The peer-review process is supposed to scale up inspection of scientific fraud. |
| C．Researchers are motivated to get actively involved in gaming the current system. |
| D．Career incentives for scientists are expected to consider their personal intention. |
2 . Beating Burnout and Compassion Fatigue in the New Year
This year has continued to bring many of us closer to the pain, suffering and exhaustion of those experiencing burnout and compassion fatigue (疲倦). There is no doubt that 2021 has been filled with additional challenges.
The data is clearly showing that our workforce shares feelings of burnout. A recent Gallup report indicated that 67% of us feel burned out either some or most of the time. At an organizational level, Hogan reports that burned out employees are 18% less productive and 2.6 times more likely to be actively seeking a different job.
Fatigue and burnout arise not when we fail to get sufficient rest but when we fail to appreciate the moments of purpose and joy in our lives.
There are a few myths around burnout and compassion fatigue:
Myth 1: Burnout is an individual's problem.
Many people believe that burnout is about an individual who needs to “figure it out”.
Myth 2:
Surprisingly, the individuals most likely to experience burnout are committed employees and leaders who love their job and are highly engaged. These top performers are the people you are most likely to lose.
Myth 3: People who experience burnout are just less resilient.
Research shows a correlation between higher levels of resilience (复原力) and lower levels of burnout.
If 2021 has taught us anything, it is that we cannot separate burnout from our emotions, whether they may be fear, anger, shame or guilt.
| A．While fatigue is more sudden and results from carrying the pain and suffering of others, what we experience is similar. |
| B．Burnout results from lack of responsibility. |
| C．Burnout hurts individuals' enthusiasm and passion. |
| D．At this point, burnout and compassion fatigue has expanded into many aspects of our lives. |
| E．But burnout occurs at different levels and is the result from challenges to individuals, teams and organizations. |
| F．At one point, people believed resilience was established by “sucking it up”, or “just staying positive”. |
| G．And the path forward requires us to deepen the relationship with feelings of joy, passion, pride and fulfillment. |
3 . A leaked IPCC draft reports, “Widespread use across millions of square kilometers globally of tree-planting and bioenergy crops could have potentially serious consequences for food security and land degradation (退化).” In other words, more massive monocultures (单种栽培) and more bioenergy crops, fueled by more fertilizers, could damage the structure of the environmental soil and its capacity to absorb carbon.
Everyone knows that to help ease the increasing climate crisis, we need to plant new trees. It’s said that the earth could support an additional 9,000,000 square kilometers of forest, potentially hosting 500 billion trees capable of capturing more than 200 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide at maturity. It would be a serious help to the environment.
Bioenergy now holds a 50 percent share of the world’s renewables consumption—as much as hydro, wind, solar and all others combined. It’s good news, but not entirely. If we consider that increasing desertification and rising ocean levels will take away more arable (可耕种的) land, we arrive at a crucial “trilemma”(三难困境). Should we use our spare soil for agriculture, reforestation or bioenergy?
Such a question would make sense in a multilateral, harmonious world, not on a planet where the richest country cancels an environment-saving agreement, thus encouraging the most tropically-forested nation to set about cutting trees.
Last year, 36,000 square kilometers of forest was cut down. Wouldn’t it be better to start by stopping deforestation altogether? Animal farming takes up 77 percent of the world’s arable land and provides us with 18 percent of the calories. Shouldn’t we cut back on global meat consumption? Modern bioenergy is already available. Shouldn’t we get rid of first-generation biofuels, which are produced from food crops?
1. What’s the IPCC’s attitude to the widespread planting?| A．Ambiguous | B．Positive | C．Disapproving | D．Uncaring |
| A．Add some background information. | B．Summarize the previous paragraphs. |
| C．Provide some advice for the readers. | D．Introduce a new topic for discussion. |
| A．There is less sustainable energy for use. |
| B．No more land is available for bioenergy. |
| C．More trees are cut in the richest country. |
| D．Bioenergy can cause more climate problems. |
| A．Developing farmland as much as possible. |
| B．Planting trees to prevent global warming. |
| C．Using bioenergy to reduce environmental pollution. |
| D．Protecting present resources instead of developing new ones. |
内容包括：
1. 描述图片反映的现象；2. 简析产生该现象的原因；3. 简要表达你对该现象的看法。
注意：1. 词数100左右；
2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
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5 . We love letters. Just as John Donne, a poet,
A UK-wide survey undertaken by Sunday Times suggests that one in four of us has not
We
The thought behind a letter
Who wouldn’t love to receive a letter like that? Let’s get writing!
1.| A．made | B．put | C．helped | D．managed |
| A．rather than | B．less than | C．more than | D．other than |
| A．absent | B．active | C．amused | D．admirable |
| A．also | B．yet | C．already | D．still |
| A．popular | B．common | C．rare | D．simple |
| A．received | B．sent | C．written | D．rejected |
| A．success | B．pleasure | C．concern | D．calmness |
| A．engineer | B．doctor | C．police | D．postman |
| A．seizing | B．tearing | C．hiding | D．carrying |
| A．can | B．must | C．may | D．shall |
| A．American | B．Chinese | C．Australian | D．British |
| A．forget | B．change | C．remember | D．notice |
| A．money | B．room | C．history | D．time |
| A．contacted | B．interviewed | C．consulted | D．admired |
| A．guests | B．visitors | C．friends | D．partners |
| A．force | B．strength | C．source | D．energy |
| A．effort | B．comfort | C．surprise | D．experience |
| A．educates | B．guides | C．matters | D．rewards |
| A．nothing | B．anything | C．something | D．everything |
| A．looks after | B．cares about | C．struggles for | D．agrees with |
Western holidays such as Christmas, Valentine’s Day, are getting more and more popular in China. Some Chinese people even get crazy at them. But at the same time, people seem to have more enthusiasm for our traditional festivals such as the Spring Festival and the Moon Festival. However, most people celebrate western holidays without know the meaning behind them. They just go shopping, held parties and have fun.
In my opinion, the celebration of western holidays is good way of learning about the western cultures, which help to promote understanding and communication between Chinese cultures and other cultures. However, the celebration can make our life more interesting as well as. However, we should make greatly efforts to preserve and enrich their own traditional culture.
7 . We’ve all been there: in a lift, in line at the bank or on an airplane, surrounded by people who are, like us, deeply focused on their smartphones or, worse, struggling with the uncomfortable silence.
What’s the problem? It’s possible that we all have compromised conversational intelligence. It’s more likely that none of us start a conversation because it’s awkward and challenging, or we think it’s annoying and unnecessary. But the next time you find yourself among strangers, consider that small talk is worth the trouble. Experts say it’s an invaluable social practice that results in big benefits.
Dismissing small talk as unimportant is easy, but we can’t forget that deep relationships wouldn’t
even exist if it weren’t for casual conversation. Small talk is the grease(润滑剂) for social communication, says Bernardo Carducci, director of the Shyness Research Institute at Indiana University Southeast. ＂Almost every great love story and each big business deal begins with small talk,＂ he explains. ＂The key to successful small talk is learning how to connect with others, not just communicate with them.＂
In a 2014 study, Elizabeth Dunn, associate professor of psychology at UBC, invited people on their way into a coffee shop. One group was asked to seek out an interaction(互动) with its waiter; the other, to speak only when necessary. The results showed that those who chatted with their server reported significantly higher positive feelings and a better coffee shop experience. ＂It’s not that talking to the waiter is better than talking to your husband,＂ says Dunn. ＂But interactions with peripheral(边缘的) members of our social network matter for our well-being also.＂
Dunn believes that people who reach out to strangers feel a significantly greater sense of belonging, a bond with others. Carducci believes developing such a sense of belonging starts with small talk. ＂Small talk is the basis of good manners,＂ he says.
1. What phenomenon is described in the first paragraph?| A．Addiction to smartphones. |
| B．Inappropriate behaviours in public places. |
| C．Absence of communication between strangers. |
| D．Impatience with slow service. |
| A．Showing good manners. | B．Relating to other people. |
| C．Focusing on a topic. | D．Making business deals. |
| A．It improves family relationships. | B．It raises people’s confidence. |
| C．It matters as much as a formal talk. | D．It makes people feel good. |
| A．Conversation Counts | B．Ways of Making Small Talk |
| C．Benefits of Small Talk | D．Uncomfortable Silence |
