1 . Binge-watching (刷剧) is when a person watches more than one episode of a show in a row. With developments in the speed and connectivity of the Internet, increases in technology and the rise of on-demand entertainment companies, people can now have their favorite shows stream (流播) directly to their television at their convenience.
This behavior is nothing new. In fact, binge-watching has been officially listed in dictionaries since 2015. The entertainment companies recognize this behavior and many take steps to encourage it. Often, instead of releasing each episode on a week-by-week basis, an entire series will become available concurrently. Once the episode finishes, many platforms will display pop-ups with “you might like” suggestions, or will automatically play the next episode.
However, recent research suggests that out of the more than half of British adults who watch more than one episode of a show back-to-back (一集接一集地), almost a third have admitted missing sleep or becoming tired as a result; and 25% have neglected their household chores (家务活). Next we’ll be missing work!
Bingeing has other connections — binge eating, binge drinking and binge smoking. All of them are often associated with a lack of control and a possible route to addiction. Lindsey Fussell, consumer group director, said, “The days of waiting a week for the next episode are largely gone, with people finding it hard to resist (抗拒) watching multiple episodes around the house or on the move.” If people find binge-watching hard to resist, are we witnessing the birth of a new type of addiction?
The countless number of information and entertainment that television and online media can bring us is, many would say, a good thing. However, when the activity begins to bleed into other areas, causing us to stop functioning, then it becomes a problem. So, what’s the answer? Moderation! Neither a tiny amount, nor too much. After all, as the old proverb says, “A little of what you fancy does you good.”
1. How did the writer develop the first paragraph?| A．By giving a definition. | B．By telling a story. |
| C．By listing some examples. | D．By analyzing the cause and effect. |
| A．For convenience. | B．At the same time. |
| C．In detail. | D．Free of charge. |
| A．people can’t control their feelings | B．people can’t resist the temptation of Bingeing |
| C．people have no patience to do work | D．people are addicted to waiting for a new episode |
| A．To keep online media from stopping functioning. |
| B．To enjoy entertainment as much as possible. |
| C．To learn life lessons from the episodes. |
| D．To watch episodes in a moderate way. |
2 . Obese people experience discrimination (歧视) in many parts of their lives, and the workplace is no exception. Studies have long shown that obese workers, defined as those with a body-mass index (BMI) of 30 or more, earn significantly less than their slimmer co-workers.
Yet the costs of weight discrimination may be even greater than previously thought. “The overwhelming evidence,” wrote the Institute for employment Studies, “is that it is only women living with obesity who experience the obesity wage penalty (薪资损失).” They were expressing a view that is widely aired in academic papers. To test it, The Economist has analyzed data concerning 23,000 workers from the American Time Use Survey, conducted by the Bureau of Labour Statistics. Our number-processing suggests that, in fact, being obese hurts the earnings of both women and men.
The data we analyzed cover men and women aged between 25 and 54 and in full-time employment. At a general level, it is true that men’s BMIs are unrelated to their wages. But that changes for men with university degrees. For them, obesity is associated with a wage penalty of nearly 8%, even after accounting for the separate effects of age, race, graduate education and marital status.
The conclusion — that well-educated workers in particular are penalized for their weight — holds for both sexes. Moreover, the higher your level of education, the greater the penalty. We found that obese men with a Bachelor’s degree (学士学位) earn 5% less than their thinner colleagues, while those with a Master’s degree earn 14% less. Obese women, it is true, still have it worse: for them, the equivalent figures are 12% and 19%, respectively (分别地).
Your line of work makes a difference, too. When we dealt with the numbers for individual occupations and industries, we found the greatest differences in high-skilled jobs. Obese workers in health care, for example, make 11% less than their slimmer colleagues; those in management roles make roughly 9% less, on average. In sectors such as construction and agriculture, meanwhile, obesity is actually associated with higher wages.
These results suggest that the total costs of wage discrimination borne by overweight workers in America are greater than expected. Now, it’s time for our governments to take it seriously.
1. What does the underlined word “it” refer to in paragraph 2?| A．Obese men earn less salary. |
| B．Only obese women earn less salary. |
| C．Both obese men and women earn less salary. |
| D．Weight discrimination may be greater than previously thought. |
| A．A fat woman office director. |
| B．An obese construction worker. |
| C．An obese man with a bachelor’s degree. |
| D．A heavier female doctor with a Doctor’s degree. |
| A．Supportive | B．Objective | C．Subjective | D．indifferent |
| A．Overweight discrimination in other countries. |
| B．The reason of discriminating obese people in their lives. |
| C．American people’s attitude towards overweight discrimination. |
| D．Actions taken against overweight discrimination in workplaces. |
3 . Virtual reality is quickly becoming the new technological frontier. Tech companies everywhere seem to be racing to get their foot in the VR door. However, virtual reality has a set of challenges and hurdles that it must overcome in order to work well. It should be noted that VR is heavily dependent on being very fast, very accurate and very good-looking. If it isn’t, the viewer will feel motion sick or disconnected from the world that VR is trying to create.
Now that we can actually build VR headsets that begin to meet these requirements, we are seeing a rising interest in VR. As it rises, so does the interest in creating new media to be experienced in using virtual reality. Journalism is a medium built on relevance. Journalists should always be finding new ways to tell stories and deliver content. It is a goldmine for storytelling. What better ways to tell a story to someone than to put them right in the center of it?
Virtual reality is a powerful tool for journalists. The consumer isn’t just reading or watching something play out; they’re experiencing it. The immersive nature of VR allows for people to connect with the subject matter on a much deeper level than just reading about it. The experience is emotional, speaking more to our instinct than our intellect. The possibilities for storytelling here are legion, and any storyteller wanting to do something more interesting than their peers should surely be considering the sheer power of VR.
The question of virtual reality, though, is not how powerful it is. That is immediately apparent. The question of VR is one of viability and availability. Telling stories must be easy to do, and access to those stories must be readily available. This is the biggest challenge that VR faces. If the tools to tell a story with VR aren’t easy to pick up and learn, VR will fail. If VR technology isn’t both top-of-the-line and affordable, VR will fail.
Accessibility was one concern for Thomas Hallaq, assistant professor of journalism and mass communications, who said that current VR technology, is pretty exclusive right now. Despite that, he said he doesn’t think the exclusivity of this technology will be a problem in the long run.
“I think it’s very promising,” Hallaq said. “We’re seeing more technology become accessible, and more people having access to that technology. Just look at smartphones.” Like radio, TV and the Internet before it, virtual reality will change the way we tell stories.
1. Why is VR considered a powerful tool for journalism?| A．Because it is an exclusively new tool. |
| B．Because it is very powerful and popular. |
| C．Because people can experience the story in person. |
| D．Because it is very fast, accurate and good-looking. |
| A．How powerful and interesting it can be. |
| B．Whether people will have easy access to it. |
| C．Whether qualified VR headsets can be built. |
| D．What new ways people will find to deliver content. |
| A．Optimistic. | B．Neutral. | C．Pessimistic. | D．Concerned. |
| A．The Wide Popularity of Virtual Reality |
| B．The Future Development of Virtual Reality |
| C．Challenges and Hurdles of Virtual Reality |
| D．Virtual Reality is the Future of Storytelling |
4 . Professionals use the word “amateur” as a disapproving term for those who lack formal training and qualifications. I think such prejudice is a mistake. One day that amateur might just create a new industry.
Typical amateurs are free to invent as they please, try new ideas, fail, and get up and do it all again—but better. As Marshall McLuhan, the media theorist, said: “Amateurs can afford to lose.” They are self-improvers, chasing a dream rather than a laborious, life-long career within a group. Amateurs can do it part-time, for charity or for fun.
Thanks to the Internet, we can all be competent amateurs at almost everything. Now everyone can DIY and experiment—from blogging to film-making to online advice shops. The mysteries, terms and exclusiveness of the self-satisfied old crafts are revealed online for all to see. Besides, the world is vastly more complex now, but that means even the most respected professional needs expert help. The end of the age of authority means we no longer hold elites (精英) such as judges and bankers in such awe. For centuries the club-like professional bodies have taken society in their control, a form of freemasonry (互助协会) for the well-educated and connected.
Charles Leadbeater has written persuasively about the importance of serious amateurs, or “professional amateurs”, who have helped introduce innovations to the mainstream. These passionate amateurs cooperate to give disruptive ideas (颠覆性的观点) possibility. Their constructive ideas contribute to the improvement of mountain bikes. Social enterprises are dominated by enthusiastic amateurs whose priority is to improve the world rather than bill clients. Among the greatest cooperative achievements of the Internet Age have been Wikipedia and Linux. It is surprising there haven’t been more crowded-sourced successes. Perhaps business projects have been too chaotic and lacked the leadership necessary for any complicated project to come to fruition.
Nevertheless, I show my admirations for the armies of gifted amateurs. I don’t deny the importance of education, but I place greater emphasis on results and originality, which are the highlights of amateurism.
1. The advantages of amateurs are listed below except ______.| A．they enjoy more freedom in creation. | B．they can afford the cost of failure. |
| C．they are the fruit of the Internet Age. | D．they have a wide range of choices. |
| A．The influence of professionals are being challenged. |
| B．Public opinion is influenced by the small group of elites. |
| C．Only the competent amateurs can make crafts revealed. |
| D．Human society has been governed by well-educated groups. |
| A．By listing figures. | B．By making comparisons. |
| C．By explaining causes. | D．By giving examples. |
| A．The Evolution of Amateurism | B．A New Industrial Revolution |
| C．A Salute to the Amateur | D．The End of Authority Age |
5 . You witness a man uses abusive (辱骂的) language towards his mother in a grocery store. Or you hear someone saying something mean to your friend at a party. Both are
However, the latest research shows that most people feel willing to help when they can. When they do not help, it is because they
Distraction is a good start. Take the case of the man abusing his mother in the grocery store, don’t give the man a face-to-face blame, instead an active bystander can
As another
Lastly, you can videotape the behavior with your cellphone. This documenting can be a
| A．circumstances | B．positions | C．surroundings | D．locations |
| A．Hopefully | B．Thankfully | C．Undoubtedly | D．Unfortunately |
| A．knocked | B．faced | C．suffered | D．blocked |
| A．at risk | B．in anger | C．at a loss | D．in a hurry |
| A．all | B．either | C．both | D．neither |
| A．talent | B．gift | C．ability | D．habit |
| A．adopting | B．adapting | C．replacing | D．rebuilding |
| A．artificial | B．beneficial | C．impossible | D．improper |
| A．firmly | B．indirectly | C．severely | D．confidently |
| A．topic | B．conversation | C．atmosphere | D．worry |
| A．cause | B．option | C．reality | D．effect |
| A．blame | B．fund | C．inform | D．post |
| A．help | B．confirm | C．escape | D．delay |
| A．tip | B．trick | C．cheat | D．warning |
| A．careful | B．nervous | C．scared | D．worried |
6 . My phone was an extension of myself. I couldn’t go anywhere
When I was watching TV shows or movies and there was a boring part, I
I have welcomed silence into my life with open arms and am enjoying the increased
As much as having a smartphone was
| A．through | B．without | C．despite | D．upon |
| A．updates | B．instructions | C．assessments | D．decisions |
| A．symbol | B．responsibility | C．reality | D．addiction |
| A．conscious | B．shameful | C．foolish | D．random |
| A．sell | B．pull | C．throw | D．mind |
| A．avoided | B．denied | C．missed | D．allowed |
| A．assist | B．improve | C．associate | D．occupy |
| A．requests | B．thoughts | C．directions | D．comments |
| A．instead of | B．regardless of | C．but for | D．apart from |
| A．creativity | B．productivity | C．knowledge | D．independence |
| A．routine | B．necessity | C．loneliness | D．temptation |
| A．genuine | B．grateful | C．direct | D．desperate |
| A．naturally | B．certainly | C．seemingly | D．gradually |
| A．wonder | B．imagination | C．interest | D．authenticity |
| A．depressive | B．comfortable | C．stressful | D．boring |
7 . What comes to mind when you think about chocolate? A candy bar at Halloween? Ice cream on a hot day?
For Ibrahim, a 12-year-old boy from the West African country of Ghana, chocolate is not about sweet treats; it is about bitter work.
To change the harmful practices like this, some farms use an approach called Fairtrade.
Consumers like you can play a role as well. You can buy Fairtrade chocolate if possible, pressure candy companies to change their labour practices, or ask local stores to sell Fairtrade products.
Chocolate has a hidden story that affects children like Ibrahim—children who want a happy future just like you do.
| A．You have the power to change the story. |
| B．The labels on chocolate do not tell his story. |
| C．Fairtrade is a way of doing business that prohibits child labour. |
| D．You can also take action through the Fairtrade Schools network. |
| E．On many farms, children like Ibrahim perform difficult farming tasks. |
| F．Cocoa trees grow in the tropical climates of Africa, Latin America and South-East Asia. |
| G．With more income, farmers can pay adult workers and can send their children to school. |
8 . The world food safety could be in danger because of a number of food production shocks (冲击), according to an Australian study.
The researchers from the University of Tasmania found that there were 226 shocks in the area of food production across 134 nations and the frequency has been increasing over the past 50 years.
According to Cottrell, a researcher from the University of Tasmania, the main causes behind the shocks are different. For crops, extreme weather events such as floods and no rain for a long time play the biggest part. Weather also plays a role in livestock(家畜)production, but disease plays a bigger role. Disease also leads to aquaculture(水产业)shocks, while in the ocean most of the food shocks are caused by overfishing.
“When we look at the food production systems, covering crops, livestock, fisheries and aquaculture,” Cottrell said, “we find that crops and livestock are more easily affected than aquaculture. And some countries in South Asia are more frequently affected than others.”
The effects of production shocks reached far away from where they happened. When one means of food production is greatly reduced, it will cause unexpected results. “The India got a lot of food production shocks in crops and livestock, largely because of floods,” Cottrell explained. “If countries like India are shocked and the rice production is much smaller, they’ll probably send less goods to another country. And that shock suddenly starts to affect all the trade partners of the major producers as well.”
According to what Cottrell said, while the international community faces a great challenge to these problems, steps taken now can help fight against unexpected shocks in the future. “This can be done through measures such as food store systems so that they are better able to deal with the effect which is caused by problems such as climate change.” said Cottrell.
1. What do we know about food production shocks?| A．Their causes are different in different production areas. |
| B．Some diseases are the main cause. |
| C．Extreme weather is the biggest shock. |
| D．Overfishing is the main cause. |
| A．Livestock in Australia. | B．Crops in Australian. |
| C．Fisheries in India. | D．Livestock in South Asia. |
| A．To show India sells a lot of crops to other countries. |
| B．To show the shocks can cause unexpected results. |
| C．To show Indian shocks are more often. |
| D．To show India has a lot of flood. |
| A．Results Caused by the Problem of Global Food Safety |
| B．Measures Solving the Problem of Global Food Safety |
| C．Production Shocks Threatening Global Food Safety |
| D．The Importance of Global Food Safety |
Today’s stars are at the center of much of the world’s attention. Paparazzi (狗仔队) camp outside their homes, cameras ready. Tabloids (小报) publishing stories about their personal lives. Although being famous might sound like a dream come true, they, feeling like zoo animals, face pressures that few of us
According
The phenomenon of tracking celebrities
Being a public figure today, however, is a lot
10 . The world feels like it’s being set alight. Wildfires in Canada and Europe, floods in China, and a never-ending stream of record-breaking heat waves have constantly dominated newspaper headlines. The feeling that time is quickly running out is very real. But that feeling is a barrier to action — nothing has changed when we’ve called for action before, so considering the seemingly limited time window.
Our past efforts tell us there is a chance. The world has solved large environmental problems that seemed impossible to overcome at the time. An eye-opening example is acid rain. Studying how the world dealt with this geopolitically divisive problem can give us some inspiration on how we can address climate change today.
It has mostly slipped from the public conversation, but acid rain was the leading environmental problem of the 1990s. Caused by sulfur dioxide (二氧化硫), it dissolved old sculptures, stripped forests of their leaves, and polluted rivers and lakes. Emissions from the UK would blow over to Sweden and Norway; emissions from the US would blow over to Canada. This is a classic game theory problem; outcomes don’t only depend on the actions of one country but those of the others too. Eventually, government officials had to sign international agreements, place emissions limits on power plants and start to reduce coal burning. Interventions were incredibly effective. In Europe, sulfur dioxide emissions fell by 84 percent and in the US by 90 percent.
Surely climate change is not the perfect parallel for the environmental problems we’ve solved before. It will be harder. It will involve every country, rich and poor. But change is happening. To accelerate action, we need to have the expectation that things can move faster. Past lessons tell us that these expectations are not unrealistic.
1. How does the sense of urgency affect attitudes to climate change?| A．It discourages team work. |
| B．It fuels doubts about efforts. |
| C．It arouses fear for disasters. |
| D．It weakens trust in newspapers. |
| A．To analyze the causes of present challenges. |
| B．To boost public confidence in the government. |
| C．To highlight acid rain’s environmental damage. |
| D．To offer insights into handling climate change. |
| A．The seriousness of the pollution. |
| B．Unequal shares of responsibility. |
| C．Seeking international cooperation. |
| D．Reducing sulfur dioxide emissions. |
| A．Unsatisfied. |
| B．Dismissive. |
| C．Optimistic. |
| D．Approving. |
