1 . You can tell a lot about people’s general state of mind based on their social media feeds. Are they always tweeting(发微博)about their biggest annoyances or posting pictures of particularly cute kitties? In a similar fashion, researchers are turning to Twitter for clues about the overall happiness of entire geographic communities.
What they’re finding is that regional variation in the use of common phrases produces predictions that don’t always reflect the local state of well being. But removing from their analyses just three specific terms -- good, love and LOL - greatly improves the accuracy of the methods.
“We’re living in a crazy COVID-19 era. And now more than ever, we’re using social media to adapt to a new normal and reach out to the friends and family that we can’t meet face-to-face.” Kokil Jaidka studies computational linguistics at the National University of Singapore. “But our words aren’t useful just to understand what we, as individuals, think and feel. They’re also useful clues about the community we live in.”
One of the simpler methods that many scientists use to analyze the data involves correlating words with positive or negative emotions. But when those records are compared with phone surveys that assess regional well-being, Jaidka says, they don’t paint an accurate picture of the local zeitgeist(时代精神).
Being able to get an accurate read on the mood of the population is no laughing matter. “That’s particularly important now, in the time of COVID, where we’re expecting a mental health crisis and we’re already seeing in survey data the largest decrease in subjective well-being in 10 years at least, if not ever.”
To find out why , Jaidka and her team analyzed billions of tweets from around the United States. And they found that among the most frequently used terms on Twitter are LOL, love and good. And they actually throw the analysis off. Why the disconnect?
“Internet language is really a different beast than regular spoken language. We’ve adapted words from the English vocabulary to mean different things in different situations.” says Jaidka. “Take, for example, LOL. I’ve tweeted the word LOL to express irony, annoyance and sometimes just pure surprise. When the methods for measuring LOL as a marker of happiness were created in the 1990s, it still meant laughing out loud.”
“There are plenty of terms that are less misleading,” says Jaidka. “Our models tell us that words like excited, fun, great, opportunity, interesting, fantastic and those are better words for measuring subjective well-being.”
1. The researchers turn to social media feeds to ________.A.help with the analysis of people’s subjective well-being |
B.integrate into a mainstreamed lifestyle more quickly |
C.prove the disconnect between language and emotions |
D.collect specific terms associated with specific zeitgeist. |
A.It didn’t reflect the mood of the entire geographic community |
B.It didn’t match the assessment result of the phone surveys. |
C.It didn’t consider the features of Internet language. |
D.It didn’t take the regional variations into account. |
A.Face-to-face communication is never replaced to ensure happiness. |
B.Internet use is to blame for the decrease in subjective well-being. |
C.Internet language should be originally used as a source of scientific analysis. |
D.Less misleading words should be used in assessing subjective well-being. |
A.Internet Shock Need A Break | B.Underlying LOL Never Fade Away |
C.Virtual Mirror Of Era Being | D.Gulf Between Old And New |
2 . Food waste is a growing problem both in America and across the globe. In North America alone about 30-40% of food ends up as rubbish each year. While much ends up as rubbish, over 48 million Americans live in households that do not have enough food! Now, concerned citizens are trying to raise awareness of the issue with some creative ideas.
In New York’s Westchester County, students at 18 schools join in a program called We Future Cycle. Started by Anna and Ashley in 2014, it teaches kids to recycle, compost (堆肥), and most importantly control food waste in an easy and efficient manner.
Lunch areas at those schools are equipped with three clearly marked bins— compost, recycle and share. While the first two are common in schools, the third is rare. This is the bin where kids can put their unwanted drinks, fruits, and even untouched sandwiches. Food there is available for any student that wants them. Whatever remains at the end of the day is given to the local soup kitchen or food bank. Anna says the three bins have helped reduce the number of trash bags produced at the mid-day meal from an average of 22 to just 2!
To ensure kids form similar habits at home, the non-profit has created plans to educate families about the importance of sorting waste into the proper streams of recycling, composting, and food to donate. They also urge parents to have open conversations with their kids about food choices.
Kids are not the only ones that waste food. Adults are equally bad, if not worse! To fight that, Brooklyn-based Josh founded Salvage Super Club in 2014. The randomly organized dinners promise customers a multi-course meal for merely 50 dollars per person. The delicious food is made from perfectly safe ingredients (成分) that are past their prime and, therefore, headed for the compost or trash bin.
1. The underlined word “awareness” in Paragraph 1 probably means__________?A.understanding | B.hope |
C.doubt | D.value |
A.Use dustbins instead of plastic bags for left-over food. |
B.Put their unwanted food in the bins and learn to share. |
C.Get the children to educate their parents at home. |
D.Only get single-course food for 50 dollars when eating out. |
A.Parents are to blame for the children’s bad habits. |
B.Parents do not encourage children to save food. |
C.Parents are as wasteful as children about food. |
D.Parents have set an example for the children. |
A.More information about food bank. | B.How to improve food production. |
C.The importance of saving food. | D.Other creative ways to save food. |
3 . Since “SQUID GAME” appeared in mid-September, the show has taken the world by storm, producing millions of videos on TikTok. In Paris fights broke out as fans tried to crowd into a shop where visitors could take photos with staff dressed like the characters from the show.
“Squid Game”, which takes its name from a common Korean schoolyard game, follows a group of heavily-indebted losers who are dressed in green sportswear and fight for a nearly $40 million prize.
The global strong interest for the show confused people in South Korea. “Nobody around me understands why it was so popular, and neither do I,” says In-young, a 26-year-old from Seoul who stopped watching after a couple of episodes (集) because it upset her to see her childhood games described as a cruel struggle for survival, though she admitted the show in some way made sense for ordinary South Koreans struggling with unaffordable housing and low-paid jobs.
One Korean critic (评论家) guesses that the mix of violent entertainment with a very popular comments explains the show’s attraction to Western audiences, who are used to such themes from American productions such as “The Hunger Games”.
No doubt the attractive shape of the design, the grand clothing and scenes as well as the translation of different languages also help. The popularity of “Squid Game” is a reflection of South Korea’s outsize cultural power on the global stage. It may also have benefited from “Parasite”, a film about social injustice, which won the Oscar for best picture in 2020. But most of all, it shows that, like love and money, complaints about unfairness have no language.
1. Why does the author mention fights in Paris in paragraph 1?A.To introduce the topic. |
B.To emphasize the value of the show. |
C.To show the popularity of the show. |
D.To state the cruel situation in Paris. |
A.Few Korean people like to watch the show. |
B.In-young misses her childhood games very much. |
C.In-young’s childhood games are cruel and violent. |
D.The show reflects the reality of Korean to some degree. |
A.Positive. | B.Negative. | C.Objective. | D.Doubtful. |
4 . Some people can't wait for the lovely colors, cooler weather, and cozy sweaters of autumn. In fact, fall is Americans' favorite time, but for a minority of others, the transition from summer creates worry, fear and worse. According to Carrie Landin, a psychologist from the University of Colorado Health Integrative Medicine Center, a significant number of people actually experience autumn anxiety.
For some people, stress is triggered (触发) by environmental factors: Decreases in daylight cause chemical changes in the brain. "Less daylight leads to lower levels of chemicals like serotonin and dopamine that control our emotions," says Kimberly Asner-self, associate professor at Touro Colleges` School of Health Sciences. "As these chemicals drop, the body responds by increasing levels of cortisol. the hormone released in situations where we face threat." The result can be an increased anxiety, difficulty sleeping and depression.
But it's not just increasing darkness that can trigger these symptoms. For people who feel this way every year, some of the reaction is mental. "When we know there's the potential for stress ahead we tend to anticipate the problems, feeling anxious before they even happen," Landin says.
The fall features more than its fair share of impending (迫在眉睫) events: back to school at the beginning of the season and family get-togethers toward the end. Mayra Mendez, a psychologist from Providence Saint Johns Health Center, suggests identifying your personal triggers and making a plan to manage them before they feel overwhelming. For instance, if you're concerned about family issues and holiday parties, decide in advance that it's perfectly OK to say no to some of them. If fall's stricter work and school schedules make you anxious, plan regular breaks and vacations to look forward to.
Finally, you should also find ways to embrace the present moment. Remember: while autumn may throw you a few tricks, there are plenty of treats to be found too.
1. What may be the cause of autumn anxiety?A.Cooler weather. | B.Less daylight. |
C.Sleep difficulties. | D.Vacation plans. |
A.potential stress can be predictable | B.stress can be triggered by chemicals |
C.depression is related to family issues | D.anxiety can be caused by mental factors |
A.Manageable. | B.Overwhelming. |
C.Troublesome. | D.Beneficial. |
A.Seasonal Anxiety | B.Tricks or Treats |
C.The Autumn Blues | D.Characteristics of Fall |
5 . “Beauty is only skin deep.” This expression means that beauty is only a temporary(暂时的)surface quality. And some beauty products can cause lasting damage that goes far below the surface of the skin.
But people, especially women, will risk a lot for beauty. In the United States, many people use sunlight and non-natural light to darken their skin. Health experts advise against what is called “tanning” because of its links to skin cancer(癌症). In the African country of Senegal, some women take health risks trying to do the opposite. They use products that lighten skin(美白皮肤).
The World Health Organization says that 25 percent of Senegalese women use skin-lightening products on a usual basis. These products can contain dangerous chemicals, which can cause cancer and possibly other physical damage to the skin. They can actually burn the eyes and skin.
Women in Senegal say they lighten their skin for the same reasons women all over the world make changes to their appearance. They want to look beautiful, to find a husband, to stand out in a crowd or to simply look great for a special event.
An average beauty supply shop in Dakar has many kinds of skin-lightening creams and soaps. But some products are so strong. They must be mixed with others before they are used. One such soap is called “Day Before the Wedding.”
This thinking troubles Senegalese filmmaker Khardiata Pouye Sall. So, she made "This Color That Bothers Me," a film about the subject of skin lightening.
"I used the most shocking images(形象)so that women would see the dangers. It is hard to understand why a woman would tell herself that dark skin is not beautiful. It is in their heads. They want to please a man, to be loved. Or they want to please society, to succeed."
Ms. Sall says the government needs to better control the marketing and sale of skin lighteners. But she adds education is the best way to persuade people against using them.
1. What is the common problem caused by skin darkening and skin lightening?A.Hair loss. | B.Some cancer. | C.Heart failure. | D.Ugly appearance. |
A.To make women realize the danger of skin lightening. |
B.To control the sales of skin lightening products. |
C.To teach women how to do skin lightening properly. |
D.To persuade women not to darken their beautiful skin. |
A.How to make yourself beautiful. | B.Beauty matters a lot in life. |
C.Skin lightening means success. | D.Beauty is only skin deep. |
6 . I decided at age 10 that I was going to be a teacher because I
Our English teacher could magically
As I learned from them, the
Teaching is not just a job—it is a science and an art, and it
A.lacked | B.had | C.wanted | D.developed |
A.classmates | B.friends | C.partners | D.teachers |
A.damaging | B.noticing | C.sharing | D.recalling |
A.transport | B.invite | C.welcome | D.rush |
A.take back | B.go over | C.put down | D.pick up |
A.clever | B.old | C.shallow | D.noisy |
A.doubted | B.respected | C.knew | D.monitored |
A.cover | B.escape | C.meet | D.shut |
A.feel | B.hear | C.touch | D.see |
A.However | B.Instead | C.Besides | D.Therefore |
A.opinion | B.attitude | C.message | D.agreement |
A.role | B.dream | C.choice | D.decision |
A.horrible | B.normal | C.amazing | D.simple |
A.magic | B.dilemma | C.stress | D.atmosphere |
A.gathering | B.shaping | C.rewarding | D.challenging |
A.offers | B.indicates | C.receives | D.demands |
A.give up | B.calm down | C.look back | D.stand out |
A.luck | B.joy | C.worry | D.pain |
A.desire | B.manage | C.happen | D.regret |
A.energetic | B.scared | C.disappointed | D.proud |
1. What do we know about the man?
A.He is staying in his friends’ house. |
B.He is to blame for the stolen things. |
C.He is busy with his own business. |
A.About 7:00 p.m. | B.About 10:00 p.m | C.About 11:00 p.m. |
A.The TV set. | B.The computer. | C.The paintings. |
A.The man’s wife. | B.A policewoman. | C.The owner of the house. |
Family drama “A Love for Dilemma”, focusing
The director of the drama,
A netizen commented that the drama encourages her to cherish every moment in life, even the ordinary ones. "The meaning of life is not to compete, but to experience, explore and fulfill one's
9 . There you are in your favorite clothing store. You don’t really need to buy anything, but everything is so cheap and fashionable! Before you know it, you leave the store with bags and bags of new clothes.
On the surface, this doesn’t seem so bad. However, there are a lot of hidden costs behind the low price put forward by fast fashion brands.
Fashion is one of the least sustainable (可持续发展的) industries on the planet, commented Michael Stanley-Jones, an officer with the United Nations Environment Program.
In particular, with its typically lower prices and rare fashion finds, shopping secondhand has become an increasingly popular and eco-friendly choice.
“The only true sustainable way to shop is to not shop at all,” Rachel Kibbc, a brand adviser for ensuring sustainability in fashion, told Insider, “Unless you’re buying clothes that ALREADY exist.”
A.However, thankfully, the fashion trend is changing. |
B.To be frank, the fashion industry is terrible for the planet. |
C.The secondhand market is facing quite a few significant challenges. |
D.In fact, they’ve developed some marketing strategies to increase sales. |
E.Research shows the secondhand market is expected to reach $80 billion by 2029. |
F.“We’re our own waste managers, storing fashion waste in our houses,” he noted. |
G.Fellner added, “Secondhand becomes more socially acceptable and, for some, cool.” |
As for virtual reality, concerned critics have warned that there could be dangers in this powerful new medium. Will we have VR games in which people can commit virtual crimes(犯罪)? After people get used to VR, will they want to return to reality? Will we forget how to live and work with real people? On the other hand, some people think that VR will help us improve the world. By experimenting harmlessly inside a VR world, we will be able to see the dangers we may face in the future. Then we will be able to avoid them in real life.
Answer: