1 . Twenty years ago, the idea of sharing our lives so openly with the world was unheard of. However, for young people today it is considered completely normal to share pictures of their lives and interact online every day. Fans of social media (媒体) point out that the world has never been so connected as it has allowed people to make friends, learn about the world and celebrate life.
However, many people have concerns about the effects of this new way of living, particularly around the amount and type of information that is shared so openly. Recently researchers have found that too much time on social media may have some negative(消极的) effects. They measured people’s attitudes and feelings before and after watching social media sites. They found that the more time people spent on social media, the more unhappy they became.
There are a number of reasons for this. When watching social media, people often see photographs and stories showing beautiful holidays, fun parties and modern clothes. People seldom post negative stories or bad pictures, so it can be misleading. For those looking at these pictures and comparing them to their own lives, they can end up feeling upset. They might think their lives are worse in comparison. Even for those people who post positive stories and pictures, they too can feel stressed and worried. The number of “likes” and comments on their posts can make them anxious about their popularity. Of course, there is also the problem of cyberbullying where people are bullied online when others make negative or cruel comments about them.
The reality is that social media is part of modern life and it is not going to go away. This research shows us that it is important to find a balance between our online and offline lives. We don’t have to stay away from the Internet to live a happy life, but we should realize that the pictures we see and the stories we read are only part of a bigger picture. If we can do that, we can protect ourselves and enjoy our lives.
1. What effect does social media have according to the recent research?| A．It makes people share their lives openly. |
| B．It enables people to make more friends on the Internet.’ |
| C．It helps people to have a better knowledge of the world. |
| D．It increases unhappiness for people who use it too much. |
| A．They fear others mislead their posts. |
| B．They fear others have happier lives. |
| C．They fear others may cyberbully them. |
| D．They fear others have more interesting stories. |
| A．By giving causes. | B．By listing numbers. |
| C．By making comparisons. | D．By describing process. |
| A．To persuade people to keep off the Internet. |
| B．To describe the threats caused by social media. |
| C．To advise us to balance online and offline lives. |
| D．To introduce the convenience created by social media. |
2 . Across the gardens of Britain, in cities and suburbs, people are building sheds (工棚). “We have never seen such an increase in orders,” says Paul Deary of the Garden Shed Company, whose family has been in the business for 35 years. “People have gone shed crazy.” The Timber Trade Federation reports that last October imports of softwood were 34% higher than a year earlier. With stocks (存货) running low, whatever wood is available is quickly sold out.
“A garden shed used to be mostly a place to store farm tools, or a place to discuss plants and drink tea when the rain fell outside,” said Michael Rand, an expert gardener. But the creative brainworker has long put it to more productive use. Roald Dahl and Dylan Thomas wrote in sheds. George Bernard Shaw had one in his garden that faced the sun.
The structures now being built are also often intended for work, although they are grander than the ones those pioneer shed-writers used. Green Retreats, which mostly builds garden offices but also garden gyms and the like, says that overall sales grew by 113% between 2021 and 2022. Larger, fancier structures with things like white walls are especially popular.
This has an important effect on cities. Urban scholars like Richard Florida and Edward Glaeser are busy trying to work out whether the rise in home-working that has occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic will continue when the virus begins to ebb. If it does, many service jobs in cities, from waiters to taxi drivers, will disappear. Public transport systems will struggle. The value of city-centre property will drop.
The shed boom makes that outcome more likely. A white-collar worker who has tried to work from the kitchen table for the past 9 months might be keen to return to the office. A worker who has a pretty garden shed with Wi-Fi will be less so. Joel Bird who builds personalized sheds, is certain that his clients imagine a long-term change in their working habits. “They don’t consider it to be temporary,” he says. “They’re spending too much money.”
1. Why did Britain import more softwood from abroad?| A．Softwood was cheaper this year. |
| B．Demands for sheds were on the rise. |
| C．Britons prefer softwood in making sheds. |
| D．Softwood suppliers were fewer than before. |
| A．Famous shed-writers. | B．Development of shed-offices. |
| C．Different functions of sheds. | D．Improvement on shed-building. |
| A．Spread. | B．Continue. | C．Strike. | D．Decline. |
| A．Refusal of office jobs. | B．Shifts in working habits. |
| C．Poor qualities of services. | D．Development of public transport. |
3 . Suppose that we lined up about 14 million United States businesses in order of size, starting with the smallest, along an imaginary road from San Francisco to New York. There will be 4,500 businesses to the mile or a little less than one per foot.
Suppose further that we planted a flag for each business. The height of the flagpole represents the yearly volume (额) of sales — each $10000 in sales is shown by one foot of pole.
The line of flagpoles is a very interesting sight. From San Francisco to about Reno, it is almost unnoticeable, a row of poles about a foot high. From Reno eastward, the poles increase in height until, near Columbus, Ohio — about 4/5 of the way across the nation-flags fly about 10 feet in the air.
But as we approach the eastern terminus (终点), the poles suddenly begin to rise. There are about 300,000 firms in the country with sales over $500,000. These firms take up the last 75 miles of the 3,000-mile road. There are 200,000 firms with sales over $1 million. They take up the last 50 miles. Then there are 1,000 firms with sales of $50 million or more. They take up the last quarter of a mile before the city limits, flags flying at cloud height, 5,000 feet up.
At the very gate of New York, on the last 100 feet of the last mile, we find the100 largest industrial firms. They have sales of at least $1.5 billion, so that their flags are already miles high. Along the last 10 feet of the road, there are 10 largest companies. Their sales are about $10 billion and up: their flags fly 190 miles in the air.
1. What is the author’s main purpose in writing this text?| A．To illustrate the size of the US businesses. |
| B．To show the locations of the US businesses. |
| C．To explain the largest firms are in New York. |
| D．To describe how the US businesses are arranged. |
| A．To support an idea. | B．To describe a fact. |
| C．To make a comparison. | D．To introduce a topic. |
| A．The last 50 miles. | B．The last quarter of a mile. |
| C．The last 75 miles. | D．The last 100 feet of the last mile. |
(S=San Francisco; R=Reno; C=Columbus; N=New York; H=Height; F=Feet)
A． | B． |
C． | D． |
4 . Going against the tide of flocking(蜂拥) to well-known yet generally jam-packed tourist destinations on vacation, a growing number of holiday makers in China tend to spend their leisure time at lesser known resorts to seek unique, relaxed holiday experiences. Reverse Tourism has emerged as a new trend among young holidaymakers in China.
Besides crowds, some vacationers chose less-traveled places to save on the cost of trips to popular destinations, which often require pricey tickets, meals and hotel stays. “Tourism used to be about sightseeing. Now it is about experiences,” said Dai Bin, president of the China Tourism Academy. He said popular tourist spots are always packed and often raise their prices during holidays. As people become more mature travelers, they are increasingly unwilling to follow the herd. Some of them are simply looking to take a rest somewhere quiet for a couple of days, which is a good way to vacation.
In addition, lesser-known attractions are not as “commercial” and “standardized” as developed ones and are able to offer more genuine experiences and natural encounters, according to social media posts. And unlike popular destinations, some under-explored places with little online exposure can offer more surprises. COVID- 19 is another key factor fueling Reverse Tourism. As precautionary measures continue, traveling has an unpredictable quality. A traveler has no way of knowing what lies ahead before departure, be it a perfect holiday or one interrupted by a sudden outbreak.
“The rise of Reverse Tourism is not a bad thing,” said an opinion piece in Zhengzhou Daily. It means that vacationers now have more options, which brings more possibilities to the tourism market, the article explains. More importantly, the trend is set to force popular destinations to improve themselves instead of resting on their achievements, it noted.
1. What is the feature of Reverse Tourism according to the passage?| A．Popular destinations often raise their prices during holidays. |
| B．Less-traveled places offer relaxed holiday experiences. |
| C．Popular destinations are not welcomed by people nowadays. |
| D．Less-traveled places are increasingly valued among young people. |
| A．Do just what most people do. | B．Be particular about vacations. |
| C．Behave like the best visitors. | D．Seek unique travel experience. |
| A．To create surprises on their own. | B．To explore the original beauty. |
| C．To promote the local tourism. | D．To escape the uncertainty in life. |
| A．The promising future of Chinese tourism. |
| B．The challenges popular tourist spots are facing. |
| C．The way to explore the lesser-known attractions. |
| D．The reason why people prefer Reverse Tourism. |
5 . Many employees must be tempted to inquire on a daily basis when they see their bosses headed down the wrong track. But caution, for fear of appearing insubordinate or foolish and thus possibly at risk of losing their jobs, often leads workers to keep silent.
A culture of silence can be dangerous, argues a new book, “The Fearless Organization”, by Amy Edmondson, a professor at Harvard Business School. Some of her examples are from the airline industry. One was its deadliest accident: a crash between Boeing 747s in the Canary Islands in 1977 when a co-pilot felt unable to doubt his captain’s decision to take off based on a misunderstanding of instructions from air-traffic control.
The risks may be lower than life or death in most organizations, but companies also suffer when people keep silent, Ms Edmondson believes. Volkswagen was caught up in a scandal over diesel(柴油) emissions from 2015. The engines of its diesel models did not meet American emissions standards and engineers devised a system to fool the regulators. Ms Edmondson says the company’s culture had been one based on threat and fear; Ferdinand Piëch, its longtime boss, boasted of telling engineers they had six weeks to improve the bodywork(车身) fitting on pain of dismissal. In the circumstances, engineers were understandably unwilling to mention the bad news on emissions standards and instead, worked around the problem. In a corporate culture based on fear and intimidation, it may appear that targets are being achieved in the short term. But in the long run, the effect is likely to be counterproductive. Studies show that fear stops learning. And when confronted with a problem, scared workers find ways of covering it up or getting around it with inefficient practices.
The answer is to create an atmosphere of “psychological safety” whereby workers can speak their minds. In a way, this is the equivalent of Toyota’s “lean manufacturing” process, which allows any worker who spots a problem to stop the production line. This does not mean that workers, or their ideas, are immune from criticism, or that they should complain continuously. The book describes, Pixar created what it called a “Braintrust” to give feedback to film directors. The rules were that feedback should be constructive and about the idea, not the person.
As ordinary tasks are automated, and workers rely on computers for data analysis, the added value of humans will stem from their creativity. But as Ms Edmondson’s book demonstrates, it is hard to be either constructive or creative if you are not confident about speaking out.
1. The underlined word “insubordinate”(para 1) means ________.| A．being inferior | B．disobeying a superior |
| C．getting aggressive | D．being arrogant |
| A．Volkswagen’s engineers designed a system to meet American emissions standards |
| B．when facing problems, scared workers resolve them directly |
| C．Volkswagen’s engineers were at risk of losing jobs |
| D．the culture of fear and intimidation must be counterproductive in the long term. |
| A．A culture of being silent is life-threatening. |
| B．Volkswagen’s culture is on the basis of fear. |
| C．Workers can escape being blamed in the culture of psychological safety. |
| D．The value of humans lies in originality in today’s highly-automated world. |
| A．An introduction to Amy Edmondson’s new book. |
| B．The disadvantages of fear and intimidation culture. |
| C．People need to be confident when they are speaking out. |
| D．Companies will perform better if employees are not threatened into silence. |
Electronic devices can seem like a “third party” in some relationships because some partners spend much more time on them
When Amanda Gao,
“It seemed that his phone was making its way
Lin Yuan, a relationship consultant in Beijing said she knew of some people who suggest that electronics
7 . Have you ever felt like nobody was there? Have you ever felt forgotten in the middle of nowhere? Have you ever felt like you could disappear? Like you could fall, and no one would hear? Well, you’re not alone.
In a time when it seems like everyone is consumed by social media, the Broadway musical Dear Evan Hansen really hits home on what it’s like to be a millennial or any person struggling to find their way. With its moving story, catchy songs, and talented cast, the musical is sure to earn not only your praise, but steal your heart in the process.
Coping with severe anxiety, the title character finds it extremely difficult to fit in. His single mother is always working, his only acquaintance at school is a family friend, and the girl he likes doesn’t even know he exists. Every day is a constant struggle, until the unexpected death of a classmate gives him a voice he never knew he had, even if it is all based on a lie.
On top of the moving story, the music is infectious. When the single “Waving Through a Window” was first released, I played the track for five days straight. Even after seeing the show, I still have the urge to bust out the lyrics to “Words Fail” during my morning commute on the subway. You think I’m exaggerating, but just wait until you hear the soundtrack for the first time. You won’t just tap your foot to one of the melodies during the show; you’ll come out humming three more of them when you leave, guaranteed.
With so many different themes like depression, anxiety, and loneliness throughout, we can all see a bit of ourselves in one of these characters: the socially awkward teen, the daughter whose parents won’t stop fighting, or the classmate who feels like there’s no other way than just giving up. In between numbers, I could audibly hear the audience choking back sobs. My mom and I bonded with a young man sitting next to us during the intermission as we talked about how we related to Evan, his mother, his classmates, and all that in between. At the heart of it all, this isn’t just a show. It’s a story that needs to be told, because no one deserves to be forgotten. No one deserves to feel like they could disappear. Even when you’re broken on the ground, you will be found.
1. The questions in the first paragraph are mentioned _________.| A．to inform us of some common social phenomena. |
| B．to tell us that many people feel lonely in life. |
| C．to introduce the theme of Dear Evan Hansen. |
| D．to illustrate that severe anxiety exists. |
| A．To be widely reported. |
| B．To return to the original place. |
| C．To make people realize something is true. |
| D．To suddenly become very successful. |
| A．Brilliant cast. | B．Infectious songs. |
| C．The complex story. | D．The way it relate to every individual. |
| A．Dear Evan Hansen-you are not alone | B．Dear Evan Hansen-a big hit |
| C．Broadway musical strikes a chord with me | D．Broadway musical is still catchy |
8 . Long-time referees (裁判) in different youth sports say there’s an expectation for referees to be perfect. Parents want their children to excel, and coaches are under pressure to win. Sometimes, they say, referees become a scapegoat (替罪羊).
Perry Petterle, who is with the USA Hockey Officiating Program, says the number of teen and pre-teen referees is dropping. He says before the COVID- 19 pandemic the program had about 4,000 registered referees, but they’re now down to about 1,700.
“ It’s happening in soccer, it’s happening in other sports, the abuse (辱骂) that is coming from coaches and parents. It has a bad effect on a young kid, young lady or young man that’s out there refereeing, “ says Petterle.
Referees have to bear the abuse.
“ I’ve been in rinks (溜冰场) where I’ve had to go up to parents, and it’s happened three times this year, because you have parents banging on the glass, shouting at the official for a missed call (裁判员的判决). Yes, they’re gonna make mistakes and I go up and try to educate that parent’, Hey, we’ve got a 13-year-old kid out here. You know, we need him to stay in the program,’”he says.
Of the 41 years he’s been involved in refereeing, Petterle says the abuse has become more common in the last 10 years. Carlos Folino, who’s refereed soccer for 37 years, agrees.
“For the most part, it’s getting to the point where youth used to think that it was a good way to make a few extra dollars, better than flipping hamburgers. But with all the shouting and abusing that they get, it’s not worth it. And that word gets to his or her friend and his or her friend won’t join because of that, ”says Folino, Michigan State Referee Administrator.
Folino says it needs changing. Petterle says education and communication are part of a possible solution to bringing respect for referees back to youth sports.
1. What does paragraph 1 mainly tell us?| A．Coaches’ pressure to win. | B．Referees’ roles in a match. |
| C．Referees’ difficult situation in youth sports. | D．People’s expectations for youth referees. |
| A．The pandemic. | B．The program. | C．The number. | D．The abuse. |
| A．Respect the youth referees. | B．Admit their own mistakes. |
| C．Report missed calls bravely. | D．Help improve youth referees’ abilities. |
| A．It brings in little money. | B．It causes more pain than good. |
| C．It makes them lose their friends. | D．It promises much in the long run. |
9 . It was winter of 1973 and Singaporean L. Shanmugam waited at the guardhouse of a building in the small town of Hermannsburg, Germany. The Outward Bound Singapore (OBS) instructor hoped for the once-in-a-lifetime chance to call on Kurt Hahn, the father of experiential education and founder of Outward Bound.
When a staff member told him that the elderly Hahn was a sick and weak man who did not entertain guests, Shanmugam still waited. He said he had hitchhiked(搭便车) his way from Wales to Germany, crossing the Alps just to show his great admiration for Hahn’s extraordinary achievements — if that was not the spirit of adventure, what was? The next moment, he was invited in. It was a dreamlike experience to finally meet Hahn, he recalled.
Over lunch, Shanmugam told the educator that he had come from a faraway country called Singapore. He talked about how the small flat tropical(热带的) island had little experience with mountaineering, polar exploration or extreme landscapes. Despite the limitations, this did not stop young Singaporeans from continuing to follow in Hahn’s rich legacy(遗产) of outdoor learning.
Hahn was among the earliest pioneers who believed that the outdoors could shape the personal development of young people. In 1934, as the founder and headmaster of Gordonstoun School in Moray, Scotland, he asked his students to make regular sailing expeditions(定期航海探险) and hill-walking.
During the Second World War, Hahn started a new kind of school in Aberdovey in Wales to train youths: a one-month course involving expeditions across three mountain ranges, rescue training and volunteer work in the local community. In 1941, Outward Bound, a charitable educational organization that provides adventure programs, was born.
Eighty years on, Outward Bound has become a national policy in Singapore. In following Hahn’s footsteps, the country has discovered that the act of communicating with the outdoors brings a certain kind of magic.
“We want all our young people to be strong, adaptable and creative. Outdoor adventure learning is especially useful in giving these lessons, which are very hard to teach in the classroom,” said Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
1. Why did Shanmugam come to visit Hermannsburg?| A．To show his spirit of adventure. |
| B．To treat the old Hahn’s disease. |
| C．To express his admiration for Hahn. |
| D．To discuss the idea of experiential education. |
| A．Having few experienced instructors. |
| B．Not having different landforms. |
| C．Not receiving strong government support. |
| D．Knowing little about experiential education. |
| A．Both taught students adventure. |
| B．Both trained youths to be sailors. |
| C．Both instructed research skills outdoors. |
| D．Both encouraged student-centered learning. |
| A．Educators should teach many different skills. |
| B．Students should learn about nature in many ways. |
| C．Young people should spend more time learning in the wild. |
| D．The government should provide a better environment for kids. |
10 . In the not-too-distant future, driverless cars will drive our streets. These cars will need to make quick decisions to avoid endangering human lives — both inside and outside of the cars.
To determine attitudes toward these decisions, a group of researchers created a modern version of the classic exercise known as “the Trolley problem”. They raised a series of moral dilemmas (道德困境) involving as elf-driving car with brakes (刹车) that suddenly give out. Should the car change direction to avoid a group of passers-by, killing the driver? Or should it kill the people on foot but spare the driver? Does it matter if the passers by are men or women? Children or older people? Doctors or murderers?
To put these questions to a large range of people, the researchers built a website called Moral Machine, where anyone could click through the situations and say what the car should do “Help us learn how to make machines moral,” a video asks on the site.
What the researchers found was a series of near universal preferences, no matter where someone was from. People everywhere believed the moral thing for the car to do was to spare the young over the old, spare humans over animals, and spare the lives of many over the few. The in findings were published Wednesday in the journal.
Researchers found that the 130 countries with more than 100 respondents (调查对象) could be grouped into three groups that showed similar moral preferences. And these preference seemed to be connected with social differences. Respondents from collectivistic cultures, which “value the respect for older members of the community,” showed a weaker preference for sparing younger people.
The researchers noted that the study’s results should be used with extreme carefulness and they shouldn’t be considered the final word on societal preferences — especially since these respondents were much fewer than they had expected.
1. What give(s) rise to the questions in paragraph 2?| A．The researchers’ attitudes. | B．The driver’s hard decision. |
| C．The self-driving car’s power cut. | D．The driverless car’s brake failure |
| A．Their living habits | B．Their family members. |
| C．Their cultural background. | D．Their educational background. |
| A．The difficult questions. | B．The limited questions. |
| C．The small number of respondents. | D．The careless respondents. |
| A．The New Self-driving Cars | B．The New “Trolley Problem” |
| C．Should Car Drivers Be Moral? | D．Does Moral Preference Matter? |
