1 . In the recent nearly four decades, private prisons in the U.S. have been widely denounced and criticized by people from all walks of life for frequent scandals. Last year, UN human rights experts urged the U.S. to “eliminate all for-profit detention facilities”, saying that “detainees should not become units for profit,” according to an article published on the website of the UN.

In the 1980s, in an effort to ease the burdens on overcrowded public prisons, the U.S. government started to contract some companies to run private prisons and pay them for services. Over the past nearly 40 years, private prisons have expanded rapidly and formed a highly profitable industry and huge lobbying groups.

According to data released by the website of The Sentencing Project, a Washington-based advocacy group, in 2019, about 116,000 prisoners were held in private prisons in the U.S., representing 8 percent of the country’s total state and federal prison population. Meanwhile, more than 30 states were in partnership with companies running private prisons.

The primary goal of private prisons is to profit from anything they deal in. There’s often a prison bed occupancy guarantee clause in the contracts between U.S. federal, state, and local governments and private prison operators, which stipulates that the government should guarantee a certain occupancy rate in prison beds; and if failing to reach the rate, it will need to pay compensations to private prison operators.

A study conducted by the Washington State University found that private prisons lead to an average increase of 178 new prisoners per million population per year and longer sentences, especially in nonviolent crimes that have more leeway in sentencing guidelines, according to the study.

Private prison operators have made big gains from inmate services. According to reports of U.S. media, in 2020, CoreCivic generated $1.9 billion in revenue, 82.2 percent of which came from its private prison operations. In the same year, the revenue of the GEO group reached $2.3 billion.

Most private prisons in the U.S. are ill-equipped. They usually build their facilities to minimum standards required by contracts with governments, in a bid to reduce operating costs. Besides, private prisons are often understaffed and correctional officers there are of varying quality. Furthermore, some private prisons connive in gangsters and bullies “maintaining” order in prisons.

Private prisons in the U.S. have turned prisoners into modern-day slaves. Inmates in private prisons are forced into high-intensity and long hours of work but are paid far less than the statutory minimum hourly wage in the country. Their basic human rights are hardly guaranteed.

American journalist Shane Bauer had been undercover as a prison guard at a private prison in Winnfield, Louisiana. He exposed chaotic phenomena in the prison, including forced labor, exploitation, violence, maltreatment, and corruption.

“A terrifying look into one of America’s darkest and deepest ongoing embarrassments,” commented well-known U.S. literary website Literary Hub on the book.

1. The initial purpose to set up private prisons was to________.

A．Provide the prisoners with worse condition to make them realize their fault.

B．Improve the congested situation in state-owned prisons.

C．Create huge profit for prison operating companies.

D．Respond to the request of UN human rights experts.

2. What is the purpose of Paragraph 4?

A．To illustrate the dark side of private prisons.

B．To criticize the injustice in American judiciary.

C．To explain how this system go evil.

D．To stress the inequality inside the prison.

3. The underlined word in Paragraph 8 probably means_______.

A．Legal

B．Appropriate

C．Theoretical

D．Required

4. We can learn from the passage that______.

A．Most of the prisoners are now locked up in private prisons.

B．The equipment in the private prisons failed to meet the federal standard.

C．The mafia-style governance exists in some private prisons.

D．Shane Bauer conveyed his regret for the US directly in his book.

3 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

The China Consumers Association has criticized KFC, a     1    （lead）chicken fast-food chain, for using a limited number of blind box sales to lure customers to over-purchase its food and cause food waste.

The association said on its website on Wednesday that such marketing can lead to impulsive and excessive consumption to obtain the limited edition blind boxes,     2     is “against public order and the spirit of the law”.

The article     3    （post）after KFC China collaborated with top domestic blind box toymaker Pop Mart to offer 260, 000 dolls with its 99 yuan（$15.60）family-sized chicken bucket from Jan 4. The doll set features seven models of Dimoo,     4     popular character created by Pop Mart，with one irregular model and six regular     5    , meaning customers have to pay at least 594 yuan to collect a complete set.

KFC's fast food should be consumed in time and purchased on demand, the association said. The Anti-Food Waste Law     6    （adopt）in April clearly demands that food operators should resist food waste, prompt customers to consume moderately and take measures to prevent waste rather than     7    （attract）them to purchase excessively, it said.

The association also said that customers should consume     8    （science）and rationally and resist undesirable consumption     9     （behave）.

Neither Pop Mart nor KFC China responded to requests for comment. KFC customer service said the dolls are still     10     sale and customers can consult local outlets for details.

4 . The new TV series Joy of Life is a hit, scoring 8/10 among the most critical reviewers of Douban, a Chinese social networking service website. The series premiered(首映)on Tencent Video and iQiyi(online video platforms)on November 26,2019.

But how would you feel if Tencent Video and iQiyi allowed anyone to pay an extra fee to see a show’s upcoming episodes(集)ahead of schedule? The two of China’s biggest video streaming platforms decided to allow users to pay an extra fee on top of their subscription(订阅)to get advanced access to episodes of Qing Yu Nian(Joy of Life). Monthly subscriptions for Tencent Video cost 15 yuan(US$ 2.14)and iQiyi charges 19 yuan(US$ 2.71). Under the new policy, users could pay 50 yuan(US$ 7.14)to always stay six episodes ahead in Qing Yu Nian. Alternatively, watching a single episode in advance costs 3 yuan(US$ 0.43).

Users are mad about Tencent Video’s and iQiyi’s extra fees on top of subscriptions. On Weibo, a Chinese microblogging website, tags related to the two platforms’ pricing policies repeatedly recurred on trending searches, where many people were found complaining about the platforms being greedy and called for the audience to boycott the policy.

The policy also drew criticism from People’s Daily. The state-owned newspaper said the platforms “have bad table manners” and “drain the pond to fish and burn the woods to hunt,” which are Chinese idioms used to describe someone focusing on quick profits as opposed to long-term interests. People’s Daily also said the sites look down upon on users’ rights. ” Two lawyers apparently agreed. The lawyers, who claim to be users of Tencent Video and iQiyi, started two separate cases, saying that they violated users’ rights.

But some experts don’t think the new pricing rules are unreasonable. Zhu Wei, a professor at the China University of Political Science and Law, argued in an article that charging outside subscriptions are value-added services and don’t violate the law. But Zhu added that the platforms are at fault for not properly informing users about the policy in advance.

In the face of extreme competition and perhaps an ambitious business model, China’s streaming giants are hoping that additional charges could turn their luck around. But judging by the pushback on social media, it may not be so easy. It’s hoped that the next stage of this streaming war is a little more friendly.

1. According to the new policy,how much will the subscribers pay in total if they want to watch six episodes on Tencent Video in advance?

A．50 yuan.

B．18 yuan.

C．65 yuan.

D．69 yuan.

2. What is the author’s attitude towards the new policy?

A．Indifferent.

B．Neutral.

C．Favorable.

D．Critical.

3. What does the underlined word “recurred” mean in Paragraph 3?

A．Appear.

B．Perform.

C．Attract.

D．Serve.

4. What is the best title of the passage?

A．A well-received TV play.	B．An actor loved by the audience.
C．A debatable charging policy.	D．A TV play worthy of money.

5 . On Nov 26, lawmakers in Beijing passed the city's modified family planning and population regulations. One of the highlights was that maternity leave (产假)would be extended by 30 days.

Tang Xiaoyu, who has a 5-month-old baby, said she had the feeling of winning the lottery. The 32-year-old works in the human resources department of an Internet company in Beijing. Previously, new mothers like her were usually entitled to 128 days of paid maternity leave.

Moreover, new mothers can now take additional maternity leave of one to three months if their employer agrees, and both mother and father can have five days of child care leave every year until their child reaches the age of 3.

Beijing is one of about 20 provincial—level entities that have decided to extend maternity leave or add parental leave to their newly modified family planning regulations.

After the adoption of the third-child policy in August, the extra measures were rolled out as part of moves to ease the burden of having a newborn and also to encourage families to have more children.

Mu Guangzong, a professor at Peking University's Institute of Population Research, said that the extension of maternity leave in several regions is a significant move toward building a "fertility (生育)friendly" society. "However, it may have negative aspects," he told Legal Daily.

Song Tianjiao, who is looking for a job in Beijing, said she was asked about her status of marriage and childbearing plans at several job interviews. In one extreme case, she was asked to guarantee that she would not get pregnant for two years after starting the job.

"In such an environment, will the extension of maternity leave make it harder for women to find a job?" she said.

Chen Xia, a researcher with the Institute of Philosophy at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that such concerns are reasonable, and the current dilemma is that the costs of favorable fertility policies are shouldered almost totally by employers.

1. In the second paragraph, Tang Xiaoyu had "the feeling of winning the lottery", because         .

A．she had enough money to support her family

B．her maternity leave increased to 30 days

C．she had more time to take care of her baby

D．she was very grateful to the new policy

2. What can we learn from the passage?

A．Lawmakers hoped to ease the burden of having more children.

B．The third-child policy must be carried out strictly.

C．New mothers shall take maternity leave of one to three months.

D．More job opportunities will be created for women

3. What can be inferred from what Song Tianjiao said?

A．Lengthened leave will likely impose heavier costs on family.

B．The new policies may deepen gender discrimination in the workplace.

C．A woman's childbearing plans will be asked about at the job interviews.

D．The extension of maternity leave contributes to building a fertility-friendly society.

4. According to Chen Xia, one possible measure to solve the negative aspects is           .

A．issuing fertility allowances for families	B．making tax—free policies for employers
C．promoting gender equality	D．formulating loosened third—child policies

6 . 阅读下面短文, 在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

Lots of foreigners don’t understand why so many Chinese people are sorrowful about Yuan Longping’s passing away.

This reminds me     1     an issue more than 20 years ago,     2     I was a Chinese journalist in the US. Some American scholars     3     (think) China could hardly realize food-sufficiency because of the     4     (limit) water resources, decrease of agricultural land due to industrial     5     (expand) and the fast population growth. Just at that time, Yuan Longping announced breakthroughs in planting the new rice.     6     (bring) to large area application, this technique improved the annual growth of rice greatly, which fed     7     population of 60 million--equal to the whole of the UK.

Western scholars’ prediction of China back then was indeed analyzing China’s problems, but they failed     8     (realize) that the Chinese people have the capability to deal with these challenges.

If they had had any knowledge of Yuan who worked devotedly for our country, they wouldn’t have made such pessimistic evaluations. Why did the Chinese people make     9    ? Why are so many predictions about China in the West     10    (accurate)? It’s time to change minds to better understand China.

8 . 阅读下面短文, 在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式.

Participating in the random culture is no longer simply a hobby,     1     a form of data labour. From celebrity ranking lists based on followers and engagement, to singing TV contests     2     (allow)the public to cast votes, fans have become active     3     (participate)in feeding the idol worship machine like never before. But in many instanced, their behaviour has turned toxic. From stalking     4     cyber-bullying and spreading rumors, organized fan groups have increasingly taken     5     (they) “love” to crazy extreme.

“The chaos in celebrity fan clubs shows that bad fan culture has reached     6     critical moment that must be corrected,” the country's top disciplinary body said on a post.

There needs to be a limitation of irrational star-chasing. If celebrities are expected to be models, then it is natural that online fan groups need to be regulated too     7     (promote)a healthy internet culture overall.

Already, all the major social media platforms     8     (respond) to the government's call, removing celebrity ranking lists and shutting select fan accounts. Competitive idol reality TV shows, many of     9     rely on fan participation, were also banned. It is an attempt to protect young people from being     10     (negative) impacted.

10 . China’s young people have created yet another word to reflect their growing disappointment with the stressful work culture. The new lifestyle hot word, tang ping, is an action rather than a feeling — deciding to just go by, using a minimum effort at an unsatisfactory job.

Wendy said that her lying-down philosophy could be summed up as “Putting the peacefulness of the body and soul first.” “According to the mainstream standard, a good lifestyle must include working hard, trying to get good results on work evaluations, struggling to buy a house and a car, and having babies,” she said, “However, I am looking forward to ‘lying down entirely’— quitting my job and living off my savings.”

Tang ping has come under fire from Chinese state media. “No matter what, young people must have confidence in the future,” read a newspaper. “China is the world’s most populous country, with rich labor resources and a huge market advantage. The only happy life is a hard-working life. “The lying-down community obviously isn’t good for the country’s economic and social development,” said Guangming Daily. However, the newspaper added that tang ping shouldn’t be ignored without reflection: if China wants to encourage hard work in the young generation, it should first try to improve their quality of life.

“The state is worried about what would happen if everyone stopped working,” said Huang Ping, a literature professor. “But humans aren’t merely tools for making things,” he said. To lie down is a reasonable choice rather than a negative attitude. For some young people, it’s a way for them to reduce pressure. “When you can’t catch up with society’s development— say, high house prices — tang ping is actually the most practical choice.” he said.

Lying down can be seen as the opposite of involution (内卷), referring to societies becoming trapped in continual cycles of competition. “In a relatively good social environment, people may feel involuted, but at least they’re trying” he said. “If it’s worse, people will tang ping.”

Alternatively, the more motivated among the young generation have accepted FIRE—“Financial Independence, Retire Early” — in the hope of someday escaping the severe competition once and for all.

1. What is Wendy’s goal in life?

A．To keep up with society’s development.	B．To depend on her savings to live.
C．To get promoted in her company.	D．To be highly evaluated at work.

2. What do state media think the young should do?

A．Improve their quality of life.	B．Reflect on China’s development.
C．Base their future on hard work.	D．Live a happy life by lying down.

3. What does Professor Huang think of the “lying down” style?

A．It means low quality of life for the young.

B．It prevents the development of society.

C．It motivates the young to welcome their future.

D．It removes the heavy life pressure from the young.

4. What can be inferred from the last two paragraphs?

A．A healthy society doesn’t involve competition.

B．Young people prefer involution to tang ping.

C．Severe competition is the main cause of lying down.

D．More active young people favour severe competition.