1 . A recent report from the United Nations group UNESCO warns that using technology in classes may not help as much as many people believe. The report suggests that technology should be used less in schools, and that smartphones should be banned from classrooms.
The goal of the new report was to improve how technology is used in education. It says that technology can be helpful, but it shouldn’t be the focus. “Too much attention on technology in education usually comes at a high cost,” the report says.
These days, it’s common for students to use computers or tablets (平板电脑). In many places, it’s normal for students to look up information on the internet rather than using books. UNESCO claims that technology changes so fast that it’s hard to study how it really affects students.
The new report says that many of the studies show that technology helps students come from rich countries. As classes moved online during the Covid-19 pandemic, the use of technology in education grew even more quickly. Many students were forced to study at home, using video calls to communicate with their teachers. But the report points out that around 500 million students were unable to take part in online classes. That’s one example of what UNESCO says is a larger problem — that the advantages of technology aren’t evenly shared. People and countries with less money are often left out.
UNESCO admits that technology can help in many ways. It can allow students to learn in ways that are more interesting; it can also help teachers explain difficult ideas; it can also help students who have special needs. But UNESCO says technology can also be very perturbing. One study showed that when students use phones in class, it can interfere with their learning. Even so, less than 25% of the world’s countries ban phones in schools.
The report suggests that the best way to learn is still to work closely with teachers. Working with other classmates also helps students learn. UNESCO says that most schools should spend more money on things like books, classrooms, and teachers.
1. Why does the report suggest using technology less in schools?| A．It changes too fast for students to adapt. |
| B．Most countries cannot afford to invest in it. |
| C．It makes no difference to improving education. |
| D．It may not be as effective as initially thought. |
| A．The pandemic has affected most countries. |
| B．Fewer students keep discipline in online classes. |
| C．High-tech devices are unevenly distributed. |
| D．Teachers’ training in technology use is not enough. |
| A．Distracting. | B．Confusing. | C．Interesting. | D．Frightening. |
| A．Explore innovative teaching methods. |
| B．Increase the expense on teaching staff. |
| C．Stress the importance of quality education. |
| D．Update technology and digital resources in time. |
2 . How Taking Short Vacations Can Improve Your Well-Being at Work
Without doubt, the nonstop demands of work and life can be bad for your well-being, exhausting your physical resources and cognitive capacities-and possibly resulting in adverse health and performance results.
We know that being on vacation feels good and that it’s good for us.
No wonder, then, that most people don’t use all their vacation time. And over half (52 percent) of U.S. employees work while on vacation.
| A．If working hard is the way to earn more bread, |
| B．Even if many workers don’t use all their PTO, |
| C．Taking a real break is important for so many reasons. |
| D．But that doesn’t mean we always use our vacation time. |
| E．So why do we neglect to take all the time we’ve earned? |
| F．Do you know why people like to take vacations whenever possible? |
| G．It also turns out that taking extended time away from the office causes a lot of stress. |
3 . Many of us are lonelier than ever. We can go shopping and avoid speaking to a single person. Automated voice son phones and machines suck the contact and relational element out of day-to-day life, so much so that experts say that we are experiencing a loneliness disease.
According to Dr. Lalitaa, loneliness is the feeling we get when our need for rewarding social contact and relationships is not met. But loneliness is not always the same as being alone. Loneliness is a state of mind linked to wanting human contact but feeling alone. People can be alone and not feel lonely, or they can have contact with people and still experience feelings of loneliness.
Loneliness is a universal human emotion that is both complex and unique to each individual. There are many contributing factors to loneliness, such as illness, relationships breaking down, moving country, changing jobs or not being understood by co-workers, retiring, starting university, etc.
We cannot underestimate the impact loneliness can have on our physical and mental wellbeing. According to research, loneliness has comparable health risks to smoking 15cigarettes a day, and people who feel lonely are more likely to die earlier and suffer from heart attacks. Dr. Lalitaa says, “People often say to me, ‘It’s too late to meet new people as an adult.’ Having human connect ion can look different for each person, but this can become a block, stopping them going out, trying new things and connecting with new people. Remember, it is never too late to make good, meaningful connections.”
However, don’t put pressure on yourself. A meaningful relationship takes time. It is not just created overnight. Also, take some time to sit with yourself and venture (冒险) into some of the things that you like doing. “The first thing I would say is not to deny or distance the feeling. Acknowledge it and then you can choose to focus on ways to help yourself,” says Dr.Lalitaa.
1. How does the author clarify what loneliness is?| A．By stating arguments. | B．By giving examples. |
| C．By making comparisons. | D．By employing figures. |
| A．To explain the causes of loneliness. |
| B．To illustrate the harm from loneliness. |
| C．To overestimate the impact of loneliness. |
| D．To emphasize the universality of loneliness. |
| A．Lack of appealing reward. |
| B．Dependence on the network. |
| C．The regret for the passing youth. |
| D．The idea of being too late for new relations. |
| A．Having new experience. |
| B．Telling it from being alone. |
| C．Being aware of and recognizing it. |
| D．Making friends from all walks of life. |
4 . For all the talk of helicopter parents and their snowflake children, most parents I know are more concerned with whether their children’s development would be considered normal by experts than whether they are raising a prodigy (天才).
When the teen years arrive, the “Is it normal?” instinct can go into overdrive. Adolescence is marked by many changes, including ones that manifest(显示)physically and, their more challenging counterpart, ones that manifest emotionally. The moods and deep feelings are intense, and make many helicopter parents in a state of extreme panic.
But difficult feelings are often not a cause for concern, according to psychologist Lisa Damour in her new book, The Emotional Lives of Teenagers: Raising Connected, Capable, and Compassionate Adolescents. Not only are sadness and worrying healthy and natural parts of being a teenager, but the ability to experience these feelings(without a parent panicking)and to learn how to cope with them is developmentally necessary.
There is a lot of commercial marketing around wellness that can give people the impression that they are only mentally healthy or their kids are mentally healthy if they are feeling good, calm or relaxed. This is not an accurate definition of mental health. Mental distress is not only inevitable—it is part of mental health and experiencing it is part of how kids grow and mature.
There are many other healthy ways kids regulate emotions besides talking. Listening to mood-matching music is a very adaptive way to regulate as the experience of listening to the music catalyzes the emotion out of them. Teenagers also discharge emotions physically—by going through a run, jumping on a trampoline or banging on drums. Sometimes they will discharge them through creative channels like drawing or making music.
As adults, we should not diminish the value of emotional expression that brings relief, even if it doesn’t come in the verbal form to which we are most accustomed. Don’t join in because what we ultimately want is for our teens to become autonomous in dealing with their hard feelings.
1. Why do many helicopter parents feel alarmed in their children’s adolescence?| A．They are eager to raise a genius. |
| B．They are concerned about their children’s safety. |
| C．They can’t accept children’s physical changes. |
| D．They are anxious about their children’s mental development. |
| A．It is all about good feelings. |
| B．It means having the ability to handle hardships. |
| C．It contributes to kids’ growing up. |
| D．It refers to a person’s positive qualities. |
| A．To confirm bad feelings are sure to be gone. |
| B．To encourage parents to give a helping hand. |
| C．To show kids can tackle hard feelings themselves. |
| D．To clarify the definition of mental health. |
| A．Helicopter Parents: You Can Be More Self- reliant. |
| B．Commercial Marketing: A Magical Trick |
| C．Snowflake Children: You Are Promising |
| D．Hard Feelings: A Sign of Teenagers Mental Health |
5 . Large numbers of employees in the United Kingdom will begin a four-day work week from Monday without cutting their pay in the largest trial of its kind. The pilot, which will last for six months, involves 3,300 workers spanning 70 companies, ranging from providers of financial services to a fish-and-chip restaurant.
During the program, workers receive 100% of their pay for working only 80% of their usual week, in exchange for promising to maintain 100% of their productivity. The program is being run by not-for-profit 4 Day Week Global, Autonomy, a think tank, and the 4 Day Week UK Campaign in partnership with researchers from Cambridge University, Oxford3 University and Boston College.
Sienna O’Rourke, brand manager at Pressure Drop Brewing, an independent brewery5 in London, told CNN Business that the company’s biggest goal was to improve the mental health and well-being of its employees. “The pandemic has made us think a great deal about work and how people organize their lives,” she said. “We’re doing this to improve the lives of our staff and be part of a progressive change in the world.” Given the company manufactures and ships products, workers have less flexibility about when and where they work, O’Rourke said. But any difficulties in navigating holiday and sick leave would be tackled as a team.
Until now, Iceland had conducted the biggest pilot of a shorter working week between 2015 and 2019, with 2,500 public sector9 workers involved in two large trials. Those trials found no corresponding drop in productivity among participants, and a dramatic increase in employee well-being.
Calls to shorten the working week have gathered steam in recent years in several countries. As millions of employees switched to remote work during the pandemic — cutting onerous commuting time and costs — calls for greater flexibility have only grown louder.
Government-backed trials are set to take place in Spain and Scotland later this year, the 4 Day Week Campaign said in a press release.Joe O’Connor, CEO of 4 Day Week Global, said that the workers have shown they can work “shorter and smarter.”
1. What does the underlined part refer to in paragraph 1?| A．The trial to carry out a four-day work week in large scales. |
| B．The trial to cut workers’ pay. |
| C．The trial to increase workers’ productivity. |
| D．The trial to defeat the pandemic. |
| A．To allow workers to work more flexibly. |
| B．To decrease workers’ time and costs in traffic. |
| C．to improve workers’ mental fitness and boost their happiness. |
| D．To cut workers’ work hours and pay. |
| A．UK | B．Scotland | C．Spain | D．Iceland |
| A．culture | B．society | C．politics | D．sports |
6 . Liu Shuqi broke up with her boyfriend two months ago and has now found a new companion.
The handsome “man” is dressed in a white suit with a stylish haircut. He understands her emotions and feelings perfectly and gives her comfort, encouragement and support. “He is very humorous and offers some comfort when I am in a bad mood,” the 26-year-old bank employee said. The only problem is he is a virtual being and not a real boyfriend.
Liu is not alone in her choice of companion. In a digital era where people are heavily reliant on their smart devices, many of those who live alone increasingly turn to the virtual field to seek companions.
The artificial intelligence-powered digital humans, who are similar to real humans in appearance and behavior, are capable of providing 24-hour online companionship, humanlike conversation and emotional support.
They will likely become an essential part of people’s daily lives, industry experts said. Lin Kaikai and Ye Youyou, two companion-oriented virtual beings, were recently launched by Chinese tech giant Baidu Inc. Powered by Baidu’s Plato, an AI model for dialogue generation that is trained on over 10 billion parameters collected from social media conversations in both English and Chinese, the two digital humans have a smooth, more humanlike interaction.
For instance, they can participate in conversations through various forms such as texts, voice and emojis. They offer customized wake-up call services and learn about the preferences of their users, mainly through increased frequency of chats and interactions, Baidu said.
Other tech companies have also jumped on the companion-oriented virtual being trend.
Xiaoice is an AI-powered chatbot that seems to redefine the conceptions of romance and relationships among young Chinese. It has helped to comfort lonely hearts through more than 17 million virtual “girlfriends” and “boyfriends” in China.
“The rise of digital humans that serve as emotional companions is a result of technological innovation, such as the improvement in appearance, functions and interactive experience of digital humans, fueled by the enhanced deep-learning capacities based on massive user data,” said Chen Duan, director of the Digital Economy Integration Innovation Development Center at the Central University of Finance and Economics.
A set of problems though have also emerged. They include ethics, morals, data security and personal privacy protection in the industry, Chen said, while calling for efforts to formulate relevant laws and regulations on the ownership of digital characters and standardizing their behaviors.
1. What is Liu’ new companion like according to Liu Shuqi herself?| A．Handsome and stylish | B．Humorous and helpful |
| C．Perfect and supportive | D．Clever and understanding |
| A．Because virtual companions look very like real humans. |
| B．Because virtual companions can offer a whole-day online companionship. |
| C．Because these people rely on their digital devices heavily. |
| D．Because these people need emotional support very much. |
| A．Texts | B．emojis | C．voice | D．eye-contact |
| A．Making relative rules and laws. | B．Regularize the behaviors of virtual companions. |
| C．Stop producing virtual companions. | D．Both A and B. |
7 . Around 3,000 school-based health centers operate in more than 30 states all around the U.S. offering primary and preventive care for students who live in medically underserved areas. Starting at the centers that treat flu, asthma, diabetes and other common illnesses, they provide vaccinations (疫苗接种) and screen for dental, vision and hearing problems, and some provide mental health care. These clinics bring services to children who need them most and who have the greatest risk of falling behind in school because their health needs go unmet.
The pandemic was hard on existing school-based health centers, and it’s time for government at all levels, to recognize that all children need accessible and affordable health care. As lawmakers draw up budgets, reallocate (重新分配) funds and begin a new school year, existing clinics should be able to operate without budgetary fears, more dollars should go to school-based clinics, and more community partners should participate financially and physically in efforts to bring health care to the kids who lack it.
Yet most school communities that could desperately use such clinics lack them. In 2021 $5 million was appropriated (拨专款) to support new and expanded services at school-based health centers. That money funded 25 facilities only—yet the program got more than 2,000 applications. And fewer than half of U.S. states currently fund school health centers. Although the clinics can also bill Medicaid (医疗补助制度) and insurance for students who have coverage, they need stable funding for operating expenses, including hiring well-trained staff.
Many existing centers had to close temporarily or permanently during the pandemic for lack of funding. One bright spot is that more than 60 percent of the centers began offering telehealth services, broadening their reach. Getting kids the care they need where they need it has always made sense, and it`s more urgent than ever. The time is right to expand school-based health centers to all underserved students.
1. What does the first paragraph mainly talk about?| A．The role of school-based clinics. | B．The common school-age illnesses. |
| C．The number of school-based clinics. | D．The medical service in underserved areas. |
| A．Build more primary schools. | B．Set up free health care centers. |
| C．Prevent the pandemic effectively. | D．Support in-school clinics financially. |
| A．It is more than enough. | B．It is just a small amount. |
| C．It serves other purposes. | D．It includes training fees. |
| A．We need more health clinics at schools. |
| B．Students’ physical and mental health equally matter. |
| C．The pandemic impacts existing health centers greatly. |
| D．Schools are committed to helping kids get more health care. |
8 . Zibo city in Shandong has unexpectedly become famous on Chinese social media since late February for its local barbecue specialty, and this trend continues as the local government takes the opportunity to promote tourism and spending.
The latest promotion gives visitors free admission to 10 scenic spots in the city with their train tickets as long as their final destination is Zibo. This move followed another on March 31 under which the Jinan bureau of China Railway added a weekend special round-trip “barbecue tour” train between Jinan.
Passengers who get on the train are greeted by a banner reading “Welcome to the Special BBQ Train”at the entrance of the train. Many also took videos and posted them on social media, drawing more visitors.
Barbecue is popular in China, and Zibo’s barbecue has its own local features: it’s made on a stove, and is served with flatbread and dressings. The food is 70-80 percent cooked before it is brought to the table, where diners can finish cooking it on their own stoves. Diners are served with flatbreads, scallions and other dressings at the table so they are able to assemble their own barbecue parcels, in much the same way Peking Duck is eaten.
The barbecue suddenly became famous after a group of college students shot videos of themselves enjoying a meal in Zibo and posted them on social media in late February. Since then, many people, mostly young, have come to the city from all over the country to try the dish.
On several streets, lines can be seen outside barbecue restaurants, which stretch for more than 100 meters on the weekend.
“Zibo barbecue is bringing more and more people to the city, and the local government needs to think about how to promote the city as a whole, its culture and tourism, as well as its living and business environment,” said Sun Xiaorong, an expert of tourism marketing and promotion. The trend will eventually end if the local government doesn’t take proper follow-up measures, he added.
1. What does paragraph 1 mainly talk about?| A．Zibo city’s snacks. |
| B．Zibo city’s places of interest. |
| C．The reasons why Zibo is famous recently. |
| D．The challenges Zibo meets with at present. |
| A．It is usually paired with flatbread and dressings. |
| B．It is as delicious as Peking Duck. |
| C．It is totally toasted by the cook on the stove. |
| D．It is very cheap and various. |
| A．Young people’s dreams. |
| B．Local government’s measures. |
| C．Barbecue restaurants in Zibo city. |
| D．Some college students’ promotion. |
| A．Objective. | B．Negative. |
| C．Curious | D．Doubtful. |
9 . We need as table source of income to provide for our needs. We need to keep our jobs. But despite this, there are still a lot of good employees that quit. Why? Some people immediately assume that the need for a bigger salary is the main reason for employees leaving their jobs.
Being over worked. One of the top reasons why good or even the best employees leave is too much workload dumped on them.
Lack of growth opportunities. Employers wish their staff can better work for them.
Lack of appreciation. Even a little child would really show more enthusiasm if their efforts are rewarded and appreciated. Raises and bonuses are good, but giving a salary increase or monetary rewards aren’t the only ways to show recognition or appreciation.
| A．Lack of tasks |
| B．Lack of challenges |
| C．However, it’s not always about the money |
| D．Employees may show how good they are at something |
| E．Employees have been doing the same thing for a long time |
| F．Sometimes, a simple “Great job!” or “Good work!” will do |
| G．Meanwhile, employees wish to improve themselves in the company |
10 . There aren’t many parents who would say that raising children is easy. For many people, having children can
With more women working outside the home than 70 years ago, if the need is
In the early stages, a baby is totally
It’s a difficult job, with a
| A．cultivate | B．force | C．struggle | D．allow |
| A．comes down to | B．looks up to | C．goes up to | D．gets down to |
| A．moral | B．economical | C．financial | D．material |
| A．casual | B．practical | C．hands-up | D．hands-on |
| A．refusing | B．choosing | C．loving | D．sharing |
| A．on hold | B．in hand | C．off shore | D．on schedule |
| A．in | B．there | C．out | D．thus |
| A．takes | B．carries | C．earns | D．attains |
| A．remarks | B．attitudes | C．opinions | D．behaviors |
| A．hard | B．cozy | C．easy | D．bitter |
| A．Unexpectedly | B．Surprisingly | C．Luckily | D．Sadly |
| A．better | B．politer | C．smarter | D．livelier |
| A．dependent | B．keen | C．hard | D．emphatic |
| A．sleep | B．drink | C．live | D．feed |
| A．burden | B．service | C．leave | D．charge |
| A．price | B．responsibility | C．duty | D．necessity |
| A．Other than | B．Prior to | C．Contrary to | D．Rather than |
| A．educate | B．direct | C．conduct | D．promote |
| A．urging | B．picking | C．demanding | D．crying |
| A．fighting | B．changing | C．turning | D．shaking |
