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 . 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 |
5 . 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. |
6 . 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. |
7 . NEW DELHI—Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi Tuesday inspected the bridge collapse site in the western state of Gujarat, where more than 100 people were killed, officials said. Ahead of the visit, Modi chaired a high-level meeting on Monday night during which he was briefed about rescue efforts.
The century-old British-era pedestrian suspension bridge (吊桥) collapsed on Sunday evening, with hundreds of people falling into Machchhu River in Morbi town, about 241 km west of the capital city, Gandhinagar. Reports said that 177 people were rescued and over 100 people were undergoing treatment at the Morbi civil hospital.
Soon after the bridge visit, Modi reached the civil hospital in Morbi to meet the injured. The prime minister was seen asking the survivors about their health. According to officials, search and rescue operations, carried out by teams of the State Disaster Response Force and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), the Indian navy, the Indian air force and the Indian army, were called off (取消) on Monday evening and began again on Tuesday morning. Officials said Modi also met with those involved in rescue and relief operations.
The local government of Gujarat has already ordered an investigation into the deadly collapse of the bridge. The bridge is a popular tourist attraction in the area. It was shut for renovation (整修) for seven months and was open for the public on Oct 26, the Gujarati New Year.
Reports said that around 500 people, much beyond its capacity, were on the suspension bridge at the time when it crashed into the river.
Police have arrested nine people including officials of Oreva, the company that carried out the repair work, ticket sellers and security men. However, the owners of the company have not been arrested. Oreva group is actually a Gujarat-based watchmaker company. Reports said that the watchmaker reportedly outsourced (转包) the “technical aspect of the renovation” to a smaller construction company, Devprakash Solutions.
Oreva has been accused of violating multiple safety rules, leading to the huge tragedy just four days after the bridge reopened to the public. Questions have been raised over why Oreva with no experience in construction was given responsibility for maintaining a bridge.
1. What did Modi first do after hearing the bridge collapse?| A．He paid a visit to the bridge. |
| B．He held and took charge of a meeting. |
| C．He went to see the injured in the hospital. |
| D．He met with those involved in rescue and relief operations. |
| A．It was too old to repair well. |
| B．It was maintained very well. |
| C．It had a safety risk. |
| D．It was solid enough. |
| A．Making. | B．Obeying. | C．Breaking. | D．Replacing. |
| A．Indian PM inspects site of deadly bridge collapse |
| B．Police arrest security men after bridge collapse |
| C．Modi is briefed about rescue efforts after bridge collapse |
| D．Around 500 people are on suspension bridge when it collapses |
8 . Are you planning to eat out tonight or are you going to stay in to save the pennies (省钱)? A meal out at a good restaurant or even a pizzeria can cost you a small fortune, so cooking for yourself makes financial sense. But with the rise in food prices, it’s important to be a wise shopper to keep your food bill in check.
These days our supermarket shelves are packed with tempting food items, from the daily staples, like bread and milk, to the exotic, like mangoes and kiwifruits (猕猴桃). There’s also the option of buying ready meals — convenient food that comes at a price. However, if you’re feeling hard up (拮据), there are things you can do to make the money you spend on food go further.
According to the BBC Food website, it’s all about changing your habits. It claims that cooking fulfilling and tasty meals on a budget is easy. It suggests a number of “tricks” such as using cheaper cuts of meat, “choose small amounts of meat with less expensive proteins” and “transform small quantities of leftovers into a heavy meal”.
A favorite entertainment of mine to help when money is tight is to stock up on items that are on special offer-such as BOGOF deals(Buy one, get one free).However, this is more of a problem when it comes to perishable (易腐烂的)items like fresh fruit and vegetables. In the UK, about 39% of household food waste is fruit and veg. So it’s a good idea not to stock up on too much of these things. Store them carefully and make the most of them in all your recipes.
Food waste is a big problem generally, so shopping carefully can also reduce the amount we throw away. And in Edinburgh in Scotland, it’s possible to reduce waste and not break the bank by visiting a recycled food shop, which has been set up to prevent extra food from shops ending up in the bins (垃圾桶).
Of course, the biggest thing you can do to help your cash flow is to cut back on take-away coffees and lunches.
Cooking your own meals is usually healthier for you and your finances.
1. According to the author, which of the following ways cost the least money?| A．To have meals at a good restaurant. | B．To cook meals for yourself at home. |
| C．To buy exotic fruit and vegetables. | D．To buy ready meals or convenient food. |
| A．He chooses small amounts of meat with expensive proteins. |
| B．He transforms large quantities of leftovers into a heavy meal. |
| C．He stocks up on items of special offer -such as BOGOF deals. |
| D．He makes all the perishable fruit and vegetables in all his recipes. |
| A．They often visits recycled food shops. |
| B．They store most of their food carefully. |
| C．They buy take-away coffees and lunches. |
| D．They only throw away the perishable food. |
| A．Ways to Cook Tasty Meals at Home | B．Ways to Cut Daily Expenses on Meals |
| C．Ways to Buy Food in the Supermarket | D．Ways to Store Fresh Fruit and Vegetables |
9 . Every family goes through its ups and downs. Most often, the root cause of this situation is the lack of communication.
Lack of patience can be one of the biggest factors. If people are not patient with their parents or children or other members, the levels of closeness will be weakened. And it can be quite difficult for a bad-tempered child, or even a bad-tempered parent to deal with the problems.
Lack of time for family members is always a reason leading to the problems.
Lack of discipline is the worst problem in terms of children.
If the solutions to the problems are OK, all these problems can be easily solved. If lack of patience is one of the problems, obviously the solution is to develop the virtue of patience. You’d better hear out what the children have to say on a certain matter, or even consult them about their significant ideas.
It would be natural to see childish behavior of the younger members of a family but it is up to the elders to control the atmosphere and keep it calm.
The above are some of the most common problems that most families face. So it is important to maintain the best relations with your family, because family is the strongest support system for you.
| A．Everyone has a say in each family meeting |
| B．By doing this, you can avoid a coming quarrel |
| C．A badly behaved child can ruin the peace of a family |
| D．the elder should talk things out instead of keeping silent |
| E．Don’t discuss the family problems when you’re still feeling upset |
| F．With the development of society, all people face fierce challenge and competition |
| G．There are some common factors that lead to communication problems in the family |
10 . When you throw something in the recycling bin, do you think about what it could become? And when you do, does it make you more likely to use that recycling bin? Recently, a study was conducted in an effort to decide whether or not explaining to people what their recyclables are transformed into would help increase recycling rates.
The researchers started with a group of 111 college students, asked to draw on paper before watching one of three ads.One was a public service message that showed paper going into recycling bins.The other two also showed the paper either being transformed into new paper or a guitar.After completing a survey, the students were asked to deal with the paper when they left. Half of those who saw the first ad recycled their paper, while the recycling rate jumped to 80% for those who'd seen the other ads.
After doing a few more lab experiments, the researchers headed into the real world.At a party, volunteers spoke with attendees (出席者) about recycling, with half mentioning transformed products and half keeping it general.They discovered the subject of the talks came into play.After the game, the recycling and trash bags were weighed.Those who received a message recycled over half of their waste, while those who did not recycled less than a fifth.
All this is to say that details matter.People want to know what treasures their trash can become, and when that's laid out clearly, they' re more likely to do it.Perhaps recycling companies should redesign signs to describe the items being created.Recycling is far from a perfect solution,but it doesn't hurt to manage to improve its rates.
1. What's the function of the first paragraph?| A．To lead to the main topic. |
| B．To reflect the author's attitude. |
| C．To introduce a new recycling bin. |
| D．1 To emphasize the benefits of recycling. |
| A．Took effect. |
| B．Broke down. |
| C．Took off. |
| D．Came to mind. |
| A．Sign the names on the items. |
| B．Find perfect ways of recycling. |
| C．Examine the details of items. |
| D．Show the transformation of waste. |
| A．Sports and games. |
| B．Travel and tourism. |
| C．Entertainment and recreation. |
| D．Science and human life. |
