1 . How the economics profession should fix its gender problem
At the heart of economics is a belief in the virtues (好处) of open competition as a way of using the resources you have in the most efficient way you can. Thanks to the power of that insight, economists routinely tell politicians how to run public policy and business people how to run their firms. Yet when it comes to its own house, academic economics could have done more to observe the standards it applies to the rest of the world.
In particular, it recruits (招聘) too few women. Also, many of those who do work in the profession say they are treated unfairly and that their talents are not fully realised. As a result, economics has fewer good ideas than it should and suffers from a skewed (歪曲的) viewpoint. It is time for the dismal science to improve its dismal record on gender.
For decades relatively few women have participated in STEM subjects: science, l technology, engineering and maths. Economics belongs in this list. And a survey by the American Economics Association (AEA) this week shows that many women who do become academic economists are treated badly.
To deal with its gender shortfall (缺口), economics needs two tools that it often uses to analyse and solve problems elsewhere: its ability to crunch data and its capacity to experiment. Take data first. The AEA study is commendable, but only a fifth of its 45,000 present and past members replied to its poll. Better data are needed to capture how work by female economists is discriminated against. The more comprehensive (全面的) the picture that emerges, the sooner and more easily action can be taken to change recruitment and to reform professional life.
The other priority is for economists to experiment with new ideas, as the AEA is recommending. For a discipline that values dynamism, academic economics is often conservative, sticking with teaching methods, hiring procedures and social conventions that have been around for decades, The AEA survey reveals (显示) that 46% of women have not asked a question or presented an idea at conferences for fear of being treated unfairly, compared with 18% of men. Seminars could be organised to ensure that all speakers get a fair chance. The way that authors’ names are presented on papers could ensure that it is clear who has done the intellectual heavy lifting.
Instead of moving cautiously, the economics profession should do what it is best at: recognise there is a problem, measure it objectively and find solutions. If the result is more women in economics who are treated better, there will be more competition for ideas and a more efficient use of a scarce (稀缺的) resource. What economist could possibly object to that?
1. Why does economics have fewer excellent ideas than it should?| A．Economical environment isn’t good enough. |
| B．Professionals in this field are treated unjustly and their gifts are not fully recognized. |
| C．Too many women are employed. |
| D．Women do worse in economics than men. |
| A．Data to capture how work by female economists is discriminated against. |
| B．Its ability to process data quickly and its capacity to experiment. |
| C．Action to change recruitment and professional life of female economists. |
| D．Seminars organised to ensure that all speakers get a fair chance. |
| A．The result of the AEA survey is that there is better treatment to women |
| B．More women in economics will bring more competition of scarce resource. |
| C．A balanced sex ratio will do good to the development of economics. |
| D．Men in economics can’t make this discipline better. |
| A．Opposed. | B．Positive. | C．Objective. | D．Indifferent. |
2 . Health officials on Tuesday authorized the first electronic cigarettes in the U.S., saying the R.J. Reynolds vaping (电子烟) products can benefit adult smokers.
The Food and Drug Administration said data submitted by the company showed its Vuse e-cigarettes helped smokers either quit or significantly reduce their use of cigarettes, the leading preventable cause of death in the U.S.
Tuesday’s first-of-a-kind decision is part of a sweeping effort by the FDA to bring scientific scrutiny (审查) to the multibillion-dollar vaping industry after years of delays.
In September, the agency said it had rejected applications for more than a million e-cigarettes and related products, mainly due to their potential appeal to young children. But supervisors delayed making decisions on most of the major vaping companies. The FDA said it rejected 10 other requests from the company for other flavored products. The agency is still inspecting the company’s request to sell a menthol-flavored (薄荷味) nicotine formula (配方). “Today’s authorizations are an important step toward ensuring all new tobacco products healthy and legal after the FDA’s premarket evaluation,” said Mitch Zeller, director of the FDA’s tobacco center, in a statement, “The manufacturer’s data demonstrates its tobacco-flavored products could benefit addicted adult smokers who switch to these products — either completely or with a significant reduction in cigarette consumption.”
E-cigarettes first appeared in the U.S. more than a decade ago with the promise of providing smokers with a less harmful alternative to smoking traditional tobacco cigarettes. But there has been little tight study of whether the e-cigarettes truly help smokers quit. And efforts by the FDA to begin checking vaping products and their claims were repeatedly slowed by competing political interests.
In recent years, the vaping market grew to include hundreds of companies selling a good supply of devices and nicotine solutions in various flavors and strengths. But the vast majority of the market is controlled by a few companies including Juul Labs, which is partially owned by Altria, and Vuse. To stay on the market, companies must show that their products benefit public health. In practice, that means proving that adult smokers who use the products are likely to quit or reduce their smoking, while teens are unlikely to get hooked on them.
1. Why did U.S. health officials authorize R.J. Reynolds’ e-cigarette products?| A．E-cigarette products are not harmful to humans, especially adult smokers. |
| B．E-cigarette products could help control the death rates in the United States. |
| C．E-cigarette products are effective in reducing cigarette use in America. |
| D．E-cigarette products can ensure that adult smokers keep away from smoking. |
| A．Process of e-cigarette product assessment. | B．Significance of e-cigarette products’ data. |
| C．Advantages of using e-cigarettes among smokers. | D．Reasons for declining e-cigarettes applications. |
| A．Interests of the consumers. | B．Quality the products. |
| C．Evaluation of the public. | D．Marketing strategy. |
| A．Be addicted to. | B．Be reliable on. |
| C．Be satisfied with. | D．Be anxious about. |
3 . Modern technology has had a great influence on people's entertainment choices, making them less creative. Do you agree or disagree with this opinion?
Bearing in mind the likely effects of the modern technology on entertainments on today's users are important, because it is an issue that is discussed daily nowadays by people in both the private and public sectors (公共部门). However, does the modern technology benefits all aspects of human society? Some people may answer to the contrary. As far as I can see, current technology is undermining modern people's creative ability by providing individuals sorted ways of relaxation.
The likely effects of modern technology on entertainment for people today are important, because it is an issue that is discussed daily in both the private and public sectors. However, does modern technology benefit all aspects of human society? Some people may answer in the negative. As far as I can see, modern technology undermines people's creative ability by providing individuals pre-digested forms of relaxation.
To begin with , it has been known from the latest resources that modern people prefer to enjoy high-tech ways of recreation. More and more people from all works feel so pressuarable that they turn to modern technology which is supposed to be there providing convenient, time-saving and fresh entertainment while fewer and fewer individuals choose to play jigsaws(拼图) or make some exquisite handicrafts (精美的手工艺品) which is the very things expand their imaginary world and make them more creative in their spare time.
Further more, modern people are more likely to count on current technology whether in physiological or psychological. What is meant by this is that plenty of people fully enjoy the entertaining products such as, TV, MP3 or internet games high-tech brings to them that they spend lots of time on them without doing anything else. Couch-potato syndrome(典型表现) is one such example. The more people rely on those modern entertaining items, the more possible that people form a negative habitual opinion that these high-tech can do everything for them, and the less likely people will be initiative and creative in their life.
It goes without saying that modern technology do bring us low-cost, efficient entertaining products, and these may initiate some individuals' inspiration occasionally. But that's very limited compared to the side effects they give rise to.
In conclusion, it is very important to know that it's the creative ability that make our human society prosperous and flourish. Modern technology is just a powerful tool in the charge of human to benefit our conduction.
1. What is the synonym of “undermining”?| A．supporting | B．weakening | C．strengthening | D．building |
| A．Playing jigsaws. |
| B．Making exquisite handicrafts. |
| C．Watching TV, listening to MP3 or playing online games. |
| D．Reading books. |
| A．By providing pre-digested forms of relaxation and reducing people's imagination. |
| B．By making people overly dependent on high-tech products and making them lazy. |
| C．By making people addicted to entertainment and having no time for creative activities. |
| D．All of the above. |
| A．Modern technology makes people's entertainment choices more diverse. |
| B．Modern technology has a positive impact on people's creativity. |
| C．Modern technology weakens people's creativity in some ways. |
| D．Modern technology has both advantages and disadvantages and needs to be treated correctly. |
4 . When consuming information, we try to acquire more signals and less noise. We feel like the more information we consume the more signals we receive. While this is probably true on an absolute basis, Nassim Taleb argues in the book Antifragile that it is not true on a relative basis. As you consume more data and the ratio (比率) of noise to signals increases, you know less about what’s going on and you are likely to cause more unintentional trouble.
The supply of information to which we are exposed under modernity is transforming humans from a calm person to a neurotic (神经质的) one. For the purpose of our discussion, the first person only reacts to real information, and the second largely to noise. The difference between the two will show us the difference between noise and signals. Noise is what you are supposed to ignore; signals are what you need to heed.
In science, noise is a generalization beyond the actual sound to describe random information that is totally useless for any purpose, and that you need to clean up to make sense of what you are listening to. You can use and take advantage of noise and randomness, but noise and randomness can also use and take advantage of you, particularly with the data you get on the Internet or through other media. The more frequently you look at data, the more noise you are likely to get, and the higher the noise-to-signal ratio is.
Say you look at information on a yearly basis—the changes you see will all be large ones. The ratio of signals to noise is about one to one—this means that about half the changes are real improvements or degradations, and the other half come from randomness. But if you look at the very same data on a daily basis, the composition would change to 95 percent noise and 5 percent signals, and the changes you see daily will certainly be small.
1. What opinion does Nassim Taleb probably hold?| A．It’s hard to know the real truth. | B．The noise-to-signal ratio is changing. |
| C．The information explosion can be harmful. | D．More information brings more signals. |
| A．Notice. | B．Analyse. | C．Solve. | D．Describe. |
| A．Causes and harms of more noise. | B．The meaning and impact of noise. |
| C．The relationship between noise and signals. | D．Advantages and disadvantages of noise. |
| A．Check it frequently. | B．Make use of online data. |
| C．Look at key changes. | D．Focus on all changes in it. |
5 . During my daughter’s first year at school, her teacher dismissed our concerns about her shaky pencil hold by saying: “Don’t worry, handwriting is on its way out. By the time she’s in year 12, they’ll all be typing or voice-dictating their exams.”
Fast-forward 12 long school years and that now grown-up girl is in her final high-school exams. And of the many hours of articles and long and short answers, every single page, line, word and letter will be handwritten. Every single primary-school teacher undertook at the start of each year to fix her handwriting but it never changed.
My high school had company typing classes. It was so boring but I say that typing is the very best thing I learned at school. In all my work—as a health professional, a writer and an online teacher—being able to type efficiently, quickly and exactly has been invaluable. As a writer, I can type reasonably accurate notes during an interview, all while looking at the person I’m speaking with. As writing rates have been inactive or going backwards, I’d have a much harder time if I couldn’t type so well.
A group of friends who went to high school says that I’m fortunate to have had compulsory typing lessons, as some schools only offered it to girls, and some friends deliberately shunned the subject in order to avoid gender-based opinions that they wanted to become a secretary.
You might be thinking that none of this will be an issue for much longer, given how far voice recognition tech has come and how ChatGPT can produce writing within seconds. In fact, the increased availability of AI will perhaps mean that handwritten exams will be around for even longer, as seeing someone put pen to paper is one of the few ways we have of promising original work.
Efficient handwriting and fast and correct typing are skills that perhaps should be more highly valued by educators and employers. Learning to hand-write and type might be boring but I predict that they’ll still be important skills even when today’s little ones are in year 12.
1. What does the example of the author’s daughter prove?| A．Handwriting isn’t out of date. | B．His concern turned out true. |
| C．Students like voice-dictating exams. | D．Adults can’t fix their handwriting. |
| A．It earned him a big come. | B．It made him work more effectively. |
| C．It brought more job chances for him. | D．It helped him survive his hard life. |
| A．Put up with. | B．Keep away from. |
| C．Take advantage of. | D．Get used to. |
| A．The application of AI. | B．The value of education. |
| C．The originality of our works. | D．The efficiency of exams. |
6 . Chocolate makers are expected to raise prices this year because of higher costs of cocoa from exporters like Ivory Coast. The West African country is the world’s largest cocoa producer. Hershey is the largest producer of chocolate products in the United States. It said last month it plans to raise prices on all of its products because of the rising cost of ingredients. Ingredients are the things used to make a food or product.
Demand for chocolate in America increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, and cocoa producers in places like Ivory Coast are struggling to keep up with that demand. Experts say one reason for that is climate change.
Harvard University researchers estimate that by 2030 parts of West Africa will be too hot and dry to produce much cocoa. The West African countries of Ghana and Ivory Coast together produce 70 percent of worldwide cocoa supply.
Cocoa farmer Raphael Konan Kouassi recently took VOA to his farm. Huge green and yellow cocoa pods hung from trees. He said his trees are producing less because of rising temperatures and less rainfall than usual.
“Almost all of the young plants die in the high season. If you have not been able to get water to them, you have no cocoa,” Kouassi said.
Kouassi receives government assistance in the form of cocoa trees. But he said the government gives out trees at the wrong time of year. Because of this, the young trees have a difficult time surviving.
Christian Bunn is with the Consortium of International Agricultural Research Centers, a worldwide scientific organization. Bunn said information about how the climate is changing can inform farmers about how to better care for their crops.
“What we’re seeing is that the onset of both dry and wet season can change. It’s less reliable. During the season, there may be breaks in terms of rain during the dry season, or there’s a dry spell during the wet season,” Bunn said.
The data show it may be better for farmers to stop producing cocoa and instead grow a variety of different crops, he said.
But the chief of one Ivorian company that supplies The Hershey Company said higher prices for cocoa could be welcomed by farmers. Olga Yenou said, “My opinion is that these farmers should have better prices, should earn more, because they work hard. Most are poor,” Yenou said.
Her wish appears to be coming true. As climate change continues to have effects on production, prices continue to rise.
1. What is the main reason for the rise in the price of chocolate?| A．Increase in labor costs. | B．Increase in transportation costs. |
| C．Increase in ingredient costs. | D．Increase in preservation cost. |
| A．Ivory Coast is the largest cocoa producer around the world. |
| B．Sales of chocolate in the America declined during the pandemic. |
| C．The climate in parts of West Africa is very humid. |
| D．The dry weather is benefit for the cocoa trees to survive. |
| A．Excited. | B．Thankful. | C．Surprised. | D．Disappointed. |
| A．Planting various crops instead of planting coco trees. |
| B．Paying attention to the weather forecast every day. |
| C．Investing more money in coco trees. |
| D．Seeking help from the government. |
7 . For the past decade, one of the most linguistically (语言学地), diverse places in the world, square mile after square mile, has been my home: Queens, New York.
The soundtrack outside my door is extraordinary: On any given block, passing voices speak varieties of Polish, Ukrainian, Egyptian Arabic, Mexican Spanish, Puerto Rican Spanish, Dominican Spanish, and all the forms of New York City English they give rise to.
As a person who studies languages: I can usually distinguish them from one another, but understand only a part of what people are saying.
Users of Seke, a language from five villages in Nepal with 700 speakers, live a subway ride away. In certain stores, Albanians, Bosnians, Serbs, and Montenegrins all reunite, using the languages of the former Yugoslavia as if the country still existed. No group has a majority, or even 15. percent of the neighborhood, and most are at just 5 or 10 percent. English acts, for the most part, as a vital lingua franca (通用语). This’ last point is crucial, because a city can be a haven (避难所) for diversity but also an end point.
My neighborhood has its signature sound, but there are several dozen others that are just as diverse, each in a different way.
These are the places where the Endangered Language Alliance, the nonprofit I co-direct, has recorded New Yorkers speaking more than 100 languages that the survey and other data sets say don’t officially exist, and more than 700 in total.
That linguistic portrait makes clear that early-21st-century New York City is a last haven for endangered languages—ones that are being hounded out of existence elsewhere. And this deep linguistic diversity is among the least explored but possibly most important factors in New York’s history and makeup. New York’s soul can be found in the existence of these many, many languages, explaining New York’s particular capacity for tolerance and its ability to “make room” for others.
1. What is the author’s occupation?| A．An economist. | B．A historian. | C．A linguist. | D．A reporter. |
| A．They are close to disappearing. | B．They are mainly spoken by villagers. |
| C．English is the most popular language. | D．Most of them are not officially recognized. |
| A．Protected. | B．Threatened. | C．Respected. | D．Accepted. |
| A．Language City. | B．The Development of Languages. |
| C．Endangered Languages in New York. | D．The Importance of Language Diversity. |
8 . I have some important information. The average American... Oh, wait.〈ding!〉New notification. CNN: something about Taylor and Travis. Hmmm.〈ding!〉And our dog food is out for delivery.〈ding!〉A winter sales promotion of soap and socks. Whew....
The average American reportedly gets about 70 smartphone notifications a day. And according to a new study, the number is far higher for teenagers, whose phones ding hundreds or even thousands of times. This constant sound puts us off from work, life, and each other.
“The simple ding of a notification is enough to pull our attention elsewhere,” Kosta Kushlev, a behavioral scientist at Georgetown University, told us. “Even if we don’t check them. This can have obvious effects on productivity, but also our own well-being and of those around us. Humans are not good at multitasking. It takes extra time and effort to switch our attention. We get interrupted so many times a day that these effects can add up to meaningful decreases in our well-being and social connection,” he added.
I am grateful to learn that the Bears have won. I’m eager for messages from my family. But I wonder why The New York Times feels it is urgent to inform me, as they did this week, about “The 6 Best Men’s and Women’s Sweaters”.
This is, of course, a circumstance mostly of our own creation, constructed click by click. We can choose to check notifications just a couple of times a day. But does that risk delay, real or imagined, in seeing something we really need to see? Or that would simply delight us?
The promise of instant communication has grown into information congestion (拥堵). So many urgent notifications, not many of which are truly urgent; and only a few are even interesting. So many hours spent staring at the small screen, and searching for news, gossip, opportunity, and direction, while so often being unaware of the world all around us.
1. What phenomenon is described in the first paragraph?| A．Americans favor new notifications. | B．Smartphones can promote products. |
| C．New notifications constantly interrupt. | D．Push notification technology is advanced. |
| A．Tolerant. | B．Favorable. | C．Doubtful. | D．Disapproving. |
| A．The prospect of push notifications looks promising. |
| B．Push notifications help users understand the world a lot. |
| C．Most of the instant notifications are unimportant. |
| D．Smartphone users should search for information directly. |
| A．Fewer Dings, Please! | B．Times Have Changed! |
| C．Information Era Is Approaching. | D．Smartphone Addiction Has Increased. |
9 . 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. |
10 . The issue of how to feed a growing population is a crucial issue for the 21st century. The issue was high on the agenda (当务之急) at the recent United Nations Climate Change Conference in Egypt. According to the UN, by 2050, we will need to produce 60% more food to feed a world population of 9.3 billion.
Cambridge Judge Business School supports a number of businesses which aim to promote sustainable agriculture practices. One of the most important fields is precision (精准) agriculture, the science of improving crop yields and assisting management decisions using the latest technology. Outfield Technologies is targeted at high value fruit farming. Farmers buy their own drones (无人机), and then the Outfield software creates flight plans over the farm and processes the images taken by the drones.
By counting the fruit on branches and measuring trees, farmers can see where to apply fertiliser with greater precision, reducing usage and improving soil sustainability. Outfield’s software can also recommend where to start harvesting to reduce waste and labour costs. The rising cost of labour globally has become a huge issue within the agricultural industry, for reasons including the shortage of backpackers (some of whom become seasonal workers) in New Zealand, and the rise of minimum pay in South Africa.
The data gathered by drones can also predict yields. “Priming” the supply chain ensures a smoother journey from the farm to fruit bowl in your home. When an apple is picked, it is stored in a refrigerated environment for up to six months before being transported to a pack house to be washed, sorted, packaged, before being moved to a delivery centre and finally appearing on supermarket shelves. The chain depends heavily on transportation, but by predicting yields, Outfield aims to reduce waste as traders can predict fruit levels and reduce greenhouse gases caused by refrigerated storage.
Outfield co-founder Oil Hilbourne said, “The agricultural industry needs more investment to change. More money for 5G, education and investment in start-ups.”
1. What does Outfield Technologies do for farmers?| A．It offers them free flights. |
| B．It oversees farms for them. |
| C．It teaches them about high value fruits. |
| D．It uses drone-taken images to advertise farms. |
| A．Pay in South Africa is very low. |
| B．South Africa can’t agree on minimum pay. |
| C．Backpackers in New Zealand fail to get paid fairly. |
| D．New Zealand isn’t drawing enough seasonal workers. |
| A．boost the yield of fruit | B．make sure the fruit can keep fresh |
| C．ensure the fruits are transported timely | D．provide more convenient services to customers |
| A．The future of farming | B．The trend of fruit picking |
| C．The promising market of high value fruits | D．The positive effects of farming on environment |
