1 . Willie Sutton, a once celebrated American criminal, was partly famous for saying he robbed banks because “that’s where the money is.” Actually, museums are where the money is. In a single gallery there can be paintings worth more, taken together, than a whole fleet of jets. And while banks can hide their money in basements, museums have to put their valuables in plain sight.
Nothing could be worse than the thought of a painting as important as The Scream, Edvard Munch’s impressive image of a man screaming against the backdrop of a blood-red sky, disappearing into a criminal underworld that doesn’t care much about careful treatment of art works. Art theft is a vast problem around the world. As many as 10,000 precious items of all kinds disappear each year. And for smaller museums in particular, it may not be a problem they can afford to solve. The money for insurance on very famous pictures would be budget destroyers even for the largest museums.
Although large museums have had their share of embarrassing robberies, the greatest problem is small institutions. Neither can afford heavy security. Large museums attach alarms to their most valuable paintings, but a modest alarm system can cost $500,000 or more. Some museums are looking into tracking equipment that would allow them to follow stolen items once they leave the museums. But conservators are concerned that if they have to insert something, it might damage the object. Meanwhile, smaller museums can barely afford enough guards, relying instead on elderly staff.
Thieves sometimes try using artworks as money for other underworld deals. The planners of the 2006 robbery of Russborough House near Dublin, who stole 18 paintings, tried in vain to trade them for Irish Republican Army members held in British prison. Others demand a ransom (赎金) from the museum that owns the pictures. Once thieves in Frankfurt, Germany, made off with two major works by J.M.W. Turner from the Tate Gallery in London. The paintings, worth more than $80 million, were recovered in 2012 after the Tate paid more than $5 million to people having “information” about the paintings. Though ransom is illegal in Britain, money for looking into a case is not, provided that police agree the source of the information is unconnected to the crime. All the same, where information money end s and ransom begins is often a gray area.
1. Why do smaller museums face a greater challenge in preventing art theft?| A．They lack experienced staff. |
| B．They cannot afford high-tech security systems. |
| C．They do not have valuable artworks. |
| D．They lack interest in art conservation. |
| A．It might damage the artwork. |
| B．It is too expensive for smaller museums. |
| C．It is difficult to insert into the paintings. |
| D．It is ineffective for valuable paintings. |
| A．the thieves demanded a ransom from the Tate Gallery |
| B．the Tate Gallery regained the lost paintings illegally |
| C．the money paid was considered an information fee, not a ransom |
| D．the police requested the Tate Gallery to pay the money |
| A．to remind criminals to protect and preserve the painting |
| B．to give suggestions on how to avoid the crimes of art theft |
| C．to urge museums to set up more advanced security systems |
| D．to make people aware of art theft and the necessity of good security systems |
2 . Who cares if people think wrongly that the Internet has had more important influences than the washing machine? Why does it matter that people are more impressed by the most recent changes?
It would not matter if these misjudgments were just a matter of people’s opinions. However, they have real impacts, as they result in misguided use of scarce resources.
The fascination with the ICT(Information and Communication Technology) revolution, represented by the Internet, has made some rich countries wrongly conclude that making things is so “yesterday” that they should try to live on ideas. This belief in “post-industrial society” has led those countries to neglect their manufacturing sector (制造业) with negative consequences for their economies.
Even more worryingly, the fascination with the Internet by people in rich countries has moved the international community to worry about the “digital divide” between the rich countries and the poor countries. This has led companies and individuals to donate money to developing countries to buy computer equipment and Internet facilities. The question, however, is whether this is what the developing countries need the most. Perhaps giving money for those less fashionable things such as digging wells, extending electricity networks and making more affordable washing machines would have improved people’s lives more than giving every child a laptop computer or setting up Internet centres in rural villages, I am not saying that those things are necessarily more important, but many donators have rushed into fancy programmes without carefully assessing the relative long-term costs and benefits of alternative uses of their money.
In yet another example, a fascination with the new has led people to believe that the recent changes in the technologies of communications and transportation are so revolutionary that now we live in a “borderless world”. As a result, in the last twenty years or so, many people have come to believe that whatever change is happening today is the result of great technological progress, going against which will be like trying to turn the clock back. Believing in such a world, many governments have put an end to some of the very necessary regulations on cross-border flows of capital, labour and goods, with poor results.
Understanding technological trends is very important for correctly designing economic policies, both at the national and the international levels, and for making the right career choices at the individual level. However, our fascination with the latest, and our under valuation of what has already become common, can, and has, led us in all sorts of wrong directions.
1. What are the effects of people’ misjudgments on the influences of new technology?| A．It stimulates innovation. | B．It affects their personal opinions. |
| C．It influences their use of resources. | D．It leads to improved technology. |
| A．It leads to competition between rich and poor countries. |
| B．It results in a lack of access to technology in developing countries. |
| C．It increases the cost of computer equipment in rich countries. |
| D．It promotes global digital cooperation. |
| A．donating for technology is always the better option |
| B．the author does not provide opinions on this matter |
| C．donating for technology and basic needs should be balanced |
| D．donating for basic needs should be prioritized over technology |
| A．Significance of information and communication technology. |
| B．Serious consequences of over-emphasizing high technology. |
| C．Technological trends guiding economic policy making. |
| D．How to use donation money in the new age. |
3 . In his latest Twitter shake-up, Elon Musk has decided to temporarily control how many tweets users can read each day.
On Saturday, Musk announced the daily limit, with some accounts restricted to 300 posts. Musk said verified users would be able to read 6,000 posts per day, while unverified and newly created unverified accounts would only be able to read either 600 or 300 posts per day.
The decision sparked backlash (集体反对) and within hours the billionaire said he had extended the limits to 10,000 for verified (已认证的) users, 1,000 for unverified users, and 500 for newly unverified users.
On Friday, Musk also changed Twitter’s rules to stop unregistered users from viewing tweets without signing up. He said the move was part of ”drastic and immediate“ action to restrict access to tweets because AI companies were stealing Twitter’s data.
Despite Musk insisting the restrictions are temporary, some users have been confused and irritated by the sudden change of rules.“How on earth did I already use up all my rate limits,” Rawsalerts, a media account, tweeted, along with a screenshot of the account’s limited timeline. “Now I can’t even see my own tweets what is happening.” YouTube star Mr. Beast also chimed in on the drama: “I hit my tweet viewing limit for the day. Wtf do I do with my life now.” Matt Navarra, a social-media expert, “It is time I just quit Twitter at this point,” posted in response to another user complaining they couldn’t access his content.
Others took to joking about the new restrictions. One user poked fun at the risk the policy might reduce views: “Babe no your tweet’s a banger! Everyone just exceeded (超过) their rate limit before they saw it! Babe trust me!”
Another joked about their attempts to slow down their scrolling, posting a meme with the text: ”Me trying to not scroll fast and waste my 600 tweet limit.“
Musk also appeared to try and join in the fun, retweeting a parody account of himself that said the view limit was an attempt to make Twitter addicts “go outside”.
Representatives for Twitter did not respond to Insider’s request for comment with a message that addressed the question.
1. Where is this article most likely to occur?| A．In a free magazine offered on an airplane. |
| B．In a yearly review book concerning Internet and society. |
| C．In a newspaper published within one month. |
| D．In a literature criticism book on politics. |
| A．To comfort frustrated users. |
| B．To encourage more people to use Twitter. |
| C．To make Twitter more accessible to new users. |
| D．In response to pressure from AI companies. |
| A．Overwhelming support and agreement. |
| B．Diverse responses ranging from frustration to humor. |
| C．Complete disregard and indifference. |
| D．Massive user migration to other social media platforms. |
| A．Twitter’s user engagement might decrease due to the viewing limit. |
| B．Twitter’s popularity will surge due to increased exclusivity. |
| C．Twitter’s platform will become more secure and prevent data theft. |
| D．Twitter’s revenue will increase due to more users signing up. |
Puffin Books, the publisher of UK writer Roald Dahl’s classic children’s books like Matila and The Witches, came under fire in February due to their choice to edit out hundreds of offensive or outdated words such as “fat” and “ugly” in the late author’s stories.
Although the publisher defended the changes, saying that they were meant to allow DahI’s books to continue to be enjoyed by all today, many were still angered by the move. Notable figures like writer Salman Rushdie called the changes “absurd censorship (荒谬的审查)” while UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said that “it’s important that works of literature and works of fiction are preserved”, noted Sky News.
DahI’s books and other children’s literature have a unique problem compared to literature for adults when it comes to preservation vs adaptation. Children can be vulnerable to influences which can shape the way they grow up and understand the world. According to The Conversation, “children’s literature implicitly(潜移默化地) shapes the minds of child readers by presenting particular social and culture values as normal and natural .[AKA] ‘socialization’.”
Personally, I believe in the intelligence of children to navigate and explore the world around them. It is the job of teachers, parents and other adult guardians to help children understand that books are products of their times and that authors – even the best among them – are ultimately human beings with their own flaws(缺点).
After all, just as Suzanne Nossel, CEO of PEN America, a nonprofit organization that protects writers and freedom of expression, wrote on her Twitter, “If we start down the path of trying to correct for perceived slights(自以为的鄙视) instead of allowing readers to receive and react to books as written, we risk distorting the work of great authors and clouding the essential lens that literature offers on society.”
With this kind of understanding in mind, we can empower children with the tools for critical thinking and improve their ability to judge and sort out the contexts of what they learn and are exposed to. This is a skill needed now more than ever in an era of “fake news” and the rapid spread of fakes.
1. Why did Puffin Books decide to edit Roald Dahl’s books?2. What is the unique problem with children’s literature, according to the text?
3. What does the underlined word “distorting” most probably mean?
4. What does the author believe is important when raising children?
5 . “What will you do if a person you don’t know wants to give you a ride?” I asked my children. “What if he says Mom is hurt, and you have to come to the hospital with him?” I knew they pretended to listen to me, because I interrupted their TV time.
Here I also want to ask some parents, “Have you ever told your children how to protect themselves?” If you haven’t, I would like to give you four words to help you teach your children how to protect themselves.
No! If a stranger walks to the children, they should keep their distance from the stranger. If the stranger keeps walking to them in a terrible manner, they should run quickly and shout “No!” as loudly as possible.
Go! If the shout does not change the situation, they should run as quickly as possible to a safe place. It is helpful for children to know some safe places such as schools, restaurants and gas stations.
Yell! It means that the children should shout loudly. They can yell out, “Stranger!”
Call! Once they get to a safe place, they should call their parents, teachers or other persons they trust.
1. The underlined word “pretend” means in Chinese.| A．故意 | B．假装 | C．喜欢 | D．讨厌 |
| A．One. | B．Two. | C．Three. | D．Four. |
| A．a teacher | B．a policeman | C．a mother | D．a doctor |
| A．In a travel guide. | B．In an ad. |
| C．In a storybook. | D．In a newspaper. |
6 . Some experts have been concerned lately about robots leaving humans behind, taking our jobs and possibly a lot more, as in sci-fi films. Christ of Koch, a famous neuroscientist (神经学家), has suggested a novel method. To keep up with the machines, we should increase our brainpower with brain implants (植入物).
Koch notes that brain implants are already helping the paralyzed or people unable to move control computers and robots, and they are being explored for the treatment of mental disorders. Future implants could help us download huge amounts of information instantly, he says, so we can learn “novel skills and facts without even trying”. “Another exciting aspect,” Koch says, “is combining two or more brains into a single conscious mind by direct neuron-to-neuron links.” Koch calls for a “crash program” in brain technologies to make us smarter.
But Koch ignores the obvious facts that bad persons can hack (侵入) into our smartphones and laptops. What if hackers could attack our brains? They may be able to spy on, change or control the memories of people implanted with brain devices. What’s more, we are nowhere close to being able to strengthen the brain in the manner that Koch imagines. Scientists have been experimenting with neuro-technologies for mental illness for more than half a century, and they have little to show for it.
Koch genuinely feared that science, far from addressing our problems, might exacerbate them. The use of robots in the workshop, for example, could cause mass unemployment. Do we just count the immediate job losses—without measuring any other potential positive effect on the economy? Despite losing some jobs to robots in the short term, the increase in productivity will help our overall economy grow faster, which, in turn, will create more, higher quality jobs than we had before.
The future is not as scary as we think. Perhaps we’ve got serious problems on our hands, and we have a lot of work to do to settle them. Brain implants are not the answer.
1. What leads to Koch’s optimism about future brain implants?| A．The great advance in AI research. |
| B．Their application in medical fields. |
| C．The breakthrough in surgical techniques. |
| D．Their easy adaptation to the human body. |
| A．Disapproving. | B．Unconcerned. | C．Favorable. | D．Excited. |
| A．Avoid. | B．Worsen. | C．Reduce. | D．Answer. |
| A．Are Brain Implants at Risk of Hacker Attack? |
| B．Will Robots Take the Place of Humans in Future? |
| C．Will Brain Implants Let the Disabled Live Normally? |
| D．Do We Need Brain Implants to Keep Up with Robots? |
7 . The Covid-19 pandemic has forced millions of us to participate in one of the biggest social experiments of our time: what would happen if office workers largely abandoned their workplaces and began working from home?
One thing seems clear: more people working remotely has brought some benefits for the environment. Wildlife has be enable to reclaim urban spaces while people have been tapping away at their home keyboards, with less commuter (通勤者) traffic.
Many people have also been able to get more done while working remotely.
As vaccines help to control Covid-19, many organizations are hoping to reap the best of both worlds by letting employees work from home on some days and travel to the office on others.
| A．But what about the benefits to people? |
| B．More than 2 years in, it is time to reflect. |
| C．After a severe period, there is no turning back. |
| D．However, the experiment hasn’t been all positive. |
| E．It is time to reset and rethink how we actually work. |
| F．Many managers have also reported declines in innovation. |
| G．The productivity level is found to rise as they work from home. |
8 . When drawing scientists. U. S. children now depict (描画) female scientists more often than ever, according to new Northwestern University research, which has analyzed five decades of “Draw-A-Scientist” studies conducted since the 1960s.
This change suggests that children’s stereotypes (刻板印象) linking science with men have weakened over time, said the researchers, consistent with more women becoming scientists and children’s media depicting more female scientists on television shows and other media.
In the first study, conducted between 1968 and 1979, less than one percent of 5,000 children drew an image resembling a woman when asked to draw a scientist. Almost all their artwork depicted men working with laboratory equipment, often with lab coats, glasses and facial hair.
But in later studies (1988 to 2019), 28 percent of children drew a female scientist, on average. In addition, both girls and boys drew female scientists more often over time, though girls overall drew female scientists much more often than boys.
“Our results suggest that children’s stereotypes change as women’s and men’s roles change in society.” said study lead author David Miller. “Children still draw more male than female scientists, but that is expected because women remain a minority in several science fields.”
The researchers also studied how children form stereotypes about scientists across child development. The results suggested children did not associate science with men until grade school; around age 5, they drew roughly equal percentages of male and female scientists. During elementary and middle school, the tendency to draw male scientists increased strongly with age. Older children were also more likely to draw scientists with lab coats and glasses, suggesting that children learn other stereotypes as they mature.
“These changes across children’s age likely reflect that children’s exposure to male scientists accumulates during development, even in recent years.” said Miller.
“To build on cultural changes, teachers and parents should present children with multiple examples of female scientists across many contexts such as science courses, television shows and informal conversations,” Miller said.
1. What is the change in children drawing scientists?| A．Children draw more male scientists. |
| B．Children draw more female scientists. |
| C．Girls draw more scientists than boys. |
| D．Children draw more female than male scientists. |
| A．It’s not surprising. | B．It’s not reasonable. |
| C．It’s unexpected. | D．It’s not acceptable. |
| A．How children develop their drawings. |
| B．How children’s stereotypes change with age. |
| C．Why children draw more male scientists. |
| D．What scientists look like in children’s drawings. |
| A．By encouraging children to attend science courses. |
| B．By encouraging children to become scientists in the future. |
| C．By giving children an example of drawing female scientists. |
| D．By making female scientists known to children in various situations. |
9 . One Earth Award
About this award
Sponsored by the One Earth Fund, the One Earth Award offers $1,000 scholarships for four students whose works address the pressing issue of human-caused climate change.
Why should I create art or writing about climate change?
Some consequences of climate change include: sea-level rise, increase in air pollution, hurricane, droughts, extreme weather, and rising temperatures, among others. Your work can advance our thoughts about climate change and our understanding of solutions. It can also improve awareness of actions that we can take, in order to reduce the harm that human action has on our environment.
How do I apply?
Enter your work to any category in the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. When selecting the category of your work, choose the One Earth Award. You will be required to include a personal statement on your work.
What should I write for the personal statement?
Your personal statement should be 50 words or more and answer the following questions:
What specific aspect of climate change does your work address?
What is your personal connection to this aspect of climate change, and why do you think talking about climate change is important?
Getting started on your work
These resources can help you learn about climate change and create your own art and writing about it.
Consider how poets talk about climate change with the Poetry Foundation.
Explore visual art activities and writing activities from the Teacher’s Climate Guide.
Try writing exercises developed by English Teachers Concerned about Climate Crisis.
1. What is the first thing to do to get the One Earth Award?| A．Choosing the One Earth Award. |
| B．Contacting the One Earth Fund. |
| C．Presenting the personal statement. |
| D．Visiting the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. |
| A．What action you will take. | B．What you are concerned about. |
| C．Why your work is important. | D．What suggestion you will make. |
| A．How do I apply? |
| B．About this award |
| C．Getting started on your work |
| D．What should I write for the personal statement? |
10 . Bring back the night
Our lives are ruled by time and we use time to tell us what to do. But the digital alarm clock that wakes us in the morning or the wristwatch that tells us we are late for supper are unnatural clocks. Our biology dances to a more ancient beat that probably started to work in our humans’ early life.
The instructions for a biological clock are fixed within our genes, and those of almost all life on Earth. And they also affect our levels of attention, mood, physical strength, blood pressure and much more.
Biological clocks help time our sleep patterns. This marks the passage of approximately 24 hours and controls everything we do. Our clocks are even used to predict the differing demands of the 24-hour day and adapt our behavior in advance of changing conditions.
Body clocks differ between people. If you are alert in the morning and go to bed early, you are a morning “lark”, but if you hate mornings and want to keep going through the night, you are a night “owl”.
This habit of getting up later continues until we are about 20 years old.
We humans have welcomed the freedom to do what we want, when we want to do it. Our 24/7 society has affected the night, an apparent victory of civilization over nature.
| A．There are fewer absences and improved results. |
| B．Even our ability to learn and do well in exams is affected by them. |
| C．These include, in fact, increased errors, poor memory, reduced mental and physical reaction times and reduced motivation. |
| D．At this point there is a change towards earlier sleep and waking times. |
| E．But the reality is that our society is replacing a biological order developed over millions of years with a false impression. |
| F．These differences are partly laid down within our genes but they also change significantly as we get older. |
| G．Before we go to bed, our body temperature drops, our blood pressure decreases, and tiredness increases. |
