1 . The clock rules our lives. The more we try to save time, the less time we seem to have. In every area of our lives we are doing things faster. And many of us live in towns and cities which are getting noisier and more stressful as each day passes. But now a worldwide movement, whose aim is to slow life down, has started. Its supporters are people who believe that a happier and healthier way of life is possible.
The Slow Food movement was founded the day that an Italian journalist, Carlo Petrini, saw that McDonald’s had opened a restaurant in a beautiful square in Rome. He thought it was sad that many people today live too quickly to sit down for a proper meal and only eat much fast food. He decided that he had to try to do something about it and so he started the Slow Food movement. Slow Food has become a global organization ever since and now has more than 80,000 members in 100 countries.
Slow Food also encourages people to eat local and regional food, to use local shops and markets, to eat out in small family restaurants, and to cook with traditional recipes.
The idea of Slow Cities was inspired by the Slow Food movement. The aim of Slow Cities is to improve people’s quality of life. Towns which want to become a Slow City have to reduce traffic and noise, increase the number of green areas, plant trees, build pedestrian zones, and promote local businesses and traditions. Now it has spread to other countries all over the world, from the UK to Japan and Australia. There are now 135 Slow Cities in 24 countries across the world that have been named since founding of the organization in 1999. Gao Chun County, in east China’s Jiangsu Province, is expected to be named the first “Slow City” in China next year.
“Slow Cities are about having a community life in the town,” said a local resident. “It is not ‘slow’ as in ‘stupid’. It is ‘slow’ as in the opposite of ‘worried’ and ‘stressful’.”
But not everybody is happy. For teenagers, who have to go 25km to Norwich, the nearest city, to buy CDs, living in a Slow City is not very attractive. “It’s all right here for adults,” says Lewis Cook, 16. “But if you want excitement, you have to go to Norwich. We need more things here for young people.”
1. What’s the aim of the Slow Food movement?| A．To call on people to eat out. | B．To make people enjoy cooking. |
| C．To drive McDonald’s out of Rome | D．To encourage people to slow down. |
| A．reducing traffic and noise | B．increasing the number of green areas |
| C．building more department stores | D．promoting local businesses and traditions |
| A．Slow Food was founded in 1999 | B．there is no Slow City in China now |
| C．Slow Cities are mainly in the UK | D．there are about 24 Slow Cities in the world |
| A．Satisfied. | B．Excited. | C．Happy. | D．Dissatisfied. |
| A．Slow down and you’ll move fast. | B．Time flies never to be recalled. |
| C．Eat slowly and you’ll be healthy. | D．Pay attention to the quality of life. |
It’s 5 p.m., and you’ve just realized that report you’ve been putting off is due tomorrow. It’s time to buckle down and open your computer. Actually, you should probably make dinner first. You usually like cooking, though it’s hard to enjoy with this work hanging over your head, and oh—it’s actually pretty late! Maybe you should just try again in the morning. This is the cycle of procrastination, and I promise you, we have all been there.
Procrastination is when we avoid a task we said we would do, for no good reason, despite expecting our behavior to bring negative consequences. Obviously, it’s irrational to do something you expect to harm you. But ironically, procrastination is the result of our bodies trying to protect us, specifically by avoiding a task we see as threatening.
We’re most likely to procrastinate tasks that evoke negative feelings, such as dread, incompetence, and insecurity. Because procrastination is motivated by our negative feelings, some individuals are more susceptible (易受影响的) to it than others. People who have difficulty regulating their emotions and those who struggle with low self-esteem are much more likely to procrastinate. However, it’s a common misconception that all procrastinators are lazy. When you’re feeling lazy, you’re more likely to sit around doing nothing than distract yourself with unimportant tasks. In fact, many people procrastinate because they care too much. Procrastinators often report a high fear of failure, putting things off because they’re afraid their work won’t live up to their high standards.
Whatever the reason for procrastination, the results are often the same. Procrastinators are likely to suffer from anxiety and depression, ongoing feelings of shame and physical ailments (轻病) associated with high stress.
So, how can we break the cycle of procrastination?
Traditionally, people thought procrastinators needed to cultivate discipline and practice strict time management. But today, many researchers feel the exact opposite. Being too hard on yourself can layer additional bad emotions onto a task. What we really need to do is to address and reduce these negative emotions.
1. What is procrastination?2. What kinds of people are more likely to procrastinate?
3. Please decide which part is false in the following statement, then underline it and explain why.
Ø Procrastinators are affected by negative emotions, are all lazy and are likely to suffer from physical ailments associated with high stress.
4. What strategies can you use to break the cycle of procrastination in your daily life? (In about 40 words)
3 . In battling the timber poachers who enter the thick Sierra Madre forests near his home, Larry Garaes has found a new support: solar panels.
With solar chargers, the radios he and other forest rangers (护林人) rely on no longer run out of power on multi-day operations in the mountains.
“Communication between rangers is a lot better. Now, we can catch the poachers while they are in the act because we can coordinate (使协调) our moves quietly without turning to shout at the next ranger — unlike before,” Garaes said.
Access to clean energy is bringing a range of unexpected benefits around the world. On the longest mountain range in the Philippines, those benefits include better forest protection — and power for tribal people who once lacked it.
More than 2 million households — or about 10 percent of all households — in the Philippines lack electricity, according to a 2017 report by the country’s Department of Energy.About three quarters are in remote rural locations, in a country spread over thousands of islands, according to the Small Power Utilities Group (SPUG), which is trying to get them connected.Because bringing the national grid (网格) power to many of those people is not cost effective, the state National Power Corporation has charged SPUG with setting up and running small power plants in these areas. So far 327 such plants have been established. Government plans to call for 100 percent electrification of the country by 2022.
“Government has to do its work to connect all those areas that are not yet connected to the grid,” said Edmundo Veloso Jr. “But all but one of the new generation plants use diesel fuel, he said — even though transport of fuel can be a big problem in remote areas. Diesel is the fastest and the only technology available at the moment for off-grid areas. Diesel is still the cheapest in terms of capital outlay (开支).”
1. What do Garaes’ words suggest?| A．Fewer poachers come there. |
| B．They used to move loudly. |
| C．Their conditions improved. |
| D．They were tired of shouting. |
| A．People are unwilling to use clean energy. |
| B．Using clean energy benefits people there. |
| C．Forest protection turns out to be serious. |
| D．People in the area require more attention. |
| A．The serious shortage of electricity. |
| B．The poor conditions in rural areas. |
| C．The improvement of power supply. |
| D．The popularity of power plants. |
| A．Lacking funds. | B．Shipping fuel. |
| C．Technology. | D．Shortage of attention. |
4 . Optimism (乐观) is probably not a surprise that optimistic thinkers tend to be happier than pessimistic thinkers.
Optimists live longer.
Optimistic thinkers have lower rates of high blood pressure, heart disease, and even risk of cancer, as well as lower rates of mortality in general. These health factors may be influenced by optimists’ focus on taking care of themselves.
Optimists are more successful.
Just as optimists tend to be more resilient (有复原力的) outside of the workplace, they are also resilient on the job. Even if their bosses don’t recognize that they’re doing a good job, optimists are able to bounce back and keep performing well. People who are more optimistic also seem to have better job security than less optimistic workers.
People with higher levels of subjective well-being — a mindset that can include optimism — have stronger immune systems and even experience faster wound healing than others with lower levels of well-being. People with positive experiences lowered their rates of depression, physical symptoms, and sleep complaints.
| A．Optimists take fewer sick days. |
| B．Optimists pick themselves up faster. |
| C．But there are other benefits to being optimist. |
| D．They are more likely to live to age 85 or older. |
| E．Optimists are more likely to take steps to cope with it. |
| F．This improved security can even lead to increased optimism. |
| G．Optimists tend to exercise more, sleep better and eat healthier. |
5 . A Palestinian soccer team has been formed with players who have lost legs as a result of fighting between Israeli and Palestinian forces. It is the first Palestinian national soccer team of its kind. The players say the organization helps them deal with the physical and mental effects of their war wounds.
Ziad Halib is one of the players and he is 41-year-old. He lost his right leg in 2008 during the first Israel-Hamas war and has been on the team since 2019. He has never missed a training session or game. “We feel we have something, we can give something,” Halib said.
The players hope to compete with teams from other countries. They are seeking to take part in the 2022 Amputee (被截肢者) Football World Cup in October, Turkey. This will require them to attend qualifying competitions in March, Iran. They will be able to make the trip if the border opens to permit them to travel through Egypt.
Simon Baker is a Red Cross advisor and creator of the Irish Amputee Football Association. He recently oversaw the final training session of the season in the Gaza Strip. His job was to choose 20 players from a group of 47 representing different Gaza teams.
Gaza is home to an estimated 1,600 amputees out of a population of more than 2 million. Baker first visited Gaza in 2019, as violent protests were taking place along the territory’s heavily-guarded border with Israel. His goal was to create a whole league for amputees. He spent time training players and officials and was able to organize a league with five teams and more than 100 players. He also started a league for younger amputees, which includes players as young as 5 years old. Baker stays away from discussing politics. His main goal is to create an environment by which the players come to the field and they leave the trauma (创伤) behind.
1. How can Ziad Halib and his teammates attend competitions in Iran?| A．By participating in World Cup in Turkey. |
| B．By winning qualifying competitions in Iran. |
| C．By gaining permission to travel through Egypt. |
| D．By training harder and winning a training game. |
| A．Picking out footballers. | B．Serving the Red Cross. |
| C．Inspiring football lovers. | D．Forming a national team. |
| A．Enthusiastic and kind. | B．Brave and determined. |
| C．Courageous and calm. | D．Imaginative and modest. |
| A．To introduce a popular Palestinian soccer team. |
| B．To praise Simon Baker for his great contribution. |
| C．To encourage amputees to join the football team. |
| D．To show soccer helps Palestinians heal war wounds. |
6 . Reading poems is not exactly an everyday activity for most people. In fact, many people never read a poem once they get out of high school.
It is worth reminding ourselves that this has not always been the case in America. In the nineteenth century, a usual American activity was to sit around the fireside in the evening and read poems aloud. It is true that there was no television at that time, nor movie theatres, nor World Wide Web, to provide diversion. However, poems were a source of pleasure, of self-education, of connection to other people or to the world beyond one’s own community. Reading them was a social act as well as an individual one, and perhaps even more social than individual. Writing poems to share with friends and relations was, like reading poems by the fireside, another way in which poetry has a place in everyday life.
How did things change? Why are most Americans no longer comfortable with poetry, and why do most people today think that a poem has nothing to tell them and that they can do well without poems?
There are, I believe, three factors: poets, teachers, and we ourselves. Of these, the least important is the third: the world surrounding the poem has betrayed us more than we have betrayed the poem. Early in the twentieth century, poetry in English headed into directions unfavourable to the reading of poetry. Readers decided that poems were not for the fireside or the easy chair at night, and that they belonged where other difficult-to-read things belonged.
Poets failed the reader, so did teachers. They want their students to know something about the skills of a poem; they want their students to see that poems mean something. Yet what usually occurs when teachers push these concerns on their high school students is that young people decide poems are unpleasant crossword puzzles.
1. Why is reading poems thought to be a social act in the nineteenth century?| A．Because it built a link among people. |
| B．Because it helped unite a community. |
| C．Because it was a source of self-education. |
| D．Because it was a source of pleasure. |
| A．Stories. | B．Changes. | C．Amusements. | D．Concentrations. |
| A．Students are poorly educated in high school. |
| B．Poems have become difficult to understand. |
| C．Students are becoming less interested in poetry. |
| D．TV and the Internet are more attractive than poetry. |
| A．The history and changes of poetry. |
| B．The correct way for teachers to teach poetry. |
| C．The failure of poetry in people’s life nowadays. |
| D．The reason why people aren’t keen on poetry today. |
7 . 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. |
8 . A recent study on parents who beat their children indicated that physical punishment still happens far more frequently than previously (先前地) thought but that physical punishment was ineffective. 73 percent of the children who were hit waited less than 10 minutes before acting out again.
Many parents deal with their children’s mistakes by taking away toys and separating them fro their playmates. But for strong-willed kids like I was,none of these methods were effective.
Like many kids, I wasn’t bad; I was bored. Fortunately, my father realized this fairly early an developed a new form of “discipline (原则)” that produced immediate results and long-term positive effects.
Looking back as an adult, my father’s method of making me read the encyclopedia (百科全书) whenever I did something wrong was the best thing he could have done.
He would tell me a topic and say, “Learn about the aardvark (土豚) and I’m going to test you shortly after.” It was punishment in the sense that I was forced to stop whatever I was doing, but it also had a purpose in that it kept my mind occupied and presented the type of mental challenge I clearly lacked.
Although unwillingly, I went to learn absolutely everything there to know about aardvarks because I was going to figure out every question he could throw at me. If it weren’t for my driving need to prove him wrong, it may not have worked as well as it did.
So that’s just it: It was effective. It helped me change my behavior in that moment and it conditioned me to seek out books when I was bored. Obviously, that happened frequently and apparently and it worked. I grew up to become a successful lawyer and a famous writer as well.
To this day, Dad’s the only one who can beat me.
1. What is the probable main idea of Paragraph 1?| A．It reports the result of a recent study about the encyclopedia. |
| B．Physical punishment is useless to deal with children. |
| C．Physical punishment only happened previously. |
| D．73 percent of the children love physical punishment |
| A．Because they produce immediate results and long-term positive effects. |
| B．Because they prefer to break the “discipline” set by their parents. |
| C．Because they are always regarded as bad kids both at home. |
| D．Because they often find it’s boring in their everyday life. |
| A．His father angrily took away his favorite toys. |
| B．His father separated him from his playmates. |
| C．His father forced him to do some reading and tested him later. |
| D．His father ordered him to learn about the aardvark and quizzed him shortly after. |
| A．Children who are mentally challenged are more likely to be successful. |
| B．Parents ought to develop a new form of physical punishment to educate their kids. |
| C．It’s absolutely necessary to punish strong-willed kids physically. |
| D．The stricter parents are, the fewer mistakes children will make. |
9 . Sarah, a friend about my age, is tremendously successful on Wall Street and is highly respected. But she wasn’t very happy and hadn’t been happy for many years. She had few real friends. She worked incredibly long hours and felt physically exhausted a lot of the time. You would think the solution to her unhappiness was obvious. But when I offered it to her, her reply, after some consideration, was astonishing.
“Maybe I would prefer to be special rather than happy.”
She explained: “Anyone can do the things it takes to be happy-go on vacation, spend time with friends and family...but not everyone can accomplish great things.”
That’s when it struck me: people who choose being special over happy are addicts. She was addicted-to work and, underneath that, to success. Maybe that sounds strange to you. You can picture a person desperately hooked on booze, but probably don’t picture someone who is successful and persistent. However, according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the likelihood of drinking rises with education level and socioeconomic status. But the worst addiction I have seen is work a holism. This term was coined by the psychologist Wayne Oates in 1971 for someone who has “the compulsion (强迫) or the uncontrollable need to work continuously.”
They are caught in a vicious cycle：they become successful by working more than others-and thus more than" “necessary”-but believe they have to keep up that pace to maintain their productivity. The rewards of that productivity give way to a fear of falling behind as the drive to keep running. Soon enough, the work crowds out relationships and outside activities. With little else, work is all that is left to the workaholic, reinforcing (强化) the cycle.
Maybe you can relate to this. I can. We need to get to the bottom of these problems-work a holism and success addiction-that lead us to our unavoidable professional destruction. But more importantly, we need to escape them so we can make the jump to new success.
1. What would possibly be the solution that the author offered?| A．Set up your own company! |
| B．Try to become more outgoing! |
| C．Seek help from professionals! |
| D．Work less and enjoy your life! |
| A．She was fed up with working with workaholics. |
| B．She wasted too much time on unnecessary work. |
| C．She drank more booze than it was healthy for her. |
| D．She couldn’t stop working and she didn’t want to. |
| A．Discovered. | B．Invented. | C．Supplied. | D．Recognised. |
| A．Professional success and reputation. |
| B．Endless working, fear and loneliness. |
| C．Intense relationships with colleagues. |
| D．Enormous enthusiarn to get on in life. |
10 . It is summer, and the living is comfortable. For many Americans, this is the season to travel. Why? Because school has finished; the weather is great, and most of all, we all deserve a break. When Americans want to take a break, they often head for their favourite vacation spot.
Throughout their history, Americans have been people on the move. Hundreds of years ago, the early immigrants had to travel to get to the New World. Once they arrived, they settled along the East Coast. But they weren’t content to stay there. Explorers and traders journeyed to the unknown western areas. Later, settlers moved west to develop these new regions. As a result of this westward migration, Americans eventually occupied the whole mainland — from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Even today, Americans seem unable to stay put. Research says that the average American moves every five years.
Besides their habit of changing living places, Americans are used to travelling. Some people often go out on business. Their jobs may require them to take frequent business trips. Most companies provide an annual vacation for their employees, and people often use that time to travel. Some people just visit friends or relatives in different states. Others go on weekend trips that don’t cost a lot of money. Those with more expensive tastes choose luxurious resorts and hotels.
Most Americans prefer to travel within their own nation’s borders. Why? For one thing, it’s cheaper than travelling abroad, and for another, there’s no language problem. What’s more, the vast American territory offers different kinds of tourist attractions. Nature lovers can enjoy beaches, mountains, lakes and a wealth of natural wonders. Major cities offer visitors a lot of urban delights. The convenience of modern freeways, railways and airplanes makes travel in America as easy as pie.
Many American vacations are as unique as the people who take them. Families often go on a journey with the kids. More and more family-friendly vacation resorts offer special programs for children. History lovers seek out famous historical sites and museums. Environmentalists prefer “green vacations”. These trips allow them to observe plants and animals closely without disturbing the balance of nature. Some people find sea cruises relaxing and refreshing. Others enjoy their trips by fishing, skiing or white-water rafting.
Americans aren’t the only people in the world who like travelling around. People all over the world enjoy visiting scenic spots in their own country and going abroad to travel. But in America, almost everybody is a tourist sometime.
1. This passage is mainly about________.| A．American immigrants in history |
| B．some famous resorts in America |
| C．Americans’ love for travelling |
| D．some special people in America |
| A．Americans are content to stay at the place where they are living now. |
| B．The American immigrants moved from the east to the western areas. |
| C．Americans are used to changing living places, but they don’t like travelling around. |
| D．Most Americans prefer to go abroad to travel. |
| A．Travelling abroad is more expensive. |
| B．People in America speak different languages. |
| C．The traffic in America is very convenient. |
| D．The vast American territory offers different kinds of tourist attractions. |
| A．Indifferent | B．Doubtful | C．Concerned | D．Uncaring |
