1 . Does the happiness of parents play a role in shaping the overall happiness of their children? Scientific studies have shed light on the far-reaching connection between parental happiness and the positive development of kids. It seems that parental happiness has an important influence on the emotional, social, and cognitive (认知的) development of children.     1     If they know their mental and emotional happiness has an impact on their children, perhaps it can motivate them to view it as part of being a good parent.

    2     For example, they can join in activities that bring them joy and satisfaction. This could include hobbies, exercise, pursuing personal goals, or taking time for relaxation. When parents improve their own happiness, they can better support their children’s happiness.

Another great idea is sharing experiences and creating many memories together. The idea is twofold.     3     At the same time, the shared experiences and showing their children how happy they are to do something they love can be incredibly valuable as well.

One of the main aspects of being happy parents is feeling comfortable, confident and able to be themselves, despite their new status and huge responsibility. Honestly, when parents prioritize their own happiness, it has positive effects on the overall happiness of the family.     4    

When parents put their own happiness first, they become role models for their kids. They see the importance of self-care, pursuing passions and maintaining healthy relationships.     5     So, parents should accept their uniqueness, enjoying life!

A．However, part of being responsible is being honest.

B．They are passing on some major life skills and attitudes.

C．They may lose a bit of their sense of self when caring for children.

D．Parents can adopt practical ways to enhance their own happiness.

E．A joyful and harmonious family environment benefits everyone involved.

F．This can happen when parents prioritize their own happiness according to Inc.

G．Firstly, the parents continue to be themselves and do something they love.

3 . Some decades ago, when kids turned 16, they couldn’t wait to get their drivers’ licenses. It represented freedom, independence and the first big step into adulthood. It was thought that kids who didn’t have a license at 16 either were really bad drivers or really uncool.

Today, conversely, many teenagers are deciding to wait to get their drivers’ licenses, according to several recent studies. One this year by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that the percentage of high school seniors who had a driver’s license fell from 85% in 1996 to 73% in 2010.

Some experts, like Michael Sivak,director of Sustainable Worldwide Transportation at the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute, argue that at least part of the drop is permanent and that it’s part of a global decline in driving among young people. He says that the change is rooted in the growth of access to the Internet. Modern teens can connect with each other through social media, so there’s less of a need to get together by driving to some places. “I believe that a large part of the drop is permanent,” says Sivak. “It’s not just teens. It’s people in their 20s and 30s, as well.”

Other researchers, including Robert Foss, director of the Center for the Study of Young Drivers at the University of North Carolina, believe that the recent recession(经济衰退) simply had a greater influence on young drivers than others. They had less money to purchase a car, less money to buy gas, or they couldn’t find jobs to buy either, he says. The economy was a major cause for the decision to wait. The most common reasons for waiting were not having a car, being able to get around without driving, gas being expensive and driving being expensive as well.

The family income also played a key role. Among young adults in households with an annual income of at least $60,000, 60% got a license within one year of their state’s minimum age for doing so and 72% were licensed before the age of 18. In households with an annual income of less than $20,000, only 16% got a license within one year of becoming eligible, and 25% got licenses before turning 18.

1. What does the underlined word “conversely” in paragraph 2 probably mean?

A．After all.	B．Above all.
C．In no way.	D．On the contrary.

2. According to Sivak, what leads to the decline in teen driving?

A．Teens communicating more through the Internet.

B．Public transportation being more convenient.

C．The increase in traffic accidents.

D．The global economic recession.

3. How does the author develop the last paragraph?

A．By describing cool behavior.

B．By introducing some experts.

C．By providing some data.

D．By telling a story.

4. What’s the author’s purpose in writing the text?

A．To show the importance of safe driving.

B．To encourage teenagers to enjoy driving.

C．To talk about how to get a driver’s license.

D．To explain why teen drivers have decreased.

5 . I believe that we can use social media for a lot of great things and it’s important especially for business owners like me. Ever since I started my calligraphy business two years ago, I’ve never spent a day without going on social media, especially a kind of social app on my phone, on which I promoted my products and services and got in contact with possible customers.

Later I found it got in the way of more important things. I hate to say I was hooked by it, but I was. Every time I turned on my phone, I would dive into it. For a long time, I had been I ignoring other parts of my life, like my family, my friends and my happiness. One day, I was thinking that a break should have happened long before to me.

Then I decided to remove the app off my phone for a month and only use that on my computer to keep track of my business. I wanted a clean break to reflect and plan for the future.

I had believed that if I spent less time on the platform, I would miss out much. Actually, I was so wrong. During this month off, I realized there was much to enjoy in life. I found more time to enjoy my hobbies and contacted my good friends that I had lost touch with, I was refilled with energy in all aspects of my life.

This one month off the app on the phone was healthy for me. If it were not for my business, I would like not to have it on my phone. I downloaded the app again on my phone, but only used it to post my own content. I didn’t intend to paint social media in a negative light, but now I just don’t think the way I was using it was healthy. It’s difficult to find balance, but I’m going to try to do it anyway. I’m going back, but it’s going to be different.

1. What did the author mainly do on social media?

A．He connected with his friends.	B．He worked on business activities.
C．He learned calligraphy on his own.	D．He shared advice about keeping fit.

2. What do the underlined words “hooked by” in paragraph 2 mean?

A．Opposed to.

B．Injured by.

C．Addicted to.

D．Frightened by.

3. What did the author learn after removing the social app from his cellphone?

A．It was meaningless to share on social media.

B．There was lots of fun away from social media.

C．The social app contributed little to his business.

D．The social app in the computer was more practical.

4. Why does the author decide to go back to social media?

A．One month away from social media upsets him.

B．He wants to seek more hobbies on social media.

C．He has confidence in balancing social media and life.

D．His friends ask him to communicate on social media.

6 . U. S. teens spend more than eight hours a day on screens, and there’s growing concern over it. Now, a new study published by the American Psychological (心理的) Association, confirms that teens seem to feel better about themselves when they cut back.

“Social media can feel like a comparison trap (陷阱),” says study author Helen Thai, a doctoral student in psychology at McGill University. Her research found that limiting screen time to about one hour a day helped anxious teens and young adults feel better about their body image and their appearance. “What I noticed in social media was that I couldn’t help but compare myself.” Thai says. Reading posts from famous people and influencers, as well as people in her own social network, led to a lack of self-confidence.

So, Thai and a team of researchers decided to test whether reducing time on social media would improve body image. They gathered a few hundred volunteers, aged 17-25. all of whom had experienced symptoms (症状) of anxiety or depression — which could make them easily influenced by social media. Half of the volunteers were asked to reduce their social media to 60 minutes a day for three weeks. The other half continued to use social media with no limits.

The researchers gave the volunteers surveys at the beginning and end of the study, including statements such as “I’m pretty happy about the way I look,” and “I am satisfied with my weight.” Among the group that cut social media use, the overall score on appearance improved from 2.95 to 3.15 on a 5-point scale. The change may seem small, but any change in such a short period of time is worth noticing.

“It’s encouraging that college students were willing to cut back screen time, even for three weeks,” psychologist Andrea Graham says. While this study included people with symptoms of anxiety or depression, Graham says it’s worth applying this approach to other groups, such as people with eating problems.

1. What is the probable meaning of the underlined sentence in para 2?

A．Teens are forced to post their own images on social media

B．Teens couldn’t help but spend too much time on social media

C．Teens tends to compare themselves with others on social media

D．Teens are fooled into believing false information on social media

2. How was the research conducted by Thai and a team of researchers?

A．By listing numbers	B．By giving examples
C．By making comparisons	D．By analyzing causes and effects

3. What can we learn about the survey?

A．The study included people with mental health and eating problems

B．There was little difference in appearance score between the two groups

C．College students were not willing to reduce screen time for more weeks

D．Cutting social media use makes a difference to teens’ opinion of their image

4. Which of the following could be the best title for the passage?

A．Less screen time, more self-confidence	B．Social media, a time bomb on your health
C．How to improve your image on social media	D．Concern over social media addiction keeps growing

8 . The “script murder” game is not only popular in China, but the genre is loved by many people around the world. A cast of actors plays the suspects, and the participants solve the case. In fact, murder-inspired board games, card games, interactive books and party games have been around at least since the so-called golden age of British crime fiction in the 1920s and 1930s, which saw the rise of legendary authors like Agatha Christie.

Sam Emmerson, creative director of Moonstone Murder Mysteries in London, a company that creates and runs immersive mysteries, says people like the puzzle aspect of it, and the improvised exchanges with the actors: “It’s the reputation that murder mysteries have built up these days, as being a fun thing to go to.” After all, real-life violent crime is every person’s worst nightmare. “If it was a real-life situation, and someone’s been murdered, that’s not a fun subject. You’re in this sort of alternate reality where we’re very casually solving the death of a human being.”

The enduring popularity of these games presents a mystery of its own: What motivates ordinary, law-abiding people to spend an evening investigating fake bloodshed, and hunting pretend murderers? One simple explanation might be curiosity. But that is not the full story. Instead, murder games follow a surprisingly complex set of psychological rules. They allow us to learn and practice important mental and emotional skills, and can even teach us not to overlook important evidence.

“The basic idea is that we are using them as a way to simulate threatening plots, and then play around with how we would respond to that,” Coltan Scrivner, a behavioral scientist says. The response could be behavioral, or even just emotional, in terms of handling the fear. He calls such games “scary play”, and compares them to play-fighting among animals, which prepares them for real-life fighting, but also hunting or tracking down the target.

1. According to the passage, what do we know about Agatha Christie?

A．She is an excellent writer who writes out of passion.

B．She is an outstanding writer who is known for her detective novels.

C．She is a legendary writer who has invented the “script murder” game.

D．She is a famous writer who makes international headlines with her science fiction.

2. Sam Emmerson’s Moonstone Murder Mysteries enables people to_______.

A．experience immersive mysteries in a fictional world

B．change real-life violent crime into a fun thing to go to

C．create and solve immersive mysteries in a virtual reality

D．defend the reputation that murder mysteries have built up these days

3. What else attracts people who participate in the “script murder” games besides curiosity?

A．Following complicated psychological rules.

B．Experiencing dramatically threatening plots.

C．Accumulating major information in real-life fighting and hunting.

D．Gaining important mental and emotional skills as well as wisdom.

4. What’s the author’s attitude towards the “script murder” game?

A．Negative.	B．Cautious.
C．Positive.	D．Objective.

9 . Lying to friends and family members may seem like a way to lose their trust.     1    Researchers found that lying for the right reasons can actually strengthen some social bonds (联系).

    2     That depends on the situation. Lying to cover up a misdeed (不端行为), known as anti-social lying, isn’t likely to improve your relationships.     3     On the other hand, lies told to help another person are good for relationships. It is commonly known as telling a white lie.

To study how these two types of lies affect relationships within social groups, researchers created a hypothetical (假定的) mathematical model. The model showed that individuals who tell anti-social lies become isolated (孤立的) within their social networks sometimes.     4     In fact, these individuals are likely to form strong links with other individuals within their social networks.

While the researchers created a hypothetical model, it could be used to understand how lying affects groups of friends in the real world.     5    

A．Do white lies serve a social function?

B．And real-world lies can take many forms.

C．What exactly are the “right” reasons for lying?

D．But new research suggests this may not always be the case.

E．This type of lie weakens the friendships between two people.

F．However, individuals who tell white lies don’t have such feeling.

G．It could also help scientists understand the influence of lying in online communities.

10 . A meeting of The Washington Post employees was held on 5 August, 2013. Into the crowded hall entered the chairman Donald E. Graham, and his niece and publisher Katherine Weymouth. The air was thick. The newspaper was to get a new boss! Jeffrey P. Bezos of Amazon.com would buy the daily for $ 250 million in cash.

Both the uncle and the niece took turns in telling the news and answering their questions. Many of the audiences wept because they were unable to accept the news. “The rise of Internet and the change from print to digital technology have created a huge wave of competition for traditional news companies,” said Donald E. Graham.

In 2013, after struggling with the falling revenue(收益) for years, The New York Times(The NYT) sold its The Boston Globe newspaper for $70 million. The NYT bought the paper in 1993 for $1.1 billion. Just twenty years later, the company sold it for a cheaper price.

Nowadays, things seem to be worse than ever. Newspapers are reporting negative growth across US and Europe. Francis Gurry, the 4th Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization said that newspapers would disappear by 2040.

This may cause a lot of problems for media jobs. For example, layoffs(裁员) and salary cuts are very common now. Many of the journalists have already moved to different jobs where their writing and editing skills are of no use. A large number of former journalists work as marketing executives, or property developers. In Canada last year, Sun Media, the largest newspaper chain there, stopped its eight dailies, closing 360 jobs and slashing 500 positions.

The traditional media still send people out to collect stories. However, with the mobile phones today, everybody is a reporter. Therefore, the newspapers are forced to adapt in order to survive. That may be a revolution(革命), but at the cost of newspapers.

1. Why did Donald E. Graham decide to sell The Washington Post?

A．He really needed money.	B．He had trouble in governing it.
C．The company planned to do something else.	D．The company was at a disadvantage in competition.

2. What was Francis Gurry’s attitude towards the future of newspapers?

A．Confident.

B．Negative.

C．Uninterested.

D．Curious.

3. What does the underlined word “slashing” in the last but one paragraph mean?

A．Creating.

B．Requiring.

C．Cutting.

D．Changing.