1 . Ariel Procaccia has thought a lot about how to cut a cake over the last 15 years. As the father of three children, he knows how hard it is to divide a birthday cake to everyone’s satisfaction. But it’s also because Procaccia’s work focuses on exploring the mathematical rules for dividing stuff up fairly. One way to do that is to think abstractly about dessert.
For decades, researchers have been asking the seemingly simple question of how to cut a cake fairly. The answer reaches far beyond birthday parties. A mathematical problem at its heart, cake cutting connects strict reasoning to real-world issues of fairness, and so attracts not only mathematicians, but also social scientists, economists and more. “It’s a very elegant model in which you can distill what fairness really is, and reason about it,” Procaccia says.
The simplest approach is called the “divider-chooser” method, where one person cuts the cake into two equal pieces in his view, and the other person picks first. Each receives a piece that they feel is as valuable as the other’s. But when personal preferences are taken into account, even the easiest rule becomes complicated. Suppose Alice and Bob are to divide a cake, and Alice knows Bob prefers chocolate, she may knowingly divide the cake unequally so the smaller piece contains more chocolate. Then Bob will choose according to his preference, and Alice will get the larger piece. Both of them are satisfied with what they get, but the meaning of fairness changes in this situation.
The cake is a symbol for any divisible good. When cake-cutting principles are employed to settle disagreements, they are potentially helping the world find solutions. Procaccia has used fair division algorithms (算法) to model food distribution. Social scientist Haris Aziz is exploring situations ranging from how to divide up daily tasks to how to best schedule doctors’ shifts in hospitals.
Even after decades of investigation, cake cutting isn’t like a simple jigsaw puzzle (拼图) with a well-defined solution. Instead, over time, it has evolved into a kind of mathematical sandbox, a constructive playground that brings together abstract proofs and easy applications. The more researchers explore it, the more there is to explore.
1. What does the underlined word “distill” in paragraph 2 mean?| A．Get the essence of. | B．Find the opposite of. |
| C．Keep the focus on. | D．Reduce the impact on. |
| A．Its standard is stable. | B．It prevents unequal division. |
| C．Its concept is complex. | D．It dominates personal preferences. |
| A．The application of its rules. | B．The details of its process. |
| C．The problems it produces. | D．The harmony it symbolizes. |
| A．Who benefits most from fairness? |
| B．How has fairness changed over time? |
| C．What method works best in cake-cutting? |
| D．Why are researchers so interested in cake-cutting? |
2 . “All work and no play make Jack a dull boy.” But now scientists have given us another warning: too much play with smartphones or computers makes you dull too.
“Many focus on the benefits of digital devices (设备) in education but ignore the costs,” said Patricia Greenfield from the University of California, “losing the ability to understand the emotions of other people is one of the costs.” Greenfield and her research team did an experiment. They worked with 105 children who spend about 4.5 hours in front of screens on a school day. The students were asked to describe the emotions towards the pictures of people who were happy, sad, angry or scared. Then, half of them attended a five-day nature and science camp. There they had no smartphones, TV, or computers. The other half stayed in school and spent the five days as usual. Five days later, all the children took the test again.
Students who had been to the camp got about 5 percent more answers correct than they had done before the camp. But the other group of students didn’t show much improvement. The study is not perfect in some ways, said the researchers. But scientists say that the study is still a warning for us.
“Emotional skills develop in practice and the brain develops through real interaction,” said Professor Taylor, a professor at the University of San Francisco.
Researchers talked to 2,000 parents of children aged 2 — 16 in the UK about what activities their children could do confidently. The results were surprising: their children could use a tablet (平板电脑) (59%) and work a mobile phone (57%) more confidently than they could tie their shoe laces (鞋带) (53%)! So, spend more time away from mobile phones and computers if you want to be an understanding friend, and not a member of what the Daily Mail called “Generation Helpless”.
1. According to Professor Greenfield, what’s the possible result of using digital media in education?| A．Being on bad terms with family members. | B．Making more mistakes when taking exams. |
| C．Falling far behind others in all schoolwork. | D．Failing to relate to other people’s emotions. |
| A．The background of the experiment | B．The process of the experiment |
| C．The results of the experiment | D．The purpose of the experiment |
| A．They are alarming for people. | B．They are far from perfect. |
| C．They are quite surprising. | D．They don’t need to be improved. |
| A．To warn us to stay away from the Internet. |
| B．To explain how people become the Internet addicts. |
| C．To advise children to spend less time on screens. |
| D．To show digital devices are essential for modern education. |
3 . Nearly three in ten Brits (28%) will eschew the opinions of experts and instead seek advice from family and friends when making important life decisions.
A social experiment, with more than 1,000 participants, showed that adults are one-and-a-half times more likely to seek advice from those closest to them, than professional sources, in all areas.
When it comes to financial advice, half of those surveyed are more likely to ask family and friends about where to invest money — with 40% relying on their opinion even when it comes to high-risk investment choices over any other sources, including experts. And nearly one in five (19%) would be most likely to seek their better half’s advice on budgeting decisions, while 15% would rather take financial advice from a TV show than turn to an expert. In fact, the opinion of a banker ranked 8% lower than any other financial advice sources when it comes to budgeting matters.
The term “social proof”, coined by Dr Robert Cialdini in 1984, refers to the natural influence those around us have on our decision-making, with one aspect being the “wisdom of friends” which refers to the phenomenon where advice from peers carries much more weight than is wise in important choices. During the experiment, researchers found even when participants say they value expert knowledge, they often go back to the opinions of those closest to them when making a key judgement call.
Commenting on the experiment, Dr Briony Pulford, professor of psychology at the University of Leicester, said, “We prefer advice from friends and family because we trust them and believe that they have our best interests at heart, knowing our preferences and personal values, and taking those into account when advising us. Also, many want to fit in with their peers, so finding out that other people do something makes you more likely to do it, too.” Riaan de Bruyn, from investment app &me, said, “Of course the opinion of our friends and family matters, but when it comes to serious decisions, it is important to take on board expert opinion.”
1. What does the underlined word “eschew” in paragraph 1 mean?| A．Value. | B．Declare. | C．Reject. | D．Assess. |
| A．8%. | B．15%. | C．19%. | D．40%. |
| A．It enables friendships to last longer. | B．People are usually unaware of its effect. |
| C．People stick to it because of peer pressure. | D．It makes professional advice more accessible. |
| A．Significance of the experiment findings. | B．Disagreeing voices about the experiment. |
| C．Practical applications of the experiment in life. | D．Possible explanations of the experiment findings. |
4 . Pricing is managers’ biggest marketing headache. It’s where they feel the most pressure to perform and the least certain that they are doing a good job. All successful pricing efforts share two qualities: The policy combines well with the company’s overall marketing strategy, and the process is well-organized as a whole.
A company’s pricing policy sends a message to the market—it gives customers an important sense of a company’s philosophy. Consider Saturn Corporation (a wholly owned company of General Motors). Saturn wants to let consumers know that it is friendly and easy to do business with. Part of this concept is conveyed through initiatives such as inviting customers to the factory to see where the cars are made and sponsoring evenings at the dealership that combine a social event with training on car maintenance. But Saturn’s pricing policy sends a strong message as well. Can a friendly, trusting relationship be established with customers if a salesperson uses all the negotiating tricks in the book to try to separate them from that last $100? Of course not. Saturn has a “no hassle, no haggle” policy which removes the possibility of conflicts between dealer and potential customer. Customers have an easier time buying a car knowing that the next person in the door won’t negotiate a better deal.
Of course, there are typically many participants in the pricing process: Accounting provides cost estimates; marketing communicates the pricing strategy; sales provides specific customer input; production sets supply boundaries; and finance establishes the requirements for the entire company’s financial health. Input from diverse sources is necessary. However, problems arise when the philosophy of wide participation is carried over to the price-setting process without strong coordinating mechanisms (协调机制). For example, if the marketing department sets list prices, the salespeople negotiate discounts in the field, the legal department adjusts prices if necessary to prevent breaking the laws or contractual agreements, and the people filling orders negotiate price adjustments for delays in shipment, everybody’s best intentions usually end up bringing about less than the best results. In fact, the company may actually lose money on some orders.
1. Why is it essential for a company’s pricing policy to combine with its overall marketing strategy?| A．To maximize possible returns and profits. |
| B．To maintain consistency in business operations. |
| C．To eliminate the need for diverse sales inputs. |
| D．To attract customers to social events and trainings. |
| A．Saturn trains its dealers to treat customers sincerely. |
| B．Saturn offers discounts to some loyal customers. |
| C．Saturn cars are at least $100 cheaper than other cars. |
| D．Saturn cars are sold at fixed, non-negotiable prices. |
| A．Decision making requires gathering comprehensive information. |
| B．The coordinating mechanism won’t work without a lot of input. |
| C．Potential customers are easily upset at any stage of the process. |
| D．The company loses money unless everyone intends for the best. |
| A．The art of coordinating pricing processes |
| B．The best sales negotiation techniques |
| C．Getting one step closer toward better pricing |
| D．Maximizing profits through pricing policies |
5 . More than one-third of the world’s food is wasted or thrown away, most of which ends up in landfills, producing very large amounts of planet-warming greenhouse gases. Now, many studies show that it is becoming harder to grow enough food to feed an increasing population due to climate change and soil degradation.
But one of the most promising and simplest solutions lies in the problem itself: this wasted food — if composted (堆肥) — could slow climate change and improve soil quality. Higher-quality soil also continues to absorb more carbon from the atmosphere, helping to improve plants and contributing further to fighting climate change. Returning one ton of organic matter to each hectare of soil would increase the production of cereal crops each year in Africa, Asia and South America by millions of tons.
While it is true that people can compost in their yards, community gardens, or even on their kitchen counters, larger-scale efforts, including infrastructure (基础设施) and incentives (激励) for consumers, would take it to the next level. Imagine if consumers could just leave unwanted food in a roadside bin for pickup, or drop it off at a local store, earning a few cents a bucket, just like what has been offered for recycling bottles or newspapers.
Moreover, in the case of composting, the payment incentive system would be sustainable because the end-product of compost can be sold to farmers, making it an economically workable model, something that is often lacking in recycling, especially for certain materials, like many types of plastics.
Eventually, more widespread composting of food would pave the way for solutions to additional waste challenges, such as the disposal of packaging and clothing. This will have other positive effects as well; if more consumers compost, companies will be more inspired to make and use compostable packaging, clothing, and other products. While more compostable items are starting to emerge today, additional composting will further drive demand and innovation, and offer a game-changing solution for the planet.
1. What is paragraph 1 mainly about?| A．The uneven distribution of food around the world. |
| B．The burden of population growth on the planet. |
| C．The urgency of properly dealing with wasted food. |
| D．The great impact of climate change on food. |
| A．A good system is needed to carry out it effectively. |
| B．It would take a long term to have an effect. |
| C．It is only workable on a small scale. |
| D．It may raise people’s awareness of reducing food waste. |
| A．It is highly profitable. |
| B．It is easy to carry out. |
| C．It is a sustainable economic cycle pattern. |
| D．It is more effective than other recycling systems. |
| A．How Wasted Food Could Be Reduced |
| B．How Wasted Food Could Save the Planet |
| C．How Wasted Food Could Impact Humans |
| D．How Wasted Food Could Become a Business |
6 . Nowadays, the world is slowly becoming a high-tech society and we are now surrounded by technology. Facebook and Twitter are innovative tools; text messaging is still a somewhat existing phenomenon and even e-mail is only a flashing spot on the screen when compared with our long history of snail mail. Now we adopt these tools to the point of essentialness, and only rarely consider how we are more fundamentally affected by them.
Social media, texting and e-mail all make it much easier to communicate, gather and pass information. But they also present some dangers. By removing any real human engagement, they enable us to develop our abnormal self-love without the risk of disapproval or criticism theatrical metaphor (隐喻), these new forms of communication provide a stage on which we create our own characters, hidden behind a fourth wall of tweets, status updates and texts. This unreal state of unconcern can become addictive as we separate ourselves a safe distance from the cruelty of our fleshly lives, where we are imperfect, powerless and insignificant. In essence, we have been provided not only the means to be more free, but also to become new, to create and protect a more perfect self to the world. As we become more reliant on these tools, they become more a part of our daily routine and so we become more restricted in this fantasy.
So it is that we live in a cold era, where names and faces represent two different levels of closeness, where working relationships occur only through the magic of email and where love can start or end by text message. An environment such as this reduces interpersonal relationships to mere digital exchanges.
Would a celebrity have been so daring to do something dishonorable if he had had to do it in person? Doubtful. It seems he might have been lost in a fantasy world that ultimately convinced himself into believing the digital self could obey different rules and regulations, as if he could continually push the limits of what’s acceptable without facing the consequences of “real life.”
1. The author compares e-mail with snail mail to show ________.| A．the influence of high-tech on our life | B．the history of different types of mails |
| C．the value of traditional communications | D．the rapid development of social media |
| A．Destroying our life totally. | B．Posing more dangers than good. |
| C．Helping us to hide our faults. | D．Replacing traditional letters. |
| A．Sheltering us from virtual life. | B．Removing face-to-face interaction. |
| C．Leading to false mental perception. | D．Making us rely more on hi-tech media. |
| A．Technologies have changed our relationships. |
| B．The digital world is a recipe for pushing limits. |
| C．Love can be better conveyed by text message. |
| D．The digital self need not take responsibility. |
7 . Those who had the pleasure of watching Benny Goodman at work saw a rather ordinary-looking man in rimless glasses and a conservative business suit; but they also saw a human being who could play the clarinet(单簧管) like no one before or since. This made Benny Goodman a unique individual.
Other Americans who have stood out from the flock include Joe DiMaggio, Beverly Sill, Ernest Hemingway and Jonas Salk. They, like Benny Goodman, were recognized and honored for no other reason than excellence.
It is doing something better than other people that makes us unique. Yet a surprising number of people still see individuality as a surface thing. They wear garish clothes, dye their hair strange colors and decorate their skin with tattoos to make some kind of social statement. But an ordinary guy who has dyed his hair purple or orange is nothing more than the same person with a funny-looking head.
The whole purpose of individuality is excellence. Those who invent, who improvise(即兴发挥), who know more about a subject than other people do, and who take something that doesn’t work and make it work––these people are the very soul of capitalism.
Charles Kettering didn’t like the idea of cranking a car to make it start, so he invented the electric starter. Henry Ford figured out the assembly-line technique and made it possible to mass-produce automobiles, and Elisha Otis, inventor of the elevator, indirectly created the city sky-line. These people understood that individualism means working at the top of one’s capacity.
The ones with the purple hair and the funky jewelry are just along for the ride, trying to be “different” and not knowing how to go about it.
The student who earns straight A’s on his report card has grasped the idea and has found the real meaning of individuality. So has the youngster who has designed his own spaceship, who gives piano recitals, who paints pictures of the world around him.
Benny Goodman understood it too. This is why he was at his best, blowing his clarinet, in a blue suit and black shoes.
1. The author mentions the appearance of Benny Goodman to _________.| A．show what a talented musician should look like |
| B．introduce an important figure in the musical world |
| C．contrast with his talent in music performance |
| D．indicate that he can’t stand out from the flock |
| A．an individualist tends to seek difference both in character and appearance |
| B．the essence of individualism lies in pursuing excellence to the full |
| C．being different in appearance is the very first step to being individual |
| D．those who strive to win the recognition of others are real individualists |
| A．A scientist who conducts research solely advancing knowledge for the greater good rather than for personal recognition. |
| B．A social media influencer who conforms to popular opinions to maintain a large following. |
| C．An artist who creates unique works but fail to gain fame and recognition from others. |
| D．An entrepreneur who prioritizes ethical considerations over profit in his business practices. |
| A．specific to general | B．cause and effect |
| C．examples and conclusion | D．comparison and contrast |
8 . While an analysis of the Global Dietary Database for the years 1990, 2005, and 2018 found overall consumption of sweetened drinks increased—by nearly 16% worldwide over the 28-year period studied—regional intake widely varied, researchers say.
Sugary drinks have been widely associated with overweight and heart related diseases, which are among the leading causes of death and years lost to disability globally. Many national guidelines recommend limiting added sugars to less than 5% to 10% of daily calories, and because sodas (汽水) add no nutritional value, some countries tax their consumption to help their residents meet this goal.
The study, published in Nature Communications, is the latest presentation of how adults in 185 countries drink sugar-sweetened beverages (饮料). Intakes varied widely by world region. In 2018, the average person consumed 2.7 servings of sugary drinks per week, but this ranged from 0.7 servings per week in South Asia to 7.8 servings per week in Latin America. And some of the highest sugary drink intakes in the world were among urban, highly educated adults in Sub-Saharan Africa (12.4 servings per week) and in Latin America (8.5 servings per week). “We were struck by the wide variations by world regions in 2018; that Latin America had the largest intakes at all time points despite an overall decrease overtime; and that Sub-Saharan Africa had the greatest increases across all time points,” says Laura Lara-Castor, a PhD candidate at Tufts University.
“These results suggest that more work is needed such as marketing regulations, food labeling, and soda taxes.” Information from the Global Dietary Database, which gathers hundreds of survey results, also revealed a relationship between sugary beverages and socio-economic status. “Sugar-sweetened beverage intake has increased in the past few decades despite efforts to decrease their appeal,” says researchers. “Some populations are especially easily affected, and our findings provide evidence to inform the need and design of national and more targeted policies to reduce their intake worldwide.”
1. What is the main concern about sugary drinks?| A．They are just a barrier to weight loss. | B．They are linked to health issues. |
| C．They are far from nutrition standard. | D．They are a total waste of money. |
| A．To increase income for the government. | B．To promote the sales of healthier drinks. |
| C．To discourage people from drinking sodas. | D．To set a limit to the price of sugary drinks. |
| A．Sugary drink consumption trends. | B．Impact of soda taxes on purchases. |
| C．Regional variations in dietary habits. | D．Global dietary information analysis. |
| A．Sugary drinks have nothing to do with economic status. |
| B．The appeal of sugary drinks cannot be underestimated. |
| C．Some people are very particular about the sugary drinks. |
| D．National policies on sugary drinks are more than enough. |
9 . Placed before you are two pots. Each contains 100 balls. You are given a clear description of the first pot’s contents, in which there are 50 red balls and 50 black balls. The economist running the experiment is tight-lipped about the second, saying only that there are 100 balls divided between red and black in some percentage. Then you are offered a choice. Pick a red ball from a pot and you will get a million dollars. Which pot would you like to pull from? Now try again, but select a black ball. Which pot this time? Most people choose the first pot both times, despite such a choice implying that there are both more and fewer red balls than in the second pot.
This fact is known as the Ellsberg paradox after Daniel Ellsberg, who called the behaviour hate uncertainty. It reveals a deeper problem facing the world as it struggles with climate change.
Ignorance of the future carries a cost today: uncertainty makes risks uninsurable, or at the very least expensive. The less insurers know about risks, the more capital they need to protect their balance-sheets against possible losses.
Insurance is a tool of climate adaptation. Indeed, insurance calculators have as big a role to play as activists in the fight against climate change. Without insurance, those whose homes burn in a wildfire or are destroyed by a flood will lose everything. Insurance can also be a motive for corrective action. Higher insurance expenses, which accurately reflect risk, stimulate people to adapt sooner, whether by discouraging building in risky areas or encouraging people to move away from high fire risk land. If prices are wrong, society will be more hurt by a hotter world than otherwise would be the case. Politicians considering financial aid for home insurance on flood plains ought to note.
1. The experiment of the two pots shows that ___________.| A．instinct sometimes works better than reasoning | B．most people prefer predictability to uncertainty |
| C．people are willing to take risks to get a reward | D．it is impossible to always make the right decision |
| A．It raises people’s awareness of climate change. | B．It prevents people from taking risks. |
| C．It motivates people to adapt to risky environment. | D．It helps climate refugees to relocate. |
| A．Opposing | B．Supportive | C．Uncertain | D．Ambiguous |
| A．Prevention is better than remedy | B．Improving forecast can reduce uncertainty |
| C．Uncertainty pushes up the price of insurance | D．Speedy action is urgently needed for climate change |
10 . Consider the following statement: “My husband bought me a pink Lamborghini...” The correct way to finish the sentence, according to some, is not showing appreciation or acting excited, but to complain about the pricy gift. If you say, “The color is so ugly, men have such bad taste!” Congratulations, you have mastered the “Versailles (凡尔赛) literature.”
The term has nothing to do with the French palace nor with literature. It came from the Japanese manga series “The Rose of Versailles” and was coined by a Chinese influencer earlier this year. This new kind of bragging (吹嘘) is called humblebragging, the psychology behind which is to be recognized for one's successes and be liked by others at the same time. “The humblebragger recognizes that it's hard to be liked and be a showoff at the same time,” said psychologist Dr. Susan KraussWhitbourne at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
In an article titled “Why people hate humblebragging” published in Psychology Today, Whitbourne noted that the humblebrag is a “strategy in pursuit of respect” because it draws attention to one's accomplishments, but in a roundabout (迂回的) fashion.
However, studies on social media users show that humblebragging, as a self-promotion strategy does not work. In the essay, “Humblebragging: A distinct-and ineffective-self-presentation strategy,” researcher Ovul Sezer concluded from his research that humblebraggers are perceived more negatively than straight braggers due to the former's insincerity. “The critical factor telling these strategies was sincerity. People don't like braggers, but they at least see them as more sincere than humblebraggers.”
“So, next time if you hear ‘My husband bought me a pink Lamborghini. The color is so ugly, men have such bad taste!’. Just pretend you don’t get whatever it is they try to show off.” a Zhihu user advised others on how to respond to a “pretentious narcissist”, “Respond with genuine sympathy for their complaint.”
1. Which of the following can replace the example in Paragraph 1?| A．“I didn’t even have one look at my paper. I’m so over.” |
| B．“I have eaten nothing today, but I'm heavier than yesterday.” |
| C．“My husband bought me another Chanel purse. I love it so much.” |
| D．“I don’t even remember buying a house. My memory is really failing with age.” |
| A．Because they're really successful. |
| B．Because they want to show their complaint. |
| C．Because they want to be liked while bragging. |
| D．Because they always want to be the center of the topic. |
| A．Humblebraggers are dishonest |
| B．Straight braggers are popular with us. |
| C．Straight braggers are cleverer than humblebraggers. |
| D．Humblebraggers' insincerity accounts for their unpopularity. |
| A．How to avoid humblebragging. | B．Who might be a humblebragger. |
| C．How to fight a humblebragger back. | D．What might hurt a humblebragger. |
