With the development of modern technology, people can stay
Once joining the WeChat, people can find more and more people start to add them
However, addiction to WeChat will rob people of the time that should otherwise
2 . Marian Bechtel sits at West Palm Beach’s Bar Louie counter by herself, quietly reading her e-book as she waits for her salad. What is she reading? None of your business! Lunch is Bechtel’s “me” time. And like more Americans, she’s not alone.
A new report found 46 percent of meals are eaten alone in America. More than half (53 percent) have breakfast alone and nearly half (46 percent) have lunch by themselves. Only at dinnertime are we eating together anymore, 74 percent, according to statistics from the report.
“I prefer to go out and be out. Alone, but together, you know?” Bechtel said, looking up from her book. Bechtel, who works in downtown West Palm Beach, has lunch with coworkers sometimes, but like many of us, too often works through lunch at her desk. A lunchtime escape allows her to keep a boss from tapping her on the shoulder. She returns to work feeling energized. “Today, I just wanted some time to myself,” she said.
Just two seats over, Andrew Mazoleny, a local videographer, is finishing his lunch at the bar. He likes that he can sit and check his phone in peace or chat up the barkeeper with whom he’s on a first-name basis if he wants to have a little interaction (交流). “I reflect on how my day’s gone and think about the rest of the week,” he said. “It’s a chance for self-reflection. You return to work recharged and with a plan.”
That freedom to choose is one reason more people like to eat alone. There was a time when people may have felt awkward about asking for a table for one, but those days are over. Now, we have our smartphones to keep us company at the table. “It doesn’t feel as alone as it may have before al the advances in technology,” said Laurie Demerit, whose company provided the statistics for the report.
1. What is the text mainly about?| A．The trend of having meals alone. |
| B．The importance of self-reflection. |
| C．The stress from working overtime. |
| D．The advantage of wireless technology. |
In our childhood, our weekends were open and filled with possibilities. We liked to read in strange places such as the stairs of the local church. We went to the movies and read our handwritten reviews of Ghostbusters. When my son, aged 12, started asking on Sunday nights, “Was that a weekend? Are you kidding?” I knew he meant that those two days hadn't seemed like a weekend at all.
With the weakening of unions and worker protections, the weekend faded. The number of people working more than 48 hours a week rose by 15%. A week that is a patchwork of multiple tasks makes two days off rare as hen's teeth. Technology binds (捆绑) us to work, and we move through our weekends as if on call, checking emails and asserting our importance by engaging with work. Then there is our own fault. We stuffed weekend with activities. It seems hard to shake the value that time must be occupied, which is why taking two days off can seem suspect, or a bit like failure.
This more-faster-better mode slips into our family lives, too. Many parents feel pressured to cultivate the perfect weekend as part of an overall effort to engineer the perfect childhood. So our children spend their weekends being dragged from enriching courses to the high-level sport to a scheduled 90-minute visit with other toddlers (幼童). The fear of falling behind is a powerful force working against leisure.
In childhood, those open weekends allowed me to stumble (踉跄) towards myself. Later, the tape recorder became a film critic and a writer. Since my son complains of the weekend, we try to turn off the devices, and visit the people we love. If I need to work, I will try to put a clock on it — a few hours, no more. The goal is that every weekend includes at least a little unoccupied time.
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4 . The amount of time young children in the United States spend with mobile screens might raise some eyebrows, as a new report found it has tripled in just four years.
Children 8 and younger spent about 15 minutes a day staring at a mobile screen in 2013 and now they spend 48 minutes a day, according to the report by Common Sense Media, a nonprofit organization focused on helping children, parents, and educators navigate the world of media and technology.
The report, released on Thursday, also found that 42% of children 8 and younger now have their own tablet devices, a sharp increase from 7% four years ago and less than 1% in 2011.
Children spending more time on mobile devices comes as no shock to Douglas Gentile, a psychology professor at Iowa State University who was not involved in the new report but has studied the effects of media use on children.
“On the one hand, it's not surprising because it's what we look around ourselves and can see.I can see it at the airport, for example, I can see it at restaurants and I can even see it in my own home where my younger daughter watches almost no television, but she'll watch lots of TV shows on her phone, "Gentile said.
“On the other hand, it's been getting harder for parents to really monitor a lot of what their kids are seeing and doing.At the same time, they're relying on the seeming benefit of being able to quiet the kid at a restaurant with a device,” he said. “We may be building a bit of a Frankenstein’s monster, because we re using that power for our benefit, not for the child’s benefit.”
These changing patterns in how children interact with media appear to be great, said James Steyer, chief executive officer and founder of Common Sense Media.in an email to CNN. “One of the most shocking findings is that mobile devices are now as popular in the home as TVs-98% of households with kids under 8 have a mobile device,” he said. “The ubiquity of mobile is changing childhood.”
1. The writer uses figures in the second paragraph to_________.| A．prove the reliability of the report. |
| B．praise the efforts made by Common Sense Media. |
| C．indicate the popular use of mobile devices nowadays. |
| D．illustrate the increase of time children spend on mobile devices. |
| A．can totally control children's use of mobile devices . |
| B．always use mobile devices in favor of their children. |
| C．partly cause children's increasing use of mobile devices. |
| D．often discourage their children from using mobile devices. |
| A．rare use. | B．important role. |
| C．obvious benefit | D．common existence |
As global fast-food chains and coffee shops begin phasing out(逐步淘汰) single-use plastic straws, McDonald’s China introduced a “strawless” lid(盖子) for cold beverages at 10 Beijing restaurants on Nov.1,2018.
Like many consumers, Wu Yanmei, a bank clerk in Beijing, had never thought about the impact a simple straw could have on the environment. “Actually, I don’t like using straws, but the cups at fast-food restaurants are all designed for use with a straw,” she said. “I don’t think straws are necessary, so the moves are a good way to raise people’s awareness of not using single-use plastic products.”
However, Jiang Jianguo, a professor of environmental studies at Tsinghua University, said he doubts such activities alone can have a major effect on the global pollution problem.“I don’t think the move by McDonald’s will be a success because previously there were lots of hotels calling for a ban on single-use plastics, but it ended in nothing because businesses compete by trying to make things convenient for consumers, ” he said.
写作内容：
1.用约30个单词概括上述材料的主要内容；
2.用约120词谈谈你对“快餐连锁店逐步弃用塑料吸管”的看法，并用2～3个理由或论据支撑你的看法。
写作要求：1.写作过程中不能直接引用原文语句；
2.作文中不能出现真实姓名和学校名称；
3.不必写标题。
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Hello, Mr. Wi-Fi. Life without you is next to impossible. We’re happy to sing your name from morning till evening, sometimes till dawn.
We want you all days. Can’t you take a few days off so that both you and I can
If you were a
| A．Now that | B．Only if | C．Though | D．When |
| A．praised | B．increased | C．focused | D．divided |
| A．keep on | B．bring back | C．approve of | D．give up |
| A．drawing | B．pushing | C．forcing | D．observing |
| A．space | B．soul | C．society | D．workplace |
| A．entertainment | B．argument | C．expansion | D．struggle |
| A．strict | B．satisfied | C．generous | D．busy |
| A．thoughts | B．eyes | C．exits | D．doors |
| A．disease | B．inspiration | C．routine | D．situation |
| A．recommend | B．instruct | C．promise | D．adapt |
| A．persist | B．relax | C．progress | D．balance |
| A．raw | B．new | C．strong | D．fast |
| A．to | B．against | C．from | D．within |
| A．affordable | B．valuable | C．conventional | D．attractive |
| A．addition | B．expert | C．companion | D．instrument |
| A．sometimes | B．always | C．never | D．seldom |
| A．selfish | B．dishonest | C．responsible | D．real |
| A．control | B．blame | C．comfort | D．challenge |
| A．friends | B．slaves | C．colleagues | D．employers |
| A．suffered | B．connected | C．survived | D．surfed |
Something significant is happening to the world population-it is aging. The median(中位数的)age of an American in 1950
This aging of the population is driven
People tend to focus on the first factor. However, greater attention should
8 . It may not come as a surprise but the world as a whole is getting richer. Some people have more disposable(可自由支配的)income to spend on luxuries such as holidays, cars, TVs and smart phones. Recent data has shown that the number of people living in extreme poverty has halved in recent decades. So should we celebrate the fact that more of us now have a better standard of living?
Maybe not. While the gap between the rich and the poor in some countries is narrowing, there is still a lot of inequality in other places-some people have a lot of money and opportunities and others don't. A recent report by Oxfam and Credit Suisse revealed how divided many of us are when it comes to wealth. A lot of the money in the world is in the hands of very few people. In fact, 48% of global wealth is owned by the richest l% of the population.
But some countries are attempting to reduce this inequality and make the poor, less poor. According to David Bryer from Oxfam, Brazil has been taking "some really sensible measures--measures around having more progressive tax, around investing in a higher minimum wage and investing in central public services." Having a higher minimum wage can help people eat better and seek a better education. And more people with more money buy more things-and factories can produce more. In turn, a factory which produces more will need more workers. So, more jobs are created.
Other wealthy individuals are doing their bit to help reduce inequality. Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft, earned a lot of money from his company but when he retired, he and his wife Melinda, created a foundation to help the poor. He thinks that rich people should, of course, pay their taxes but he also advises that they should all "look at taking their wealth and being philanthropic (乐善好施的 ) , both in their own country and to help the global poorest."
Bill Gates feels that giving money to help poor people is "fulfilling". But if other super-rich people don't want to experience this fulfillment then, according to Oxfam, very soon the wealthiest l% will soon own more money than the rest of the world's population. Do you think that is fair?
1. The first two paragraphs mainly tell us _________.| A．the poverty and inequality in a richer world |
| B．some sensible measures to make the 'poor less poor |
| C．the increase of global wealth in recent decades |
| D．the narrowing gap between the rich and the poor |
| A．Limiting it. | B．Increasing it. |
| C．Making it lower. | D．Setting it free. |
| A．Spend it on their luxuries. | B．Give it to help the poor. |
| C．Invest it in their business. | D．Hand it over to their children. |
9 . We’ve all seen ambulances come speeding down the road, prepared to help when disaster
Beer is the founder of United Hatzalah, a volunteer-run organization in Israel,
United Hatzalah has a call center staffed
When a volunteer arrives, he or she
United Hatzalah’s medical care is
| A．blows | B．strikes | C．beats | D．kicks |
| A．send | B．reach | C．leave | D．arrive |
| A．thoughts | B．situations | C．movements | D．dilemmas |
| A．introduced | B．offered | C．dedicated | D．connected |
| A．lost | B．crashed | C．hit | D．stuck |
| A．joined | B．worked | C．employed | D．gathered |
| A．professions | B．structures | C．levels | D．titles |
| A．records | B．demands | C．orders | D．supplies |
| A．alone | B．back | C．off | D．down |
| A．entirely | B．secretly | C．probably | D．finally |
| A．days | B．hours | C．minutes | D．seconds |
| A．stage | B．scene | C．sight | D．show |
| A．drops | B．reserves | C．finishes | D．stores |
| A．carries | B．suggests | C．performs | D．treats |
| A．tired | B．attacked | C．injured | D．endangered |
| A．easy | B．achievable | C．simple | D．unique |
| A．come up | B．end up | C．show up | D．stay up |
| A．enough | B．ready | C．priceless | D．free |
| A．reward | B．cost | C．salary | D．income |
| A．power | B．example | C．courage | D．energy |
10 . 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. Misjudgments on the influences of new technology can lead to ________.| A．a lack of confidence in technology |
| B．a slow progress in technology |
| C．a conflict of public opinions |
| D．a waste of limited resources |
| A．take people’s essential needs into account |
| B．make their programmes attractive to people |
| C．ensure that each child gets financial support |
| D．provide more affordable internet facilities |
| A．Neglecting the impacts of technological advances. |
| B．Believing that the world has become borderless. |
| C．Ignoring the power of economic development. |
| D．Over-emphasizing the role of international communication. |
| A．People should be encouraged to make more donations. |
| B．Traditional technology still has a place nowadays. |
| C．Making right career choices is crucial to personal success. |
| D．Economic policies should follow technological trends. |
