1 . Contact between adolescents (between the ages of 15 and 19) and their peers (同龄人) is a universal characteristic of all cultures. However, the nature and the degree of such contact
This pattern of age segregation (隔离) in American society did not become usual until the beginning of the industrialized society. Changes in the
Research
A.reveal | B.vary | C.imply | D.prove |
A.younger children | B.professional teachers | C.close relatives | D.responsible researchers |
A.interest | B.attitude | C.workplace | D.age |
A.slightly | B.seldom | C.regularly | D.further |
A.resulted in | B.objected to | C.held back | D.checked out |
A.solution | B.factor | C.concern | D.argument |
A.spending | B.volunteers | C.partners | D.population |
A.increase | B.share | C.disappearance | D.selection |
A.opposes | B.doubts | C.supports | D.changes |
A.diets | B.activities | C.expenses | D.necessities |
A.in addition | B.as a result | C.in particular | D.for example |
A.late | B.typical | C.early | D.common |
A.pressure | B.networks | C.skills | D.background |
A.culture | B.pressure | C.respect | D.education |
A.develop | B.control | C.escape | D.apply |
Cycling isn’t always easy. Busy streets, honking horns, and inadequate bike lanes can make it an uphill battle. But not even these difficulties can stop Europeans’ passion for cycling. According to BBC, bicycles outsold cars in most of the European Union’s states last year.
There are traditional bicycle capitals”, such as Amsterdam in the Netherlands and Copenhagen in Denmark. But in many other traditionally car-made countries, the shift to bikes is striking. Italians, for instance, bought 1.6 million bikes against 1.4 million cars in 2012.
So what has led to cycling’s growing popularity in Europe?
The economic crisis has played an important role in the issue. “The economic crisis has had an effect on all areas of people’s lives, including on transport,” Giulietta Pagliaccio, head of the Italian cycling federation FIAB, told the Australian Associated Press.
Since the European debt crisis broke out in 2009, more people lost their jobs while the cost of living, including fuel costs, continued to rise. It forced many people to give up driving to save money, the Guangzhou-based New Express commented. Take Greece, a country seriously hit by the crisis, for example. It sold 320,000 bikes last year against 58,000 cars.
More importantly, people have changed their views toward cars and bikes. Cars are losing their appeal as status symbols. Yet, cycling is now seen as “a safe, clean, healthy, inexpensive way to get around town”, the Daily Star concluded. “It not only reduces traffic jam and pollution, but also contributes to public health.”
However, with more and more people turning to cycling, questions remain about traffic and safety problems.
To ease people’s worries, dozens of cities have joined a European Union to make bicycles equal to cars as a form of urban transport. Quite a few cities now offer well-marked bike lanes, such as the cycling super-highway marked in blue in London. It runs all over the city, from the center to the suburbs.
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3 . A diet to save humankind
When I was a child, my family would always sit down together for meals. My favourite was among the simplest: pasta in tomato sauce. We ate fresh vegetables and fruit, and, starting in our teenage years, sipped a glass of red wine. We ate together. I indulged with a few slices of Italian ham and practised a wide variety of outdoor sports. This centuries - old Mediterranean diet kept me fit and trim - and turned out to be good not just for my personal well-being, but for the planet’s health too.
In 2021 we will celebrate the tenth anniversary of UNESCO’s designation of this Mediterranean diet as a ”Cultural Heritage of Humanity“.
Poor nutrition is a global problem, not just an Italian one. The fact that it’s hitting Italy, the land where the Mediterranean diet originated, represents a dangerous paradox(矛盾)- one of many troubling the world of food. After years of decline, hunger is back on the rise. Globally, some 821 m people still do not have enough to eat. Yet while the poor south starves, the rich north gorges: some 2bn people are overweight or obese. We waste one-third of global food production.
The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals can show us the way. They aim to ”end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture.“ These goals are ambitious but achievable.
Governments must provide incentives to support sustainable agriculture, slash food waste and meet nutritional challenges. This does not just mean taxing unhealthy foods.
We must change our diet. A food and environment pyramid which highlights the close links between food’s nutritional value and environmental impact has been devised. This ”double pyramid“ is based on the traditional Mediterranean diet of my childhood. Everyone can and must continue to have fun at the dinner table - while eating what is good for our health and our planet.
A.Without a change in our diets, this disastrous cycle will worsen. |
B.Farmers should use fertilizers more efficiently and reduce costs. |
C.It is a diet full of vegetables, fruits and whole grains, with only occasional meat. |
D.Farm animals consume an estimated two-thirds of all the land dedicated to agriculture and contribute about half of farming-related greenhouse-gas emissions. |
E.Unfortunately, Italians have been turning away from their traditional healthy diet. |
F.A more effective policy is to make healthy food, accessible and affordable for consumers and profitable for farmers. |
A. public B. inadequate C. lowered D. released E. disappointment F. casting G. possibility H. objective I. desperately J. balance K. compared |
Why Aren’t Women Happier?
Why aren’t women happier these days?
That’s the question raised by a thought-provoking study, The Paradox of Declining Female Happiness,
The research, by University of Pennsylvania economists Stevenson and Wolfers, and made
One theory for the decline in happiness is that expectations for workplace and general advancement were raised too high by the women’s movement and women might feel
The researchers acknowledge that’s a
“If the women’s movement raised women’s expectations faster than society was able to meet them,” the paper says, “they would be more likely to experience
Readers, why do you think women are unhappier than in the past? Do you think that if expectations for “having it all” were
5 . Schools are not just a microcosm (缩影) of society; they mediate it too. The best
Trips that many adults would consider the
Probing the rock pools of a local beach or practicing French on a language exchange can fire children's passions, boost their skills and open their eyes to life's possibilities. The Sutton Trust, which focuses on improving social mobility, says educational outings help bright but
But £3,000 trips cannot be
The Department for Education's guidance says schools can charge only for board and lodging if the trip is part of the syllabus, and that students receiving government aid are exempt from these costs. However, many schools seem to ignore the advice;and it does not cover the kind of glamorous, exotic trips, which are becoming increasingly
A.pretend | B.forget | C.seek | D.fail |
A.examples | B.connections | C.extremes | D.ideals |
A.encounter | B.adventure | C.invitation | D.advantage |
A.profit | B.escape | C.suffer | D.choose |
A.Furthermore | B.Therefore | C.Meanwhile | D.Thus |
A.Introducing | B.Fulfilling | C.Relaxing | D.Rejecting |
A.disabled | B.disciplined | C.distinguished | D.disadvantaged |
A.case | B.prospect | C.performance | D.chance |
A.claiming | B.ensuring | C.expecting | D.foreseeing |
A.scolded | B.applauded | C.inspected | D.exposed |
A.pooled | B.invested | C.sold | D.spent |
A.booked | B.taken | C.enjoyed | D.justified |
A.business | B.field | C.gift | D.conch |
A.gratitude | B.satisfaction | C.guilt | D.relief |
A.rare | B.unique | C.common | D.special |
6 . Why can’t we stop longing for the good old days
People in many countries are longing for the good old days. But when exactly were the good old days? Podcaster Jason Feifer devoted an episode of his program to this question. The most popular answer seemed to be the 1950s, so Mr. Feifer asked historians whether Americans in that decade thought it was particularly pleasant. Definitely not. In the 1950s, American sociologists worried that rampant individualism was tearing the family apart. There were serious racial and class tensions, and everyone lived under the nuclear threat.
In fact, many in the 1950s thought that the good old days were to be found a generation earlier, in the 1920s. But in the 1920s, child psychologist John Watson warned that because of increasing divorce races, the American family would soon cease to exist. Many people at the time idealized the Victor inn era, when families are strong and children respected their elders.
Why are human beings always so nostalgia for past eras that seemed difficult and dangerous to those who lived through them? One possibility is that we know we survived past dangers, so they seem smaller now. But we can never be certain we will solve the problems we are facing today. Radio didn't ruin the younger generation, but maybe the smart phone will.
Another reason is that historical nostalgia is often colored by personal nostalgia. When were the good old days? Was it, by chance, the incredibly short period when you happened to be young? A U.S. Poll found that people born in the 1930s and 1940s thought the 1950s was America’s best decade, while those born in the 1960s and 1970s preferred the 1980s.
This kind of nostalgia has neurological roots. Researchers have found that we encode more memories during adolescence and early adult hood than any other period of our lives, and when we think about the past, this is the period we most often return to. Moreover, as we grow more distant from past events, we tend to remember them more positively.
Obviously, some things readily were better in the past. But our instinctive nostalgia for the good old days can easily deceive us, with dangerous consequences. Longing for the past and fear of the future inhibit the experiments and innovations that drive progress.
Vaccination, steam engines, railroads and electricity all met with strong resistance when they were first introduced. The point isn’t to show how silly previous generations were. The same kinds of anxieties have been expressed in our own time about innovations like the internet, video games and stem-cell research.
And not all fears about the future are unbounded. New technologies do result in accidents, they disturb traditional cultures and habits, and they destroy old jobs while creating new ones. But the only way to learn how to make the best use of new technologies and reduce risks is by trial and error. The future won’t be perfect, but neither were the good old days.
1. The word “rampant” in paragraph 1 is closest in meaning to ________A.limited | B.reasonable | C.uncontrolled | D.traditional |
A.when American families still remained strong and children respected their elders |
B.that was believed by Americans born in the 1930s and the 1940s to be the best decade |
C.that saw a sharp increase in individualism and divorce rate in American society |
D.when radical and class tensions became more serious but people no longer lived under the nuclear threat |
① people have a better memory of adolescence and early adulthood.
② More dangerous things happen during their youth and they learned how to survive them.
③ The dangers in youth were smaller and easier for people to deal with.
④ people remember events in their youth more positively as time goes by.
A.①② | B.①③ | C.①④ | D.②④ |
A.The current generation is not as silly As the previous generations. |
B.It is unwise to be simply opposed to any new inventions and technologies. |
C.People are constantly deceived by their instinctive nostalgia for the good old days. |
D.The internet, video games and stem-cell research pose great threats to humanity. |
A. suffering B. intensive C. demanding D. adopting E. inactive F. adapting G. available H. guarantee I. distinctive J. discouraging K. distinct |
Health and diet
In recent cars, many Asian countries have noticed a worrying new problem: obesity, which is also very serious in China. More than a third of Chinese adults are overweight. Even more worrying is the level of obesity among Chinese children. It is estimated that the number of children in China
There are many reasons for this situation. The simplest explanation is that food is now
Increasing obesity is worrying for many reasons. The condition can lead to serious health problems, including increased risk of heart disease and even diabetes. Dealing with their health problems seems really costly and
The government in China is taking action to deal with obesity, however. In many primary and middle schools, young students are receiving low calorie lunches with more vegetables and less meat and fat. Also, parents are
It is not
8 . The Internet, E-commerce and globalization are making a new economic era possible. In the future, capitalist markets will largely be replaced by a new kind of economic system based on networked relationships, contractual (契约的) arrangements and access rights.
Has the quality of our lives at work, at home and in our communities increased in direct proportion (比例) to all the new Internet and business-to-business Internet services being introduced into our lives? I have asked this question of hundreds of CEOs and corporate executives in Europe and the United States. Surprisingly, virtually everyone has said, “No, quite contrary.” The very people responsible for showing in what some have called a “technological renaissance” say they are working longer hours, feel more stressed, are more impatient, and are even less civil (礼貌的) in their dealings with colleagues and friends—not to mention strangers. And what’s more revealing, they place much of the blame on the very same technologies they are so aggressively championing (捍卫).
We are told that access would make life more convenient and give us more time. Instead, the very technological wonders that were supposed to liberate us have begun to enslave us in a web of connections from which there seems to be no easy escape.
If an earlier generation was concerned about the goal to enclose a vast geographic frontier, the generation to come, it seems, is more caught up in the colonization (殖民) of time. Every spare moment of our time is being filled with some form of commercial connection, making time itself the scarcest of all resources. Our e-mail, voice mail and cell phones, our 24-hour Interact news and entertainment all seize for our attention.
While we have created every kind of labor-and-time-saving device to serve our needs, we are beginning to feel like we have less time available to us than any other humans in history. That is because the wide spread of labor-and-time-saving services only increases the diversity, pace and flow of common day activity around us. For example, e-mail is a great convenience. However, we now find ourselves spending much of our day anxiously responding to each other’s electronic messages. The cell phone is a great time-saver, except now we are always likely to reach someone else who wants our attention.
Social conservatives talk about the decline in civility and blame it on the loss of a morality and religious values. Has anyone bothered to ask whether the fast speed culture is making all of us less patient and less willing to listen, consider and reflect?
Maybe we need to ask what kinds of connections really count and what types of access really matter in the e-economy era. If this new technology revolution is only about efficiency, then we risk losing something even more precious than time—our sense of what it means to be a caring human being.
1. According to the passage, a large number of CEOs think that________.A.technology has a great impact on their lives |
B.technology should be aggressively championed |
C.technology renaissance should be pushed forward |
D.technology actually results in a decline in their life quality |
A.Time available. | B.Time saving devices. |
C.Access to information. | D.Technological wonders. |
A.Cell phones can save time as they help us reach those who want our attention. |
B.Social conservatives blame the loss of morality on the decline in civility. |
C.High efficiency is even more precious than being a caring human being. |
D.It is difficult for us to avoid the influence of technology wonders. |
A.The New Internet Life | B.The Declining Quality of Life |
C.The Disadvantages of Too Much Access | D.The Failure of Technological Renaissance |
9 . There are times when murder is not committed because of cruelty. People may kill for other reasons such as anger, misunderstanding, and fear. Everyone has made mistakes because of such feeling. For society, it is a serious mistake to take the life of someone who has killed because it teaches everyone that forgiveness is unnecessary.
The government has the difficult job of deciding who is innocent and who is guilty, and this job can never be done perfectly. If capital punishment(死刑)is allowed, there always exists the possibility that an innocent person will be executed by mistake. When that happens, an even worse crime has been committed—the killing of an innocent person by the government. Then there is the fact that the poor and minorities get the death penalty more often than whites do. Furthermore, the idea that capital punishment stops criminals from committing murder is doubtful; studies have been unable to show that the fear of capital punishment stops someone from committing murder more than other punishments. And let us not forget that murdering the murderer is a violent act in itself; it is revenge(复仇).
The U.S. government once followed the example of Germany, Britain, France, and other nations that no longer execute their citizens-however, since 1977, our society has been allowing capital punishment again, at a high cost. We cannot imagine the pain of family members who have been waiting for years for the government’s decision to execute or not execute their loved ones. It also costs the taxpayer millions of dollars more to execute a criminal than to imprison that criminal for life. Prison is a better form of punishment because it protects society and punishes criminals by taking away their freedom.
People can change, even people who have made terrible mistakes. Life in prison gives people the chance to change. Caryl Chessman is an example of someone who became a better person in prison. He taught other prisoners how to read, and he wrote several books. Before his execution, he wrote that he had finally learned not to hate.
Chessman learned this important lesson in prison. But a dead man learns nothing, and an executed person will never change. When a government kills, it is murdering hope.
1. According to the passage, all the followings are the results of the capital punishment EXCEPT that________.A.capital punishment doesn’t necessarily put an end to crimes |
B.execution may cause an innocent person to die |
C.the blacks get executed more often than the whites do |
D.capital punishment may arouse a desire for revenge |
A.Execution will cause the pain of the criminal’s family members. |
B.Life imprisonment is more expensive than execution. |
C.Some murders are mistakes, caused by anger or fear. |
D.America used to be among the nations which abandoned execution. |
A.everyone can become a better person in prison |
B.everyone can make terrible mistakes |
C.execution robs people of the chance to change |
D.It is always a good thing to learn not to hate |
A.Not all people who kill are cruel. | B.Capital punishment is revenge. |
C.Prison can sometimes improve a person. | D.Execution is not a better form of punishment. |
10 . Beware of Phone/Online Scams(诈骗)
Have you been the victim of a phone/online seam? If you ever think that there’s really no reason to worry, just remember the following statistics.
—315,000 cases broken in 2015-2017 in China.
—More than billions of money involved.
—Victims of 19 years old top the list in terms of age.
—Victims of 18-25 years old account for 52.4% of the whole.
—……
And here in below we are sharing 4 typical types of Phone/Online scams and how to deal with them.
Hello, this is XX police station, you're involved in a case of money laundering(洗钱)(or some other financial crime). We need your cooperation with the investigation……Please transfer your money into the national security account. Tip 1: If you are really involved in financial crime, police will visit your home at the first opportunity and take you for investigation. Police are not so dumb as to inform you via telephone. And there is no such thing as national security account. | Hey: Wang(he may know your name). Drop by my office tomorrow morning. BTW, I will be treating some VIP clients soon. I need you to transfer some money into this account. It will refund your money tomorrow. Tip 2: Think about it. How could any boss in the world ask you for money? Meeting VIP clients without a cent in his pocket? And why doesn't he ask you to give the money to him in person? He is nobody but a scam! | ||
You've got a package which contains illegal drugs or goods. You are now requested to call this number to contact the Public Security Bureau. (Then it all follows scenario预设). Tip 3: Public Security Bureau WILL NOT deal with cases via phone calls. NEITHER WILL they send out notification via message. | (In some cases the number is disguised as authentic bank number through software). We are sorry to inform you that you have a bank overdraft. Please contact this customer service representative. His number is XXXXXXXXXX. Tip 4: DO NOT panic. REMEMBER to dial the official contact number of the back to double check. |
When receiving phone calls/emails from unidentified resources, please pay special attention if the conversation involves any of the following:
●bank cards
●lucky draw
●Transferred to government authorities, including but not limited to police, court/judge, etc.
●secured account
●refund related to online shopping
None of the above business will be carried out on phones or via emails/unofficial website links. So you may just treat them as spams.
Moreover, how to safeguard yourself?
●Never transfer money without face-to-face confirmation.
●Only do business online with those you know and trust or on the official website of the online retailer.
●Protect your personal information, including photo-ID numbers and copies, bank account and passwords.
●Don't trust website links in emails or text messages without verified sources.
●Never believe in Pie in the sky. If something is too good, it won't be true.
1. Which of the following statements is TRUE about the survey of Phone/Online seams?A.Statistics imply it's unnecessary to worry about the situation. |
B.The number of those who are cheated is on the rise. |
C.Nearly one third of a million cases remain to be solved. |
D.Comparatively speaking, young adults are harder-hit age groups. |
A.The police call to request your cooperation for a financial crime. |
B.The boss asks you to transfer money to a VIP client via phone. |
C.An unverified message informs you to collect a ¥500,000 prize. |
D.The official website of an online retailer advertises for a business partner. |
A.An email for college students. |
B.A document for government authorities. |
C.A law journal for E-business practitioners. |
D.A security brochure for the public. |