1 . Thirteen-year-old Kaylee has a lot of friends — 532, actually, if you count up her online friends. And she spends a lot of time with them.
But is it possible that Kaylee’s online friendships could be making her lonely? That’s what some experts believe. Connecting online is a great way to stay in touch, they say. However, some experts worry that many kids are so busy connecting online that they might be missing out on true friendships.
Could this be true? During your parents’ childhoods, connecting with friends usually meant spending time with them in the flesh. Kids played Scrabble around a table, not Words With Friends on their phones. When friends missed each other, they picked up the telephone. Friends might even write letters to each other.
Today, most communication takes place online. A typical teen sends 2,000 texts a month and spends more than 44 hours per week in front of a screen. Much of this time is spent on social media platforms (平台).
In fact, in many ways, online communication can make friendships stronger, “There’s definitely a positive influence. Kids can stay in constant contact, which means they can share more of their feelings with each other,” says Katie Davis, co-author of The App Generation.
Other experts, however, warn that too much online communication can get in the way of forming deep friendships. “If we are constantly checking in with our virtual words, we will have little time for our real-world friendships.” says Larry Rosen, a professor at California State University. Rosen also worries that today’s kids might mistake the “friends” on the social media for true friends in life. However, in tough times, you don’t need someone to like your picture or share your blogs. You need someone who will keep your secrets and hold your hand. You would like to talk face to face.
1. What is the purpose of the first paragraph?| A．To summarize the text. | B．To tell about true friends. |
| C．To bring up a discussion. | D．To encourage online friendship. |
| A．In person. | B．In advance. | C．In any case. | D．In full measure. |
| A．Worried. | B．Positive. | C．Confused. | D．Unconcerned. |
| A．It’s wise to turn to friends online. |
| B．It’s easier to develop friendships in reality. |
| C．Social media help people stay closely connected. |
| D．Teenagers need focus on real-world friendships. |
2 . In today’s world of fast-paced games and short videos, people are spending less and less time on things. For example, research has shown that the average visitor spends just 15 seconds on a website before moving on to other things. But the Internet is a huge and busy place, with millions of sites to choose from. You might expect people to slow down a bit more when they’re in museums full of great works of art. But you’d be wrong.
Several studies have shown that the amount of time for people to spend looking at a piece of art is ten seconds. Many people may spend more time, but not much more — the average is about 28 seconds. At the Tate Modern Museum in London, it’s even worse. People there spend an average of just eight seconds on each artwork. And in that short period of time, the visitors are also managing to do another important thing — take selfies !
In recent years museums have been working to change this behavior. Today, over 170 museums around the world are celebrating “Slow Art Day”. They are asking their visitors to spend at least 5-10 minutes looking at just one work of art. Slow Art supporters believe that when visitors spend more time looking at and studying the work of art, they admire it more. Studying a work of art for more time can also help people get a better understanding of the artist’s ideas and what the artist went through to create the work.
Most of the museums taking part in Slow Art Day are choosing just a few works for their visitors to see. Some of the museums are offering chances for visitors to talk about the artworks and share their ideas.
1. Generally speaking, people spend ______ on each piece of art in a museum.| A．8 seconds | B．10 seconds | C．15 seconds | D．28 seconds |
| A．Admiring each artwork thoroughly. | B．Taking selfies in museums busily. |
| C．Celebrating “Slow Art Day” widely. | D．Looking at each artwork hurriedly. |
| A．To attract more people to visit the museums |
| B．To stop visitors from taking selfies inside |
| C．To make people spend more time on each artwork |
| D．To give visitors an opportunity to relax themselves |
| A．Museums on the Rocks: Please Advise! |
| B．Museums: Slow down to Admire more! |
| C．Slow Art Day: a Fruit of Museums! |
| D．Museums: an Escape from the Fast-paced Life! |
3 . The Red Cross is known for performing some of the most heroic acts in the world. There are Red Cross societies in 190 countries all over the world. Their task is to prevent and alleviate human suffering in the face of sudden serious situations by organizing the power of volunteers and the generosity of those who want to donate(捐献).
In 1860, Swiss businessman and social activist, Jean Henri Dunant, saw the effects of war, and countries not prepared or able to deal with the suffering of those who had been injured in the Battle of Solferino during the second War of Italian Independence. Dunant organized a group of volunteers to help bring water and food to the injured, to help with medical treatment, or to write letters to the families of those who were dying. After that moment, he knew that more had to be done, and he wrote the book, A Memory of Solferino, which encouraged the public to create an organization which would help the wounded. His writing encouraged more people to support him in creating the International Federation of the Red Cross. And in 1863, International Committee of the Red Cross was founded.
The modern-day Red Cross does more than nursing soldiers during wartime. The group began to devote itself largely to disaster relief(灾难救援) and epidemic(流行病) treatment. It has achieved even greater service in humanitarian(人道主义的) programs that serve continuously in both peace and war.
One of the easiest ways you can help the Red Cross is to make sure you are able to donate blood and make an appointment at the Red Cross website. But, donating blood isn’t the only way you can help out—the Red Cross also encourages you to donate your time if you can, along with other things the modern-day Red Cross wants you to know.
1. What does the underlined word “alleviate” in Paragraph 1 mean?| A．Lighten. | B．Report. | C．Express. | D．Find. |
| A．To make more people know the Red Cross. |
| B．To ask more people to help the wounded. |
| C．To let people see the cruelty of wars. |
| D．To call on people to stop wars. |
| A．In Paragraph 1. | B．In Paragraph 2. | C．In Paragraph 3. | D．In Paragraph 4. |
| A．To introduce the Red Cross website. |
| B．To explain the Red Cross’s future work. |
| C．To show how the Red Cross helps needy people. |
| D．To encourage people to offer help in the Red Cross |
1. 养宠物的现象；
2. 养宠物的优缺点；
3. 其他……
注意：1. 词数100左右；
2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
Dear editor,
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Yours sincerely,
Li Hua
5 . For so long, failure has been pictured as something negative, something to be ashamed of and something to be kept a secret. But a Swedish psychologist, Samuel West, has decided to put our worst fears on the table. He is opening a museum - the Museum of Failure - in Helsingborg, Sweden, this June.
Instead of showing successes, as museums usually do, the Museum of Failure will display over 60 “failed” products from big-name companies such as Nokia, Apple and Coca-Cola. “I really hope you see that these mega-brands that everybody respects, they screw up too,” West told The New York Times. “I hope that makes you feel less nervous about learning something new.”
West’s opinion isn’t a new one. Albert Einstein once said, “A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.” And this idea has been embraced by lots of companies in the US. Silicon Valley, for example, is the home of some of the world’s most creative companies, yet its slogan turns out to be, quite surprisingly, “Fail fast, fail often.”
However, there are reasons for his. “The best companies are those that encourage failure, embrace out-of-the-box thinking, and allow employers to make mistakes and see what happens,” wrote Simon Casuto of Forbes.
But some people are doubtful of this so-called “culture of failure”. They are worried that if failure becomes a “symbol of honor”, as Wired magazine put it, it may even be seen as “uncool” when someone tries to reduce the risk of failure. This may push people to care too little and try too little.
“Sometimes people hid behind failure, when they could have prevented it,” wrote Anna Isaac of The Telegraph.
So it’s important that you set apart the two kinds of failure—the kind that makes you a loser and the kind that takes you forward. The key is whether you’ve learned something from your mistakes.
“Learning is the only process that turns failure into success.” West said The Guardian. “If you don’t learn from your failures, then you’ve really failed.”
1. What does the underlined phrase “screw up” in the second paragraph mean?| A．Make a profit. | B．Make a mess. | C．Make a highlight. | D．Make a risk. |
| A．The more failure, the better. |
| B．Accept failure, and try new things. |
| C．The more you fail, the less success you achieve. |
| D．Failure is more important than success. |
| A．Failure’s value lies in learning from it. |
| B．If you fail, you are a loser. |
| C．It’s not necessary to try to reduce the risk of failure. |
| D．Failure is the key to put you forward. |
Over half of adults in China or more than half a billion people are now overweight, an official report has found. The figures have increased
The country’s rapid economic(经济)
The obesity has come under renewed focus during the pandemic(流行病)as
A growing love for meat and a low consumption(消耗)of fruit were also thought of as factors behind the rise. Wang Dan,
China is one of the countries
7 . Teenagers drink. It’s a known fact among our society. People think that they do it to fit in, or to be cool, or to have fun. Although they may be the case for some, the true causes are much more severe. Many do it to escape, or they have no choice in the matter. Knowing and understanding these true causes will make it easier to deal with and treat.
Alcoholism usually runs in the family. A study done by the University of California, San Francisco, showed that about 25% of children of alcoholic families will become alcohol addicts. Therefore, teenagers who have alcoholic parents are more likely to develop alcohol addiction.
Teens are at a higher risk of drinking alcohol because they are more likely to feel more self-conscious about themselves than adults. They are more anxious to create good impressions on their classmates and friends, therefore turning to alcohol. Also, teens believe that drinking makes them feel better, look smarter, or appear cooler.
Teenagers who use alcohol report that the guidance from their parents is often lacking. There is usually a communication gap between the parents and the child.
But you can deal with it well. Know your teenagers and talk with them. Understand what they are going through at school, and know who their friends are. A simple conversation each day can help; in other words, communication is the key. Allow them to enjoy their risky behavior under your supervision. You don’t have to be an annoying one in your teenager’s life, to be a part of it.
1. According to the study done by the University of California, teenagers are more likely to drink when they ________.| A．suffer from great pressure from study | B．live in the family where parents drink much |
| C．hang out with alcoholic friends | D．are in the dark about the harm of drinking |
| A．show they are wealthy | B．impress them well |
| C．express their certain feelings | D．help them understand each other |
| A．understand what they are thinking | B．share drinking with them |
| C．communicate with them well | D．ask them to be responsible |
| A．teenagers | B．drinkers | C．teachers | D．parents |
8 . “Digital native(数字土著)" is used to describe the generation of people who grow up at the age of technology, including computers and the Internet.
The idea of "digital native" came from an article to explain Prensky’s opinion on why today's teachers are having trouble teaching their students. Prensky says that young people today are speaking a digital language, while teachers are speaking an old language—they don't adapt themselves to the new technology. As a result, Prensky calls for a change in their teaching ways.
Digital natives are comfortable with technology and computers, and they consider technology to be a basic and necessary part of their life. Most teenagers and children in developed countries are digital natives because they mainly communicate and learn through computers, social networking services and texting.
Prensky's research shows that those who have all their life open to modern information technologies do really think, learn and understand the world differently from their fathers. Based on his own experience in working with students and educators, Prensky later created a concept that he calls “digital wisdom” to change the way to teach the digital students.
While the idea of digital natives has become popular among educators and parents, in business the digital natives were considered as a new and possible way to increase marketing. Many strategies have set out to catch the attention of digital natives to sell new goods. In recent years, more and more money has been earned from digital natives. And in the future, digital natives promise a bigger and bigger market.
1. Which is true of digital natives?| A．They grow up in times of technology. | B．They only communicate through texting. |
| C．They never agree with their teachers. | D．They wear differently from their fathers. |
| A．Young people are speaking a foreign language. |
| B．Teachers should speak their own language. |
| C．Young people should adapt themselves to teachers. |
| D．Today's teachers need to change their ways of teaching. |
| A．In Asian countries. | B．In developing countries. |
| C．In developed countries. | D．In poor countries. |
| A．To change the way of teaching. | B．To find a new market for products. |
| C．To get digital natives to enjoy life. | D．To help teachers to learn technology. |
9 . Research shows that isolation（隔绝）is bad for us and associated with certain diseases including depression, high blood pressure and heart disease. Yet teenagers seek isolation by using the device of our times—a screen, screens of all kinds. However, in whatever form, screens are addictive, and addictive from an early age. Research has shown that given the chance, six-month-old babies prefer screens to real human faces.
Hand in hand with this addiction to screens, we are seeing an explosion of teenage mental health problems. Social media claims to be inclusive（包容的）, keeping you connected. But it's not. It isolates you from real people. Screens have even been described as being poisonous for teenagers.
Psychologist Jean Twenge, a professor at San Diego State University, believes today's teenagers are "on the edge" of a major mental health crisis and requests, "do anything that doesn't involve a screen". The problem is, she claims, children born between 1995 and 2012 have grown up with a smart phone in their hands, and it has "changed every aspect" of their lives. The number of teenagers who actually see their friends frequently has dropped by more than 40% since 2000.In 2015, only 56% of 17-year-old went on a date, down from 85%.Modern teenagers are slower to learn to drive, or earn money and spend more time at home. They're "on their phone, in their room, alone and often depressed", she says.
Some critics（评论家）, however, say we should encourage our children to spend more time online. Robert Hannigan, former director of GCHQ, said in August that Britain is badly short of engineers and computer scientists, and urged children to develop cyber skill to compete in the digital economy.
I' m not the first to say that social media is inferior to real human contact, and harms mental health. Studies show teens who spend three hours a day online are 35% more likely to suicide（自杀）. The suicide rate among girls aged 12 to 14 has more than doubled in a decade.
1. Why does Jean Twenge call on teens to surf online less?| A．Social media is inclusive and keeps them connected. |
| B．Social media is addictive and leads to mental problems. |
| C．Social media does great harm to their eyesight |
| D．Social media has changed every aspect of their lives. |
| A．We should allow teens to isolate themselves from real social contact |
| B．We should call on teens to do anything that doesn't involve a screen， |
| C．Children should be encouraged to contact people face to face instead of online. |
| D．Children should be encouraged to spend more time on the Internet. |
| A．Worse than | B．As effective as. |
| C．More useful than | D．Similar to. |
| A．Teenagers seeking isolation using screens |
| B．Social media causing teenagers health problems |
| C．Teenagers' heavy addiction to social media |
| D．Different opinions on teenagers surfing online |
10 . Smart phones are greatly changing the way we walk down the street. Office workers and young people are walking like the old as they check emails and messages.
Scientists have found mobile phones make us walk more slowly, with modest steps, to avoid falling over. The leader of the study said the walk is just like someone in their eighties. Researchers found people writing a text message walk more than twice as slowly as those without a phone, finding it harder to stay in a straight line.
The scientists examined 252 people walking while reading a text message, writing one, speaking on their phones or without their phones at all. Writing a text is the hardest activity, causing people to look down at their phone 46 percent more, and 45 percent longer, than when reading a message. This led people to walk 118 per cent more slowly than when they were without their phones. People walked almost a third more slowly while reading a text and 19 per cent while talking on the phone.
Smart phones were found to stop people from walking in a straight line, putting them at greater risk of running into other people, cars or street lamps. This increased the need to slow down and take more careful steps.
John Timmis said the idea for this study came from following someone walking down the street in the afternoon, who was walking as if he had had several drinks. I thought it was a bit early for that, then walked up alongside him and saw that he was on his phone. Simply being on the phone changes the way people walk.
1. What does the underlined word “modest” mean in the second paragraph?| A．Young. | B．Straight. |
| C．Low. | D．Small. |
| A．Those not carrying phones. |
| B．Those writing a text message. |
| C．Those reading a text message. |
| D．Those speaking on their phones. |
| A．The need to walk straight. |
| B．The desire to use their phones. |
| C．The chance of possible accidents. |
| D．The traffic jams during rush hours. |
| A．Seeing office workers walking like the elderly. |
| B．Seeing people walking in the street hurriedly. |
| C．Watching young people who were walking normally. |
| D．watching a person who was walking in the street in a strange way . |
